Chapter 268: Say That Again, What Kind of Cannon Is That?

“All personnel board the vehicles!”

Morin issued the command to the soldiers of the Instruction Assault Battalion.

The Instruction Assault Battalion soldiers quickly boarded the surrounding trucks, and Morin entered the command vehicle, which was equipped with a large wireless radio.

Colonel Lucas had also provided him with a strangely shaped power storage device, which he said was a backup generator on the Armored Train.

With this power storage device connected to the radio, they could avoid having to send men outside to ‘pedal the bicycle’ to generate power.

This also allowed the Instruction Assault Battalion to maintain contact with the ‘Odin’ while on the move.

“Colonel Lucas, the road ahead has been scouted by my unit, and no signs of enemy sabotage were found.”

Morin, who had led the Instruction Assault Battalion to set off first, reported to the Train Commander via radio.

“Received, Captain Morin,” Lucas’s voice came through the speaker. “The ‘Odin’ is about to start. We will proceed at a cruising speed of twenty kilometers per hour. Please ensure your unit maintains coordination.”

At the ‘Odin’s’ maximum speed, the trip from Creil to Paris would actually take less than an hour.

However, to accommodate the speed of the Instruction Assault Battalion’s trucks, and for the sake of caution, Lucas chose a relatively conservative speed.

Even so, if all went smoothly, they would be at the gates of Paris in just over two hours.

“Woo—”

With another long whistle, the massive steel train slowly began to move, launching its final thrust toward the heart of the Gallic Republic.

Based on the collected railway information, this line running from Creil to Paris directly connected to the central train station inside the city of Paris…

This meant that if the current thrust was successful, this steel behemoth named ‘Odin’ could potentially drive directly into the center of Paris after the main force arrived.

Shortly after the train began moving, the vanguard of the Instruction Assault Battalion, leading the way by truck, made a new discovery.

Large formations of Gaulish soldiers were retreating along nearby roads toward Paris.

Due to their truck mobility, the Instruction Assault Battalion’s speed was much faster than that of the Gaulish soldiers fleeing on foot. They quickly caught up with the defeated troops retreating from the Creil Line.

“Do not engage unnecessarily! Drive them! Push them toward Paris!” Morin immediately ordered the cavalry messengers to relay the command to the reconnaissance teams.

“Yes, sir!”

Before long, scattered gunfire erupted on the road ahead.

The Instruction Assault Battalion’s reconnaissance teams quickly dismounted, established temporary defensive lines behind their trucks, and used firepower to herd the fleeing troops.

The Gaulish soldiers, who had long lost the will to fight, were terrified upon seeing their pursuers. They didn’t even consider resisting, instead throwing away all their gear and running desperately toward Paris.

Simultaneously, more and more red unit tokens representing Gaulish troops appeared on Morin’s system map.

They were densely packed, like frightened ants, surging madly toward Paris, their gigantic anthill.

“Colonel Lucas, can you provide fire support for my vanguard unit?” Morin picked up the communicator in the command vehicle.

“Of course, Captain Morin.”

Lucas readily agreed, seeming eager to have the ‘Odin’ attack—after all, the majority of their work since entering Gaulish territory had been railway repairs.

“If you have Map Number 4, you can give us the coordinates directly, and I’ll let those Gauls taste the power of 150-millimeter shells!”

Morin asked Manstein, who was in the same vehicle. The latter quickly retrieved the map labeled ‘4’ from his staff bag.

The Saxon Army provided its offensive units with military maps of varying precision and scale, and the Instruction Assault Battalion, as an elite unit, had access to all of them.

The two compared the maps, and after roughly calculating the lead distance based on the Gaulish soldiers’ movement speed, they quickly relayed the coordinates of the densest area of the Gaulish rout to Lucas.

Soon, the Armored Train ‘Odin’ deliberately stopped.

“Boom! Boom!”

The four 150mm naval guns, two at the front and two at the rear of the train, raised their barrels and soon roared, firing the first round.

Morin personally took charge, using the ‘actual point of impact’ displayed on the system map to guide a round of fire correction.

The subsequent shells landed almost directly behind the retreating Gaulish troops, exploding along their escape route.

The road was immediately covered in flying flesh and blood, accompanied by continuous screams.

The Gaulish soldiers completely panicked. They no longer dared to flee along the road, scattering instead into the fields and forests lining the path.

Just then, the communications operator in the ‘Odin’s’ armored command car received new information.

“Colonel! Armored Airship No. L28 has sent a telegram. They will arrive above our position and rendezvous with us in forty minutes!”

Lucas immediately shared the good news with Morin.

This provided Morin with some relief, as before witnessing the power of ‘Gungnir,’ he couldn’t accurately assess the fighting capability of this Armored Train.

Therefore, the more supporting units, the better.

Forty minutes later, when the massive shadow of Armored Airship No. L28 appeared above the ‘Odin’ as promised, the speed of this mixed assault force accelerated again.

With aerial reconnaissance and cover, the Instruction Assault Battalion’s scouting teams, leading the way, grew bolder.

The drivers began ‘speeding,’ driving at 25 kilometers per hour.

After nearly another hour of forced march, the foremost reconnaissance team sent back a new report.

“Report, Battalion Commander! Reconnaissance team has spotted a suspected enemy fortress cluster ten kilometers ahead! We… we can already see the Eiffel Tower in Paris!”

The messenger who rode back was slightly trembling with excitement.

Paris!

Hearing the name, everyone in the command vehicle held their breath.

It was like the soldiers in the story who were ‘looking at plums to quench their thirst’ were finally about to eat the plums…

Morin immediately told the driver to pull the vehicle onto a high point. He then climbed onto the roof, raised his binoculars, and looked into the distance.

On the horizon, the silhouette of a massive city was vaguely visible.

And in the center of that city, the towering steel structure, the Eiffel Tower, stood prominently.

The Eiffel Tower…

“We’ve arrived,” Morin murmured, a complex, inexpressible emotion welling up inside him.

Once, Paris was just a distant symbol to him, the transmigrator.

Now, he had followed the flames of war right to the city’s doorstep.

In his binoculars’ view, a cluster of fortifications—composed of multiple small fortresses and permanent works—guarded the ancient city on the northeastern outskirts of Paris.

They represented the last land defense line for Paris.

Morin lowered his binoculars and returned to the truck bed to pick up the communicator:

“Colonel Lucas, we have reached the outskirts of Paris. The fortress cluster is directly ahead!”

“Excellent. We can stop here and establish a temporary artillery position to destroy these fortresses first, clearing the way for the main Army Group’s offensive.”

Colonel Lucas’s voice was filled with excitement:

“We’ve been cooped up on this train all the way here. It’s time to let the ‘Gungnir’ breathe some fresh air!”

“Woo—”

With a long whistle, the colossal Armored Train ‘Odin’ slowly came to a halt in the wilderness ten kilometers outside Paris.

“All units dismount! Establish defensive positions!”

Morin and Leonia issued their commands simultaneously.

The soldiers of the Instruction Assault Battalion swiftly jumped out of their trucks and spread out around the train in platoon units, forming a circular defense line.

The twenty Armored Knights led by Leonia were also freed from the flatbed carriages.

The huge steel bodies took heavy strides, then dispersed, positioning themselves behind the Instruction Assault Battalion’s temporary defensive line.

The reinforced Field Artillery Battalion accompanying the train also began setting up artillery positions between the train and the temporary defense line.

77mm field guns and captured 75 Magic Cannons were unloaded from the train, and the gunners worked tensely and methodically.

Morin and Leonia, after arranging the next actions for their respective forces, returned near the Armored Train and stood side by side with the ‘Odin’, ready to witness the first roar of this siege weapon.

“All units, attention! ‘Odin’ switching to primary configuration—Siege Barrage Mode!”

At Colonel Lucas’s command, the entire train seemed to come alive.

“Clank—clank—”

A series of grating metallic sounds echoed as the hydraulic support arms on both sides of all carriages simultaneously deployed, sinking deep into the firm ground beside the railway like giant centipede legs, firmly anchoring the entire train in place.

The accompanying engineers and Magitech Engineers dragged out a large, deflated balloon from the supply carriage.

They skillfully connected an air pump to the balloon, and soon a massive artillery observation balloon, carrying two observers, slowly ascended into the air, ready to provide the most precise aiming data for the upcoming bombardment.

Under the gaze of everyone present, the mysterious carriage housing the ‘Gungnir’ finally stirred.

The thick armored panels slowly lowered to the sides, revealing the true face of the formidable giant cannon inside.

Morin’s first glance suggested it looked like a conventional railway gun from the other timeline.

The gun barrel itself didn’t look particularly unique from the outside, and the caliber was visually estimated to be between 280mm and 300mm.

“Colonel, may I go up and take a look?” Morin’s curiosity was completely piqued.

“Of course, please do,” Colonel Lucas made a gesture of invitation.

Morin climbed the carriage in front of the ‘Gungnir’ in a few quick steps to get a closer look.

When he looked inside the barrel, he was stunned.

It was smooth as a mirror, with no rifling whatsoever.

What the hell, this is a smoothbore cannon?!

Simultaneously, his system interface began rapidly refreshing with detailed information about the ‘Gungnir’.

When Morin jumped down from the carriage, his look at Colonel Lucas had changed.

“Well? Are you shocked?” Lucas asked with a proud laugh.

“This… this is a smoothbore cannon?” Morin still found it hard to believe.

“Smoothbore? No, no, no,” Lucas shook his head, correcting him.

“To be precise, it should be called a ‘Twelve-Stage Acceleration Magic Cannon’—another masterpiece combining our Imperial Magitech and Radiant Crystal Technology!”

“Its caliber is 305 millimeters.”

Lucas stroked the cold barrel as if it were his lover.

“And it doesn’t fire ordinary artillery shells.”

As Lucas explained, an unusually shaped shell was retrieved from the ammunition depot inside the carriage by a massive hoisting mechanism and slowly slid into the breach at the rear of the barrel.

The shell appeared to be just one gigantic, metallic-sheen warhead, lacking the casing or propellant bags of conventional artillery shells behind it.

“See it?”

Lucas pointed to the shell:

“It requires no gunpowder propulsion. The entire barrel is lined with twelve concentric coils of accelerating runes, made of high-purity Magic Crystal! When the ‘Gungnir’ fires, these coils activate sequentially, creating a powerful acceleration field that pushes the shell out at an unimaginable velocity!”

Morin was dumbfounded.

A Railgun!

This is a magic-side railgun, for crying out loud!

“And the shells it fires are not the standard shells used by the Army’s artillery.”

Lucas continued boastfully:

“Its main component is a highly concentrated Radiant Crystal compound. Upon impact, it creates a violent energy explosion. The power… heh heh, you’ll find out in a moment.”

“Wait, why wasn’t this weapon deployed during the siege of the Liège Fortress before?”

Morin voiced the doubt in his heart.

If this weapon had been there, perhaps the fortress could have been taken without the need for an Armored Airship paratroop drop?

“Ah, don’t even mention it. The original plan was indeed for us to attack alongside the 420mm cannon…” Lucas sighed.

“When the war first began, both the ‘Odin’ and the ‘Gungnir’ were still in the testing grounds undergoing final trials.”

“By the time we were officially commissioned and finished all debugging, your First and Second Army Groups had already reached Amiens.”

“It’s a shame. We were really hoping to take a crack at the legendary ‘First Fortress Cluster of Europa’…”

Morin: “…”

As they spoke, the ‘Gungnir’ completed all firing preparations.

The massive gun barrel slowly raised under the hydraulic drive, its muzzle pointing skyward at a high angle, aimed at the Paris fortress cluster in the distance.

Several Magitech Engineers in blue uniforms entered the control room at the rear of the carriage to set the final parameters.

“‘Gungnir’, ready to fire!”

Following a command from the control room, a low, strange “buzzing” sound resonated from inside the barrel.

Morin could feel the free-floating magical energy in the surrounding air becoming unusually active and volatile.

“Magic Circuit charging thirty percent… sixty percent… one hundred percent!”

“Target locked! Temporarily designated: Paris Northeast Fortress Cluster, Fortress One!”

“Fire!”

“Buzz—BOOM!!!”

Accompanied by a deafening roar that seemed to tear the eardrums, a blinding blue light shot out from the muzzle!