Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 89 The Budding of Tactical Thinking

Morin roused himself and entered the camp tent. Major Thomas, on the other hand, seemed to be in pretty good spirits at the moment.

Well, after all, officers at the field level still had military horses to ride.
He was standing in front of a simple military table, on which military maps were already laid out.

Once all four company commanders had arrived, Major Thomas got straight to the point, circling a place name on the map.

"Gentlemen, this is our 1st Battalion's target for this attack—San Lorenzo de la Parilla."

This tongue-twisting name was something none of the four company commanders present had ever heard of before.

"Based on our current intelligence, this is a small town with a population of less than a thousand, but its geographical location is very important."

As Major Thomas described the town, Maureen also carefully examined the map.

It is indeed a transportation hub in this area, at least the map shows two roads intersecting here.

More importantly, there is a castle called Garcimulos marked in the north of the town, and Major Thomas just happened to be talking about it at that moment.

"This castle is our real target."

The major used the end of his pencil to heavily tap the castle icon on the map.

"Because of the existence of this castle, and the two roads that intersect here, this town became an important stronghold for the Royal Army and the Brittany Expeditionary Force on their defensive line."

His tone was serious, and the atmosphere in the tent became oppressive.

"According to the information previously brought back by the division's reconnaissance troops, there is at least one battalion of the Kingdom's army stationed in this town."

"And this entire area is the defense zone of the Kingdom's 32nd Infantry Regiment."

Major Thomas raised his head and glanced at the crowd as he finished speaking.

"So it is very likely that the headquarters of the Kingdom's 32nd Infantry Regiment is located in the town, or in the castle."

The tent was silent, with only the heavy breathing of the people inside.

An enemy battalion, plus a fortified castle that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, would definitely be a tough nut to crack on the relatively flat plateau terrain.

"Given the strength of the enemy's defenses, the actual offensive was launched by the entire 32nd Tsvika Infantry Regiment."

Major Thomas continued:
"However, our 1st Battalion will be the main attacking force, responsible for directly attacking the town."

"The 2nd and 3rd Battalions will provide support from both flanks after the battle begins and will be responsible for blocking any possible enemy reinforcements."

He paused, a somewhat strange smile appearing on his face.

"Perhaps it was fate that brought two infantry regiments, both numbered 32, together on this foreign land in this way."

This slightly darkly humorous remark eased the tense atmosphere in the tent a little.

While everyone was pondering, Morin opened the system map.

The entire battlefield situation was instantly and clearly displayed before his eyes.

From a macro perspective, the right flank of the Saxon 32nd Infantry Regiment is the 31st Infantry Regiment, which also belongs to the 16th Brigade.

On the left flank were the troops of the 15th Brigade.

The entire offensive front of the 8th Infantry Division was about three kilometers wide—which was exactly the width of an infantry division's deployment in the early stages of World War I, as Morin recalled.

The 8th Infantry Division's right flank was the 7th Infantry Division, which advanced alongside it.

Behind them was the Ninth Division, which served as a reserve force.

Three fully-strength Saxon infantry divisions, along with some National Army and International Brigades cooperating in the operation, formed a massive attack line nearly six kilometers wide.

Looking at the map, it resembles a sharp sword with its edge clearly visible, pointing directly at Madrid in the northwest.

"If three divisions dared to attack Madrid, would three corps dare to attack Paris?"

Looking at the dense blue arrows on the map, Morin secretly marveled at Lieutenant General Mackensen's audacity.

However, he soon noticed another detail.

Perhaps it was because both sides suffered heavy losses in the previous battle in Seville.

It is also possible that the start of negotiations has led both sides to consciously control the intensity of the war.

Therefore, this time, both sides seem to have tacitly agreed not to deploy the expensive armored knights to the front lines, let alone mages.

Morin carefully searched the map, and the only Teutonic Knights detachment he could see was next to a friendly battalion-level unit called the 'Royal Guard'.

Their location is about five or six kilometers behind the current main force assembly area.

They seem to have absolutely no intention of participating in the first wave of attack.
"It seems that the next battle will be a traditional clash between the army and the ground forces."

Morin thought to himself that this might be good news for him.

At least for the time being, we won't have to rack our brains anymore to figure out how to deal with those tin cans and highland mages.

On the other side, after Major Thomas had everyone digest the orders, he also began to formally deploy the specific attack plan.

"Gentlemen, the battle of Seville has taught us all a painful lesson."

The Saxon army major's expression became extremely solemn; his combat thinking had clearly undergone some profound changes after experiencing that hellish urban warfare.

"This time, although we are attacking a small town, the enemy's current surveillance force is only about one battalion."

"But if we still follow the traditional attack tactics and charge forward in a dense formation, the result will be the same as outside Seville, causing a lot of unnecessary casualties."

"I don't want to see my soldiers fall like wheat on the way to the charge again." His words unsurprisingly resonated with Morin and another old company commander.

As officers who had fought side-by-side in the bloody battle of Seville, the two nodded silently.

“These days, I’ve been thinking and learning.”

Major Thomas's gaze inadvertently swept over Morin.

"I've gained some inspiration from new tactical ideas. So for this battle, I've decided to change our tactics!"

He picked up a pencil and quickly began his map work, saying as he did so:
"Lieutenant Morin, your 1st Company will serve as the main assault company, tearing open the enemy's defenses from the left flank!"

“Yes, Major!” Morin replied immediately.

"2nd Company, 3rd Company, launch a feint attack simultaneously from the front and right flank to draw the enemy's attention and create an opportunity for the 1st Company!"

"The 4th Company, as the battalion reserve, is ready to be deployed into battle at any time to support the 1st Company's attack!"

After assigning the basic tasks, Major Thomas's gaze finally fell on Morin.

"Lieutenant Morin, I heard that you've been intensively training your company in a type of earthmoving operation lately?"

Major Thomas was clearly very concerned about the training of his subordinate companies, especially the training of Morin's 1st Company.

"I'm curious, can the things you've trained for be used in this attack?"

Major Thomas's question drew everyone's attention to Morin.

The other three company commanders also looked at him with curiosity.

The 1st Company has made a huge commotion lately; the entire battalion, regiment, and even the entire brigade know that Lieutenant Morin is training his soldiers in a completely new way.

No one expected that Major Thomas would raise this issue so formally at the pre-war meeting.

Morin walked up to the map and carefully examined the terrain surrounding the town of San Lorenzo de la Parilla.

Combining this with what he had personally observed during the march, a clear judgment formed in his mind.

"Reporting, Major." Morin raised his head, met everyone's gaze, and said in a deep voice, "I have observed the terrain of this area. It is mostly open land, and this town is located in a relatively high position with almost no usable cover around it."

"In this terrain, if we use conventional assault methods, it would be tantamount to sending our soldiers directly to the enemy's guns, which is absolutely unacceptable."

Morin's words resonated with the officers present, who all nodded in agreement.

"Therefore, I believe we can take advantage of the cover of night and dig trenches using earthwork to advance our offensive starting position as far forward as possible, all the way to the front of the enemy's defensive line."

Morin paused, then added:
"This way we can greatly shorten the assault distance when launching an attack, reduce the time exposed to enemy fire, and thus reduce casualties."

"only"

He changed the subject and looked at the other three company commanders.

"I don't know if other companies can complete such earthwork operations at the same time. This requires the soldiers to master certain digging skills and have enough tools."

As soon as Mo Lin finished speaking, the company commanders of the 2nd and 3rd companies exchanged a glance, and a simple, honest smile appeared on their faces.

"Heh heh, Lieutenant Morin, to be honest..."

Company Commander Hummels, a captain with a small mustache, said, barely suppressing a laugh:

“We saw how hard you were practicing, and we thought this method should be good, so we also tried to get some shovels and hoes from the engineers and supply corps.”

“That’s right,” Company Commander Khedira added, “These days, we’ve actually been secretly practicing it ourselves.”

"You bunch of bastards!" Morin laughed and cursed. "You'll have to pay tuition for stealing my tactics!"

"Tuition fees are no problem, tuition fees are no problem!"

"After this battle is over, I'll treat you to the best Saxon beer!"

Inside the tent, the slightly oppressive atmosphere before the battle was instantly dispelled by these few jokes.

Even Major Thomas, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn't help but smile slightly.

This is exactly the effect he wanted.

He needed his officers to maintain a positive, confident, and innovative mindset before the war.

Instead of mechanically executing orders as in the past.

“Very good!” Major Thomas slammed his hand on the table, making the final decision.

"Since everyone is prepared, then it's settled!"

"After the troops completed their rest and reorganization, before the general offensive time stipulated by the entire division, they secretly approached the town through nighttime earthwork operations!"

He looked at Morin: "You will be responsible for developing and guiding the specific excavation plan, and all companies will cooperate fully!"

"Yes, Major!" Morin saluted.

"And one more thing."

Major Thomas seemed to remember something and continued:

"After learning from the lessons of the Battle of Seville, the regimental headquarters split up the six MG08 heavy machine guns of the regimental heavy machine gun company and reinforced them in our three infantry battalions. Our 1st Battalion was also assigned two of them."

(End of this chapter)