Chapter 1143 Firepower Saturation
Ma Qiang let out a sound of surprise: "What? The militia is actively attacking Tieshan Ping?"
His subordinate replied, "Yes, they speak with a strong Shaanxi accent."
Wang Wen exclaimed, "Ah? It's those people! The newcomers."
Ma Qiang chuckled upon hearing this. "I was just about to go find them, and they've actually come looking for death themselves? Excellent, excellent, saves me a lot of trouble. Come on, lads, let's go out and take care of them all."
Ma Qiang, with his subordinates, swaggered to the edge of the fortress.
The Shu military encampment, naturally, boasted a superb strategic location. It sat atop the highest point of Tieshan Ping, on a steep cliff face, with the mighty Yangtze River flowing southwards, cutting through Tongluo Gorge on its way to the East China Sea. To the northeast and west, treacherous slopes made attack difficult and defense easy.
Ma Qiang and his crew reached the cliff's edge and peered down, confirming that a militia force had indeed gathered at the foot of the mountain. Their numbers weren't large, only around a thousand men.
What weapons they carried was unclear; they were too far away to distinguish.
For a mere thousand men to attack a mountain fortress garrisoned by two thousand five hundred was truly a joke that fell flat.
The bandits roared with laughter.
Wang Wen joined in the laughter.
Unbeknownst to them, Cheng Xu was at the base of the mountain, analyzing the terrain of Tieshan Ping. Reconnaissance hot air balloons had already meticulously mapped the area and delivered the topographical charts into his hands.
Cheng Xu studied the map, turning it this way and that, then shook his head. "This mountain is perilous, and the ancient Shu military encampment already sits atop it. These bandits don't even need to use their brains; simply occupying the old Shu barracks gives them the optimal defensive position. Alas, the wisdom of the Shu strategists is now being exploited by these thugs—what a pity. If we directly assault the mountain, there's at least a fifty percent chance of meeting our great-grandmothers."
Cheng Xu would never undertake anything that carried a risk of meeting his great-grandmothers.
Forget fifty percent; even a one percent chance was too much.
Only when victory was assured would Cheng Xu display true bravery.
After pondering for a long moment, stroking his chin, Cheng Xu issued his command: "No direct assault on the mountain."
The company commander beside him whispered, "Then what?"
Cheng Xu replied, " 'Then what'? Don't you have any judgment of your own? Come on, tell me loudly, which regiment are we?"
The company commander saluted sharply. "Gao Family Village's First Regiment!"
Cheng Xu asked, "Number One. Do you know what that signifies?"
The company commander declared loudly, "We were the first to enlist, the most thoroughly trained, and possess the finest equipment..."
Cheng Xu grinned. "Heh, good that you know. Equipment, that's it—bring out all our best equipment."
The company commander saluted sharply again. "Understood!"
He turned and relayed the order: "First Regiment of Gao Family Village, First Artillery Battalion, attention!"
The elite Gao Family Village artillerists, all eager for action, emerged.
Along the base of Tieshan Ping, they arrayed a vast number of small, short-barreled cannons.
These short-barreled cannons, each no thicker than a man's arm, were portable by a single soldier, yet their range was immense. Yes, they were exactly what you were thinking.
Cheng Xu bellowed, "Blast them!"
The artillery battalion commander, his face alight with excitement, said, "Instructor He, we're certainly thrilled with this order! But blasting away with all our firepower like this, the shells will be used up too quickly. Won't it make our First Regiment look like wasteful spendthrifts?"
Cheng Xu laughed, chiding him, "Don't you know the Heavenly Lord's temperament? As long as it reduces casualties among our own people, no matter the cost, the Heavenly Lord will say it's worth it. Conversely, if you try to save money and cause even a minor scratch to one of our soldiers, the Heavenly Lord will be upset for quite a while."
That made sense!
Every original resident of Gao Family Village knew that the Heavenly Lord valued human lives far more than saving resources.
In that case, let the assault begin!
"Open fire!"
"Open fire!"
A multitude of small cannon barrels simultaneously unleashed a torrent of fire upon the mountaintop...
On the mountaintop, Ma Qiang, Wang Wen, and their subordinates were still standing at the cliff's edge, watching the spectacle below. Little did they know that the enemy wasn't climbing the mountain, nor did they show any signs of advancing. Instead, they were fussing around with some unknown iron pipes at the base.
Then, a rumbling chorus of cannon fire erupted, and a cascade of question marks seemed to appear above everyone's heads.
The very next instant, the shells arrived!
"Boom!"
With a deafening crash, several bandits screamed and fell.
"Boom! Boom boom boom!"
Plumes of white smoke erupted everywhere within the Shu military encampment, as shells rained down, one after another, as if costing nothing, deluging the barracks...
An ancient earthen watchtower, a relic from the Han Dynasty, collapsed with a resounding boom.
Half of the fortress wall, also dating back to the Han Dynasty, crumbled with another crash.
The ramshackle wooden houses and dilapidated thatched huts built by the bandits themselves were even less resilient, pulverized into flying splinters and scattering straw. In the blink of an eye, the entire Shu military encampment seemed to face an apocalypse...
Bandits were constantly struck by shrapnel, falling never to rise again.
Ma Qiang and Wang Wen lay prone on the ground, not daring to lift their heads, clutching their skulls with trembling hands.
Though incredibly unlucky, they were, in fact, quite fortunate.
For they were among the first people in this world to truly experience "firepower saturation"—a distinction that, in itself, put them at the forefront of their era.
Later, whenever they ventured out, they could boast to anyone who'd listen: "Brother, do you know what 'firepower saturation' is? I do! I was right there, caught in the thick of it!"
The thunderous roar of cannons continued for an immeasurable length of time.
Ma Qiang found himself covered in a thick layer of sand. He rolled over, sat up, and gazed around, only to realize that the mountain fortress he had managed for so many years was now reduced to ashes, destroyed! Utterly ruined!
Everything had been leveled.
He nudged Wang Wen beside him, only to find that Wang Wen was also alive, likewise caked in sand and dust. As Wang Wen sat up, the earth cascaded from his body.
"Is it over? It's finally stopped?" Wang Wen's voice trembled. "What kind of devilish cannons are these? How could they fire from the foot of that mountain, so many of them, and then explode?"
Ma Qiang's lips quivered. "It's all over, all completely over."
He bellowed, his voice raw, "How many brothers are still alive?"
"Boss... I'm... alive..." A figure slowly emerged from the rubble.
Then another...
One after another, people clambered out from behind various piles of rubble, broken walls, and earthen pits.
It seemed fewer had been killed than he'd imagined; at least two thousand men were still alive. However, the survivors' courage had been utterly shattered, their will to fight completely broken.
A subordinate, his eyes vacant, pointed towards the base of the mountain. "Boss, they're starting to climb. What do we do? Should we counter-attack?"
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