Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 28: Long range means you can do whatever you want.
Extreme exhaustion caused Morin to sleep soundly until protests from his stomach forced him awake from his deep sleep.

He opened his eyes. The tent was pitch black, with only the faint light from an oil lamp hanging outside stubbornly penetrating the room.

"Platoon leader, you're awake?"

A hushed voice sounded at the tent entrance; it was his orderly, Hans.

"I feel like I slept for ages. What time is it now?"

"It's just past midnight, would you like to have something to eat?"

"How come it's so late? How can you sleep so soundly?"

When Hans saw that he had woken up, he immediately handed him a lunchbox that had been kept warm by the embers of the fire and a piece of black bread.

Morin took the still-warm lunchbox, and upon opening it, a rich aroma of meat broth immediately filled the air.

It looks like the battlefield kitchen is having a special dinner tonight; they've even added canned beef to the 'soup cube'.
Since Morin hadn't eaten anything properly all day except for the meal before the reconnaissance, he didn't care about his appearance at this moment.

They devoured the food with black bread in no time, their main characteristic being a whirlwind of eating.

Hans watched his platoon leader eat like this, and his stereotype of this "king of the company" deepened even more.

"By the way, Platoon Leader, the messenger from the company headquarters came an hour ago and told us to break camp at 4:30 a.m. sharp."

"What's the matter?"

Maureen looked up in surprise, wiped her mouth, and asked:
Why didn't you wake me when the messenger came?

Hans scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"The sergeant said you were too tired and needed to rest. The messenger also said that Captain Hauser specifically instructed that if you were still sleeping, you should rest well and not be disturbed."

Morin paused, holding the empty lunchbox. He realized that in this army, which was still unfamiliar to him, something different from discipline and orders seemed to be quietly growing.

"Thank you, but since I am the military commander of the 3rd Platoon, you must wake me up next time a messenger comes, understand?"

"Yes, Platoon Commander!"

After finishing his meal, Morin did not rest any longer, but got up and walked out of the tent.

He first walked around the temporary encampment of the third platoon and checked the sentries' posts.

He confirmed that several soldiers, including Corporal Bowman, who had been with him during the day, were resting well in their tents before he felt relieved enough to return to his own tent to rest as well.

At 3:50 a.m., Sergeant Klaus appeared outside his tent on time, and Morin just got up from his cot.

The two exchanged a few words, and at 4:10, they blew the assembly whistle together, waking the soldiers who were still asleep to pack their belongings and dismantle their tents.

At 4:30, the third platoon assembled on time at the designated location of the company.

Soon, the entire company of soldiers merged into the massive marching column of the First Battalion, flowing silently towards the designated attack position under the cover of night, like a long, dark river.

It was at this moment that Morin also noticed the new piece of information that had appeared in the system's 'Intelligence' tab.

"Wait, an armored airship??? What kind of unit is that? Do we have any more war behemoths coming into the fray?"

The sky turned white.

On a hill outside Seville, the royal army's reveille broke the silence of dawn.

The soldiers on the magic crystal cannon position grumbled as they crawled out of their makeshift shacks and began another day of maintenance work.

"Damn it, this thing is harder to take care of than my wife."

A seasoned veteran complained as he carefully wiped the intricate runes on the cannon with a soft cloth soaked in a special liquid.

The other person was inspecting and wiping the core magic crystal to ensure it was not contaminated.

These soldiers were completely unaware that a Saxon field artillery battery had been targeting them from behind a slightly elevated woodland about 4 kilometers away.

On a makeshift earthen mound, the captain of the Saxon field artillery company stood atop a 2-meter-high observation vehicle, conducting final rangefinding with a scissor-type artillery scope. After obtaining rough distance and location information, he instructed the messenger beside him to transmit the information to the howitzer firing position using a makeshift short telephone line.

Four leFH 98/09 105mm howitzers were lined up at the firing position. In addition, there was an artillery sergeant responsible for directing the firing, and another messenger responsible for receiving information from the observation positions.

After the artillery sergeant gave the company commander the bearing and distance information, the gunner of the first howitzer on the far left immediately looked at the dial sight used for indirect fire and started turning the elevation and traverse mechanisms.

As time ticked by and the appointed moment arrived, the artillery sergeant forcefully lowered the red flag in his hand.

"Cannon number one, test fire!"

"boom!"

The howitzer on the far left of the artillery column roared, the loud bang of the shell shattering the morning tranquility.

A few seconds later, a small cloud of dust rose from the distant mountaintop.

The Kingdom's magic crystal cannon position was thrown into chaos. In the observation lens, it looked as if a swarm of ants had suddenly started moving.

"Far away! The azimuth angle remains the same, but the range is reduced by a hundred!" The company commander shouted without looking up from his observation scope.

The corrected information was quickly transmitted back, and the gunners swiftly adjusted the elevation and reloaded the shells. The second shot followed immediately.

This time, the shells landed in front of the magic crystal cannon position.

"It's stuck!"

The artillery company commander on the observation vehicle grinned. After two rounds of test firing, he had determined that the target's precise range was within a hundred meters in front and behind.

"Keep the azimuth angle the same, increase the range by fifty! Entire company fire a volley!"

Shortly after the order was given, all four 105mm howitzers opened fire simultaneously.

The shells, whistling with death, pierced the still damp morning air and landed precisely on the Kingdom Army's magic crystal cannon position, where the soldiers were still complaining.

Amidst the violent explosion, dirt, rubble, and human remains were all thrown into the air.

The meticulously maintained magic crystal cannon at the very front of the position was completely blasted into twisted scrap metal in the first salvo.

The company commander saw through the observation scope that the average point of impact was slightly forward, and then made a final adjustment.

"Entire company, increase range by another twenty-five! Three rounds of rapid fire!"

“Boom boom boom boom—!”

This time, the entire high ground was completely engulfed by fire and thick smoke.

The surviving Kingdom army's magic crystal artillerymen completely collapsed. They abandoned their weapons and ignored the precious magic crystal cannons, crying and fleeing towards the rear of the position, completely losing their order.

And this is merely the prelude to the entire battle.

On the outskirts of Seville, all the magic crystal cannon positions marked by Morin and other reconnaissance teams suffered devastating blows from two 77mm field cannon battalions and three 105mm howitzer batteries.

The Saxon artillery proved that truth lies only within the range of artillery fire.

While Brittany's magic crystal cannons may indeed be very powerful, they still lagged behind the Saxon Empire in terms of range and artillery tactics.

As a result, in the first round of attacks specifically targeting the magic crystal cannon positions, the royal artillery, trained in Brittany, was unable to mount any effective counterattack.
On the Saxon Empire's side, besides 105mm howitzer positions with excellent visibility like this one, where observation vehicles could directly guide artillery fire,
Near those artillery positions with limited visibility, several large observation balloons were launched.

These behemoths, suspended nearly 300 meters in the air, not only provided precise target guidance for the Saxon artillery, but also allowed the observers in the gondolas to overlook the entire battlefield.

At this moment, in their eyes, the royal army troops on the outskirts of Seville were like ants on a hot pan, running around in a panic and disorder.

An observer turned the telescope to a more outward direction.

Across farmland, woods, and winding country lanes, a vast gray arc appeared, formed by soldiers in gray military uniforms and mixed-color uniforms.

At this moment, the arc, like a noose, was slowly but irresistibly closing in on Seville.

(End of this chapter)