Magic Industrial Age.

Chapter 424-422: Trench Warfare (Please Subscribe)

In the days that followed, the empire began a massive withdrawal.

Of course, it wasn't a complete retreat; rather, it started with the Third and Fourth Army Groups, and then moved on to the Fifth and Sixth Army Groups.

They gradually retreated, avoiding the main battlefield.

Finally, there were the First and Second Armies on the Marne front.

Although they suffered heavy losses, they fought with real intensity and were actually unwilling to retreat. After all, the city of Luttia was right in front of them, and they were somewhat reluctant to withdraw.

However, Imperial Marshal Moltke the Younger sent a special envoy with his personal letter, and after reading it, both army group commanders made the same choice.

They began to retreat in an orderly manner to the northeast, prioritizing the wounded, followed by infantry, artillery, and the vanguard.

After most of the legions have withdrawn, the rearguard legions will withdraw, followed by the fourth-tier Cataclysmic Battlefield, where legendary powerhouses will cease fighting.

And it seems that outside the prime material plane, in that vast starry sky, there were even more powerful beings confronting each other, but they all retreated.

This also foreshadowed the end of the Battle of the Marne, the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, and the failure of Bonaparte's plan to quickly destroy the empire.

Of course, the empire's withdrawal did not represent defeat, nor did it mean giving up the land it had already occupied.

The six army groups retreated by fifty to over a hundred miles to find suitable locations to build continuous defensive fortifications in preparation for the upcoming war.

Ultimately, this can only be considered a strategic retreat.

As for the allied forces, they did almost nothing: no pursuit, no expansion of their gains, and not even any extra moves!

Although the empire withdrew from this war, its strength remained intact!
While the coalition forces may appear to be still in the same place, they have truly brought out everything they could and should have.

Many actions were taken, such as summoning the Abyss Legion, the Infernal Demons, and even the Church of the Sun God personally intervening.

These can't even be described as fouls; they've completely lost all sense of shame.

This means that the dispute involves the ruling system and religious beliefs. If it were among the nobility, the mere verbal attacks would be enough to make them withdraw into seclusion.

Therefore, after the empire took the initiative to retreat, they were truly unable to pursue them.

Even many within the coalition forces were skeptical of this 'victory,' finding it hard to believe.
They called it a 'miracle'!
The Miracle of the Marne!
Of course, historians record this battle as the Battle of the Marne!

It is worth mentioning that, just as the red dragon Virgil said, this battle did indeed spread throughout the worlds.

Inner planes, outer planes, elemental planes, astral planes...

Those planes connected to the Herka world have all heard of this magnificent yet tragic war to varying degrees.

Meanwhile, the memory stones specially cut by the Magic Eye Alliance became popular in various worlds, becoming best-selling products and bringing enormous wealth to the alliance.

In response, the Magic Eye Alliance has announced that it will add 24 more near-orbit Magic Eyes and send them into their designated orbits.

And to continue broadcasting this war live!

Roy had no way of knowing about these things; they all came from the Red Dragon Virgil.

Luo Yi could see the envious, jealous, and hateful look in the old man's eyes when he talked about his enormous wealth; it was truly chilling.

It is worth mentioning that after this battle, both the Empire and the Allied Forces began digging trenches at a frantic pace.

It's funny, but in previous wars, although defensive fortifications were built, they were mostly built on top of each other.

For example, there aren't many bunkers, city walls, barbicans, or diamond-shaped forts, and there aren't many horse traps.

However, once magic cannons and firearms became widespread, the exposed defensive fortifications on the ground became sitting ducks.

Even the best-defended Lingbao could not withstand the relentless bombardment of the fifth-generation magic cannon.

So, if we can't go up, we have to dig down!
Then, digging trenches became a daily routine. The winding trenches spread across the land, effectively protecting against artillery fire and the shockwaves from explosions.

At the same time, these layers of trenches were also quite unfriendly to the charging of warhorses.

Some Warcraft mounts might be able to rely on their amazing agility and it wouldn't matter, but most mounts would get stuck in it.

This type of defensive fortification was first adopted by the Empire, and then the Alliance also learned it.

Thus, on the intertwined defensive lines, both sides dug their own trenches.

Then, fearing that the enemy would launch a flanking attack, they began to advance northwest at a distance.

That posture, as if they were digging trenches all the way to the edge of the silver sea, looks a bit funny, but that's reality!
Thus, this tactic was given the same new name by both sides' military staffs—trench warfare! Of course, for the Empire, digging trenches was only one aspect; their more important task was actually road construction.

The General Staff carefully analyzed the reasons for the previous defeats in the war and concluded that the poor transportation of the Bonaparte Empire was the biggest constraint on the supply lines.

Now that the problem was known, the solution was to solve it. Therefore, the Imperial Military submitted a proposal, which was discussed and approved by the Imperial Cabinet, and preparations were made to build two railways.

One route runs from the northwest of the empire, across the Kingdom of Caroline, and directly into the territory of the Bonaparte Empire.

The other route runs from the southwest of the empire, through the province of Alsace, and directly into the occupied territory.

These two points are the main points. As for specific locations, different locations can be selected to build stops and branch railways.

It gives the impression of a forked tree branch.

The person who proposed this plan was none other than Baron Miller.

The reason Roy found out so quickly was because of Baron Miller's letter.

In fact, it was Deep Blue who helped Luo Yi calculate the locations of these two railways.

Of course, unlike the projects Baron Miller had handled before, this was an imperial project, driven by wartime needs, so cost and quality had to take a backseat.

There's only one requirement: speed! Speed! Speed!
To speed things up, Loy divided each railway line into four sections, allowing for the selection of different railway companies for separate construction.

As long as we follow the design and complete the final connection, we can greatly improve the construction speed.

As for funding, the Empire increased the amount by 50% after calculating the project costs, requiring each railway company to be fast, professional, and bold enough!

Building railways on the front lines is not necessarily a good job; you never know when you might encounter an enemy that appears out of nowhere.

Well, when Luo Yi offered this plan, she definitely didn't expect it would cause her so much trouble.

Yes, when the Empire was selecting a railway company, it chose the Northern Railway Company, which was under the control of Reifitz.

Because of his close relationship with Baron Miller, the Northern Railway Company has almost become his personal company.

Whenever there were difficulties, obstacles, or local nobles causing trouble, it was always the Northern Railway Company that stepped up.

In terms of experience, they have accumulated quite a bit, undertaken many projects, and have a highly skilled railway construction and maintenance team.

Most notably, Luo Yi has always emphasized talent cultivation. As a result, the railway company has a complete teaching process that combines practice and theory, attracting many relevant talents.

The Imperial Cabinet should be considered a reward; they gave the Northern Railway Company a spot, and they didn't even need to participate in the subsequent planning bidding meeting.

For the Imperial Project, making money is secondary; the main thing is the reputation!
Once the Northern Railway Company completes this mission, it will be considered to have firmly established itself as one of the Empire's top railway engineering teams.

The increase in value is obvious; going forward, using this name to secure jobs will bring significant advantages.

To be honest, it was well-intentioned, but Luo Yi was really troubled!

He really didn't want this opportunity; he already had enough to deal with and was already quite bothered by the flowers he received.

The problem is that you have to accept the empire's mission, and you also have to accept the empire's goodwill.

In the end, Loy had no choice but to bring Maruna back through the portal to Oakland City to take charge of the task.

He wouldn't feel comfortable with an imperial project without someone of high status and position in charge.

For this reason, Loy also sent out Iron Knight Phil, a fourth-tier Calamity Guardian, for his safety.

Maruna found this all quite novel. One day, he was actually escorted by a fourth-tier Calamity Guardian when he went out, something he never dared to imagine before!
Of course, besides railways, the Empire also had plans to build highways, but those were not Miller's responsibility, and Lloyd had no interest in knowing about them.

As the war progressed into the trench-building phase, although artillery bombardment continued from time to time, the intensity of the war decreased at a visible rate.

Magic Mirror Live has lost its previous appeal.

This is ultimately a live broadcast, not a movie; it hasn't been edited and lacks a complete narrative.

While things may seem exciting at first glance, the underlying logic and process of events must be discovered and analyzed by oneself.

It's like Roy and Virgil the Red Dragon staring at the magic mirror every day, but the cause, process, and turning point of the entire war cannot be seen from the mirror's scattered perspective.

Rather, it was deduced by Luo Yi using the information she collected and Deep Blue.

In any case, as the intensity of the war subsided, Roy finally had time to refocus her attention on the construction and business of Flower Territory.

　Work done!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)