Two hours later, 40 rocket artillery pieces lined the walls, all facing different directions. The pieces were spread evenly between the three wall fronts. They could target the entire army that had surrounded the city.
10 of the rocket artillery pieces were equipped with 2 poisonous warheads each, while the rest had incendiary warheads. Out of the 10 rocket artillery pieces equipped with the deadly poisonous warheads, 6 of them were deployed along the southern front, targeting the main bulk of the army. The other 4 were split equally between the eastern and western wall fronts.
By the time they were all set up, the sun began to slightly peek above the horizon. General Kamensky stood at the forefront of the fellow commanders. He would be the one to give the orders to fire. Victor stood amongst the other commanders and awaited the devastating order for the rockets to fly.
When everything was prepared, General Kamensky raised his sabre high in the air. All eyes were upon him. The time was right, there was no wind, and the enemy was still sleeping. With a downward slashing motion, the signal had been given for the rockets to fire.
All the rockets fired in unison, their payloads rising high into the sky. The noise of their launch had awoken many of the Gu soldiers. They did not understand what was happening, but they were curious to figure that out.
Many of them watched in awe as these rockets soared high in the air; however, that awe quickly turned into fear as the rockets began their descent. All the rockets plummeted to the earth. Soldiers either tried to run away or remained petrified at the sight of the descending rockets.
Once the warheads had made contact with the earth, a mixture of fire and poison spread rapidly. Inside the poisonous warheads were a lethal dose of arsenic components that had been extracted from mining. Victor's previous life's knowledge had helped him understand what could be used in a poisonous warhead, and arsenic was the most viable choice.
Victor had intended to use these poisonous warheads, like nuclear missiles. They were only meant to be a deterrent and used as a means of last resort. Unfortunately for him, the creation of such a weapon would always have a possibility of regular use. In Victor's previous life, chemical warfare was banned in the 1920s, and further revisions and comprehensive specifications were made over half a decade later.
As soon as the defenders inhaled the poisonous fumes, they began to suffer the horrific symptoms of arsenic poisoning. Men tried to flee, gasping for air as they choked on the fumes. Throats began to burn, and vision was slowly becoming impaired. Soldiers stumbled over their own feet as they tried to escape the dizziness.
While many of the Gu Army were trying to battle the effects of the poisonous fumes, they also had to worry about the fires spreading around their camp. Tents were set ablaze, and the flames engulfed soldiers whole. Chaos was sown amongst the besieging army as many of its soldiers tried to fend for themselves, ignorant of their fellow comrades.
Crown Prince Gu Lintian was one of the unfortunate souls who suffered arsenic poisoning. His tent was right next to one of the poisonous warheads' explosions. His guards tried their best to protect their prince, but they were writhing in pain. Their muscles were weakening, and a few of them had already begun to suffer Arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).
It was a dreadful sight for a shaken Crown Prince. His only focus was to escape this hell. He began to flee from the chaos. His breath staggered, while his vision became blurry. Many of his soldiers were charging away, praying that the agonising feelings would disappear. Sadly, dozens of soldiers had begun dying from the poison within minutes, while others were being ravaged by the spreading fires.
For those who had been exposed to the poison for minutes, their future was bleak, almost guaranteeing them a vicious death. Hundreds, maybe thousands of men, were dropping like flies. As the kill count rose, Victor stood atop his wall, pain in his eyes, as tears began to slowly trickle down his face.
The inhumane suffering of the Gu soldiers was his doing. He allowed his generals to vote and agree on the plan. It was his ideas that helped engineers and scientists create the poisonous warheads. This result of cruelty was all his doing, whether he liked it or not. Being that it was his fault for this disaster, Victor could not look away; he needed to burn the image of this suffering into his mind. He needed to make sure this never happened again.
"General Kamensky, when will you send in the cavalry. I am ready to lead the charge while they are disoriented and fleeing," General Lasalle questioned, hoping that he would have the chance to sally forth and cut down the enemy.
General Kamensky offered a slight smirk and replied, "We will not send our soldiers out into that hell. Let those mongrels burn and choke on the poison. When the dust settles and the poisonous fumes have disappeared, we will move in and finish them."
General Lasalle was annoyed at this answer and voiced his opinion, "Why must we wait! If our cavalry can wrap clothes around their faces, surely we can ride out into that chaos and route the bastards while they are disoriented. This is an opportunity we should not let pass. Give me the order, and I will crush them."
Kamensky just shook his head and flat-out rejected the idea. "I see no reason for us to put our men in such a position. Let us be patient and observe what happens. If we are lucky, the damage that the enemy has sustained will be too much for them to bear. Then we can sally out. "
It was a wise course of action on General Kamensky's part. He did not want to risk endangering the Luxenberg soldiers by sending them into a battlefield that was burning and plagued with poisonous fumes. It was better for them to wait it out and see the damage that the Gu Army had sustained in the attack.
The entire morning was dedicated to spectating the flailing Gu Army.