Bivis froze in surprise for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "Yes, sir!"
The order went out.
Boom!!! The main guns of seven battleships roared first.
The seven battleships, armed with the most advanced 406 mm main guns in the world, fired a simultaneous salvo.
Seven large-caliber shells streaked toward Thunder God Port, trailing long tongues of flame.
Boom! Boom! Amid violent tremors and enormous flashes of fire, the thunder of exploding shells filled the entire coastline. Wave after wave of flames engulfed and destroyed buildings and facilities.
Hundreds of Survey Corps soldiers were killed or wounded in that bombardment. More than half the close-defense guns were destroyed before they could even fire, and the artillerymen behind thick reinforced-concrete walls were shaken to death.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Caesar's forces have opened fire on us! I repeat! Caesar's forces have opened fire on us!" The Close-Defense Artillery Battalion's communications soldier roared into the telephone, his eyes bulging with fury. The flames of an explosion swallowed him the instant he finished speaking.
The commander of the Close-Defense Artillery Battalion was blown to pieces in the initial attack, along with ten close-defense guns.
"Return fire!" the surviving deputy commander immediately roared in fury.
The remaining close-defense guns immediately retaliated against Caesar's forces. Their fire crisscrossed, shells tearing through the air like fragments of a black nightmare.
At such close range, a single retaliatory salvo from twenty close-defense guns struck more than six escort ships. Three suffered ammunition detonations on the spot and broke in two, while another three began belching thick smoke and slowed down.
The close-defense guns kept firing, damaging a battleship before another salvo wiped them out completely.
As Erwin received the report and felt the command room shake violently, he desperately wished his suspicions were wrong.
"Armin, can the