Chapter 209: The Assault Battalion’s Comfort Zone

Morin’s current affiliation was unique. He belonged to the Second Army Group’s order of battle, yet he was also participating in the temporary Battle Group’s coordinated offensive with the First Army Group. Therefore, at least for now, both the First Army Group and the Second Army Group were his operational allies.

Perhaps it was because they became allies launching a joint campaign, but the unit tokens of the First Army Group, which had stopped updating for a period, finally showed changes on the system map.

Currently, south of the Sambre River, the main force of the Second Army Group was acting like a heavy hammer, fiercely smashing the retreating Gallic Fifth Army Group along the St. Quentin line. The unit token representing the L29 Armored Airship hovered over St. Quentin, flashing red and displaying a crossed-swords icon representing ‘engaged in combat,’ clearly conducting a fierce ground attack.

According to some intelligence Morin had received from General von Bulow, while the Saxon Second Army Group was attacking the Gallic Fifth Army Group, the Saxon Third Army Group’s unit tokens were simultaneously cutting off the connection between the Gallic Fifth Army Group and the Fourth Army Group, and attacking from the flank.

Further north on the Arras front, the main force of the First Army Group, commanded personally by General Mackensen, launched an all-out offensive against the Britannian Expeditionary Force. Dense attack arrows, like a swarm of raging snakes, slammed into the Expeditionary Force’s defense line. Morin could even see a special unit token representing the main force of the Teutonic Knights in the attack sequence.

As for the temporary Battle Group he was currently part of, composed of elites from the First and Second Army Groups, it had violently stabbed into the ‘soft underbelly’ of the Britannian Expeditionary Force’s right flank.

After reaching the rendezvous point yesterday, Morin used the [Invisibility] spell he had prepared that day to conduct a daring reconnaissance mission before midnight, infiltrating alone to the very front line of the Britannian defense. As the spearhead of tomorrow’s attack, he needed to personally confirm the enemy’s defense deployment—a crucial step for the Assault Battalion and its prototype, the Storm Assault Team, before launching an assault.

The result of the reconnaissance surprised Morin, who found the trenches dug by the Britannian Fifth Infantry Division, the unit defending the flank junction, to be crude and hastily constructed. The trenches were shallow, the parapets were just simple mounds of earth, and many sections lacked even basic firing ports. This looked nothing like the permanent defenses a regular army would build; it resembled temporary skirmish pits.

“What in the world are these Britannians doing?” Morin wondered, crouching in the darkness. He did not believe the Expeditionary Force, representing the world’s sole ‘superpower,’ would be so incompetent as to be incapable of basic field engineering. There must be another reason. Given Morin’s preconceived notions about Britannia—or rather, the ‘British Empire’—he had reason to believe the only explanation was that the Expeditionary Force had never intended to make a stand at Arras. This defense line was a temporary position from the start.

Figuring this out, Morin immediately altered the original attack plan. He led the 1st Company of the Assault Battalion overnight, utilizing the darkness to creep into a depression about two hundred meters from the enemy line. The soldiers of the 1st Company were proficient in earthwork and experienced in digging under the enemy’s nose. Thus, their work made little noise. Morin did not order a ‘massive construction project’ this time, only ordering them to dig just enough room to conceal themselves in individual skirmish pits, where they quietly waited for dawn.

The artillery preparation of the Battle Group commenced at dawn on August 20th, raining fire onto the Britannian Expeditionary Force’s position. Incidentally, this Battle Group had also acquired a temporary name: the ‘Assault Battle Group.’

The continuous explosions of the shells on the enemy line were deafening. Morin, covering his ears and keeping his mouth open in the skirmish pit, prayed that the artillery in the rear wouldn’t make a mistake and misfire by two hundred meters. However, even as he felt the earth trembling beneath him, aside from a slight tension, his heart was alight with fervor.

“Damn it, this is what large-scale force operations feel like! This firepower is much better than at Charleroi!”

At 6:30 AM, as the artillery fire began to stretch deeper, clearing the path for the infantry assault, three red flares ascended into the sky. Following this, the sharp sound of the charge whistle echoed across the battlefield.

“1st Company! Charge with me!” Morin cast the [Mage Armor] he had prepared last night in the skirmish pit, then violently leaped out, submachine gun in hand, and charged forward first. Klaus and the other soldiers followed closely. The 1st Company, acting as the ‘Forward Attack Team,’ split into over a dozen Assault Squads, silently rushing toward the enemy position, which was still shrouded in black smoke.

After charging a short distance, Morin immediately used the [Misty Step] spell, augmented by [Spell Empowerment], to create a 40-meter-long smoke screen for cover. Because they had infiltrated so close, and with the cover of the artillery fire, by the time they reached the Britannian trench line, the disoriented Britannian soldiers had not even managed to climb out of their shelters. Before they could recover, the grenade experts of the 1st Company had already tossed two waves of grenades. Regardless of whether the grenades landed directly inside the trenches, the mere shock of the explosions further delayed the reaction speed of the Britannian soldiers.

“Da-da-da-da-da!”

The leading Assault Squads jumped into the trenches back-to-back, their MP14 Submachine Guns firing simultaneously. The dense 9mm rounds, like a broom, mercilessly swept the entire trench. The dazed Britannian soldiers were riddled with bullets before they could even see where the enemy was. Blood and screams instantly filled the crude trench.

“Quickly clear the trench! Prioritize eliminating their Heavy Machine Guns! Watch the flanks!” Klaus commanded his soldiers loudly while firing short bursts from his own submachine gun. The Sergeant Major, acting as the interim Company Commander, was becoming increasingly seasoned in command. At least in company-level combat, Morin no longer needed to worry.

The veterans of the 1st Company, who formed the backbone of the Assault Battalion, were already rich in combat experience and required minimal direction. They coordinated flawlessly in Assault Squads, acting like highly efficient butchers, rapidly advancing along the trenches, sending every resisting enemy to meet God with their submachine guns and grenades.

The speed of the assault was even smoother than Morin had anticipated. The crude defense line of the Britannian Fifth Infantry Division was as fragile as paper against the 1st Company of the Assault Battalion.

In just a few minutes, the 1st Company had already torn a massive breach, over three hundred meters wide, in the enemy’s defense line.

“Quick, the flare! Get the 2nd Company and 3rd Company up!” Morin shouted to a Dispatch Rider who had been following him.

“Whoosh—!” A green flare was fired into the sky. According to the pre-battle agreement, the green flare could only be used by the Instruction Assault Battalion to signal their position and rally nearby friendly forces for support.

Soon, the 2nd Company and 3rd Company, who had been waiting in the rear, split into two columns and poured through the breach. Like blades tearing through a wound, they assaulted the left and right flanks of the gap, furiously expanding their gains.

The commander of the Britannian Fifth Infantry Division was clearly overwhelmed by the sudden attack. Their defense line was sliced open in the middle in just over ten minutes. Faced with the surging Saxon tide and the near-unanswerable close-range firepower, the Britannian soldiers at this section of the line finally broke. They quickly retreated backward.

The entire right flank of the defense line was ruptured by an irreparable breach in less than half an hour after the attack began.

“Battalion Commander! The 2nd Company and 3rd Company have successfully deployed to the flanks! The breach is now over a kilometer wide!” Kleist, who commanded the second wave of attack, ran up to Morin, excitedly reporting the situation. “This battle is going too smoothly! The Britannian’s defense line is like paper; it tore right open!”

“Don’t be careless! This gap is already wide enough; we can’t cover any larger!” Morin nodded, but his gaze remained fixed on the direction of Arras: “The Britannians won’t let us through so easily. Their counterattack will be here soon.”

No sooner had Morin spoken than a series of sharp whistles and officers’ shouts came from the rear of the retreating Britannian line. Immediately following, a group of Britannian infantry, who had not yet suffered significant casualties, advanced in neat ranks led by their officers, launching a counter-charge toward the breach.

And at the very front of their column were those familiar ‘Plate Armor Supermen.’

However, the fire density of the Instruction Assault Battalion was already far beyond what it was before. With just a burst of focused fire from multiple MG14s, several of the leading ‘Plate Armor Supermen’ were instantly eliminated. The remaining ‘Plate Armor Supermen,’ sensing trouble, finally abandoned their hard-headed approach. Their charge faltered, some instinctively searching for cover, others hesitating to push forward.

If they had continued their charge, they might truly have reached the position, but unfortunately, the Instruction Assault Battalion was not fighting alone this time. The 4th Company, which had received an influx of ‘new recruits’ from the transfer of veterans to the three companies that suffered heavier losses, charged forward as the ‘Deep Assault Team.’ And accompanying them were two Armored Knight sections led by Ludwig.

Ludwig, driving his ‘Siegfried I’ Armored Knight, led the charge. His personal mount was painted with his previous kill count on its shoulder armor.

“Teutonic Knights! Charge with me!” Ludwig’s voice echoed over the battlefield through the Armored Knight’s built-in loudspeaker.

Ten ‘Siegfried I’ Armored Knights formed a standard wedge-shaped charge formation and slammed into the now-disorganized ‘Plate Armor Supermen’ and the infantry behind them. The ground trembled beneath their iron feet. The sheer, unstoppable momentum made everyone who saw the scene feel a chill.

The Britannians on the other side clearly noticed the sudden appearance of the armored force. Five Armored Knights, painted with the crest of the Order of the Garter, also charged out from their chaotic line, attempting to meet Ludwig’s charge.

“Only five? Are they looking down on me?” Ludwig sneered at the five enemy Armored Knights charging toward him. He knew clearly that since John French had deployed most of his elite forces on the front to defend against the First Army Group main force, the Britannian armored and Spellcaster presence on this flank was extremely weak. Moreover, the Teutonic Knights were no longer the inexperienced forces from the Kingdom of Aragon who could only fight wars of attrition.

The short-distance charging speed of the Armored Knights was disproportionate to their massive size. In just a few breaths, the armored forces of both sides bypassed their respective infantry and violently crashed into each other.

“Boom!” Ludwig, driving his mount, led the charge. The ‘Armor-Piercing Lance’ in his hand precisely struck the chest of one of the Order of the Garter Armored Knights. The proximity fuse at the tip of the conical warhead activated upon contact with the armor. A jet of molten metal instantly pierced the front armor of the Armored Knight, creating a massive flash of fire. Although the Order of the Garter Armored Knight had received intelligence about the ‘Saxon Armored Knights possessing some kind of new weapon’ before the engagement and was mentally prepared, he was killed before he even had a chance to retaliate. The entire inside of the cockpit was turned into unrecognizable sludge.

“Next!” Ludwig barely glanced at the unfortunate man he had instantly killed, charging past him in search of the next target. The other Teutonic Knights easily disposed of their opponents in the same manner. With a technological gap appearing between the spear and the shield, the outcome of this clash of Armored Knights was predetermined from the start. This was not an evenly matched fight.

In less than five minutes, the five Order of the Garter Armored Knights that came to meet them were all reduced to burning wreckage.

“Beautiful!” Morin, watching the battle from the rear, couldn’t help but pump his fist. “Ludwig is getting more and more lethal!”

Having eliminated the enemy’s armored component, Ludwig and his Knights were like tigers charging into a flock of sheep, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the ‘Plate Armor Supermen’ and the infantry. Their massive iron feet crushed the soldiers who were too slow to evade into bloody paste.

This exhilarating coordinated infantry-cavalry offensive thrust the Instruction Assault Battalion completely into its ‘comfort zone.’ This was the fighting style the Instruction Assault Battalion excelled at—using superior mobility and firepower for rapid penetration and deep assault! Not huddling in a city to fight a damned Street Fighting battle like at Charleroi!

(End of this Chapter)