Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 10 Don't worry, the enemy will definitely scatter as soon as they charge!
As a former military academy student, Morin had taken a war history class at the military academy before his transmigration.

When discussing the evolution of infantry offensive warfare, the teacher emphasized the battles in the early stages of World War I.

This was an awkward and brutal period for the infantry.

At this time, infantry warfare in various countries still maintained the tradition of dense formations. Although it was different from the earlier line formation era, the distance between soldiers was increased to 1-2 meters, but in Morin's view, it was still a kind of line-up execution.

This situation continued until machine guns came onto the historical stage and began to change after they brutally claimed the lives of countless soldiers.

The infantry of the world after Morin's transmigration is clearly also in this 'awkward period'.

Not to mention, this world seems to also have so-called 'magic' and 'magical technology,' which pose a great threat to infantrymen who physically enter the battlefield.

Morin was now genuinely panicked. He knew very well that machine gun bullets on the battlefield were 'equal for all,' meaning that whether you were an officer or a common soldier, once they hit you, you would be harvested like wheat.
Forcing himself to maintain a composed expression and appear as if he were still a Saxon soldier in his 'heroic' manner, Morin tentatively asked:
"Company Commander, do we know roughly what the enemy's troop deployment is like in this village that we are targeting?"

Upon hearing Morin's question, Captain Hauser's face revealed a 'good, I knew you would ask this' expression.

"The battalion headquarters has already sent scouts to patrol the perimeter of the village."

Captain Hauser drew a circle around the village on the map with the stub of a pencil.

"What is certain at present is that Aragorn's 'Kingdom Army' is already stationed inside, but in order not to alert them, the scouts did not get too close, so the exact number is still unknown."

Another taciturn lieutenant platoon leader spoke up, "Sir, is there going to be artillery fire?"

"of course."

Company Commander Hauser nodded, his tone carrying a certain self-assured confidence.

“A battalion under the brigade’s artillery regiment will fire three rounds of rapid-fire at the village before the attack begins, enough to terrify those ‘Kingdom Army’ soldiers.”

At this point, Captain Hauser took a pocket watch out of his pocket and said to the three platoon leaders, "It's 4:37 now. The attack will start precisely at 5:07. Go back and get ready."

The impromptu operational meeting ended there, and the other two platoon leaders also turned and left.

Before Morin left, he deliberately walked up to him and patted him hard on the shoulder.

"I know you went straight to the front lines after graduating from military academy. It's normal to be nervous about your first real combat experience."

Hauser lowered his voice, conveying the care and concern of a senior for a junior.

“I see you don’t seem to have a pocket watch or wristwatch with you? That won’t do. As an officer, you must have a watch to keep track of time.”

Hearing the company commander's words, Morin finally realized why he always felt like something was missing.

Yes, the pocket watch of the original owner of this body had been taken when he was captured.

There wasn't time to search after being rescued, so apart from the 'system interface', Morin didn't have any tools to determine the time.

As Captain Hauser spoke, he beckoned to his orderly and had him retrieve a cloth bag from his luggage.

“This is the pocket watch I used before, but my wife gave me a new one before I left, so this pocket watch is temporarily unused. You can take it and use it for now.”

"Oh? Company Commander, this is far too valuable!"

Morin looked at the cloth bag handed to him and was somewhat surprised, because pocket watches were still considered a luxury item for people in this era.

"Just take it. I don't want you to mess things up because you can't manage the time!"

Without a word, Captain Hauser shoved the cloth bag into Morin's hand and continued:
"Relax, those 'Kingdom Army' soldiers in Morin Village are mostly farmers who were forcibly conscripted. Their fighting spirit and skills are far inferior!"
"It's highly likely that the 1st and 2nd companies will finish the battle with a single charge, and our reserves won't even have a chance to get a chance to go in."

"Then I'll take your kind words, Company Commander."

"Hmm, go back and tell the troops to prepare!"

"Yes, sir!"

Morin saluted Hauser and turned to walk back to his platoon's rest area.

He knew perfectly well that Captain Hauser's last words were half consolation and half underestimation of the enemy. But this sentiment seemed to be common in the Saxon army; they had an almost blind confidence in their own army's fighting capabilities, while simultaneously holding the enemy before them in utter contempt.

This mentality can lead to high morale when things are going smoothly, but it can turn into a catastrophic defeat once the situation turns against you.

Morin quickly returned to his unit's rest area and found Sergeant Klaus, who was checking the soldiers' equipment.

"Sergeant Klaus, the attack order has been issued. The attack will commence in approximately half an hour."

Klaus's serious face remained expressionless, but he paused for a moment in his hand movements.

"Yes, sir." He replied in a deep voice, "I will have the squad leaders do a final check to make sure the soldiers are in top condition."

This experienced veteran knew very well that this unit was about to face its first bloody battle in a foreign land.

"Please rest assured, I will definitely assist you in commanding the troops well!"

Klaus added another sentence, which reassured Maureen somewhat.

After finishing his conversation with Klaus, Maureen found a relatively dry slope to sit down, leaning against a thick tree trunk.

The soldiers around them had stopped talking; only the faint sounds of weapons clashing and suppressed breathing filled the woods.

He closed his eyes, and the darkness before him was immediately replaced by a familiar UI interface, with a huge map unfolding once again.

Morin tried zooming in and out of the map and quickly found the blue troop badges representing the three battalions under the 33rd Infantry Regiment, with the troop badge representing the 1st Battalion at the very front of the entire regiment.

As he focused his thoughts, the map continued to zoom in, and the troop badges of the 1st Battalion were refined into three smaller icons representing infantry companies, as well as icons for the battalion headquarters and the battalion supply corps.

He could even clearly see the small icons representing the two supply wagons of the 1st Company, which were positioned in a relatively safe location at the rear, along with the battalion's supply train.

This God-like perspective, which allowed him to see the whole picture, calmed his chaotic mind considerably.

Next, he slowly shifted his perspective to the target of this attack—the village of San Isidro.

The village area was covered by a semi-transparent shadow, which must be the so-called 'fog of war'.

Unlike friendly units whose unit cards are displayed in real time, enemy unit cards seem to only appear after they have been detected by friendly units.

At this moment, in the center of the village, there is only a lone gray diamond icon with the words "[Aragon Kingdom Military Unit (Size Unknown) (Armament Unknown)]" on it.

This confirms Captain Hauser's statement that the scouts only glanced at the scene from a distance and did not obtain any valuable intelligence.

Morin tried to click the diamond icon with his mind, but the system displayed a message saying "Insufficient information, unable to parse".

His attention was then drawn to another detail on the map.

Three kilometers behind the assembly area where our forces launched their attack, an artillery position icon had already lit up.

He zoomed in and saw that it was the icon of the next artillery battalion of the brigade's artillery regiment.

When Morin focused his mind on the icon of the artillery battalion, a series of information quickly appeared.

2nd Field Artillery Battalion, 28th Field Artillery Regiment

[FK.96n/A 77mm Field Gun × 12]

When Morin saw that the maximum range of this 77mm field gun was 5500 meters, he understood why the artillery position was so far forward.

This isn't a howitzer that fires projectiles on high trajectories; it's a close air support artillery piece. While its range and firepower are far inferior to the former, it excels in mobility and flexibility.
Several faint parabolas extend from the icon, eventually covering most of the area southeast of San Isidro village.

However, the coverage area is a bit too large.

This wasn't the kind of precise firepower that Morin was familiar with; it was more like fire coverage over a certain area. Its main function was probably just as Captain Hauser had said: to suppress enemy fire.

"Alright, let's hope it really works like Captain Hauser said, that the enemy will be scared away as soon as the cannon fire starts."

(End of this chapter)