Chapter 195: Chapter 149, Orbital Bombardment_3
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At the front line, Lucy Lee Ko Xi, the commander of the 3rd Independent Regiment who was earnestly striving to regain the title of “Beast Slaughter Group,” had just concluded a battle meeting and seen off Colonel Tadeusz, the inspector general of the army’s political work.
Colonel Tadeusz had conveyed the Governor’s orders to them, announcing in a meeting attended by all military chiefs of staff from company level upwards and political instructors that the 3rd Independent Regiment would be the fist, the vanguard, in the comprehensive counteroffensive at noon the next day.
Their objective was to tear open the Green Skins’ defenses right at the middle section of the entire defensive line, completely seize their positions, split the frontline into two, and create a gap for the mechanized three Composite Camps to penetrate.
Afterwards, once the subsequent friendly forces took over the position, and troops were allocated, accompanying one Composite Camp, they were to execute a sweeping movement to the north side, cut off the retreat space of the northern Green Skin Orcs, and complete an encirclement with the forces on the front, thoroughly annihilating the Green Skin Orcs present.
All the commanding officers and warriors silently listened to Tadeusz recounting the battle objectives and demands.
The silence continued.
But this was by no means fear or dread.
Li Kexi could see a fire in the eyes of his subordinates.
And he felt the same way.
They had waited for too long.
“All right, everyone go back,” Li Kexi broke the silence. “Return to your companies and get ready. There are 13 hours left until tomorrow noon. The staff will break down tomorrow’s assault mission, and by tomorrow morning at the latest, it will be in your hands. This is the battle we have long awaited, and an opportunity we wouldn’t even dare to dream of in the past. I have just one request: fight beautifully! We must honor those we have lost, the hatred for which we would lay down our lives to avenge, and the opportunity the Governor has given us!”
“Roar!” The officers stood up thunderously, then returned to their respective troops.
Andre Alexey, the political commissar assigned to the Independent Regiment, was somewhat at a loss. He had just been thinking of using his position as a political officer to boost the morale of the officers, only to find it seemed entirely unnecessary.
Commander Li Kexi patted his shoulder without offering much in the way of explanation.
The warriors of the Beast Slaughter Group had no idea how many of them could truly sleep well.
But they would force themselves to rest properly, all for the sake of showing their best in the battle of the following day.
The night was exceptionally long.
…
No matter how long the dark night, there always comes an end.
As daylight brightened, Li Kexi, who had awakened, went to inspect the front lines of the troops.
He watched the soldiers eat, he observed them checking and maintaining their weapons, he saw officers conversing with the warriors…
All of this strangely settled his anxious heart.
They had done everything they could, only waiting for the order to attack.
The issued pocket watches ticked to eleven o’clock at noon.
The order to attack had not yet been given, but he first saw many red dots vaguely appearing in the sky.
A meteor shower?
No, he quickly dismissed that thought.
These must be part of the powerful strike Colonel Tadeusz had mentioned earlier.
At the time, he had thought that the rear artillery positions would fire relentlessly, but it seemed that wasn’t all.
He watched those red meteors streaking across the sky, getting closer and closer, then falling onto the ruins that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Immediately thereafter, two huge, almost city-encompassing spheres of light, suddenly appeared.
Along with those two enormous orbs of light, there were many smaller ones, but because of the obstruction from the ruins, they didn’t seem quite as distinct.
The scene felt strangely peculiar, with only brightness and no sound, as if watching a silent film.
But the thing they were waiting for soon arrived.
The earth was shaking.
It was as if there had been an earthquake, with some soldiers, who hadn’t secured their footing, even staggering about. Even some of the ruins that had been weakened by artillery fire during previous battles collapsed amidst this tremor.
Fortunately, the fortifications they were hiding in had been specially reinforced, so there were no casualties as a result.
Then came the shockwave, accompanied by a tremendous noise!
It was like a gust of wind blowing through, carrying with it a sensation of scorching heat, causing many to retreat several steps, feeling a heavy pressure in their chests.
Although physically uncomfortable, from Li Kexi down, all the soldiers of the 3rd Independent Regiment felt immensely relieved in their hearts!
The explosion had occurred deep within the ruins of the tall towers, where the Green Skin Orcs were most concentrated!
If the aftermath of the explosion could be felt so clearly from dozens of kilometers away, whether it be the searing heat or the shockwave… what about those Green Skins at the epicenter?
Even if those monsters had much stronger resilience than humans, they could not possibly survive such an onslaught!
As long as they could eliminate the enemies before them, this Green Skin disaster that had spread over several years and had become increasingly severe would end by their hands!
Li Kexi was already eager to command his troops to charge.
But it wasn’t time yet.
The order to attack had still not come.
Instead, a whistling sound came from overhead.
The artillery positions in the rear began to assert their power.
On the joint artillery grounds, a hundred 155mm howitzers were lined up in sequence, barrels pointed towards the sky, firing without interruption.
The production of artillery shells was limited, and Weixing City had to produce a lot to sustain the logistical supply for an army totaling hundreds of thousands, including armored vehicles, bullets, guns, equipment, explosives, hand grenades, rocket launchers, and cannons…
They had been working hard to increase the production of shells, but it still couldn’t withstand too intense a consumption.
However, since today had been decided as the day for the final battle, there was no need to conserve anymore.
Hundreds of cannons fired at full speed, raining down shell after shell on the Orc positions at a rate of five hundred rounds per minute.
This was an all-out barrage like never before, with the artillerymen no longer caring about the lifespan of their barrels or the consumption of shells.
They planned to drop 15,000 heavy shells on the Green Skin Orc positions within half an hour, and the total stock of shells left was just under twenty thousand.
The remaining four to five thousand shells were not to be conserved either, but kept in reserve to coordinate with the infantry charge.
While the artillery was firing, Lucy Lee Ko Xi finally received the command to attack.
He impatiently relayed the charge orders to the entire regiment.
More than five thousand soldiers of the 3rd Independent Regiment needed to move within about two hundred meters of the enemy’s positions within 25 minutes and stand by. They had five minutes to rest, and at the moment the bombardment ceased, they would launch a full-force attack on the Orc positions.
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