Chapter 179: Sentry Equipment Youth Edition?

Morin was pondering, his fingers already beginning to carefully rub every detail of the Cuirass.

The progress bar in the [Technology] tab slowly climbed, and simultaneously, a series of detailed data surfaced in his mind.

Similar to the chest armor from the Napoleonic era he remembered, this set of equipment was composed of two steel plates, front and back. The steel plates were about 3 millimeters thick, each piece weighing a solid 7.5 kilograms. The front and back plates were connected by leather copper-scale shoulder straps, and there was a leather belt at the waist, riveted to the back plate, used to fasten it in the front. The inner lining of the Cuirass was a slightly coarse herringbone canvas, directly sewn to the inside of the steel plate. It couldn’t be removed, nor could it be conveniently washed. Morin could smell a pungent odor mixed with sweat and mildew, imagining how uncomfortable it must have been to wear.

Smelly, nothing more to say.

Holding the Cuirass and looking at it left and right, Morin found the progress bar in the [Technology] tab stalled at 40%. He suddenly thought of something as he looked at the inner lining.

He pulled out the bayonet from his waist and carefully lifted a corner of the already dark-stained inner lining. The canvas was cut open, exposing the cold inner side of the steel plate underneath. As expected, it was densely etched with numerous tiny Runes. These Runes had complex structures, intertwined and interwoven, forming a strange pattern.

The moment he saw these Runes, the system’s progress for this technology leaped directly from a few percent to 100%.

[‘Model 1890’ Enchanted Cavalry Cuirass Technology Unlocked]

With the massive influx of information from the cheat system, Morin slowly understood the working principle of this Cuirass. It was actually not the same mechanism as the full body armor worn by the ‘Plate Armor Supermen’ of Britannia or the Saxon Empire.

The armor of those ‘Plate Armor Supermen’ was actually closer to the manufacturing process of the Armored Knights. Magic Crystal Powder was integrated during the forging process. Through a special Magic Guided technique, the material strength and toughness of the armor were greatly enhanced on a physical level.

The Gallic Cuirass, on the other hand, was essentially a well-crafted ordinary steel plate. Its miraculous aspect lay entirely in the Enchantment Array etched on the inner side. This Array could form a simplified Shield Spell on the surface of the Cuirass. It was called ‘simplified’ because this shield had a defense threshold. Depending on the fluctuations in the Enchantment process, it could reliably resist three to five direct hits from full-power rifle rounds.

During the previous engagement, the Instruction Assault Battalion soldiers felt the Cuirassiers were ‘tough’ mainly because it was difficult to guarantee successive hits exceeding the defense threshold on the same target in a short period. Once the received attack exceeded this threshold, the Enchantment effect would immediately fail, the simplified Shield Spell would disappear, and the Cuirass would revert to being a simple steel plate. To restore its protective capability, it would need to be sent to the rear for specialized Magic Guided Technicians to repair and ‘recharge’ it using specific tools and materials.

Morin glanced at the pile of Cuirasses on the ground. The 3rd Company had intentionally picked up a few sets where the defense had completely failed for comparison. These Cuirasses all had bullet holes, clearly having been directly penetrated after the Enchantment failed. However, on the dozens of Cuirasses that were not penetrated, the etched Runes themselves were not completely destroyed.

With this thought, a bold idea sparked in Morin’s mind.

“Repair” and “recharge”…

Staring at the lining he had just cut with his bayonet, Morin suddenly had an inspiration.

A most basic Cantrip, [Mend], was quietly cast.

The cut made by the bayonet visibly and rapidly healed, restoring to its original state in the blink of an eye, with no trace of damage visible. What surprised him even more was that with the repair of the lining, he felt a faint flash of Magic Aura pass over the surface of the Cuirass, which became significantly brighter than before.

Holy cow? It actually worked!

“I knew practice makes perfect.”

Morin cast [Mend] once more. This time, the Magic Aura on the surface of the Cuirass was even more abundant. Based on his assessment of the intensity of this Magic Aura, it seemed to be fully recharged.

Morin then had someone bring down a Cuirass that had been penetrated. This Cuirass had a gaping, fist-sized hole in the front. The steel plate around the edge was curled inward, clearly having been directly hit by a large-caliber bullet or explosive.

He placed his hand on the hole and cast [Mend] again.

A faint glow flashed. The curled steel plate began to slowly twist and reshape, eventually completely filling the terrifying hole. After a few seconds, the Cuirass was restored to its complete external shape, though the repaired area was slightly duller than the surrounding metal.

However, when he assessed the Cuirass again, he found that it had not regained its Magic Aura like the previous one. It seemed [Mend] could only repair the physical damage and slightly recharge the Enchantment Array, but it was powerless against a completely destroyed Enchantment Array.

Abandoning the idea of turning scrap into treasure, Morin redirected his attention to the forty-odd intact Cuirasses on the ground. He rubbed his hands together and began casting [Mend] on the Cuirasses lined up on the ground, one by one. Since Cantrips, in theory, had no usage limit, he could keep using it as long as his mental strength held up.

The first one… two uses of [Mend] restored the aura.

The second one… three uses of [Mend] restored the aura.

Manstein and Kleist, along with the other soldiers, watched the scene with wide-eyed astonishment.

“Is this… magic?” Manstein muttered blankly.

After casting [Mend] five times consecutively, Morin felt his head starting to spin, and he saw slight double vision. He gritted his teeth, forced himself to endure, and reached for the next Cuirass.

The third one… cast [Mend]…

“Ugh…” Morin lost control, clutching the wall and violently retching.

This sudden turn of events startled Manstein, Kleist, and Jonas beside him.

“Battalion Commander!”

“Are you alright?”

They were about to rush over and support Morin, but he held up a hand weakly, while the other clutched the wall.

“I’m fine…” Morin’s voice was muffled by the retching. “I just need to throw up for a bit… I’ll be fine… Just get me some salt water.”

Manstein immediately took out his salt packet and poured some into his water bottle. Kleist, meanwhile, muttered blankly: “So this… this is what magic is like?”

Morin leaned against the mottled wall, his stomach churning. It took him a while to recover. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling dizzy and seeing the world gently swaying. Manstein and Kleist beside him looked anxious, attempting to support him, but he waved them off.

“I’m alright. Just a bit dizzy.”

Morin leaned against the wall, let out a long breath, and took the water bottle Kleist offered to rinse his mouth. He was now experiencing firsthand what it felt like to heavily deplete mental strength in a short period. Although it was just a basic Cantrip, and according to the description in the [Spell] interface, it indeed had no usage limit. However, repeatedly casting [Mend] seven or eight times still resulted in a considerable expenditure of mental energy. It felt like pulling an all-nighter for three days straight working on a thesis; his mind was empty, and everything he looked at had a slight double image.

“Battalion Commander, you should rest,” Kleist’s voice was full of worry.

Morin shook his head. He knew this was not the time to rest. He also realized that the Gauls’ method of ‘recharging’ these Cuirasses certainly didn’t rely on Spellcasters manually casting Cantrips one by one. That was too inefficient—it was essentially treating a precious Spellcaster as a laborer. Only an untrained ‘wild Spellcaster’ like himself would attempt such a foolish thing. They likely had some kind of more efficient, industrialized Magic Guided Device to perform this process.

“They wouldn’t actually be manually recharging them like I am, would they?” Morin thought to himself. However, for now, he could only resort to this clumsy method.

After resting for a while, the dizzy feeling slightly receded, and Morin forced himself to stand up and walk back to the pile of Cuirasses. He no longer attempted to ‘fully charge’ every single one—that was unrealistic and would completely exhaust him. With a fierce battle imminent, he absolutely could not let his body fail him.

So, Morin changed his approach. Based on the residual Magic Aura intensity on each Cuirass, he divided the forty-six sets of trophies into three piles. The first pile was ‘slightly worn,’ about ten pieces. The aura on them was still bright, clearly having been recently equipped or minimally hit in combat, requiring virtually no repair. The second pile was ‘battle-worn,’ about twenty-odd pieces. The aura on these Cuirasses was faint but still capable of providing effective protection. The third pile was ‘severely damaged,’ less than ten pieces remaining. The aura was so weak it was almost invisible; they would likely be scrapped after one or two more hits.

Morin’s goal was to elevate the status of this final ‘severely damaged’ pile to the level of ‘battle-worn.’

He rested briefly, and when the dizziness slightly faded, he reached out again, casting [Mend] intermittently on the most damaged Cuirasses. After repairing each one, he would stop for a few minutes, drink some salt water, and allow the nausea to subside.

The soldiers around him watched quietly, no one disturbing him. They watched their Battalion Commander, pale-faced and sweating, yet persistently injecting faint light into the damaged Cuirasses. In their eyes, this was no longer simple magic, but a source of reassuring strength.

Finally, after another bout of retching, Morin managed to bring all the Cuirasses up to a usable standard. He stood straight, looking at the forty-six sets of Cuirasses before him that were now glowing with a faint blue Magic Aura, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

“Distribute these things,” Morin instructed Klaus and the other two Company Commanders who had arrived upon hearing the news. “Prioritize the tall and strong soldiers.”

The Gallic cavalrymen were generally more robust than ordinary infantry, so their Cuirasses were somewhat large for most soldiers in the Instruction Assault Battalion. Conversely, the 2nd Company, predominantly composed of former Imperial Guards soldiers who had better nutrition and training, and who were selected based on physical requirements, had the most men who could fit the Cuirasses. They immediately claimed twenty-two sets. The remaining twenty-four sets were distributed among the strongest men in the 1st Company and 3rd Company.

One 1st Company soldier excitedly put on a set. The heavy steel armor made him slump slightly, but he quickly adjusted. He flexed his shoulders, then thumped his chest hard, producing a muffled ‘dang, dang’ sound. “Hey! This feels pretty good!” he grinned, happy as a child. “Wearing this, I feel much safer!”

Morin saw his excitement and decided not to ruin his mood by telling him the armor had a ‘durability meter.’ However, after thinking for a moment, he walked over and specifically cautioned him: “Remember, when the fighting starts, pay close attention to the blue light on your chest armor. If you notice the light is gone, find a chance to take the thing off immediately.”

“Otherwise, it won’t be your armor, but fifteen kilograms of scrap iron dragging you down.”

“Understood, Battalion Commander!” the soldier replied loudly.

Morin also emphasized this point to the other three Company Commanders, ensuring they all cautioned the soldiers who received the Cuirasses not to assume they were invulnerable.

With the distribution of this special ‘Sentry Equipment Youth Edition’ complete, the entire Instruction Assault Battalion transitioned into a high-speed state of combat readiness. Morin’s four-layer defense plan was quickly distributed to the companies by Dispatch Rider.

The soldiers of the Battalion Headquarters Signals Platoon ran through the ruins and streets of the South City, laying down telephone lines. Soon, the lines connected the temporary command post in the core area of South Charleroi to the temporary company headquarters of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies in their respective defense sectors.

Loud battle cries and the sound of officers’ whistles echoed across the city. Except for the platoons still performing security missions on the perimeter, all soldiers were engaged in the tense work of fortifying their positions. All the sacks found in the city were gathered, and soldiers queued up, hauling sack after sack filled with sand and soil from the Sambre River to the front line.

Guided by the sketches Morin had drawn, sturdy sandbag barricades were erected at crucial intersections and defensive strongpoints. The ground-floor doors and windows of several key buildings were completely sealed with bricks and furniture, leaving only dark firing ports on the second and third floors. Soldiers who had received demolition training and were designated as future ‘Combat Engineers’ in Morin’s plan used explosives and sledgehammers to create passages in the walls of adjacent buildings. This connected individual structures into a complex, traversable internal fortress.

Morin, Kleist, and Manstein rode a Military Truck to inspect the various defense sectors in the South City. At each location, Morin personally checked the arrangement of the barricades and the firing arcs of the Machine Gun positions.

“Your Heavy Machine Gun position here is wrongly placed…” He stopped in the 2nd Company’s defense sector, pointing to a firing point set up on the second floor of a corner building. “The firing arc is too narrow, and it’s vulnerable to direct hits from enemy artillery.”

“Move it to the third floor of the building across the street. From there, it can cover two streets and form crossfire with the other position on the flank.” As he spoke, he picked up a stone and quickly sketched the modification onto the brick wall of the building.

The 2nd Company Commander immediately ordered the soldiers to follow the Battalion Commander’s instructions, laboriously moving the heavy MG08 Heavy Machine Gun and boxes of ammunition to the new position.

Time flew by in tense and orderly work. Morin occasionally paused to check the movement of allied forces on the system map.

(End of this Chapter)