Chapter 222: Infantry-Knight Coordination

The moment he charged past the first Trench, Morin saw an unfamiliar unit of allied troops nearby. The soldiers of this infantry company were using a section of collapsed breastwork as cover, exchanging sporadic fire with the enemy in the distance. Several men in officer uniforms were lying in pools of blood. The remaining soldiers, though still fighting, were clearly disorganized, mechanically following the last order given by their deceased Company Commander—hold this position.

Morin led his men up. The 1st Company’s Light Machine Gun fire instantly suppressed the enemy who had been engaging the allied forces. Morin rushed over to a non-commissioned officer.

“Soldier! Where is your Company Commander?”

A smoke-covered NCO looked back and, seeing the Captain’s rank on Morin’s shoulder, paused, then sadly pointed to the corpses on the ground.

“I am Captain Friedrich Morin, Commander of the Imperial Guards First Instruction Assault Battalion! You are temporarily under my command starting now!” Morin announced the takeover without any pleasantries.

It was entirely normal for a senior officer to temporarily take command of a subordinate unit that had lost its leadership on the battlefield. The NCO and the surrounding soldiers’ eyes immediately lit up upon hearing the names of the Instruction Assault Battalion and Morin. It was clear the reputation of the Instruction Assault Battalion had already spread.

“Everyone! Follow me! Prepare to enter the city and fight!” Morin commanded with a wave of his hand. The soldiers hesitated for a moment, then, urged by their NCOs, immediately shed their confusion and followed, having found a backbone.

They were about to enter the urban area, and naturally, the more men, the better. Morin knew clearly that breaching this outer defense line was only the opening act of this battle; the truly hard fight lay inside the city. His gaze had already moved past the chaotic street ahead, locking onto the giant steel structure that crossed the Somme River on the system map—the Amiens Railway Bridge.

That was more than just a bridge; it was a transportation artery connecting the north and south banks of the Somme River, and the only strategic passage that could allow trains to cross. If they could capture it, reinforcements and supplies could pour into Amiens via rail, and then use the Amiens railway lines to push toward Paris, sending the necessary supplies for the ‘Revolving Door’ to the front line.

“You! Find a way to notify the follow-up troops to reinforce the railway bridge direction!” Morin grabbed an Assault Battalion Dispatch Rider and ordered loudly.

“Yes, Battalion Commander!”

Having made all the arrangements, Morin, with a force temporarily expanded to less than two companies, plunged into the alleys of North Amiens. To his surprise, while the city streets were littered with debris abandoned by fleeing civilians, there were no formidable barricades or obstacles. The buildings on both sides of the streets were wide open, showing no signs of soldiers stationed inside. Some civilians who hadn’t managed to evacuate were still running to their homes.

“Do these Britannians truly have no Street Fighting experience at all?” Morin muttered to himself. He leaned against a pile of debris, looking forward through his binoculars, and noticed that only on a few streets close to the Somme River could he faintly see some barricades hastily constructed from sandbags and furniture.

Just then, a heavy, rhythmic ‘rumble’ came from behind him, like giants pacing, making the ground slightly tremble. Morin looked back and saw six Armored Knights and twelve Knight Squires appearing around the street corner. He quickly recognized the unique eagle painted on the shoulder armor and the tactical serial number of the leading Armored Knight.

“Ludwig!” Morin exclaimed, both surprised and delighted.

“Morin! I knew you would be the one rushing to the front!” Ludwig’s voice, amplified by the loudspeaker, boomed from inside the Armored Knight. “My squadron was ordered to attack toward the railway bridge. I personally led this small squad to attack from this direction, and I didn’t expect to run into you here!”

“Perfect timing!” Morin laughed. “I was just about to attack toward the railway bridge too!”

Looking at the six Armored Knights holding massive shields and exuding a cold metallic sheen, along with the twelve Knight Squires in heavy Magic Guided Power Armor, a bold idea instantly formed in Morin’s mind.

“Ludwig, I need to discuss something!” Morin ran up to the foot of the Armored Knight, patting its armor, and shouted up.

“What is it? Tell me!”

“We need to change our approach!” Morin pointed to the street ahead and continued: “This street isn’t wide enough for us to deploy all our forces, and it makes us vulnerable to being ambushed from the flanks.”

“What do you suggest?” Ludwig paused. He clearly realized the problem too. While Armored Knights were invincible head-on, their visibility was severely limited in Street Fighting.

A completely new tactical concept had crystallized in Morin’s mind.

“We’ll mix our forces! Divide your six Armored Knights and twelve Squires into three groups—two Knights and four Squires per group—and we’ll divide the infantry into three teams to follow behind you!”

“Mix our forces?” Ludwig was momentarily confused.

“Yes! Mix them!” Morin grew excited. “Your Armored Knights will lead, acting as a mobile cover for our infantry with your giant shields and external armor! We follow behind you, responsible for clearing the enemy that might be hiding in the buildings on both sides of the street, and providing fire support! We attack the railway bridge simultaneously along three parallel streets, keeping the enemy off balance!”

Ludwig was silent in the cockpit for a few seconds. His mind raced. Infantry-Armored Knight coordination was not new in the Saxon Army. But usually, ‘coordination’ just meant everyone attacking in the same general sequence. Armored Knights would act like a heavy hammer, smashing the enemy’s hard outer shell. The infantry would then follow up like water, clearing remnants and consolidating the gain. For Morin to propose such a tight, squad-level combined-arms operation, where the infantry and Knights were interwoven, was unprecedented. It was essentially treating the noble Armored Knights as mobile shields for the infantry!

But Ludwig was a practical man. He instantly grasped the brilliance of Morin’s tactic. In Street Fighting, the biggest threat isn’t the enemy directly ahead but the flanking shots from all directions. The infantry’s biggest weakness is their low defense, while the Armored Knights’ greatest advantage is their incredible defense. Using the Armored Knights’ durability to compensate for the infantry’s fragility, while using the infantry’s flexibility and firepower to cover the Armored Knights’ blind spots and dead zones in Street Fighting… it was a perfect match!

“Good! We’ll do it your way!” Ludwig agreed decisively without hesitation. He knew when to use the most effective method to win.

“Excellent!” Morin punched the air excitedly. The two swiftly reorganized their subordinate units. Morin and Ludwig personally led the main force in the center, while the other two groups attacked along the left and right parallel streets.

With the order given, the three brand-new Assault Squads immediately moved out.

In the central street where Morin was located, the scene became oddly unique. Two massive Armored Knights advanced steadily, one slightly behind and offset from the other, like a pair of mobile steel fortresses. The gigantic shields they carried—large enough to be used as doors—blocked most of the street’s frontal line of fire. On their flanks, four Knight Squires in heavy Magic Guided Power Armor vigilantly guarded the sides.

Behind these steel giants, Morin and the infantry of two companies formed a loose column. A portion of the soldiers followed right at the Armored Knights’ heels, using their massive bodies for cover. The rest hugged the walls of the buildings on both sides of the street, rifles ready, moving step by step. Their eyes were locked on every window and corner where the enemy might be hiding.

Inside the buildings lining the streets, the frightened faces of civilians occasionally flashed behind the curtains. The Britannians had clearly not evacuated the civilians before the battle, leaving many ordinary people trapped inside Amiens City. This fact put immense pressure on all the Saxon soldiers. In Street Fighting, the mixing of civilians and enemy soldiers is the worst scenario; you never know whether a black muzzle or a clothesline pole will be poking out of the next window.

“Keep your eyes open! Watch the upper floors!” Morin constantly reminded the soldiers in a low voice.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, a shot rang out from a second-floor window on the right. The bullet struck the edge of the forward Armored Knight’s shield, sparking and making a crisp ‘clang’ sound, leaving no mark.

“Damn it! They’re really here!” a Battalion soldier following behind cursed.

Almost simultaneously with the gunshot, the Britannian soldier who fired did not have time to retract. Several Instruction Assault Battalion soldiers on the flank reacted immediately. The submachine guns and rifles in their hands spat fire, and a stream of bullets swept across the window like a chainsaw. The wooden window frame and glass were instantly shattered, and a row of ugly bullet holes appeared in the wall. The scream from behind the window was abruptly cut short.

“Well done!” Morin praised. This was the advantage of coordinated combat: any attack from one direction was instantly met by simultaneous counter-fire from several directions.

The team advanced steadily for over a hundred meters. Suddenly, a large enemy force appeared at the street corner ahead.

“Enemy contact!”

With a shout, a large number of Britannian infantry surged around the street corner. They advanced in the dense formations still popular in this era, shouting a charge toward Morin’s unit. But upon seeing the two leading Armored Knights, they froze in place, then opened fire.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Gunfire erupted. Countless bullets rained down, striking the shields and armor of the two Armored Knights with a dense clanging sound.

Morin quickly glanced at the system map, confirming the approximate size of the force. It was a full infantry battalion, apparently a reserve unit the Britannian commander had sent to counterattack and retake the outer defense line. Unfortunately, their commander was several beats too slow. Now, let alone counterattacking, they were running head-on into Morin and Ludwig’s strange combined force.

“This is meat delivered right to our door!” Morin thought with delight. Although the enemy had a clear numerical advantage, Morin wasn’t worried at all. Come on, I have Gundams!

“Infantry, find cover! Fire at Will!” Morin commanded loudly. The Instruction Assault Battalion soldiers behind him reacted instantly, using debris on the street or rushing into buildings on both sides to quickly establish temporary firing positions. Submachine guns, rifles, and Light Machine Guns opened fire simultaneously, weaving a dense net of fire against the charging enemy. The hastily incorporated allied forces, though slower to react, quickly imitated the Instruction Assault Battalion soldiers, following their example.

Simultaneously, Ludwig and the other Armored Knight moved. They halted, placing their massive shields on the ground, and unhurriedly raised the hideous weapon in their other hands—the Armored Knight Dedicated Assault Cannon! This weapon was essentially a 75mm howitzer, modified with a magazine and a straight-pull bolt, specifically designed for the Armored Knights to use as a long-range weapon.

The two Armored Knights fired almost simultaneously.

“Thump! Thump!”

Two dull cannon shots. Two 75mm howitzer shells trailed faint smoke and whistled into the dense Britannian charging column.

“Boom! Boom!”

Violent explosions erupted immediately, the fire and shockwave consuming over a dozen soldiers. Mutilated limbs and broken weapons were flung high into the air. Blood mist filled the street. The Britannian soldiers at the front were violently thrown around by the sudden blast, and their entire charging formation descended into chaos.

The opposing commander, a relatively young Britannian Major, turned pale instantly as he watched the two Armored Knights appear like demons. “Armored Knights?! How did Saxon Armored Knights get here?!” He couldn’t believe his eyes. “Where are our Knights? Where is our Order of the Garter?!” he cursed wildly in his mind. He knew clearly that without their own armored counterparts, sending infantry to charge these steel monsters was tantamount to sending them to their deaths. Infantry rifles posed no threat to these iron cans.

“Retreat! Retreat quickly!” he yelled hoarsely.

The Britannian soldiers, having charged halfway, turned tail in a panic, and the scene descended into utter chaos.

(End of this Chapter)

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