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Chapter 971: They've Arrived!!
Between the Land of Swamps and the Land of Demons.
There exists a barren land that does not belong to any nation.
At this time, this place, usually rarely visited by people, was seeing large numbers of black-painted armored vehicles driving in grand formations.
Simultaneously, heavy howitzers with long, straight cannon barrels had been placed at the very front, spaced twenty meters apart.
Their massive, deep gun barrels were all aimed in the direction of the Land of Swamps.
At this moment, the three Division Commanders under Sakazuki's command, Vice Admiral Onigumo, Vice Admiral Doberman, and Vice Admiral Fabian, were gathered in the military tent serving as the command room. However, the atmosphere was very oppressive and heavy.
Nahas, standing behind Onigumo, looked speechlessly at the sour expressions of these Vice Admirals.
Their adjutants exchanged glances and all gently shook their heads, indicating helplessness.
The situation was as follows.
Previously, when Admiral Akainu was assigning combat missions, he ordered that Vice Admiral Charlotte Oven's Third Division and Vice Admiral Dalmatian's Fifth Division be responsible for going to the front line battlefield to engage the Demon Army.
Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Doberman's Second Division and Vice Admiral Fabian's Fourth Division were responsible for deploying the artillery formation to provide artillery support for the frontline.
As for Vice Admiral Onigumo's First Division, they were to serve as the reserve force and would only be deployed when the battle situation on the frontline required it.
The key reason Admiral Akainu gave was that although Armament Haki had been confirmed to cause damage to demons, those with Devil Fruit abilities had a greater advantage.
It just so happened that Vice Admiral Charlotte Oven and Vice Admiral Dalmatian were a Paramecia-type Heat-Heat Fruit user and an Animal-type Inu Inu no Mi user, respectively.
Not only that.
Admiral Akainu also required that the Devil Fruit users from each division be temporarily transferred to the command of the Third Division and Fifth Division.
Thus, these three Vice Admirals—Onigumo, Doberman, and Fabian—felt uncomfortable.
So many demons were right before their eyes, yet they could only fire cannons from the back?
"Sigh, just bear with it. I heard that soon those cannons will be transferred away, and from now on, this kind of artillery unit won't be under our main battle legion anymore."
Vice Admiral Doberman, a smoking cigar dangling from his mouth, let out a long sigh.
When he was in the Marines before, he actually quite liked artillery, especially standing on a warship and watching their own cannon fire sink those pirate ships to the seabed.
Vice Admiral Fabian said in a deep voice, "The main issue is that the Land of Swamps is too small. There are already nearly twenty thousand Ninja Alliance Army troops there, plus that tide of demons. If we all rushed in together, it would be too crowded."
"But we can't let the Ninja Alliance Army retreat immediately either. The Demon Army's offensive is wave after wave. Doing so could easily cause a great rout. So, it's better to let them continue to hold the defensive line while we first send a portion of our forces to take over in an orderly manner."
However, Vice Admiral Onigumo remained silent, smoking his cigar with a blank expression.
To be honest, what made Nahas feel the most uncomfortable was this point.
When he was in the Imperial Army before, Admiral Blande strictly forbade smoking during meetings, so he hadn't felt anything.
But these officers of the World Government were too fond of smoking, especially cigars, causing every meeting to become filled with smoke...
"Report!"
At this moment, a messenger quickly entered and shouted, "The Survey Corps has sent back the coordinate data! The calculation group is calculating the firing data! Please give your instruction!"
"Once each artillery squad is ready, have them perform annihilation fire. Fire two standard loads of Tengen Shells directly."
Onigumo suddenly spoke, giving the order.
Vice Admiral Doberman and Vice Admiral Fabian had no opinion either.
Because the other party was not only the First Division Commander, but Admiral Akainu had also indeed said before leaving that Onigumo would be in charge of the rear.
"Yes!"
The messenger quickly left upon hearing the order.
At the same time.
Nahas thought to himself, "The large-scale clash between the World Government and the demons is finally about to begin..."
On the other side, in the Land of Swamps.
The Ninja Alliance Army was still struggling to hold on.
However, their chakra was no longer sufficient to use Large-Scale Combined Ninjutsu, so they could only barely prevent the demons from approaching with Explosive Tags.
Unfortunately, Explosive Tags were also running low.
It wasn't that the reserves of the major ninja villages were depleted, but rather that the Land of Swamps was too far from the major ninja villages. Even supplementing supplies from the nearest Sunagakure and Stone Village couldn't keep up with the consumption speed of Explosive Tags.
Fortunately, the return of Rasa, Uchiha Fugaku, Ōnoki, and others relieved a large part of the pressure.
With the cooperation of Gold Dust, Amaterasu, and Dust Release, they killed countless mid/lower-rank demons.
However, the three of them were not Hashirama Senju after all, and their chakra was only slightly more than that of ordinary people.
Fighting until now, even these ninjas with 'Kage-level' strength were already exhausted.
Uchiha Fugaku's situation was the most severe. Not only was his chakra depleted, but his eyes had also become slightly blurry from overuse of Dojutsu.
"This is troublesome now. This old man can no longer use Dust Release."
Ōnoki floated to Rasa's side and said in a heavy tone.
"I'm about the same," Rasa sighed. "Are these demons truly infinite?"
Ōnoki shook his head. "Probably not. That Styx Demon mentioned before that they are demons from the First Layer of the Underworld. There can't possibly be infinite demons just on the First Layer, right?"
"Even if they're not infinite, the quantity has already exceeded the upper limit we can bear, unless support from other ninja villages can arrive in time," Rasa replied.
"They should be on their way, but we might not be able to hold on until then."
Ōnoki looked down worriedly.
At this time, many ninjas had no choice but to fight the demons at close range.
The result was either being killed by various strange magic or being eaten alive as food.
Among them were Hidden Sand ninjas and Konoha ninjas.
There were even ninjas from their Stone Village, some of whom he could even call by name.
"Now we can only hope for support from the World Government. I wonder when they will..."
Just as the fatigued Ōnoki was muttering to himself, he suddenly subconsciously turned his head to look at the sky behind him.
Because he seemed to vaguely hear a whistling sound. Was it a delusion?
[Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh----]
Indeed, it wasn't a delusion.
More and more ninjas also heard rapid whistling sounds quickly passing overhead.
Before they could even react, in the mid-to-rear zone of the Demon Army, amidst the 'boom, boom, boom' explosion sounds, bright fireballs rose one after another. The surging explosion heatwave instantly swept across the entire area, overturning a large number of mid/lower-rank demons.
Moreover, these whistling sounds were almost continuous.
Because the standard load of howitzer shells for the main combat army's heavy howitzers is sixty rounds.
Onigumo ordered two standard loads to be fired, which meant firing one hundred and twenty rounds.
And this was just the firing volume of one cannon.
Currently, each artillery regiment under a main combat division is equipped with twenty-four heavy howitzers.
Therefore, this artillery bombardment was jointly carried out by seventy-two heavy howitzers.
Not only that, but each cannonball was a 'Tengen Shell', which was rarer than a standard shell.
The so-called 'Tengen Shell' is a cannonball filled with the family secret recipe gunpowder contributed by Tengen Uzui.
This is a type of gunpowder where an amount about the size of a pill can blow up an entire room.
It's somewhat similar to the Explosive Tags of the Ninja World.
However, this is no longer the latest generation of 'Tengen Gunpowder'.
As Buggy's scientific research capability received the best support in the Academy of Science.
He further improved 'Tengen Gunpowder', giving it even greater explosive power.
For example, an amount the size of a pill can blow up an entire three-story house.
Therefore, these 'Tengen Shells' are actually the second generation.
Basically, the maximum killing radius of a forty-kilogram heavy cannonball is nearly six times that of a conventional howitzer shell!
With such terrifying power, even these mid/lower-rank demons, once affected, would instantly meet the fate of having no corpse left...
"This! This! Is this the support from the World Government?"
"They've Arrived!!!"
Between the Land of Swamps and the Land of Demons.
There exists a barren land that does not belong to any nation.
At this time, this place, usually rarely visited by people, was seeing large numbers of black-painted armored vehicles driving in grand formations.
Simultaneously, heavy howitzers with long, straight cannon barrels had been placed at the very front, spaced twenty meters apart.
Their massive, deep gun barrels were all aimed in the direction of the Land of Swamps.
At this moment, the three Division Commanders under Sakazuki's command, Vice Admiral Onigumo, Vice Admiral Doberman, and Vice Admiral Fabian, were gathered in the military tent serving as the command room. However, the atmosphere was very oppressive and heavy.
Nahas, standing behind Onigumo, looked speechlessly at the sour expressions of these Vice Admirals.
Their adjutants exchanged glances and all gently shook their heads, indicating helplessness.
The situation was as follows.
Previously, when Admiral Akainu was assigning combat missions, he ordered that Vice Admiral Charlotte Oven's Third Division and Vice Admiral Dalmatian's Fifth Division be responsible for going to the front line battlefield to engage the Demon Army.
Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Doberman's Second Division and Vice Admiral Fabian's Fourth Division were responsible for deploying the artillery formation to provide artillery support for the frontline.
As for Vice Admiral Onigumo's First Division, they were to serve as the reserve force and would only be deployed when the battle situation on the frontline required it.
The key reason Admiral Akainu gave was that although Armament Haki had been confirmed to cause damage to demons, those with Devil Fruit abilities had a greater advantage.
It just so happened that Vice Admiral Charlotte Oven and Vice Admiral Dalmatian were a Paramecia-type Heat-Heat Fruit user and an Animal-type Inu Inu no Mi user, respectively.
Not only that.
Admiral Akainu also required that the Devil Fruit users from each division be temporarily transferred to the command of the Third Division and Fifth Division.
Thus, these three Vice Admirals—Onigumo, Doberman, and Fabian—felt uncomfortable.
So many demons were right before their eyes, yet they could only fire cannons from the back?
"Sigh, just bear with it. I heard that soon those cannons will be transferred away, and from now on, this kind of artillery unit won't be under our main battle legion anymore."
Vice Admiral Doberman, a smoking cigar dangling from his mouth, let out a long sigh.
When he was in the Marines before, he actually quite liked artillery, especially standing on a warship and watching their own cannon fire sink those pirate ships to the seabed.
Vice Admiral Fabian said in a deep voice, "The main issue is that the Land of Swamps is too small. There are already nearly twenty thousand Ninja Alliance Army troops there, plus that tide of demons. If we all rushed in together, it would be too crowded."
"But we can't let the Ninja Alliance Army retreat immediately either. The Demon Army's offensive is wave after wave. Doing so could easily cause a great rout. So, it's better to let them continue to hold the defensive line while we first send a portion of our forces to take over in an orderly manner."
However, Vice Admiral Onigumo remained silent, smoking his cigar with a blank expression.
To be honest, what made Nahas feel the most uncomfortable was this point.
When he was in the Imperial Army before, Admiral Blande strictly forbade smoking during meetings, so he hadn't felt anything.
But these officers of the World Government were too fond of smoking, especially cigars, causing every meeting to become filled with smoke...
"Report!"
At this moment, a messenger quickly entered and shouted, "The Survey Corps has sent back the coordinate data! The calculation group is calculating the firing data! Please give your instruction!"
"Once each artillery squad is ready, have them perform annihilation fire. Fire two standard loads of Tengen Shells directly."
Onigumo suddenly spoke, giving the order.
Vice Admiral Doberman and Vice Admiral Fabian had no opinion either.
Because the other party was not only the First Division Commander, but Admiral Akainu had also indeed said before leaving that Onigumo would be in charge of the rear.
"Yes!"
The messenger quickly left upon hearing the order.
At the same time.
Nahas thought to himself, "The large-scale clash between the World Government and the demons is finally about to begin..."
On the other side, in the Land of Swamps.
The Ninja Alliance Army was still struggling to hold on.
However, their chakra was no longer sufficient to use Large-Scale Combined Ninjutsu, so they could only barely prevent the demons from approaching with Explosive Tags.
Unfortunately, Explosive Tags were also running low.
It wasn't that the reserves of the major ninja villages were depleted, but rather that the Land of Swamps was too far from the major ninja villages. Even supplementing supplies from the nearest Sunagakure and Stone Village couldn't keep up with the consumption speed of Explosive Tags.
Fortunately, the return of Rasa, Uchiha Fugaku, Ōnoki, and others relieved a large part of the pressure.
With the cooperation of Gold Dust, Amaterasu, and Dust Release, they killed countless mid/lower-rank demons.
However, the three of them were not Hashirama Senju after all, and their chakra was only slightly more than that of ordinary people.
Fighting until now, even these ninjas with 'Kage-level' strength were already exhausted.
Uchiha Fugaku's situation was the most severe. Not only was his chakra depleted, but his eyes had also become slightly blurry from overuse of Dojutsu.
"This is troublesome now. This old man can no longer use Dust Release."
Ōnoki floated to Rasa's side and said in a heavy tone.
"I'm about the same," Rasa sighed. "Are these demons truly infinite?"
Ōnoki shook his head. "Probably not. That Styx Demon mentioned before that they are demons from the First Layer of the Underworld. There can't possibly be infinite demons just on the First Layer, right?"
"Even if they're not infinite, the quantity has already exceeded the upper limit we can bear, unless support from other ninja villages can arrive in time," Rasa replied.
"They should be on their way, but we might not be able to hold on until then."
Ōnoki looked down worriedly.
At this time, many ninjas had no choice but to fight the demons at close range.
The result was either being killed by various strange magic or being eaten alive as food.
Among them were Hidden Sand ninjas and Konoha ninjas.
There were even ninjas from their Stone Village, some of whom he could even call by name.
"Now we can only hope for support from the World Government. I wonder when they will..."
Just as the fatigued Ōnoki was muttering to himself, he suddenly subconsciously turned his head to look at the sky behind him.
Because he seemed to vaguely hear a whistling sound. Was it a delusion?
[Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh----]
Indeed, it wasn't a delusion.
More and more ninjas also heard rapid whistling sounds quickly passing overhead.
Before they could even react, in the mid-to-rear zone of the Demon Army, amidst the 'boom, boom, boom' explosion sounds, bright fireballs rose one after another. The surging explosion heatwave instantly swept across the entire area, overturning a large number of mid/lower-rank demons.
Moreover, these whistling sounds were almost continuous.
Because the standard load of howitzer shells for the main combat army's heavy howitzers is sixty rounds.
Onigumo ordered two standard loads to be fired, which meant firing one hundred and twenty rounds.
And this was just the firing volume of one cannon.
Currently, each artillery regiment under a main combat division is equipped with twenty-four heavy howitzers.
Therefore, this artillery bombardment was jointly carried out by seventy-two heavy howitzers.
Not only that, but each cannonball was a 'Tengen Shell', which was rarer than a standard shell.
The so-called 'Tengen Shell' is a cannonball filled with the family secret recipe gunpowder contributed by Tengen Uzui.
This is a type of gunpowder where an amount about the size of a pill can blow up an entire room.
It's somewhat similar to the Explosive Tags of the Ninja World.
However, this is no longer the latest generation of 'Tengen Gunpowder'.
As Buggy's scientific research capability received the best support in the Academy of Science.
He further improved 'Tengen Gunpowder', giving it even greater explosive power.
For example, an amount the size of a pill can blow up an entire three-story house.
Therefore, these 'Tengen Shells' are actually the second generation.
Basically, the maximum killing radius of a forty-kilogram heavy cannonball is nearly six times that of a conventional howitzer shell!
With such terrifying power, even these mid/lower-rank demons, once affected, would instantly meet the fate of having no corpse left...
"This! This! Is this the support from the World Government?"
"They've Arrived!!!"
