Chapter 459: General Offensive
The Border City Alliance’s logistics spent a huge price to send a massive amount of military supplies to the front line. In addition to daily supplies and a large amount of ammunition as war reserves, a group of alchemists sacrificed their hair to create 500 machine guns and 10 steam tanks. This grand sight brought a rare smile to the face of Cross, who had come to hear the news.
He had been under a lot of pressure lately, as he had not only deployed conscripts but also used the main army corps for several tentative offensives, all of which had been unsuccessful. In particular, the enemy’s crossfire machine gun points and incredibly accurate small-caliber artillery were like scythes harvesting lives for the charging infantry, even with artillery support. Firstly, the accuracy of their artillery was too low, and secondly, the enemy’s well-constructed fortifications greatly reduced the threat of artillery. Therefore, he desperately needed weapons that could suppress the enemy’s firepower.
As long as they could suppress the enemy’s firepower and allow their soldiers to charge, they could achieve an overwhelming victory with their numerical advantage. Therefore, he had been looking forward to machine guns for a long time.
However, Cross was a bit puzzled by the appearance of this machine gun. He had seen the Glory Alliance’s machine gun from afar, and it looked very streamlined, with only one barrel and the magazine on top. But this machine gun in front of him had two barrels running parallel, and it had arc-shaped magazines inserted on both the left and right sides, like wings. The magazines were also hollowed out, allowing him to see the bullets and the thick spring inside.
The alchemist who accompanied the army proudly introduced this machine gun, which they had painstakingly created, to General Cross.
Machine guns could be manually operated, but bullets could not. In the current situation of the Border City Alliance, it was not realistic to design a special bullet for machine guns. Therefore, in order to effectively suppress the enemy’s machine gun firepower, under the circumstances that the rate of fire and power could not be improved, they came up with the ingenious idea of fixing two machine guns together, each fed by a 30-round arc-shaped magazine from the sides. This doubled the firepower and extended the duration.
It sounded good, but this machine gun, named “Wings of Steel,” was difficult for one person to move because it weighed over 50 pounds, not to mention the ammunition. Moreover, constantly loading magazines from left to right while shooting was no easier than juggling. Therefore, in addition to a main shooter, it also required two ammunition handlers, who were responsible for carrying ammunition and loading.
Furthermore, because the two machine guns were combined, the ejection port could only be designed at the top, causing the bullet casings to spray out like a fountain when firing. Not only did it obstruct the shooter’s vision, but it was also easy to burn the shooter. The soldier who was originally responsible for testing this machine gun had become pockmarked. So to solve this problem, the main shooter would be equipped with a mask.
Cross nodded repeatedly after listening, not realizing there was anything wrong. So he asked the soldiers to familiarize themselves with it and then prepare to launch a general offensive, catching the enemy off guard. This was also the reason why he had requested more ammunition from the alliance.
This war had dragged on for too long. If it continued any longer, let alone whether the Border City Alliance’s fragile material reserves could continue to support the expeditionary force, the two million people in the occupied areas alone could drag down the entire alliance. After all, from the occupation until now, he had only brought destruction. Once the plundered materials were exhausted, the enslaved population in the occupied areas would inevitably rebel.
Fortunately, the conscripts who had been forcibly recruited had formed a force of 300,000 after many battles and reorganizations. Together with the increased regular army of 150,000 and the reserve army corps of 150,000, Cross, with 600,000 troops in hand, had enough confidence to launch a general offensive.
This level of casualties was useless even if there were supervisory squads behind them, as there were many conscripts who were driven to desperation and chose to die together with the supervisory squads. So both sides maintained a certain tacit understanding: when the casualties reached a certain level, they could retreat.
However, this time was different. The 300,000 conscripts had not stopped for a moment from morning to night. The casualties had already exceeded the previous limit, but they still did not stop. The supervisory squads were already bloodthirsty. Under the strict orders of General Cross, the Border City Alliance supervisory squads were pressuring the conscripts’ supervisory squads, and the conscripts’ supervisory squads could only put all the pressure on the conscripts, even breaking the previous tacit understanding.
After some maneuvering, 100,000 conscripts took the lead in launching the attack. The Glory Alliance did not pay much attention to this, as similar scenes had happened many times before.
Some conscript regiments could not bear the cruel casualties and fired at the supervisory squads. But this time there was no compromise. The Border City Alliance supervisory squads set up machine guns and shot everyone, including the conscripts’ supervisory squads, without mercy.
After countless charges, the surviving conscripts had long learned to charge in loose formations, and they knew to lie down when they heard machine gun fire, to run desperately during the gaps in the artillery fire, and so on.
Now that he had enough trump cards, Cross was ready to launch a general offensive and completely resolve this long-lasting war.
It was because he had seen this scene that Cross did not dare to attack forcefully even though he had a large army. After all, the enemy’s forces were not small, and they also had the advantages of defense and firepower. If they really fought hard, even if they won, it was unknown how many troops would be left.
But they never broke through the enemy’s position, because the precise shooting, sweeping machine guns, deadly artillery fire, and the grenades that formed a continuous line turned anyone who wanted to break through into a pile of corpses.
Under such circumstances, trying to break through well-constructed fortifications defended by a large number of soldiers with a numerical advantage was like a dream. Did they really think the machine gun bunkers and rapid mortars that covered the defense line were fake?
Machine guns and mortars could turn any enemy who dared to gather and charge into corpses, and they could be produced very quickly. In addition, the soldiers’ shooting skills were getting better and better, so how could it be so easy to break through the defense line?
It was not that the soldiers of the Glory Alliance were careless, but mainly because they lacked weapons. The vast majority of conscripts still used old-fashioned muskets, and only a few supervisory squads were equipped with single-shot rifles. This resulted in the conscripts having almost no firepower advantage and even lacking artillery support, because the Border City soldiers felt that the lives of the conscripts were not worth wasting their precious artillery shells.
The cruel massacre had already shown that the Border City Alliance was serious this time. No matter how restless the conscripts were, for a chance of survival and the impossible promises of the Border City Alliance, the vast number of conscripts charged the Glory Alliance’s lines again and again, suffering huge casualties.
The spent bullet casings scattered in the Glory Alliance’s trenches almost covered the surface of their feet, the machine gun barrels were red-hot, and at the most dangerous moment, both sides engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat. If it were not for the reinforcements that could be sent from the second line of defense at any time and the full firepower of the mortars and infantry guns, the first line of defense might have already fallen.
As the troop movements were completed, Howard, who had already come to the front line to take charge, keenly sensed the difference in this battle and knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.
