Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 585 Seize the opportunity
Seven hundred and fifty miles northwest of the royal capital, on the outskirts of the Great Bear Lake swamp area, in the Heron Forest.

The advance reconnaissance team named this area in the heart of the wilderness this way because of the extremely large population of water birds there.

The night was dark, and the dew soaked the already damp ground, making it even softer. Every step would sink to the instep, making the soldiers' marching speed extremely slow.

Benny gritted his teeth and pulled his legs out of the mud. He turned to look at the soldiers behind him, raised his hands and swung his arms forward, making a gesture to continue advancing.

The moonlight was almost completely blocked by the dense treetops above their heads, but they did not dare to use any lighting equipment at all - the reason was naturally because of the sound of flapping wings breaking through the wind that could be heard from time to time above their heads. It was the sound of sporadic winged creatures patrolling around at night.

The combat mission received by the Second Battalion was to set up a horizontal interception defense line within a distance of ten miles from the enemy's floating island, blocking the main exit of Great Bear Lake leading to the Glacier River. As long as the portable artillery and machine gun arrays were set up, at least when facing the enemy's ground attack, they would be able to seize the most advantageous situation.

But it is not as easy as imagined to build a line of defense under the noses of the demon lizardmen.

The alien enemies on Floating Island No. 3 are extremely active. They not only burn the coastal areas of the lake, but also open up the field of vision for several miles around the floating island, making it impossible to lurk and hide... The Winged Creatures even take on the task of air patrol, and their reconnaissance range exceeds ten miles.

Therefore, in order to avoid being exposed, the Second Battalion, as the advance team, had to completely abandon the assistance of the alchemy beasts and march on foot through the Heron Forest, carrying all ammunition supplies and military supplies purely by manpower.

Lower-level officers like Benny set an example by carrying a load of nearly 30 kilograms and walking at the front.

Looking at the slightly hunched figure of Battalion Commander Newman, Benny shook his head, reached out to untie an external ammunition belt from the backpack behind him, and hung it on his tactical belt.

The battalion commander relaxed his body and subconsciously turned to look at his young subordinate. He frowned slightly and showed a blaming expression, but did not scold him - the silent march strictly prohibited soldiers from making any sound other than movement, let alone speaking casually. Even the magical weapons in their hands needed to completely turn off the pre-fire mode to prevent the Winged Demon Lizardmen from sensing the magic fluctuations.

When it was just getting light, the team finally arrived at the designated location with great difficulty. After the commander gave the order to rest on the spot and prepare to set up the battle line, the soldiers who had been silent all night collapsed against the tree trunks, and suppressed gasps came one after another.

A new recruit who was lying next to Benny subconsciously touched his sore feet and was about to loosen the tight leg straps, but Benny brushed his arm away and stopped him with a serious expression.

Although military doctors have repeatedly mentioned this battlefield experience to soldiers, it is often only veterans who pay attention to it - untying the leggings immediately after a long-distance loaded march will cause severe soreness in the already congested legs, and in severe cases, the soldiers may even experience stress symptoms such as fainting.

Seeing that the silence had been lifted, Benny leaned over to the recruit's ear and whispered, "If you don't want your legs to be crippled, don't be stupid. Untie the bandages in a quarter of an hour!"

The recruit was so frightened that he was stunned. He quickly took out the water bottle from his waist and gulped down the special sugar and salt water.

……

Several parallel T-shaped trenches were quickly dug into shape under the vigorous swinging of the engineer shovel. When the sun completely rose to the top of the treetops, the sound of hurried marching footsteps was heard again from the rear.

It was the bloodline warriors of the special operations team who arrived late... Seeing these extraordinary people carrying huge ammunition boxes that were half a person's height on their backs, all the soldiers couldn't help but be amazed.

Just by looking at how deep the ammunition boxes sank into the ground, it was clear that the supplies must have weighed at least a hundred kilograms. Furthermore, the Bloodline Warriors also needed to carry heavy weapons like portable artillery. Despite departing nearly four hours after the advance battalion, they arrived less than two hours late. "Captain Wolfhead! What are the latest instructions from the rear ship command?"

Wolf Head took out the disassembled gun parts from the gun pouch at his waist and assembled them skillfully while saying in a deep voice, "Wait here. The airship squadron will arrive in two hours. We just need to wait for them to lure the enemy over. They will deal with the flying ones, and we will deal with the running ones on the ground."

Newman nodded and pointed at the unfolded tactical map. "This area around Hukou Pass is the only area where we have deployed our lines, which is easily accessible to large enemy forces. Concentrate our forces in trenches about a hundred meters apart. As long as our firepower is strong enough, I can guarantee that not a single enemy will pass through here."

After saying this, he raised his hand and pointed to a rocky slope half a mile to the left, frowning and reminding, "But there is also a mountain valley path here that can bypass the defense line and directly reach our rear. Do you think we should send people in advance..."

"Blow up the mountain stream entrance?" Wolf Head raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "That would be a huge undertaking. We don't have heavy explosives with us. Ammunition is precious. We can't waste it on something like blowing up a mountain."

He called over his deputy captain, Spider, and decisively ordered, "Send twenty special forces members over to guard the dangerous position of that mountain stream and block the entrance."

Spider nodded, turned around and prepared to go and call on people.

"Twenty extraordinary soldiers from the special forces can hold it? Captain... We only have five hundred soldiers, plus the fifty or so bloodline warriors you brought with you. The enemy is nearly ten thousand!"

The wolf head narrowed his eyes and waved his hand in comfort, "Don't worry, His Majesty customized the bolter for us. We brought it with us this time. Such a narrow mountain stream... Humph, even if they filled it with corpses, they wouldn't be able to squeeze in."

The low-ranking officers gathered around them all revealed envious expressions upon hearing this... The bolter, which was rumored to be still in the experimental development stage, had actually been used by the bloodline warriors in advance.

……

The Son of Fire and Commander Vaughn stood side by side on the bridge, looking at the dozens of airships ready to go on the river bank.

"The ammunition required for beam weapons also serves as the fuel necessary for airships. Regardless of the battle situation, we must consider the issue of safe return. Landing directly in the enemy's territory is a deadly option."

Not all the combat mages sent by the Federation this time are high-level and capable of flying independently. Once the airship is damaged in battle, the mages will definitely face the risk of forced landing and crashing, which is often absolutely fatal.

The Fire Mage chuckled and said calmly, "Colonel, what we've experienced in Blackrock City in the past was no easier than today. Spellcasters are not selfish and don't care about their lives. Casualties on the battlefield are normal. In this respect, we are no different from ordinary soldiers."

Vaughn glanced at Fell in surprise and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty does treat spellcasters and ordinary soldiers equally, but I still hope that while ensuring the completion of your mission, you will also consider your own safety..."

He paused, remembering Harvey's earnest instructions, and added, "Especially you, Mr. Fell... His Majesty personally instructed me to repeatedly remind you... not to... uh, get carried away during an extremely intense battle!"

(End of this chapter)