1885, I came to save Greece

Chapter 261 Bayonets and Blazing Fire

The sky before dawn was the color of ink mixed with gray, so thick it couldn't be dissolved. Everything was silent, except for the cold wind blowing from the Pindus Mountains, which howled softly through the valleys.

The town of Elassona, the heart of the Ottoman Empire's Thessalian front, which sustained the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, still beat quietly in its deep slumber.

Sudden.

Three sharp whistling sounds ripped through the silence of the night.

Three green signal flares shot into the sky simultaneously, trailing eerie trajectories, and exploded in the night, scattering three clusters of phosphorescence.

The action begins!

The Greek engineers, who had been lying in wait outside the telegraph station on the north side of the town, rushed out as soon as they saw the signal flare. Without making a sound, they climbed the telegraph pole, their specially made large insulated pliers flashing a cold light in the dim light.

"Snap!"

"Snap! Snap!"

A series of crisp metallic snapping sounds rang out. All the telegraph lines connecting Erasona to the outside world were cut one by one. The copper wires hung limply, swaying gently in the wind like severed throats.

This small town, in a physical sense, has become an isolated information island cut off from the world.

Almost at the same instant the telegraph line was cut, dozens of dark figures emerged from the darkness outside the ammunition depot on the east side of the town. They were the assault team of the Second Battalion, each with their face smeared with coal dust mixed with lard, looking like vengeful demons in the night.

They didn't waste a single bullet.

The Ottoman sentry had just been awakened from his sleep by a signal flare. He rubbed his eyes and poked his head out, but before he could utter any warning, a large hand covered his mouth tightly from behind, and a cold bayonet plunged into his ribs, piercing his heart with precision.

After eliminating the outer sentries, the assault team used crowbars and battering rams to brutally break open the heavy wooden door of the ammunition depot.

Inside the door were piles of wooden crates filled with rifle bullets, artillery shells, and hand grenades.

Without hesitation, the Greek soldiers lit the fuses and threw bundles of high explosives, newly developed in the "Nicholas Dimitrios" laboratory and called "Greek Fury," which were wrapped in tarpaulins.

The hissing sound of the burning fuse in the deathly silent warehouse heralded the prelude to destruction.

A few minutes later.

There was no warning whatsoever.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar, beyond description, erupted from the ammunition depot. Immediately afterward, the earth trembled violently, and Greek soldiers lying in ambush several kilometers away, preparing for their main attack, were thrown about by the powerful shockwave, losing their footing.

A massive fireball, riddled with countless explosive charges, shot into the sky like a volcanic eruption. The flames instantly illuminated half the night sky, turning everything around into an apocalyptic orange-red.

A second, a third… a series of increasingly frequent explosions followed. Shells detonated in flames, emitting piercing shrieks, tracing deadly arcs across the sky before landing throughout the town, igniting new fires and explosions.

The Ottoman garrison in the town of Elasona was finally awakened from its slumber. They rushed out of their barracks, disheveled, their faces filled with terror and bewilderment.

They didn't know where the enemy was coming from.

They didn't know how many enemies there were.

All they saw were towering flames and shells exploding all around them.

Before they could mount any effective resistance, the main force of the Third Battalion, personally led by Metaxas, poured into the town through the western breach with unstoppable momentum.

"For Greece!"

"kill!"

The shouts of battle were deafening.

Greek soldiers, in groups of three or five, operated in platoons and companies, following a pre-arranged plan, weaving and splitting together to head straight for their respective targets.

The defenders' resistance appeared futile and laughable in the face of such an organized and premeditated attack. Any sporadic resistance was quickly drowned out by a hail of bullets and sharp bayonets.

But the Greek soldiers' objective was shockingly clear.

They didn't come here to kill anyone.

They came to set the fire!

A squad of soldiers stormed into the largest granary in the town center. It was a massive building, as large as a small mountain, filled with wheat, flour, and beans to sustain the army at the front. The soldiers used their bayonets to cut open the sacks, and golden wheat grains and snow-white flour poured out. Then, they threw in the torches they had prepared beforehand.

The dry grains were instantly ignited, and flames shot up several meters high with a "whoosh," greedily devouring everything in their path.

Another squad of soldiers charged toward the hay storage area prepared for tens of thousands of warhorses. There, piles of hay were stacked up like hills. The soldiers poured barrels of kerosene onto it and then threw a torch far away.

The flames roared, their tongues licking the sky.

Another squad of soldiers targeted a warehouse storing lamp oil, lubricating oil, and tung oil. Instead of setting it ablaze, they frantically hacked open oil drums with their entrenching axes. The viscous liquid flowed across the ground, reflecting an ominous light in the flashes of the explosions.

Thick black smoke billowed and rose, obscuring the sky that was just beginning to lighten.

A strange and nauseating odor filled the air. It was the distinctive aroma of burnt grain, mixed with the sulfurous smell of exploding gunpowder, the acrid smell of burning wood, and... the protein smell of roasted human flesh.

This fire was the funeral of the Ottoman Empire's vast logistical system.

This fire was also a tragic tale of destruction for hundreds of thousands of Ottoman soldiers on the front lines.

When the first rays of sunlight in the morning struggled to pierce through the thick black smoke and shine upon this land.

Erasona no longer exists.

Instead, a vast expanse of scorched earth was created.

The once sturdy barracks are now nothing but blackened ruins.

The once mountain of supplies has all turned into a thick layer of ashes on the ground.

The Ottoman Empire's largest supply base on the Thessalian front, along with its reserves of enough food, ammunition, and fodder to sustain hundreds of thousands of troops for months, was completely wiped off the map in less than two hours.

Metaxas stood on a high point, coldly observing everything. His binoculars reflected the firelight and thick smoke.

He put down his binoculars and turned to give orders to the communications soldier beside him.

"Send a power to His Highness."

"The content consists of only one sentence."

The communications soldier took out his telegraph machine and waited for instructions.

Metaxas looked at the dawn in the east, stained with black smoke, and calmly uttered four words.

"The fireworks have been lit."