Chapter 957: Final Battle!

"This is simply suicide!"

As the prisoners formed a skirmish line and charged toward the Marine positions, Pan Zhang could not help but shake his head.

"They are death-row inmates to begin with; if they die, it's no loss. This charge is a sure win with no risk," Zhao Xu smiled.

Pan Zhang nodded, "Since that is the case, we shall do them a favor and execute these prisoners."

He then ordered the commanders to be on alert and simultaneously ordered the artillerymen to clear the field artillery the enemy had hidden in their fortifications.

The enemy's number of field artillery was not large, appearing sparse across the vast battlefield.

However, an occasional solid shot flying over could still cause significant casualties to the soldiers.

The soldiers responsible for the naval cannons were also under threat.

After all, their naval cannon positions were only five hundred meters away from the enemy's trench.

This distance was within the attack range of the enemy's field artillery.

However, it was one thing if these field artillery did not expose themselves.

But once they were exposed, they were destined to be destroyed.

At the naval cannon position, an artilleryman holding a telescope quickly locked onto the location of a field artillery piece.

After providing the direction and distance, the artillerymen adjusted the muzzles.

Immediately, a conical cannonball flew out and exploded thirty meters away from the field artillery.

The massive explosion caused the artillerymen responsible for the field artillery to be so frightened that they immediately threw themselves to the ground.

"Northeast direction, error of about thirty meters, readjust." The previous shot was merely a test fire to calibrate the position.

The naval cannon artillerymen fine-tuned the muzzles again, and this time another cannonball flew out.

This cannonball exploded just five meters away from the field artillery, and the artillerymen responsible for the field artillery were not as lucky as the last time.

The flying shrapnel and the powerful shockwave immediately harvested their lives.

This was not the end; the naval cannon artillerymen fired two more cannonballs, and only stopped once a cannonball struck the location of the field artillery.

At the same time, the bombardment against the British field artillery unfolded across the entire battlefield.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all thirty-six of the enemy's field artillery pieces were silenced.

Some field artillery pieces were even subjected to the bombardment of ten naval cannons.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

While the artillery were firing at each other, the British prisoners continuously approached.

It did not take long for them to enter within two hundred meters of the Marines.

At this moment, the prisoners suddenly accelerated and charged toward the Marines, letting out bursts of roars from their mouths.

The Marine soldiers had been standing by in full battle array and pulled their triggers one after another.

On the flat grassland, with the precision of the Qin-style rifle.

These charging prisoners were undoubtedly like targets.

Instantly, the prisoners fell continuously on the path of their charge.

And under tension, they could only hold their flintlocks and fire blindly.

After firing one bullet, they had to stand in place, pull out a bullet, and clumsily reload.

This reload took about twenty seconds.

Clearly, a stationary target is the best shooting target.

The reloading prisoners were often riddled with holes before they could even finish loading a single bullet.

The gunfire lasted for half an hour, and over seventy percent of the ten thousand-plus prisoners were lost.

The remaining thirty percent of the prisoners finally dared not continue the charge and chose to flee back to the trench.

Forgiving their crimes was naturally extremely attractive, but being guilty was still better than being dead; a portion of them had figured out this math.

Those who hadn't figured it out were all dead.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Although the gunfire had stopped, the bombardment continued.

Time lasted from noon until dusk before the bombardment ceased.

During this period, the Marine soldiers did not launch a charge toward the trench and kept guarding their own battle line.

The reserve soldiers even squinted and rested on the battlefield.

Because it was their turn to work at night.

Night fell, and darkness shrouded the earth.

At this time, crates of illumination flares were delivered to the battlefield.

The reason they did not charge during the day was to catch the enemy off guard at night and consume another wave of their soldiers.

"The soldiers of Queensland have never seen an illumination flare; they certainly have never seen one. After the day's bombardment, they have already suffered heavy casualties. This night raid,"

"should be able to crush their main force." Gong Ying's hands itched the moment he saw the illumination flares.

Because they had experience using them, the task of this night raid was handed to the Marines he led.

"That is for the best, but do not force it. If it cannot be taken at night, we will continue the bombardment tomorrow," Zhao Xu instructed Gong Ying.

After answering in the affirmative, Gong Ying happily left with the illumination flares.

Half an hour later, it seemed that all of their soldiers had crept to the edge of the trench fortifications.

At this moment, an illumination flare flew into the sky.

Like a falling sun, it illuminated the earth.

At this moment, Oliver and Joseph, like the Queensland officer Habi, had judged that the Great Song army would not launch a night raid.

The sudden brightness stunned him and the British in the trench.

However, right at this moment, they were covered by hand grenades and bullets, caught off guard in an instant.

Amidst the sounds of gunfire and explosions, Oliver looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Joseph was also finally unable to maintain his composure.

"Governor, we have lost this war." As Joseph said these words, his strength seemed to vanish entirely.

Oliver nodded blankly; at this moment, he had no spirit left in him at all.

In the span of a single day, over eight hundred of the three thousand British regular troops under his command had been blown to death.

Over two thousand militiamen equipped with Rifled Muskets had been blown to death, and this did not even include the townspeople and prisoners.

At this rate, if the Great Song army continued their bombardment for a few more days, they would be finished.

And now, what kind of bizarre situation was this?

No one could answer his question.

And he could only watch as the Trench fell into chaos, powerless to do anything.

"Tell everyone, even if they die, they must take someone down with them!" Oliver suddenly screamed, his gaze frantic.

Joseph nodded and passed on Oliver's order.

Even though he knew this order was of no use whatsoever.

Because they were simply unable to effectively counterattack the enemy.

"Zeng, zeng, zeng..." After the first ball of light, more balls of light continuously flew up over the battlefield, keeping the Trench as bright as day.

At this time, the Marines who had crept to the edge of the Trench began to formally storm into the Trench after their sneak attack.

Throughout the entire Trench fortification, there were sounds of gunfire and the explosions of Hand Grenades everywhere.

However, this raid only lasted for two hours before the Marine soldiers chose to retreat.

Because the battlefield was much more vast than Queensland, their Illumination Flares were not enough to last for a very long time.

When the Marines retreated, Oliver and Joseph immediately tallied their forces, feeling another wave of desolation in their hearts.

Their regular troops were reduced to just over one thousand men, and there were eight thousand militiamen left.

Fearing another sneak attack, the British soldiers in the Trench fortifications suffered through another long night.

The next morning, when they were exceptionally exhausted, the massive rumbling sounds rang out once again.

The Great Song army had launched another bombardment.

Over the next three days, although the nighttime sneak attacks ceased, they were replaced by shelling.

Under three days of continuous bombardment, the British regular troops and militiamen suffered heavy losses and could barely support a decent fight anymore; the morale of the townspeople and prisoners had also plummeted to the extreme, with many nearly going mad from despair.

Under these very circumstances, after another two hours of shelling on the morning of the fourth day.

The Marine soldiers launched a charge from all directions.

"Kill!"

Waves of roars echoed through the sky as the Marines, like a tidal wave, rushed toward the Trench.

They were met only by sporadic fire from Rifled Muskets.

Some soldiers were wounded and fell, but this could not stop their advance.

They crossed the battlefield, jumped into the Trench, aimed their muzzles at the enemy, and raised their Bayonets to engage the British in close-quarters combat.

Facing the full-scale offensive of the Marines, the British finally collapsed completely, and many crawled out of the Trench and fled toward New South Wales.

The Marine soldiers pursued them closely.

Like a tightening pocket, they completely occupied and controlled the city of New South Wales by evening.

"Starting Today as a Feudal Prince" will continue to be updated on the Young Girl Student website without errors; there are no advertisements on the site, so please bookmark and recommend Young Girl Student!

If you like "Starting Today as a Feudal Prince," please bookmark it: () "Starting Today as a Feudal Prince" updates fastest on Young Girl Student.