Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 391 Modern Warfare
In this era, people still held romanticized fantasies about war, much like those of the Middle Ages. After all, wars between nations were tangible and visible before, with cavalry, archers, and infantry. Nobles led the charge, guiding their knights in valiant battle, while soldiers brandished swords and shields, fighting face-to-face with the enemy—this was the main theme of the battlefield.

However, times have changed.

Guns replaced swords and spears, and steam-powered mechs and airships were things that had never existed before. But even so, for most people, their impression of war remained at a relatively ancient level.

No one knows what modern warfare means.

until today.

"Very good, everything went smoothly."

Upon receiving the news within the camp, General Aug von Rhein, commander of the Second Army of the Kingdom of Krant, nodded in satisfaction. Speed ​​was of the essence in war, and they had never intended to launch a direct assault on Sunfire Fortress from the outset. Given the effectiveness of the chimeras, General Aug had naturally considered this possibility: to breach Sunfire Fortress from within by digging tunnels and then take control of it.

Once they take over the Sunfire Fortress, the Krant must immediately rely on it to build a defensive line against the Empire, and so far everything seems to be going smoothly.

"report!"

Just then, a messenger suddenly ran into the camp.

"Report from the forward outpost: Unidentified enemy forces spotted in the air!"

"In the air?"

Upon hearing this news, General Aug was greatly alarmed. He hurriedly stepped out of his tent, grabbed his binoculars, and looked up at the sky. Sure enough, several airships were approaching in the azure sky. General Aug adjusted the binoculars and then saw red and white patterns painted above the airships…

"It's an Imperial armed airship!"

General Aug's expression was extremely grave. He had originally thought that even if the Empire began war mobilization now, it would take at least a day or two before they could take action. He hadn't expected the Empire to launch an attack so directly? No, that wasn't right. Given the speed of the airships, if the Empire had only reacted after they declared war, it wouldn't have had enough time.

Could it be that the empire had been prepared for this all along?

Or is it just a deliberate attempt to create mystery?

"Order the air defense positions to prepare; open fire immediately once the enemy enters firing range!"

"Yes!"

Even so, General Aug wasn't too worried. He had studied the Empire's armored airships, which were generally used for reconnaissance and ground bombing. For ground bombing, the airships had to descend to a lower altitude to ensure accuracy. By then, they would be well within range of the anti-aircraft guns and posed no real threat.

Perhaps the enemy intends to bomb our soldiers ahead with airships? That's certainly possible. However, you probably can't imagine how we managed to get our soldiers into the Scorching Sun Fortress, hahaha…

Thinking of this, General Aug felt even a little smug.

Just as he was pondering how to deal with these imperial airships, a muffled thunderous sound suddenly came from afar.

"Boom boom boom—!"

"what sound?"

Upon hearing the muffled thunder-like sound, General Aug paused for a moment, and then he heard a sharp whistling sound coming from afar, flying towards his head!
"Fire! Get down!"

General Aug shouted and lay down on the ground, but it was too late.

"Boom boom boom boom!!!"

Dozens of shells rained down mercilessly from the sky, landing in the camp of the Krant army. In an instant, men and horses fell everywhere, and flames and thick smoke filled the air.

“It’s off.”

Li Wei stared at the observation scope in front of him, then casually drew a circle on the map to confirm the hit location before handing it to Lieutenant Horn.

"Tell General Howe that the bombing range is a bit off."

Li Wei certainly couldn't convert coordinates and numbers, but fortunately, the Imperial Army had plenty of people better at math than him. Even if Li Wei could only provide a general location, they could still calculate the coordinates to aim and hit the target.

"Yes, sir."

Lieutenant Horn quickly turned and left, and a moment later, another round of artillery fire rang out.

"boom---!!"

In an instant, accompanied by deafening explosions, the entire Krant army position was shrouded in thick smoke. However, Levi's [Soul Vision] was clearly unaffected by the smoke. He watched as the radiance representing souls vanished one by one, then compared the locations of the explosions.

"Yes, tell General Hao that the air defense positions have been destroyed and we can begin operations."

Afterwards, Li Wei took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.

what happened?

General Aug scrambled to his feet, surveying his surroundings in disbelief. The once peaceful camp was now a sea of ​​fire, everything ablaze, men and horses strewn about – utter chaos. Artillery fire? From the air? Imperial airships? How could they have hit so accurately?

General Aug had now realized that the attack on his camp must have come from the Empire's airships. After all, those things fly, giving them a much greater range than their ground-based counterparts. The problem, however, was that he couldn't understand how the enemy could have such accuracy from such a distance.
Generally speaking, the greater the distance, the lower the accuracy. Even if the airship fired at you in the first round, it shouldn't be able to hit you this accurately!
In General Auger's view, this was so outrageous that it was comparable to a warship shooting a person in the head from 800 meters away!

However, these were just naval cannons, and their power was not great. If they hadn't hit the camp, they wouldn't have caused much of a problem. It was just that the other side got lucky!
"This is just a naval cannon, stay calm!"

General Aug stood up, dusted himself off, and then, as if struck by a sudden thought, looked up at the sky. He then saw the airships heading towards their camp!

"Damn it, what are the air defense forces doing? Open fire immediately! Open fire! Shoot down these damn airships!"

Looking at the armored airships in front of him, General Aug felt a chill run down his spine. The power of the ship's cannons was not great, but the bombs carried by these airships were a different story!
Fortunately, these airships had no other firepower besides carrying bombs, and they were relatively slow. As long as the anti-aircraft guns fired, they could be easily destroyed!

but……………

"Sir, the air defense positions have been completely destroyed! We must evacuate!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this news, General Aug looked at the other party in surprise.

"I set up six air defense positions, and they're all gone?"

"Yes, sir! The previous rounds of shelling have completely destroyed the anti-aircraft firepower of the anti-aircraft positions, we..."

Aug couldn't hear what his subordinates were saying anymore. He was staring at the sky, his mind buzzing, feeling as if his brain was completely blank.

The air defense positions were destroyed? All of them?
Just a few rounds of shelling?

How could the opponent have such accurate shooting?
Coincidence? Or premeditated? How exactly did the empire achieve this?

General Aug was still pondering, but he had no time to come to an answer, because at that moment, the Empire's armored airships arrived above the Kingdom of Krant's military camp like messengers of death, and then the hatches were flung open.

"—Whoosh—!"

Countless bombs rained down from the sky, landing on the ground and engulfing the entire camp in flames and smoke.

This is modern warfare.

Looking down through the observation scope, Li Wei sighed inwardly. The Krant Kingdom army camp must be a scene of carnage, a truly horrific sight.

However, what Li Wei saw was a scene like a match-3 game, with light spots disappearing one by one. He could easily kill hundreds or thousands of enemy soldiers without facing them, without any contact, and without any swords clashing.

In this respect, it's almost like magic.

If our missiles are fully developed, the battle situation will only become more one-sided...

For a moment, Li Wei even wondered if it was a bit unfair to use information warfare methods to fight a war in this era. But then he thought, the other side has even created chimeras. If we don't have satellites or radar, it's hard to say who will be bullying whom!

That's fine.

Li Wei hesitated for less than a second before putting everything out of his mind. He then checked the situation again through the observation mirror.

"Alright, inform General Hao that the enemy has retreated."

In fact, this time, even without Li Wei's report, General Hao had already received intelligence from the armored airships ahead.

"Good, good, very good!"

Upon hearing the report, General Hao's face flushed with excitement, and he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, I've fought a lifetime of battles, and this one was the easiest!"

While marveling at the situation, General Hao also found it unbelievable. He truly hadn't expected the war to be so easy. Looking back, he realized that the battle, from beginning to end, hadn't taken him much time. At most, he had fired a few rounds of artillery fire according to the coordinates given by Li Wei, and then sent armored airships to bombard the enemy. And then the enemy actually retreated like that?
"Is this information warfare...?"

Recalling the entire battle, General Hao was filled with emotion. Indeed, the battle was won with great ease, but that was based on the intelligence provided by Li Wei. If Li Wei hadn't marked the enemy's positions one by one through the intelligence, even if his side used artillery fire, it would have been merely a deterrent. It would have been impossible to destroy the enemy's anti-aircraft positions from such a long distance so easily.

Ultimately, it all comes down to information.

No wonder Sir Levy called this information warfare. Although General Howe also knew that previous battles relied heavily on intelligence to determine the enemy's personnel numbers, camp locations, and combat methods.

However, Li Wei's approach elevated the importance of intelligence information to the highest level!
If that's the case, then they might be able to fight their way all the way to Delin!

Of course, if Li Wei knew General Hao's thoughts, he would say he was overthinking it. With this rudimentary information-based warfare, it might be okay in the open field, but it would be completely useless in urban street fighting. Even with [Soul Vision], Li Wei couldn't do much, since the entire city was full of people; reality isn't a game where you're marked with red indicators. Right now, he didn't even know if the commander here was dead or had escaped.

But General Hao doesn't care about that now; he only knows that he's destined to win this battle!
(End of this chapter)