Chapter 237: Chapter 222: Nighttime Ship Guns Fireworks

The pirates’ celebratory sounds drowned out the soldiers’ response, and all the pirates were still immersed in the joy of celebration.

Bang!

A sudden gunshot stopped all the natives in their tracks, as if time had stopped for a few seconds.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The soldiers of the Guards were not going to give the pirates time to react. Seeing that some of them were in a state of shock, they immediately opened fire.

Fortunately, the soldiers’ regular training was very effective, and with the pirates suddenly taken aback, they inadvertently became true stationary targets.

“Protect all citizens!” The platoon leader commanded, leading all the soldiers to gradually approach the bound Australasians.

“Is it our military? Thank God, thank His Majesty!” Hearing the familiar voice and seeing the familiar military, the captured Australasians were overjoyed and began to fervently thank God and Arthur.

On the other hand, the pirates were not doing so well.

The training of the Guards’ soldiers wasn’t for nothing, as each of them had to fire dozens of bullets every day.

While they couldn’t guarantee that each of them was a sharpshooter, at least most of them could hit their targets.

Although there may be deviations, real firearms were not toys. Any hit could lead to severe injuries, let alone incapacitation; even their lives might not be safe.

“We are the soldiers of the First Guards Infantry Division, ordered by His Majesty to rescue you. You are safe now!” The platoon leader ordered the soldiers to untie the bound people while smiling and talking to them.

“Thank His Majesty, long live His Majesty!”

Every rescued Australasian rejoiced.

“Is everyone here? Any missing person?” The platoon leader inquired.

“We’re all here, sir. Those damn natives were planning to execute us after today’s celebration. You came just in time, or else we would have been meeting God soon,” said the leader among the hostages.

“Rest assured, you are safe now. Outside the island, our fleet and more troops are there. The government and His Majesty are deeply concerned about this matter, ordering the deployment of troops to eliminate all pirates,” the platoon leader comforted.

For those people who actually faced life and death, what they needed to do now was to try to comfort them and help them out of the shadows as soon as possible.

Since all the hostages were here, the platoon leader was relieved and commanded the soldiers, “Everyone, lead them to the coastline and let them board the warships first.”

These pirates couldn’t escape on the island, and the most important task at present was to protect the lives of these people.

Naturally, the safest place was on the warships, where there were fleets and many troops to protect them, and the pirates could not pose any threat to the fleet.

Off the island, hearing the gunshots on the island, Minister Kent immediately ordered all soldiers to take action.

Though the pirates on the small islands hadn’t attacked Australasia, could they guarantee that they posed no threat?

The best way to protect citizens was to eliminate all people or forces that could potentially threaten them. Naturally, these pirates were one of the targets.

Of course, Minister Kent would not go so far as to use soldiers to attack these islands forcefully. Who could guarantee that all these pirates were a mob?

Any additional casualties among the soldiers were unnecessary in Minister Kent’s view.

Although the warships of Australasia were mostly small and medium-sized, their ship guns had a range of several kilometers, so it was enough to bombard the islands around them.

Before this operation, Minister Kent had all the warships carry enough ammunition for the bombardment of the islands.

Of course, the largest island still required the dispatch of troops to land. After all, not only were there captured Australasian citizens on the island, but also Guards soldiers who had infiltrated the island.

Minister Kent’s expression became somewhat grave, as the gunfire on the island lasted for a while before it mostly ceased.

This meant there were two possibilities: either the Guards had successfully completed their mission, or for some reason, they were forced to stop firing.

If it was the latter, it would be somewhat unfriendly for Minister Kent at this point.

But Minister Kent was still willing to believe in the abilities of the Guards soldiers, who were the absolute elites of the British Empire Army. After arriving in Australasia, they underwent long-term training, participated in a large number of comprehensive training with German experts and soldiers, and had combat capabilities no worse than those of the German elites.

Minister Kent also disembarked, following the soldiers to land on the island.

After more than ten minutes, the Guards soldiers met with Minister Kent, and the news they brought relieved him.

Since all the Australasian citizens had been successfully rescued, Minister Kent had no further concerns and ordered everyone to board the warships to use the ship guns to bomb all the islands indiscriminately until most of the shells were expended.

The bombardment lasted half an hour, with each island receiving at least forty shells from the Australasian fleet.

The largest island suffered the worst, becoming the primary target of the fleet. After enduring over a hundred shells, the appearance of the large island was completely altered.

Due to it being night, the actual situation on the island could not be clearly seen. However, if it were daytime, Minister Kent would be able to see that the once lush island had turned into a yellow-black wasteland, with the island shrouded in clouds of smoke from gunpowder.

The soldiers were ordered to carry at least three hand grenades, a weapon for attacking fortified positions manufactured by the Australasia Royal Military Factory. The grenades were filled with gunpowder, steel balls, and scrap iron, having a blast range of only 1-2 meters but an injury range of more than ten meters.

In fact, hand grenades had already been in existence for hundreds of years but became somewhat less useful due to the development of firearms.

As the lethal range of firearms increased and the popularity of machine guns grew, this manually thrown weapon was not widely adopted by military forces around the world.

It was during the two world wars that hand grenades reappeared in the equipment orders of various countries. To deal with the large number of enemy trenches and concentrated charges, the hand grenade, with its wide range of lethal effects, became highly valued by countries all over the world.

Naturally, Arthur would not wait until hand grenades were widely regarded by the world to start manufacturing them.

At present, the hand grenade production in Australasia has initially taken shape, and the Royal Military Factory has two types of hand grenades: the stick grenade and the egg-shaped grenade.

Due to the small population of Australasia, even each trained soldier was extremely precious.

The soldiers were unfamiliar with the terrain and environment of the islands, which could potentially lead to ambushes by pirates.

In this situation, hand grenades became an excellent weapon for siege, capable of causing significant damage to the enemy in areas where large artillery could not cover.

Although it might consume more military funding, it was better than causing unnecessary casualties.

Under Minister Kent’s leadership, the soldiers re-armed themselves and set out to land on the island once again.