Fire!

The people of Seattle were deafened by the loud sound of the electric loudspeakers.

However, the extremely disciplined team brought them immense shock.

This unit seemed truly different from the soldiers before!

The American soldiers who had come to defend before were almost like bandits; some might have felt discontent that they were going to the battlefield while these civilians were protected and could live happily in the rear.

There were many incidents of beatings as the troops advanced, and if you got too close, a soldier might even give you a heavy slap.

There were even deserters who abused women, stole, and killed.

This group of soldiers, utterly devoid of faith and cultural heritage, could not be called soldiers at all. Europe at least had chivalry, and Japan even had Bushido. Only the Americans at this point in time, because the older generation had basically died out and they hadn't yet developed any culture, had neither chivalry nor gentlemanly conduct, much less the idea of defending their homes and country. They even referred to themselves as foreign-born based on their fathers' or even grandfathers' countries, so they had neither a sense of belonging nor a desire to protect.

So how could such a group of soldiers, without any faith or bottom line, have combat effectiveness? How could they have quality?

This is also why Americans dislike their army.

But the current unit was clearly different.

This difference was not reflected in the sound coming from their electric loudspeakers, but in the performance of this unit as it advanced.

The entire unit moved extremely quickly, with exceptional discipline; not only did no one lay a hand on those around them, but no one even spoke a word.

When a poor person was too panicked and even collapsed to the ground in fear, two soldiers from this unit would automatically step forward to help the poor person up, even asking with concern if they had any problems. Some poor people even saw a soldier quietly pull an egg from his bosom and slip it into the hand of a thin girl!

When there were pedestrians on the unit's path who couldn't get out of the way in time, they would actually take the initiative to go around them. If they couldn't go around, they would even stop to help the pedestrians pass...

It is said that true quality is shown in small matters, and this unit was just like that.

As they advanced, the panic and fear on the streets slowly dissipated. As they headed towards the port without looking back, the people of Seattle, who had been worried about their future, for some reason, suddenly felt a sense of firm stability.

Their hearts developed a liking for this unit and a greater acceptance.

And at the same time, the name of Dutch Van der Linde also appeared in their hearts.

"Mr. Van der Linde, Mr. Van der Linde! Is this Mr. Van der Linde's unit? I want to join Mr. Van der Linde! To be able to cultivate such an army, Mr. Van der Linde is definitely a true leader!"

"Look at their equipment, look at those steel carriages! Damn it, we seem to be living in completely different countries! Damn it, the treatment for this unit must be amazing! I'm going to join Van der Linde's Guard! I want to become one of them too!"

The United States Federal Government's smear campaign would collapse on its own when the public saw the truth for themselves.

Not only would it collapse, but it would also make them feel distrust and disgust towards the United States Federal Government for being deceived. They would naturally harbor yearning and expectation, dreaming of entering the American West and coming under the control of Mr. Van der Linde.

However, this had nothing to do with the current Van der Linde's Guard.

As trucks carried huge cannon barrels towards the coast, artillerymen and various professionally trained scouts had already begun their respective duties.

Giant Venice Giant Cannon barrels were set up at high points along the coast. These Venice Giant Cannons would become the most powerful long-range artillery for shelling Russian Empire warships.

Three artillery regiments, each with a strength of four thousand men, carried various new howitzers and cannons, occupying the best firing positions. Steel-armored soldiers were positioned at the forefront in already dug trenches, serving as an interception line against enemy charges.

The remaining medics, sniper soldiers, and others found their respective positions.

Although there was no Katyusha in this era, Marko had not yet manufactured the Katyusha.

But Dutch still believed in saturation bombardment.

However, Katyusha was coming soon; it only required research into the rocket propellant base to be designed.

But now, a four-thousand-man artillery regiment was already fully capable of delivering suppression similar to a Katyusha.

Time slowly passed. While Van der Linde's Guard was still setting up the coastal defense line, the rested Russian Empire fleet officially started the war.

"Choo~ Choo~ Choo..."

The piercing charge bugle of the Russian Empire sounded on the warship's deck.

Although the Russian Empire of this era did not have aircraft carriers, large warships could still carry and release small-scale vessels.

If it were World War II, what would be coming down from the warships now would be steel landing craft, the internal combustion engine type.

But now, it wasn't even World War I, and these so-called landing craft were indeed just small wooden boats, even identical to the hand-cranked small wooden boats used by the Cuban navy when landing on islands in games!

Of course, don't underestimate this combat mode. In reality, the Seattle soldiers on the opposing side couldn't even manage one rifle per person, and handguns and rifles of this era couldn't attack these landing craft from a distance.

And a mere few small cannons and Maxim guns were even less able to suppress so many landing craft.

Generally speaking, with such a disparity in numbers, by the time the enemy sailed into firing range, the battle would essentially be lost.

"Boom boom boom..."

The small wooden landing boats, each carrying three to five people, swarmed like tiny insects on the sea, coming from a distance towards Seattle's port.

The distant Russian Empire fleet even fired artillery from afar to provide cover for their landing fleet.

After a week of fighting, the remaining eighteen thousand-plus Russian Empire troops were all deployed to the battlefield in this battle.

The landing vessels were densely packed, and even small troop transports were approaching the port.

As the sound of artillery rang out, the people of Seattle once again fell into despair.

And on the distant Russian Empire fleet, the commander, Mr. Maxim, had a smile plastered on his face.

He felt his promotion was secure. After taking the city of Seattle as their Russian Empire landing point in America, he could completely use this merit, which was akin to expanding territory, to double his status.

Mr. Maxim was so pleased that he took out a bottle of red wine, opened it, and tilted his head back to take a sip.

"Gulp..." The gulping sound of the red wine going down almost coincided with the roar of cannons on the coastline.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

Mr. Maxim's relaxed and joyful gaze was still aimed at the sky as he drank.

As that sip of vodka went down, the sky in his eyes, which had been clear, was now filled with black stars.

Dense artillery shells, in waves of a thousand, rained down on the distant fleet and landing vessels.

The smoke generated by the artillery bombardment almost enveloped the entire port of Seattle.

The dark mass of shells in the sky was almost like a dense rain of arrows; upon seeing them, the final death knell had already sounded!!!

"Boom boom boom…"

Thousands of shells, like a dense Katyusha rocket formation, while not comparable in firing frequency, were comparable in quantity to a small-scale rocket array.

With a volley of shells, the sea where the entire Tsarist Russian fleet was located was completely covered by fire and explosions.

Thousands of shells, no matter how poorly aimed, would still hit some of these ships.

Rolling black smoke accompanied by flames rose from the Tsarist Russian fleet, and nearly a third of the landing boats on the sea were lost in this wave.

Stunned, dumbfounded.

These two words could describe the current reaction of non-VDL Party personnel who witnessed this battle.

Damn it, they had never seen this level of firepower!

Are they really treating shells like bullets? How rich must Mr. Dutch Van der Linde be!

A thousand artillery pieces appearing on a battlefield of less than forty thousand people, what kind of saturation coverage strike is this?

Who in this era had ever seen this level of warfare?

Artillery in this era mostly served an auxiliary role; pinpoint strikes were somewhat effective, but large-scale coverage was not very impactful because the scale and power of the explosions were too small, a significant gap compared to World War I equipment.

Of course, the main result was still the cost.

Mr. Dutch Van der Linde's troops, fighting at this scale and intensity, were practically throwing out a million dollars to literally crush the enemy.

Of course, the power of the VDL Party's improved artillery was also far beyond what artillery of this era could compare to.

With a volley of artillery fire, the Tsarist Russian naval fleet suffered heavy casualties.

The entire sea was stained with the gunpowder residue from the gray shell explosions, and five of the twenty-five Tsarist Russian warships were sunk on the spot.

There was nothing that could be done about this; ordinary artillery couldn't reach such distances. The sinking of these five warships relied on the firing of the Venice Giant Cannon. Ten shells taking out five warships, this efficiency and intensity were already very impressive.

This also depended on the immense power of the Venice Giant Cannon.

As long as it hit, it could basically blow a huge hole in the warship.

Commander Maxim was completely bewildered.

The warship in front of him had a large hole blown open, and the entire vessel was slowly sinking.

"Oh, damn it, damn it, what kind of firepower is this? What kind of firepower???

Can artillery in this era still fire so far?"

Commander Maxim cursed a string of obscenities, but it did not stop his soldiers from dying.

He merely ordered the warship he was on to retreat further back.

The soldiers on the Tsarist Russian troop transport boats were screaming in fright, and countless were weeping, going mad, or surrendering.

This scale of explosion was truly astonishing; bullets on the battlefield did not achieve much effective killing, but shells could.

Under this volley, the entire sea was littered with shattered boats and broken bodies.

Screams mingled with the ocean waves, spreading all around. Looking out, the entire sea had been stained red with blood.

However, fear was only a reaction of a few. The Tsar, as the supreme ruler of the Russian Empire, never valued the lives of his people, which could be seen during World War I when millions of Slavs on the Eastern Front were annihilated by Germany, yet the Tsar claimed: "To make such a sacrifice for friends, the Russian Empire feels supreme glory." After all, by the time the Tsardom passed to Nicholas, the bloodline was essentially entirely Germanic, and most of the Russian Empire's nobility were not of Slav blood.

Furthermore, the Slavs' centuries of slavery had left them with no spirit of resistance; death seemed to pose little threat to their race.

Although the Russian Empire had abolished serfdom, those who came to serve as Tsarist Russian were still farmers' children. These Tsarist Russian usually farmed at home and were only pulled out for two days of training before being sent to the battlefield when war broke out. Forget about combat readiness, some of them didn't even know how to fire a gun. Although serfdom was abolished, it was merely a product of the Romanov dynasty's compromise, and in reality, most farmers still lived lives akin to slaves.

Years of slavery had made these people afraid to resist and without the idea of resisting, even if the Tsar ordered them to jump into lava, countless people would numbly jump in.

This also made most of the Russian Empire's wars extremely brutal.

The landing Tsarist Russian this time were no exception.

Although the firepower of Van der Linde's Guard was almost abnormal, there were surprisingly few Tsarist Russian who surrendered or lost their will to fight.

The surviving Tsarist Russian continued to row their boats towards the Seattle port, showing no emotion or fear at the sight of their comrades dying around them.

This was normal, after all, in their own country, they saw people starve and freeze to death every day. Death was commonplace for them, merely differing in the manner of dying.

These humans, used like livestock, must be saved by Mr. Van der Linde!!!

The next moment.

"Boom boom boom…"

Thousands of shells, mixed with Mr. Van der Linde's righteousness, swept in and then exploded with a roar on the sea.

"Ahhh!!!"

The boats were shattered by the shells, and five of the eight Tsarist Russian on board were instantly blown to pieces, while the remaining three had broken limbs and fell into the sea. After a few screams, blood from their wounds diffused into the seawater.

Groups of sharks were already swimming towards them from a distance.

This level of bombardment in this era was essentially hitting unresisting moving targets. Mr. Van der Linde's troops suffered no casualties whatsoever while eliminating half of these Tsarist Russian before they even landed.

In ancient battlefields, a reduction of over thirty percent in personnel could lead to a collapse of morale.

The current Tsarist Russian force was almost halved, yet they still did not collapse. The remaining small boats continued to row, attempting to land in Seattle.

However, after only a few minutes, there was another synchronized roar of artillery.

"Boom boom boom…"

Countless shells swept towards the sea where the Tsarist Russian fleet was located, and this time the shells came from two directions.

Not only were shells fired from the port's defensive line, but on the ocean, a fleet of more than a dozen warships also arrived, surrounding the Russian Empire's warships from behind.

Caught in a pincer movement, with attacks from two directions, the Tsarist Russian fleet completely lost all ability to resist.

The overwhelming power of technology was vividly displayed in this landing battle, much like the performance in the Gulf War.

Just the increased range of artillery fire and improved explosive effects had already become a massive killing machine in this era. One can only imagine the exaggerated performance Mr. Van der Linde's secretly deployed fighter planes and Tanks would have on the battlefield.