CHAPTER 1926: CHAPTER 1919: ARTILLERY WARNING

"Damn, damn, damn, how could this happen, how could this happen." The captain of the advance team witnessed everything before him, shocked beyond belief, mouth agape as he fell off his horse, kneeling to the ground with a thud.

Not far from him was a tin can, opened violently from the side, its opener clearly unsure how to open it properly.

The team members checked around and discovered an even more horrifying scene. Not far away, the wall was covered in glaring bullet holes and blood stains, with several corpses lying at the base, evidencing that executions had taken place there.

In the village’s most famous site, Moonlight Spring, floated the bodies of several children, bound tightly and thrown into the water to drown, their bloated bodies bobbing on the surface.

On the house posts on the other side of the village, two elderly bodies hung, riddled with knife wounds, evidently used as bayonet targets.

The captain knelt on the ground, his tearful eyes desolate and hopeless, as if his very breath was halting.

"Boss, found this."

A team member ran over, handing the captain several bullet casings.

"7.62 NATO rounds, must be Aud Army," the team member said.

Soon after, another team member made a new discovery and ran over, handing the captain a button.

It was a brass button from a sleeve, its material and design almost certainly that of the Odelanqi army.

The gathered evidence pointed to a terrifying fact. A squad of Aud Army soldiers had attacked Moonlight Spring, brutally slaughtering over thirty elderly, women, and children hiding in the village.

"Boss, all the supplies we left here have been taken away, not even the packaging is left." Another team member ran over, reporting his findings.

"Damn it!"

The captain punched the ground hard, shouting hysterically, "Report to headquarters, I want to butcher those bastards."

The news was quickly reported to headquarters, and upon hearing it, everyone fell silent, simultaneously turning to Luo’er, who was seated, head bowed in contemplation.

The draftsman carefully climbed the small ladder, removing the emblem from the map at Moonlight Spring’s location. As he landed, Luo’er reached out, motioning for him to hand the emblem over.

The draftsman walked to Luo’er’s side, placing the emblem in his palm. Luo’er squeezed the emblem representing an unarmed group, his expression growing increasingly grave.

"Is it confirmed to be the Aud Army’s doing?" Cheng Ziang asked the radio operator.

"Hold on."

The radio operator contacted again, and five minutes later, quickly recorded text on paper, then stood up to hand it to Cheng Ziang, nodding solemnly, "Team 1735 found related evidence, confirming Aud Army soldiers indeed came to Moonlight Spring."

"Damn these bastards," Cheng Ziang glanced at the document and couldn’t help but curse, "They were told not to cross the line, not to cross the line, pretending to be deaf one by one. Fortunately..."

He paused, glanced at Luo’er, and continued cursing, "Though the victims weren’t Lipei people, it was still within Lipei territory, these guys are too lawless, a strong response is needed!"

"We’ve suffered losses," after a long silence, Luo’er finally spoke, expressionless and coldly, "Notify to cut off all aid to the western corps from Lipei, prepare for war!"

"Is it suitable to break the hard-earned peace for thirty people?" a staff officer expressed concern.

"It’s not about thirty lives, it’s about crossing the line," Luo’er coldly replied, "I repeatedly warned the Aud Army not to cross the border. Yet they did, and caused such a severe humanitarian disaster within Lipei territory, it’s unbearable."

Luo’er said the last sentence through gritted teeth.

War does not mean absolute moral corruption; all atrocities committed in war will be recorded, waiting for post-war accountability.

Luo’er’s reaction was because the Aud Army openly caused a humanitarian disaster within Lipei territory, harming defenseless people.

And also because Luo’er realized it was difficult to instigate internal friction within the Aud Army. The massacre at Moonlight Spring was obviously the doing of Aud Army under Brolan.

Luo’er needed to represent Lipei’s attitude, even if it was Brolan’s subordinates, he intended to place the blame on Oklo Laf, pushing him to accelerate internal conflicts within the western corps.

"Notify train artillery deployment, prepare for bombardment!" Luo’er continued to command.

"Understood!"

"Should we use rocket artillery?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"Not needed for now." Luo’er shook his head.

"But may be needed at any time." He added after a pause.

With the adjustments in orders, a large quantity of supplies originally destined for the western corps was temporarily recalled, and the train artillery moved into the predetermined positions, starting their setup while the shells and powder charges were prepared again. The artillerymen were excited, as it seemed this time it was really going to fire.

The advance team near the western corps received the order from headquarters to begin guiding the bombardment.

"Commander, what is the target for shooting?" a military officer stepped forward to ask.

"The battalion under Brolan, shoot at the open space next to their base," Luo’er responded.

"Not directly at their base site?" Cheng Ziang asked, puzzled.

"Courtesy before force," Luo’er replied calmly.

"This courtesy is quite pricey."

Cheng Ziang grinned wryly.

"The daily supplies we send them are about this price too, what war without money."

Luo’er shrugged.

"Our reconnaissance aircraft has taken off, heading to the mission airspace..."

"Commander, should we calibrate the shooting?"

"No need to calibrate, just prepare for a volley," Luo’er shook his head.

"Understood, a volley, preparations underway," the radio operator began to send messages meticulously.

In the train artillery base, upon receiving the shooting orders, the artillerymen were all busy.

Using winches and automatic loaders, they pushed the hefty shells into the barrels and began loading the propellant charges. Lastly, they closed the threaded breech block, turning the crosswheel to completely seal it.

During this time, both inside and outside Lipei City, urgent and piercing howling sounds echoed, signaling the imminent firing.

"Coordinates confirmed, volley loaded and ready, awaiting firing command," the artillery commander said to the radio operator.

"Artillery ready, should we fire?" Cheng Ziang asked Luo’er upon hearing the reply.

"Fire," Luo’er said calmly, closing his eyes.

"Artillery fire! Artillery fire! Artillery fire!!"

Receiving the command, the artillery commander raised his voice, and the artillerymen began to step away from the guns, dragging the ten-meter-long firing cord, and stood tense in the rear awaiting the firing command.

"Volley, release!!"

The artillery commander shouted loudly, and the artillerymen simultaneously pulled the cord, igniting the primer, causing several large-caliber train artillery guns to roar with earth-shaking thunder.

A dizzying shock wave swiftly swept through everyone present, followed by a rush of air carrying debris and smoke.

The artillerymen coughed as they swallowed hard, their ears humming, their heads spinning, almost unable to regain balance.

The colossal sound of the firing artillery echoed through the city, and even within the headquarters in the inner city, the thunderous noise could be heard, causing intense vibrations, the glass windows and doors trembling.

"Wow, that’s quite something, it’d be nice to see it live," Cheng Ziang expressed envy, covering his ears.

The huge shells, driven by the enormous energy of gunpowder combustion, rotated swiftly towards the target. In less than two minutes, they reached their destination, whistling down onto a small empty grove beside the camp.

The explosion of the large-caliber shells was truly earth-shaking. Several shells landed, instantly creating huge craters, with surrounding trees shredded by the shockwave, thrown into the sky like paper shreds, falling like willow catkins.

The massive explosion and shockwave left the Aud Army in the camp dumbfounded, triggering extreme panic, their camp erupting into chaos like ants in a ruined anthill.