Shadow Empire

Chapter 709: War is more difficult than imagined

Bol came to the shooting hole with the rifle in his hand. Outside, countless black shadows were wriggling in the darkness and rushing towards the defense line.

He had clearly prepared himself mentally, but when he saw this scene he still couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat!

The world in his eyes seemed to be spinning, and the soldier charging with his back bent looked like a demon hiding in the darkness.

He became highly nervous, pushed the muzzle of the weapon out of the firing port, and then pulled the trigger directly.

After pulling the trigger several times without any effect, he noticed that the safety was not off.

After he turned off the safety, he was so nervous that his fingers were twitching, and the entire magazine of twenty-five bullets was used up in an instant.

"Fuck, do you remember the training?"

"Calm down, aim, and pull the trigger, don't fucking shoot it all!"

The trenches were filled with the instructor's roar. It must be said that these roars might have some effect. Bol tremblingly removed the magazine, then replaced it with a new one. Then he tilted his head and tried to calm himself down, aimed at the enemy, and then pulled the trigger!

He didn't know whether he hit the target or not, he only knew that he was shooting mechanically in the same way as in training.

There were gunshots and artillery fire, and the battle lasted only thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes later the enemy retreated like the tide.

The shattered searchlight was replaced with a new lens and continued to illuminate the entire battlefield.

The moment the officer announced the end of the battle, Boll almost fell to the ground.

He took out a cigarette tremblingly, put it in his mouth and lit it.

Nicotine wasn't a good way to calm his nervousness, but it was better than nothing.

His fellow villagers sat next to him and said, "I was terrified."

Bol exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Me too."

"They are obviously far away from us, why do I feel scared and nervous?" Boll looked at his still shaking hands in confusion.

The adrenaline began to fade, and he felt tired, uneasy, scared, nervous, and all kinds of negative emotions. His hands were shaking even more violently than before!
His fellow villager shook his head. Not far away, another soldier also squatted against the wall of the trench, "Because the moment they rush in front of us, that's the moment we die in battle."

"We are fighting against death!"

There were some voices in the trenches. Some people, like Boll, felt uneasy and frightened, but some people felt excited.

These people were talking until they heard these words, then they immediately fell silent.

Yes, the moment the enemy rushes to their face, that is the moment they die.

After more than ten seconds, Boll said loudly, "That moment will never come!"

His loud voice seemed to give people some courage to face the worse situation at the moment, and then someone shouted, "That's right, no one can defeat us, the Federation will win!"

At around three o'clock in the morning, the soldiers in the trenches shouted "The Federation will win." In the command post behind the defense line, officers and generals were summarizing this first foreign battle.

“There are so many questions!”

The person in charge of this defense section was a lieutenant colonel. He had a serious expression and did not look excited after repelling the enemy.

This night battle exposed many problems.

"The soldiers were so nervous that many of them used up all their bullets before they even saw where the enemy was."

"Right now we are just on the defensive side. If we are on the offensive, the supply line will be longer and supply will be more difficult than it is now. We must optimize the tension problem when shooting."

One of the officers said, “We can ask the firearms supplier to provide weapons with two modes, continuous fire and single shot.”

The lieutenant colonel nodded and said, "This is a good idea. I will report it to the commander-in-chief."

"Our observers are very unfamiliar with night combat. We need to find a way to ask the Slad people if there are any experienced night observers and have them come over to teach our observers."

"It's too dangerous to let the enemy get close to the defense line before being discovered!"

"They don't know us well enough. This is just a tentative attack. If they had directly pushed a large number of troops forward, we might have been defeated."

When this question was asked, everyone in the room fell silent.

No one expected that the enemy could get so close. Maybe the enemy commander is now regretting why it was just a tentative attack. If he had sent out all the people, they would have broken through by now, cutting off the entire northern wing of the battlefield and throwing it into chaos.

Unfortunately, there is no if, but this made the lieutenant colonel very dissatisfied!
"All the companies on duty today will be punished, and the company officers will be punished twice as much."

A few officers said "yes" dejectedly, and the others looked at them with sympathy.

"I heard that someone injured his own people?"

"How did you do that?"

"They can even make mistakes with such basic things. Is it possible that they will drop a bomb directly on our headquarters next time?"

The lieutenant colonel was angry in a way that was not really angry, and the atmosphere in the room was always serious.

He listed many problems, including the soldiers' unfamiliarity with the battlefield and unfamiliarity with fighting.

Tension, uneasiness, fear, too many things made this "debut show" look as bad as the loose shit of a dog with diarrhea!
Terrible!

In fact, the bad things are not over yet, because the battle takes place in the middle of the night, and under the influence of various emotions and hormones in the body, people are not tired but very energetic.

They chatted until daybreak, then began to fall asleep.

Those who work night shifts have nothing to complain about. What else can they say when someone stays with them until dawn?
All I can say is "good brother", but it's a bit bad for the soldiers who need to patrol during the day.

Not long after they fell asleep, the assembly call was blown, and they were pushed up one by one and then lined up in the open space.

At this time, the hormones in the body begin to be completely metabolized and disappear due to rest and other reasons. The sequelae of overdrawing physical strength and energy suddenly appear, and everyone loses their energy.

The officers looked at them and didn't know what to say.

Over 300 people were killed or wounded in this defense section last night, mostly in the first half of the battle.

Those people approached directly and launched an attack, causing a large number of casualties. When the federal army reacted and joined the battle, the casualties immediately decreased.

Overall, the soldiers were too unfamiliar with the battlefield, too nervous, and some soldiers had already developed mental problems.

Some soldiers were retching violently or burping constantly, while others showed signs of distraction or occasional insanity.

The priests have begun to play a role. Holding the Bible in their hands, they tell the soldiers that all this is a fight for the glory of God and that after death they will not go to hell but to heaven.

At the same time they need more cigarettes.

The original military supply packs only contained ten cigarettes per person per week, but now it seems that ten cigarettes are not even enough for them to smoke in a day. They need something more that can calm the soldiers' emotions.

and something to help soldiers sleep.

Some soldiers were so nervous that they couldn't sleep at night. Insomnia troubled them and too many unexpected problems occurred.

There is also the problem of medicine. They need painkillers that take effect more quickly. If someone is shot and starts screaming, the nearby soldiers will fall into the illusion that they have been shot.

Several soldiers acted as if they had been shot after the battle, and they insisted that they felt they had been shot and had severe pain.

However, no wounds were found on the entire body. The doctor believed that this might be due to excessive tension and fear, which produced a feeling of "I am also hurt."

There are some areas that need improvement in terms of weapons, and some Slade instructors are needed.

Although the Slads were constantly being beaten back, they still had rich combat experience, which the Federals did not have now.

A large amount of battlefield information was gathered together and sent back to the Federation. The federal government did not announce how many people died overnight, but only emphasized that "we repelled an attack by the Dantra invaders."

Some newspaper reporters also followed suit and changed the concept. They said that what the Slade people could not do was achieved by the Federals who entered the battlefield for the first time.

This kind of propaganda is still very useful to the domestic federal people who are unaware of the specific situation. They are all caught up in the mood of "the federal government must win" and insist that victory is only a matter of time.

Only the top brass of the federation knew how much trouble they had to deal with.

The Department of Defense, the military, and Congress are all examining these issues and trying to find solutions.

On February 8, a more intense battle broke out again on the northernmost battlefield of the Tanfit continent. This time, the Dantra people also used chariots and tanks. Fortunately, although the federals did not have much experience, they were indeed well-equipped.

The two sides fought on the battlefield for nearly five hours before the Dantra people withdrew.

The casualties of the federal army this time were extremely heavy, because the Dantra people not only sent out chariots and tanks, but their artillery also began to bombard the defense line.

There was a sharp whistling sound in the sky, and then the torn bodies were blown into the air along with the soil.

Boll had been frightened during the battle, and a shell exploded less than ten meters away from him.

If it had been a little more off and landed in the trench, everyone would have died!
At this moment, he felt the insignificance of human power in war and that it could not play any role at all!
It was a hard-fought battle, and after it was over, there were thousands of casualties.

Although they may have killed one or two thousand enemies, no one could accept such a casualty ratio!

The soldiers' emotions had even more serious problems, and many of them were shouting that they wanted to go home!
The possibility of death at any time and anywhere is really too scary for them. They don’t come here just to sacrifice themselves!

The cruelty of war gradually became apparent, and these soldiers, who had poor psychological qualities, completely collapsed.

Their collapse also led to low morale on the defense line.

After discussions between the Department of Defense and the military, Admiral Miles soon told Lance to ship the "small bottles of wine" he had prepared to the front line as soon as possible!
It is called a "small can", but it is actually a flat metal bottle, the kind of small wine bottle that can be put into your pocket.

The price itself is not cheap, compared with metal bottles and glass bottles, but considering that it contains wine worth twenty dollars, it becomes not that expensive.

Lance gave them a discounted price of twenty dollars and fifty cents.

When Admiral Miles saw these bottles of wine, he couldn't help but stay for a while because it seemed that they might appeal to some people's sexual preferences.

He also took a sip on his own initiative. The alcohol content of more than 40 degrees was a bit strong for the federals, but it was just right for the soldiers on the front line who needed it to relieve their emotions!
"The bottle is nice, but the wine is just average!" Admiral Miles gave Lance a very objective evaluation.

Lance didn't care. "If you're willing to give the soldiers wine that costs a thousand dollars a bottle, I guarantee that its taste will immediately improve by several levels!"

Admiral Miles was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, "No, that's enough!"

Although he knew very well that the more expensive the wine, the more money he would make, their Congress would definitely not approve it.

It is already a stretch to spend an extra two hundred dollars per soldier per month. If it is increased further, even if Congress can give them more, they will have to consider the consequences if these things are exposed.

Or it would definitely be exposed. It would be impossible to conceal the fact that the soldiers on the front line were given alcohol. They could still hold on to the pressure of 200 yuan, but they really couldn't hold on to 1,000 yuan.

"I hope this batch of wine can really change the situation on the front line!" Admiral Miles finally sighed.

Lance didn't know much about the situation on the front line, but the fact that there was a strong urge to send wine up just a few days after the fighting started meant that the situation was definitely not optimistic.

This is a good opportunity to get the inside scoop: "Are we not doing well?"

"The newspapers have been saying that we have been winning victory after victory and have repelled two full-scale attacks by the enemy."

Admiral Miles couldn't help laughing when he heard what Lance said, a very helpless laugh, "We have lost 7,000 to 8,000 people, but from what we can count, they may have only lost 1,000 to 2,000 people."

"The huge loss ratio has caused our morale to be very low. The Ministry of Defense is reassessing the development trend of the battlefield."

"And soon we will join the battle as well."

The army encountered trouble as soon as it landed, and the navy certainly couldn't just sit there and do nothing. On the one hand, they had to move around to ensure the safety of the supply lines, and on the other hand, they had to bombard the coastal cities of the Dantra Republic.

As for whether it will hit ordinary people and cause casualties among innocent people.

Alright!
This is a fucking war. There is no right or wrong or innocent label. As long as you are an enemy, you deserve to die!

Only the victor can accuse the loser of massacring civilians after reaping the fruits of victory. Before the winner is determined, both sides are demons!
These terrible bad news were indeed not disclosed in the newspapers, which can be considered a strategy.

"You want to go to the front too?"

"I?"

Admiral Miles thought for a moment, then nodded slowly, "I'm not needed in small-scale battles, but if a large-scale battle occurs, I will definitely be on the front line."

“I’ll be with my kids!”

Although this old guy is a bit greedy, he is still a good general from the perspective of the federals.

Lance opened another box, took out a box from it and handed it to Admiral Miles. It was a very beautifully packaged box.

"What's in this?" asked Admiral Miles.

Lance motioned for him to open it and take a look. Admiral Miles curiously opened the box. When he saw what was inside, he couldn't help but pick it up in his hand, turning it over and over again.

A small golden wine jug with an ivory mouth. Unlike those square and flat wine jugs, this one is round and its belly looks fuller.

On the outside of the wine jug are some pictures related to war.

Gold feels particularly warm, but it does not feel heavy. It is very comfortable to hold in the hand. Of course, it will definitely feel a little heavy if you keep it in your pocket for a long time.

"Thank you, I like it very much!"

He didn't pretend to refuse, but put it directly in his pocket.

Of course, he also kindly reminded them, "Over there, other generals..."

Lance nodded slightly, "Everything is ready."

He looked at Lance and sighed, so young, yet so sophisticated, sometimes there was really nothing to say.

Soon the first batch of "tension relievers" was shipped, this time by speedboat, and arrived at the battlefield after the third blocking battle.

The intensity of the third battle reached a new level, with artillery shells, armored vehicles, tanks, mortars, and advancing soldiers.

Two defense lines were even breached at one point, but were quickly recaptured by soldiers who outnumbered the enemy by several times!

The main forces of the Dantra people are all on the main battlefield. This is just a part of them, but for the Federation, this is the main battlefield!
The Ministry of National Defense and the military have already approved the proposal to increase the number of troops to 700,000.

The casualties in this battle were even more devastating. Although the casualties on the Dantra Republic side were also heavy, for the federal soldiers who were new to the war, the successive setbacks had already made them somewhat afraid of fighting!

The supervisors and priests were brainwashing them, instilling in them the idea that they should be born for battle and die for battle.

But it is still difficult to alleviate people’s sadness and pessimism. What they need is not someone telling them “you will be happier after you die”, but to find a way to vent!
In the morning, Bol climbed out of bed with a grim face. He dressed neatly and stood beside the bed. There were many strangers in the tent.

In less than half a month, a lot of people around him had changed.

Including his fellow villagers, they also died in the last battle.

Until this moment he could still clearly remember that he and his fellow villager were shooting at the enemy, and they pulled the trigger while talking to ease the tension.

But suddenly the fellow villager stopped talking, then slowly turned his head and looked at him.

He subconsciously looked at his fellow villager, only to see that half of his head had been blown off, and blood was splattered all over the trench behind them.

Then the next second, the fellow villager who had been chatting and laughing with him collapsed to the ground.

However, he continued to aim and shoot numbly...

(End of this chapter)