Chapter 129 New Concept Inspection

The news that the Crown Prince would soon arrive to inspect the troops and observe the test firing of the new light machine gun was naturally good news for Morin and the Teaching Assault Battalion.

But ‘soon’ also meant their preparation time would be significantly reduced.

The moment he received the news, Kleist immediately sought out Morin.

“Battalion Commander, do we need to adjust our training schedule?”

The normally rigid Executive Officer showed a rare trace of worry on his face.

“I believe we should temporarily reduce the high-intensity physical training and strengthen the drill and ceremony content, after all…”

Before he could finish, Morin smiled and waved his hand.

“Kleist, your mindset hasn’t shifted yet.”

Morin patted his shoulder, his tone relaxed.

“Remember, this is the Teaching Assault Battalion, not the Guard Corps Honor Guard.”

“This unit, from the first day of its inception, was not created for those traditional tactics.”

“What His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince wants to see is our unique demeanor—soldiers who can truly fight.”

Since Morin had stated this clearly, Kleist had no further objections.

He simply straightened his back and loudly responded, “Yes, sir!”

Manstein, who was standing beside him and had already prepared several revised training plans, quietly swallowed his ideas about optimizing the inspection formation route.

Through their interactions over the past period, both had developed a very clear understanding of Morin.

Once Morin made a decision on a major direction, it was difficult for others to persuade him otherwise.

Conversely, Morin often adopted their suggestions, particularly regarding implementation details, and consistently offered innovative optimizations that left them thoroughly impressed.

Meanwhile, Morin took the time to notify Helga.

He did not explicitly mention that the Crown Prince was coming for an inspection and live-fire demonstration. He simply instructed her to keep the precious prototype gun in optimal condition, ready for his notification at any time.

The young woman now completely obeyed her boss, Morin, executing his instructions without compromise.

After receiving the notification, she immediately plunged into the workshop, beginning the final maintenance and tuning of the prototype gun.

Thus, with Morin maintaining his ‘study and training’ routine, time quickly advanced to late March, 1914, in this world.

Early on March 28th, Morin, who was in the large lecture hall of the War College listening to General Horndorff lecture on military history, was quietly taken to the office by a College instructor.

The instructor informed him that his immediate unit had called, saying they needed to speak to him about an urgent matter.

Morin understood immediately. Picking up the phone, he heard Kleist’s steady voice on the other end.

“Battalion Commander, the sun will rise tomorrow.”

This cryptic statement immediately conveyed Kleist’s meaning to Morin.

This was the pre-arranged code word between him and Kleist.

It meant that the Teaching Assault Battalion had received formal notification from the War Office: the Crown Prince and a host of Army high-ranking officials would arrive at the Teaching Assault Battalion’s garrison on the outskirts of Dresden tomorrow morning.

Since the Crown Prince’s travel, even within Dresden, was a sensitive matter, Morin had set up a special code word as a precaution.

Kleist and Manstein naturally fully supported Morin’s prudence, although they had vehemently disagreed with Morin’s initial suggestion to set the code word as ‘the fat sheep will arrive tomorrow.’

While they didn’t quite grasp the specific meaning of ‘fat sheep,’ their sharp military instincts told them that using the term for His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince was highly inappropriate.

Therefore, after their persistent arguments, Morin reluctantly had to change the code word to the much more normal-sounding ‘the sun will rise tomorrow.’

After hanging up the phone, Morin immediately went to General Horndorff’s office, the Vice-President, to request leave.

Over the past few days, he had developed a good relationship with the old General, who, though traditional, was rigorous in his academic approach.

The Vice-President occasionally even commandeered Morin’s afternoon time, which was meant for returning to the garrison, to privately discuss the future direction of infantry tactics in his office.

General Horndorff signed Morin’s leave request without even asking the reason.

“Go now, Captain Morin.”

The old General merely gave him a meaningful look.

“I hope your unit can provide a surprise for everyone.”

“Yes, General.”

Morin saluted and left the office.

Early the next morning, just as the sky began to brighten.

A motorcade composed of several black luxury sedans and an escort of Guard Corps troops quietly left the Dresden city center, heading toward the outskirts.

Inside one of the cars sat Crown Prince Georg, War Minister Falkenhayn, and Chief of General Staff Moltke the Younger.

In the other cars were several senior officers from various departments of the War Office and the General Staff.

The magnitude of this convoy clearly indicated the increased seriousness the Army high command was placing on this inspection, driven by the Crown Prince.

When the motorcade was about a kilometer from the Teaching Assault Battalion garrison, the forward-deployed security detail suddenly sent a messenger back.

“Report! Unidentified troops discovered assembling in the woods along both sides of the road ahead!”

This news immediately startled everyone in the cars.

Falkenhayn and Moltke the Younger’s faces instantly turned grim. They exchanged glances, uncertainty in their eyes.

However, a new message arrived shortly after, dispelling the false alarm.

“Report! Confirmed. It is the Teaching Assault Battalion’s forces! They are conducting some kind of drill!”

Hearing it was Morin’s unit, the tight frowns on Falkenhayn and Moltke the Younger’s faces slightly relaxed.

But confusion quickly followed. They had no idea what the Teaching Assault Battalion was up to.

Who conducts drills on the road meant for welcoming the Crown Prince and the Army high command?

This was completely against regulations!

Crown Prince Georg, however, far from being angry, found it somewhat amusing, and a look of keen interest spread across his face.

“Accelerate and go take a look.”

He ordered the driver.

“I want to see what new tricks that boy Morin is playing now.”

At Crown Prince Georg’s command, the entire motorcade noticeably accelerated.

When the motorcade arrived at the patch of woods, everyone was captivated by the sight before them.

In the woods lining both sides of the road, shadows dressed in the standard field gray uniforms of the Saxon Army were visible everywhere.

They were dispersed in squad units, concealed behind trees and bushes. The entire scene was utterly silent but filled with a palpable sense of danger.

If they hadn’t known these were their own troops, anyone in the motorcade would have assumed they had driven straight into a meticulously planned enemy ambush.

Just as Falkenhayn and Moltke the Younger were looking perplexed, assuming Morin had messed up and preparing to reprimand him, a sudden change occurred!

A sharp whistle from an officer pierced the silence of the woods.

The next moment, the soldiers who had been dispersed and concealed in the woods instantly sprang into action.

They burst out of their hiding spots with astonishing speed, quickly assembling on one side of the road.

The entire process was fluid and seamless, with no delay or confusion.

In just a few short tens of seconds, this temporary company-level combat unit—composed of the old 1st Company as the core, mixed with former Guard Corps soldiers and top personnel drawn from Bavarian Jäger units—transformed from a dispersed formation into a standard four-column marching formation right before their eyes.

Immediately, at a command from the officer leading the unit, the troops began to rapidly march toward the direction of the camp with neat, powerful strides.

Their running posture was also different from a standard quick sprint.

Their pace was faster, their center of gravity lower, and their movements were filled with a raw, explosive power.

All the senior officers in the motorcade, including the usually preoccupied Moltke the Younger, were stunned by this novel sight.

“This…”

War Minister Falkenhayn opened his mouth, momentarily unsure how to describe what he was seeing.

If he said they lacked discipline, the coordination and efficiency they displayed from concealment to assembly and then marching was even higher than the most elite Guard Corps units.

But if he said they were disciplined, this unheard-of ‘welcome ceremony’ was undeniably unconventional.

Crown Prince Georg, however, was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, his face filled with admiration.

“Interesting, truly interesting!”

He couldn’t help but clap his hands.

“Let’s go, follow them!”

The motorcade followed closely behind the rapidly advancing company, right up to the entrance of the Teaching Assault Battalion camp.

The moment the cars stopped, Crown Prince Georg impatiently jumped out and quickly followed the soldiers, who had just completed their kilometer-long charge, onto a large, open training ground.

He and the other high-ranking Army officials who followed were immediately greeted by an even more astonishing sight.

The soldiers, who had just finished their nearly kilometer-long full-gear sprint, showed no signs of stopping after entering the training ground.

They instantly dispersed from their marching column into multiple combat squads at a stunning speed, then advanced rapidly in a fan-shaped formation toward various preset human-shaped targets and mock positions at the far end of the training ground.

Immediately after, a company-level assault drill, conducted with performance-like precision, unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The sharp sound of gunfire echoed across the training ground.

The soldiers advanced quickly, using the various obstacles set up in the field for bounding overwatch.

Their movements were standard and rapid, clearly the result of extensive practice.

Two MG08 heavy machine gun teams, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, provided suppressing fire from the flank.

Meanwhile, the strong, long-limbed former Guard Corps soldiers used training grenades to precisely clear the ‘enemies’ in the mock positions, while more riflemen charged forward under covering fire.

The entire assault process flowed like a precise machine, every step connecting flawlessly.

Crown Prince Georg was immensely delighted, his face flushed with excitement.

The scene before him was exactly the new offensive method he had witnessed through binoculars from the observation balloon on the Aragon front, the one that had left such a profound impression on him.

This time, however, he was not observing from afar. He was standing close enough to directly feel the overwhelming speed and oppressive efficiency of this penetration and assault tactic.

What delighted him even more was that he could clearly distinguish the tall, imposing former Guard Corps soldiers and the lean, sharp-eyed Bavarian Jägers among these troops.

What did this signify?

It signified that the new training method and tactical thinking promoted by Morin were truly universally applicable!

It was not a specialized skill reserved for the old 1st Company’s battle-hardened veterans but could genuinely transform the most traditional soldiers of the Saxon Imperial Army into elite assault troops ready for future warfare!

For Crown Prince Georg, who had been eager to push for Army military reform, this was undoubtedly fantastic news.

The assault procedure demonstration quickly concluded—cleanly and efficiently, without a single unnecessary movement.

Under Morin’s guidance, the captivated Crown Prince and his entourage moved to the other side of the camp, to the newly completed 400-meter obstacle course.

Here, they would observe another core training subject of the Teaching Assault Battalion.

Morin did not stage a full-unit demonstration. Instead, he selected four soldiers with the best scores from the full battalion baseline test to perform a complete demonstration of the course.

At Kleist’s command, the four soldiers dashed forward like arrows shot from a bow.

Log hurdles, trench, low wall, high jump platform…

They moved swiftly and powerfully, maneuvering through the various obstacles with agile movements, crawling and rolling.

Watching the soldiers exert themselves through the mud and obstacles, the expressions on the faces of the senior officers in the motorcade varied widely.

War Minister Falkenhayn looked thoughtful. He seemed to see the value of this kind of high-intensity training in enhancing the soldiers’ individual combat capability and willpower.

Chief of General Staff Moltke the Younger also saw the tactical benefit…

But his mind was more preoccupied with the intelligence the General Staff had recently received about the Gallic Republic’s increased troop movements along the border.

The one who truly grasped the essence of the demonstration was Crown Prince Georg.

He could almost see through the movements of the four soldiers before him, clearly imagining the scene on a real battlefield: countless Saxon soldiers, as agile as these men, rapidly advancing through enemy fire to tear open the defense line.

What a thrilling picture that would be!

The demonstration ended. The four soldiers lined up at the finish line and saluted the Crown Prince.

Despite their heavy breathing, their posture remained ramrod straight.

Only then did Morin finally blow the assembly whistle, gathering all officers and men of the battalion into a neat square formation to formally receive the Crown Prince’s inspection.

Crown Prince Georg was deeply satisfied with this novel approach of showcasing capability before accepting the formal inspection and the shocking effect it created.

During the inspection, he did not hold back his praise and high expectations for the entire Teaching Assault Battalion.

He expressed his hope that the soldiers would continue to train diligently, overcome all difficulties, and soon become the model for the entire Army, sowing the seeds of the assault doctrine throughout the Saxon Army!

The Crown Prince’s words filled the soldiers of the Teaching Assault Battalion, especially the recently joined former Guard Corps and Jäger soldiers, with unprecedented excitement and pride.

The respect and trust in their eyes toward Morin deepened considerably.

“Coming to this unit was the right choice!”

This was the collective thought in everyone’s mind at that moment.

(End of this Chapter)