Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 231 Command from the Sky

Countless unit cards representing enemy and friendly units flashed and moved clearly on the map.

The unit number, troop strength, and casualties of each unit were presented to him in the form of data.

Morin's gaze quickly found the location of his own Imperial Guard First Training Assault Battalion on the map.

He saw that Steiner's 4th Company and the battalion's direct subordinate units were still holding the bridgehead on the south bank of the railway bridge, and had established a solid evacuation route based on the position.

Every now and then, stretcher bearers from various units would bring the wounded here from the front lines, and then wait to be loaded onto trucks and transported across the railway bridge to the field hospital for military dependents further behind.

Meanwhile, Klaus's First Company, Wolf's Second Company, and Jonas's Third Company had penetrated deep into the heart of the southern city, working with other friendly forces to constantly tear apart the Britannian defenses.

However, the number of casualties on the map, representing the number of his own troops, made his heart tighten.

Because the Fourth Company and the battalion headquarters held their positions, there were no casualties; only a few unlucky ones were injured.

However, the casualty figures for the three companies that went deep into the city were significantly higher.

Klaus's company suffered the fewest casualties, with a casualty rate of around 4%.

Wolf's 2nd Company, despite having the fastest advance, also suffered a staggering 8% casualty rate!

"That Wolf is a reckless brute!"

Looking at the number, Morin couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath:
"I'll definitely teach him a lesson later!"

At the same time, Morin's gaze was also drawn to a special mark on the map.

On the ruins of the street where he detonated the trap that morning, four enemy special unit cards, now gray, lay quietly.

Above the soldier's badge, there was a line of small print.

[Can be picked up]

Maureen's eyes lit up instantly.

"Hey, I knew it!"

He felt a surge of joy.

Those were four highland mages; they must have been carrying a lot of good stuff! Magic scrolls, spellcasting materials, spellbooks, and all sorts of magical equipment.
“good good”

Captain Schneider noticed that Morin was staring down and assumed he was engrossed in the sight.

"How was it, Captain? Pretty spectacular, huh?" Captain Schneider walked up to Morin.

"It's more than spectacular, it's absolutely spectacular." Morin's gaze remained fixed on the battlefield below.

After the morning's aerial battles and explosions, no more Britannian mages took to the skies to fight.

Therefore, the L29 armored airship had no worries at all, and at this moment it was like a leisurely air overlord, slowly cruising over the southern city of Amiens.

Without the threat of the mage, the scattered magic crystal cannons of the Britannians were either picked off one by one by the airship's 203mm main guns, or were too scared to fire, posing no threat whatsoever.

"Captain Schneider, I've always felt that it's a waste to use an aerial behemoth like the L29 only for suppressive ground attacks," Morin said suddenly, looking at the fierce street fighting below.

"Oh? So what do you think it should be used for?" Schneider asked with interest.

"Airborne command platform, and close air support provided according to the needs of ground troops!"

Morin said without hesitation:
"Imagine when our infantry are suppressed by the enemy's strongholds, you only need one 203mm high-explosive round to solve all their problems."

"Or, when they need to break through a complex terrain held by the enemy, you can use your aerial vision to direct them to find weak points!"

Schneider's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh excitedly:
“That’s right! That’s exactly what I think! Captain Morin, you’ve hit the nail on the head!”

As if he had found a kindred spirit, he pulled Morin aside and began to talk at length about his ideas.

“I’ve already mentioned this to those bureaucrats in the Air Force: the future of our armored airships is definitely not some cumbersome ‘airborne artillery platform,’ but a comprehensive aerial forward fortress!”

"However, we have always faced one major problem."

At this point, Schneider sighed.

"We lack a means of transmitting information between ourselves and our ground troops in real time and efficiently! Signal flares can only transmit so much information and are easily misjudged in complex battlefield environments. We need something more advanced."

“Radio,” Morin replied.

"Yes! It's radio!"

Schneider's eyes lit up with excitement, and he began to look at Morin with increasing admiration.

"But the wireless equipment we have now is just too big. A single transceiver would require a truck to transport. We can't expect our frontline infantry to carry such a bulky machine, can we?"

Maureen smiled; he knew the predicament Schneider was facing, because it was something he had been trying to solve.

This submarine captain's thinking is undoubtedly extremely forward-thinking; he has already touched the threshold of future 'air-ground joint operations'.

Unfortunately, he was limited by the technological level of the time, and many of his ideas could not be realized.

"Don't worry, Captain."

Morin said earnestly to the captain of the armored airship:

"We'll have bread, and we'll have milk. Technology is always advancing, and maybe before long we'll be able to use a radio that we can slip into our pockets." The two men smiled at each other, and a sense of admiration for one another quietly blossomed between them.

"By the way, Captain Morin, you're badly injured. You should go back to the medical bay and rest. We'll take you to a hospital on the ground later after we fly the airship back to North City," Schneider said with concern.

"Rest?" Morin shook his head. "I'm just idling around anyway, and I'm not the kind of person who can lie around all day."

He looked at the map below, at his three companies fighting independently in the city, and felt a strong urge to join them.

Such a great God's-eye view is a waste if it's not utilized.

A bold idea popped into his mind.

He turned his head, looked at Schneider, and gave a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Um, Captain, can I talk to you about something?"

"What's the matter? Tell me."

"Could I borrow the radio from your airship?"

Schneider was stunned, and he looked at Morin with a strange expression.

"You want to use the radio? Who are you contacting?"

"My battalion headquarters."

"Hahahaha, you really are a restless soul!" Schneider laughed and shook his head, pointing to the radio as he said:
"Use it! Use it as you please! In general, only division-level units would contact armored airships. Your training assault battalion is a complete exception among battalion-level units."

"And I've long wanted to see how you, this 'madman who parachuted into Liege Fortress,' actually command a war!"

He turned to the communications soldier and shouted:
"Send Captain Morin to the 1st Training Assault Battalion of the Imperial Guard!"

"Yes, Captain!" the communications officer replied loudly, his eyes filled with curiosity and excitement.

It should be noted that normally, only a division-level commander would be qualified to directly call the L29 armored airship.

For a battalion-level unit to be able to directly use the communication equipment on the Empire's most advanced strategic weapon platform to command operations is absolutely unprecedented.

Because the armored airship was very close to the ground at this time, it could communicate with the ground directly through the 3.5-6 MHz operating frequency band.

Maureen picked up the microphone and took a deep breath.

“Calling battalion headquarters, this is Friedrich Morin, please respond.”

On the other end of the radio, a series of static noises came through, followed by a familiar yet delighted voice.

"Battalion Commander?! Is that you, Battalion Commander?! My God! You're awake!"

It was Kleist's voice; he sounded so excited he was almost crying.

Morin couldn't help but smile: "It's me, but I'm fine. I'm currently in the L29 airship in the sky. Enough talk, listen to my orders."

"Yes!" Kleist and Manstein's voices rang out simultaneously.

"Manstein, immediately organize all the messengers in the battalion and have them ready to respond at any time."

"Crest, coordinate with the communications platoon to immediately move the trucks loaded with radios into the city and find a relatively safe location to set up a communications relay station."

"Yes!"

"Very good, now, follow my instructions."

Morin's gaze returned to the huge 'real-time sandbox' beneath his feet.

"Order, Wolf's 2nd Company, halt your advance immediately! They've chosen the wrong direction! And their friendly forces on the left flank are falling behind; their flank is exposed, and enemy forces are approaching! Instruct them to switch to defense and keep watch on the enemy on the left flank!"

"Order, Jonas's Third Company, move towards the four-story red brick building 300 meters to their right front! It's the highest point in the surrounding area; taking it will give us control of the surrounding streets!"

"Order."

Clear and precise orders were transmitted from the air to the battalion headquarters on the ground via radio.

In the battalion headquarters, Manstein and Kleist, along with all the staff officers and messengers, were gathered around the radio communication device, listening in astonishment to the sounds coming from the microphone.

They suddenly realized that their battalion commander must possess some kind of 'divine revelation' that others did not have, otherwise how could he command the overall situation as if he could see through everything?

"Quickly! Messenger! Send out the battalion commander's order immediately!"

Manstein was the first to react and shouted loudly to the messengers around him.

One by one, young messengers, carrying rifles and handwritten orders, rushed into the chaotic and dangerous streets of southern Amiens without hesitation.

A messenger, panting, found Wolf in a street, directing his soldiers to exchange fire with the enemy in the building across the street.

"Lieutenant Wolf! The battalion commander orders you to immediately cease the attack! Your flank has been exposed, and the enemy is approaching! You are to switch to defense and keep watch on the enemy on the left flank!"

"What? Battalion Commander?" Wolf snatched the order slip, still somewhat confused. "Wasn't the battalion commander injured? How could he give such an order?"

"The order came down from heaven!"

(End of this chapter)