Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 248 Ranger VS Teutonic Knight
Major Saxony quickly led his troops in the direction indicated by the farmer. The three companies of soldiers, led by their respective officers, rapidly dispersed from a dense marching column into a loose search formation and began to advance toward the grove of trees.

Out of caution, the major positioned the fourth company as a reserve force, along with his battalion command group, in the middle to rear of the formation, right next to the three tall Siegfried 1 armored knights.

The presence of these steel giants gave all infantrymen a great sense of security.

The purpose of this operation was clear: a short-range armed search.

Therefore, this infantry battalion did not bring cumbersome logistical units such as supply trains. Their plan was to search a certain distance and then return the way they came, regardless of whether they found anything.

The team followed the direction indicated by the farmer, but the surrounding environment was unusually quiet.

Apart from the footsteps of the soldiers marching and the clattering of equipment, not even the chirping of insects or birds could be heard. This eerie silence made the major feel a vague unease.

Just then, a messenger, panting heavily, was sent by the left wing company.

"Major! We've found some tracks ahead!"

The Saxon major was immediately invigorated and led his battalion headquarters and three armored knights over there.

Behind a thicket of bushes, he saw a clearing that had clearly been cleared by human hands, with several patches of campfire ashes still warm on the ground.

"Sir, this looks like a temporary camp."

An experienced veteran crouched down and picked up a bit of ash to show the major.

"The campfire hadn't been out for long, so they must have left not long ago."

The major nodded after listening, then carefully observed the size of the camp and the traces left behind, quickly making calculations in his mind.

"Judging from the signs of encampment and the number of campfires, the enemy force should be around a company size."

This assessment relieved him slightly. Although it was more than the "hundreds" the Gallic farmer had mentioned, it was still within the range that his infantry battalion could easily handle.

Moreover, he also had three armored knights as his trump card for this operation.

"It seems we're on the right track," the major said to the officers around him. "There is indeed enemy activity in this area. Order the troops to be on high alert and continue advancing!"

Then, he walked over to the armored knight leading the group and patted its cold leg armor hard, the huge metal making a dull sound.

"Captain Chris, can you hear me?"

Inside the cockpit, the Knight pilot responded through the external loudspeaker: "I'm here, Major. Is there a problem?"

"We've spotted the enemy; their numbers should be around a company!"

The major raised his head and said loudly:
"I hope you can continue to cover us as we search for a distance, and ideally find this enemy unit, capture a few alive and ask them what happened."

"No problem at all."

The armored knight's voice came through the loudspeaker, sounding very calm and steady.

"However, Major, I suggest you be careful. The nearest friendly unit is quite a distance away. If something happens, it will be difficult for us to get support in a short time."

“I understand.” The major nodded. “I will instruct the soldiers to be on high alert.”

After a brief discussion, the two men resumed their advance.

The companies and platoons also increased the spacing between them, and the soldiers became more cautious in their movements, subconsciously pointing their guns at any place where people might be hiding.

However, they were unaware that with each step forward they took, they were getting closer to the ambush circle meticulously set up by the "Forest Rangers" squadron.
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The two elite infantry companies from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Regiment were responsible for assisting Colonel Irwin in the 'capture' operation.

Despite having only two companies, the soldiers inside are all veterans who have served in the colony for more than five years, and their experience in counterinsurgency, ambush, and counter-ambush is frighteningly rich.

In order to suppress any potential Saxon infantry during the operation, the two companies also carried four Vickers heavy machine guns.

At this moment, they are disguised as Gallic guerrillas, lurking deep in the woods.

"They're here," a Brittany scout slid down from the treetop and whispered to the company commander.

"Prepare for battle!" the company commander ordered in a low voice.

Soon, as the vanguard of the Saxon infantry battalion approached the woods, the group of 'Gallic guerrillas' deliberately revealed their location and then feigned panic as they retreated into the depths of the woods.

"Enemy sighted! In the woods!" shouted the Saxon vanguard soldiers excitedly.

"We've finally found you!" Upon receiving the report, Major Saxony issued the attack order without hesitation. "Companies, deploy into attack formation and surround that grove! Don't let them escape!"

Three companies of Saxon infantrymen surged into the woods from three directions like a tidal wave.

However, as they excitedly approached the edge of the woods, they were met with a hail of deadly bullets.

“Da da da da—!”

Four Vickers heavy machine guns opened fire simultaneously from different positions deep in the woods. The dense bullets, like four sharp scythes, instantly swept down a large number of Saxon soldiers charging at the forefront.

The sudden and intense firepower halted the Saxon offensive, and the soldiers dropped to the ground for cover.

Although the war had only been going on for a month, the Saxon soldiers had already begun to adapt to the enemy's heavy machine gun attacks and would no longer foolishly line up in dense formations to send themselves to their deaths as they had at the beginning of the war.

"It's a heavy machine gun! The enemy has a heavy machine gun!"

"Suppress them! Where are our light machine guns?"

Saxon officers shouted orders, directing their machine gun squads, each equipped with MG14 light machine guns, to return fire—as the MG14 and MP14 automatic weapons demonstrated their immense power at the training assault battalion, other units of the army began to receive these weapons.

However, due to production capacity limitations in the rear, the number of equipment has not yet increased.

This infantry battalion, which was carrying out the search mission, was only allocated six light machine guns.

Although they were reinforced with two MG08 heavy machine guns, they were too heavy to carry during this search mission.

This has become the decision that the infantry battalion commander regrets the most.
Gunfire erupted both inside and outside the woods, with bullets whistling through the air.

Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, the Saxon infantry battalion quickly regained its footing.

After suffering some casualties, one of the companies successfully found a blind spot in the machine gun fire. The company commander immediately ordered, "First and second platoons, charge! Charge into the woods and engage them in close combat!" Hundreds of Saxon soldiers shouted and charged into the woods from the flank, bayoneted rifles at the ready.

Based on the current situation, the company commander judged that as long as they could close the distance, the disciplined Saxon soldiers would take care of these enemies who only knew how to fire sniper shots in close combat.

Unfortunately, his judgment was flawed.

Not long after they rushed into the woods, a dark green steel giant suddenly burst out of the bushes on the side.

It was an armored knight they had never seen before, smaller than the familiar 'Siegfried Type 1' and the enemy's 'St. George Type 3', and painted in a dark green that blended in with its surroundings.

It held neither a knight's lance nor a warhammer, but rather two gleaming swords, one long and one short.

The 'Hound 4' armored knight charged into the crowd like a hungry wolf with bloodshot eyes rushing into a flock of sheep.

The twin swords in its hands swung like a rapidly spinning blade top, each swing bringing forth a shower of blood.

The surrounding Saxon infantry were no match for this steel monster; they were instantly slaughtered and their formation was thrown into chaos.

"It's an armored knight! The enemy has armored knights!"

The surviving soldiers screamed in terror and scrambled out of the woods; the company was wiped out almost instantly.

Major Saxony, who was watching the battle from a distance through binoculars, was also taken aback when he saw the armored knight and immediately realized that something was wrong.

How could the Gauls' guerrillas possibly have such expensive equipment as armored knights to support them?
The Brittany's armored knights were unlikely to stoop to supporting the Gallic guerrillas.
The only possibility is that this so-called 'guerrilla force' is actually a regular Britannian army in disguise!

"Why would they do this?" The major's mind raced.

Although he was still unclear about the other party's true intentions, he knew that the value of this enemy force had greatly increased.

If we can annihilate them all, or capture the pilot of that armored knight, we might be able to extract some important information.

With that in mind, he no longer hesitated and immediately made a request to the three Siegfried 1s beside him.

"Captain Chris! Our infantry have encountered enemy armored knights in the woods! Requesting immediate engagement!"

"Roger that! We're on our way!"

Upon receiving the order, the three Siegfried Type 1 armored knights immediately began their heavy march, charging towards the densest forest of gunfire in a standard triangular attack formation.

Three towering Siegfried 1 armored knights roared into the woods like three mobile fortresses.

Their massive bodies snapped trees as thick as bowls in half, and their sturdy shields deflected the barrage of bullets fired by Brittany soldiers.

Under the cover of the armored knights, the Saxon infantry, who had been suppressed by the heavy machine guns, were greatly encouraged and reorganized their offensive, following behind the steel giants and advancing deeper into the forest once again.

"Keep searching! Find that enemy armored knight!" The Teutonic Knight leading the team ordered his two companions through a loudspeaker.

Because the communication problem had never been solved, squad communication during combat had always been a 'pain point' for the Teutonic Knights.

In most cases, once the Teutonic Knights entered battle, they could only rely on the 'tacit understanding' they had built up through daily training to fight.

The three knight pilots were fully focused, vigilantly observing everything around them.

They turned the 'magical detection device' on the armored knights to maximum power—this was their only means of detecting other armored knights besides optical observation.

This device can sense the unique energy fluctuations emitted by other armored knights' magical cores when they are in operation.

Strangely, however, no matter how they scanned, the detection device did not react at all.

The Brittany armored knight that had just been wreaking havoc seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"What's going on? We can't detect the target!" a rider pilot asked in confusion.

"Perhaps the other party has shut down their magic core and is hiding. Let's keep quiet too."

The knight in charge said, then gestured with his mechanical arm to the other two armored knights—spread out a bit and expand the search area.

The three Siegfried 1s then changed formation, spreading out between each other, like three predators searching for prey, cautiously searching and advancing through the woods.

Unbeknownst to them, their every move was clearly being observed by the real hunters.

Ten 'Hound Type 4' special combat armored knights were silently lurking around them.

These hunters from the "Forest Ranger" squadron had already dug simple ambush pits, hiding their relatively small machines inside, and covering themselves with a camouflage net carefully made of fishing nets, fallen leaves and branches.

More importantly, the special model of armored knight, the 'Hound Type 4', has a unique 'ambush mode' in its magical core.

In this mode, the core's energy output is reduced to a minimum.

Furthermore, the 'Hound Type 4's' external armor incorporates materials that can absorb magical energy fluctuations, so in ambush mode they produce almost no detectable energy fluctuations, perfectly evading the detection of the 'magical detection device'.

Moreover, this magical core can restore full power output in a very short time, providing the armored knight with the surging power needed for combat.

Of course, the drawback of these features is that the output power of this type of magic core is not as high as that of a regular magic core.

However, with the 'Hound 4' reduced in size and combat weight, its output power is still sufficient.

Seeing that the three Siegfried 1s had completely entered the ambush zone and were beginning to disperse, Colonel Irwin knew that the best time to attack had arrived.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips as he issued a brief order to all his subordinates via the communication stone.

"start to act."

Seconds after the order was given, the previously calm magical detection devices in the cockpits of the three 'Siegfried Type 1' armored knights suddenly emitted a sharp alarm, and the indicator lights flashed red wildly.

In the synchronized 'vision' of the three pilots and the armored knight's observation units, ten blurry red lights representing high-energy reactions suddenly emerged from all directions, surrounding them completely!
"No! It's a trap!"

"We're surrounded!"

The three Teutonic Knights' expressions changed drastically in an instant. They never dreamed that there were actually ten armored knights lying in ambush around them!

(End of this chapter)