"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! Dazzling fireballs rose up in the air on the battlefield, and the violent explosion directly shattered people's eardrums. The huge shock wave spread around, and the human body was blown into the air as if it were dead branches and leaves, and the scattered shamprapnel harvested the lives around it. After the explosion, it left craters with a diameter of more than 10 meters directly on the ground.

The 343-millimeter main guns of the Imperial Navy's 'Tang Gaozu' and 'Tang Taizong' battleships fired more than 300 kilograms of high-explosive shells were simply death from the sky. After the shells explode on the battlefield, there is often not a single living creature within a radius of 100 meters.

"Shhh The main guns of the new warships of the Imperial Navy are really exciting! Those damn Japanese were all blown up to powder! Rear Admiral Chen Ziqing held up the binoculars, and when he saw those dense Japanese killed by the large-caliber naval guns of the Imperial Navy, he couldn't help but gasp. Compared with the Navy's large-caliber naval guns, the Army's artillery is like a child's toy.

"The 343 mm cannon is the most powerful cannon in the Empire right now. However, this kind of main gun is too heavy, weighing several hundred tons, and it is simply not necessary to use it on land! Brigadier General Niu Zhiyang shook his head. Although the Imperial Army was equipped with some train guns, the caliber was almost 210 mm, and the largest caliber was only 280 mm caliber, which was far from being comparable to the main guns of the Navy.

"Hmmm! The Japanese are unlucky this time, I want to see how these Japanese can attack with the help of naval firepower! Order the heavy artillery battalion of the military to start shelling! Major General Chen Ziqing ordered.

The ship's guns are powerful, but they are not fast in rate of fire, and they can fire only one shell per minute at most. It was the small-caliber guns of the battleship, which had a much faster rate of fire. Soon, the heavy artillery battalion of the 15th Infantry Corps of the Imperial Army and the brigade artillery battalion of the 71st Infantry Brigade also opened fire. 24 105mm howitzers and 24 75mm field guns, frantically pouring shells on Japan.

The entire battlefield was shrouded in gunsmoke, and the attacking Japanese fought against death in the smoke. However, these Japanese were often in the position of being beaten passively, and in the face of the fierce shelling of the Imperial Army and Navy, they had no choice but to endure hardship, and some of them had to bow their waists and quickly launch an attack on the positions of the Imperial Army, hoping to rush over, so that the shelling could be avoided.

However, the idea is good, but the reality is cruel. In the face of heavy artillery bombardment by the Imperial Army and Navy, the attacking Japanese paid a great price. Because these Japanese have not received formal military training, they often swarm when they start fighting. And this gave the artillery of the Imperial Army and Navy an excellent opportunity to play. A single shell often takes countless lives. Especially if a 343-mm shell explodes in the middle of the crowd, hundreds of lives will be reimbursed. Even if the rebels have an absolute advantage in troops, they don't dare to consume it like this!

What's more, countless people were killed alive, which brought great pressure to the survivors. No matter how brave they were, the fear of seeing their comrades being torn to shreds right in front of their eyes was enough to break people. Even the regular army would have a hard time coping with such a scenario, let alone these rabble. So much so that after the artillery bombardment of the Imperial Army and Navy began, tens of thousands of Japanese were killed in just over ten minutes. Subsequently, these Japanese retreated back without their lives, and did not dare to attack again. They've all been scared.

"The shameless Chinese actually use naval artillery against us, it's simply too shameless and too bullying!" Saigo Takamori can only secretly curse this shameless behavior of the Chinese in his heart. The Japanese rebels did not even have a few artillery, but the Chinese extravagantly used the guns of naval warships against them, isn't this a clear bully? Of course, even if he was bullied, Saigo Takamori had no choice. How can flesh and blood fight against steel?

However, seeing that half of Edo was under the control of the rebels, they could only find a way to defeat the other half of Edo as much as possible. Only then will they be able to achieve victory. However, Saigo Takamori knew very well how difficult it was to capture the other half of Edo, and he was afraid that even if he used human lives to fill it, he might not be able to succeed.

Saigo Takamori placed the retreating Japanese in the rear, and then organized tens of thousands of people to attack again. He asked the troops to spread out as much as possible to reduce casualties from the shelling. Then these Japanese were also asked to speed up the attack, only in this way they could break through the artillery blockade of the Chinese in the shortest possible time. As long as you break through the defense line of the Chinese army, then there is no need to be afraid of shelling by the Chinese. The Chinese are worried about accidental injuries and will definitely not continue to fire.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese rebels began to attack again. Tens of thousands of Japanese chanted slogans and charged the positions of the Imperial Army.

When they were still two kilometers away from the position of the Imperial Army, the battleships moored on the surface of the sea began to roar again. Shells fell from the sky and began to reap the lives of these Japanese rebels. Soon, the battlefield became a place like Shura's hell, with stumps and broken arms everywhere, and scraps of flesh flying everywhere. Some cowardly people were directly frightened stupid, let alone continue to attack.

The superiority of the Japanese army in strength was brought into play at this time. Because the Imperial Army's defensive line was too long, it was impossible for the Navy to shell everything. Therefore, there were still quite a few Japanese who broke through the artillery blockade of the Imperial Army and Navy. That doesn't mean they're safe, though. After breaking through the artillery blockade, they had to face the interception of the Imperial Army.

When the Japanese were extremely close to the Imperial Army's defensive line of a kilometer, the mortars on the positions began to roar. Although, the shells of the mortars were far from being comparable to the main guns of the battleships. But the rate of fire of mortars was faster, and the ultimate rate of fire of the Empire's mortars was capable of fifteen shells a minute. Even a couple of mortars were enough to make the Japanese pay a heavy price.

Although the power of mortar shells is not large, it is completely no problem to deal with fragile human bodies. The Japanese managed to escape the heavy artillery bombardment, and they had to suffer the baptism of mortars, which caused the vast majority of the Japanese to be killed before they could rush within their own range.

As the Japanese got closer to the Imperial Army's lines, heavy machine guns, rifles, and other weapons were added to the firing. It was as if the Japanese had hit a wall made of steel, and their heads were bleeding.

"Da Da Da!"

Heavy and light machine guns fired at the dense crowd, and in such a battle, the machine gunner did not need to aim at all, but simply fired at the place where the crowd gathered. Dense bullets, will knock these people down.

One by one, the Japanese fell to the ground, many of them were hit by bullets from 12.7mm heavy machine guns, their bodies were broken in two, and blood was all on the ground, soaking the soil.

The Japanese rebels' attack on the defense line of the Imperial Army was very fierce, but it was more like they were going to die. No matter how many troops were invested, they would not be able to break through the defenses of the Imperial Army, and they would only kill those Japanese.

"General, we can't go on like this, we have already lost tens of thousands of people in today's battle! Even if we have 500,000 people, we can't afford to wear it out! A Japanese officer said to Takamori Saigo. It was probably the most brutal battle they'd ever had ever had!

"No, we can't stop attacking. Once the attack is stopped, the morale will fall to the bottom. When the time comes, if you want to continue the offensive, it will be unlikely! Saigo Takamori shook his head. Although he knew that if this continued, more Japanese would die on the battlefield, what could he do? He could only take advantage of the fact that his morale had not completely fallen and did his best to attack.

"Yes, General!" The Japanese officers had no choice but to take orders to stop the attackers once again.

The Japanese are not stupid, so many people were killed, they were greatly shocked, this seems to be different from the war they imagined! This was especially true for the Japanese who joined the rebellion only to make a fortune. They just want to live a better life, and if they want to pay with their lives for it, then forget it!

Some Japanese chose to become deserters, fleeing Edo and returning to their hometowns. Although Saigo Takamori tried to stop it, it was useless. These rabbles have no military discipline at all. What's more, most of Saigo Takamori's 500,000-strong army was gathered on the way from Sendai to Edo. Even Saigo Takamori didn't know how many people there were, how to stop these people from escaping?

It was not until nightfall that the Japanese rebels stopped their attack. However, they lost tens of thousands of men in this afternoon's attack. The entire battlefield had been covered with a thick layer of corpses, and blood flowed out of these corpses, converging into a stream, flowing into the river, directly dyeing the river red.

The huge casualties also caused the morale of the Japanese rebels to drop to freezing point. When they went to war for the first time, they were frightened by the tragic casualties. As a result, Saigo Takamori originally wanted to organize a night attack, but no one wanted to participate, and finally had to give up. After all, the night attack is not something that everyone can participate in, and without excellent military literacy, I am afraid that it has already been discovered before it has touched the position of the Chinese, and then it will be slaughtered under the overwhelming artillery fire of the Chinese! R1152