Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 983: Chapter 25 Conclusion

February 26th, somewhere along the northern border of Ceres, Fusang Empire’s occupation army outpost.

The squad leader of the outpost, Kameda, was celebrating his birthday today, so all the soldiers in the squad had worked as laborers for a nearby landlord for the past few days, finally managing to collect some white rice.

The squad leader even specially instructed to trade the ammunition of the crooked-barrel heavy machine gun to the guerrillas in the district for a few chickens. At last, the outpost had some meat today.

Early in the morning, the outpost was bustling with activity.

Kameda stood atop the outpost, letting out a deep sigh: “Over a decade ago, when I just arrived in Ceres, the local dignitaries would line up to offer gifts for my birthday. A mere ten years later, this place has become our burial ground.”

Just as he finished speaking, the sky echoed with a whistling sound.

Moments later, the ground began to tremble, and the blast winds from the explosion blew Kameda off his feet, over the rooftop’s fence, landing on the ground with his neck twisted into an impossible angle.

The earth-shaking bombardment continued.

Fifteen minutes into the shelling, the outpost was directly hit by a 203mm heavy artillery shell, piercing the main structure and detonating inside the building.

The outpost, which had stood on the frontier for ten years, was reduced to dust and rubble.

The bombing lasted for an hour.

When everything fell quiet, the surviving Japanese soldiers crawled out from the debris, covered in dust and dirt, their hearts rattled with fear.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “The rice!”

He collapsed onto the ground, frantically clawing at the rubble, trying to collect the white rice buried beneath it.

Before he could gather much, the grains began to dance in the dirt.

The Japanese soldier stared at the rice in confusion, and then noticed that the sand nearby was also jumping.

Soon, the earth began to quake again.

Then came the roar of tank engines from the horizon.

The soldiers of the Fusang Empire had never heard such deafening noise from so many tanks moving in unison. They stood frozen, bewildered and unsure of what to do.

Soon, even they themselves began to tremble along with the ground, their canteens clinking against their belts like wooden fish-bells.

Then, a Rocossov II tank appeared.

Finally, an old soldier snapped out of his daze, grabbing a newly issued trigger-activated anti-tank lance and shouting “Ten no Heka Banzai!” as he charged at the tank.

The lance exploded, but the tank remained unscathed. A cloak-clad infantryman atop the vehicle fired a burst of bullets, striking the old soldier down.

Next, the tank’s machine gun opened fire, mowing down the remaining Fusang soldiers.

It was almost as if they had held their fire just to give the Japanese a final chance.

The heavy tank rammed into the remnants of the outpost’s broken walls, roaring as it pushed forward.

More and more Federation soldiers followed behind the heavy tank, pouring over the outpost like a tide of steel, rushing towards the Fusang Empire’s defensive zone.

————

March 5th, somewhere along the northern border of Ceres, ruins of Fusang Empire’s garrison outpost.

A few Ceresians were rummaging through the rubble, searching for anything useful—rifles, bullets, grenades—they could use for protection or trade with the guerrillas for transportation tickets.

Then came the sound of engines.

Since the Ante Army had crossed the border, the people of Ceres had grown accustomed to the sound of engines, so they did not panic but calmly looked in the direction of the approaching convoy.

The long convoy halted before the ruins, and a young Ante general (in fact, a marshal) draped in medals stepped out of the vehicle.

With curiosity, the Ceresians watched this “General” bend down, sinking his fingers into Ceres’s black soil.

He grabbed a handful of the soil, raised it, and brought it to his nose to sniff.

The Ceresians exchanged puzzled looks. A child remarked, “Look! He’s starving so bad he’s eating dirt!”

An adult immediately covered the child’s mouth, whispering sternly, “Hush! He’s an Ante officer, a big shot. Your aunt got beaten to death just for saying something bad about the big shots!”

The young Ante general lifted his head. He let the soil fall from his hands, took a handkerchief from his deputy officer, wiped his hands, and then cleared his throat purposefully before speaking: “Folks, would you be willing to guide us?”

The Ceresians exchanged glances.

Finally, Liu Bold spoke up: “Judging from your accent, you learned Ceresian from a Southerner, didn’t you?”

The Ante “General” froze, awkwardly smiling after a brief pause: “Indeed. My chef is a Southerner whom I hired from the Federation!”

Liu Bold replied, “I guessed as much. You sound just like those Southerners who arrived with your army a few days ago. Is there anything I can help you with?”

The “General” remained silent for a few seconds before saying something that left Liu Bold deeply perplexed.

“Nothing much. I just want to go home and take a look. I’ve been longing for it greatly.”

As he spoke, the General raised his head, gazing towards the south.

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