Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 674 Head-to-head confrontation
"Boss! We got too close and almost blew up our own trenches..." The messenger jogged up to Lynx and reported with a hint of lingering fear.

Lying half-reclined on a stretcher, being carried around the artillery position, Lynx pouted impatiently and said, "Almost hit? That means it didn't hit! Isn't this also to help them suppress the enemy that has already approached the defensive line?"

Of course, these words could only be spoken privately. The mess that occurred on the artillery position tonight made Lynx realize that he was in the wrong. When faced with the questioning from the front-line combat units, he was no longer as arrogant as before. "Adjust the firing angle, advance fifty meters to the previous firing range, and fire ten rounds in succession!"

"Yes! Battalion Commander!"

"How did you manage to hit the enemy from a distance of one mile without directly observing the battlefield?" Dawson asked with a smile, standing beside Lynx's stretcher and seizing the opportunity when Lynx was directing the operation.

After rescuing the lynx, he stayed by the side of this ordinary officer who insisted on commanding the battle despite losing a leg, observing his actions of leading the artillery to meet the enemy under the guise of supervising the battle.

Lynx had no temper with this eccentric chief. Not to mention the other party's noble status, the fact that he had just saved his life not long ago was enough for him to grant any request.

"It's calculation, Your Excellency. His Majesty has developed a complete set of firing tables. We only need to know the distance between the bombing target and ourselves, and then adjust the angle and fire according to the existing firing range..."

This is not much different from the Southern nobles' use of catapults and crossbows during sieges... Combining ordinary arithmetic with the application of magical weapons is a classic move of His Majesty Harvey.

As the two were talking, the cannons, after a brief pause, roared again, the tremendous rumble causing the ground to tremble.

"Battalion Commander! A large number of jet worms have been detected on the central section of the left flank. The front is requesting targeted bombardment!"

"Understood. Deploy five heavy artillery pieces as reinforcements... Have them report the area coordinates."

Dawson narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "The nearest trench is less than 300 meters in front of the third defensive section on the left flank, it's practically right up to our faces..."

Lynx's expression froze for a moment, then he immediately waved his hand to order artillery reinforcements. Only after the messenger hurriedly left did he come to his senses and stammer, "How did the Chief know about the attack on the left flank? Weren't you also in the rear positions like us? Is it some kind of magical prophecy?"

Although the legendary mage appeared approachable, the lynx, being an ordinary mortal, still felt a sense of fear when it came to mysterious and enigmatic matters like the supernatural.

"Prophecy magic is useless; at least it can't predict that we'll be attacked tonight... Heh, I used reconnaissance magic to place a pair of eyes on the early warning defense line."

Lynx then suddenly remembered that many of his comrades who had encountered aerial combat mages had mentioned to him that the main way those combat spellcasters routinely patrolled their airships to scan and detect areas and gather intelligence on targets was by using magical reconnaissance magic!

The caster only needs to stay inside the airship a few hundred meters above the ground, but can still scan an area of ​​several miles with the help of the mage's eye, which is much more efficient than ordinary scouts using binoculars.

Looking at the Chief's smiling face, Lynx couldn't help but have a slightly bold idea pop into his head—it would be wonderful if the Independent Artillery Regiment could be equipped with a group of battle mages capable of using Reconnaissance Eyes to assist them in their daily operations. ...

Meanwhile, the Lizardmen, who had been locked in a stalemate with the Northern Army on the front lines for a long time, finally managed to find a relatively weaker breakthrough on the left flank of the early warning line by using "human wave tactics" and flanking attacks.

The winged beings ceased to fear the beam weapon attacks and took to the air, unleashing crystal spears and red lightning at the soldiers holding the line, all to buy enough time for the ground troops to advance.

These alien creatures with long, twisted limbs charged at an extremely fast speed. They emerged from the ice trench more than a thousand meters away and then approached the early warning line within three hundred meters in the blink of an eye. If it were daytime, their charge would be nothing more than a sitting duck to the machine gun squads responsible for suppressing fire. However, in the dim light of night, achieving such high kill efficiency would be a stretch.

Benny, who rushed to reinforce the left flank, also keenly noticed that whenever machine gun bullets were about to hit an area of ​​enemies, they would immediately shrink their huge crystal shields to just cover their heads and faces, and then lie flat on the ground. As long as their reaction speed was fast enough, they could effectively avoid the machine gun barrage.

"These damned aliens have actually learned to mimic our standard combat maneuvers!"

Benny peeked out of the trench, using his magic gun to precisely mow down the enemies crawling through the snow, all the while cursing through gritted teeth.

Fortunately, several bomber airships flew overhead at that moment, silently dropping a string of bombs that ignited a group of enemies along with the weapon canisters they were carrying. The towering flames even spread into the ice trenches they had dug.

Another wave of crystal spikes came, and two soldiers who had exposed themselves outside the barrier and were bending over to operate the machine gun and fire fiercely were immediately injured and rolled off their firing positions with a thud.

Benny slung his rifle over his shoulder, rushed forward to take over one of the positions, and looked at the tattered protective plate in front of him, which had been struck countless times by red lightning. He could only silently pray that his luck wouldn't be too bad and that those indiscriminately sprayed crystal spikes wouldn't land on his head.

Seeing him personally take over the machine gun operation, a young-looking recruit immediately rushed out from the nearby cover, picked up the heavy ammunition belt in his hands, and began to assist in loading the ammunition... Although his legs were shaking like a leaf, his hands operated the machine gun quickly and smoothly according to the prescribed movements.

It's strange, really. It was just one or two junior officers who led the charge without fear of death. Under the instructor's loud shouts, the soldiers who had been beaten down by the enemy were able to muster their courage again and spontaneously rushed out of their bunkers to continue fighting. The front line, which was just on the verge of collapse, was instantly united again.

Caught in this indescribable atmosphere, many people fired back while uncontrollably shouting, as if venting their anger through words could completely dispel the fear of death.

"Sir! Loading complete!"

Benny took a deep breath and, with the help of his soldiers, quickly turned the firing winch to a horizontal firing angle—then he pulled the trigger without hesitation, unleashing a dense hail of bullets at the rapidly approaching enemy more than a hundred meters away.

The explosions that rang out from time to time overhead and in their ears made it impossible to distinguish whether they came from the enemy or their own side. It seemed that the bombardment of heavy artillery and the hum of the airship's light-speed weapons had completely merged into one...

(End of this chapter)