The full moon hangs in the night sky.
The pale moonlight began to spread from the center of the night sky, but as it moved lower down, it gradually turned into a strange, fiery red.
Because the low sky was filled with whistling shells, the light and fire from the violent explosions devoured the moonlight, so that when the soldiers on the Golte defense line looked up at the sky, they could only see a fiery red that blotted out the sun.
Thick smoke and the smoke from artillery shells shrouded the sky, making everything hazy, even the moon was hidden. The Golgar soldiers at the front could only see a blurry, crimson ball of light swaying in the smoke.
Amidst a crimson glow, the Golt soldiers scurried back and forth in trenches that should have been 2.5 meters deep but were now less than 2 meters high. Large swaths of mud constantly rained down from above, forcing them to run with their backs bent and heads in their hands.
What was truly terrifying was not the soil itself, but the shrapnel embedded within it. These tiny objects, propelled by the explosion, possessed a terrifying destructive power, and many men in the trenches had already been struck in the head by shrapnel.
They had witnessed the skulls of several comrades being opened, with spiderweb-like red blood vessels covering the white brain matter, which even emitted a faint warmth in the cold weather. This gruesome scene was enough to make the soldiers' stomachs churn and wish they could vomit their bile just by looking at it.
At this moment, many people were shouting at the top of their lungs, but most of the time only they could hear these shouts, because the dense sound of exploding shells almost drowned out everything. Even if their companions were only two meters away, they could hardly hear the voices of others.
During the more than nine hours of continuous bombardment, almost everyone's ears were numbed by the blasts.
With their ears almost completely deaf, the soldiers could hardly hear the orders given by their officers. All they could see were craters in the ground, shattered barbed wire, and countless limbs that had been pierced, blown apart, and burned. Some lay on the uprooted ground, some were stuck to the walls of the fortress, and many more were crushed in the trenches.
Dismembered corpses were scattered haphazardly throughout the trenches, charred chunks of flesh and strings of entrails emitting a strange odor, while the strong smell of gunpowder and the stench of turned-up earth were ever-present. Soldiers had to tear off their clothes to cover their mouths and noses to alleviate the irritation to their nasal passages.
"They've started their attack! Quick! Stop them!"
"Fire! Fire!"
The soldiers, their voices hoarse from shouting, dared not move immediately. Shells were still whizzing overhead. The sandbag fortifications had been blasted to pieces two hours earlier, which was why they had been forced to retreat into the trenches. But even in the anti-artillery trenches, safety could not be guaranteed.
The enemy's artillery fire was so dense, like a torrential downpour, that it seemed they had an inexhaustible supply of ammunition. For more than nine hours, the shelling never stopped. Apart from the large bunkers that still stood, almost all the deployments made to prevent the enemy from advancing were now in ruins.
Now, however, they had no choice but to engage the enemy forces that were beginning to advance in these ruins, but fortunately, the sound of artillery fire had subsided at this moment.
Instead, a series of dense "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds were heard.
The soldiers hiding in the trenches had pale faces covered in sweat. They sat in the trenches, panting heavily. Hearing the extremely fast gunfire, they knew that it was not their own troops using weapons, but that the enemy had already reached the edge of the defensive line.
"Bang!"
"Bang bang bang!"
Solid shells were fired from the still-standing gun towers, while the officers in the trenches urged each other on anxiously.
"The Yan people are charging, and the people inside the fortress are counterattacking. We need to act quickly too! Quick! Set up fire!"
The urgent urging made the soldiers sitting on the ground realize that they could not wait any longer. They gritted their teeth, overcame their fear, hurriedly stood up, and ran out along the trench. After stepping over the corpses, some of them finally reached the ground.
The ground was now a wrecked wasteland, a mess of mud and water mixed with the remains of various fortifications, a scene of utter devastation. The enemy advanced under the cover of artillery fire, amidst billowing smoke. The Golt soldiers couldn't even see how many men were charging towards them; they could only see enemy soldiers rushing in from all directions through the smoke, and they hadn't organized themselves into ranks.
"Quick! Quick! Quick! Fire! Fire at them!"
Amidst roars, the Golt soldiers hastily organized into ranks and fired volleys, while the Yan army infantry also fired as they ran.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
The dense bullets weaved through the air like an increasingly rapid drumbeat. Amidst the constant gunfire, the Flame Soldiers emerging from the smoke were repeatedly knocked down, while those who felled them became corpses even faster.
Compared to artillery fire, close-quarters shooting is more straightforward and brutal in causing casualties. Often, those hit by bullets do not feel the pain in their bodies at that moment. They often only realize they have been shot a few minutes after being hit by several bullets, and then suddenly fall to the ground.
Just like now, the Golgar soldiers firing volleys of gunfire stared wide-eyed. One second they were nervously reloading, and the next second their legs suddenly gave way, and they fell straight to the ground. Only after they fell did their injured bodies show them the pain.
"Ahhh!"
Those who fell to the ground howled in agony, struggling and rolling in the mud, but they could not alleviate the pain in their bodies. The Yan army, advancing in skirmish lines, also suffered heavy casualties. The sturdy bunkers, after enduring such a long bombardment, still stood firm. Solid shells fired from the windows kept falling on their heads. Although they could not explode, their destructive power was still considerable, especially in close-range charges. As long as they were hit by one, they would be torn to pieces.
Amidst the countless remains of Yan soldiers, even more Yan soldiers poured into the battlefield from the rear. They were almost endless, and despite the increasing casualties, none of the Yan soldiers harbored fear.
They are like the gun in their hands; once the trigger is pulled, they will only shoot forward to kill the enemy, using killing to stop killing, and exchanging their lives for more lives.
Under such a powerful offensive, the first line of defense at the Heinrich military base was on the verge of collapse. The front lines were not only reduced to ruins, but also to a quagmire of blood and flesh.
The Yan army artillery company in the rear began to advance through the blood and gore, while the assault infantry in front had already crossed the trenches and begun to fight for control of the fortified fortresses.
Close-quarters combat caused casualties on both sides to multiply, with hundreds dying from artillery fire or bullets almost every minute.
During this period, Golta signalmen kept returning from the front lines to the military base, delivering one bad news after another.
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