Chapter 250: Chapter 230: Birds in the Sky

Boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom boom!

With a series of roaring and explosions, the carefully built Portuguese position in front burst out a brilliant blaze of fireworks, followed by various cries and wails in different dialects, which quickly dissipated as continuous firings of artillery bombings took place.

Of course, it might not be so much dissipation as the continuous explosion of artillery fire completely drowning out the cries and wails of the Portuguese and natives.

“The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!”

“Take cover! Take cover!”

“Damn it, it could be the Australasians! How did they arrive so quickly?”

“Go and inform the Commander, the Australasians are here!”

Portuguese soldiers who were lucky enough to not be involved in the bombing hurriedly crawled out of the bombing zone.

By the time the Portuguese army responded and arrived at the position, more than ten minutes had passed already.

The first round of bombing was over by then. The large amount of shells exploding covered the Portuguese position with a layer of dark ash.

If someone were to look carefully, they might even find some remaining limbs and abandoned digging tools in the corners.

“Everyone get in position and defend against the enemy!” The Portuguese soldiers desperately passed on the order.

This half-built position was the first defense line of Dili and the only defense line.

Frankly, a small town with over 20,000 inhabitants could build such a large-scale defense line, and it had to rely on a large number of natives.

If it weren’t for these natives, they would never have built a defense line and would probably have been captured in the first round of bombing.

The first round of bombing by the First Division was very effective. Many makeshift positions collapsed, exposing unfinished outer artillery positions that were also destroyed in the bombing.

Although there was a relatively sturdy section of trench that could serve as the frontline defense position.

But relying on this trench to block the advance of the First Division was a futile attempt, according to General Silvio Lonnie Rodlin.

Glancing at his watch, he noticed that it was already past eight o’clock in the morning.

General Silvio Lonnie Rodlin muttered to himself: “Those guys should be arriving soon, right?”

“Stop the bombing, let the Portuguese enter their positions,” General Silvio Lonnie Rodlin suddenly ordered.

Although the artillerymen didn’t understand General Silvio Lonnie Rodlin’s orders, they obediently stopped loading the shells.

Seeing this, the Portuguese army finally breathed a sigh of relief. Under the command of their military commander, a large number of soldiers rushed into the position.

Of course, the longest-lasting and sturdiest part of the trench was definitely occupied by the Portuguese army.

As for the temporary makeshift positions and partially collapsed defensive positions, they were guarded by the native army.

In order to ensure the loyalty of the native army, all lower-ranking officers of the native army were taken up by the Portuguese.

The Portuguese Timor military commander also sent a supervising team to monitor the natives’ actions closely.

As long as the native army showed the slightest sign of retreat, they would be met with relentless bullets from the supervising team.

And so, an uneasy ceasefire ensued between the First Division and the Portuguese army.

Portuguese soldiers anxiously awaited the assault of the Australasians, while the First Division soldiers hid at a distance under the command of General Silvio Lonnie Rodlin.

At the Portuguese positions.

At first, the Portuguese were terrified. The explosions earlier were extremely frequent, as if there were thousands of guns firing simultaneously, and the shells were pouring down like a torrential rain.

Although the main force of the Portuguese soldier was not affected by the bombing, the tremors and noises from the explosions brought them a sense of despair and panic from the firepower suppression.

This was also the reason why, even though the first round of bombing by the First Division had stopped for more than ten minutes, they did not dare to retaliate with their own artillery fire.

The Portuguese artillery positions were already destroyed, and the number of artillery guns they had on hand was limited, and in terms of quantity and quality, they could never match the Australasians.

“Soldiers, the Australasians have run out of shells! Although the bombing just now was frequent, it also depleted most of the Australasians’ ammunition reserves. Cheer up, as long as we hold the line and wait for our reinforcements to arrive, you will all be heroes of the kingdom, and His Majesty the King will personally bestow honors upon you!” said the military commander of Portuguese Timor, Khalif Filho, hurriedly restoring the morale of his troops.

Hearing the commander’s explanation, and seeing that the Australasians’ bombardment had indeed stopped, the Portuguese soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the natives felt fortunate to be alive, for the moment.

Hmm～ Hmm mm～ Hmm mm mm～

A sudden humming sound broke the short silence in the positions, leaving the Portuguese soldiers with a bewildered expression on their faces.

Now it’s the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, and there aren’t many mosquitoes on East Timor Island, let alone a widespread buzzing sound.

So where does this buzzing sound come from? Surely all the Portuguese soldiers couldn’t have misheard it, could they?

“My God, look at the sky, there are some big birds!” A sharp-eyed soldier suddenly discovered the anomaly in the sky and screamed in alarm.

“Oh, shit! How can there be such big birds? Is it this group that’s making the buzzing sound?”

Having never seen such strange large birds before, the Portuguese soldiers looked on in astonishment.

“Alright, be careful of the Australasians’ sneak attack. This might be a new and novel species we have not seen before on this land. After the war is over, we’ll have plenty of time to study them. Listen, boys, I will personally recommend the soldier who kills the most enemies for a Title of Nobility from His Majesty!” Khalif Filho naturally noticed the anomaly in the sky, but didn’t think much of it.

Hearing Khalif Filho’s words, many Portuguese soldiers showed excitement and involuntarily clenched the gun barrels in their hands.

The Portuguese Kingdom has a long history of monarchism, and the nobility is one of the most powerful classes in the kingdom.

Everyone has a dream of becoming a noble, and war is one of the ways to achieve it.

After hearing the buzzing sound, General Silvio Lonnie Rodlin finally showed a smile and nodded, saying, “Artillerymen, make some noise for these guys. An unexpected sneak attack yields the best results.”

Of course, the Australasian soldiers heard the buzzing sound and saw the strange things in the sky.

However, as well-trained soldiers, they knew that their first task was to carry out their military orders.

Boom!

The first division’s bombing sounded again, but the frequency was much weaker than the last time, and the consumption of shells was only about one-fifth of the last indiscriminate attack.

The position was bombed again, and it was naturally the Portuguese soldiers who were the most nervous.

However, hearing the obvious decrease in the frequency of the bombing, General Khalif Filho confidently smiled and had the soldiers convey his words: “The Australasians no longer have many shells. Hold on through this round of bombing, and when the enemy gets closer, we will strike back with full force!”

After the messenger left to convey the order, General Khalif Filho very comfortably hid in a sturdier trench nearby that had been reinforced with concrete.

These hiding spots had already been planned when digging the trenches, and because they were generally made of concrete, they were more sturdy than ordinary trenches.

These concrete structures were connected to the trenches, but the area where they connected had a sharp curve, which effectively prevented the shockwave of the shells from entering the trenches.

Basically, there would be one of these concrete structures every one hundred meters, providing a safe hiding place for the bombed soldiers.

This round of bombing came fast and ended quickly. Apart from the native soldiers who did not have concrete structures to protect them, there were very few casualties among the Portuguese soldiers.

This greatly strengthened the Portuguese soldiers’ confidence in winning the war. The Australasian soldiers weren’t that great either, only knowing how to throw shells from afar without daring to charge formally.

Hum~

The more apparent hum interrupted the Portuguese soldiers’ thoughts, and many people looked up to see their pupils suddenly bulging.

What they thought were big birds in the sky were now dropping one black dot after another.

These black dots were constantly enlarging in the Portuguese soldiers’ pupils, eventually transforming into the shape of shells.

“It’s shells! Take cover! Take cover!” General Khalif Filho was the first to discover the situation.

After a few black dots fell from the sky, General Khalif Filho curiously observed these black dots with a telescope to see what they were.

The result horrified Khalif Filho. What was in the sky were not birds, but mechanical devices that looked like birds.

And these machines were dropping one shell after another, and the landing point of the shells was right on the Portuguese position.

Unfortunately, from the moment General Khalif Filho discovered the situation and cried out, there were only a few seconds before the shells exploded.

What can be done in a few seconds? How many times can you blink, or how many steps can you take?

Apart from a few Portuguese soldiers who were closer to the concrete structure, the vast majority had no opportunity to escape from their positions into the concrete structure.

Moreover, due to the element of surprise, the number of Portuguese soldiers who actually entered the concrete structure was only about ten.

Boom! Boom boom!

This time, Australasia sent out a total of six bombers, all piloted by experienced pilots.

Six bombers released a total of 36 large-caliber bombs in the first round, causing extensive damage.

Furthermore, the bombing continued round after round. After the six bombers had dropped all of their bombs, they returned unabashedly to their base.

At this moment, the scene on the Portuguese position was even more tragic than the previous large-scale bombing.