Chapter 15: A Pyrrhic Victory

“What are you yelling about in here?! Is the fight over?! Spread out, damn it! Spread out!”

He strode forward and gave a soldier a rude kick on the backside.

“Corporal Jonah, Corporal Bowman, and you!” He pointed to the third Corporal. “Take your squads and advance by alternating cover and movement in a squad-based formation! Clear out the remaining enemies in the village!”

“Remember! Unless you meet resistance, do not shoot at civilians! Is that clear?!”

“Yes, Second Lieutenant!”

Startled by his shout, the three Corporals realized this was no time for celebration and immediately led their units into the close-quarters combat within the village.

With the main force commencing bayonet combat in the front, the Royal Army’s resistance in the village quickly disintegrated. These troops, with their low training and organization levels, were perhaps adequate for firing shots from a distance. One could not expect them to have the courage to engage in bayonet combat with these fierce-looking Saxon soldiers. Some Royal Army soldiers, seeing the writing on the wall, had already slipped away from the other side of the village before the battle was fully concluded. The remaining slow-to-react soldiers were either killed outright or dropped their weapons and surrendered.

San Isidro village was finally secured by the Saxons.

After the battle, the casualty report was quickly submitted to the Battalion Command. The results left everyone silent.

Yes, the Royal Army’s morale was abysmal—only slightly better than units that simply fire into the air when attacked. Yet, this very force, which many Saxon soldiers had dismissed before the battle, had made the 1st and 2nd Companies pay a heavy price on their path to assault.

The command structure of these two companies suffered a severe blow: officer casualties exceeded twenty-five percent, and enlisted casualties surpassed thirty-five percent. This drastically reduced the combat effectiveness of both infantry companies. It meant that on the very first day of the campaign, Major Thomas’s 1st Battalion had effectively lost nearly half a company’s worth of combat power.

In stark contrast was Captain Hauser’s 3rd Company… especially Morin’s 3rd Platoon. In the entire left flank assault, the 3rd Platoon had miraculously incurred zero combat losses. Only two soldiers sprained their ankles while scrambling over the riverbed, and one soldier tripped over himself in his excitement during the final rush. In a sense, it was zero casualties.

Moreover, post-battle statistics showed that the machine gun emplacement they had neutralized from the flank, plus the Royal Army infantry who had attempted to reinforce it, totaled at least forty men. A zero-to-forty exchange ratio was unbelievable.

When Captain Hauser and his Company Command staff entered the village and found Morin, the rugged Company Commander could no longer contain his emotions. He rushed up and gave Morin a solid bear hug, then forcefully clapped his shoulders, repeating only a few words:

“Well done! Well done, Morin!”

The surrounding 3rd Company soldiers looked at their new Platoon Leader, who had only taken command yesterday, with a mixture of awe and adoration. Before this, their respect for the young Second Lieutenant was primarily due to his rank. Now, that respect was pure and genuine. The military, especially the rank-and-file in wartime, is inherently meritocratic. No matter how eloquently you speak, nothing earns respect like leading them to victory and ensuring more of them survive.

Due to the heavy losses and the need for urgent rest and casualty treatment in the 1st and 2nd Companies, the task of establishing the perimeter defense naturally fell to the 3rd Company, which had suffered the least loss.

Captain Hauser took the main force to establish a defensive line on the side of the village facing Seville—the direction from which the enemy might counter-attack—using the remaining buildings and low walls. Infantry of this era had not yet developed the concept of mass trench warfare, and Morin didn’t see any soldiers equipped with shovels. Therefore, defensive lines typically relied on existing buildings and earthworks.

Morin led his 3rd Platoon to continue fortifying the village’s left flank. Combining the knowledge from his two military academies with the assistance of the system map, he quickly directed his soldiers to construct the defenses.

“Sergeant Klaus, please drag the captured Vickers machine gun over here and mount it on the platform of the mill on the right. If there are any grain sacks around, stack them up in front of the machine gun!”

“Corporal Jonah, take 1st Squad and set up an interlocking fire point in the gap next to those residential buildings!”

“Corporal Bowman, 2nd Squad, you are responsible for the left flank and the internal security of the village! Tell the villagers to stay indoors and not come out!”

A series of clear and precise orders were issued methodically from his mouth. External observation posts and overt/covert sentries were also arranged by Morin. Although these Saxon soldiers had no previous experience with these tactics, they quickly understood his intent after Morin’s patient explanations. Platoon Sergeant Klaus and the Corporals now executed Morin’s commands unconditionally, immediately leading their men to work.

Soon, a defensive position centered around the captured Vickers machine gun, supported by multiple dispersed fire points, and possessing a degree of depth and interlocking fire, took shape on the village’s left flank. At this moment, Morin had to admit that having an 80-man ‘Extra-Large’ infantry platoon was incredibly useful. The abundant manpower allowed him to implement various tactical deployments quite lavishly, both in setting up defenses now and during the previous attack.

After the deployment was complete, Morin and Sergeant Klaus moved to the Vickers machine gun emplacement. Klaus had previously had the opportunity to use this Britannian heavy machine gun during an exchange between the two armies, so he was able to teach other soldiers its basic operation—loading, aiming, firing, and basic troubleshooting. Maintenance and repair techniques were not important right now. After all, the ammunition for this captured heavy machine gun was very limited. Morin estimated they would likely run out of ammunition after one decent defensive battle, much like a limited-ammo ‘reward weapon’ in a video game.

After Sergeant Klaus confirmed the machine gun was undamaged and operational, he began instructing two hastily assigned gunners, aiming to get them proficient in its use as quickly as possible. Morin then had the four Corporals arrange the rotational duties for their respective squads and ordered the majority of the soldiers to rest immediately.

Not long after, the 1st Battalion Command moved forward to a relatively intact small chapel in the center of the village. Morin, who was brought to the command post by Captain Hauser, could see that Battalion Commander Major Thomas’s expression was extremely grim. Although they had successfully taken the village, the price paid was too high, making it difficult for him to account for the losses to the Brigade Command.

However, upon seeing Morin, he still forced himself to offer a few words of encouragement to the outstanding young officer and promised to recommend him for a commendation. After a brief chat, Major Thomas instructed Captain Hauser and 3rd Company to be prepared, as capturing San Isidro was not the end, but the beginning of the battle, and more intense fighting lay ahead.

This news doubled Morin’s stress. San Isidro, a mere village on the outskirts of Seville, was clearly intended to delay the Saxon advance, yet it already featured a machine gun emplacement. The defenses around Seville itself would only be higher and more complex.