Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 532 Buying time
"That's good, no major problem. Messenger, inform all squad leaders to organize another round of firing, still five rounds in quick succession!"

Hodge's orders were quickly carried out. After the soldiers were ready, they stopped and fired five more shots. This time, their condition was slightly worse, and their accuracy was not as good as before. However, Ash observed and told Hodge that they had once again successfully stopped the momentum of the skeletons' pursuit.

Hodge's furrowed brows relaxed.

If bullets are effective, then there's not much of a problem. What the expeditionary force fears is problems that bullets can't solve; the latter won't pose much of a threat.

But soon, Ash's words plunged Hodge into an icy abyss.

"They've caught up again."

"what?!"

Hodge was taken aback, his tone incredulous: "Weren't there not many skeletons?"

"Not many indeed."

"How come they caught up again? And they're getting faster and faster. They were silent for a good half day after the first volley of fire, so how did they catch up so quickly this time?"

"I don't know. This batch of bones doesn't look injured. Perhaps they were from the later ones in the line."

Hodge was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Keep firing! We still have plenty of bullets, one more round is all we need. Messenger! Pass on my orders."

The shooting was effective again, but Hodge's face was no longer relaxed. He walked in silence, and when he heard Ash's voice, he trembled.

"The skeletons are catching up again."

Hodge: "How many?"

"Not many, just the same old stuff."

Hodge took a deep breath and looked at Ash: "Lord Ash, could you please lag behind for a moment and keep an eye on what happened after the skeletons were defeated?"

"no problem."

"Please be extremely careful. There have never been any survivors of the White Disaster. Please stay away from the fog."

Ash nodded, the snake's tail slowed its swaying, and Hodge, his face grim, shouted, "Messenger! Pass on my order: resume firing!"

Five shots rang out in quick succession. The expeditionary force was already showing signs of fatigue. They had run for more than ten kilometers and had to stop frequently to catch their breath and fire, which greatly depleted their physical strength.

Soon, Ash caught up from behind.

"Well, what did you see, Lord Ash?"

Ash's tone shifted for the first time, her words becoming heavier: "Those writhing skeletons are actually constantly running monsters. They are made of bones, mostly human bones."

"When the bullets came, the bones shattered into fragments under the barrage of bullets, and the strength of the bones seemed to be no different from that of ordinary human bones."

"but"

Ash pointed to the white mist in the distance: "Isn't that white mist chasing after the bones?"

Hodge and Gwen turned around together and looked into the distance.

Rather than saying the white mist was chasing the white bones, it would be more accurate to say that the white bones were dragging the white mist forward, forcibly increasing its speed considerably.

"The bones were smashed to pieces and then stopped in place, while the white mist quickly rose up."

"Within the mist, the skeleton rapidly recovered, then stood up and ran faster and faster until it burst out of the mist again, dragging the mist along with it as it charged towards us."

Hodge gasped.

This will just keep going on and on, won't it?

If the expeditionary force had unlimited stamina and inexhaustible bullets, these skeletons would not be difficult to deal with. But at this moment, the expeditionary force was already at its limit, and the soldiers' condition had deteriorated significantly. If they continued to run, a large number of them would probably fall behind!
"Lord Ash, we need your help. The expeditionary force can no longer maintain its forced march. I need to have the soldiers slow down and rest. Can you delay those skeletons for a while?"

"no problem."

Ash's voice was utterly unwavering. She nodded to Hodge and Gwen, then turned and walked towards the white mist. Hodge pursed his lips and called the messenger again. "Slow down, but don't stop. Tell the soldiers they don't need to prepare to fire. Have some water and some rations, but absolutely no stopping!"

The soldiers had run nearly 20 kilometers in one go, interspersed with combat. Given their current physical exertion, they might not be able to walk again once they stopped.

Not long after, the sound of heavy machine guns firing came from behind the expeditionary force. The soldiers, who had slowed down and were stuffing food into their mouths, paused and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"That's the sound of a heavy machine gun!"

"Heavy machine gun? How could there be a heavy machine gun?"

"Could it be that a unit has brought heavy machine guns?"

"Impossible! Who could pull a trailer and keep up with a forced march? It must have been Lord Ash leading it!"

"Lord Ash? Could it be..."

"She's buying us time. Why do you think we've suddenly been able to slow down?"

"But...but that's the White Calamity! No one survives the White Calamity!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't say anything more. Just focus on eating what's in your mouth, recover your strength, and don't waste the time that Lord Ash risked his life to buy!"

The expeditionary force soon fell silent. They ate their food in silence, moistened their throats with water from their canteens, and then spontaneously quickened their pace.

Hodge listened with trepidation to the gunshots behind him.

"The interval between the two shots is getting shorter again." He looked at Gwen with a grave expression. "The time it takes for the skeletons to resurrect is getting shorter and shorter. This can't go on!"

How much longer until the train arrives?

"It should be soon, hopefully more good news."

However, there was no good news.

Soon, the scout came running up, breathless: "Lord Hohochi, white fog spotted at ten o'clock!"

Upon hearing this, Hodge rushed to the left side of the group and, sure enough, saw mist approaching from afar. A sense of foreboding gripped his heart.

"Gwen, can you take a look at this for me?"

"Yes, there are bones just ahead of the fog."

Hodge felt a jolt in his heart.

"quantity."

"More than the ones after that."

Hodge was silent for a moment, then asked with some difficulty:
"Gwen, do you know how to use a Gatling gun?"

It turns out Gwen didn't know how to use it.

When it comes to learning something, you either know it or you don't. It took Hodge quite a while to teach her the basic usage.

The expeditionary force never imagined that Gwen would need to go to the battlefield, so they never taught her how to use these advanced weapons.

After visiting Gwen at church, Hodge realized he had overlooked something.

"Why do you only have two hands?"

Gwen's eyes widened.

One pair of hands can only wield one Gatling gun, so no matter how strong Gwen is, it's useless. In other words, her firepower is at least two-thirds weaker than Ash's!

She might not be able to block the white bones on the left.

(End of this chapter)