Chapter 814 The Battle Begins to Cool Down
No matter what, an explosion that can be seen from hundreds of kilometers away is simply too terrifying.
Soon more information came in. The friars drew a tangent line based on the direction of the explosion observed by several airships and easily calculated the location of the explosion. However, the news itself was by no means easy.
The scale of this explosion is almost comparable to that of a nuclear bomb, and even for conventional weapons, it has an extremely terrifying yield.
The Mad Squad only managed to bring back two self-propelled artillery pieces. Nora's piece had shielded several people from the explosion, absorbing a large amount of damage for them. When Nora was pulled out, half of her face was burned to a crisp.
She has now been taken to Castells Hospital, and thanks to the personal efforts of two legendary doctors, she is alive. She should not be dead.
The battle between the Duchy of Tis and the Papacy, which began at night, escalated rapidly, eventually involving more than twenty self-propelled artillery pieces and double-digit numbers of steam tanks. The soldiers' blood stained an entire river red, and the battlefield was practically turned into a meat grinder.
When Isabella came down from the battlefield, she was covered in blood, and more than half of her guards had been killed or wounded.
This usually proud empress was much more silent this time. She suddenly realized that the war had become a place where no one knew each other. Even though she was the highest commander on Tiss's side, she could only decide when the war started, not how to stop it.
Both sides are struggling to adapt to these changes, whether in terms of weapons, tactics, or various organizations and systems.
Mistakes must be corrected immediately, and outdated practices must be eliminated promptly. If you are even a moment late, the situation will become one-sided, and if you fail to do so, you will be crushed by the wheels of history.
Many changes have also occurred in Castells.
Hughes no longer simply sent observation teams to Tiss; he began sending entire units of the Guardian Army to the battlefield to fight alongside the Duchy of Tiss.
Even he felt a sense of urgency. Even with the guidance of the first and second wars on Earth, he only had a better grasp of the general direction. As for the specific tactical details, he could only learn them from the battlefield.
Besides this, Castells managed to set up a production line with great difficulty and began producing chemical protective suits and gas masks.
Hughes didn't really believe the other side had nuclear weapons; the explosion just served as a wake-up call for him.
The Papacy's technology tree is completely different from Castel's. For thousands of years, the Papacy has been collecting and sealing knowledge, and no one knows what other trump cards they have up their sleeves.
On Earth, at least chemical weapons did change the course of the war.
Germany was the first country to use chemical weapons on a large scale during World War I. Chlorine was first released on April 22, 1915, during the Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Phosgene, mustard gas, and other chemical weapons were subsequently developed. Britain, France, and the United States also used them on a large scale.
These were much less common during World War II. Were they no longer useful?
The main reason is that chemical weapons do not have a high technical threshold, both sides can produce them, and their destructive effect and scale are quite good, which directly led all participating countries to be hesitant to use them and mainly used them as a deterrent.
Moreover, with both sides on guard, this weapon is becoming increasingly less effective than it was in World War I.
But in this world, none of this has happened yet.
After considering various factors, Hughes ultimately decided to produce a batch of protective equipment first, just in case.
Castel Cathedral, meeting room.
Many of Castells’ senior officials were gathered here, but today was different from usual; most people were silent.
Hughes looked around and sighed: "Erwin, tell me about the current situation."
Erwin stood up; he was now the commander-in-chief at the front, responsible not only for planning the Cleric's operations but also for investigating the explosion.
"After the explosion that day, based on the description from the Raging Squad, we roughly determined the location of the explosion and then sent people to investigate."
"Because the matter is of great importance, a large number of people have been sent. There are superhumans who have infiltrated secretly, airships that conduct high-altitude reconnaissance, and we have also joined forces with Isabella's side to try to make a rapid advance to see if we can get close enough to check the situation."
"But they all failed."
Erwin's expression was rather unpleasant.
The Papacy's performance on the battlefield was not particularly good; in terms of coordination and execution, it was far inferior to Castells.
However, the Vatican was extremely vigilant during this explosion, and they couldn't find the slightest flaw on their part.
"It wasn't all for naught. At least we know that the Vatican takes this explosion very seriously, and perhaps there's some secret hidden within it," Hughes said after a moment of silence.
"Yes, and it's not just the explosion itself. The Vatican is guarding a large area centered on the explosion, as if the explosion had revealed something important."
Hughes pursed his lips.
Why does it feel more and more like a nuclear bomb?
The bombing left behind nuclear radiation, so it's not allowed to get close?
How about sending some Geiger counters to the front lines again?
Hughes' mind was filled with random thoughts.
"How is the situation at the front?"
"The front line has stabilized. Now both Tiss and the Papacy are focusing on defense and have reduced their offensive actions."
Hughes had heard some rumors; it was said that the battle that night was extremely fierce.
That battle began with an explosion and lasted for two days and two nights, pushing both sides to their limits.
The firearms were so effective that the soldiers went from initial mass charges to relying on trench warfare to wear each other down, resulting in more deaths than in any previous battle.
Both sides fought to the limit of their organizational capacity, and even with the church's indoctrination, the Papacy's followers dared not go to the front lines.
As for Isabella, she was already outnumbered, and if it weren't for Castel's much stronger weapons, she wouldn't have been able to withstand the waves of attacks.
After the battle, soldiers on both sides became extremely weary of war, and morale plummeted.
Isabella wanted to replace the soldiers in the rear with the new ones—this batch of soldiers was weary of war, and there wouldn't be another batch. Rotating the soldiers would indeed solve the problems at the front.
But Hughes stopped her from doing so and instead advised her not to force the fight and to control the intensity of the war first.
This was the case for many countries during World War I, especially France, which wiped out an entire generation, leading to extreme fear of war among its people and a very weak will to resist during World War II.
Moreover, Castells now has a technological advantage in weaponry. If it can be solved with technological advancements, there's no need to sacrifice human lives. War is necessary, but we can't go all in at the expense of everything.
Time is on Castells' side.
"We need to control the intensity of the conflict. I'll talk to Isabella about this later, but we need to increase the number of troops we have deployed on the front lines."
Erwin nodded. The nature of war was changing too fast; if you didn't participate, you would fall behind. He understood this principle.
"Let's maintain the status quo on the front lines for now. We need more powerful weapons, and we need to catch up on Richard's progress."
"Also, I heard that Nini has started publishing newspapers again?"
“Well, I do know that,” Zoe suddenly interjected. “But not from newspapers, but from novels.”
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
