Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 227 You must attack this taunting target first (Bonus Chapter 13)

With that thought in mind, Morin didn't hesitate. He turned around and disappeared into a narrow alleyway, running towards the depths of the southern city.

As he ran, he quickly glanced at the system map.

As expected, the two red soldier tokens representing the seventh-ring mages on the map immediately abandoned their focus on the bridgehead after seeing him move.

They led a small squad of elite infantry, chasing after him from another parallel street.

"Damn it! They really came for me!"

Morin cursed under his breath and increased his speed.

He glanced back and saw Klaus preparing to lead a company of soldiers into the alley to protect him.

"Don't follow me!"

Without hesitation, Morin used the [Communication] spell from the Trick Book in Klaus's direction.

"Klaus! Listen up! Don't bring any men with you! Your mission is to hold the bridgehead! Hold it even if you die!"

"Also, get me some explosives right now! The more the better!"

"Plant explosives on both sides of the buildings on that nearby street—yes, the main street we were just about to attack! Once it's done, fire a signal flare to let me know immediately!"

Klaus, standing at the alley entrance, was startled by the sudden sound of Morin's voice in his mind and froze on the spot.

Although he didn't understand why the battalion commander was doing this, out of absolute trust in Morin, he immediately stopped and turned around to carry out the order.

A citywide manhunt targeting Morin has begun.

Morin ran ahead, with two seventh-ring archmages leading infantry in pursuit.

Supported by adrenaline and abundant energy, Maureen felt no fatigue whatsoever.

He was like a nimble cheetah, darting swiftly through the complex urban jungle of Amiens South.

His familiarity with this city was so great that it was as if he had grown up there. The system map was his greatest asset.

The two archmages chasing behind him grew increasingly alarmed.

"That Saxon barbarian, how can he run as fast as a rabbit!"

Master Angus chased after him, panting heavily, and couldn't help but curse.

These two dignified seventh-ring archmages cast speed-enhancing spells like "Grease Your Feet" on themselves, even managing to leave the other infantry behind them in the dust.

However, he was getting old and his physical strength couldn't keep up, and having studied in the mage tower for many years, he lacked proper training.

Navigating the complex terrain, his speed was far slower than that of the slippery young man ahead of him.

The distance between the two sides is gradually widening.

They would often wait until they heard bursts of gunfire coming from ahead, then lead the soldiers following far behind, panting as they rushed to a street corner.

All that could be seen were the corpses of Britannian soldiers whom Morin had casually dealt with, while Morin himself had long since disappeared into another unfamiliar neighborhood through some alley.

"We can't let him lead us by the nose anymore!"

Master Albert stopped and, with a grim expression, sensed the direction of the detonating crystal.

He knew that on the ground, they would probably never catch up with this Saxon barbarian who inexplicably knew the terrain of Gallic cities like the back of his hand.

He and Angus exchanged a glance, and they both saw the other's thoughts in each other's eyes.

"Heavens!"

Master Albert gritted his teeth, took out two scrolls of the [Flight] spell from his pocket, and handed one to Angus.

"I refuse to believe he can fly up to the sky!"

Without hesitation, the two tore open the scroll, and a light magical energy instantly enveloped their bodies.

The next second, they abandoned their infantry and flew into the air, preparing to catch up with Morin directly from the air and quickly eliminate this target in the simplest and most brutal way.

However, they seem to have forgotten that there is another ruler over this sky.

Just as the two took off, breaking free from the cover of the buildings in Amiens and preparing to lock onto the fleeing 'rat', a huge shadow silently loomed over them from the sky.

L29 Armored Airship!
The war behemoth that had been hovering over the battlefield immediately spotted two targets that suddenly took off, emanating strong magical energy.

"Enemy mage spotted! Two in number! Bearing 1-2-5, altitude 200! Prepare for air interception!"

The airship's alarm sounded instantly.

Before Albert and Angus could react, the numerous MG08 machine gun turrets on the airship had already turned their guns and aimed them at them.

"Da da da da da!"

Countless bullets crisscrossed the air, forming a deadly net of fire, raining down on the two men.

"Damn it! It's a Saxon armored airship!"

Master Albert's expression changed drastically. They were so distracted by Morin's presence that they completely overlooked the fact that the airship had been circling and fighting over the city.

He and Angus dared not be careless, and quickly cast [Shield Spell] on themselves, awkwardly dodging the barrage of bullets while rapidly descending to lower altitude and retreating back into the shadows of the building.

Flying low among narrow streets and towering buildings was obviously much more difficult for them than in the open sky, and they had to reduce their speed.

"Contact the others! Have them flank him from the ground in this direction! Block him out!"

Albert used his communication bracelet to issue orders to the other highland mages who were fighting in various parts of the city.

Meanwhile, at the railway bridgehead, Klaus and his men, after gathering the wounded and helping Ludwig control the armored knights to escape, also encountered a problem.

"Explosives? Where am I supposed to get so much explosives for you?"

The quartermaster in charge of logistics, who was leading the way to deliver ammunition, looked distressed after hearing Klaus's request.

“We have just broken through the outer defense line. The engineering troops and main supplies are still behind. The explosives we can temporarily mobilize are only enough to destroy one or two small buildings at most, which is far from the scale required by the battalion commander.”

Klaus was so anxious that he kept scratching his head.

Without explosives, the battalion commander's plan could not be carried out, and wouldn't the battalion commander have risked his life for nothing?

Just when he was at his wit's end, the two squads of soldiers that Morin had sent to defuse the bombs on the bridge piers returned, panting, carrying several heavy wooden crates.

"Company Commander! We've found it! We've found the magic crystal bomb planted by the Britannians in the key structure of the bridge pier!"

The squad leader reported excitedly while wiping away his sweat.

"Magic Crystal Bomb?"

Klaus's eyes lit up instantly when he saw the crystal bombs in the box, which were radiating dangerous magical light.

A bold idea formed in his mind.

He immediately ran to the logistics officer: "If we don't have enough explosives, how about using these magic crystal bombs? Magic crystal bombs are bombs too, right?"

The officer was stunned by Klaus's outlandish idea: "This...this can't possibly work! As far as I know, the Britannian magic crystal bombs and our military explosives are not the same thing at all!"

“Its power is far greater than conventional explosives, and it’s extremely unstable. What if—” “No ‘what ifs’!” Klaus interrupted him. “This is the battalion commander’s order! Do as I say now! We’ll try anything!”

Blindly trusting Morin, Klaus quickly issued the order.

Instruct the assault battalion soldiers to take immediate action.

They carefully began placing the dangerous magic crystal bombs in the buildings on both sides of the main street that Morin had designated.

At the same time, they also drove out all the terrified Gallic civilians who had not yet evacuated from the buildings, and sent them to the relatively safe Amiens Cathedral in the distance for refuge.

This religious landmark is now the only neutral zone in Amiens.

After doing all this, Klaus took a deep breath, took out the signal gun again, and fired a bright red signal flare into the sky.

As Morin was running wildly on the other side of the city, he saw that familiar red firework in the sky.

He immediately opened the system map and confirmed the street location where Klaus and the others were.

On the map, the street had been thoughtfully marked with a huge red blast radius by the system.

Even the types of explosives were clearly labeled: conventional military explosives and high-energy magic crystal bombs.

"Well done, Klaus!"

Morin was overjoyed. He knew that Klaus and his men must have made use of the magic crystal bombs they had removed from the railway bridge.

Master Albert and Master Angus naturally saw the signal flare as well.

By tracking the markings, they discovered that Morin was carrying the detonating crystal and moving rapidly toward the signal flare.

"Why is he going back to the river? Is he trying to rendezvous with friendly forces?" Angus was puzzled.

"No matter what he's trying to do, he's dead."

Master Albert snorted coldly. He immediately used his communication bracelet to order all the mages who were flanking him to intercept the signal flare with all their might, making sure to block the target's retreat.

Just then, the 4th Company of the Training Assault Battalion and the battalion headquarters, led by Kleist and Manstein, finally crossed the railway bridge and reached the south bank.

"Where's Morin? Where's the battalion commander?"

As soon as Kleist arrived on the south bank, he grabbed a company of soldiers and asked anxiously.

When he learned that Morin had charged into the city alone and was being chased by two Britannian archmages, he felt a wave of dizziness and almost lost his footing.

"What?! The battalion commander is alone?! How could you let him go on such a dangerous mission alone?!" Kleist was so anxious he almost jumped up.

Just then, Klaus, who had just finished setting up the explosives, returned with his men.

Upon seeing Kleist and Manstein, he immediately stepped forward and quickly recounted the current situation and Morin's orders.

When he heard Morin's request to plant explosives in the building, Manstein, who had been silent all along, suddenly had a glint in his eyes.

He suddenly remembered a novel concept that Morin had mentioned when they discussed tactics before—terrain kill.

"The battalion commander wants to lure those two mages into a trap and then wipe them out with explosives!"

Although he didn't understand why the Britannian archmage was chasing his battalion commander like a madman.

But he knew that all they had to do right now was to cooperate with Morin to complete this crazy plan at all costs.

Thinking of this, Manstein raised his head and glanced at the L29 armored airship that was approaching them in the sky.

An even bolder idea emerged in his mind.

He rushed to the back of a military truck belonging to the training assault battalion on the side of the road, where the valuable large radio transceiver was loaded in the trailer.

"Signalman! Quickly! Get me connected to that airship in the sky! Quickly!"

Manstein shouted the order to the communications officer who was adjusting the equipment.

A few minutes later, the communication was finally established.

Manstein grabbed the microphone and, at top speed, told the other party everything about the situation on the ground, as well as Morin's predicament and plans.

"That's the situation! I beg you, no matter what, cover our battalion commander! Get him out of that damned neighborhood!"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the radio.

Which battalion commander are you referring to?

"Captain Friedrich Morin, commander of the 1st Training Assault Battalion of the Imperial Guard!"

"It's him?"

When Schneider, the captain of the L29 armored airship, heard the name, he was visibly taken aback.

"Is that the madman who parachuted into the Liege fortress?"

"Yes! It's him!"

"interesting."

Schneider grinned:
"Alright, since this madman needs help, let's use madman's methods to lend him a hand!"

He put down the microphone and gave orders to the driver beside him.

"Adjust course and head to the street where we just observed the red flare launch! Full speed ahead! Let's get that lunatic out of here!"

The massive hull of the L29 armored airship traced an arc through the air, the roar of its eight enormous propeller engines echoing through the sky.

Captain Schneider stood on the wide bridge, looking down through the huge portholes at the chessboard-like southern city of Amiens.

His eyes were sharp as he stared intently at the area where the signal flare had just been raised, while the observer lying on the lowest level quickly spotted a figure running wildly down a street.

It's just too conspicuous.
"Observer! Continuously report the target's location!"

"Yes, Captain! The target is rapidly approaching the designated area! We have detected at least five enemy targets with strong magical energy fluctuations pursuing him!"

“Five?” Schneider frowned. “It seems the situation is worse than we thought.”

How do you rescue someone from being surrounded by five mages?
He had never even considered this kind of task before.
But the thought of that young captain who had created a miracle at the Liège fortress stirred a strange impulse within Schneider.

A madman deserves a madman's rescue methods.

"Driver! Reduce altitude! Reduce to the maximum altitude!"

Schneider issued an order that horrified all the bridge crew.

"Captain! This is too dangerous!"

The first officer immediately spoke up to stop it:
"Flying at low altitudes over the city, we have absolutely no room to maneuver if we are hit by ground fire or attacked by mages!"

"What are you afraid of? Our magical shield is still active. Execute the order!"

Schneider's voice was firm and unquestionable:
"I want to show those Britannian mages what the Saxon Empire's air force is all about!"

(End of this chapter)