Chapter 65: Infantry-Artillery Coordination!

Chapter 65: Infantry and Artillery Cooperation!

Huangshi City, inside an inn room.

Chen Jian stared fixedly at the thermal imaging signal on the screen while continuously briefing the other three:

"The number of the Mechanist Divine Church's militant guards is not ten, but thirty, divided into three squads."

"Squads One and Two are mobile patrol units, each patrolling a fixed route along the city's outskirts and the city center respectively; they have just completed one cycle and are now exchanging for a second cycle patrol."

"Squad Three is the garrison, holding the central church."

"Within Squad Three, there are two groups: one deployed outside the church on alert, the other inside the church on alert."

"According to the close‑range reconnaissance intel from Zeng Yi and Xie Liu, the Mechanist Divine Church in Huangshi City is a semi‑fortified structure."

"The fort’s outer wall is built of rammed earth, marble, and fired brick, about two meters thick."

"The church has hardly any extra windows; its door is a heavy gravity door made of assorted metals hinged together, which is difficult to open from the outside once closed."

"At present we have no weapon capable of directly piercing this thickness of cover, so we can expect that assaulting the fortification will be the most difficult part."

"In terms of armament, the vast majority of the militant guards use the single‑shot or semi‑automatic rifles we saw in Hanshui City, basically modified versions of the ‘old era’ Type 91 and Bayi rifles."

"However, in the hands of some members of Squad Three, Zeng Yi spotted a light machine gun similar to the Type 201, as well as the side‑by‑side rifle we encountered before."

"Inside the church two 5‑kilogram smoothbore cannons are deployed, possibly loaded with grapeshot."

"Overall, the enemy’s firepower is not weak, and with their numerical advantage, taking them down will not be easy."

"When Chen Jian finished speaking, Zeng Yi, imitating He Shuo’s gesture, raised his hand to add:"

"There are still close to fifty ordinary city militia in the town; though their weapons are outdated, they too must be dealt with."

"These militia are yours to handle."

"Chen Jian declared decisively:"

"You two need to tie down or eliminate the fifty city militia—can you do it?"

".We’ll do our best!"

"Zeng Yi nodded slowly, then asked:"

"And what about you? Are you going to rely on four people to assault the Mechanist Divine Church’s fortified church?"

"To be precise, it’s two people."

"Chen Jian let out a soft breath and explained:"

"Lei Jie and Shen Yue are on their way; they need to operate heavy weapons from a lakeshore high point 1.5 kilometers away to provide us with necessary suppressive fire and organize fire support."

"They can’t come closer; their equipment is too bulky, and if exposed the Mechanist Divine Church will surely become alert."

"Therefore, close‑quarters clearing must rely on just us few."

".Four of us against eighty, thirty of whom are elite guards of the Mechanist Divine Church?"

"Zeng Yi stared, dumbfounded."

"He had not failed to see these Chosen Ones use superb tactics and overwhelming firepower to slam giant monsters to the ground and beat them, nor had he failed to see them, with only four people, hold back the allied army of Hanshui City."

"But no matter how you look at it, the situation now is completely different!"

"When fighting monsters, there is only one beast; by coordinating, the Chosen Ones can greatly limit its range of movement."

"When fighting the Hanshui City allied army, they were far enough away to fully exploit the advantage of long‑range firepower."

"But now?"

"They are going to storm a fortification!"

"And storming means close‑quarters melee!"

"Perhaps a single bullet would be enough to send a Chosen One to his death."

"For their veins do not run with ‘holy blood’; ultimately, they are merely mortal flesh. What a mad adventure this is!"

"Zeng Yi drew a deep breath; his inner judgment wavered between ‘can’ and ‘cannot.’"

"He felt they could, because he had personally witnessed the truth: seeing these Chosen Ones’ ancestors accomplish incredible feats in even more desperate and dire circumstances."

"If their ancestors could, then they should be able as well."

"He felt they could not, because after a decade of countless battles his instincts had formed that judgment."

"He believed that on this whole continent, no one could accomplish such a battle."

"Neither the Mechanist Divine Church nor the Holy‑blooded could do it."

"At that thought he instinctively wanted to say ‘call it off,’ but the words on his lips turned into a question:"

""So what is our plan?""

"Chen Jian gently adjusted his night‑vision goggles and replied:"

"We must not give the militant guards a chance to counterattack."

"Or, more extremely, we must not even give them the opportunity to fire a shot."

"One charge, one take‑down."

"Only then can we win with the lowest possible casualty rate."

"As his words fell, not only Zeng Yi but also Xie Liu gave him an incredulous look."

"After a moment’s hesitation, she said:"

""But that’s almost impossible.""

""It’s already daytime; your night‑time combat advantage cannot be used.""

""Even if you wanted to sneak‑attack,""

""It’s not a sneak‑attack.""

"Chen Jian waved his hand and explained:"

"Although the tactical objectives of an assault and a sneak‑attack are largely the same, the ways to achieve them are utterly different."

"We have a heavy‑fire advantage and a clear target, so there’s no need for a sneak‑attack."

"It’s time to let these militant guards see exactly how modern warfare is fought!"

"One hour later, Zeng Yi and Xie Liu arrived at the predetermined assault position."

"At the same time, Lei Jie and Shen Yue had already seized the lakeshore high ground and began deploying their equipment."

"Li Shi likewise helped from the side; though he originally had little mobility, to bring him along Lei Jie improvised a flatbed from spare parts, dragging it behind the cat‑cart—it ran quite well, even hauling extra ammunition and gear."

"In just two minutes, the three on the far shore had set up two automatic grenade launchers, one 301 heavy machine gun, two mortars, one sniper grenade launcher, and two rocket‑propelled grenade tubes fixed on bipods and pre‑aimed."

"According to the plan, Li Shi will operate the 301 heavy machine gun with intermittent short bursts to pressure the outer militant guard squads One and Two; whether accurate or not, it will still be a powerful suppressive force."

"If luck is on his side and he hits a few, that’s a huge gain."

"Lei Jie and Shen Yue, meanwhile, will each fire a mortar for six rapid rounds, then swiftly switch to the QLZ‑24 automatic grenade launcher to bombard the outer perimeter of the church fort, opening a corridor for the assault of Chen Jian and He Shuo."

"This is destined to be a perilous, high‑risk assault."

But in Chen Jian's view, the danger might not come from those Boxer troops, but from.

The artillery shells from friendly forces behind him.

Standing behind the inn's door, he made one final check of the enemy's position and movements, then took a deep breath and gave the order decisively:

“He Shuo, advance and seize the advantageous assault position.”

“Zeng Yi and Xie Liu, start creating chaos to draw the city garrison's attention.”

“Li Shi, open fire with the heavy machine gun in ten seconds, covering the Boxer detachment by the lake.”

“Lei Jie and Shen Yue, begin the first barrage in thirty seconds.”

“Hit the mark!”

“Let them see what true infantry-artillery coordination is!”

(End of chapter)