The private corpo commanders did not waste any time reorganising themselves for the fight. Some of the tanks pushed through the debris that had been created with the aid of the other tanks pushing them from the back, giving them enough torque and force to push the scrap metal and corpses away.
It caused a lapse in the defences but this was as tight as they could make in order to make sure the majority of the troops were able to move through. Some at the flank decided to move in a roundabout manner, avoiding the debris entirely and it was more secure as shield tanks formed a column at the sides in order for the rest to split and subsequently converge.
For some reason, their commanders were relentless in making their formation as tight as possible despite the previous attack where it had eliminated the entire front two rows of their formation. They probably knew such a big cannon with that much firepower would not be able to be used continuously and conserving their troops was the most optimal choice in seiging the workshop mills.
However, that did not mean the workshop did not retaliate as they reorganise. Sporadic artillery shots were made to ensure that their formation organisation would take longer than usual. It seemed like everything was still going well for the workshop defence team until a swirling sound could be heard and an explosion occurred behind the grounds of the workshop walls.
They finally decided to shoot their artillery both from the self propelled vehicles as well as stationary long ranged ones. And when it rains, it pours. The barrage turned into a non stop battering of workshop grounds, causing Jin to have a change of plans for the artillery guns. Initially, they wanted to take their time to impact the incoming army but with the new barrage of enemy shells, it was a matter of time before their artillery guns dwindle to nothingness.
The Mechanoids and the System had the same thought process as Jin and the latter had started to formulate based on the shells' landing and learning their estimated trajectory. With this number of artillery explosions, it was easy enough to get the bearings from where those long range artillery and self propelled ones were. All that was left was to destroy or reduce the number of artillery guns available so they still have a workshop wall to fight against and prolong this battle of attrition as much as possible.
All of these were done in the hopes that Archduke Drake would be able to do something regarding the lordship announcement. Even though Jin felt that it would be hard if not impossible for Drake to jeopardise his career and standing just to aid him, he still trusted in the System and gave a tiny dash of hope that such a reversal would happen for this current battle.
This was because he wanted legal grounds to make sure that they were invading his soil and Page had guaranteed the laws were grey enough for him to enact that and gain as many points and gold as possible from these wankers who knew no bounds throwing this many man and material just for the arrest of Old Fammet.
He believed that they thought Old Fammet was the cause of everything that was making them lose and they wanted him to get all of these secret blueprints and squeeze his knowledge once and for all to benefit their company and earn even more gold from this ridiculous skirmish.
Thus the Defence Mechanoids who were manning the artillery obeyed the Tactical System's orders and set the coordinates despite the rain of fire. Fearlessly not moving from their position, they
executed their orders perfectly with the help of the upgrade cards which boosted the artillery guns' strength and range, allowing them to hit far away targets and ensuring that their enemies were the first to be destroyed.
Yet that also means the advancing army had no retaliation since the heat was taken off them with the help of the long range artilleries who were busy dispatching one another. Thus, they were able to reduce the disorganisation they were in and proceeded apace towards the walls of Mount Sunn Workshop.
Even the Mechanoids on the walls knew that they could not do anything else except for the snipers who were the only fighting force against them. Only whenever possible, the snipers with anti tank rifles shot at the shield tank's threads in hopes that it was taken out and while it did not, there were not many opportunities for the Workshop Mechanoids to do anything else.
Still, one tank out of commission is better than no tanks out of commission.
So, the long range bombardment went on while the impending firefight continued to come even closer as the Workshop Mechanoids knew that it was a matter of time before they had to fall back. However, no matter how valiant, it amounted to nothing when the enemy tanks finally started shooting signalling the chance to finally retaliate.
All the (working) short range defence cannons had been activated as they were already well aimed and following the flow of the army. As usual, the forerunners were the meat shield of the advancing army and the intense shooting had begun.
Those rounds hit by both were initially inaccurate but as time passed, the shots were getting easier and easier. Although the shield tanks could provide cover all the way to the doorstep of Mount Sunn, that would be ineffective as the troops behind it could not shoot as well. It was not as if some magical barrier where incoming projectiles were blocked while the outgoing ones have no effect on it. Nothing goes through and that applied to the same for the private corpo army as well.
And the shields could not do much to protect the incoming projectiles well considering how the Mount Sunn cannons were all directed towards them. Compared to the long range artilleries, the cannons atop Mount Sunn Walls had more penetrative capabilities, some similar to tank rounds. Explosives might have widespread power and destruction but those shells that the cannons used were concentrated, making Shield Tanks to be rendered useless in a shot or two, especially in consecutive attacks where else the shield tanks had time to recover their barriers when the artillery hits. (Although that was assuming it was one shot by shot, if multiple artilleries attack at the same time, there was no way the shield tank was able to handle such hits.)
So, the tanks themselves had decided to go on the offensive as well the moment they knew their shields were not useful anymore. Even so, their immobile barrels also mean that their shots could only be used at the tank level and not against the enemies at the top. So, they attempted their best to coordinate and fire at a specific point of Mount Sunn's walls and its gates in hopes that it would weaken and break, allowing multiple entry points for their troops to go in.
And as medieval as it gets, the Workshop Mechanoids were using whatever they could to stall the tanks as well as the invading Mechanoids who also used the tanks as their pedestal to assist them in their jump up to the walls where they initiate combat. If not for the fact that there was no air superiority, the Mechanoids would never have experience hand to hand combat along with their guns.
However, the Workshop Mechanoids do perhaps have an advantage when it comes to hand to hand. For their master was Jin. The Astral Panda Cultivator.
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