Magic Industrial Age.

Chapter 419-417: The Marne Meat Grinder (Please Subscribe)
Marne River,
The Bonaparte Empire, a river several dozen miles outside the city of Luttia, flowing east to west.

The river channel is not wide, about twenty meters wide; the riverbed is not deep, at most three or four meters deep; the water is not rapid, flowing quietly, as if the years are forever peaceful.

But it was this very river that separated the empire from the allied forces.

The Imperial Legion is stationed in the north, with trenches, bunkers, machine guns, and cannons...

We have everything!

Meanwhile, the Allied forces gathered in the south and, in order to defend against artillery fire, also dug trenches and tunnels.

They even dug deeper and longer than the empire itself.

There was no other way; they were the ones being bombed, so of course they had to be prepared.

The unit stationed here is a division of the Allied forces, numbering ten thousand, and equipped with a mage regiment of fifty men.

Such a group of mages is actually not very strong.

Although the leader was a third-tier transcendent, there were not many second-tier mages; most were mage apprentices who only knew a few tricks.

However, the situation changed when the coalition forces equipped them with magic cannons.

These mages are not lacking in magic, intelligence, or knowledge; they figured it out as they went along.

Thus, even across the Marne River, they were not simply being attacked, but had the means to retaliate.

The battles here, at the beginning, were similar to those in other places.

The Empire, with its superior weaponry, used magic cannons to suppress the enemy, first clearing out the enemy's territory before sending Imperial soldiers to seize it.

However, with the addition of a river, crossing the river is not easy for the Empire. The wooden bridges that have been built are easily damaged, and the small boats that have been prepared are even more inconvenient.

The allied forces put up equally fierce resistance, and the two sides fought back and forth repeatedly here!

There are countless examples like this on the long front, so many that there's not much to say about them.

But at some point, this place began to receive attention from the empire.

The Bonaparte Empire also sent a mage contingent, led by three extraordinary mages and composed of twenty second-tier mages.

However, they were not the mechanical mages carefully trained by the Empire, but rather traditional elementalists.

That's right, the Empire is heavily investing in magical machinery, but that doesn't mean there are no traditional mages left.

These people in front of me used a ritual to unleash the natural disaster spell 'Frozen Three Feet'.

Yes, in the sweltering heat of September, they actually managed to freeze the Marne River.

Moreover, even when the ice is frozen solid, one can still run wildly at will.

At this point, the Marne River was no longer an obstacle, and Imperial soldiers, under the cover of artillery fire, charged across the ice.

Soldiers with machine guns provided suppression, while other soldiers fired indiscriminately, clearing the way forward.

We were so close to taking this position.

But at this critical moment, the allied forces' reinforcements arrived—the Knights, the armored rhinoceros knights who had never shown their faces before.

Decades ago, the Bonaparte Empire and the Habsburg Empire clashed and fought to a draw, with both sides being evenly matched.

But once we get back, we'll have to study them and come up with appropriate solutions.

And this armored rhinoceros knight is one of their carefully cultivated trump cards.

Most mounts cannot withstand heavy machine gun fire; the bullets have too much penetrating power and a long enough range. During the charge, they will be riddled with bullets!

But this armored rhinoceros can't!

The rhinoceros, though resembling a cow, possesses immense strength and is covered in a suit of hard hide resembling armor.

Yes, it's not scales, just a hard skin, somewhat similar to a keratin membrane, which provides amazing protection once it grows.

In addition, armored rhinoceroses also like to wallow in mud, where the thick layer of mud dries on their bodies, forming another layer of armor.

Although it doesn't seem very clean, it's just that it's strong enough.

And that doesn't even include the Ironclad Rhino's innate magic, Ironclad Body.

It can be said that this armor has been layered to a certain extent that unless it is bombarded head-on by a large-caliber magic cannon, ordinary bullets or fragmentation impacts will have no effect on it.

Moreover, this monster is quite violent. When it gets angry, it doesn't care about anything and likes to charge and kill its enemies with its horns.

Of course, because they are so irritable, they are actually very difficult to tame.

Achieving true control is not easy, and while these monsters are good at short-distance sprints, they are less effective at long-distance raids.
Therefore, it is not suitable as a knight's mount!
The Bonaparte Empire, however, managed to tame a group of them and then deployed them to the battlefield.

And as it turns out, their investment was worthwhile.

When these one-ton monsters roam freely on the battlefield, the Imperial soldiers' firearms become useless.

The bullets struck the armored rhinoceros, making a series of clanging sounds before bouncing off.

Even specialized armor-piercing bullets can only break through the outermost magical defenses at most, leaving shallow marks on the thick mud armor.

The charge, horn gore, and trampling of the armored rhinoceros are not something ordinary soldiers can withstand.

A victory turned into a massacre in an instant!

They pursued the enemy all the way from south of the Marne River to north of the Marne River, breaking through the empire's defenses and even penetrating the artillery positions in the rear.

In such a short period of time, it has caused thousands of huge casualties!
Just then, imperial reinforcements arrived, two divisions in total. However, facing the crazed armored rhinoceroses, they were somewhat helpless. But then, a buzzing sound filled the air; the imperial air legion had arrived.

Leading the charge was none other than the fiery and blood-red Baron, which roared and tore through the battlefield.

The bomb he dropped precisely targeted an armored rhinoceros.

The next second, a huge roar resounded, and billowing smoke filled the air. The armored rhinoceros that had been slaughtering indiscriminately died without even a groan.

Immediately afterwards, more magical flying vehicles dropped bombs.

They certainly didn't have the Red Baron's accuracy, but they had enough numbers to make up for it!
This barrage of attacks was incredibly destructive and left the group of armored rhinoceros knights completely stunned!

However, wherever there is the Imperial Flying Legion, there will inevitably be the Allied Sky Knights.

The Wyvern Knights were already a depleted force, but they were unwilling to miss a single aerial battle.

The Griffin Knights were also not at full strength, but they had already developed a good working relationship with the Wyvern Knights.

In addition, there is the Eagle Knights.

They rode Lamia eagles with wingspans of ten meters and body lengths exceeding eight meters, renowned for their ferocity and intelligence, and also wielding wind magic.

They can unleash wind blades, killing enemies from tens or hundreds of meters away.

The intervention of these Sky Knights directly led to a fierce battle with the magic-powered flying machines, resulting in equally devastating clashes.

On the ground, the imperial soldiers also seized the opportunity to fight back.

Strong soldiers charged forward carrying rocket launchers, or used grenades at close range, which could also cause some damage.

The two sides fought fiercely, and more and more people died!
In the end, it was the Imperial Mage Corps that prevailed.

They directly melted the ice on the Marne River, allowing the river to flow again.

The Allied soldiers who rushed over were dumbfounded. Their retreat was cut off, and they instinctively began to panic and feel fear.

On the battlefield, whenever fear takes hold of one's mind, morale will be greatly affected, and one will be unable to exert their original strength.

However, just when it seemed the allied forces were about to be slaughtered, the mages on the south bank also made their move.

They manipulated the earth, erecting a stone bridge that gave the allied forces and the armored rhinoceros riders a chance to retreat.

This battle has now come to an end. Both sides can rest, eat and drink, treat the wounded, and recover their strength...

But this peace did not last long; in the early hours of the morning, the empire launched another artillery barrage.

The roar seemed to fill the world, and the barrage of shells plowed the position again and again.

Immediately afterwards, flares exploded in the sky, and under the flashing red light, the figures of Imperial soldiers charged forward.

They launched a night raid!
Because the armored rhinoceros suffers from night blindness and cannot see the road clearly at night.

Furthermore, due to poor visibility at night, the Allied Air Knights were rendered useless, and of course, the Empire's Flying Legion was also unable to fight.

At this point, the quality of the soldiers on both sides comes into play, and in this respect, the Empire is undoubtedly much stronger.

They had once completely occupied the position, but then the Allied forces caused another problem.

A fourth-tier necromancer actually entered the battlefield and opened a legendary scroll.

Then, countless corpses rose up, brandishing their weapons, ready to kill the enemy before them.

There are even rifts torn open in the void, leading to a world full of bones.

Countless skeletal warriors, under the command of a crowned bone dragon, passed through the rift and came to the human world.

This is the most classic and legendary spell of the necromancer: the Undead Scourge!

This time, however, it was a battle of bullets and undead warriors.

One sparked a metal storm, while the other, being an inanimate object, wasn't afraid of dying again.

Their fighting depended more on the number of bullets available, and eventually the Imperial soldiers had to retreat.

A gun without bullets is really no better than a fire poker!
However, this time, things are different.

The Church of the Seven Gods dispatched enough priests to fight, and their divine magic and evil strikes were even more effective.

The Scourge is known for its sheer numbers; those endless skeletons are truly terrifying.

However, when the holy light swept across, even the largest legion of skeletons was suppressed.

This night raid has come to an end.

However, the fighting around the Marne River was far from over, with both the Allied forces and the Empire continuously reinforcing their troops there.

Time and time again, each time more than the last.

On this battlefield, the survival time of ordinary soldiers is less than a day.

Such fierce fighting eventually earned this place a new nickname.

Both the Imperial General Staff and the Allied Forward Command acknowledged one name: the Marne Meat Grinder!

But you think that's all?
Wrong, wrong, wrong! In fact, this is just the beginning!
Until the allied forces suffered another defeat, they resorted to drastic measures.

They held a grand sacrificial ceremony, summoning an abyssal fire demon, which escalated the battle to a new level.

　The crocodile has grown bigger; time to sleep!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)