Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 267 Gungnir
The man who jumped out of the car looked to be in his forties, tall, and with a resolute face.

"Grand Commander Leonia!"

The colonel spotted Leonia standing prominently in the crowd at a glance, quickly walked up to her, and gave her a standard military salute.

“Colonel Lucas.” Leonia nodded in return.

"This must be the famous Captain Friedrich Morin, right?"

Colonel Lucas then turned his gaze to Morin, a warm smile spreading across his face.

"I've heard so much about you! I'm Lucas Koch, the commander of the 'Odin'. To be honest, the lads on the armored train and I have been looking forward to the opportunity to fight alongside your training assault battalion!"

"You flatter me, Colonel." Morin was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the other party also knew him.

"This is no compliment."

Lucas laughed heartily, "Your feat of quickly capturing the Lehren Fortress with the support of the armored airships has spread throughout the entire army! Many of the lads on our 'Odin' are your admirers!"

After speaking, the train conductor glanced again at the war-torn battlefield in the distance, his smile fading slightly, and he said apologetically:

"I'm so sorry we're late. The Gauls and Britannia blew up almost all the railways along the way during their retreat! We've been repairing the tracks as we go, and even though we've been rushing, we're still only arriving now!"

"It's not too late to arrive now."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lucas immediately got down to business.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, time is of the essence. Captain Morin, the general has ordered us to resupply you. All the ammunition, medicine, and supplies are in carriages four, five, ten, and eleven. You can begin resupplying immediately!"

"In addition, there is a batch of new weapons that have just been transported from China on the vehicle, which you can also replace with."

"Great!" Morin's eyes lit up.

Soon, under Lucas's command, the huge side doors of the four supply wagons of the 'Odin' were opened, revealing mountains of wooden crates inside.

The soldiers of the training assault battalion immediately cheered and rushed forward. Under the organization of the officers, they began to systematically move supplies, replenish ammunition, and repair lost weapons.

Meanwhile, Leonia began directing her armored knights to board the five massive flatbed transport cars at the rear of the train.

The accompanying engineers used thick chains and specialized securing devices to firmly fasten these heavy war machines to the vehicle deck, ensuring they would not encounter any accidents while traveling at high speeds.

Taking advantage of the break, Morin also asked Colonel Lucas about the armored train.

Commander Lucas made no attempt to conceal anything from Morin, the renowned 'commander of our allies,' and instead, like an enthusiastic guide, proudly introduced his vehicle to him.

"'Odin' is the latest model of heavy armored train in our Saxon Empire."

Lucas patted the cold armor beside him, his eyes filled with pride.

"We Saxony are one of the first countries in the world to use armored trains, and our predecessors were already driving rudimentary armored trains to provide fire support for infantry during the Sagau War decades ago."

Upon hearing the first sentence, Morin knew that the development trajectory of armored trains in this world seemed to be different from that of another timeline.

In another timeline, armored trains were actually developed during the American Civil War.

However, in this timeline where the Amerindians failed to achieve independence, the Saxons became the pioneers of armored trains.

On the other side, Captain Lucas continued his introduction.

"And with the latest generation, the 'Odin,' it is no longer just a mobile artillery platform for infantry; it is a combat unit capable of independently performing various missions!"

"Currently, our army is equipped with a total of eighteen armored trains of various types. Except for five trains, including the 'Odin', which have been reinforced in the Northern Theater Command, the remaining thirteen trains are all undertaking defense tasks on the southern border."

"Then why didn't you play any role in the previous battles?" Morin couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this question, Colonel Lucas's face showed a hint of helplessness:
"Alas, this is the biggest problem with armored trains. No matter how powerful we are, we can't do without these two rails under our feet."

"When we were in the United Kingdom of Flanders, many railways were destroyed, and the Gauls destroyed them after their defeat and retreat, which prevented us from getting here in time."

"So initially, the military leadership actually preferred to use us 'mobile artillery positions' in border defense operations, since the positions were fixed and the railway network was well-developed."

"If it weren't for the fact that the 'Odin' was a special model designed specifically for attacking fortified positions, the General Staff would probably have kept it in China instead of sending it here."

With Colonel Lucas's introduction and the constantly updated information from the system, Morin gained a clearer understanding of the structure of this steel behemoth.

“Come, Captain Morin, let me show you our ‘treasure’.” Colonel Lucas greeted Morin warmly and led him on a tour, starting from the front of the train.

"Look at the first section, that's our 'armored artillery vehicle,' which is also our 'iron head' for breaching obstacles."

Lucas pointed to the huge, plow-like clearing shovel at the front of the carriage and said:
"This thing can smash through most obstacles on the road, and the carriage itself is covered with all-around heavy armor—the same as that of the Teutonic Knights, enough to withstand a direct hit from any known conventional artillery."

Morin's gaze fell on the two huge hemispherical armored turrets arranged one in front of the other on the carriage.

The turret's design is full of Saxon simplicity and ferocity, with its long gun barrel pointing diagonally towards the sky.

"These two turrets are equipped with 150mm naval guns that we 'borrowed' from the navy."

Lucas explained with a smile:
"The navy's cannons are powerful and have a long range, making them extremely effective against enemy fortifications and artillery positions."

"This section at the back of the artillery carriage is our 'fire support vehicle'," Lucas continued. "It's equipped with a mix of six MG08 heavy machine guns and three 88mm secondary cannons."

"An 88mm gun?" Morin's heart skipped a beat when he heard the familiar word. "Yes, it's also a naval weapon."

Lucas smiled, seemingly in gratitude for the 'gift' from the naval fleet.

"It was originally intended to be mounted on light warships to attack torpedo boats. However, we found that this thing is also quite useful for attacking ground targets, with a fast rate of fire and high accuracy."

Morin knew that the 88mm gun in this world was not the same as the famous Flak 88 in his memory.

Chronologically speaking, should it be considered an 'ancestor' of the Flak 88?
However, since Train Commander Lucas has said so, this 88mm gun must have some advantages, otherwise they wouldn't have 'borrowed' it from the Navy.

"The third and fourth sections are the passenger car and the supply car, respectively."

Lucas pointed to the two middle carriages and said:
"According to the organization, we should be assigned a full-scale infantry company to accompany the vehicle. However, we set off in such a hurry that the infantry have not yet had time to board the vehicle. Therefore, the personnel carriages are also full of supplies, which are being used to replenish your training assault battalion."

Looking at the mountains of ammunition boxes and weapon crates, Morin felt a surge of excitement.

He saw that many of the boxes were marked with the logo of 'Schmeisser Weapons Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,' which clearly indicated that they were a new batch of MP14 submachine guns and MG14 light machine guns produced by his company.

"The fifth carriage houses one of our core components—the 'anti-magic defense unit'."

Lucas continued his introduction, the man in his forties speaking as if he were showing off his big toy.

"It is equipped with an independent magic core and a large magic generator, which can create a high-strength magical shield around the train. In terms of defense, it is even stronger than the shield on the armored airship."

This surprised Maureen somewhat.

He had always believed that the Saxons had the best airships for magical defense.

Unexpectedly, the armored train on the ground was even more superior.

"Next up is our power core."

Lucas pointed to the two middle carriages, which were noticeably taller and more structurally complex than the others, and said:
"Two Huijing diesel locomotives, one in front and one behind, sandwiched an armored command vehicle in the middle."

"A Grim Crystal internal combustion engine? The kind used in Armored Knights and Grim Crystal vehicles?"

“That’s right, but the ‘Odin’ uses the Empire’s latest technology.”

Lucas proudly stated:

"Each Huijing diesel locomotive can provide us with a powerful 4,700 horsepower! Two locomotives together will give us nearly 10,000 horsepower!"

"Hiss!" Morin gasped.

This data is comparable to the 'Harmony 5B Type' from the world he traveled to before.

Using two 'hearts' of this caliber to drive a train is, in this day and age, an absolute luxury.

No wonder this steel behemoth possesses a speed disproportionate to its size.

"Colonel Lucas, what's behind that second diesel locomotive?"

Morin pointed to a huge carriage completely covered by heavy armor, with no discernible internal structure, and asked.

"Good question, Captain Morin~ This is the Odin's main weapon, 'Gungnir'!"

"Gungnir?"

Morin repeated the name; it was the spear of eternity, the weapon of Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology.

Using this name to name a weapon is clearly not something trivial.

"What exactly is it?" Morin asked curiously.

"Hehe." Lucas kept everyone in suspense, smiling mysteriously. "Once we get outside Paris, you'll know, I guarantee you'll exclaim in surprise, Captain!"

Morin smiled and shook his head, then looked at the mysterious carriage and noticed another detail.

Almost all the sides of the carriages are equipped with huge hydraulic support structures that resemble centipede legs.

It appears that after being unfolded, it can be deeply embedded in the roadbed on both sides of the railway.

Morin had a vague guess in his mind, and combined with the information the system had just given him, he roughly knew what the so-called 'Gungnir' was.

That was definitely some kind of siege weapon with outrageous power and such terrifying recoil that it could only be withstood by the entire train and its external support structure.

Behind the 'Gungnir' carriage, the configuration of the carriages in front is basically reversed and repeated.

The symmetrical structure at both ends allows this armored train to unleash the firepower of four 150mm guns and six 88mm guns, regardless of which direction it faces.

At the very end of the train were the five flatbed carriages used to carry the armored knights.

According to Colonel Lucas, the flatbed cart could also carry materials for laying rails, but they had used up almost all of them along the way.

As the soldiers of the training assault battalion completed their resupply, Leonia's armored knights were also secured on the flatbed trucks.

Once everything was ready, the two Huijing diesel locomotives released their brakes and slowly started moving.

(End of this chapter)