Chapter 186: Old Soldiers Never Die

De Gaulle lay prone behind a pile of corpses, his whole body shaking. He was no longer afraid; it was a feeling of deep despair.

He watched his soldiers—the young men who were shouting “For Gaul” with him just this morning—being slaughtered like livestock. He could do nothing but watch.

His Battalion Commander, the man who was so spirited just hours ago, now lay nearby, his eyes vacant. He kept muttering to himself: “Impossible… this is impossible.”

This battle had completely exceeded their comprehension. Their pride in their courage, discipline, and offensive doctrine seemed utterly fragile against these cold Barbed Wire obstacles and dense automatic firepower.

“Retreat! Quick, retreat!”

The shout, originating from an unknown source, spread like a plague among the surviving soldiers. The instinct for survival finally overwhelmed a soldier’s honor and discipline.

The soldiers began to flee backward recklessly. They pushed past comrades blocking their way, stepping on the bodies of the wounded, desperate to escape this living hell. The entire attacking column instantly disintegrated into a chaotic, disorderly rout.

The 75mm Magic Guided Cannons, which had been pushed onto the street and prepared for the assault, were now completely unable to deploy due to the rush of the retreating crowd. The Artillery Company Commander shouted, urging other soldiers to clear a line of fire for the Magic Guided Cannons to avoid friendly fire, but no one could hear him now.

De Gaulle was swept up in the crowd, involuntarily retreating backward. He looked back at the Barbed Wire stained with blood, and the corpses still subtly swaying on it, feeling like his soul had been drained dry.

As the flood of fleeing Gallic soldiers thinned out on the street, the two 75mm Magic Guided Cannons, which had been blocked behind the crowd, finally gained a chance to fire. The Artillery Company Commander waved his arms, hoarsely directing his gunners.

“Quick! Push the guns forward! Target! That three-story building ahead! Level it for me!”

The gunners, who had just managed to stabilize their position against the rush of the crowd, immediately began operating frantically. The heavy gun carriages of the two 75mm Magic Guided Cannons slowly rolled forward on the corpse-strewn street, crushing flesh and bone with a grating sound.

The Instruction Assault Battalion soldiers quickly spotted the two Magic Guided Cannons being pushed up in the distance.

“Enemy artillery!”

“Shoot them down!”

Instantly, countless muzzles from the buildings on both sides of the street turned, locking onto the gun crews exposed in the center of the street. Bullets rained down like a storm, striking the gun shields and sparking a dazzling stream of fire with a ringing “ding-dong” sound.

The infantry around the Magic Guided Cannons forced themselves to hold their ground, providing covering fire to protect the exposed artillery. They no longer cared if they could actually hit the hidden enemy in the buildings; they just fired.

Infantry soldiers were constantly hit by stray bullets as they pushed the Magic Guided Cannons forward, falling with screams, but the men behind immediately stepped in to replace them. Under immense pressure, the two 75mm Magic Guided Cannons finally reached their position.

The gunners desperately shrank behind the thick gun shields. A Gun Sergeant squinted through the direct aiming sight, locking onto the three-story building at the end of the street. Based on their prior observation, the coordinated automatic fire from multiple locations within this very building had completely broken their infantry attack.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the three-story building, Sergeant Bowman, who commanded this core fire squad, also saw through his binoculars that the muzzles of the Gallic artilleries were slowly lowering. The dark muzzles felt like the eyes of the grim reaper staring straight at them.

“Alert! They’re about to fire! Everyone withdraw quickly! Get out of this building!” Sergeant Bowman’s heart sank, and he roared the command to evacuate.

The soldiers in the room immediately grabbed their weapons and rushed away from the firing port, turning and running toward the staircase. The five men of the Heavy Machine Gun squad also tried to carry their precious MG08 Heavy Machine Gun with them, but the heavy tripod, in its deployed state, could not fit through the narrow doorway.

“Leave it! Get going!” the Assistant Gunner urged anxiously.

“No! This thing stays with us!” The Gunner shook his head stubbornly, attempting to fold the tripod.

Sergeant Bowman immediately rushed over to help. “Quick! Give me a hand! If the Battalion Commander finds out we left this precious piece behind, he’ll have our hides!” he joked, even as he strained to help separate the gun body from the tripod.

However, just as they were frantically struggling, the shouted commands from the Gallic artillerists on the street rang out in quick succession. A shell, inscribed with complex Magic Guided Runes, was cleanly loaded into the breech.

“Ready to fire!”

“Fire!”

“Boom! Boom!”

Accompanied by two deafening roars, the barrels of the two 75mm Magic Guided Cannons violently recoiled. The instant the shells exited the muzzle, the Runes on the shells abruptly lit up, trailing two visible, pale blue streaks of light through the air as they screamed toward the three-story building.

The explosion happened almost simultaneously.

The fierce fire instantly engulfed the entire front of the small building. The brick and stone structure was as fragile as a cookie against the Magic Guided shells.

When the smoke and dust of the explosion slightly cleared, everyone was stunned by the sight. The entire front wall of the three-story building, along with the second and third-floor flooring, had simply vanished, as if wiped away by an invisible giant hand. Sergeant Bowman and the entire Heavy Machine Gun squad, along with the MG08 Heavy Machine Gun they were trying to salvage, had vanished—completely buried under the collapsed bricks and rubble.

The most critical fire strongpoint on this street was utterly destroyed.

The gunners of the 75mm Magic Guided Cannon cheered, then quickly loaded two more shells and fired again. The remaining structural integrity of the building could no longer hold. With an agonizing creaking sound, the entire small building collapsed, turning into a smoking ruin.

This spectacle greatly boosted the morale of the Gallic soldiers who had just been on the verge of collapse.

“Long live the Artillery!”

“Long live Gaul!”

Under the encouragement of their officers, a new wave of fresh troops surged from the rear, once again launching an assault on the Barbed Wire positions.

Having eliminated the greatest immediate threat, the Magic Guided Artillery crews also tried to continue supporting the infantry, aiming their muzzles at the sandbag barricades on the street. However, they soon realized with embarrassment that due to the extremely close range, the maximum depression angle of the 75mm Magic Guided Cannon prevented them from directly bombarding the low barricades.

Even so, the loss of fire suppression from the high ground drastically increased the defensive pressure on the Instruction Assault Battalion. The Gallic soldiers’ advance speed was noticeably faster this time. They were no longer entirely pinned down in front of the Barbed Wire, but were cautiously moving through the intentionally left narrow passages between the wires, constantly attacking the buildings on both flanks that were still firing.

Another team of engineers, seizing the opportunity, rushed to the front of the Barbed Wire under the cover of infantry and began using large shears and explosives to clear the obstacles.

The entire situation on the battlefield seemed to have reversed at this moment.

South Charleroi, Temporary Battalion Headquarters.

Morin frowned, staring at the huge system map in his vision. On the map, the red arrow representing the Gallic forces had once again formed a massive spearhead in the central area, relaunching a fierce assault on the 1st Company’s defense sector.

A unit token representing a Heavy Machine Gun squad flashed a few times, then completely extinguished. Morin’s heart sank. He didn’t need to ask to guess what had just happened there.

He cursed under his breath, grabbed the phone on the table, and immediately connected to the Field Artillery Battalion outside the city.

“This is Battalion Headquarters! I need your Battalion Commander!”

“Captain Morin, that’s me!”

On the other end of the phone, the Artillery Battalion Commander’s voice was somewhat muffled by the background roar of artillery fire. Since the Gauls launched their general assault, the 77mm Field Artillery Battalion had not rested for a moment. Their main mission was to suppress enemy assembly areas on the city’s east and west flanks. Many Gallic attacking units were hit by artillery fire before they could even enter the city, which indeed alleviated much pressure on the 2nd Company and 3rd Company.

“Quick! Is there any way you can provide fire support against the enemy directly in front of our defense line inside the city?”

“Captain! The difficulty is immense!” The Artillery Battalion Commander paused, seemingly contemplating, then quickly continued: “The streets in the city are too narrow! Even if our entire battalion concentrated fire, the shell dispersion would be too wide. Most of the shells would likely be blocked by the rooftops and wouldn’t hit the streets!” The Artillery Battalion Commander yelled hoarsely. “Furthermore, our current position completely lacks visibility of the city interior. Firing purely based on coordinates would have too large an error! We might end up shelling our own men!”

Morin fell silent. He understood that the Artillery Battalion Commander was telling the truth. With the artillery technology of this era, demanding accurate fire support in a complex urban environment was truly asking too much. He also couldn’t have the Field Artillery Battalion engage in a direct exchange of fire inside the city like the Gauls since the city’s flanks still needed fire support.

Ultimately, Morin abandoned this impractical idea.

“I understand. Continue to suppress the enemy on the flanks and alleviate their pressure.”

“Rest assured, Battalion Commander!” the Artillery Battalion Commander loudly responded. “We just knocked out three of their 75mm Magic Guided Cannons that were preparing to enter the city! The pressure on the east should be much less!”

After hanging up the phone, Morin turned to Kleist and Manstein.

“Have the 4th Company, which is the reserve unit, prepare to move. Be ready to support the 1st Company’s direction at any moment.”

“Yes!” The two immediately responded.

After giving the instructions, Morin did not say another word. He picked up the MP14 Submachine Gun leaning against the wall, turned, and strode out of the command post.

He had to see the front line personally.

(End of this Chapter)

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