Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 100 New Spells and the Legend of the Fastest Iron Man

"boom!"

Commander Haig slammed his fist hard on the map table, making the wooden unit cards on it jump.

"Cowards! A bunch of cowards!"

He roared in the operations room, and the staff around him could only shrink back.

"So what if a few mages died? They're so scared they're hiding in the city, not even daring to show their faces!"

However, Haig's complaints did not change anything.

In the end, he could only accept reality and then solve the problem using the army's own methods.

Hague first urgently redeployed more blocking troops from the area around Madrid to the southeastern front.

He also ordered troops scattered in other areas to immediately converge on Madrid in an attempt to encircle the advancing Saxon Expeditionary Force 2nd Corps.

However, not long after his order was issued, one bad news after another followed.

Reports came in one after another from the troops that had received orders to move toward Madrid in an attempt to outflank the Saxons.

They claimed that a large number of National Army and International Brigades armed personnel suddenly appeared on their marching route.

These people seemed to have grown out of the ground; although their weapons and equipment were rudimentary and they had no artillery support, they fought with fearlessness and valor.

At the same time, they seem to have no intention of engaging in direct combat with our side.

Instead, they split into countless small units, constantly harassing the Britannian supply lines and marching columns.

These small units would never engage in direct confrontation with the Brittany Expeditionary Force or the Kingdom's army.

They would fight and run away, then come back again.
Like a swarm of annoying flies, they greatly delayed the assembly speed of the Brittany forces.

As a veteran who had participated in the Second Boer War and served as Sir John French's chief of staff.

After listening to these reports, Douglas Haig suddenly felt that some long-dead memories began to attack him fiercely.

"Damn guerrillas!" he cursed through gritted teeth.

At the same time, even worse news arrived.

The 1st Corps of the Saxon Expeditionary Force also successfully tore a huge gap in the middle of the front line.

They are advancing rapidly from the center of the front line toward the 2nd Army at an astonishing pace.

If no action is taken to stop it, the two Saxon armies will meet outside Madrid.
Haig immediately realized that the Saxons might want to concentrate their superior forces and launch a full-scale attack on Madrid!
"Madmen! All Saxons are madmen!"

Haig looked at the two huge arrows his staff had drawn on the map, converging towards Madrid, and beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

But he had to admit that the Saxon expeditionary force had timed its attack very well.

At this point, the troops that came from Brittany were finally able to be deployed to various fronts to stabilize the situation.

The second batch of reinforcements is still on the ship, and the advance team has just disembarked at the port; it will take even longer to reach Madrid.
And even if they arrive, it might not change anything.

Because the Saxons could use the railway to quickly transport more troops into the Kingdom of Aragon.

As long as the Saxons are willing to reinforce their troops, they can maintain a numerical advantage for a certain period of time, thereby gaining the initiative.
In the following days, Morin, as a participant in the campaign, personally experienced General Mackensen's radical, sharp, and even somewhat unreasonable command style.

The entire Saxon expeditionary force, like a war machine wound up, steadily advanced toward Madrid at a rate of about ten kilometers per day.

The hastily organized defensive forces of the Kingdom and the Britannians often arrived at their designated defensive areas before they had even dug their fortifications.

The next morning, they would be met with a devastating, overwhelming attack from the Saxons.

Under General Mackensen's command, the entire front came alive.

The original standoff between the two sides, with their large troop deployments, was replaced by extensive maneuvering and infiltration—just as this old general did on the Eastern Front in another world.

The two armies leading the main attack were like a giant pair of pincers, clamping down hard on Madrid.

This kind of high-intensity mobile warfare
Hehe~ I just stumbled into Morin's comfort zone.

The infantry tactics that belonged to another time and space in his mind were finally put to maximum use.

Under his leadership, the 32nd Tsvika Infantry Regiment, especially the 1st Company under his command, was completely transformed into a sharp blade that could tear apart the enemy's defenses.

Those Royal Army soldiers or Britannians who were retreating in panic under the attack ran headlong into Morin and his 1st Company while 'attacking backward'.

They thought there was a safe retreat route behind them.

Unexpectedly, the soldiers of the 1st Company had already used entrenching tools and explosives that Morin had obtained from the supply depot to quickly build a temporary blocking position on their only route.

The idea of ​​attacking from behind, once a joke, has become a reality.
However, when these retreating soldiers were forced to launch an attack, they discovered that the firepower density of this position, which only had one company of soldiers, far exceeded their expectations.

Using horses for transport to keep up with the speed of the four MG08s and two captured Vickers became their nightmare.

Urged on by the officers, the soldiers who charged at the front were swept away in an instant, as if they had run into an invisible wall.

The following troops wanted to disperse and outflank the enemy, but they found that the 1st Company's firing positions were arranged in an extremely tricky way.

If they try to attack this position from any direction, they will be met with at least two heavy machine guns.
Ultimately, these intercepted troops usually collapse completely after leaving behind a large number of corpses.

They were then easily surrounded and disarmed by the main Saxon force that followed up.

Similar battles continued to unfold over the next few days.

Morin's 1st Company was like a pack of tireless hunting dogs, always appearing in the most unexpected places for the enemy. Crown Prince George and General Mackensen, witnessing the 1st Company's astonishing achievements, realized that they had underestimated Morin's frontline command abilities.

The Crown Prince further affirmed General Mackensen's decision to leave Morin at the front.
This kid is really good at fighting.

It's just a company now, but what if he really trains a battalion, or even more troops in the future?

The Emperor focused his efforts on the navy and supported Marshal Tirpitz in building the High Seas Fleet.

So, is that me?
The crown prince dared not think any further; he feared he wouldn't be able to sleep that night.

Therefore, under the Crown Prince's instructions, the military supplies for this elite force were unprecedentedly generous.

There have been casualties? Prioritize replenishing the ranks with soldiers.

Ammunition being used up too quickly? Bring two more truckloads of ammunition up!

In short, the goal is to use this one point to influence the entire battlefront!
With such unreserved support, the combat effectiveness of the 1st Company, the 1st Battalion, and eventually the entire 32nd Regiment did not decline due to continuous combat; on the contrary, it became even stronger.

The veterans honed their skills in battle, becoming even more elite, while the newly recruited soldiers also grew rapidly in this atmosphere.

Soon after, a merit application drafted by the 32nd Regiment headquarters and personally signed by the commander of the 8th Division was sent to the rear command.

The main subject of this report is, of course, Morin and his 1st Company.

With this series of brilliant achievements, Lieutenant Friedrich Morin became the fastest soldier in the Saxon Army to earn the Iron Cross First Class after the Sagau War.

His company even began wholesaling Level 1 Iron Crosses.

Although these medals would not be redeemed until after the battle, they were enough to keep the soldiers of the 1st Company in high spirits.

Aside from marching and commanding battles, Morin devoted almost all of his rest time to learning new spells.

To outsiders, this young company commander always seemed to be sitting in his tent in a daze or sleeping soundly whenever he had free time, as if he could never get enough sleep.

But in reality, his consciousness had already been locked in a room from which he could not escape unless he studied.

On the seventh day after the start of the 'Mackenson Offensive', Morin finally succeeded in recording two brand-new spells into 'My Spellbook'.

[First-Circle Spell - Sleep] - Puts some creatures into a magical sleep.

[Second Ring Spell - Invisibility] - A creature you touch becomes invisible and remains so until the spell ends. If the target attacks or casts a spell, the spell ends.

Upon seeing the two newly appeared icons in the spellbook, a bold idea immediately popped into Morin's mind.

He stood up, stepped out of the tent, and glanced at the bright moon on the horizon.

"Perhaps... we can start trying night raids," he muttered to himself.

The night is dark and everything is silent.

Behind a gentle slope covered by bushes, Morin moved forward alone, silently.

Less than 300 meters away from him was a temporary encampment for the Kingdom's army.

Morin and his team had been following this group for a long time. They had been driven back and had spent most of the day retreating, so they were now exhausted.

Morin lay prone in a depression, carefully observed for a moment, and after confirming the sentry's location and patrol route, he cast a spell.

Second Ring Spell - Invisibility

A strange feeling enveloped his entire body. He looked down and found that his body was becoming transparent, eventually merging completely into the night.

The entire process lasted only a brief moment, without making any sound or producing any light.

The duration is one minute.

Morin silently recited the mantra, and then, like a ghost, he slithered swiftly along the ground toward the enemy's position.

The night wind blew, the grass and trees swayed, and no one noticed an invisible figure rapidly approaching the position.

He quickly found himself less than five meters behind the nearest sentry.

The sentry stood listlessly atop the trench, humming an unknown tune to keep himself awake.

Instead of taking immediate action, Morin continued to stealthily confirm the positions of the three nearby sentries.

He slowly extended his hand, his palm aimed at the three unsuspecting sentries.

[First-Circle Spell - Sleep]

An invisible wave spread out with him as the center.

The three sentries yawned almost simultaneously, then, seemingly forgetting their duties, found a comfortable spot on the ground and fell soundly asleep.

There was even a hint of peace on his face.

get it~
Morin glanced at the sentries on the other side of the camp, and after confirming that they were not looking in this direction, he made no sound and quietly retreated.
Not long after, he returned to the area with his commando team.

"Proceed according to plan, keep a low profile."

Morin gave the order in a low voice.

The assault team members immediately understood and took out their sharpened entrenching tools from behind their backs.

Morin's eyes widened immediately.

Are you guys serious? Using an entrenching tool to assassinate a stealth fighter? Are you trying to make it this gory?
(End of this chapter)