Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 304 Dimensional Reduction Attack! Superb Firepower Output

Woohoo——!
The cannons of Ximentang began to unleash their power.

A shell streaks across the sky and falls in a parabolic trajectory.

A rebel officer leading the charge was hit by a shell.

boom--!
A deafening explosion rang out, and the unfortunate officer was blown to pieces on the spot, leaving no trace of his body.

He didn't even have time to make a sound.

Then,

After the shell exploded, the resulting shockwave spread outwards.

The rebel soldiers standing nearby were also confused about what was going on.

They were quickly knocked to the ground by the shockwave.

Although Simon Hall only used three hundred mortars at this time, and did not adopt a full-coverage continuous bombardment.

but,

The rebel laborers charged in a dense formation.

Due to the terrain of the Tongshankou Fortress, there is only one road, making it impossible for troops to be dispersed.

This resulted in a very long battle line.

Once the cannons from Ximentang were to fire, their destructive power would be undeniable, and they would quickly seal off the entire valley passage.

Some rebel soldiers were thrown to the ground by the shockwave, their bones shattered, and blood gushed from their mouths.

in addition,

The shells were filled with lead pellets.

Anyone hit by shrapnel or lead pellets will either die or be maimed.

For a while,
With the first wave of artillery fire, the rebel army's handymen were completely routed.

In less than a minute,
The ground was littered with corpses, deep craters, and severed limbs.

Some of the wounded rebel soldiers were writhing on the ground in pain, letting out pitiful howls.

hiss--!
Many of the unarmed soldiers who hadn't been hit couldn't help but gasp.

They were completely stunned by what they saw, and felt terrified.

Chen Jie put down his binoculars on the high ground of Tongshankou Fortress.

He was very satisfied with the results of the first round of artillery bombardment.

During this period, he led his troops through many major battles and became accustomed to the frenzied killing on the battlefield.

Therefore,
He remained unmoved and calm despite witnessing the bloody and cruel side of the battlefield.

Then,

He ordered a second round of shelling.

The most outstanding features of the Ximentang mortar are its high mobility and continuous firing capability.

Because the cannon barrel is made of cold-forged special seamless steel pipe, it can fire 15 rounds continuously within one minute without the barrel exploding.

To conserve ammunition, it's natural not to fire fifteen shells per minute.

Under normal circumstances, firing six shells per minute is enough to achieve absolute firepower suppression.

With the frenzied firing of three hundred cannons, the rebel army's initial charge was instantly destroyed.

Each round of shelling resulted in the deaths of at least a thousand rebels.

For a while,
The rebel army's initial charge of laborers was routed, leaving them screaming and howling in utter misery.

but,

Although these miscellaneous soldiers were of poor combat ability, they had very strict battlefield discipline.

Although they were only probing, they absolutely could not retreat without orders.

Not far away, the heavy machine guns of the supervising team were already set up.

If the miscellaneous troops retreat without authorization, they will be met with relentless machine gun fire.

Therefore, although the miscellaneous troops suffered heavy losses after being bombarded, no one dared to retreat.

If you want to survive, there's only one way: keep moving forward.

Their only hope was to break into the blind spot of the artillery and then launch a counterattack.

but,

This goal is not so easy to achieve.

After a series of charges, the rebel soldiers lost more than half their men, and their entire formation was completely thrown into disarray.

More and more corpses were left in front of the Hulukou Valley, the entire Tongshankou Fortress.

but,

At this point, the rebel army's laborers were only one kilometer away from Ximentang's defensive position.

If they can hold out for just a few more minutes, they can break into Ximentang's defensive positions and engage in hand-to-hand combat with Ximentang.

Moreover, as the distance of the charge closed, they had entered the blind spot of the artillery.

this moment,
The rebels, who were charging forward, saw a glimmer of hope.

"Come on—!"

With a shout, they quickened their pace.

but,

Hope was short-lived, and despair soon followed.

As they charged, they quickly entered the range of Ximentang's heavy machine guns.

Da da—da da—!
With the heavy machine gun firing fiercely, bullets rained down like a storm, covering everything in front of them.

More than forty heavy machine guns opened fire fiercely on the front.

Plop—plop—!
The rebel ragtag troops fell like wheat being harvested, one after another.

The heavy machine gun's frenzied firing was even more lethal than the previous artillery suppression.

After each round of mortar fire, there was always a brief respite.

Even after hearing the sound of artillery shells piercing the air, lying down can help avoid bomb attacks.

After a round of shells was detonated, they got up again and charged forward.

Therefore,
In order to conserve ammunition, Ximentang did not use full fire coverage, and each round of artillery attack had a buffer period.

This is why the miscellaneous troops were not completely wiped out after a round of bombing.

but,

When the laborers approached the defensive fortifications of Ximentang, they were met with a fierce barrage of heavy machine gun fire.

The heavy machine guns used crossfire, leaving no time for respite.

For a while,
The rebel's handymen were engulfed by heavy machine gun fire and fell in droves.

Within 300 meters of the Ximentang defensive position, a vacuum zone was formed.

No rebels could cross the line; they were stopped 300 meters away.

Da da—da da—!
The number of rebel casualties increased dramatically once they entered the range of heavy machine guns.

at the same time,

The sniper rifles on both flanks also began to show their power.

Each round of sniping can take down the generals who are charging at the forefront.

The rebel's handymen kept charging, but once they entered the 300-meter defensive perimeter, they could not advance any further.

Corpses piled up like mountains, and blood continued to spread across the ground.

A gust of wind blew.

Aside from the smell of gunpowder after the bombardment, all that remained was the pungent stench of blood, which was nauseating.

With the heavy machine guns firing fiercely, the miscellaneous troops were quickly and completely routed.

Even with the supervisory team behind them, they fled for their lives, turning and running away.

Continuing to charge forward will only lead to certain death.

Retreat might offer a glimmer of hope.

After a few minutes,
The battlefield fell silent, leaving only a pile of corpses.

Sun Zhong, who was watching the battle from a distance, was completely stunned when he saw this scene.

He quickly ordered the supervisory team to collect the heavy machine guns.

At this moment, he knew very well that once the supervisory team opened fire, these retreating laborers would definitely rise up in resistance.

Therefore,
The supervisory team must cease fire so that these miscellaneous troops can withdraw.

After the miscellaneous soldiers retreated to their positions, Sun Zhong took stock of them.

Fifteen thousand men of miscellaneous laborers launched an attack. Unexpectedly, fewer than two thousand men retreated in the end.

That is,

The probing attack just now resulted in the deaths of over 13,000 men of the laborers under artillery and heavy machine gun fire!

hiss--!
Sun Zhong felt like his head was about to explode.

The probing attack just now lasted less than half an hour.

The actual attack lasted less than ten minutes.

Damn it!
Why is Ximentang's firepower so fierce?

Sun Zhong was horrified when he saw this.

Although he did not expect that 15,000 miscellaneous soldiers could break through the Tongshankou Fortress.

but,

He never expected that in less than half an hour, the entire miscellaneous army would be completely defeated.

The most terrifying thing is that the lowly soldiers couldn't even break through to within 300 meters of the enemy camp.

This method of overwhelming the enemy with superior firepower is essentially a form of dimensional reduction attack.

Sun Zhong had never seen this kind of tactic before.

Under overwhelming firepower, the rebels had no way to break through and could only passively take hits, unable to breach the defenses.

Only then did Sun Zhong realize that Ximen Hall, known as the number one fighting force in the Great Qian Dynasty, truly lived up to its reputation.

Their terrifying combat power far surpassed that of any force he had ever encountered before.

Whether it was the army of Li Mu, the Prince of Ning in the Northwest, the army of the Prince of Shu in Southern Sichuan, the elite troops of the Great Qian Dynasty, or even the Kwantung Army of the East Seas.

Although they all used artillery, they also began to equip themselves with heavy machine guns.

but,

The number of cannons they used was definitely not as large as that of Ximentang.

Generally, as long as they can withstand a few rounds of artillery fire, they can charge into the enemy's camp and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

However, Ximentang had too many heavy machine guns, resulting in an overwhelming firepower advantage.

We can't get through!

Dozens of heavy machine guns were firing at full power, almost without any pause.

In this state, not even a fly could fly over, let alone a person.

call--!
Sun Zhong couldn't help but take a deep breath and look up at the generals beside him.

this moment,
The rebel generals around him all looked extremely grim.

They are no longer arrogant.

Clearly, they were so frightened by Ximentang's overwhelming attack that they lost their fighting spirit.

Sun Zhong believed that as long as he ordered the troops to withdraw.

Then, the generals around him would definitely agree in unison.

After all, he was the most capable general under Li Ben, the Prince of Han, a veteran of many battles, and his will was as firm as a rock.

Although he was also stunned by the power of Ximentang's cannons at this moment.

but,

He knew very well that if he retreated like this, he would not only fail to recover Xianning Prefecture.

The situation established by Li Ben, the Prince of Han, will soon collapse.

Once Ximen Tang uses Xianning Prefecture as its base and expands towards Huangshi Prefecture, it will cut off the retreat route of Prince Li Ben of Han.

As a result,
King Li Ben of Han marched towards Jinling, where he would fight alone.

We cannot retreat!

Sun Zhong kept reminding himself that he absolutely could not retreat.

He took a deep breath and said to the general beside him:
"As everyone has just seen, the artillery of the Daqian army is incredibly powerful."

"Their artillery numbers far exceed ours, and they are also equipped with significantly more heavy machine guns than we are."

"However, they have a weakness: they dare not engage in close combat with us."

"If we can break into their ranks and engage them in close combat, rendering their artillery and heavy machine guns ineffective, we will have a chance to win!"

"Don't forget, we have an overwhelming numerical advantage."

After hearing Sun Zhong's words, all the generals around him regained some of their fighting spirit.

Many of them were former bandits and were quite skilled in martial arts.

Some of the generals were even gang leaders, and their martial arts skills had even reached the pinnacle of Iron Bone Dark Force.

They are unruly and worship force!

Although they held the power of firearms in awe, they also felt deeply resentful.

At this time,

Ma Nanshan, Sun Zhong's most capable general, couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of saliva:

"The reason why Ximentang was able to make a name for himself in the Battle of Dagu Fortress in Tianjin and station troops in Shandong was because of his artillery!"

"As long as I can limit their artillery, killing them is as easy as killing a chicken for me."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Fu'an frowned, took a deep breath, and said:
"Alright, what's the point of saying all this? The battlefield isn't about martial arts skills."

"Simon's firepower is so fierce, the key is how we can break into their position."

"To break through the Tongshankou Fortress and recapture Xianning Prefecture, we must limit the enemy's firepower, otherwise we cannot win."

The surrounding generals fell silent.

Sun Zhong picked up his monocular telescope and glanced in the direction of Tongshankou Fortress.

He pondered for a moment and said:
"To breach the Tongshankou Fortress, we must increase the speed of our charge!"

"Use heavily armored warhorses to charge and draw Ximentang's firepower. This is our only chance!"

"We will gather all the heavily armored warhorses and use their armor for protection, with elite troops following closely behind."

"Remember, don't ride horses. Just increase the armor of your warhorses and use them to draw fire."

"At the cost of losing a number of warhorses, we can limit the enemy's heavy machine guns."

"As long as we can charge into the enemy's camp and engage in hand-to-hand combat, we will definitely be able to wipe out Ximen Tang's troops without leaving a single survivor!"

After hearing Sun Zhong's words, everyone around couldn't help but nod in agreement.

have to say,

Sun Zhong's ability to become the leader of the rebel army demonstrates his exceptionally rich combat experience.

He quickly devised a tactical approach to counter the heavy machine gun.

They charged forward on heavily armored warhorses, acting as human shields to draw Ximentang's firepower.

Meanwhile, the rebels' elite troops, following behind their warhorses, continuously counterattacked with muskets.

and,

Warhorses can charge much faster than infantry.

As long as they can withstand the heavy machine gun fire, they can break through the enemy's lines within minutes.

Although this tactic resulted in very heavy losses.

but,

If you can break into the opponent's territory, your chances of winning are over 80%!

Ximentang's combat force consisted of only 10,000 men.

The capture of Tongshankou Fortress meant the capture of Xianning Prefecture.

quickly,

The rebels began to gather the horses and dress them in thick armor.

Ma Nanshan stepped forward, approached Sun Zhong, and said:

"General, let me personally lead the army into battle this time. I am confident that I can break through Ximentang's lines!"

"After I kill a few of the Ximentang generals, I'll seize their cannons and study them to see how they were made. They're even more powerful than the Japanese field guns."

The cannons of Ximentang were too powerful.

All the rebel generals were extremely envious.

Sun Zhong finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his generals had regained their fighting spirit.

He took a deep breath and said in a low voice:

"Alright! Brother Ma, as long as we can charge and break through Ximentang's position, I'll give you the credit!"

"When the time comes to reward those who have contributed, you'll definitely get your share!"

(End of this chapter)