CHAPTER 1928: CHAPTER 1921: BOMBARDMENT

"Lord Brolan and Lipei people are both unhappy, what should we do now?" the officer asked tentatively.

"Let them fight, it’s none of our business," Oklo Laf said indifferently.

"But if we do nothing, and he reports us to His Majesty, we..." the officer said worriedly.

"Hmph, Lipei isn’t something you can just take easily, adding a hundred thousand more wouldn’t make much difference,"

Oklo Laf paused and continued, "If His Majesty wants to continue advancing eastward to Masya, he must consider the relationship with Lipei. If a hundred thousand troops are put here, how will we deal with Masya’s forces?"

After a commotion, Brolan began to mobilize the hundred thousand troops he brought, moving them completely away from Oklo Laf’s group.

Though Brolan spoke so defiantly, his actions were completely contrary to his words.

Brolan mobilized thirty thousand troops to advance into Lipei territory, while the rest of the troops retreated fifty kilometers in two days before setting up camp.

The thirty thousand advancing were split into three corps, starting to spread their lines with Lipei’s main city as the target and gradually advancing.

During this time, the Aud Army received leaflets dropped by the Lipei Defense Force’s air unit demanding the Aud Army punish the culprits and fully withdraw from Lipei’s territory or face devastating strikes.

After reading the letter, Brolan ripped it apart and furiously ordered the troops to continue advancing.

The Aud Army’s actions made Luo’er realize that war was unavoidable.

However, thankfully, Oklo Laf specifically sent envoys to express his stance, stating that he would not participate in the siege of Lipei.

As a gesture, Oklo Laf’s Aud Army also began a full withdrawal, retreating thirty kilometers before setting up camp again.

"Unsheathe your swords, load your rifles, prepare for battle!"

This was the war mobilization order issued by Luo’er, and as the order was disseminated, the war finally inevitably erupted.

In the artillery positions, soldiers began to get active, a large amount of artillery was deployed and corrected, endless shells and supplies were transported and stacked on the positions through the Otherworld Gate from the inner city of Lipei.

Within Lipei’s territory, wandering advance teams also began to act actively, tracking the Aud Army entering Lipei to prepare for artillery guidance.

Up to now, Luo’er was not prepared to take the initiative to attack, so the entire war still revolved around the passive defense battle of the Lipei Defense Army.

With the command of free fire given, the artillery positions began to roar, from the city wall overlooking, one could see the shells dragging long trails as they were fired from the guns shining with flames, drawing arcs in the sky, flying far away.

Once the artillery positions opened fire, they couldn’t stop. Mission orders of continuous bombardments were issued, and after short pauses of cold cannon firing, the artillery crew’s actions became skillful and rapid, the cannons resounded continuously.

Some soldiers, for the sake of speed, didn’t rely on auxiliary loaders anymore, they directly stuffed shells into the breaches bare-chested, at most loading five times in one go before needing a break. The position was bustling, and the soldiers were drenched in sweat.

Due to the tight schedule and heavy task, the interval between cannon fires was very short, basically needing immediate clearing and reloading after each shot.

The firing of the cannons produced immense noise and dust, though soldiers were equipped with earplugs and filter masks. Yet, many found these items cumbersome and fired without protection, becoming grimy and their eardrums long since numb.

The artillery positions were firing at extreme speed toward designated areas, and besides howitzers, large-caliber rocket launchers were also deployed and fired. The rockets, dragging long tails of flame, shrieked towards the sky.

This time, the intensity of the bombardment was significantly higher than during the Lipei civil war. Although the residents in the settlement area were mentally prepared, they were still frightened by the continuous booming bombardment; each appeared at a loss, hiding indoors unwilling to come out.

Under the powerful artillery strike of the Lipei Defense Force, the advancing Aud Army suffered great losses. Although they had already scattered their formations, they still faced continuous bombardment of shells raining down incessantly.

The advancing Aud Army were forced to spread out further since whenever they dared to cluster, even just over a hundred, they would be subjected to heavy artillery bombardment.

The Lipei Defense Army’s shells fell like they were free of cost, pummeling them like raindrops, giving no chance to breathe.

Under the fierce bombardment, the Aud Army’s advance stalled, and just the first day of bombardment caused over two thousand casualties without even catching a glimpse of the Lipei forces.

Such massive casualties left Brolan doubting, he finally understood why Oklo Laf would rather collude with Lipei than advance the army, because the firepower was just too fierce.

Although the dispersed formation effectively controlled the casualties, their logistics supply was all subject to prioritized bombing.

Especially the Aud Army’s artillery units received special attention right from the war’s onset. These towed guns with a range of only dozens of kilometers had already become scrap metal under Lipei Army’s fire before reaching firing distance.

The Lipei Army, possessing various artillery covering the borders, even mobilized railway guns and a large amount of rocket artillery to strike down the Aud Army artillery units entirely.

This no-cost firestrike dealt a significant hit to the Aud Army.

Personnel casualties were only part of it, the most critical was their severely threatened logistics which dared not centrally transport supplies, invisibly weakening the Aud Army’s combat capability.

Now, Brolan faced only two paths: either retreat temporarily out of the Lipei army’s artillery range, or wait until night for a rapid advancement raid.

The second option was not without merit, if successfully implemented, even Luo’er would be startled.

But the question remains, does the Aud Army possess the organizational capability and raiding ability?

Evaluating whether an army is a feudal army or a modern army involves not only looking at the weapons and equipment but also the organizational method and combat will.

Solders understanding what they are fighting for can thus unleash subjective initiative, manifesting strong combat will.

On this basis, bolder strategies can be carried out, like dispersing formations under the night to execute swift raids, catching the Lipei Army off guard.

But the problem is that the Aud Army, as a standard feudal army, although achieving modernization in military equipment, still lacks modernized combat thoughts.

If Brolan commands the troops to disperse and raid, the most likely outcome would be soldiers dissolving into smaller parts, scattering on their own.

Additionally, Lipei’s terrain is the major reason the Aud Army continues suffering bombardment.

Lipei is located on the edge of the Odelanqi Plain, mostly plains with a few rolling hills.

In such terrain, either direct fast raids for battle or dispersal maneuvering can work. Otherwise, it’s exceedingly easy to suffer artillery strikes.

Plain terrain is conducive to rapid troop maneuvering, but due to the lack of varied mountainous terrain, it’s very hard to find reverse slopes for shelter from cannon bombardment.

One could say, Brolan’s initial hesitation already forged a major mistake. Advancing slowly in open, plain terrain was tantamount to being moving targets.

Although he also ordered scattered actions of troops, the Lipei troops didn’t care much for that, the artillery fired upon command regardless of numbers.

Under continuous bombardment, the Aud Army formation became increasingly scattered, eventually breaking into small teams of about ten advancing separately, keeping more than ten meters interspacing.

This approach, while reducing bombardment casualties, also severely limited the Aud Army’s offensive capability. To conquer Lipei’s three lines of defense, ultimately it would require concentrating troops for a focused attack.

Hesitation and indecision were the main reasons for Brolan’s setback this time.

Even though he initially proclaimed to fight to the death with Lipei forces, he only sent thirty thousand deep into Lipei, leaving the rest to retreat and evade bombardment, this counted as hesitation.

Although this could avoid a hundred thousand troops being wiped out in one go, it weakened the Aud Army’s offensive strength, making conquering Lipei an unattainable fantasy.

Thus, it still circles back to that question, to attack Lipei, it requires once investing all two hundred thousand troops; only this could bring possible victory.