CHAPTER 1517: CHAPTER 1434: I HOPE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND

A building that had already been very haphazard collapsed with a loud crash because a 155mm howitzer shell had crashed into the building, shattering it to pieces.

The flying debris pulled everything around into it, limbs and blood were everywhere, as were bodies. The adjacent building was also affected and more than half of it collapsed, with wooden floors slanting and falling down, and walls crumbling onto the street, hitting many passersby.

All the glass on the distant buildings instantly shattered, the cries of children drowned out by the massive explosion. Then the sound of stones hitting the ground spread out and didn’t stop for a long time.

Inside a barricade, an officer clutching a phone nervously reported to his superior about what he had just witnessed with his own eyes, his voice in utter panic and speaking very quickly: "Yes! It’s an artillery strike! A shell hit a residential house! Yes! A residential house!"

He was slightly more competent than the soldiers under him because he was an officer supplemented in, who had seen the Tang Army’s artillery in the southern Shu Territory.

A few days ago, he had just gotten off the train and was then appointed as a platoon leader—only his platoon had only 14 people under him, and he had to figure out the rest by himself.

Later, he indeed found a way and found over 30 "new recruits," but these recruits were generally older, with the youngest being 49 years old.

Those older recruits who experienced artillery fire for the first time were huddled shivering next to the sandbags of the barricade. During their days of war, the weapons were still flintlocks. Who would have thought that modern warfare would become so terrifying, so horrendous...

"Boom!" About 300 meters apart, another shell tore through the air with a piercing screech and plunged down directly hitting another building.

That building was not sturdy, and most of it shattered directly upon the shell’s explosion, and the rest also collapsed with a loud crash.

With the collapse of that building, several ramshackle earth houses built by Qin Country people around also collapsed, and in an instant, dust rose and spread to shroud an entire block.

The rolling blast wave was clearly visible from a thousand meters away, and the citizens of Qin Country were bewildered; this time they did not hear the piercing air raid sirens. To them, this kind of attack was simply too sudden and too unbearable.

In the command center in the east of the city, Zhang Xuan was clutching a phone inquiring about what exactly happened, and his subordinate reported the Tang Army’s artillery strike, claiming that two shells landed in the city.

"East of the city! Yes! East of the city! Only two shells... 155mm howitzers! It’s predicted that the Tang people’s artillery position is in Dingfeng Slope... Do we need to counterattack?" A front-line officer anxiously inquired Zhang Xuan over the phone.

In the outskirts of Wuyang, the Qin Army hid several valuable 200mm heavy cannons in crevices between buildings. These were their trump cards, and one of the few heavy weapons they had that could reach the Tang Army.

The Qin Army retreated hastily, abandoning too many artillery and heavy weaponry, and those difficult-to-move large-caliber howitzers had long been completely discarded.

Luckily, because of the difficulty in moving, some overly cumbersome weapons hadn’t been transported to the front line, and the Qin Army retreated in time, thus lucky enough to preserve them until now.

These 200mm howitzers were preserved in this manner, besides which there were dozens more 155mm towed howitzers, as well as various calibers of anti-aircraft guns produced in overtime...

"Conserve the shells... no need to counterattack." Zhang Xuan knew the heavy firepower at his disposal couldn’t compare to the Tang Army, so he simply laid back in resignation: wait until the Tang Army truly launched an offensive, then open fire and take a few unlucky ones down with them, this was the most cost-effective tactic he could think of.

Besides, Zhang Xuan was also contemplating another question: why did the Tang Army stop firing after just two shots? It made no sense at all, if the Tang Army was firing to warn the Qin Army inside the city, a round of shelling seemed more reasonable.

What he didn’t know was that on the Tang Army’s artillery position, the commander was clutching a radio communication device, frustratedly questioning his superior: "Why ceasefire? Sir... I only fired two shells! Yes, only two shells! What? What do you mean by cancel the shelling? ... Yes! Yes! Executing order!"

Hanging the communication device back onto the communication equipment, the battalion commander frustratingly looked at the officer beside him, "Mission cancelled! Be careful, remove the shells... damn it, what is this business."

While he was complaining, in a command center to the rear of the Tang Army, an officer wearing a Qin Country military uniform with a white armband on his arm walked into Strauss’s army command post, accompanied by several Tang Army guards.

"The shelling has been cancelled as per your order, though the order was given a bit late, the front line reported that two shells were fired..." the chief of staff whispered into Strauss’s ear while greeting him.

"No matter! They said they came for surrender negotiations this time; that is beyond my decision. They want to negotiate peace, which I do not need to bother with, but if they surrender, I must report the situation." Strauss shrugged, smiling at his staff officer.

"Our 3rd Corps was the first to reach Wuyang, this credit is already in hand, the rest can be left to the foreign ministry." After saying this, he saw that the Qin Country emissary walked in, and immediately put on a formal smile: "Welcome."

The emissary held a humble stance, stood at attention, saluted, and introduced himself: "Sir, I am here under Prime Minister Ying Ke’s orders to negotiate surrender... the war is already meaningless, please mercifully halt the operations attacking Wuyang, Qin Country... will certainly give Tang Country a satisfactory result."

"I am awaiting orders from His Majesty... mercy is the Emperor’s virtue; I am only a General, and slaughter is my duty." Strauss attributed credit all to Emperor Tang Mo, smiling as he said, "However, I have already ordered to stop the attack... please rest assured, emissary sir."

"Qin Country is deeply grateful..." The emissary pulled sealed letters from a pocket and handed them to Strauss: "This is a letter to be delivered to your country; please, General, forward it to your country’s negotiators..."

"I will..." Strauss accepted the letter with one hand and handed it to his adjutant by his side: "I have some not-so-good news to tell you... because the message about your arrival reached me a bit late... thus, two shells landed in Wuyang... it wasn’t our intention, I hope you can understand."