Chapter 177: If I Had a Few Regiments, Would I Be Like This?

Morin realized at this moment that although he possessed knowledge beyond his era and the assistance of the system, he still had many shortcomings in actual command experience. And experience, in this regard, could only be gained through fighting more battles; there were no shortcuts.

Hearing Morin’s suggestion to equip the alert units with Military Trucks, Kleist’s eyes lit up: “That… that’s an excellent idea! That way, our alert units will be much safer!”

“More than just safe.” Manstein’s eyes also sparkled with excitement; he clearly thought a layer deeper. “Battalion Commander, if we equip the alert units with Military Trucks, it means we can extend our alert range much further outwards!”

Morin looked at him approvingly. This was exactly what he was thinking.

The main reason he was unwilling to abandon the perimeter and contract all his forces into the city for Street Fighting was his cheat—the system map. The system map’s range was limited; he had to ‘light up’ the fog of war on the map through forward reconnaissance units. The wider the alert line was cast, the broader his field of vision and the more comprehensive his grasp of the battlefield situation would be.

Before, he dared not cast the alert line too wide, precisely because he worried the dispersed alert units wouldn’t be able to return—just like what happened today. However, if they were equipped with Military Trucks, this problem would be solved instantly.

“It’s decided then.” Morin announced decisively. “Order all companies to immediately requisition Military Trucks from the Supply Train to equip all security squads operating outside the city with transport!”

“Yes!”

The trio discussed defensive operations for a while longer, then quickly discovered a new problem. How should the Instruction Assault Battalion respond if the Gauls attempt to cross the river from another location?

Their gazes converged spontaneously on the Sambre River, which meandered through Charleroi on the map. They had all subconsciously treated the Sambre River as a natural barrier, assuming the enemy could only attack from the South City direction, which is the south bank of the river.

But warfare is never a single-choice question. Charleroi City is five to six kilometers long from west to east. The limited forces of the Instruction Assault Battalion were already stretched thin just defending the front and flanks of the South City. It was impossible to incorporate the entire Sambre River shoreline into their defense perimeter.

As Kleist pointed out, the Gauls were perfectly capable of using engineer units to quickly set up pontoon bridges in sections of the river far from the urban area. Once their main force crossed the river via these pontoon bridges and reached the North Bank, they could easily bypass the strong defenses of the South City and attack from the east and west flanks of the North City. At that point, the Instruction Assault Battalion would face the predicament of being caught in a pincer attack.

Even worse, the Field Artillery Battalion that had just achieved a great feat had its position set up on a high ground outside the North City. While this position provided effective fire support for the defense of the South City, it was also completely exposed to the outside. If the Gauls successfully crossed the river, the Artillery Battalion would have no choice but to retreat or enter the city. Once the artillery position was lost, the Instruction Assault Battalion would lose its only fire support.

“Crossing the river from other positions…” Morin stared at the winding Sambre River on the map, his brow tightly furrowed.

He had too few men. A single battalion holding the South City of Charleroi was already stretched thin. To also divide forces to defend the long Sambre River bank was pure fantasy.

“The range we can extend our control outside the city is extremely limited,” Morin sighed, a deep sense of helplessness in his voice. Leaving aside the enemy’s swift cavalry forces watching them, even without the cavalry, the Instruction Assault Battalion’s small force could only safely operate within the range of the Field Artillery Battalion’s fire support outside the city. Actively attempting to sally out to stop the Gauls from setting up pontoon bridges several or even a dozen kilometers away was a pipe dream.

A long silence fell over the command post. The three men scratched their heads for a long time but could not come up with a single effective solution. Ultimately, they reached a frustrating conclusion: the problem was unsolvable. Or rather, given the Instruction Assault Battalion’s current situation, they were completely incapable of stopping the Gauls from crossing the river via pontoon bridges from other directions.

“Damn it!” Morin slammed his fist on the table, the impact making a dull thud. “If I had a few Regiments in hand, would I be like this?!”

His complaint, laced with deep frustration and unwillingness, revealed the core of the problem. Ultimately, it was a lack of manpower. If he had a few complete Regiments under his command, he could calmly allocate mobile units to conduct a mobile defense along the North Bank, ready to destroy any pontoon bridges the enemy might set up.

But now, he only had one battalion.

Hearing Morin’s complaint, Kleist and Manstein shared a wry smile.

Just as the atmosphere was growing increasingly oppressive, Manstein, who had been silently contemplating, suddenly spoke.

“Battalion Commander, I actually think we might be being too pessimistic.”

Morin and Kleist looked at him, eager to hear what insight the young Operations Staff Officer had.

“We have been looking at the problem from our own perspective, but if we look at it from the Gauls’ perspective, the situation might not be so bad.”

Manstein walked up to the map, picked up a red and blue pencil, and drew a few arrows on the map.

“First, we must clarify what the Gauls’ current strategic objective is.”

“According to the General Staff’s assessment, the Gallic Fifth Army Group’s main force is concentrated in Hirson. Their primary mission is to stop our right-wing forces from penetrating deep into Gallic territory.”

“And Charleroi, along with the Sambre River where it is located, is the natural barrier blocking our advance south.”

He pressed the red tip of the pencil heavily onto Charleroi’s location.

“Therefore, from the Gallic commander’s perspective, his mission is not to cross the Sambre River and attack north, but to try every means possible to use the Sambre River to interdict us and prevent us from crossing the river.”

“In a scenario where they can only cross using pontoon bridges, if they risk bringing a large number of troops to the North Bank… the moment our Saxon main force suddenly arrives, those crossed Gallic troops would be fighting with their backs to the river, facing the immense risk of being encircled and annihilated by us.”

“No sane commander would take such a risk with his valuable forces under these circumstances.”

Manstein’s analysis was clear and logically sound, instantly sweeping away the confusion clouding the minds of Morin and Kleist. They had been so focused on the ‘enemy strong, we are weak’ mindset that they neglected the fact that the enemy also faced strategic constraints and risks.

“So, you mean the Gauls’ most rational and safest option is not to cross the river.” Morin followed his line of thinking, his eyes growing brighter.

“Exactly.” Manstein confirmed with a nod. “They will concentrate all their forces, at any cost, to capture the South City of Charleroi that we occupy, and then destroy all the bridges in the city!”

“That way, they can turn the Sambre River into an unbreakable defense line, firmly blocking our main force on the North Bank.”

“At that point, they can calmly mobilize forces, construct sturdy defenses along the riverbank, and turn this into a protracted war of attrition that favors them.”

After listening to Manstein’s analysis, Morin and Kleist both breathed a sigh of relief. While this didn’t mean the danger was over, it meant the entire focus of the battlefield would return to Charleroi City itself.

“In other words, the most intense fighting ahead will be in the South City of Charleroi, and the three bridges connecting the North and South.” Morin’s finger slowly traced the icons of the three bridges on the map.

These three bridges would become the focus of the battle, and inevitably a meat grinder consuming countless lives. The pressure was still immense. But at least the operational goal had become clear and explicit.

Hold the South City, protect the bridges, and endure until reinforcements arrive… That was the only thing left for them to do.

With the Gauls’ main direction of attack clarified, the subsequent defense deployment had a clear objective. Morin took a deep breath and began to assess the forces at his disposal.

Currently, his entire usable force was the Imperial Guards First Instruction Assault Battalion, plus a 77mm Field Artillery Battalion that had just arrived and was frantically calculating its firing tables. The Artillery Battalion Commander had just reported to him by phone that the gunners were anxiously performing range finding and calculations to prepare their firing tables for subsequent bombardment. The Artillery Battalion Commander stated that once the basic firing tables were established, the fire support they provided would become faster and more accurate.

However, Morin also knew that once the battle entered the brutal phase of urban Street Fighting, the effectiveness of the artillery would be severely limited. It would mostly be used to suppress enemy units attempting to flank the city’s sides, or to provide saturation fire on enemy formations assembling outside the city. The true decisive factor would still be the infantry fighting inch by inch inside the city.

The Instruction Assault Battalion, when fully manned, consisted of 4 infantry companies and one Firepower Detachment equipped with 12 MG08 Heavy Machine Guns, excluding the Battalion Headquarters, Signals Platoon, and Supply Train—which were non-combat units.

Each infantry company, excluding the Company Headquarters and logistics personnel, had 240 pure combat personnel. The Heavy Machine Gun squads in the Firepower Detachment numbered 60 men.

In total, the entire battalion’s pure combat personnel numbered a full 1,120 men. Including the Battalion Headquarters, company headquarters, and logistics Supply Train personnel, the total personnel of the entire battalion approached 1,300 men. And that didn’t even count the Supply Train’s Military Truck drivers.

This was a reinforced battalion’s composition. Both in terms of personnel quality and firepower intensity, it far exceeded a regular Saxon Empire Army infantry battalion.

(End of this Chapter)