60: Chapter 60 Artillery Barrage, Massacre of the People

Bzzzt— The screen flickered, and the live stream began.

This time, what appeared on the screen was no longer the Great Qin Territory, but the Insect Hive Forest, overgrown with all sorts of bizarre plants.

Inside the dense forest, an Imperial Armor Legion was marching rapidly, with white steam and black smoke billowing into the sky above them.

Seeing this scene, the live stream chat exploded.

"Holy crap! Is this a war? We aren't actually going to see combat, are we?!"

"It must be, no doubt about it. Su Yang is leading the troops himself; there must be a major operation!"

"Oh my God, Lord Taishang Laojun, Queen Mother of the West! We actually caught it!"

"Li Daqiang, thank you. Thanks to you, the four seasons have been warmed..."

"Wuwuwu, it's so cool! Just seeing this troop marching makes me tear up—my eyes are wet."

"Hurry, hurry! I hope the battle starts before the stream ends! Go Su Yang, go Dragon Nation!"

"Thanks to Brother Qiang for his efforts; you are our hero."

"Hehe, I actually like men..."

Military High Command Conference Room. Seeing the marching troops appear on the big screen, the team of experts stood up immediately.

"There's a new unit type!" The technical experts keenly noticed the newly appeared Skyfire Guard within the ranks.

The experts scrambled to the big screen, disregarding their dignity, and began analyzing the Skyfire Guard on the display.

"Full iron armor, weapons suspected to be cannons, and the exhaust gas is no longer just white steam. This new unit is very likely a thermal weapon unit!"

"Absolutely. The Qin Dynasty's steam devices don't emit black smoke; the only source for that would be the combustion of gunpowder or similar substances!"

"Su Yang hasn't just led the Qin Dynasty into the Iron Age; he has also unlocked gunpowder technology!"

"A half-meter diameter muzzle—that's just too exaggerated! Historically, famous cannons like the Costa or Krupp cannons only had calibers of twenty or thirty centimeters!"

"Furthermore, cannons of this caliber are usually fixed to the ground, yet this mech can actually carry one while moving!"

"This muzzle is so thick and huge, I love it!! I really want to see it in action!"

"Professor, your drool is on my shoe..."

While the experts were marveling wildly, the military generals sitting in the back were equally stunned. As soldiers, they naturally knew what artillery meant.

The saying goes that caliber is justice; as long as the firepower is sufficient, anything can be settled. However, caliber doesn't mean everything; this cannon's barrel is too short, making accuracy difficult to guarantee.

Moreover, since gunpowder technology was just unlocked, the explosive power and such would depend on real combat performance. The officers stared intently at the big screen; despite their concerns, the blood in their chests continued to surge.

War makes a soldier's blood boil more than anything else. Especially since this was the first live war broadcast of this round in the Forbidden Ground!

Boom— Su Yang waved his hand, and the entire troop stopped immediately. He took out the map drawn by the Scout and confirmed that they were at the target location.

They were positioned on a cliff, with a drop of nearly a hundred meters below. According to the detailed map drawn by the Scout, the second Insect Hive was hidden within that endless dense forest.

Almost time. It was time for the show. Su Yang signaled the soldiers to clear a path, allowing two Skyfire Guards to move to the front of the formation.

Bang, bang— Su Yang knocked on the mech, and the heavy faceplate of the Skyfire opened upward. Thick white steam poured out, and Su Yang handed the detailed blueprints to the soldier inside.

Ballistics is an extremely professional discipline, especially for projectile cannons like the Skyfire Great Cannon. It requires not only highly professional theoretical technical support but also rich experience.

After handing over the map, Su Yang stepped aside and waited quietly. Soon, the two Skyfire Guards were ready.

The heavy armor jolted violently, and the entire mech body sank half a meter. Several iron rods on the legs pierced into the soil, anchoring the entire body to the ground.

Immediately, the Skyfire Guard raised its mechanical arm to grip the handle of the great cannon. Click— Accompanied by the sound of heavy gears turning, the great cannon, which had been pointing vertically upward, slowly rotated along the shoulder rails.

Hiss— Steam sprayed out, and the muzzle of the great cannon locked into position. An explosive stone entered the breech along the loading tube; everything was ready.

"Shall we commence the attack?" Su Yang received the inquiry from the Skyfire Guard in his mind.

That fast? He was a bit surprised. Wasn't estimating distance and measuring the angle of elevation a very complex task?

Oh, Su Yang quickly realized. Usually, the first shot is a test shot to see the approximate landing point. After corrections, the second shot is the real killer intended to hit the enemy.

So the first round is wasted? Su Yang felt a bit of a sting. But this was a necessary loss; modern artillery without precision guidance also requires such operations.

After getting ready, Su Yang turned toward the direction of the Insect Hive. Come on, let's fire one shot to test its power! "Fire!!!"

Boom— The moment Su Yang waved his hand to order, a thunderous roar exploded in everyone's ears. The firing mechanism was triggered, and with a flash of light, the explosive stone flew straight out along the barrel.

Under the tremendous impact, the heavy body of the Skyfire Guard jolted violently backward. The airwave caused by the ignition and explosion rolled outward, kicking up countless dust.

Su Yang felt a huge shockwave hit him, and immediately, only a buzzing sound remained in his ears. The power of the Skyfire Guard far exceeded his imagination; even the ignition explosion was so terrifying.

Ignoring his temporary loss of senses, Su Yang widened his eyes and looked into the distance, toward where the explosive stone was falling.

He saw the pitch-black explosive stone, already engulfed in flames from being heated by the ignition device inside the barrel. The roaring, fiery explosive stone descended toward the ground in a graceful curve.

At the halfway point of its descent, the large explosive stone disintegrated, splitting into hundreds of smaller explosive stones. Like a meteor shower, the smaller stones smashed toward the destination at high speed.

Just as it fell into the dense forest, the light of the explosion ignited. Countless flashes lit up, and the ensuing fire of the explosion engulfed everything within a fifty-meter radius of the impact point.

Boom— The sound of the explosion rang out, and a huge shockwave spread outward, causing the entire dense forest to ripple like water. Such power!

Su Yang widened his eyes; this power absolutely exceeded most modern man-portable missiles!

As the buzzing in his ears gradually faded, the fire and dust from the distant explosion slowly dissipated. He could only see that the ground within a 50-meter radius of the impact point had been completely overturned, and the flames had burned all the vegetation to ash, turning it into pools of black liquid.

And in the very center of the explosion zone, an Insect Hive was exposed. Beside the opening were the charred, burning remains of the Insect Swarm, blasted into fragments...