We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The fire is soaring!

Smoke billowing!

Hayakawa Nobuhide saw with his own eyes that a huge cannonball hit the city wall on the left side of the gate tower.

The hard bluestone wall, as if struck by a giant hammer from the gods, instantly caved in and cracked.

Accompanied by a deafening explosion, a huge gap with a diameter of nearly ten feet was blown open.

Countless pieces of rubble shot into the city like flowers scattered by a fairy from heaven.

Dozens of Japanese soldiers standing near the gap were torn into pieces by the shock wave or riddled with holes by the flying debris before they could even scream.

Some were even more unlucky, as the shrapnel, whose kinetic energy had not decreased after penetrating the city wall, went straight through their bodies and formed a string.

Another shell hit the city gate accurately. The heavy gate wrapped in thick iron sheets twisted and shattered like a piece of paper in the explosion, and the gate behind it was blown into oblivion.

The inside of the city gate was in a mess, with blood and flesh all over the place.

This is just the beginning!

The smoke from the first volley had not yet cleared when the second volley of artillery fire followed.

The artillery of the Dongfeng Army demonstrated terrifying efficiency.

The gunner used a long-handled boring tool to scrape out the remaining gunpowder in the barrel, and then cleaned the barrel with a mop dipped in water.

The barrel of the gun is extremely hot after firing, and the water remaining inside will evaporate immediately and will not affect the subsequent shooting.

After the cannon has cooled down, the gunner reloads the gunpowder, plugs it tightly, and places it in the cartridge case, followed by the shell.

Then, the gap between the shell and the barrel must be sealed.

Cleaning the chamber, reloading, aiming, and firing are all essential processes.

Therefore, the Dongfeng Army chose a more efficient way of attack:

Half of the guns fired first, and then the other half adjusted the angle and fired again, and then they alternated firing, making the bombardment continuous.

The shells fell continuously on the defenses of Rock City like hail.

The strong city walls that the Japanese army was proud of were as fragile as a sand castle built by a child in front of the heavy artillery of the Dongfeng Army.

Every explosion was accompanied by the collapse of large sections of walls, and the buildings in the city were reduced to ruins by the falling shells.

Thick smoke and flames quickly engulfed the city.

"God...the wrath of God, this is the wrath of God!"

"The city wall... the city wall collapsed, hurry up and save people!"

"Help! I don't want to die!"

"Mother......"

The Japanese soldiers' will to resist was completely crushed in the face of this devastating artillery fire.

Bushido, loyalty to the emperor and serving the country, all turned into the most primitive fear in the face of steel and fire that humans could not resist.

The Japanese soldiers dropped their weapons and fled crying in the burning ruins like headless flies, but they could not find any place to hide.

Saturation attack, are you messing with me?

Whether you can survive the bombardment does not depend on your identity or where you are, but on whether you are strong enough!

At this moment, Hayakawa Nobuhide was pinned down by his personal soldiers in a relatively intact corner of the city wall.

He was covered in dust and his helmet was long gone.

The proud Rock City was being reduced to dust at a speed visible to the naked eye under the artillery fire of the Fengtian Army.

His so-called perseverance seemed so ridiculous in the face of absolute power.

The saturation artillery attack did not last long.

A quarter of an hour later, the explosion of the last shell died down.

The entire front wall of Rock City was riddled with holes, as if it had been gnawed by a giant beast.

The city gate completely disappeared, and several sections of the city wall collapsed, forming a huge slope.

Amidst the billowing smoke, the loud charge horn suddenly sounded!

"The Fengtian Army is mighty, live the King Feng for a thousand years! Kill!!!"

The Fengtian Army infantry, which had been ready for a long time, rushed forward like a black tide of death under the leadership of the Fengtian Army political commissar.

Stepping on the scorching rubble and the corpses of Japanese soldiers, they poured into the city through the gaps in the city wall and from the collapsed slopes.

The first to enter the city were the firearms troops, their gleaming bayonets flashing coldly in the smoke!

The remaining Japanese soldiers who had just struggled to crawl out of the ruins saw musketeers lined up in rows before they had time to catch their breath.

Then there was a sound like frying beans.

resistance?

They are all lined up to be shot, what can we use to resist?

All they could do was throw away anything in their hands that could be used as a weapon, then kneel down and bury their heads deep in the dust.

Of course, there were also some people who resisted stubbornly, sneaking up with swords and guns, trying to attack these musketeers at close range.

However, the bayonets hanging below the muskets will teach them a lesson.

Do you really think musketeers are not good at close combat?

How bad could the physical strength of a soldier be if he could carry a heavy musket and several pounds of gunpowder around?

Seeing the Japanese rushing towards them, the musketeer just sneered, thrust the musket in his hand forward, and stabbed the opponent through.

Some people even held the rifle upside down and swung it down hard with the butt of the gun.

He smashed the 1.4-meter-tall Japanese soldier's skull so hard that his height was reduced to 1.35 meters. He wished he could smash him directly into the ground.

Under the terrifying artillery fire of the Dongfeng Army, Panshi City fell after only less than an hour.

In his final despair, Hayakawa Nobuhide chose to die with the city.

The Battle of Panshi City was just the beginning. The news that the Dongfeng Army had joined the battlefield quickly spread among the remaining resistance forces in Japan.

Every bombardment not only destroyed a city physically, but also completely crushed the last bit of luck of the Japanese army psychologically.

The remaining sporadic resistance on Kyushu Island quickly collapsed under the rumbling artillery of the Dongfeng Army and the devastating charge of the Fengtian Army's infantry.

At this point, the entire Kyushu region fell into the hands of the Fengtian Army.

. . . . .

Fukuoka, Fengtian Army forward command post.

A huge sand table occupies the center of the command post, and the miniature terrain of the four islands of Japan is clearly visible.

The small black flags representing the Fengtian Army were densely planted all over Kyushu Island.

Li Che stood in front of the sand table with his hands behind his back. Generals Li Lin, Wang Sanchun, Li Sheng and others, as well as generals Qu Jinshan and Zhao Duo who had just returned from the front line, stood solemnly on both sides.

It is worth mentioning that Li Chunchen is still not qualified to enter the tent.

"Everyone."

Li Che's voice broke the silence, and his slender fingers slid across the sand table, finally touching the narrow strait separating Kyushu and Honshu.

"Kyushu has been conquered, the gates to Japan have been opened, our army's next move will be to target Honshu!"

The finger moves and points to the southernmost tip of Honshu Island across the strait:

"This city is called Shimonoseki Castle, and Kaibu Munemasa hid here."

"We have assembled all the main forces in the southern part of Honshu, claiming to have 100,000 soldiers."

"Moreover, their direct line of warriors and a few remaining warships are attempting to rely on the natural barrier of the strait to put up a last-ditch resistance."

Then, his finger moved to the northeast of Kyushu Island, across a relatively narrow inland sea, pointing to Shikoku Island.

"Now, there are two paths before our army."

Li Che glanced at the generals and said slowly:

"First, we must storm Shimonoseki, break through the Shimonoseki Strait head-on, and open a passage to Honshu Island!"

"Second, we will march northeast, cross the sea, capture Shikoku Island, control the Seto Inland Sea, and form a pincer attack on Honshu Island from the north and south!"