How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Never before in the history of warfare had destruction been so indiscriminate and so universal. (1.11.35)
On one hand, we could see this observation as a statement of the truth: the Martians have new weapons and they're unconstrained by the rules of war, so this may be the worst war ever. On the other hand, we could note that war has a long history of being pretty indiscriminate. To take one example, if you asked the people of Atlanta, after it was burned in the American Civil War, if war is indiscriminate, they would probably say yes. Maybe what the narrator is responding to here is partly the fact that England hasn't been touched by war in a long time. In other words, war seems worse when it's on your doorstep. Or we could invert that: as long as it's far away, you can pretend that war isn't so bad.
Quote #5
Every minute a fresh gun came into position until, before twilight, every copse, every row of suburban villas on the hilly slopes about Kingston and Richmond, masked an expectant black muzzle. (1.13.2)
The British military is doing a lot of work, turning the peaceful countryside into a series of fortifications. We do like that repetition of "every," which makes it sound very impressive. But as we'll soon see, it's not going to be worth much. All of those guns will be destroyed by Martian Heat-Rays and Black Smoke.
Quote #6
And the touch of that vapour, the inhaling of its pungent wisps, was death to all that breathes. (1.15.22)
Those guns the British are scattering around (almost like seeds) aren't going to be very useful because the Martians have brought even bigger, badder weapons. This is the nature of asymmetric warfare – one side is clearly playing a different game than the other side. Their weapons are so different that they're mismatched.