Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 204: Seeing the Words
Morin thought of writing to Cecilia because he had seen some of the training battalion soldiers writing letters home during their rare rest time.

For Morin, this was a rather strange experience, since before his transmigration he was already used to contacting his relatives far away by phone or video chat.

The experience of writing down what you want to say on paper is undoubtedly fresh and unfamiliar.

"When was the last time you wrote a letter? It seems like it was back in school when you pretended to be Li Hua and wrote an English essay for a foreign friend?"

The thought flashed through Morin's mind, and then he picked up a dip pen from the stationery provided by the orderly and began to write on the brand-new letter paper.

"Dear Sister Cecilia, it's as if I'm seeing you in person."

In the first half of the letter, Maureen used every flowery word he could think of to express his longing for Cecilia.

Of course, he also briefly described his battlefield experience over the past two weeks.

However, after carefully concealing the bloody and cruel content that might worry people far away, Maureen found that all she could write about seemed to be some exotic scenes of the United Kingdom of Flanders and some interesting anecdotes from the battlefield.

For example, how he "persuaded" two bigwigs of the Second Army Group to secure two hundred roasted pork knuckles as a benefit for his troops.
He felt this was for the best; there was no need to pour out too much negative emotion about the battlefield in the letters sent to the rear.

The people around you need peace of mind, not to live in fear with you.

After writing nearly half a page of 'longing', Maureen's letter finally got to the point.

As the undisputed 'Queen of Radiant Crystals' of the Saxon Empire, Cecilia's vast commercial empire, 'Falkenstein-Eisenstein United Industries,' naturally included manufacturing companies related to internal combustion engines and Radiant Crystal automobiles.

However, Morin didn't know much about the specifics, so he could only offer a general direction in his letter, hoping Cecilia could help him contact a vehicle manufacturing company with strong technical capabilities.

Let's see if we can thoroughly upgrade the Huijing military trucks currently in service with the military.

"The military trucks we currently have in service, while powerful, also have obvious drawbacks. I've observed them closely; these trucks use leaf spring suspension and solid rubber tires, a combination that results in virtually zero off-road capability, limiting them to paved roads."

In her letter, Morin provided a detailed analysis, and Cecilia, being a designer herself, was naturally familiar with these points.

The standard military trucks currently in service with the Saxon Army benefit from the world's unique crystalline internal combustion engine technology, possessing power far exceeding that of ordinary internal combustion engines from World War I in his prior knowledge of the time travel.

Weighing only 2.5 tons, it can carry a load of 2.5 tons, a figure that Morin finds almost outrageous.

Even more outrageous is its top speed of 72 kilometers per hour.

However, in Morin's view, this data was completely 'laboratory data' and was seriously misrepresented.

Based on his conversations with the supply truck drivers in the camp, this speed could only be barely achieved on excellent urban asphalt roads, and on long straight sections.

Once out of the city and onto the narrow, potholed dirt roads of the countryside, the truck's speed drops sharply to about 40 kilometers per hour.

Of course, even so, this speed was quite astonishing in Morin's eyes. It's important to understand that in the world before he transmigrated, during World War I, the average speed of trucks in various countries generally hovered around 24 kilometers per hour.

Therefore, Morin's demands in the letter were very clear, and it could even be said that with the support of Huijing internal combustion engines, he became somewhat "out of line".

He hoped that the designers at the company under Cecilia's sister's management could make improvements in two aspects.

First, we need to comprehensively improve the off-road performance of trucks.

He suggested strengthening research and development of vehicle suspension systems, and even when using leaf spring suspensions, using structures with better performance whenever possible.
Secondly, based on improving off-road performance, we will develop medium-sized trucks with stronger carrying capacity.

Morin believes that as the scale of the war expands, logistical pressure will increase.

Moreover, the Saxon military will certainly realize the enormous advantages brought by 'motorized forces' very soon.

However, at that time, the 2.5-ton load capacity of military trucks would eventually become a bottleneck restricting the mobility of the troops.

In addition to suggestions for improving wheeled vehicles, Morin also put forward a bolder and more forward-thinking idea.

"Considering the generally poor rural road conditions in Europe and the potentially higher off-road combat requirements that future wars may place on the troops, I hope that Sister Cecilia can have her engineers try to develop a completely new tracked or half-tracked vehicle by drawing on the tracked structure of existing agricultural tractors?"

Morin's idea was simple: the 'Tajchenka' with its horse-drawn machine gun was ultimately just a transitional product.

Once the technology for tracked or half-tracked vehicles is developed and matures, subsequent tracked tractors and armored personnel carriers will naturally be put on the research and development agenda.

The phenomenal performance of the world's Brilliant Crystal internal combustion engine gave Morin reason to believe that these future 'iron machines' might create even greater miracles on this battlefield than he had imagined.

"A land cruiser isn't out of the question, is it? How can a man be without that kind of romance?" This thought flashed through Morin's mind.

After writing at length about the "serious business" of vehicle technology, Morin used an entire paragraph to express once again his boundless longing and gratitude for his sister Cecilia.

"Your care is like a lighthouse in the darkness, guiding me so I won't lose my way on this foreign battlefield. Please take good care of yourself. When I return victorious, I will present you with the most beautiful roses of Gaul."

Having written this far, Maureen glanced through the entire text one last time before finally putting down his pen with satisfaction.

After waiting for the ink on the letter to dry completely, he carefully folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and finally sealed it with sealing wax.

He placed the letter on the corner of the table, intending to hand it over to the battalion's orderly first thing the next morning so that he could deliver it to the field post office.

However, Maureen, who originally planned to go to bed after writing the letter, found that he suddenly became fully awake after writing the letter to Cecily.

My brain felt like it had been injected with some kind of stimulant, entering a wonderful state of 'flowing inspiration'.

He suddenly realized that after the fierce battle in Charleroi, many new ideas and insights about individual weapons and magical technology had emerged in his mind.

These ideas sprouted like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, compelling him to express them.

"Let's just write them all at once!"

Maureen sat up straight again and pulled out a brand new sheet of paper from the side.

"Dear Miss Schmeisser, it is as if I am seeing you in person."

Morin's pen moved slightly, and he began writing the second letter. The opening 'greetings' in the letter to Helga were much shorter, since the recipient was an employee of his company, and there was no need for too much small talk.

He simply inquired about the other party's recent situation, and then eagerly asked about the development progress of two new weapons from Schmeisser Arms Manufacturing Co., Ltd., especially the production status of the MP14 submachine gun.

Immediately afterwards, Morin wrote down in detail his new thoughts on individual weapons that he had gained during the battles of Charleroi and Liège.

During the two major battles that taught the assault battalion, he keenly observed a problem.

As the proportion of MP14 submachine guns in training assault battalions continues to increase, while the firepower density of infantry squads in close-range combat has been unprecedentedly improved, the precision firepower suppression capability of infantry squads at medium range has also declined significantly.

For soldiers equipped with MP14s, it is actually very difficult to carry out effective and accurate shooting at a single target at a distance of more than 100 meters.

This firepower gap can only be filled by the remaining riflemen in the squad who use Gew.98 rifles.

This situation, while objectively forcing the riflemen of the training battalion to develop exceptional marksmanship, also meant that each of them honed their skills to the point of being able to hit a target from a hundred paces away.
But Morin knew very well that simply relying on improving soldiers' individual shooting skills to compensate for the shortcomings in weapon performance was not a long-term solution.

He had to find a way to fundamentally increase the density and sustainability of rifle firepower.

Then, a name that had been lingering in his mind for a long time naturally came to mind—semi-automatic rifle.

“Dear Miss Schmeisser, Mr. Maxim’s machine gun masterpiece has given me great inspiration! I was thinking, since a complex mechanical structure can use the energy of gunpowder gas to achieve fully automatic firing, why can’t we simplify this principle and create a rifle that can automatically eject spent casings and load the gun without the shooter having to manually operate the bolt?”

In his letter, Morin used the most concise and clear language possible to explain his ideas.

"I've tentatively named this concept 'gas-operated principle'! Its core idea is to use a small portion of high-pressure propellant gas that leaks from the barrel when a bullet is fired to drive a small piston, which completes the series of complex actions of pulling the bolt, ejecting the spent cartridge, and then pushing the next bullet into the chamber."

He even drew a simple structural sketch on the blank space of the letter, so simple that others would definitely not be able to understand it, marking the approximate positions and linkages of key components such as the gas tube, piston, and bolt.

Although Morin knew very well that the sketch was so simple that it could only roughly explain the principle, Helga's genius-like brain would surely allow her to grasp his intentions instantly.

After finishing the letter to Helga, Maureen felt her thoughts becoming increasingly clear.

Without stopping, he picked up the third sheet of paper. This time, the recipient was another genius girl far away in the capital.

"Dear Miss Seekert, it is as if we are meeting in person."

The initial greetings in the letter to Patricia became even shorter, even somewhat perfunctory.

Morin offered only a perfunctory greeting before eagerly getting straight to the point after writing only a few lines.

It's not that the two of them are too distant, but rather that saying too many polite things to her makes him seem awkward and insincere.

The main body of the letter to Patricia naturally revolves around magical technology.

Morin first gave a brief explanation of the general situation of 'enchanting technology' that he had learned from the Gauls during the battle.

For example, the Gauls' cuirassiers wore cuirassiers that were enchanted with some kind of magic, making them effective against small-caliber weapons.

For example, their 75mm magic cannon also used enchantment technology, which greatly reduced the weight of the cannon and made it far more mobile and powerful than Saxony cannons of the same caliber.

He hoped that this technical intelligence from the enemy could provide Patricia with some new ideas and inspiration for her ongoing research.

Then, Morin inquired about the progress of the two projects he was most concerned about—magical communication equipment and the miniaturization of magical weapons.

"Communications, communications, and more communications! My dear Miss Seeckt, I must emphasize once again that a stable, reliable, and portable radio communication system is absolutely crucial for our future war! So crucial that it could even determine the outcome of a battle! I implore you to place this project at the highest priority."

At the end of the letter, Morin emphasized the importance of communication equipment in an almost pleading tone.

Charlerois's experience made him acutely aware of this.

If he had had a long-range radio that allowed him to contact the rear at any time, the commando battalion's situation would not have been so passive and dangerous.

After writing the final "Best wishes, looking forward to your reply," Morin let out a long sigh.

He placed the three letters side by side on the table, and looking at the three envelopes sealed with sealing wax, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart.

These three letters express his longing for three women. Although two of them are not many, they are still expressions of longing.

At the same time, it also embodies his vision and expectations for future wars.

He believed that these three geniuses, who were behind the scenes, would surely be able to turn the wild ideas in his letter into reality.

After doing all this, Morin felt her nerves, which had been tense for so long, finally relax completely.

A wave of drowsiness washed over him, and before he could even take off his uniform, he collapsed onto his cot and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, August 17th, early in the morning, Morin had just gotten up and was preparing to hand the three letters to the orderly to mail.

At the campsite entrance, the sound of a car engine approached rapidly.

A black staff vehicle from the Second Army Group Command came to a steady stop at the entrance of the training assault battalion's temporary camp.

An officer from the army group headquarters jumped out of the vehicle and walked straight up to Morin.

"Captain Morin, urgent order! General Bilo requests your immediate presence at command post; there is a new operational mission!"

A new combat mission?

Morin frowned slightly.

Weren't we supposed to rest for a few days? It hasn't even been that long.
He glanced at the stern-faced major and felt a little uneasy.

"Does this mean I'm going to have to be a firefighter again?"

(End of this chapter)