Free Web NovelChapter 186: An Unstoppable Advance
Eight Newhaven armies launched their assault on the Grand Concord Dynasty at the same time.
Even without counting the Artillery Army, that still amounted to twenty four thousand soldiers.
How could a force of only thirty thousand Grand Concord frontier troops dare rush in recklessly?
The Tenth Army nearby had only three thousand soldiers, yet the Grand Concord troops still did not dare make a move.
Their thirty thousand men would barely be enough to satisfy the Tenth Army.
The Thalric force of one hundred thousand had been even fiercer than they were, yet it had still been almost completely destroyed.
The only purpose of these thirty thousand frontier troops was to intimidate the Newhaven forces and slow their advance.
After all, an army could not charge forward while ignoring everything behind it.
Their supply columns still needed protection.
"General, can we really defeat the Newhaven army?"
The general commanding the thirty thousand troops fell silent for a moment.
Then he said, "The Grand Concord Dynasty commands a million soldiers. Why should we fear the mere twenty or thirty thousand men of Newhaven?"
Whether he believed those words himself was another matter.
Three thousand Newhaven soldiers had nearly wiped out one hundred thousand Thalric troops.
The subordinate worried in silence but did not dare say it aloud.
He feared being accused of weakening morale.
With concern written across his face, he asked, "General, are thirty li really far enough? I heard the Thalric army was still dozens of li from Newhaven when it was shattered and driven into retreat."
The general was afraid as well.
Those words sent a chill through him.
"Surely not. We are still dozens of li away. Their weapons cannot possibly be that monstrous..."
Before he could finish, a deep drone came from the sky.
The entire army looked up.
They froze.
Three propeller bombers flew directly over their heads.
The roar of their engines filled the sky as they swept across the army.
Then they turned and came back.
The frontier soldiers stared with wide eyes.
It was as though they had seen ghosts in broad daylight.
"General..."
"What enormous iron birds!"
The general’s expression changed.
"Those are Newhaven airships!"
"Airships?"
The subordinate looked confused.
Some among them had visited Newhaven and seen the Leader airship.
That enormous vessel moved as slowly as a turtle.
These machines looked nothing like it.
They were smaller and astonishingly fast.
They crossed the sky overhead in an instant.
The soldiers watched in confusion.
"What are those iron birds trying to do?"
The three bombers widened their formation and passed over the army again.
This time, their bomb bays opened.
Rows of incendiary bombs dropped into the ranks below.
The soldiers laughed.
"Look! Those iron birds are defecating!"
The general’s pupils contracted.
Terror drained the blood from his face.
He roared, "It is thunder and fire!"
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The bombs struck the ground and exploded instantly.
Enormous waves of flame surged outward like a raging sea.
Whole sections of the Grand Concord army were engulfed.
In the blink of an eye, the powerful incendiaries turned the area into an inferno.
Men and horses were thrown to the ground.
Chaos swallowed the army as flames spread everywhere.
"Damn them! Bring the heavy crossbows! I will shoot those iron birds down myself!"
"General, they are too high! The crossbows cannot reach them!"
The general was covered in ash and had nearly caught fire.
He scrambled to his feet, cursing furiously.
Then the three iron birds ahead turned back once again.
The sight made his scalp go numb.
His anger vanished completely.
A wave of cold fear rushed through him.
"Retreat! Retreat at once!"
The bombers had exhausted their incendiaries.
Their ammunition, however, was still full.
The three aircraft came diving back and opened fire.
Rows of soldiers were cut down beneath the continuous strafing.
The Grand Concord army scattered in every direction like headless insects.
Before long, the force had completely collapsed.
Only then did the three aircraft turn away. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
The lead pilot activated the radio.
"Reporting to First Division. Third Air Squadron has completed its mission. The Grand Concord target has been successfully struck from the air. The threat has been eliminated. Third Air Squadron is returning."
"First Division acknowledges."
It was almost an attack from another dimension.
The same thing did not happen only on the right flank of the Tenth Army.
Across the entire front, Grand Concord frontier units were ambushed by Newhaven bombers and suffered devastating losses.
Newhaven struck too quickly.
The Grand Concord forces had no time to learn what was happening to the other units. freēwēbnovel.com
Before they could gather together, they had already been shattered.
The three hundred thousand frontier troops failed to slow Newhaven’s advance for even a moment.
They fled in panic.
Their fate was even worse than that of the Thalric army.
At least Thalric had never faced incendiary bombs.
In less than half a month, Newhaven’s eight armies advanced with unstoppable momentum.
They drove two thousand li deep into the heart of the Grand Concord Dynasty.
Had they not needed to construct airfields and defensive works along the way, their advance would have been even faster.
Caelum’s goal was to seize territory.
He did not intend to destroy an entire nation and exterminate its people.
Every captured town and city needed officials and administrators.
The land had to be brought under proper control.
Taking it and leaving it unattended would accomplish nothing.
A look at the map showed that the Grand Concord Dynasty had already lost nearly one eighth of its territory.
The sight was horrifying.
Newhaven made no attempt to hide its victories.
Every day’s results were printed in the newspapers and announced to the public.
The people of Newhaven were exhilarated.
When Thalric saw that Newhaven had ignored them, it immediately began stirring again.
They wanted to fish in troubled waters and seize a share of the spoils.
Caelum noticed the movement and taught them a bloody lesson at once.
Four air squadrons consisting of twelve bombers flew directly over the Thalric capital.
They circled once and turned the city into a sea of fire and ruins.
Newhaven’s bombers had a combat radius of more than two thousand kilometers and a maximum payload of five tons.
The Thalric capital happened to lie within range.
That single attack terrified the Thalric frontier forces into withdrawing again.
When the story appeared in the newspapers, the people of Newhaven cursed Thalric with tremendous satisfaction.
In the past, Thalric had always been the one bullying them.
Now Thalric had been beaten into submission.
It felt wonderful.
"Serves them right! We are settling matters among ourselves. Why is Thalric trying to interfere?"
"Hahaha! Long live the Leader! Let them try taking advantage of the chaos again. Next time, we will flatten their capital completely!"
Newhaven and the Grand Concord Dynasty shared the same roots.
During the old dynasty, they had once belonged to the same realm.
In the eyes of Newhaven’s people, no matter how fiercely they fought the Grand Concord Dynasty, it was still an internal conflict.
Thalric was different.
They had always been outsiders.
Meanwhile, the Grand Concord court erupted after receiving the latest battle reports.
Every civil and military official was drenched in sweat.
They stood trembling and did not dare speak.
The emperor’s face was dark.
A suffocating pressure filled the imperial hall.
