novelSusiti Chapter 122 Total Annihilation and the Imminent Threat
Chapter 122 Total Annihilation and the Imminent Threat
Chapter 122 Total Annihilation and the Imminent Threat
"Careful enough."
A scout-style assassin lay in ambush atop a tree several kilometers from the parking spot, his entire being blending into the shadows of the branches. Through the gaps in the leaves, he watched the movement of the third train.
At the officer's command, the train doors were opened one after another, and the soldiers jumped out of the carriages, crowding together in a chaotic mass, gradually forming a line beside the railway.
"Deputy Commander, the third train has stopped, and the American troops are starting to disembark and line up. They've even sent people over to your area."
"I see."
The company commander looked away from the burning train wreckage and ordered, "First Company, Second Company, Third Company, proceed according to the previous plan."
"The first company will act as the vanguard, drawing enemy fire; the second and third companies will provide support from the left and right, encircling them like dumplings!"
"yes!"
The second and third company commanders called to their men and silently disappeared into the dense forest on both sides of the railway. The first company commander led his company along the railway, running straight towards the third train, three miles away.
The three-mile journey took these physically strong assassins only a dozen minutes, and they even managed to kill an American scout who came to scout ahead.
When they reached the vicinity of the stopping point of the third train, the 150 American soldiers inside had just finished lining up. Not far behind the third train, the fourth train was slowly coming to a stop, its whistle blaring.
As they spotted the American troops, the American troops also spotted them.
Colonel Wright, holding up his monoculars, looked at the company marching at full speed and frowned immediately: "Yellow race?"
Where did this army of Asians come from?
"Never mind, let's crush them first, and also test the power of our new guns."
He glanced contemptuously at the scattered formation of the company in the distance and shouted, "Sharpshooter Company, maintain formation and advance! Fire only when you're a hundred yards away!"
One hundred U.S. soldiers huddled between the railroad tracks and the trees, and began to march forward upon hearing the order.
The firearms they carried were different from the Springfield muzzle-loading rifles commonly used by the US military; they had large revolving cylinders above the triggers, which looked rather strange.
"Although we don't know where these barbarians came from, it's clear they've chosen the wrong opponent."
Colonel Wright's adjutant looked relaxed and said with a smile, "We were just equipped with these Colt M1855 revolver rifles before we set off. They are breech-loading rifles and can fire six rounds in a row."
A single volley of fire would be enough to wipe out not only that small number of enemy soldiers, but even two more companies would be doomed.
Colonel Wright remained noncommittal, his binoculars fixed on the equipment opposite him: "We still need to be careful. Don't forget, two regiments in the west were wiped out by the Indians."
His gaze suddenly sharpened, locking onto a firearm.
Although the design was unusual, he could tell from the ten parallel barrels with a metallic sheen that it was definitely a firearm.
The gun was mounted on two sturdy wooden wheels, with a crank next to the barrel and a long metal tube on top.
"What is that?"
Upon hearing this, the adjutant also took out his monocular binoculars and looked over, asking in confusion, "I've never seen this kind of firearm before, and why are there so many barrels?"
The next second, their doubts were answered.
The wooden cart stopped, the crank turned, the gun barrel spun, and the crisp, rattling sound of gunfire echoed deep within the forest.
Bullets lashed at the sharpshooter company soldiers like whips. In an instant, the soldiers in the front row were shot in the middle before they could even let out a cry of pain.
A few soldiers were a little luckier; they only lost an arm or a leg and lay on the ground groaning in pain.
Colonel Wright and his adjutant froze instantly.
"Rapid-fire weapons? Rapid-fire weapons?!"
Colonel Wright stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing.
The rapid-fire weapon that the war commissioner had mentioned before departure suddenly appeared on the battlefield, sending dozens of sniper company soldiers to their deaths.
"Everyone, disperse!"
He took a deep breath and shouted, "They have rapid-fire weapons! Discontinue line formation! Take cover behind trees or in low-lying areas to return fire!"
"Artillery company, bring out your six-pounder cannons and shoot down the enemy's automatic weapons!"
Upon hearing this, the fifty artillerymen rushed onto the train carriage and pushed the 400-kilogram, six-pound cannon to the carriage entrance.
Some soldiers secured the six-pounder cannon mount to the floor of the carriage with ropes, the gunner aimed the cannon at the machine gun position, and the other gunners began loading ammunition.
boom!boom!boom!boom!
Before the cannons could fire, a continuous barrage of gunfire suddenly erupted from the woods to the right of the train. A dense hail of bullets flew from the trees, riddling a dozen soldiers near the cannons with holes.
"Damn it, they still have people?"
Upon hearing the gunshots from his side, Colonel Wright immediately began running backwards, instructing his adjutant as he ran: "Go to the fourth train and call out all the soldiers to deal with the enemy on the right!"
Also, send another fast-moving soldier back to the station ahead to report what's happening here!
"yes!"
The sharpshooter is in charge.
The surviving soldiers obeyed orders and began desperately rushing towards the other side behind the trees.
But the edge of the woods was about ten meters away from them, and those ten meters were completely exposed, a cleared, flat area.
Some of them were caught up by bullets on the way and fell to the ground one after another.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief after running behind the tree, a hissing grenade fell.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
One after another, bursts of light erupted from the explosions, and shrapnel from grenades flew through the crowd.
The thumb-sized iron plates spun and flew more than ten meters, cutting through the wool fabric of the uniforms, slicing through the skin and fat layers, and embedding themselves in various parts of the soldiers' bodies.
The explosion ignited the North American pine, and the violent flames began to engulf the trees, corpses, and anything else that could burn.
The company commander stopped turning the crank, took out the empty magazine, and said, "This gun is good in every way, except that its rate of fire is too fast and its reloading speed is too slow."
The assassin standing nearby said, "I heard that the military industry group is already developing a new model, and they want to make it motor-driven, and change the magazine feeding to belt feeding."
"Motor-driven? We'll have to wait a while then."
2
The company commander laughed and said, "The generators and motors in the electrical group are huge. If we want to shrink them and use them in guns, it will probably take several years or even more than ten years to complete."
"So there are differing opinions within the military industry group. Another group wants to use new technologies, and they're still arguing about it themselves."
"Alright, stop chatting and get to loading the ammunition."
The company commander looked in the direction of the train and ordered, "Tell them to speed up the attack. The trees here burn faster than we thought. We don't want the fire to start burning our backs before the Americans are even finished off."
"Yes."
Two days later.
The wildfires in the central forests of New Jersey burned for two full days before being extinguished by a sudden downpour.
William Harris, the stationmaster of Newark train station, led a few men along the railway line toward the battlefield.
They were supposed to go two days ago, but what the soldiers said was too alarming, and the fire blocked their way, so they waited until now.
When they reached the scene of the accident, everyone stopped in their tracks.
The air still smelled of burning. The wreckage of six trains lay crookedly on the tracks, the wooden structures of the carriages burned to charcoal, leaving only twisted and deformed iron frames.
Inside the vehicle were charred corpses.
Looking ahead along the railway, the charred woods on both sides of the tracks were littered with corpses in various poses. Stationmaster Harris, gazing at this hellish scene, couldn't help but groan, "God, has Satan descended?"
Washington, D.C., the White House.
Secretary of War Jefferson Hamilton Davis sat behind his desk, gripping a telegram tightly.
The telegram came from Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, and contained only a few lines.
"The 9th Infantry Regiment was ambushed on the Philadelphia-New York railroad and was completely annihilated. 814 men were killed, and only 73 managed to escape."
The ambushers, described by soldiers, were of Asian descent and used repeating weapons and high-powered grenades.
Davis placed the telegram on the table, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
Yellow-skinned army.
Rapid-fire weapon.
He remembered the intelligence sent from the west.
The Native Americans who annihilated two dragoon regiments also used repeating weapons.
And now, the soldiers they were sending to provide support in the west had just set off when they were attacked in New Jersey.
Less than 100 miles from New York and less than 200 miles from Washington, they were completely wiped out by a group of fully armed Asians.
Davis opened his eyes, folded the telegram, put it in his jacket pocket, and got up to leave the office.
Inside the Presidential Office.
President Franklin Pierce was reading documents in his study when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Davis pushed open the door and entered, his face grave.
Pierce looked up, saw the Secretary of War's expression, and put down the documents in his hand: "Jefferson, what happened?"
Davis didn't say anything, he just handed over the telegram.
Pierce took the telegram, glanced at it, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.
He looked at it carefully again, his expression changing from confusion to shock, and then from shock to anger.
He said incredulously, "You mean, our entire regiment was wiped out less than two hundred miles from Washington?"
"To be precise, seventy-three lucky soldiers survived."
Davis said in a deep voice, "The ambushers used repeating weapons and high-powered grenades. Mr. President, does that sound familiar?"
Pierce was silent for a few seconds, then couldn't help but sigh: "You think the British were behind this again?"
"Without a doubt, only they can do this."
Davis answered without hesitation: "They have enormous power in the Far East. They can easily recruit Asian soldiers from there, train them, arm them, and then smuggle them into our country through the Canadian colonies."
Pierce traced the telegram with his fingertips and asked, "So, what brings you to me?"
"Mr. President, I need to call an emergency meeting of Congress."
Davis said slowly, "What happened in New Jersey was not an ordinary attack; it was an invasion."
An enemy force of several hundred men has appeared deep within our territory, less than two hundred miles from Washington. They could easily launch an attack on the capital if they wished.
"We must immediately increase our standing forces, conscript militia, and launch a full-scale search in New Jersey to find that Asian army."
Pierce was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Go do it."
House of Parliament.
The notice for the emergency meeting was sent to every member of Congress within two hours. By 2 p.m., the House chamber was packed, and the room was filled with the buzz of discussion.
Davis stood on the podium, his hands resting on the table, his gaze sweeping over the assembled members of parliament.
"Gentlemen."
His voice wasn't loud, but every word clearly echoed throughout the hall: "Three days ago, in the forest area of central New Jersey, the 9th Infantry Regiment was ambushed and wiped out."
Nine hundred soldiers of the United States of America were slaughtered by the enemy less than two hundred miles from this hall.
The council chamber fell silent as everyone listened attentively to his speech.
"The army that ambushed the 9th Infantry Regiment was an army of Asians."
These words immediately caused an uproar.
One lawmaker questioned, "Mr. Davis, are you joking?"
"The last time two regiments in the west were completely wiped out, it was already like a myth. This time it's even more like a myth."
Davis continued, "Gentlemen, I must remind you that New Jersey is less than a hundred miles from New York and less than two hundred miles from Washington."
And now, an army using rapid-fire weapons, with firepower far exceeding that of our soldiers, is hiding somewhere in New Jersey!
He paused, his gaze sharpening.
"What if the enemy's next target isn't the troop transport train, but this hall?"
What if they march directly to Washington and harm the president, and all of you gentlemen here?
A low murmur arose again in the council chamber.
A congressman stood up: "Secretary Davis, what you're saying is outrageous. How could an enemy force of less than a thousand men possibly reach Washington?"
Davis raised his voice and retorted, "How is that possible? Gentlemen, we don't even know how this army got to New Jersey!"
Who can guarantee they won't get into Washington?
The congressman's face flushed red, and he opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.
Davis looked at all the members of the council chamber and said loudly, "I request that Congress authorize the immediate expansion of the domestic standing army to 50,000 men."
Simultaneously, militias from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland were mobilized to conduct a thorough, inch-by-inch search of New Jersey.
"Gentlemen, that enemy force is currently in a valley bandaging their wounds, counting their ammunition, and planning their next attack."
"We must find them and wipe them out completely before they pull the trigger again!"