Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 215 Large-scale earthwork operations

Immediately afterwards, Mackensen drew a huge arc on the sand table with his command stick, bypassing Amiens from the west and heading straight to its southern rear.

"As we begin our frontal offensive, the main force of the First Army Group, under my personal command, will conduct a large-scale strategic flanking maneuver to the west!"

This massive arrow represents the Saxon army's most elite assault force.

“We will cross the Somme here, and here,” Mackensen pointed with his baton to two inconspicuous spots on the Somme, “and establish a strong bridgehead.”

"Once the crossing is successful, the troops will immediately advance eastward, with the objective of cutting off all railway and highway connections between Amiens and Paris! Within 24 hours, I want to turn Amiens into a complete island!"

The entire battle plan was bold and meticulous, full of the sharp and impulsive style of Saxon soldiers.

The generals present were all impressed by the grandeur and ambition of the plan, and some seemed to already see the Saxon flag flying over Paris.

After explaining the overall strategy for the entire campaign, General Mackensen lowered his command stick, scanned the tent, and finally fixed his gaze on the 'weak and helpless' figure in the corner.

"Captain Morin."

The tent fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes followed General Mackensen to the young captain who hadn't uttered a word since entering.

Did you enjoy your 'personal outing' this afternoon?

General Mackensen's lips curled up slightly:

"Tell me, where did you go? What did you see?"

Feeling immense pressure from being watched by more than twenty generals, Morin took a deep breath and stood up from his stool.

"I'm going all out," Morin encouraged himself.

He walked up to the huge map, saluted General Mackensen and the other generals present, then cleared his throat and began his report.

Everyone was looking at him, their eyes filled with curiosity, suspicion, and even a hint of disdain.

It was unheard of for a captain to speak at the highest operational meeting of an army group.

"Generals, this afternoon I led a small squad on a close-in reconnaissance mission against the enemy's defensive lines north of Amiens."

One of the corps commanders couldn't help but ask, "Close reconnaissance? Captain, how close do you mean by 'close'?"

Instead of answering directly, Morin pointed to the outermost defensive line on the north side of Amiens on the sand table.

"Our forward reconnaissance point was about 500 to 600 meters away from the enemy's first trench in a straight line."

"what?!"

Five hundred meters?!

The tent erupted in chaos.

The generals of the First Army looked at Morin as if he were a monster.

What does 500 meters mean to them? It's basically face-to-face!

To personally go to a location only 500 meters from the enemy's position to conduct reconnaissance? Is he courting death?

"quiet!"

General Mackensen spoke again, stopping the murmurs from continuing.

He looked at Morin, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, but more so an appreciation.

"Go on, tell me what you saw."

"Yes, General."

Morin steadied himself and began to give a detailed report on his afternoon's reconnaissance findings.

"Reporting to my lords, based on my observations this afternoon, the Brittany has only constructed one main defensive trench around the northern perimeter of Amiens."

As Morin spoke, he pulled out his notebook, which was filled with sketches and symbols, from his pocket, and then picked up his baton and pointed at the map.

"The trench was dug very deep, and the breastwork was reinforced with sandbags, so it looked quite sturdy. They set up a heavy machine gun emplacement about every 300 meters in the trench."

Based on the sketches he had drawn in his notebook, he roughly marked some identified firing positions on the map.

"These machine gun positions are quite distinctive. They are made of a large number of light-colored sandbags, which stand out like conspicuous mounds against the surrounding dark soil. They can be clearly seen through binoculars."

"And during my investigation, I also discovered some good news."

Morin paused, then looked up at the generals.

"All the Brittany's machine gun positions were deployed in parallel, with the muzzles all pointing straight ahead. This meant that their machine gun fire did not overlap, and thus could not achieve maximum killing power."

"As long as our attacking troops can get into the blind spots of their machine guns, the threat of these strongpoints to us will be greatly reduced."

Upon hearing this news, the commanders of the Third and Fourth Armies, who were in charge of the main frontal attack, as well as the two generals of the 'Assault Combat Group', relaxed their expressions slightly.

However, Morin's next words made their faces darken again. "Of course, that's the only good news. The rest are all bad news."

Maureen's tone became heavy.

"The first piece of bad news is the terrain. Directly in front of the enemy's position, which is the direction from which we launch our attack, is a wide-open, flat plain. Apart from a few sparse woods and ditches in the fields, there is almost no natural terrain that can provide cover and shelter for our attacking troops."

"This means that after our soldiers launch an attack, they will be hundreds of meters away, completely exposed to the enemy's guns, which is tantamount to suicide."

Those present were all commanders who had led their troops in several actual battles and had witnessed the effectiveness of the heavy machine guns used by both sides.

They certainly understood what a bloody scene it would be to launch a mass assault on a fortified position with heavy machine guns in open ground.

"The second piece of bad news is that their fortifications were prepared long ago."

Morin paused, then continued:

"Judging from the age and condition of the fortifications, this is by no means the only explanation that they hastily built them in the day or two after retreating to Amiens. It is that the Britannian commander never intended to fight us to the death in Arras from the beginning. He had planned to make Amiens his main line of defense."

"An enemy that is well prepared is far more terrifying than one that is caught off guard."

"The third, and most troublesome, piece of bad news is their artillery."

Morin pointed to the location of Amiens on the map: "If I'm not mistaken, their magic crystal cannons must all be deployed in Amiens."

"The trajectory of the magic crystal cannon is similar to that of a mortar, extremely high, and can easily pass over buildings within the city to strike our attacking forces outside the city. It is extremely difficult for our artillery to counter their magic crystal cannons across a city!"

At this point, Morin glanced at the generals present, whose expressions were becoming increasingly grim.

"Based on my observation of the number of Brittany soldiers on the front lines, I initially estimate that they have deployed approximately three divisions on this defensive line outside the city."

To outsiders, this intelligence appeared to be a prediction made by Morin based on his astonishing battlefield intuition and observation skills.

Of course, in reality, this intelligence was a conclusion he accurately drew by observing the enemy numbers highlighted on the system map.

"The enemy's true defensive focus should be in Amiens, on the south bank of the Somme."

"They will definitely blow up all the bridges leading to the south bank as soon as we break through the outer defenses, and then rely on the Somme River, their natural moat, for a final stand!"

"At that time, our attacking forces will have to consider building pontoon bridges to force a crossing, and during the crossing, the Brittanyans will definitely seize the opportunity to attack us while we are crossing."

"Generals, our soldiers have no cover on the river and will become easy targets for their firepower."

"The last point, and the most troublesome one, is, as General Mackensen said, the enemy's mages."

Maureen's voice also became very serious:

"Based on my previous experience fighting Britannian mages, and my own insights as a spellcaster, I am certain that their high-ring mages will be our greatest threat in the upcoming battle."

After saying that, Morin closed his notebook, took a step back, and stood back at the edge of the crowd.

The entire command tent fell into a deathly silence; the previous ease had vanished from everyone's mind.

Everyone realized that if Morin's reconnaissance and analysis were correct, then the upcoming siege of Amiens would be a hellish, bloody battle.

Especially the four generals in charge of the main attack, their faces had become extremely solemn, and their foreheads were covered in cold sweat.

They could almost see their soldiers lying dead in the open fields, like the winter wheat harvested in this season.

General Mackensen observed the atmosphere in the tent and nodded to himself inwardly.

This is exactly the effect he wanted.

The First Army Group has had an exceptionally smooth campaign since the start of the war, without suffering any setbacks in battle.

They have swept through the United Kingdom of Flanders in one fell swoop, and now they have marched all the way to Amiens, which is only 140 kilometers away from Paris.
This made him very worried that his generals might become arrogant and underestimate the enemy. In the face of the well-prepared Brittany expeditionary force, any slight recklessness could lead to disastrous consequences.

In retrospect, Morin's words were like a bucket of cold water, timely sobering up these somewhat complacent generals.

Of course, Mackensen himself knew that this would be an unprecedentedly fierce battle.

What's more troublesome is that time waits for no one.

"We can't delay."

Mackensen broke the silence, speaking calmly and firmly:

"The Brittany's reinforcements could arrive in Amiens by rail at any time. Every additional inch of their forces increases our chances of victory."

"Especially when we lack high-level mages, once we lose our numerical advantage, the balance of the battle will quickly tilt in the enemy's favor."

He looked around at everyone and then made his decision.

"Order: All units responsible for the frontal assault shall immediately commence earthwork operations at a distance of 1.5 kilometers from the enemy's positions, starting at midnight tonight!"

(End of this chapter)