Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 12 The machine gun fired.
When the red icon, accompanied by a line of cold text, popped up on Morin's map, he felt his heart skip a beat.

The thing I feared most has finally happened.

The Britannians apparently provided weapons support to the 'Kingdom Army,' which in turn deployed machine gun positions in this village on the outskirts of Seville!
"Da da da da da da-!"

A burst of rapid, piercing gunfire rang out on the battlefield like the Grim Reaper's chainsaw.

Through the bushes, Morin witnessed a scene he would never forget.

The skirmisher line at the forefront of the 1st Company, which was advancing, seemed to be swept away by an invisible giant scythe.

From left to right, soldiers fell one after another. Their fragile flesh and blood were no different from wheat being cut down in the face of the dense hail of bullets.

The bullets, moving at speeds too fast for the naked eye to see, drew trails of death in the ranks.

With just one machine gun, in less than ten seconds, an entire platoon at the forefront of the 1st Company was wiped out from the battlefield.

The gray attack queue, which had just seemed invincible, collapsed instantly.

The surviving soldiers screamed in terror, lying on the ground, too afraid to move, completely ignoring the officers' desperate shouts to stop them.

But the Vickers machine gun did not stop firing.

The shooter calmly adjusted his gun, extending the deadly hail of bullets towards the second and third skirmish lines of the 1st Company.

Even the 2nd Company, which was lined up in a dense column at the rear and had not yet been engaged in battle, became its target.

In dense formations, the machine gun's lethality was maximized.

Each bullet seems to find its own destiny.

The previously confident company commander, Hauser, now stood frozen in place, his smile completely gone, replaced by a deathly pallor.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

This reaction did not surprise Morin, because he knew that the Saxon army was now just like the armies of other European countries before World War I.

They had not yet realized the terrifying nature of machine guns, believing them to be cumbersome weapons only suitable for defense.

This is why the entire 33rd Infantry Regiment only has one machine gun company equipped with eight MG08 heavy machine guns, and it hasn't even reached the front lines yet.
The attack of the 1st Company has been completely crushed.

The surviving soldiers lay on the ground, clutching their heads tightly, too afraid to move.

Anyone who tries to stand up to fight back or retreat will be immediately caught by the fire whip and beaten into a mangled corpse.

The 2nd Company following behind was also thrown into great chaos.

The officer in charge was blowing his whistle frantically, trying to get the troops to scatter or lie down, but the soldiers' discipline was rapidly crumbling under the machine gun fire.

The 2nd Company, which was originally supposed to maintain a tight formation, was crammed together and lost its footing, making them the perfect target for that machine gun.

Bullets rained down on the dense crowd, each shot taking several lives.

While everyone else was stunned by the horrific scene before them, Morin's mind was racing, his gaze fixed on the mini-map in the upper left corner.

In front of the red diamond-shaped icon representing the Vickers machine gun position, a fan-shaped red area representing its field of fire covers the entire front of the attack.

The soldier cards of the 1st and 2nd companies are located exactly within this fan-shaped area.

After confirming the approximate location, Morin took out the binoculars issued to the officers from the binocular case and looked in the direction marked on the map.

Sure enough, behind a window on the second floor of an unremarkable farmhouse, he caught a glimpse of muzzle flash.

Just as Morin was about to go and say something to Captain Hauser, he saw Major Thomas, the 1st Battalion Commander, speaking to the messengers in the forward makeshift command post at the other end of the bushes.

Immediately afterwards, he saw one of the messengers mount his horse and ride off to the rear.

Morin guessed that the other side might be contacting the artillery positions to ask them to continue providing fire support.

Even if everything goes smoothly, it will still be at least ten minutes before the shells fall.

That much time was enough for the machine gun and the other defenders to slaughter the entire 1st and 2nd companies that were exposed in the open area.

However, Morin quickly realized that he didn't have time to care about others, because he saw another messenger running towards his company.

"Oh no, are they going to send in the reserves?"

Morin stared nervously at the messenger, then jogged up to Captain Hauser, panting, and shouted:

"Captain! Major Thomas orders! The 3rd Company to immediately engage in battle and advance from the front!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of all the officers, including Morin, changed.

What's the difference between this and voluntarily jumping into a meat grinder?
Captain Hauser's face instantly turned a deep shade of liver, and he grabbed the messenger by the collar:
"Are you sure that's the order? Major, have you gone mad?! Didn't you see what's going on up ahead?"

"Yes, those are the major's exact words," the messenger almost cried.

"Bullshit!" Captain Hauser cursed, but he eventually let go.

Military orders are absolute, and he could not possibly disobey Major Thomas's orders, as that would even be considered cowardice, enough to send him to a military court and have him executed.

He took a deep breath, turned around, and faced his subordinates.

His gaze swept over the tense and fearful faces, finally settling on Morin and the other two platoon leaders.

"You all heard that!" Captain Hauser's voice, like his mood, had become somewhat heavy. "Prepare for battle! 3rd Platoon on the left, 1st Platoon in the center, 2nd Platoon on the right. Spread out skirmish lines! Advance under alternating cover!"

After witnessing the disastrous defeat of the dense formation, he finally refrained from issuing the foolish order to charge in formation again.

Even so, Maureen understood that this was still suicide.

Before that machine gun is taken out, any frontal attack is pointless, and it's unclear how many undiscovered enemies are still in the village.

Morin's heart sank to the bottom. He didn't want to die here, and even if he were to die, it wouldn't be for this typical 'imperialist country'.

Not to mention that he still has a full 80 men under his command, and he cannot bring these vibrant lives into a battle that is destined to fail.

The problem is, he has no choice at all now.

The only hope is to try a different attack method and take down the machine gun emplacement that has been reaping the lives of friendly troops.

Just as Captain Hauser was about to blow the whistle to attack, Morin suddenly took a step forward.

"Sir!"

Captain Hauser stopped moving, turned to look at Morin, his brow furrowed.

"What is it, Lieutenant Morin? Do you intend to disobey orders?"

His tone was impatient, even threatening. The crushing defeat at the front and the battalion's strict orders had already caused some emotional distress for him.

"No, sir!"

Morin immediately shook his head, trying to make his voice sound as convincing as possible.

"I request permission to lead the 3rd Platoon to outflank from the left!"

The proposal stunned the officers and sergeants around him.

"A roundabout way?" Captain Hauser repeated, his eyes filled with suspicion. "What are you trying to do?"

"Sir, I saw through my binoculars that the enemy's machine gun position is set up in a two-story farm, and the field of fire is fixed!"

Morin explained at breakneck speed, pointing to the left side of the battlefield.

“There’s a dry riverbed over there, and a few bushes that can serve as natural cover! My platoon can use the terrain to move to the side of the village and attack that machine gun position from there!”

"Even if we can't take it down immediately, just drawing their attention can create opportunities for the company's main force to attack!"

Captain Hauser fell silent, staring intently at Morin, as if trying to determine whether the young lieutenant, fresh out of military academy, was indulging in wishful thinking.

(End of this chapter)