Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1732 Legion
Although it's somewhat unfair to Fu Yuanshan, it's clear that Master Sa actually favors Yanqiu as his disciple more than he does.

In fact, not only Yanqiu, but even Han Xingzhi was more worthy of attention than Fu Yuanshan in the eyes of Master Sa.

After all, although Fu Yuanshan looked like a middle-aged man, he was actually much older than Grand Secretary Wen. According to him, his actual age was between 92 and 93. Having not been promoted for so long, Master Sa, while not exactly disappointed, at least felt that he seemed to lack good fortune.

After all, Han Xingzhi was truly blessed: at less than twenty years old, he intercepted a wisp of purple energy coming from the east, from which he could cultivate his spiritual consciousness.

Whether he cultivated seriously or not is one thing, whether he has good fortune or not is another.

Fu Yuanshan has already reached the realm of a celestial being, a realm that is extremely rare. To have reached this point through sheer good fortune makes him one of the best among them.

However, if he wants to reach a deeper level, Fu Yuanshan's previous good fortune might not be enough—of course, whether it's enough now is still uncertain. He and Shang Luo are currently working separately. Shang Luo's current focus is mainly on refining the three-in-one golden staff.

"You think so highly of me, I suddenly feel a little sorry for you."

"what happened?"

"Actually, a piece of military intelligence just arrived—ah, not an urgent one, if it were an urgent one I would have sent it even if I interrupted you. It was a battle report. They're not pressing for reinforcements, so I think your experiment with the golden staff here is more important."

"What is it?" Shangluo asked.

“This message was sent five minutes ago—two garrison infantry brigades of the Roman 8th Legion stationed in Cairo refused to evacuate, and the 171st Panzer Infantry Battalion of the 51st [White Tiger] Panzer Column, which was heading to take over the city, is currently engaged in combat with two Roman divisions.”

"Wait a minute. A battalion is the size of a brigade, right? One battalion fighting two brigades? They don't need to call for reinforcements?"

"No need. Yes, it seems your support is not needed. The air assault force has already gone through; they can hold their ground, and no casualties are expected."

Outside Cairo, inside the Memphis fortress. This star-shaped fortress was a common defensive structure built in Roman cities, and after modernization, it boasts sturdy cement walls and reinforced concrete fortresses.

Not all Roman legions were disobeying orders; at least this fortress had been surrendered. However, elsewhere, many Roman legions were unwilling to accept their fate.

Egypt is vast, and they have plenty of places to escape to. And inside this fortress lies something they need to take with them.

"So, what are they trying to steal?" Lu Huaiyang, who was leading the air assault troops to reinforce the area, was listening to the battle report.

"Yes, it seems that some kind of artifact is hidden in that fortress. Our people haven't found out what the artifact is yet, but after the Roman rebels failed to get armed entry into the fortress, they immediately attacked our garrison. Everything is normal for now, our reinforcements are expected to arrive within an hour, and they can hold out for another hour without any problem."

"Hmm." Lu Huaiyang nodded. "Were the Romans weak?"

"It's not so much weakness as it is dullness. They seem unaware that the war is heading in that direction. They don't know how to fight."

The footage from the front has been sent over—the images show Roman infantry assaulting the trenches surrounding the fortress, while the armored infantry battalion crouches inside the trenches.

The trenches were riddled with shell craters, the Roman army having just bombarded the fortifications with a rapid barrage of fire. However, the trenches were effective at halting such attacks. While the artillery fire was not particularly intense, the Roman charge was extremely brutal—they charged the fortress with their bare hands, as if they had an extra body at home.

The footage was recorded from the perspective of the defending troops, with orders ringing out from one after another within the infantry battalion. The camera focused on a platoon of infantrymen.

"Heavy fire! Heavy fire, prepare! Fire!"

The squad leader gave the order, but his command was quickly drowned out by the deafening roar of the rocket launcher. The heavy rocket launcher sounded no different from artillery fire, and the 120mm rockets, with a propellant charge greater than that of a chariot's main gun, exploded directly among the charging Roman legions. Flames and shrapnel flew everywhere, scattering the charging Roman troops; dozens were visibly blown away.

However, before the dozens of people who had been airborne could land, even more people continued their charge.

The scene caused some panic among the royal army's infantry. The camera tilted down slightly, revealing another 24 rocket launchers inside the trench.

There were also boxes of hand grenades, and pieces of "good stuff" wrapped in oil paper.

There weren't many boxes of bullets in sight. In fact, the continuous gunfire around the camera had stopped earlier. That's because only one marksman in the infantry squad was using a rifle, and he was taking turns pointing out the charging Roman soldiers with his bipod-mounted automatic rifle. Only he and the squad leader were using rifles, so they had to conserve their ammunition.

The rest of the squad were all crouching behind the trench, sorting through the oil paper packages that had already been opened above the trench.

Inside the oil paper package was a semi-circular directional mine, with the words "This side faces the enemy" written on one side.

When the first wave of Roman soldiers reached within 50 meters, the infantry in the trenches began firing freely—they used pull wires to detonate the directional mines they had set.

The directional mines detonated with a deafening roar, their hundreds of pre-fired steel balls spreading across a 70-meter-wide fan, sweeping across the area in front. When everyone in the trench fired in unison, the firepower instantly coalesced into a wall of fire. The wall of projectiles pressed down relentlessly, leaving no survivors within 50 meters. Everyone was hit by the storm of directional mines, and each person was struck by more than one projectile.

The mountain of oil-paper packages we just saw contained these directional mines, with each soldier receiving about 20 rounds of ammunition. After all, they were mechanized infantry who had arrived by vehicle, and the ammunition, along with the rocket launchers, was unloaded from the truck.

The imperial infantry had never placed much emphasis on the use of individual firearms, a practice that began during the Imjin War. Fifty shots from a musket were less effective than a single shot from a tiger-squat cannon, which held forty to fifty rounds and provided a more concentrated barrage. At that time, the imperial army carried almost one of these light cannons for every few soldiers, totaling several thousand cannons in a force of 30,000.

These directional mines are essentially portable "tiger crouching guns," with similar effects. Their effective range is similar to a rifle, but the number of projectiles they can fire each time far exceeds that of a rifle. A single directional mine can sweep across an area in front of them, rendering their own rifles completely useless.

And there were boxes and boxes of grenades next to them, which were to be used when more people rushed up together.

"Tsk." Lu Huaiyang shook his head. "Are these Romans coming over with guns to engage in a gunfight? Why would they want to engage in a gunfight?"

“Because they’re stupid,” Wen Yuan replied from the side.

"Finally, you've said something that sounds good."

(End of this chapter)