Chapter 563 The legendary giant X sniper (1) [8400 words]
This chapter was originally intended to be named "The Legendary Big Breasted Sniper".
But now that the review is stricter, such a title may be harmonized, so I changed it to this...
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Red Moon Fortress, somewhere in a remote open space——
In this remote open space, Retannoe, Lin Ziping and other "high-level" personnel gathered together.
They wanted to hold a meeting to discuss the funeral, but were forced to wait because of Chanup's long future.
Finally - Chanup came.
"Chanup, I've been waiting for you for a long time." Retannoe said in an annoyed tone to Chanup, who was walking quickly towards them.
"Sorry." Chanup said, "I just delivered food to Tang Shen and then checked on him."
"How is Mr. Tang Shen doing now?" Lin Ziping, standing next to Retannoe, asked.
"He is very tired now. He has probably dozed off now. As for his left leg, which was accidentally scratched by a spear a few days ago, it is recovering well now and there is no infection or suppuration."
Lin Ziping nodded: "Mr. Tang Shen... these days have really helped us a lot... not only killed a large number of Japanese soldiers, but also greatly boosted the morale of our side."
"Without Mr. Tang Shen, this struggle would be much more difficult..."
"Chanup, when will you tell us - where did you make such a powerful friend?" Retannoe interjected in a half-joking tone.
These days, when telling others about his relationship with Tang Shen, Tang Shen has always been vague.
Chanup has always been secretive about how he met Tang Shen and all kinds of personal information about Tang Shen.
So until now, in the eyes of Retannoe, Lin Ziping and others, Tang Shen is still a very mysterious person.
"When I have the opportunity in the future, I will explain it to you in detail." After trying to get rid of this topic as usual, Chanup's face slowly turned serious and he said seriously, "Let's talk about business now.
.Let’s...discuss how we should deal with the Japanese troops outside the city tomorrow."
"I don't need to tell you, you should all know...the days of fighting have reduced our number of combatants to a situation that can be considered precarious."
"Those who are fighting now are all young people who lack ability, as well as people who are slightly older." Retannoe added in a deep voice from the side, "These people are fighting because of their lack of ability and strength.
It’s quite difficult.”
"...We have almost exhausted all our young men." At this time, a calm male voice that was incompatible with the current serious atmosphere suddenly interrupted.
Chanup and others looked at the owner of the male voice - the head of Kapasi Village who had previously opposed war with Kazuto and advocated surrender: Upanu.
After everyone focused their attention on Upanu, Upanu, who was crossing his arms and lowering his head slightly, murmured in a low voice:
"The young men in my village...are almost all dead..."
Retannoe rolled his eyes at Upanu, who seemed to be looking weird, and then turned his attention to Lin Ziping.
"Mr. Lin, is there anything you can do in this situation?"
"...Allow me to say something ugly." Lin Ziping smiled bitterly, "No matter how powerful and clever a woman is, she can't cook without rice."
"Without anyone, no matter how powerful a strategy you have in your mind, you can't fight a war."
"So...this problem is basically unsolvable."
Lin Ziping let out a long sigh.
"Now... we can only hope that our remaining warriors... can hold on a little longer."
"...Mr. Lin." Chanup suddenly said, "With our current combat power... can we last another four days?"
"Four days?" Lin Ziping raised his eyes and cast a doubtful look at Lin Ziping.
After giving Chanup a deep look with an intriguing look, he said slowly:
"It should be possible to hold on for another 4 days..."
"As long as... nothing happens..."
…
…
Outside the city, the shogunate army, the entire army's main formation——
"...the above is today's casualties."
"Thank you for your hard work." Inamori nodded towards the general who just reported the casualties.
The general returned a salute to Inamori and sat back on the horse.
"It seems that the barbarians in that city can't hold on any longer." Daomori's gloomy face these days finally cleared up a little.
"That's right." Gui Yizheng, the general of the First Army who was sitting next to Inamori, echoed, "Those barbarians are finally going to kill them all."
After Kamao was injured, Inamori's anger was aroused by Chanupu and the others' stubborn resistance.
These days, Daomori let the First Army and the Third Army take turns to launch a stormy attack on the Red Moon Fortress.
Ever since a skilled master inexplicably appeared among the barbarians, their defensive strength had instantly become stronger.
The successive attacks of the First Army and the Third Army were blocked again and again.
Although I have not been able to capture the outer city wall of Red Moon Fortress these days.
But they haven't been working in vain.
Their fierce attacks one after another gradually consumed the few troops in the fort.
Through today's battle situation and casualties, many generals led by Daomori have seen that the number of soldiers on the walls of Red Moon Fortress is much lower than before.
This is undoubtedly exciting news for Daomori and others.
After days of hard fighting, victory is finally close at hand.
"Sir!" Gui Yi said loudly with some excitement, "We are finally going to win!"
"As long as we continue our current fierce offensive and siege for another 2 or 3 days, we will definitely be able to capture the city!"
Inamori didn't show much excitement because of Katsura Yoshimasa's passionate words just now.
With a thoughtful look on his face, he said softly after a moment of silence:
"...You are right. If we continue to fight like this for 2 or 3 days, our skills should be lost."
"But we don't have that time now."
"Huh?" Guiyi looked surprised, "Master Inamori, what happened? Why is there no time?"
Daomori ignored Gui Yizheng's question and turned to look at a close aide beside him.
"Help me send an order to all the generals in the army: let them come to my military camp immediately to discuss matters!"
"yes!"
After the confidant quickly left the camp, Katsura Yoshitsune immediately asked Inamori impatiently:
"Lord Inamori, do you want to discuss the future battle with the generals?"
"That's right." Daomori caressed the military mate in his palm, "I want to convey to the generals the tactics to capture the city within one day tomorrow!"
Now, Kuroda and Akizuki are walking side by side in the military camp of their Sendai clan army.
They came to see for themselves the current status of their troops.
They looked around at the scene around them, and the more they looked at it, the more they frowned.
The air in the camp was filled with an aura of despair...
Wherever he looked, almost no general was smiling or in any other positive mood.
Almost everyone had their heads buried, looking downcast.
A few people didn't even notice Qiuyue and Kuroda walking past them.
Kuroda let out a long sigh: "Everyone is tired..."
The Sendai Clan's army has always been the main attack force of the First Army.
In these nine days, nearly 60% of the battles involved their First Army.
A common saying accurately summarizes the normal situation on the battlefield - one burst of strength, then another failure, and three times it is exhausted.
After days of hard fighting, the generals of their Sendai Army were exhausted and their fighting spirit was greatly reduced.
In addition to that - at first, everyone thought that it would only take 3 or 4 days to break through the fortress.
But the barbarians, who were looked down upon by all of them, actually blocked them for nine days.
This huge psychological gap and the fortress that could not be conquered for a long time also further dampened their fighting spirit and morale.
As far as Kuroda knows - it's not just their Sendai Army that's like this.
The same was true for the troops of other feudal states of the First Army who had accompanied them in the 9-day battle, as well as the troops of the Third Army (Aizu Army). The air in the camp was no longer filled with high fighting spirit.
"I didn't realize how degenerate our Sendai clan's samurai were before," Kuroda said with a wry smile, "but now after this battle, I deeply realize that our Sendai clan's samurai are also very corrupt..."
As soon as Kuroda finished speaking, Qiuyue on the side showed a bitter smile and answered:
"I understand more and more that after taking over the position of Lao Zhong, Mr. Lao Zhong will vigorously revitalize the martial arts disciplines and encourage the samurai to restore the ancient customs and practice martial arts." Qiuyue said with a wry smile, "Today's samurai... are indeed getting better and better.
It’s getting worse and worse.”
"It was just a nine-day siege, and it was so exhausted... Such an army was placed in the troubled times of the Warring States Period two hundred years ago. Facing the world-famous Oda Army and Toyotomi Army at that time,
The Takeda Army will probably collapse at the first touch."
"Fortunately, the opponents we are facing now are just a bunch of barbarians who are not good at defending the city." Kuroda turned around and said, "Let's go back."
The camps where the two of them lived were located in the same direction.
However, before they returned to their respective camps, they suddenly received an order from Inamori - all generals should immediately go to his camp to discuss matters.
Naturally, the two of them did not dare to neglect Daomori's military orders in the slightest. They rushed to Daumori's camp as quickly as possible.
When the two of them arrived at the coach's tent in Daomori, there were already many people there, so not long after Qiuyue and the others arrived, the military meeting began.
"Everyone, today...is another day where even the outer city wall of the barbarians was not captured."
As soon as Daomori's deep voice sounded, many generals in the tent lowered their heads for fear of meeting Daomori's eyes.
"The city fortress that was originally scheduled to be captured within 5 days has now taken a full 9 days... And in these 9 days, not even a single wall of the barbarians has been breached..."
"I'm going to tell you bluntly right now - we can't let this go on any longer."
"If we continue like this, even if we finally break through the fortress, this battle will become a shame for us."
"The world will not remember that we captured a Lucian fort held by Ezo."
"I will only remember that we, with an army of 10,000 people, faced a group of barbarians with no more than a thousand people, and it took us more than ten days to level them."
Inamori slapped the military equipment held in his right hand hard towards his left hand.
There was a loud "pop" sound, which startled some generals in the camp.
"tomorrow!"
Daomori said in a decisive tone while scanning the generals in front of him.
"We will break through this barbarian fortress within tomorrow!"
"at all costs!"
In Daomori's words, if you cut out every word, it would be like making a big hole in the ground.
All the generals in the camp were shocked by Inamori's decisive words.
As soon as Inamori finished speaking, a veteran who was a "direct descendant of the shogunate" immediately said loudly:
"Lord Inamori! Send out the second army!"
"Both the First Army and the Third Army have been exhausted after days of hard fighting."
"And the 5,000 men of our Second Army have remained uninjured and full of physical strength until now."
"Judging from the battle situation in the past few days, it is not difficult to judge that the barbarians are now exhausted from the hard fighting in recent days. The number of troops available to fight has dropped sharply."
"Use our uninjured second army to deal with the barbarians who are now exhausted and the number of soldiers has also dropped sharply. We will definitely win in one battle!"
The words of this veteran immediately made many generals of the First Army and Third Army present look dissatisfied.
But - before they could say anything, a calm male voice without any trace of sadness unceremoniously refuted the veteran's words.
"Deploy the second army? There is no way to guarantee that the city can be captured within one day tomorrow, right?"
As soon as this male voice sounded, no one dared to speak again.
Because the person who spoke was Matsudaira Sadanobu sitting next to Inamori.
Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know much about the art of war. Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had always regarded the saying "professional people do professional things" as his guideline, rarely spoke in military meetings these days and rarely interfered with Inamori's command.
.
But no general dared to really regard Matsudaira Sadanobu as a mascot - after all, Matsudaira Sadanobu could yell at Inamori directly if he wanted to, but Inamori didn't even dare to fart.
After all, Inamori was originally promoted by Matsudaira Sadanobu. No matter how much courage he was given, he would never have the courage to confront Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Matsudaira Sadanobu's sudden voice immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the general camp.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was only wearing civilian clothes and no armor, put his hands on his legs, and then said slowly:
"Now that the war has reached this point, we must admit that those barbarians are far more capable than we imagined."
"It would not be a wise move to despise the barbarians because they are now exhausted and have fewer soldiers to fight with."
"Even if the Second Army, which has been unscathed so far, is dispatched, there is no guarantee that the city will be captured within one day tomorrow."
"Then..." At this time, a certain young general said in a cautious tone, "How about we slow down the time limit? Instead, we will capture the city within two days..."
"No way." Matsudaira Sadanobu said without hesitation, "We don't have that much time now."
Having said this, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his head and looked at Inamori beside him.
"Inamori-kun, please tell me our current baggage situation."
"...Yes." Daomori nodded solemnly, "Everyone, our army's current baggage reserves are not enough to give us any margin to slowly attack this fortress."
"Lord Inamori, what happened to the baggage?" a certain general asked anxiously.
The army's baggage reserves - this is a top secret. Only Inamori, Matsudaira Sadanobu and a very few generals know the details.
Most of the generals did not know what the army's baggage reserves were.
"Our country has just emerged from the pain of 'famine at dawn'." Daomori said slowly, "There are not many grain and grass reserves across the country."
"So the food and grass that can be mobilized to support my 10,000-strong army in battle is extremely limited."
"I have obtained the current food and grass reserves of our army this afternoon."
"Excluding the food and fodder needed for the return journey, as well as the food and fodder that must be kept to prevent accidents, our army's current baggage is only enough for our army... to fight for another five days."
As soon as Inamori said this, everyone in the audience was shocked.
"Five days..." I don't know who it was, but it was someone who subconsciously groaned in astonishment.
"Originally, according to our expectations, we could capture the Red Moon Fortress in only 3 or 4 days. This baggage reserve is completely sufficient." Daomori added, "But we never expected that - this fortress
, much harder than we imagined.”
"So you all understand - we don't have enough time to take our time anymore."
The atmosphere in the camp became solemn at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu said again abruptly:
"And—we can't forget Ogata Ittosai."
At this moment, not only the generals sitting in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, but also Inamori, who was sitting next to Matsudaira Sadanobu, also cast a somewhat surprised look at Matsudaira Sadanobu.
"Don't tell me that you have forgotten: Ogata Ittosai had previously forcibly broken through our army's blockade of the Red Moon Fortress." Matsudaira Sadanobu glanced at everyone, "I still retain my original point of view - Ogata cannot be ruled out.
The possibility of Ittousai going to call for reinforcements."
"We have to prepare for the worst—assuming that Ogata Ittosai really goes to ask for reinforcements. And we have to capture the fortress before Ogata Ittosai comes with reinforcements."
After quietly listening to Matsudaira Sadanobu's speech, Inamori couldn't help but look at Matsudaira Sadanobu a few more times in astonishment.
He didn't know if it was his misunderstanding - he always felt that Matsudaira Sadanobu seemed to have a slightly unusual concern for Ogata.
As for Ogata Ittosai, Inamori, who was busy directing the battle, had forgotten about this person early in the morning.
Even if Ogata Ittousai really went to call for reinforcements as Matsudaira Sadanobu suspected, Inamori didn't care: he didn't think Ogata Ittousai could call in any reinforcements to defeat their 10,000-strong army.
But after all, it was impossible for Inamori to disgrace Lao Zhong in public, so as soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Inamori immediately nodded in agreement and said:
"That's right. Lao Naka-sama is right, Ogata Ittosai must not be forgotten."
"In short - we have to do everything we can to end this battle as quickly as possible, which has taken us too much time."
After Inamori reported the status of their army's baggage reserves, the atmosphere in the camp was different from before.
The generals looked at each other and exchanged their opinions in low voices.
But before they could communicate with each other properly, Inamori's voice sounded again.
"As for how to capture the city within one day tomorrow - I actually already have an idea."
"The main reason why I summoned you here at this time is to announce the battle I have planned for tomorrow."
"tomorrow--"
When Daomori said this, he paused.
After taking a deep breath, he said loudly:
"Use firearms to blow down the city wall!"
"Use our artillery and big guns to blow down the wooden city wall! The biggest support of the barbarians is the tall city wall. Once the city wall collapses, these barbarians will no longer have anything to fear."
As soon as Inamori finished speaking, he was immediately refuted by others.
The person who refuted him was Qiuyue.
Qiuyue frowned and said in a deep voice:
"Using firearms? This damages the honor of our warriors..."
As soon as Qiu Yue finished speaking, she immediately received the echo and approval of several generals.
Until now, it has been hundreds of years since firearms were introduced to Japan, but there are still many samurai who hold the idea that "firearms are magic tricks" and "samurai should use swords and guns, no matter what firearm they use" - Qiuyue is
one of them.
In addition to people like Qiuyue, there were also others who opposed the general's speech from different angles.
"Lord Inamori! Isn't it because we haven't used firearms these days to prevent the city wall from blowing down? If the city wall is blown down, it will take a lot of manpower and material resources to repair the city wall!"
Some people oppose it, and naturally some people agree with it.
"I agree with the use of firearms! If we continue to send troops to attack, it will not only take a lot of time, but also cost more casualties!"
"It damages the honor of the samurai? If we can't take this fortress as soon as possible, it will be a damage to the honor of the samurai."
The originally quiet camp gradually became noisy.
Generals from various factions holding different views argued with each other and refused to give in.
Daomori remained silent and allowed the generals in front of him to gradually argue until everyone blushed, and then Daomori said in a tone that was neither serious nor serious:
"Okay, stop arguing!"
The camp immediately fell silent due to Inamori's words.
Daomori raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.
"Using firearms to blow down the city wall will cause very troublesome reconstruction work for us who will occupy the city in the future - of course I know this."
"That's why I haven't used firearms in the past nine days."
"But these days are different."
“We no longer have any room to leisurely consider ‘post-war reconstruction’.”
"You don't need to say anything more. I have made my decision."
“Tomorrow—bring down the city wall!”
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Red Moon Fortress, Kunoya’s Clinic——
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Atachi's thin gasping became the only sound in the clinic besides her breathing.
Atachi, who was still holding a hemp cloth on his upper body, moved forward bit by bit while holding on to the wall, circling around the clinic hall.
She is practicing "walking" which she has not done since the injury.
She is trying to rejuvenate her body, which has become a little "rusty" due to lying down for a long time.
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The next day——
The 10th day of the attack and defense of Red Moon Fortress——
The 12th day after Ogata left Red Moon Fortress——
Red Moon Fortress, inner city wall——
"It's really cold today..." Lin Ziping rubbed his palms.
"...Today's weather is not very good." Chanup, who was standing next to Lin Ziping, raised his head and glanced at the sky. "Look, there are layers of dark clouds, and it is very likely that there will be wind and snow."
"If it snows and winds, it will be troublesome." Lin Ziping said with a wry smile, "Once it snows and winds, our muskets will be useless."
As soon as it was dawn, the genius climbed up the inner city wall to observe the enemy troops outside the city - this was already the habit of Chanupu, Lin Ziping and the others these days.
At this moment, the sky was already bright—but it was slightly bleak because of thick dark clouds.
On the inner and outer walls of the Red Moon Fortress, every soldier was already in his or her respective position—but the Japanese troops outside the city had yet to launch an attack.
These days, the attack time of the Japanese army has been quite fixed.
But today, it was already past the previous attack time, and the Japanese army camp outside the city was still quiet.
The soldiers on the inner and outer city walls were all slightly agitated by the strange scene today.
Lin Ziping had already frowned and muttered softly:
"Something's wrong... Why haven't we launched an attack at this time..."
Maybe it's a coincidence.
As soon as Lin Ziping finished saying these words, there was finally movement in the Hejun camp - but it was not like the loud sound of conch shells and thousands of soldiers rushing out of the military camp like before.
Only a small group of men and horses slowly walked out of the military camp at a slow pace.
Lin Ziping's brows frowned even more tightly at this time.
He had excellent eyesight, narrowed his eyes, and looked carefully at the small group of people emerging from the military camp.
Looking closely, Lin Ziping saw that some people in this small team were pushing something... a big thing that made Lin Ziping's hair stand on end immediately...
What they are pushing - artillery.
"Mr. Chanup! Do you have any powerful archers? Quickly shoot those people away!"
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In their entire army, Inamori only had 9 cannons and 52 large cannons of various types - under Inamori's order, they had only these few cannons and all the cannons were dispatched.
Under the protection of some soldiers, the artillerymen and gunners successfully arrived outside the shooting range of the archers and musketeers in the fortress, while at the same time getting as close as possible to the Red Moon Fortress.
The whole army's main formation——
"Today's weather is not very good..." Daomori raised his head, looked at the dark sky above his head, and muttered.
The sky overhead, obscured by layers of dark clouds, made Inamori feel extremely unhappy - he had just prepared to use firearms troops today, but God was not in his favor.
"But please don't let it snow..."
As soon as Daomori finished saying this in a prayerful tone, a messenger quickly ran towards him.
"Lord Inamori!" the ordering soldier said respectfully, "Everyone is in their places!"
Daomori nodded: "Okay!"
He turned his head and looked at the fortress in the distance.
He took a deep breath, and then waved his military equipment with great momentum:
"Fire! Blow down the city wall!"
The order to fire was quickly conveyed to the artilleryman and gunner who was now standing at the front line.
With slightly clumsy movements, they stuffed gunpowder and shells into the cannons and barrels they were responsible for, and aimed them at the distant city fortress, and then——
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...
Nine cannons and 52 barrels roared almost at the same time.
In this era, the accuracy of the artillery and large barrels used in Japan was extremely poor. Therefore, when a row of artillery shells were fired, only 3 shells fired from the large barrels and 1 shell fired from the artillery hit the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress.
, the remaining shells only hit the snow outside the city wall.
In an instant - the earth shook.
The soldiers on the outer city wall felt that the city wall was shaking under their feet... they felt that the world was shaking...
In the snow covered by most of the shells, the snow on the ground disappeared - they exploded, the snow was smashed, ground fine, and torn into pieces, and the snowflakes fell down like raindrops.
Daomori has made up his mind to capture the Red Moon Fortress within one day today, so he does not hesitate to store the artillery shells and gunpowder in the army. All the artillery shells and gunpowder in his generals are concentrated, allowing the artillerymen and big guns to
The hands let go and started fighting.
Round after round of cannonballs poured towards the outer wall of Red Moon Fortress.
Although the accuracy is extremely poor, and the shooting is from a long distance, there are only a handful of cannonballs that can hit the city wall - but after rounds of cannonball strikes, there are always some cannonballs that can hit the city wall.
Every time the city wall was hit by a cannonball, the soldiers on the outer wall clearly felt the wall shaking - and the shaking became more and more violent.
On the Red Moon Fortress side, the Japanese army had already launched a counterattack before the artillery bombardment started.
Chanup gathered the best archers and musketeers and asked them to stand on the outer wall to shoot the artillerymen and cannonmen.
However - the distance was too far, and the archers' arrows simply couldn't shoot such a long distance.
The musketeers' projectiles could barely hit that place - but the accuracy was too poor. Whether they could hit such a far place depended on God's will. Until now, the musketeers have not hit even one enemy soldier.
The air became acrid and pungent because of the thick smoke and heavy fog from the cannons.
The smoke with the smell of gunpowder leaves a bitter taste on your tongue every time you take a breath.
The continuous roar of the artillery and the big barrels made the whole world seem to be shaking. The rumbling echo and the continuous roar made the eardrums of everyone in the Red Moon Fortress hurt.
The surrounding air was churning like crazy and roaring wildly.
The sparks from the explosion of the shells illuminated the ground that was darkened by the bad weather.
Three more large cannonballs hit the outer city wall.
Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak—!
Quack, quack, quack...
The outer city wall made an extremely ominous sound that could be clearly heard even from the inner city wall.
Chanupu looked at the outer city wall that seemed to be crumbling, and then looked at the archers and musketeers on the outer city wall who were already firing desperately but were still helpless against the gunners.
He seemed to have made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and then——
"Go tell the people on the outer wall!"
Chanup shouted to several young people beside him who were responsible for delivering orders for him.
"Let them all retreat! Evacuate the outer city wall!"
"Mr. Chanup." Lin Ziping on the side said anxiously, "Are you going to abandon the outer city wall?"
"We can't give up!" Chanup said solemnly, "The outer city wall may collapse at any time now! If we evacuate later, I don't know how many people will die!"
After Chanup's retreat order was conveyed to the outer city wall, the soldiers who had already been frightened by the dense rain of bullets withdrew from the outer city wall as if running for their lives and retreated behind the inner city wall.
After the last soldier evacuated the outer city wall, four more shells hit the outer city wall.
Quack, quack, quack—!
A shattering sound that was enough to cover the entire Red Moon Fortress exploded.
The outer city wall... now looks like melting ice.
Chanupu and the others saw that the outer city wall was slowly getting smaller at a speed visible to the naked eye...
First, many pieces fell, and then more and more pieces fell, getting bigger and bigger.
Finally - it seemed that it had completely lost its support, and the entire outer city wall collapsed, leaving a big gap...
Red Moon Fortress, outer city wall - fallen.
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I originally wanted to write a big chapter of 10,000, but I couldn't do it, so I only wrote 8,400... But this is considered extremely conscientious, so I humbly asked for some monthly votes (Leopard Head Cries.jpg)
In order to make everyone feel the description of being bombarded by artillery as if they were actually there, I wrote the description of artillery bombardment over and over again many times. I am very satisfied with the description of artillery bombardment in this chapter. I also hope you will
Don’t just glance at the scene of artillery bombardment carefully described by the author...