There had never been such a frenzy of bombardment on the American continent.

The Imperial Legion deployed more than three hundred 100-mm howitzers and heavy cannons, including a 305mm railway gun, 16 240mm and 8 305mm siege guns.

At the same time as the heavy artillery began to bombard, mortars of various calibers from battalions, regiments, and divisions also began to pour fire on the outer defense lines of the US fortress.

"boom……"

Shells rained down like a rain of fire, continuously falling on the frontline positions of the US Army. The shock waves of the explosions turned trenches into ruins. Mud and smoke accompanied by steel fragments raged in the trenches. The whistling and scattered steel fragments harvested the lives of the US Army in the trenches. The shock waves shattered their internal organs at close range and even tore their uniforms apart. The bodies that were blown away were scattered around the trenches like white pigs.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder and thick smoke, and the trenches were choked with coughs. Thousands of American soldiers were stunned by the fierce bombardment, and many of them huddled in the trenches with their heads in their hands, trembling, coughing, crying, and shouting with all their might, as if this could make them shout away their fear. The ground was shaking violently, and the falling dust and broken limbs made the soldiers scream in fear.

In this seemingly endless bombardment, some frightened soldiers ran wildly toward or even outside the trenches, and their bodies were blown to pieces in an instant.

At this time, these people were just a group of young people who were frightened by the shelling, but this was only a part of them. More people tried to curl up their bodies as much as possible. Some people pressed their bodies against the trench wall in fear, but the shock caused by the explosion shattered their internal organs, and many people died silently.

The most fatal blow came from the heavy siege artillery. On that day, the roar of the siege artillery shook the entire Rocky Mountains. Hundreds of kilograms of concrete barrier-breaking shells flew in arcs in the air, like a train whistling in the air. They whistled towards Fort Grant and hit the target a few minutes later.

The concrete barrier-breaking cannon was like a hammer falling from the sky, first smashing through the thick fortress dome or mountain, and then exploding when entering the fortress or mountain. When it exploded, dust, debris and smoke formed a huge smoke column, which rose up with stones ranging in size from fists to millstones, just like a giant tree suddenly rising into the air and then collapsing. Just like a clock, it rose and fell regularly, and such giant trees rose up in different directions every few minutes.

The whistling sound of the shells was like a train passing through the air. They blew their whistles and rushed into the fortress. In the fierce bombardment, the originally indestructible fortress suffered a nearly devastating blow.

As an artillery officer of the fortress, Wells appeared calm and experienced during the bombardment. When the whistling sound of the shells was heard, he was on the upper position of the fortress, smoking a cigarette next to the anti-aircraft gun position because he missed his wife and couldn't sleep. When he heard the whistling sound, he suddenly fell to the ground and then quickly crawled towards the entrance of the fortress.

"Their goal is to destroy the surface positions!"

The whistling shells seemed to confirm Wells's speculation. In a violent explosion, the anti-aircraft gun position he had relied on was destroyed. The 30mm Gatling gun was blown directly into the sky like a child's toy.

In the nearly devastating artillery fire, the artillery pieces exposed outside the fortress, especially the anti-aircraft weapons, were destroyed one by one.

"My God, that's what they want!"

After finally climbing into the fortress and looking through the observation window of the thick iron door, Wells saw the Gatling gun that was blown away, and a bad feeling arose in his heart.

"Sir, they must be trying to blow us up with the 'Scepter of God'!"

The Ming Dynasty's aerial bombardment was very powerful, especially the "God's Scepter", which was the nemesis of the fortress. In front of the "God's Scepter", the fortresses were as simple as paper and were easily torn into pieces.

For the American officers and soldiers in the fortress, this is also the most terrifying existence. After all, in front of God's scepter, even the strongest fortress is vulnerable.

"Bless God, half of our fortress is in the mountains. Even the "Scepter of God" cannot destroy the Rocky Mountains!"

While Wells was thanking God in a passage deep into the mountain, at the foot of the mountain, hundreds of blasters carrying blasting tubes on their backs raised glasses of wine with both hands to the officers standing on the ammunition boxes.

"I hope you will live up to the reputation of the Imperial Legion and pave the way for my army's attack!"

After saying that, An Benzhong raised his glass with both hands and toasted the demolitionists. In every battle, the first thing to be fired was the cannon, and the first group to jump out of the trenches were the demolitionists. They had to use blasting tubes to carry out blasting operations and destroy the barbed wire on the way forward.

No one spoke. There was no shouting of "Long live the loyal and brave Emperor" or "Long live the Empire". These soldiers with yellowish-brown skin and carrying blasting tubes simply bowed to the division commander, and then, led by the officers, walked towards the approaching trenches.

In the nearby trenches, the imperial officers and soldiers holding rifles were also waiting for the final order to launch the general attack.

“I wish you success!”

Li Guoquan and his comrades, who were waiting for the general attack, would always pat the demolition workers on the shoulders and whisper to these combat engineers when they passed by.

Combat engineers are the most elite and dangerous branch of the Army's infantry. They clear mines, blast barbed wire, and destroy fortifications under fire. Combat engineers have the highest casualties in every battle.

Without any hesitation, the combat engineers jumped out of the trenches and crawled forward carrying blasting tubes weighing more than ten kilograms.

It took them nearly ten minutes to get close to the barbed wire. Although artillery fire could destroy most of the mines, some soldiers still stepped on mines when engaging the enemy. After suffering a certain amount of casualties, the engineers finally entered the barbed wire area. They took out the blasting tubes from behind and connected the blasting tubes made of galvanized thin iron pipes into a whole. After ten blasting tubes were connected into a whole, the blaster inserted the fuse into the tail pipe and then pulled the fuse with force.

“Hehe…”

Amid the sound of the burning fuse, the demolitionist lay on the ground as much as possible, with his waist slightly arched to keep his body at a certain distance from the ground to avoid hurting his internal organs by getting too close to the ground.

"boom……"

Accompanied by a series of violent explosions, the barbed wire in front of the US military's defense line was constantly blown into the sky.