43: A hundred thousand soldiers surrounded Darwin, and you give me this?

Inside the U.S. Military's encirclement.

Countless artillery shells were fired in unison, blanketing Darwin City at the center.

In an instant, many people's hearts clenched.

Before the U.S. Military officially launched its attack, the city had already prepared.

The previous airstrike had proven that even if you lived in a non-military zone, in residential buildings, you could still be bombed.

Not to mention this time's indiscriminate shelling of the entire city.

To be safe, Commander Fang had preemptively moved city residents as much as possible to various underground locations: underground shopping malls, shelters converted from garages, and the city's few air raid shelters.

Those who couldn't go inside had to wait above ground for fate's decision.

In the underground command center, Commander Fang saw the overwhelming artillery fire from the frontline monitors and couldn't help but pace anxiously.

From the American military's firepower scale, once their volley ceased, the Anti-War Army's city defenses would largely collapse, far more severely than the previous night's aerial bomb raid.

After that, the American military's ground forces would launch a major assault into the city, and the American military and People's Army would engage in a fierce street battle, with tragic casualties.

While Commander Fang, the Commander-in-Chief, was anxious, the Anti-War Army soldiers in the frontline fortifications had their nerves stretched to the limit.

Their early warning equipment continuously fed back projectile trajectories and the time limit until they would arrive.

Their own eyes were fixed on the whistling high-altitude shells, and the weapons they clutched felt a bit slippery due to sweaty palms.

Finally, the first round of shells reached the defense line.

All frontline commanders shouted warnings over the wireless channel: "They're here, hold steady—"

But the imagined scenario of fortifications being directly hit and ravaged by artillery fire did not happen at all.

The incoming volley of shells seemed to lose momentum, all falling uniformly just ten to twenty meters from the outermost defensive line of the city.

Not only that, the subsequent second volley also landed prematurely, even less advanced than the impact points of the first volley.

Huh?

The soldiers in the bunkers felt puzzled, and a technically proficient artilleryman reported: "Detected abnormal enemy artillery trajectories!"

The artillery company commander went to the equipment and understood what was happening.

Based on the dynamically simulated trajectories now.

All enemy artillery shells' impact points would fall within the range of 0 to 3 kilometers from the outermost defensive line of the city.

Huh?

The company commander was stunned and quickly reported the situation.

In the General Headquarters, Commander Fang felt the continuous slight tremors on the ground.

Just as he was worrying, the communications soldier received a report and immediately looked up: "Frontline artillery unit calling!"

Commander Fang immediately picked up the receiver.

"This is Commander Fang, speak—"

After listening for a couple of sentences, Commander Fang nearly cried out.

"What, you're saying the American military's firepower didn't actually hit the city? And based on projections, subsequent artillery fire won't hit either?"

"Okay, I understand, continue monitoring."

Then, Commander Fang had the communications soldier connect to other units: "Yue Hanshan, Political Commissar Zhao Gang, and a few division commanders, if you have time, let's have a quick meeting."

About ten minutes later, Commander Fang connected with several military bigwigs and opened the meeting by asking:

"Tell me, what do you all think is going on?"

Clearly, everyone had thoroughly considered this question before the call.

Including Yue Hanshan, Political Commissar Zhao Gang, and Division Commanders Luo Hui, Chen Guangming, and Li Dakui, everyone unanimously stated: "The U.S. Military is doing this on purpose!"

—A little earlier—

Inside the U.S. Military's Operations Command Hall, Senator Pearson saw the scene of thousands of cannons firing on the large screen and cursed uncontrollably:

"Madmen, you madmen, you are all madmen, you will suffer the scorn and condemnation of the whole world—"

But in the hall, everyone was busy, and no one paid attention to him, the one throwing a fit.

Suddenly, a hand clapped his shoulder.

A person laughed heartily from behind.

"Senator Pearson, who are you calling madmen?"

Pearson recognized the voice as General Aris, the U.S. Military's Commander-in-Chief, and disregarding his rank, he turned around and continued to curse: "I'm saying you, the U.S. Military, are madmen, from top to bottom—"

General Aris, at his leisure, said: "Senator Pearson, everything must be based on facts, don't speak carelessly. What is your basis for saying we are all madmen?"

Pearson pointed to the firepower launch screen on the main display in the operations hall and loudly said: "Isn't this clear evidence?"

"You disregard the fact that there are still hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens in Darwin City, yet you launch indiscriminate bombing against the city. Have you considered the consequences? Don't tell me your trajectories are meticulously calculated; those are artillery shells, not missiles. I don't believe you can completely avoid residents, huh—"

With a surprised "huh," Pearson stopped his accusations.

Because from the main screen's display, he discovered something peculiar.

In the satellite's high-altitude view of the artillery strike, the impact points of the shells seemed off.

They all landed only in the open fields just outside the city's defensive line.

Pearson was stunned.

"What, what's going on?"

And a staff officer reported loudly: "Commander-in-Chief Aris, according to your instructions, the People's Army's artillery fire has accurately hit the target area, which is the annular zone between 0 and 3 kilometers from the edge of the city's defensive line."

"Not a single one mistakenly fell within the city."

General Aris nodded with satisfaction, stating: "Well done. Following this strategy, continue the bombardment until all the first batch of base-level shells are expended."

Senator Pearson was completely dumbfounded at this moment.

"General Aris, you, you are—"

Pearson unconsciously changed his respectful address.

General Aris felt a sense of satisfaction, like a cat toying with a mouse, and laughed heartily.

"Senator Pearson, do you really think I'm that kind of war maniac who disregards everything and has no bottom line for victory?"

Pearson was puzzled: "But you told me before that the Pentagon's directive was to annihilate the rebels in the city at all costs—"

General Aris shook his head: "That was just a guiding directive, not a specific order on how to do it."

Pearson: "Then what is the purpose of this round of bombardment?"

General Aris: "It's very simple: mine clearance."

"We had already detected that the rebels, to prevent us from smoothly sending ground troops into the city, laid mines in the annular zone around the city, approximately 3 kilometers wide. The minefield area is very extensive."

"If engineers were to clear the mines, they would be vulnerable to enemy sniper attacks."

"So, we used artillery shells to bombard the ground and clear the landmines."

"Do you understand now?"

Senator Pearson realized he had misunderstood General Aris and apologized sheepishly.

General Aris, however, magnanimously waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind.

In fact, General Aris did not tell the whole truth.

Ever since General Aris suspected that the Anti-War Army in the city had the shadow of a certain major Eastern power, he reported his inference to the Pentagon, and the Department of Defense ordered the annihilation of the rebels in the city at all costs.

But General Aris was not foolish; a barbaric assault on the city would inevitably come at a great cost, causing excessive casualties.

At that time, even if the war objective was achieved, the U.S. Military, to quell global condemnation, would surely send him, the Commander-in-Chief, to a military tribunal, while the bigwigs in the Department of Defense would remain unscathed.

He did not want to be a scapegoat for others.

—Now—

Darwin City, underground command center.

Commander Fang and the generals continued to discuss:

"The American military's artillery volley this time, its coverage highly overlaps with our laid minefield. On the surface, it can be explained as clearing our minefield, but the larger intention should be a psychological offensive."

"First, to display the U.S. Military's powerful firepower scale and precise firepower projection capability."

"Second, to demonstrate that the U.S. Military is not without principles, but is a righteous force."

"Third, I think the U.S. Military will have subsequent combined steps to strengthen this psychological offensive."

As expected.

Darwin Air Force Base.

Senator Pearson noticed many U.S. Military combat aircraft suddenly taking off and became nervous again.

"General Aris, after the artillery fire, are you going to send military aircraft to bomb the city next?"

General Aris shook his head: "Of course not, Senator Pearson, our aircraft are taking off this time to deliver something else."