"There's a total of 45 of them."
Bolonik put down his binoculars. "They're still 800 metres away from our defensive line. It'll take at least two hours to reach their furthest range."
Ambrize's terrain was divided by hills, rocks, and a few rivers, so much so that the eastern alliance couldn't devote too many troops to the attack. The Shiksans had already reached their limit by deploying two standing corps at once. There was nowhere else they could deploy more.
It had to be said that Monolith had chosen a good place to set up their defensive line.
Forty-five giant single-arm lever-type throwers stood at a height of twelve to thirteen meters. With the addition of the thick base and thick components, each of the giant throwers became a huge object.
Countless soldiers were running about below them. From afar, it looked like a group of worker ants surrounding a chicken wing that had fallen to the ground.
More than a dozen healthy bulls dragged thick hemp ropes, moving the giant thrower forward step by step with great difficulty …
In front of the throwers were three rows of wooden carts and shield carts. They were used to block the cannons' projectiles.
Pushed by the soldiers, these huge wooden carts and shield carts moved forward step by step while maintaining a distance from the huge throwers.
"The Shiksans have really perfected their research on the throwers!"
"Now I know how the first line of defense was lost," said General Birkin in admiration.
General Lindenok from the royal guard told me that the Shiksans' throwers can throw projectiles up to 600 metres. That's a hundred metres longer than the maximum range of the heavy throwers we gave them.
I didn't believe it at the time, but now that I've seen such a huge thrower, I believe him. "
Bolonik nodded. "To be able to hold out against the Shiksans' bombardment for half a month, the kingdom's corps must've given it their all. It's no wonder they suffered so many casualties.
However, the Shiksans are still trying to use the same trick against us. I can only say that they're really unlucky. Who knows who'll be the one getting bombarded later … "
"In front of our new infantry field artillery and white phosphorus bombs, these giant throwers will only become burning torches," General Birkin said proudly.
The White Phosphorus Bomb was, in fact, adding white phosphorus to the shell. After the shell hit the target and exploded, the burning white phosphorus would splatter everywhere. Once it was ignited, it would be very difficult to extinguish.
It was chiefly the request of General Moriade, the commander of the fleet, to Lady Sonia.
In general, if one wanted to burn down an enemy's warship in a naval battle, they would first place a solid iron pellet in a brazier and burn it until it was bright red. Then, they would shoot it at the enemy's sailing warship and use the high temperature of the burning red solid iron pellet to ignite the sails, reins, and boards of the ship.
Nowadays, the Iron-armored warships were using the new cannons and bombs that exploded on the ground, which were not as threatening to the sailing warships as the solid iron bullets. They could only kill and injure people.
Unless it hit the enemy warship's waterline and opened a big hole in the ship's deck.
But on a fast-moving battleship, using the naked eye to aim at the enemy's battleship did not have a high hit rate.
Therefore, Moriad could only ask Madam Sonia to research and manufacture this white phosphorus bomb.
Monolith was naturally equipped with quite a number of white phosphorus bombs. They had originally intended to deal with the threat of Seaking from the sea.
But when they arrived at Whitestag, they discovered that Seaking hadn't come to the southwest at all. As such, the white phosphorus bombs could be used to deal with the Shiksan throwers.
Two hours later, the two Shiksan corps finally pushed the throwers to their predetermined positions and got into formation.
At the very front were two rows of wooden carts and shield carts, followed by a row of throwers.
Beside and behind the throwers were countless smaller formations, each of which was the size of a company of around two hundred men.
They would launch an attack when the giant catapults bombard the defensive line, forcing the catapults and cannons on the defensive line to attack them at the risk of being bombarded, in order to eliminate the firepower of these defensive positions ….
"540 meters away." A staff officer of the Monolith Corps reported the exact distance.
How sneaky. 540 metres. The throwers manufactured by the Dominion could only throw the lightest of projectiles at a maximum range of 500 metres.
Coupled with the distance between the formation and the enemy's throwers, they were still 60 metres away. That distance was enough to put the defensive line in a predicament where they could only take a beating without being able to retaliate.
"We can attack now. The enemy has already set up their formation and is waiting to be hit," said Bolonik.
General Beechlin nodded. "Order the artillery position to open fire. First attack the enemy's giant thrower, use white phosphorus bombs to destroy the target, and then use blossoming bombs to carry out three rounds of rapid fire on the enemy's infantry phalanx.
A sharp horn sounded and the twenty or so cannons that had been set up let out a thunderous roar as thick white smoke billowed into the air.
The deafening roar traveled more than six hundred metres in the air and fell into the black formation of the two Shiksan corps. It was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing black waves to surge.
Through General Bolonik's binoculars, he could clearly see the giant throwers in front of him sparking. The sparks quickly turned into flames and torches.
The ensuing explosions sent countless black dots into the air before falling back down. The neatly arranged wooden carts and shield carts were all over the place. Some even burst into flames and black smoke.
Panicked cries and shouts could be heard in the wind. Some Shiksan officers could be seen trying their best to calm the troops down, but the cannonballs that landed next to them made their efforts futile.
The cheers of the soldiers of the Monolith Legion rang out incessantly. There was nothing more satisfying and wonderful than watching the enemy foolishly standing there and getting bombed.
The cannoneers at the front kept waving signals to the rear to inform them that their main target had been destroyed and they could move on to the second mission.
The cannons grew even louder. Each of Monolith's 568 new field cannons fired three rounds at a rapid rate, firing 36 shells in the shortest time possible at the enemy infantry phalanx. A total of 17,000 shells were about to rain down on the two Shiksan corps. Even the Canasian light-cavalry folk at the back of the line of fire were within range of attack.
The furthest range of the new infantry field cannons was around 1,200 metres. The two Shiksan corps were only 500 metres away from Monolith's defensive line. The smaller phalanxes at the back were all within range of the cannons.
When the cannons of the Monolith Army opened fire and destroyed the 45 huge throwers, the commotion and fluctuations caused were still at the forefront of the army. The soldiers in the small phalanx at the back were still standing there foolishly and did not understand what was happening in front of them …
After destroying the 45 huge throwers and turning them into 45 torches, the 20-odd artillerymen of the Monolith Corps aimed their muzzles at the infantry phalanx and began three rounds of rapid fire.
It was worth noting that they started with the furthest range, which was to attack the rear of the two Shiksan corps.
When the white phosphorus bomb landed on the location of the giant thrower and exploded, the senior officers of the eastern region's alliance army who were watching the battle from afar were a little stunned.
"What's that?
How can it be thrown so far? "a high-ranking Nasri officer asked in confusion.
Of all the throwers on Freia, the ones produced by Shiks were the ones with the furthest range. While they were heavy and bulky, they could throw them up to 600 metres. That was also why Shiks was known as the strongest army in the alliance.
Had it not been for those throwers, the alliance would've had to pay the price of at least two corps' casualties and even more time to break through Aueras's first line of defence.
"Th-they're using cannons!"
A sharp-eyed senior officer saw the white smoke rising from the artillery position in the distance, and his face instantly turned pale. "They, they actually changed the iron bullets into explosive projectiles …"
Almost at the same time, all the high-ranking officers turned to look at the Shiksan commander-in-chief and a few other high-ranking officers. They had always boasted that Shiks' catapults were invincible weapons for sieging cities and seizing strongholds.
Now that Aueras had invented a cannonball that could explode, all the money Shiks invested in the catapult was wasted.
Everyone knew that the range of the throwers was far too short compared to the range of cannons, not to mention its flexibility and flexibility.
The spectators were a few hundred metres away from the battlefield and around 1500 metres from Monolith's defensive line.
The reason why it was set so far away was mainly to guard against enemy artillery attacks. If the enemy discovered that there were so many high-ranking officers gathered here, they would shoot a few solid iron bullets. Let alone hitting anyone, it would not be good to scare the adults.
So, the high-ranking officers were positioned outside the firing range of the medium infantry cannons.
Because they were too far away from the battlefield, the high-ranking officers who were watching the battle were unable to react for a moment. They could only stare blankly at the 45 giant throwers on the battlefield that had turned into 45 giant torches.
Then, they watched as the enemy cannons changed direction and started firing at the formation that was still lined up on the battlefield.
There was a series of thunder and explosions. Sparks and smoke rose from the small phalanxes on the battlefield. Countless black dots flew into the sky and landed. The entire army formation seemed to have been turned into a whirlpool. The phalanxes at the back and the troops at the front were all running towards the middle. They were like headless flies rushing left and right. They squeezed into a ball and scattered, then regrouped, and then collapsed in the sound of explosions …
"Quick, blow the horn and tell them to retreat!" The commander-in-chief, the Shiksan marquis, pointed at the battlefield with one hand and clutched his chest as if he was having a heart attack. It was only then that he came to his senses. If they didn't retreat, the two Shiksan corps would be done for.
When the horn sounded, all the Shiksan soldiers on the battlefield felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders. They turned around and ran. This time, they didn't care about anything else and even threw their flintlocks to the ground like a receding tide.
The pursuing cannons only had time to fire two more explosive shells. Not a single living enemy could be seen on the battlefield. There were only countless severed limbs and corpses, as well as the cries for help from the wounded. Blood flowed silently on the battlefield.
"I have to admit, the Shiksan army has surprised me once again," Bolonik said loudly as he put down his binoculars.
He had no choice but to speak loudly. His ears were still ringing with the sound of cannons being fired.
"What are you talking about?" cried General Bigklin.
Bolonik could only shake his head. After a while, when he felt a little better, he said, "Don't you think the Shiksan army here is more disciplined than the Shiksan army that appeared in the colonial war?
Before the retreat signal was blown, they took the bombardment on the battlefield and didn't retreat. "
Birkin laughed. "Didn't you notice that half of our cannons were fired from behind their formation? They could only run towards the centre of the battlefield because there were no shells there.
Haha, we can sneak into their camp at night. All we have to do is fire the cannons and rockets into their camp and the enemy will collapse. "
Even though the eastern alliance's attack failed again, causing the two Shiksan corps to suffer a heavy bombardment and the loss of 45 catapults, which were used as their trump cards, the Shiksan army was unable to defend against the onslaught of cannons.
However, after cleaning up the battlefield, there were only 30,000 to 40,000 casualties. They had only lost a division, but the morale of the entire Alliance army was very low.
After returning to the camp, the high-ranking officers of the Alliance also made preparations for a sneak attack from the Monolith Army. They arranged two rows of sentries 500 meters in front of the camp, each guarded by a small team. Their mission was to warn the camp if they discovered an enemy sneak attack. This was a very common situation when the army was on guard at night.
Normally, in order to launch a night sneak attack on an enemy camp, especially this kind of large camp that spanned more than ten miles and had hundreds of thousands of people, one had to first deal with these night warning sentries that were set up in front of the camp.
However, the sentries were set up in a triangular formation of three and were only ten metres apart from each other. With a bonfire lit in the middle, one could clearly see what was going on at the other sentry posts.
Every sentry post was also surrounded by bonfires. Anyone within a hundred metres of the sentry post would be easily discovered.
Apart from that, the sentry posts were set up on high spots or at traffic junctions with defensive trenches dug out next to them.
The sentry posts were made of wood and stone and were three storeys high. They could defend against solid iron bullets fired from light infantry cannons.
Therefore, to deal with such a group of sentry posts, elite personnel were basically sent to carry out sneak attacks and assassinations to control or replace the enemy sentries.
Only in this way could a large force be organized to attack the enemy camp at night through the sentry post.
General Birkin ordered the artillery to pull the new infantry field artillery to these sentry posts in the middle of the night and violently bombard and destroy these sentry posts.
He then raised the muzzle and bombarded the enemy camp 500 metres away with the maximum range.
At the same time, he ordered the soldiers of Monolith to launch the long-barreled rockets they had brought, targeting the depths of the enemy camp.
These long-barreled rockets had a maximum range of 1,500 metres and were filled with white phosphorus. Like white phosphorus bombs, they quickly ignited a fire in the enemy camp.
The alliance army in the eastern region had already woken up when the Monolith Army bombarded the sentry post in front of the camp with artillery. They arranged the defense work of the camp according to the predetermined night attack plan.
Countless soldiers were punched and kicked into the trenches and defense facilities by the officers. Guns, cannons, and catapults were all aimed at the empty space in front of the camp. They were waiting for the soldiers of the Monolith Legion to appear so that they could strike them hard.
This was also the traditional way of defending against night attacks. However, the alliance army did not expect that General Birkin did not intend to use the traditional way to attack the enemy camp at night. Instead, he continued to bombard the enemy camp with the long-range range of the new infantry field artillery and the explosive power of the flower bomb.
For a while, the alliance soldiers ambushed in the trenches and defense facilities in front of the camp were once again subjected to overwhelming artillery fire. They were blown up and panicked …
General Birkin did not concentrate his forces to attack a certain point of the enemy camp and then break through the enemy camp from the point.
He directly ordered the two divisions, each with a combat regiment as a unit, to guard dozens of cannons and launch a full-scale attack on the camp of the alliance army that was more than ten miles long. The long-barreled rockets they carried were also fired in the direction of the enemy camp. There were a total of 5,000 rockets.
Fortunately, the low-level officers of the alliance army were quite strong. Coupled with the trenches and defense facilities to hide, although the artillery fire was fierce, the casualties were not heavy. They barely suppressed the panicked soldiers who were blown up.
At this time, whistling sounds came from the night sky again. Long-barreled rockets with long tails of flames swept over the camp defense position. Under the dumbfounded gazes of the Alliance officers and soldiers, they landed in the densely packed tents in the middle of the camp. Dazzling sparks erupted, and the tents began to burn one by one.
The night wind was a little strong, and the wind fueled the fire. There were also continuous artillery bombardments and long-barreled rockets passing overhead.
The army of Sidins Principality and Rimodra Principality on the right flank was the first to collapse. The soldiers climbed out of the trenches, abandoned their guns, and even knocked down the officers in front of them. They exclaimed that the camp was broken and ran for their lives!
They fled frantically to the rear camp and the middle camp …
The field regiment of the Monolith Legion, which was attacking the right flank of the enemy camp, found that the enemy in the opposite camp was fleeing. They immediately seized this opportunity to break the enemy's defense. The whole army pressed forward and chased after the enemy to create greater pressure and greater impact.
Like a big stone thrown into a river, the enemy who collapsed and fled swept the entire camp like a wave stirred up by a big stone. More fleeing enemies appeared. No one could watch their companions flee while they continued to hold the defensive position. Soon, the scene of the enemy army retreating in chaos appeared in front of the soldiers of the Monolith Legion …
"Stay alert. Be careful when chasing the enemy. If you find the enemy's rear troops, don't fight to the death. Wait for the arrival of the artillery troops in the rear …" General Birkin could only give such an order at this time.
After daybreak, news of victory spread. The Monolith Army had defeated three attacks by the Alliance Army in five days. Then, they attacked the enemy camp at night and successfully broke through the enemy camp, causing the entire enemy army to retreat. Then, they successfully pursued them.
The alliance army in the eastern region retreated to the second defense line in one breath before they could stand firm. After checking the losses, they found that out of the seven legions that entered Ambrize County, only four legions returned, and they also lost all the supplies and armaments they carried.
This battle was known as the Ambrize County Victory, and the Monolith Legion became famous throughout the world.