Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1174 - 1167: Big Gun Guerilla

Chapter 1174: Chapter 1167: Big Gun Guerilla

Because it was a salvo of three rounds, the explosion continued for about a minute, with a total of fifty-four shells hitting the ground, erasing everything on it leaving only dozens of large and small craters still emitting billowing blue smoke.

Although there had been corrections, the spread of the artillery barrage was still quite large. Thankfully, the Reconnaissance Squad had taken cover at a relatively far distance; otherwise, they would not have been hit directly but would have at least been covered in dust.

Everyone waited silently until the gun smoke had almost dispersed, at which point there were no longer any living things standing on the ground. Looking at the scene before them, the Captain of the Reconnaissance Team took a deep breath and then said to his team members, "Report on the damage, Number Three, come with me for a closer look."

"Eh, okay!" the one called Number Three nodded.

The two turned back to fetch their horses, luckily they had secured their mounts before the shelling began, or else the horses would have bolted from fright.

Mounted, the two crossed over a small hill and galloped all the way to the bombarded area. The air was still filled with gun smoke, and the acrid smell even made it hard for them to keep their eyes open.

By the time they managed to adapt to the environment, what they saw made them close their eyes in shock. The ground was littered with the carnage of severed limbs and torso parts on the blackened soil smeared with crimson bloodstains.

More than twenty people were gone in a blink of an eye. There were only a few relatively intact bodies at the scene; the rest had been torn apart by the shells and scattered all over the place.

A breeze blew, carrying with it tattered pieces of cloth torn by the explosion, while the once harsh blue smoke also began to dissipate gradually with the wind.

Just as they were still in shock and unable to recover, they suddenly heard a burst of hurried hoofbeats. Their hearts tightened, and they quickly raised their weapons.

However, the newcomers were not enemies, but another Reconnaissance Team. They seemed to have been drawn by the sound of the explosions and had not expected to encounter their own here.

After exchanging passcodes, the newcomer said while holding his fist in salute from atop his horse, "I am the Captain of Squad 0003, ordered to reconnoiter this area."

"Oh, I’m the Captain of Squad 0043, also on reconnaissance here," said the other Captain hastily with a salute.

"It looks like you are the reconnaissance team from the next jurisdiction over, a pleasure to meet you," said the Captain of Squad 0003 with a smile.

"You flatter me," said the Captain of Squad 0043 with a strained smile.

"Are all these people enemies?" asked the Captain of Squad 0003 as he looked at the devastated ground.

"I, I don’t know..." the Captain of Squad 0043 shook his head.

"You don’t know, then why did you direct the artillery to cover this area?" the Captain of Squad 0003 was baffled.

"I saw them armed and crossing the border, then setting up camp here. I thought they were the invaders harassing us, so I notified the Joint Command Center. They then directed us to call in the artillery barrage," explained the Captain of Squad 0043, looking somewhat uneasy.

"Oh, I see. Have you checked the bodies?" the Captain of Squad 0003 nodded, then asked.

"No, not yet..." the Captain of Squad 0043 said with an embarrassed smile.

"Then let’s check them now. After you report to the higher-ups, just continue with your patrol," said the Captain of Squad 0003, dismounting from his horse.

"Thank you..." the captain of Squad 43 felt a great sense of relief.

"No, it’s us who picked up a bargain," smiled the captain of Squad 03, speaking frankly without any reservations.

The numbering of the Mobile Troop’s reconnaissance team actually followed that of the Advance Team. For example, the Advance Team led by Luo’er was Squad 0001, and Murong’s team was Squad 0002. Therefore, by this logic, Squad 03 would belong to the same graduating class as Luo’er and Murong.

As the operations expanded, Headquarters needed more and more reliable personnel. So it was not just Luo’er’s team, but as time went on, the front-line Command Center also put several Advance Teams into the Otherworld for reconnaissance, among which was Squad 03.

So compared to the rookies of Squad 43 who were just starting out, Squad 03 had experienced some rough seas and was more adapted to these kinds of situations than the newbies.

After glancing back three times, the captain of Squad 43 returned to the back of the hill where they were hiding. Squad 03, on the other hand, patiently checked the condition of the bodies.

They had no need to worry about running into the comrades of these men, as the intense artillery had completely wiped out this armed group of more than twenty, and it was hard to find a single intact body, let alone survivors.

Soon, the intelligence was gathered and reported back to the Joint Command. Despite a detailed check, Squad 03’s report was still vague and unclear as to whether these people were innocent private armed forces or the ones who had attacked the villages.

Wang Xu could only make the best of the situation. After all, the declaration had already been sent out; innocent or not, these people had violated the declaration’s requirements, and so it was normal for them to have been wiped out.

However, not long after, it was Cheng Ziang who received a message from a collaborator inside. That Fulanta expressed that one of the armed groups hired to penetrate Lipei had lost contact with them, coupled with the sound of distant explosions, so they were somewhat panicked and struggled to steady their ranks.

Combining Cheng Ziang’s report, Wang Xu was basically certain that the ones they had shelled were the private armed forces hired by those anti-Lipei elements. This news finally allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

This artillery strike, whether for Headquarters or for the Army, was a battle that would go down in the history books. The victory in this bloodless battle declared that their tactics were fundamentally sound and successful.

Facing the enemy’s guerrilla tactics, Headquarters and the Army sides had discussed several times and felt troubled. The objective environment of the Otherworld limited the effectiveness of Earth’s weapons, preventing them from finding and striking targets efficiently through effective aerial reconnaissance.

So the suggestion for what came to be known as artillery guerrilla tactics was put forward. Namely, with Lipei as the center, deploy ultra-long-range artillery to protect the safety of the 70-kilometer radius area. Then send out cavalry reconnaissance teams to search for enemy tracks within the range of artillery fire, and through coordination with the Joint Command Center, use the advantage of superior firepower to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.

This tactic greatly changed the war’s posture because, before this, they faced two major problems: After deploying artillery, they could not effectively search and strike targets, and if a reconnaissance team encountered an enemy group with superior numbers, they were likely to be wiped out.

Therefore, the principle of artillery guerrilla tactics was that each reconnaissance team could guide artillery strikes, greatly enhancing the firepower advantage of the reconnaissance teams. According to their calculations, if a four-person reconnaissance team encountered a large enemy force, they could annihilate the enemy force with coordinated artillery strikes.

Overall, artillery guerrilla tactics were still a derivative of Earth’s modern firepower strike tactics in the Magic World. However, considering the objective limitations of the Otherworld, this indeed counted as a new type of combat method.

The successful conclusion of this battle officially declared that artillery guerrilla tactics could be implemented and had already achieved effective results. Moreover, what delighted Wang Xu even more was that he had received a reply from Ronisca. The message stated that the Ronisca aerial fleet was on its way to Lipei, having accepted the invitation, and would soon arrive.

With the arrival of the Ronisca aerial fleet, the defense pressure of Lipei would be greatly relieved, and it would become virtually impossible for those anti-Lipei elements to defeat Lipei on the ground.

Nowadays, the Joint Command had achieved absolute control of the battlefield, and what remained was only to wait – wait for Cheng Ziang to make a breakthrough.

In fact, with the infiltration of the enemy’s ranks by Fulanta, Headquarters could completely wrap up everything, but Wang Xu and Li Si thought that they should try to induce the enemy to assemble their forces again and fight, to fight several decisive battles that would deter and tell those who sought to meddle with Lipei that no one could take Lipei away from Headquarters.

With this consideration in mind, Wang Xu and others decided to play the long game and wage a mighty war, to solve the problem of Lipei once and for all.