Chapter 376: War Fortress
The arrival of tens of thousands of goblins brought this mountain-based war fortress to full operation for the first time. Numerous sealed buildings and equipment were activated under the command of goblin engineers.
As the massive steam engine unit inside the mountain started running, the roar of machinery was deafening. Like a powerful beating heart, it pumped high-temperature steam through pipes to every corner. The cold mountain fortress seemed to be injected with hot blood, and the war machines began to operate.
Groups of soldiers carrying guns and ammunition boarded small rail cars, quickly heading to various defense points throughout the mountain fortress. A massive amount of ammunition was also transported by goblin workers to their respective positions. Heavy cannons hidden within the mountain raised their barrels, ready to unleash earth-shattering roars at any moment.
Bipedal mechs took heavy steps to their designated locations, lowering their power output to standby while making final preparations for battle.
Witnessing all of this, Owen felt an indescribable excitement and even began to anticipate the upcoming war.
In fact, he didn’t have to wait long. Fueled by Fel energy and with their life potential stimulated to the limit, the Fel Skaven surged forward like moths to a flame, attempting to overwhelm the entire position.
However, the Fel Skaven were clearly overthinking it. If they could hide, so could the goblins. Both sides had more than one trick up their sleeves. Now it was a matter of who would run out of trump cards first.
Driven by steam, gears and chains of all sizes began to rotate. Concealed gun ports hidden within the mountain opened one after another. Heavy cannons slowly moved forward, pushed by their bases, until their thick barrels extended out of the ports, pointing straight towards the sky, like the proud steel guns in the hands of eighteen-year-old youths, ready to erupt at any moment, and not just once.
Several Bear Goblins worked together to load the heavy shells, weighing hundreds of pounds, into the cannon barrels. Earth Goblins stepped on pedals, adjusting the firing angle with the help of mechanical power, and then waited for the order to fire.
At this time, the One-Eyed Giant Eagle was already soaring in the sky. Owen witnessed the overwhelming swarm of Fel Skaven through the projection and couldn’t help but gasp. Their numbers were simply cheating, there were probably three to five hundred thousand of them.
Even if these Fel Skaven lay down and didn’t move, it wouldn’t be possible to shoot or execute them all in a short time, let alone deal with the Felcasters, Giant Rat Cavalry, Fel Mechs, and mega cannons behind them. This was an enemy he had never seen before, comparable perhaps only to the Imperial Border Army in its prime.
Only then did Owen understand that war was not a child’s play, especially when facing a powerful enemy. Not only would there be casualties, but there was also the possibility of defeat.
If it were three to five hundred thousand humans, Owen might not have been so worried, even if they were stronger. Humans had a limit to their tolerance for casualties. After a round of heavy bombardment, even if the casualties didn’t exceed one-tenth, their morale would plummet, and if it exceeded three-tenths, they would collapse. But the Fel Skaven were different. Judging by their posture, they didn’t expect to go back alive. So as long as they weren’t all dead, the war probably wouldn’t end.
“Demon Lord, your subordinate will surely bring you the final victory in this war!” With the support of resources from the entire territory and having never fought such a well-supplied battle, Da Gu knelt before Owen on one knee, full of confidence. Even the title of Demon Lord, which he hadn’t used in years, reappeared, leaving Owen momentarily speechless.
No matter what, Da Gu was clearly the expert in war, so he would just watch quietly.
After receiving the authority granted by Owen, the spirited Da Gu immediately ordered the cannons to fire.
The cannons hidden within the mountain fortress were all heavy artillery with calibers of 150 millimeters or more. Their range was astonishing, and the noise they made was earth-shattering. On the side facing the Fel Skaven, dozens of heavy cannons fired together, shaking up the dust from half of the mountain, which lingered in the air for a long time. If the war fortress hadn’t been reinforced, it might have been shaken apart.
Amidst the terrifying whistling sound, the heavy shells, weighing hundreds of pounds, slammed into the ground, instantly detonating. The terrifying shockwaves swept away everything within a hundred meters before the flames even erupted, and they continued to spread layer by layer.
The Fel Skaven were small to begin with, how could they withstand the shockwaves generated by the explosion of hundreds of pounds of shells? Moreover, they were densely packed, so when a shell landed, those close by were directly blown to pieces, while those further away were twisted and thrown into the air. And this was just the beginning.
As the distance closed, the 150-millimeter howitzers also began to show their power, raining down high-explosive shells on the enemy’s heads, leaving craters of various sizes filled with flesh and blood on the ground.
The high-intensity bombardment lasted for a full half hour before it began to slow down. During this period, tens of thousands of Fel Skaven were turned into pieces or soft corpses, but it still couldn’t stop their almost endless charge. This made Owen, who had been observing the battle situation, look a little grim, but Da Gu wasn’t flustered at all. He calmly ordered the heavy cannons to fire in rotation, increasing the cooling time and reducing the failure rate, as well as saving ammunition.
The high-intensity bombardment in the past half hour directly consumed one-fifth of the war fortress’s ammunition reserves, which wasn’t good news.
Although the ammunition stored in the war fortress wasn’t the entire territory’s stockpile, the portal’s transportation capacity was limited. At this moment, both troops and supplies needed to be transported, and there was simply not enough capacity to transport the heavy cannon shells.
Therefore, if they continued to maintain saturation bombardment, they wouldn’t be able to get enough replenishment before running out of ammunition, so they had to conserve it and use the shells at critical moments.
Owen felt a twinge of heartache when he saw the amount of ammunition consumed, but there was no other way. If they wanted range, they had to use traditional ammunition, which often meant two to three times more resource consumption than steam cannons.
Fortunately, after the distance closed, steam weapons could be put to use. Numerous steam cannons began to fire shells at the Fel Skaven, and the steam nail guns also sprayed iron rain denser than raindrops, causing the unstoppable charge of the Fel Skaven to falter slightly.
The high-explosive shells specifically designed for killing infantry were cylindrical metal cans filled with a large number of steel balls. When a large bottle-sized shell exploded in the air, everything within a hundred meters was within its killing radius. Even those wearing plate armor would be pierced by the steel balls, let alone the Fel Skaven who could only rely on fur. Therefore, the clearing effect was very significant, one shot could take out a large area.
With the steam engine unit inside the war fortress providing a continuous supply of steam, the steam nail guns also achieved their theoretical maximum firing rate. Sharp spikes turned the Fel Skaven within range into unlucky creatures spraying blood everywhere. If they were hit by too many spikes, they would be directly torn apart.
However, as the main force of the Fel Skaven was about to reach the battlefield, the Goblin Legion would also face a severe test.
After the Fel Mega Cannons, pulled by hundreds of giant rats, reached their firing range, they immediately began to set up their positions. They absorbed the thick Fel energy around them, compressed and purified it through a complex process, and then converted it into terrifying Fel Cleaving Shells, firing them out.
Each Fel Cleaving Shell, like a meteor falling to the ground, possessed terrifying power. They were like invisible excavators. Once they landed, a large area would disappear. All defensive structures were useless, whether it was heavy cannons, bunkers, or bipedal mechs, they would be turned into nothing in an instant. Their power was no less than that of ordinary legendary spells. Their only drawbacks, besides their lack of mobility, was their slow firing rate.
