Munitions Empire

Chapter 311: 307 shells King City

An oceanic nation, what is it most afraid of? The greatest fear is to wake up one morning and find the enemy fleet lying across the sea...

When the civilians of the Taren Kingdom had finished their midday meal, they noticed soldiers hurrying through the streets, and the atmosphere suddenly turned desolate and oppressive.

They quickly learned what had happened—a fleet had appeared off the coast of their King City, positioned atop the sea they relied on for their survival.

Some citizens gathered the courage to peer from more secluded places, where they witnessed a smoke-choked sea and dark gray warships with seagulls circling above them.

Then, before these civilians could retract their heads, they saw flashes of fire spewing from the warships.

The 150mm caliber naval guns roared to life, as the flagship Wolf 1 opened fire on the King City of the Taren Kingdom.

The first shell struck the docks inside the harbor, instantly throwing people and the stacked goods on the dock into chaos and casting them into the sea.

Panic ensued as everyone started to flee for their lives; soldiers discarded their weapons and blended into the crowd of porters, bumping around aimlessly like headless flies.

Soon after, the royal coastal batteries started firing back, but these outdated muzzle-loading cannons sounded feeble in comparison, like the soft panting of a woman.

The firepower of the two sides wasn't even on the same level—a single barrage silenced the coastal batteries amidst rolling smoke and dust, as if they were completely paralyzed.

Following this, the fleet made short work of the sail-powered warships attempting to break out from the harbor, cleaning them up as easily as slicing through melons.

Not one of the more than 20 warships escaped; they were all sunk on their escape route. These painstakingly assembled warships had lasted less than an hour.

The most tragic sight was of a sinking warship, whose broken mast still protruded from the sea, while the churning waves thrust broken deck planks and clutter toward the coast, silencing the whole of King City.

It wasn't until then that the civilians seemed to realize the thunderous cannon sounds had stopped—the pounding that felt like it was striking directly on their chests came to an abrupt end.

But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the peculiar fleet, comprised of sail-less warships, opened fire once again.

This time, their target was the urban area of the King City! Columns of black smoke soared into the sky, and in an instant, hundreds were buried under the explosions.

The soldiers garrisoned on the city walls turned pale with fright, with more and more of them throwing down their weapons and turning to run.

Most of them were just recruits, who had received less than a month of training. It was pure folly to expect them to face the artillery fire head-on.

And it wasn't just the recruits—even among their officers behind them, few maintained the resolve to fight at this point.

Originally, the Taren Kingdom was a maritime power. Competent and ambitious officers were concentrated in the Navy, along with most of the talent.

The Army was merely a facade; in most cases, nothing more than a placeholder. To hope they could turn the tide was nothing short of a joke.

The equipment he had was already 20 years out of date; was there really any hope for him to do something with it?

Moreover, one-third of those big guns had already been destroyed. He had tried his best... really.

"Sir! Sir!" an officer, clutching at the Longsword at his waist, ran up to the artillery platform in a panic and, after glancing at a cannon barrel that had fallen to the ground, he spoke fearfully, "Sir... His Majesty... His Majesty sent me to... to check, see why... why the platform isn't...

returning fire..."

On his way here, he passed deserters and chaotic civilians, and he could see that the fact this battery held and didn't flee already spoke to "well-disciplined troops."

After all, artillery was a technical branch that required constant year-round training, so there was a fundamental difference compared to those new recruits on the city walls.

But that was as far as it went.

"We did just fire back! But the enemy shelling was too fierce, our losses heavy, we had no choice but to cease bombardment temporarily..." the officer commanding the artillery explained.

He did indeed just open fire, and for sure, they received quite a bruising from the enemy warships.

As he spoke, two soldiers passed by in front of him carrying a body, lending his previous answer more credibility.

The messenger officer, a confidant of the King, understood the difficulties of the artillery commander, but still he pleaded weakly, "Sir! If you return fire, the enemy will stop bombarding the King City!"

"I'm helpless! We fired a volley earlier, and in response, they fired five volleys at us. Now a third of our cannons are destroyed, our casualties heavy, we truly can't continue the fight!" The artillery officer was adamant about not resuming fire.

There was no way; firing now would indeed be like adding fuel to the fire, and he wasn't ready to light himself up to illuminate others.

"His Majesty promises, if you return fire, you'll be rewarded with 500 Gold Coins, and the gunners will receive an additional 1000 Gold Coins!" The messenger officer, out of options, promised a hefty reward.

As the saying goes, generous rewards bring out brave deeds, and throughout history, there have always been those willing to risk their lives for a few coins.

Unfortunately, the commander of the artillery before him remained unmoved. "Ha... Earning that money is one thing, but you have to be alive to spend it, don't you!"

While speaking, he glanced at a body that nobody had tended to yet—its head was blasted open, a gruesome sight to behold.

"His Majesty orders you to keep firing! If you disobey... I will..." The King's confidant clenched his teeth and decided to threaten.

"How dare you send us to our deaths?" the deputy commander of the artillery battery, who was standing behind, couldn't hold back any longer. With a loud shout, he drew his Longsword and struck at the King's confidant.

The King's confidant was caught completely off guard, and just as he turned around, a sword pierced through his chest. He clutched the blade, staring at his assailant in disbelief, "You! You dare... You dare to rebel! The King... His Majesty will not let you go...

you..."

He wanted to say more, but his opponent kicked him in the stomach, using the momentum to pull out his Longsword, and blood spurted out, leaving even the artillery commander stunned on the spot.