Chapter 799: Bombardment

Latest website: "Board the ships, board the ships..."

While the Sailing Warships prepared to bombard Niu Tou Tan, squads of Wangfu Army soldiers boarded the Troop Transport Ships.

Sixty Large Troop Transports would be the main force for this river crossing, capable of delivering thirty thousand soldiers to the landing at once.

Besides these, there were the small boats Chang Wei had collected from Jiangbei.

These small boats would be steered by militiamen familiar with handling boats, and together with the Troop Transport Ships, they would carry the soldiers to the other side of the river.

Together with the Troop Transport Ships, they could deliver about fifty thousand people at one time.

At this moment, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei stood at Bai Ma Du Kou, holding a Telescope to observe Niu Tou Tan.

During this time, the Hot Air Balloon Troop had been constantly traveling back and forth across the banks to conduct reconnaissance on Niu Tou Tan.

Since the Steamship arrived at Bai Ma Du Kou.

The Shizu Army had been continuously reinforcing Niu Tou Tan.

Originally, only twenty thousand Mercenaries were stationed here.

Now, about one hundred and thirty thousand Shizu Army troops had been added to this location, entering the Trench works of Niu Tou Tan.

Unlike the previous Fort groups, the Forts at Niu Tou Tan were integrated with the Trenches; right in front of the Forts were deep Trenches.

Zhao Xu was not sure if this was because the Shizu had absorbed the lessons from the failure at the Jin River, or if generals from the Western Lands had provided them with guidance.

However, this indeed increased the difficulty of their offensive.

But fortunately, Niu Tou Tan was built along the river, which provided the Sailing Warships with the convenience of tilting their firepower.

Before crossing the river, he wanted to blast Niu Tou Tan to pieces.

"Begin the attack!" The six Sailing Warships had all reached their designated positions, and Zhao Xu issued the order.

This time, the Sailing Warships did not head to the center of the river before opening fire.

The width of the Jiujiang river surface at this section of Jinling varied from two kilometers to ten kilometers.

The section from Bai Ma Du Kou to Niu Tou Tan was the narrowest, being only two kilometers.

With the range of the Rifled Cannon,

they could completely cover the entire Niu Tou Tan.

Therefore, the Sailing Warships only needed to fire along the north bank of the river; there was no need to go to the center of the river, and this way they would not suffer bombardment from the opponent's Artillery.

Nowadays, the Cannonballs for the Rifled Cannon were all Explosive Shells; under the rain of shells, the enemy would find it quite miserable.

In the wars of World War I and World War II, there were often Warships in rivers or at sea providing artillery support to the Army.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei acknowledged the order and immediately relayed it.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Before long, a massive roaring sound erupted.

Ripples spread across the river surface, and amidst the slight swaying of the Sailing Warships, one Cannonball after another flew toward Niu Tou Tan.

At the same time, Luse had been observing the movements at Bai Ma Du Kou since the morning.

Seeing the Yanzhou soldiers board the Troop Transport Ships and the Sailing Warships shift positions, he became nervous and ordered all soldiers to enter the Trench works and the Artillerymen to enter the Forts.

Unlike the sloppy Forts the Shizu had used before.

The Forts at Niu Tou Tan were all built of blue bricks into a gun room, leaving only one gun port aimed at the river surface.

But even so, he was not very satisfied.

Jiangnan of the Great Song had no cement; if they had this material, they could completely build more solid gun rooms.

"Get down!"

While he was observing, he suddenly saw the Sailing Warships erupt with Flame, and he was shocked, shouting the order loudly.

Niu Tou Tan was about ten kilometers wide, and his order could only cover a small area in front of him.

But before the battle, he had already deployed the Mercenaries in every corner of the battlefield to lead the Great Song Shizu Army in fighting.

He believed his veteran soldiers knew how to avoid the bombardment.

It was just that, even with sufficient preparation, he was still terrified by what followed.

After the flashes of light, dense Cannonballs flew straight toward Niu Tou Tan.

Because the beach was a slope, it was low near the river and high further up.

The opponent's Cannonballs slammed hard into the slope.

But this was not what made Luse afraid.

What truly terrified him was that these Cannonballs landing on the beach exploded instantly.

Huge flowers of Flame rose on the beach, churning up the sky full of wet river mud.

Soldiers in the Trenches were lifted by the massive force, flying into the sky before falling back down, blood raining down like a downpour.

Luse's eyes widened, he froze for a moment, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

"Bolt, you bastard, you really gave me a fine job this time," Luse cursed.

Originally, he thought the Yan King Army was at most a bit more capable than the natives of Dongtu.

At best, they were on the same level as the British Army.

But this bombardment immediately made him realize that this Yan King Army possessed firearm technology that even the British Army had not mastered.

Even now, the British Fleet only fired Solid Shot.

Explosive Shells were only used in low-muzzle-velocity Howitzers, and it was even more impossible to use them in high-muzzle-velocity Naval Cannons.

While cursing, he was even more shocked at how the Yan King Army had achieved this.

However, the battlefield situation was deteriorating rapidly; he had no time to think about these things and immediately lay flat in the Trench to avoid the bombardment, lest he be blown into the sky.

At this moment, at Bai Ma Du Kou.

The lenses of the Telescope in Zhao Xu's hands reflected large fireballs rising into the air.

Feeling satisfied with the effect of the bombardment, he lowered the Telescope.

Xu Lie moved a chair over at this moment, and Zhao Xu sat down, looking toward the opposite side of the river.

This was the pre-battle artillery barrage, which would last for a period of time.

Chang Wei, however, still refused to put down his Telescope, grinning as he said, "Your Highness, these Sailing Warships are simply too formidable; six Sailing Warships are equivalent to an artillery group. They are in for it this time."

Zhao Xu nodded with a smile; this was the source of his confidence.

This was also the source of his confidence as he led the lonely Azure Dragon of Great Song to face the wolf pack.

"Then let the Cannonballs fly for a while. Didn't Liang Kai find Western Land Mercenaries? This time, I will make him understand that it is useless no matter who he hires," Zhao Xu said coldly.

Hearing this, Chang Wei chuckled twice and chimed in, "Then let's blast them hard."

Having said that, the two of them looked toward Niu Tou Tan together.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The first round of shelling ended, paused briefly, and the second round of shelling continued.

Bursts of Flame erupted on Niu Tou Tan.

Their artillery fire covered the entire Niu Tou Tan fortification.

Amidst the explosions of the Cannonballs, the green-brick Forts built by the powerful clans were continuously destroyed.

While Zhao Xu and Chang Wei watched the opposite side.

Luse was in utter misery; the Trench was filled everywhere with the groans of wounded soldiers.

The power of these Cannonballs was immense; one landing in the Trench would kill or injure every soldier within a twenty-meter radius.

In one round of shelling, they had suffered nearly a thousand casualties.

"General Luse, I believe we should no longer continue to defend Niu Tou Tan; we should now retreat to the trench fortifications outside the city. Yan Wang's Warships are too terrifying." Wang Xie, wearing a suit of Armor, came before Luse while crouching low.

As he spoke, his body was trembling slightly.

This time he was truly afraid; having these Cannonballs explode overhead was as terrifying as standing under a large tree during a thunderstorm.

"No, the time when they cross the river is the best time to attack." Luse frowned.

Although the battle had fallen into a disadvantageous state, he was not prepared to give up.

After a pause, he continued, "You also said that Yan Wang's Artillery can also fire explosive Cannonballs; what use is there in retreating to the second line of trench fortifications? I can only assist you. Ultimately, if you want to defeat Yan Wang, you can only rely on yourselves. Without a will to fight to the death, you might as well surrender to Yan Wang."

Wang Xie was left speechless by Luse's words.

He punched the mud wall of the Trench fiercely and turned back to leave.

Gritting his teeth, he thought to himself that this time he could only fight with his life.

He would also make Yan Wang understand that they, the powerful clans, were not all cowards.