Chapter 157: All Units Immediately Abandon the Forts and Retreat!

“Sir! We have arrived!”

The Assault Trooper leading the group inside reported to Morin in the command room.

“No casualties?”

“No casualties. The enemies we encountered were mostly killed before they could even react.”

“Well done.”

Morin nodded.

“The other Light Machine Gun is on the car outside. Take all the men, establish a defensive position using this building, and prepare to defend against the enemy’s counterattack.”

“Yes, Sir!”

After giving the order, Morin wasted no time. He led Manstein and two other Assault Troopers, escorting the six surrendered Signals Officers, back into the communications room.

He looked around the room.

This was the communication hub of the entire fortress. The room contained a large wired telephone exchange, a wired telegraph machine, and a massive radio transmitter.

Morin walked up to the captured Signals Officer, poked his chest with the muzzle of his gun, and spoke in Netherlandic:

“I ask, you answer. Don’t try any tricks.”

“Yes, yes, Sir…”

The officer was scared out of his wits and nodded repeatedly.

“How do you usually communicate between the Command Post and the twelve subordinate forts? Do you use open voice on the telephone, or encrypted messages via telegraph?”

The officer stammered slightly, seemingly hesitating.

“Hmm?”

Morin intensified his tone, nudging the gun muzzle forward.

“Speak!”

“E-encrypted…”

The officer finally broke under the pressure and replied shakily.

“We use encrypted communication via telegraph.”

“Where is the codebook?”

Morin pressed.

The officer’s face showed hesitation again.

“Sir, I…”

“I’ll ask one last time. Where is the codebook?”

Morin’s eyes turned cold, and he put his finger on the trigger, raising his voice.

“You are now prisoners. I urge you to value your lives and not force me to kill prisoners here.”

The threat of death was the best catalyst; the officer’s psychological defense completely collapsed.

He fumbled a string of keys from his pocket and pointed to a locked metal cabinet in the corner.

“I-it’s in there…”

Manstein immediately stepped forward and opened the cabinet with the keys. Inside, several thick booklets were neatly arranged. He picked up the codebook used for telegraph communication and handed it to Morin.

Morin glanced through it, then tossed the codebook back to the officer.

“Now, in the name of the Command Post, send a telegram to all twelve forts.”

He stared into the officer’s eyes, saying deliberately:

“I happen to understand a bit of cryptography. If you dare to play any tricks with the content, I guarantee you will die a miserable death.”

“I wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare, I absolutely wouldn’t dare…”

The officer shook his head like a rattle.

“Sir, what content should I send?”

Morin grinned, showing his white teeth.

“Tell them the truth.”

“Ah?”

The Signals Officer was clearly bewildered, not understanding what Morin meant.

“Just tell them the real situation…”

Morin spoke slowly, his voice low, but the content sent a chill down the spine of every captive present.

“The Saxons have already breached the fortress cluster from another direction.”

“The Fortress Command Post is under attack by the enemy’s elite Assault Team, and fierce fighting is underway.”

“Order all fort garrisons to immediately abandon the forts and break out toward the northwest to preserve their effective force!”

Hearing this order, the Signals Officer’s face instantly turned pale. He knew what would happen once this order was sent.

It meant that the entire defense system of the Liège Fortress cluster would completely collapse.

“Don’t try anything funny!” Morin noticed his hesitation and added coldly, “If I find that you’ve tampered with the telegram content…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the officer was already scared stiff.

The Division Headquarters had been wiped out by the enemy, and General Leman’s body lay in the hall outside. What could a mere Signals Officer do?

Indeed, soldiers ought to have backbone. But when faced with the threat of death, not everyone has one.

“I… I wouldn’t dare… I absolutely wouldn’t dare mess around…” The officer tremblingly took the codebook and sat down at the telegraph machine.

He flipped through the codebook while tapping the key with a shaking hand.

“Dit-dit… dit-dit-dah… dit-dit…”

The crisp sound of Morse code echoed in the quiet communications room.

A false order, capable of deciding the fate of tens of thousands of lives and even changing the course of the entire campaign, had thus been sent.

After watching the Signals Officer complete the transmission, Morin was debating whether to attack the Anti-Air Magic Guided Devices next or take out the Magic Power Hub first.

Suddenly, fierce gunfire erupted outside the command post.

“Da-da-da-da!”

“Bang! Bang-bang!”

The short bursts of the Light Machine Gun mixed with the single-shot rifle fire from the Flanders soldiers, creating a cacophony of sound.

An Assault Trooper guarding the entrance quickly ran in.

“Reporting, Sir! There are garrison troops attacking us outside! There are quite a few of them!”

He quickly summarized the situation.

“However, we can defend by relying on the command post building. Their attack formation is too dense, and the Light Machine Gun’s suppression effect is excellent. They won’t be able to breach us anytime soon!”

Morin nodded, acknowledging that the enemy’s counterattack was within his expectations. However, he also knew that due to the firepower advantage, the enemy would find it difficult to get close in the short term.

Just then, the wired telephone in the communications room suddenly rang with a piercing sound.

The ringing was conspicuously loud against the backdrop of gunfire and explosions.

The attention of everyone in the communications room instantly focused on the constantly vibrating phone.

Morin walked over without hesitation and picked up the receiver.

“Hello! This is the Fortress Command Post!”

An extremely anxious voice immediately came through the earpiece, asking rapidly in Netherlandic.

“This is Fléron Fortress! We just received your telegram! What exactly happened at the Command Post? Have the Saxons truly broken in?”

Fléron Fortress was a vital fort located southeast of the Liège Fortress cluster.

Morin’s mind raced. He knew this was the most critical moment. If he failed to deceive the other party, all his previous efforts would be for naught.

So, the next second, the method actor took over.

“Yes! The Saxon Assault Team! They appeared out of nowhere!”

Morin shouted into the microphone with a tone of near-hysteria and fervor.

“We are in combat! The enemy firepower is too fierce! The Command Post is about to fall!”

To increase credibility, he deliberately turned sideways so the microphone could clearly pick up the intense gunfire outside the window.

“Da-da-da-da!”

“Boom!”

“Rumble!”

The MG14 Light Machine Guns of the Assault Troopers outside were firing accurate bursts, occasionally interspersed with a hand grenade explosion and the detonation of the Time-Delay Detonators placed elsewhere. This perfect background sound made Morin’s performance seamless.

“General Leman… General Leman is killed in action!”

When he said this, Morin’s voice conveyed a perfect mix of grief and despair.

The commander of Fléron Fortress on the other end was clearly utterly stunned by this sudden piece of terrible news. Morin could even hear a suppressed gasp through the earpiece.

“Listen! Execute the order immediately! Abandon the fort! Break out toward the northwest! This is an order!”

Morin roared the final command into the microphone.

“The enemy… the enemy has already charged into the Command Post!”

With that, he slammed the phone down, making a loud snap, as if he had truly completed the vital call at the very last moment before the enemy burst in.

The entire communications room fell into a dead silence.

Everyone, whether it was Manstein and the Assault Troopers standing by or the few surrendered Flanders Signals Officers, was astonished by Morin’s masterful performance.

‘We are all soldiers, so why do you have so many tricks up your sleeve?’

The Flanders Signals Officers were particularly baffled, unable to comprehend what went through the mind of this seemingly young Saxon officer.

“Brilliant work, Sir!”

Manstein finally recovered from his shock and praised him sincerely.

“Standard procedure, standard procedure,” Morin waved his hand, showing no sign of smugness.

He then had the Signals Officer send out the ‘final telegram’ from the command post. The content was even shorter and more desperate.

[Command Post is attempting to break out. All forts abandon positions, break out toward the northwest, preserve force! This is the final telegram. God save Flanders!]

After sending this telegram, Morin concluded his performance and micro-management.

He and the other Assault Troopers severed all the lines in the communications room, simulating a situation where the ‘Command Post was completely cut off.’

Having done all this, he and his men tied up and gagged the Signals Officers who were no longer of use and threw them into a corner.

When they returned to the command post entrance, the fighting outside had reached a fever pitch.

The defending Assault Troopers had already repelled three waves of attack from the Flanders garrison. The plaza in front of the command post was littered with enemy corpses, at least a hundred of them.

Although the Assault Team still had a decent amount of ammunition despite the high intensity of the fight, the air-cooled Light Machine Guns’ barrels were now starting to overheat.

“Sir! We still have enough ammunition, but the gun barrels are getting red-hot!” the Machine Gunner reported loudly.

“Valkyrie warned us that if the barrel temperature gets too high, it might cause irreversible damage!”

Hearing the Machine Gunner’s words, Morin knew they could not stay here any longer.

“Understood. Use shorter bursts, and let the other members prioritize attacking!”

With that, Morin scanned the surrounding Assault Troopers and ordered:

“Attention everyone, prepare to move! Our next target: the Magic Power Hub!”

(End of this Chapter)