In Ya'an City behind the federal position, bright fires burst out from several locations, and smoke filled the air.
A large number of artillery shells flew across the sky with a harsh sound, leaving behind extremely beautiful curves.
The landing location was the Hesse position on the hillside of Qassam.
Boom~~~~Boom~~~~Boom
One shell after another exploded in the Hesse Army, like grand fireworks.
Yellow is the rising dust; cyan is the broken rocks; red is the splashing blood mist.
The Hesse Legion, which was originally well-positioned and ready to charge immediately, turned out to be what they thought the enemy would become soon after.
In just an instant, Hesse's positions were everywhere, the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood, and soldiers' wails before the end of their lives were everywhere.
A cannonball landed not far from Elder Ziniu. Even the red-level defensive contract items could not withstand the powerful shock wave. The whole person was thrown away from the war horse.
In a brief coma, he felt that he was being rescued from the ground. He vaguely saw that it was the army commanders who had just discussed how to win with him who were dragging him to move.
At this time, only two words flashed in his mind:
artillery?!
That's right, it's artillery!
Because of his so-called combat experience, Elder Ziniu stubbornly believes that the power to determine the outcome of the current war still lies in the number of people, and to gain the upper hand, it depends on which side can take the lead in charging.
After all, this is a rule summarized in countless small-scale civil wars among the Hesse tribes in the southern provinces, and it is an iron-clad rule of victory.
There has been no war in the Federation for thousands of years. The Federation army has no actual combat experience and knows how devastating a collective charge of tens of thousands of cavalrymen riding war horses and holding rifles can be.
Therefore, relying on the height advantage, the Hesse cavalry charge will have a terrifying power bonus. They are extremely close to the outcome of this battle, and the only difference between them is his order.
They didn't need to dig trenches to defend themselves against attacks like the Union Army did.
As a result, the artillery shells fell like raindrops on the relatively gentle open areas of the hillside, on their unobstructed positions, and in the dense formation.
It feels like the federal artillery is hitting a row of possible targets.
"Retreat, retreat, retreat!"
Elder Ziniu, who regained consciousness, suddenly broke away from the support of his subordinates, used the talisman to amplify his voice, and roared at the fleeing soldiers:
"Retreat to Shannan!"
"Retreat to Shannan!"
After receiving the order, three yellow signal flares were launched into the sky one after another, and the Hershey regiment quickly fled towards the top of the mountain.
It has to be said that Elder Ziniu responded very quickly. Several large legions from the southern tribe were on the northern slope. Facing the enemy positions in the Kassam Plain, they only needed to retreat south and cross the top of the mountain a few hundred meters away to reach the south of the mountain.
Avoid cannonball attacks on one side.
Elder Ziniu activated the talisman, and his body suddenly erupted with bright light, and a set of thick knight armor covered his entire body.
This is exactly his contract ability. He can use the talisman to materialize this armor. After wearing it, it will not only gain extremely strong defense capabilities, but also significantly increase the power of the body.
He took a step forward, raised the fallen handsome flag high, and climbed to the top of the mountain holding the flag.
With the signal to retreat and the guidance of the flag, the various legions covered by artillery fire on the position found the direction to escape, scrambling to follow the footsteps of the Ziniu elders.
It is indeed easy to go down the mountain, but it is indeed difficult to go up the mountain! Especially under the current situation of being hit by artillery fire, the remnants of the Hesse army were being attacked by artillery shells while running away. At the same time, of course, the federal side down the mountain could clearly see the retreat. , because the Hesse Army's escape direction was just this way, they found that the team here was more concentrated, and they immediately gathered the artillery shells on the originally scattered Hesse position.
This short mountain road of a few hundred meters is the lifeline for the survival of the Hesse Army, and it is also the hell for the Hesse Army.
After they all fled to Shannan, the sound of gunfire finally stopped.
The hillside of several hundred meters was already littered with corpses and body parts. The entire road turned dark red, and a lot of bright red liquid had gathered in large and small craters.
After reintegrating the team, Elder Ziniu soon heard a shocking figure. The number of casualties exceeded 10,000.
That's the number of people in an entire legion! You must know that there are six Hesse legions following him as the vanguard, and the total strength is only close to 70,000.
Under such tyrannical artillery fire, Elder Ziniu was extremely angry, but there was nothing he could do about it - the federal expeditionary force could hit them, but they couldn't reach each other.
"Elder!"
The commander of the Second Army had a trembling tone: "What kind of weapon is this? It's like"
"The Wrath of the Iron God!"
The commander of the fourth firepower corps was equally horrified. His team was best at suppressing fire, but in the face of such powerful artillery, he felt that the heavy machine guns in his corps had become like fire sticks:
"The key is to be able to hit so far! We can't fight back at such a terrifying attack distance!"
Several other legion commanders fell silent and all looked at Elder Ziniu.
Seeing that he had suffered such a blow in vain and the morale of his side was greatly reduced, Elder Ziniu secretly thought that something was wrong.
In his view, morale is one of the most critical factors that determine victory or defeat.
Now that the two parties have not yet fought, the Hesse Legion has been suppressed, which will be extremely detrimental to the subsequent battle.
Elder Ziniu forced himself to stand up, letting the knight's steel armor on his body dissipate, and looked around at everyone with cold eyes:
"First, what are the casualties of the Second Cavalry Regiment?"
The commander of the first army and the commander of the second army looked at each other and revealed the casualty figures. They both lost nearly 20% of their soldiers.
Elder Ziniu closed his eyes, seeming to be deep in thought about something. He was recalling the information about artillery that Elder Red Niu had said at the Five Bulls meeting. After making a decision, he opened his eyes and said coldly to everyone:
"The weapon they use is called artillery! This weapon originated from the Federal Academy of Natural Sciences and was developed by a young scholar more than a month ago. Unexpectedly, the artillery has been deployed here."
The doubts in everyone's minds were explained, and they couldn't help but look at Elder Ziniu. The commander-in-chief is awesome, everyone knows this!
Elder Ziniu coughed lightly and continued calmly:
"Because this kind of weapon has just come out, the technology and craftsmanship are not yet mature. Although we have lost a lot of warriors in this round of attacks, in fact, their artillery positions are not optimistic either!"
Hearing what the commander said, several legion commanders looked at each other, confused.
Elder Ziniu struck while the iron was hot and glanced at everyone with a confident look that understood everything:
"After all, this weapon has just come out, and the technology is immature. The barrel often explodes when used. Therefore, the round of artillery fire on us just now will probably cause heavy casualties to their artillery battalion."
"Yes, that's it. You have already seen the power of this artillery. You should be able to make a comparison. The rifles we usually use in Cochinlum often explode, causing us to lose thousands of Hesse warriors, not to mention
Their artillery camp, after all, the power of artillery shells is not comparable to that of rifle bullets."
The commander of the Fourth Army suddenly showed a stunned expression and echoed:
"Of course! We are equipped with the Cochin Ram Company's Annihilator heavy machine gun. It can be said to be the weapon with the highest accident rate and the weapon that causes the most casualties. The Annihilator heavy machine gun is not as powerful as this artillery."
Seeing the commander of the Fourth Army wisely proving his logic, Elder Ziniu immediately felt inspired and puffed up his chest:
"Everyone! In other words, a weapon like artillery is equivalent to annihilating one thousand enemies and inflicting eight hundred losses! In this round of shelling just now, the opponent suffered the same casualties as us!"
"And war is about endurance, determination, and courage! The courage of our Hesse people never loses to that of other ethnic groups!"
These words really inspired the legion commanders and the dozens of low-level legions around them.
Elder Ziniu took a deep breath and analyzed it from a strategic perspective:
"Moreover, this artillery has a shortcoming! That is, the power of attacking it after concentrated fire will be superimposed, resulting in extremely powerful firepower. But if it is spread out, haha, we don't need to be afraid at all!"
"The main force of our first and second cavalry regiments is still there. As long as we rush down the hillside, we will reach the flat plain below. Even if the number of their artillery is increased tenfold, they will not be able to attack our heroic cavalry intensively! You guys understand me.
Do you mean it?"
The commander of the 7th Corps, who had been silent until now, suddenly raised his hands and said: "The elder's eyes are like a torch, what he said is absolutely true!"
"The mistake we made was that we didn't expect that the other party was equipped with this new type of weapon, so we gave the other party the opportunity to launch a shameless attack on us while we were still in formation. Yes, it was shameless.
A shameless attack, the battle should be fair for both sides, but I didn’t expect the other side to be so cunning, cunning, and despicable.”
"This time, we won't form a formation! Send the cavalry directly to rush down the hillside a few hundred meters away. By the time they react, our heroic cavalry has already rushed down the mountain. On the plain, as long as the cavalry disperses, haha.
Let’s go straight to Ya’an City!”
The commanders of the first and second cavalry regiments looked at each other and shifted their gazes to the commander of the seventh regiment at the same time, as if they wanted to say:
"Why didn't you say you would lead your army down?"
Just when the two were hesitating, Elder Ziniu gave another shot of cardiotonic:
"What you two don't know is that although the attack range of this artillery is long and the shells are powerful, it has a fatal drawback, that is, it has limited effect on close-range targets!"
"Their artillery positions are in Ya'an City behind, not in the federal positions. This is why. As long as our cavalry rushes to the plains and fights with the opponent's positions, their artillery will be powerless against us."
"When we rush into the city, those artillery battalions that are not good at close combat will become living targets. The bulky artillery will no longer pose any threat. Their artillery can only fall under the iron hooves of our cavalry."
After saying that, Elder Ziniu turned to look at the commanders of the first and second legions:
"Now is the time to show our courage as Hesse people. Although the current situation is unfavorable, the advantage is still in our hands. As long as the two legions of you rush into the Kassam Plains, you will be the first contributor to this war!"
"I have asked the Propaganda Department of the 10th Logistics Corps to announce the news in various cities. All the people of Hesse are supporting us behind the scenes. You two will be the heroes of our Hesse people!"
Hearing this, the commanders of the first and second legions nodded solemnly, stretched out their arms in a Hessian gesture to encourage morale, and shouted:
"Huh~~haha~~~"
The two of them looked solemn and turned around to arrange their raid orders.
Elder Ziniu added another order:
"Contractors from other legions are preparing to add buffs to the cavalry legion."
Soon, thousands of war horses from the well-trained southern tribesmen were lined up in the open fields south of the mountain.
Each cavalryman wearing a yellow Hesse robe holds a rattan shield that can protect the body in one hand, and holds a rifle in the other hand, placing the rifle on the top of the shield.
This is a charging stance!
As the loud horns sounded one after another, the horses roared and stepped forward, the first row, the second row, the third row
Thousands of war horses slowly accelerated, crossed the barrier on the top of the mountain, and stepped onto the northern slope that was soaked in blood.
With the flag waving, the rays of light from the talisman's abilities covered the horses rushing over the hillside. Some of them added agility buffs to the cavalry, and some added protection to the cavalry. It can be described as diverse.
The cavalry, whose contracted abilities had been enhanced, pulled away a long line and ran fast along the north slope, pouring down like a waterfall.
The artillery fire that everyone had been waiting for did not sound, and the commanders of each army could not help but admire Elder Ziniu's erudition and insight.
Sure enough, as the commander said, the enemy's artillery cannot be used all the time.
The roar of the war horses once again broke the calm in front of the two armies. In just a dozen breaths, the Hesse cavalry rushed down the hillside and reached the Kassam plain.
The densely packed Hesse warriors quickly dispersed on the plain and headed towards the position of the Federal Expeditionary Force.
Looking down from the top of the mountain, the plain as far as the eye can see has been covered by thousands of war horses. In contrast, the enemy's position is like a broken ship floating in the sea in a storm, which may sink at any time.
"It's done!" Elder Ziniu roared suddenly and performed a Hesse etiquette towards the remaining legion commanders behind him:
"We accept this victory!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the roar of Ya'an City's artillery sounded again, as if every victory declaration he made was bound to the opponent's artillery strikes.
Everyone was stunned and quickly turned around to look.
However, the area covered by the artillery fire was not the cavalry that had rushed into the plain, but the hillside behind the cavalry.
Rolling smoke and dust rose from the hillside, completely covering the rear of the cavalry, and faintly, there was another loud noise like an earthquake.
There seemed to be a landslide on that hillside, with huge boulders and sand surging down, blocking the entire bottom of the hillside.
Elder Ziniu was stunned, and felt something bad in his heart:
The enemy has cut off the retreat of the two cavalry regiments!
Yes, let the two cavalry regiments retreat without retreat.
This means that unless they have a way to annihilate all the cavalry in the plains?
For a moment, Elder Ziniu's heart was filled with turmoil, and his heart seemed to be in his throat instantly.
Just as he expected, this time, something strange happened on the plain.
Explosions occurred one after another from the vast ground of Kassam Plain, like a grand fireworks being staged.
The fire was like dominoes, extending from the direction of the federal position to the foothills, as if it caused a carpet explosion.
That’s right, a carpet explosion!
The explosions occurred one after another, and quickly spread to the entire plain, as if following a controllable pattern.
The explosion was like blowing the dirge of death. At this time, the Kassam Plain was more like a bloodthirsty demon opening its bloody mouth and swallowing up more than 15,000 cavalry.
