Uchiha's personal opinion

"Their boat wasn't even scratched! They came so easily, as if strolling through a garden!"

Magellan, the warden of Alexander, pointed at the fleet that had appeared on the horizon and cursed, "Aren't those Sea Kings supposed to be the outer defenses of Impel Down? Why haven't they shown up yet!"

"Shameless! Incompetent!"

"A navy utterly corrupt!"

"A weak and ineffective world government!"

Director Magellan's sweeping generalizations gradually went astray, but no one dared to step forward to stop him.

After all, they were facing a terrifying force capable of easily sinking a fleet!

"Where are the coastal defense guns?!"

Magellan, his temper flaring, continued his tirade: "Get the artillery going!"

"Chief, our coastal defense artillery has insufficient range..."

A naval officer who was stationed at the fort and not engaged in combat said timidly, "Moreover, they are right outside the fort's pre-set firing range..."

"Then adjust the cannon's muzzle!"

Magellan kicked a naval officer so hard he fell flat on his face. "Are you still waiting for them to steer the ship into the predetermined firing range?!"

"A bunch of useless trash!"

"The navy is all useless!"

Having vented his anger, Magellan stood fuming, hands on his hips, staring at the well-rested First Fleet, when Deputy Director Hannibal came running over, carrying a Den Den Mushi: "Admiral Sengoku from Marine Headquarters, a telegram!"

Considering the other party's identity, even with all his dissatisfaction with the Navy, Magellan could only suppress his anger and make the call: "Mishi Mishi!"

"The fleet from the Naval Headquarters has already sailed through the fast lane to provide support. Director Magellan, please lead the remaining troops to hold out until reinforcements arrive."

The Sengoku general didn't bother with pleasantries and stated directly, "Imperial Castle cannot be lost before reinforcements arrive!"

"You don't need to tell me that!"

Suddenly, for some reason, Director Magellan felt a surge of anger welling up inside him, almost burning away his reason. After giving a curt reply, he hung up the phone and then shouted at the coastal defense navy, who were frantically adjusting their gun positions, "Fire!"

As if the long-range attacks of the coastal defense guns could provide some psychological comfort, Magellan's mood suddenly calmed down after the Impel Down forts began firing indiscriminately.

But it didn't last long.

"Boom boom boom!"

With a deafening roar, the First Legion's battle fleet opened fire!

Even someone as powerful as Magellan was momentarily stunned by the roar of the heavy artillery barrage!

"Intercept them immediately!"

Looking at the dense barrage of shells that almost covered the sky, Magellan immediately roared.

His expertise lies in various highly toxic techniques, making him utterly powerless when it comes to intercepting high-speed objects!

……

"This is the power of heavy artillery!"

Hanzo the Salamander, observing the bombardment from the flagship's command center, had a flushed face, and his gas mask was flapping loudly.

"This is also the power of the ninja world!"

"Such power, and such beauty!"

Although he saw many powerful figures in Impel Down stepping forward and intercepting the chakra projectiles with their own strength, Hanzo of the Salamander remained unconcerned.

He believed that human strength was ultimately limited, while the fleet carried enough shells to flatten the entire Impel Down, so it didn't matter if they were used up—after all, the third phase of the operation required a landing to clear out the enemy.

"Bring me paper and a pen!"

After watching the bombardment scene for a long time, Hanzo the Salamander suddenly became very poetic.

However, after the strategist ninjas prepared the pens, ink, paper, and writing materials, Hanzo of the Salamander found that his brain seemed to have frozen, and he didn't know what to write!

But this was in front of a large audience, with many high-ranking officials present, so he couldn't just abandon his pen and not write.

After hesitating for a moment, Hanzo the Salamander wrote eight large characters with a flourish of his brush, then tossed the brush aside and walked out of the command center with his hands behind his back.

Everyone immediately crowded around to take a look, only to find a sentence written in plain language—

"Big is good, more is beautiful!"

Chapter 505 The Siege of Impel Down

However, this offensive did not seem to go very smoothly. Not long after the fleet began bombarding, Hanzo the Salamander realized that something was wrong!

The defenders atop Impel Down seemed to have a perpetual motion machine built into them, as if they had no concept of fatigue, and they intercepted most of the cannonballs fired by the fleet!

Moreover, since Impel Down is a rock structure, the flames from the explosive bombs can only ignite a small number of ground buildings, but they are quickly extinguished before they can spread into a massive fire on the island!

"What's going on...?"

Hanzo the Salamander returned to the command room with a furrowed brow and a sudden heavy feeling in his heart!

This is something the dynasty's navy has never encountered before during its expeditions!

Could the chakra cannonballs have expired and become ineffective? That can't be!

Watching the shells and fireworks being intercepted and detonated prematurely in mid-air, Hanzo the Salamander began to get a little annoyed!

"After all, it's a fortified island, which is different from a ship floating on the sea..."

Orochimaru, who was also observing the bombardment, said, "In naval battles, these puppet government naval forces, because they are clustered on their ships, not only have limited visibility, but their vessels are also easily ignited or penetrated by explosive shells, leading to their sinking..."

"But this fortress is, after all, made of rock, and explosive shells are somewhat lacking in both rate of fire and penetration."

"Moreover, this kind of fortress is probably able to maximize the combat power of so-called Devil Fruit users—they won't be exhausted from falling into the water!"

"...So, this is the true strength of the pirate world?"

Hanzo of the Salamander spoke in a sinister tone, pointing at Impel Down where people were still leaping into the air to intercept cannon fire, and said, "So, in fact, these Marines weren't able to unleash their true fighting power in the previous battles?"

"Now it seems that's true! After all, our warships have such a huge advantage that those naval forces could only die in frustration."

Orochimaru calmly replied, "But this is based on an absolute intelligence advantage. Moreover, as the number of battles increases, the enemy cannot remain completely unaware of our intelligence forever. Therefore, it is inevitable that the war will become more and more difficult as time goes by."

"Indeed, as Your Majesty said... this is a new world that should not be underestimated!"

After pondering for a moment, Hanzo the Salamander sighed softly.

Orochimaru nodded without saying a word.

He was waiting for Hanzo the Salamander's next question.

"Then... does Director Orochimaru have any good suggestions?"

Sure enough, after a while, Hanzo the Salamander humbly asked for advice.

"I have three options: superior, middle, and inferior."

Orochimaru responded immediately.

"I would like to hear the details!"

"The best strategy is to eliminate all descendants!"

Orochimaru pointed at Impel Down and said, "Based on the close observation by the ninja snakes I sent out, judging from its architectural features, this should be a semi-man-made island. The whole structure is a huge tower-like structure that is submerged in the sea, with its foundation on the seabed, and there are empty layers of the building below the sea surface."

"Therefore, the best way is to have the submarines directly attack the underwater walls, hollow out their foundations, and cause the entire island to collapse. In this way, the defenders of Impel Down will collapse without a fight!"

Orochimaru's 'best strategy' startled Hanzo of the Salamander, but after a moment's thought, he shook his head: "That's not advisable... This place is, after all, intended to be His Majesty's base for his personal campaigns. If we were to sink the entire island fortress..."

"It's alright, I have a middle-ground plan."

Orochimaru calmly said, "That means we should keep bombarding Impel Down, only surrounding it and not attacking. Anyway, the defenders of the fortress can't break out to launch a counterattack against us. But we can transfer all our main warships to Lumbu's command and annihilate the navy that comes to our aid!"

"According to intelligence, the one leading the support fleet this time is an admiral, one of the three great generals of the navy! His combat strength must be considerable."

"You should know that the higher the rank of these pseudo-government navies, the stronger they are. Although there will definitely be some mediocre ones, we still cannot be careless."

"Moreover, since the first battle between Mr. Lunbu and the puppet government's navy, the highest-ranking officer we've been able to contact is a major general..."

Orochimaru said earnestly, "Commander Hanzo, please reconsider!"

"...Is there a last resort?"

Hanzo the Salamander hesitated for a long time, but still couldn't make up his mind.

"The worst-case scenario is to concentrate firepower, changing the all-encompassing salvo bombardment to a high-density barrage aimed at a specific location, and use firepower to tear through their interception lines!"

Orochimaru pointed to the gates of Impel Down and said, "Then, under the cover of artillery fire, send out a Marine brigade to land and annihilate them!"

"...But if that happens, the casualties of the ninja army will skyrocket."

Hanzo the Salamander sighed.

According to the intelligence obtained from the interrogation of the captured naval soldiers, the remaining garrison of Impel Down numbered approximately two thousand. However, the guards and wardens of the Great Prison were all formidable individuals. Moreover, Impel Down also held a large number of vicious pirate prisoners. If these pirate prisoners were to break free and cause trouble, even if the first level of Impel Down was captured, the ninja army would have a hard time dealing with the situation.

More importantly, if a landing operation is forced, the three regiments of the Dynasty Army's Fourth Corps attached to the First Army Corps, and even the Marine Corps brigade, are very likely to suffer heavy losses in the bloody close combat!

He was not an indecisive person, and before the battle, Uchiha Tokumitsu had almost explicitly stated that he wanted Impel Down, not casualties. This showed Uchiha Tokumitsu's determination, as well as his complete trust and abandonment of Hanzo of the Salamander.

But precisely because of this, Hanzo the Salamander felt that he absolutely could not disappoint His Majesty—he wanted both combat efficiency and a controllable casualty ratio!

Orochimaru shrugged and didn't reply.

He actually preferred to stay in the laboratory dissecting those prisoners of various shapes and races. After all, most of the captured marines had eaten so-called Devil Fruits, and the strength they displayed, apart from the basic Six Powers of the Navy, was basically the special abilities developed based on the Devil Fruits they had eaten.

It was through privately conducting preliminary dissections of the remains of some fallen naval soldiers that Orochimaru gained a deeper understanding of the 'native strongmen' of this world. If it weren't for the limited functionality of the simple tools he carried, Orochimaru would have already conducted live dissection experiments on the spot.

"Pity……"

Although Orochimaru was still observing the naval gunfire, his mind was already wandering far and wide.

He wouldn't have stayed in the command room watching 'fireworks' to pass the time if he wasn't really bored.

"...Notify all ships to concentrate firepower and bombard the main gate of Impulse City!"

After much hesitation, Hanzo of the Salamander decided to adopt half of the inferior strategy offered by Orochimaru—bombing without landing, creating a dense barrage through direct firepower to exceed the interception limit of the Impel Down defenders!

Moreover, he really didn't believe that if he really bombed this place for three days and three nights, these strong soldiers in the garrison wouldn't be exhausted to death!

But that's not enough!