Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 33 Support from the International Brigades

Looking at this reinforced battalion of nearly a thousand men, Morin couldn't help but think to himself, "No wonder this is a battalion-level unit with the title of 'British'."

The strength of one battalion is almost greater than that of an independent regiment that Old Li once led.
This also means that the 1st Battalion, which had already suffered heavy losses on the high ground, will now face an enemy several times their size, and an elite force at that.

To be honest, even Morin felt a sense of despair upon seeing this unit.

The early tactic of armies deploying entire battalions at once has now become the most deadly numerical advantage.

They had played all their cards; the Vickers machine gun only had one ammunition belt left, which was simply not enough to reverse such a huge disparity in troop strength.

How to do?
Morin's mind raced, and after a few seconds of deliberation, he gritted his teeth.

"Turn the machine gun around!"

He pointed to the Breton troops that were assembling.

"Point your guns at those Britannians! As for the Kingdom's soldiers, leave them to the riflemen! And trust our allies on the high ground!"

Upon receiving Morin's order, the machine gun team immediately began frantically adjusting the direction of their machine guns.

The drumbeats of the Grenadier's March grew increasingly intense as the two enemy forces below the hillside completed their assembly, and the dark mass of people began to slowly move upwards.

"Listen up!"

Morin's voice was unusually serious as he instructed the group:

"Once the machine gun runs out of ammo, we'll retreat from the flank and rear of the hill! Don't be stupid and charge up the hill; that's just making us easy targets for the enemy!"

"Yes, Platoon Commander!"

Down the hillside, the reorganized Kingdom soldiers were clearly still shaken by the flanking attack they had just suffered.

Morin could clearly see that as they advanced upwards, they would occasionally cast wary glances toward the machine gun position where they had previously been.

But they never dreamed that the machine gun that had claimed the lives of so many of their comrades had quietly moved to a different location and was now aiming at their allies from a different angle.

Morin instructed everyone to keep their bodies low to the ground, using the fallen tree trunks and craters to perfectly conceal themselves.

The enemy's two armies are getting closer and closer.

Morin's heartbeat quickened with the rhythm of the military drums.

He wasn't really sure himself.

When he was captured, he witnessed his own heavily armored units taking direct hits from pistol bullets at close range.

Therefore, he was somewhat worried about how much damage Vickers' .303 bullets would actually do to those Brittany tin cans.

The drumbeats of the military band suddenly quickened, and the two enemy ranks began to jog.

At the top of the hill, the remaining soldiers of the 1st Battalion had begun to fire sporadically in an attempt to halt the enemy's offensive.

The soldiers of the Kingdom Army also sparsely raised their guns to return fire.

The time has come.

Maureen no longer hesitated.

"Fire!"

At a single command, the silent temporary position was instantly engulfed in gunfire.

“Da da da da da—!”

The remaining ammunition of the Vickers heavy machine gun was unleashed without reservation, turning into a deadly whip of fire that lashed fiercely at the ranks of the Northumberland flintlock regiment.

On the other side, Sergeant Klaus and his men also opened fire with their twenty-odd Gew.98 rifles.

Accurate bullets flew less than two hundred meters and struck the Kingdom soldiers who were charging upwards.

The Kingdom's army, which had just been decimated by the flanking fire of heavy machine guns, suffered a familiar blow once again.

Although this time there were only about twenty rifles, and the killing efficiency was far less than before, the attacks from the flanks that could not be effectively avoided still threw their attack formation into disarray.

The soldiers at the front fell one after another, while those behind instinctively sought cover, causing the entire charge to stall.

At the same time, a burst of gunfire erupted from the top of the hill, clearly indicating that the other soldiers of the 1st Battalion had begun to consciously coordinate with Morin and his men to form a 'crossfire'.

However, Morin was more concerned about the situation on the other side.

The machine gun bullets struck the armor of the heavily armored soldiers in the front ranks of the Northumberland flintlock regiment, scattering a series of dense sparks and making a crisp 'clanging' sound, causing the heavily armored soldiers to pause in their movements.

efficient!

Morin was overjoyed, but soon his heart was in his throat again.

Because its killing efficiency is too low.

Those heavily armored units basically only staggered and fell down after being hit directly by multiple machine gun bullets.

Through his binoculars, Morin could even clearly see a soldier wielding a two-handed greatsword whose chest armor withstood five or six bullets before finally shattering and deforming. Only then could machine gun bullets fired at him penetrate his body.

This level of casualties is negligible for a force of nearly a thousand men.

After a brief commotion, the soldiers of the Northumberland Fusiliers did not retreat; instead, they quickened their pace of the charge.

The khaki-colored wave was rushing toward Morin and his group with unstoppable force.

"Machine gunner! Stop firing indiscriminately! Target them one by one! Focus on those tin cans!"

Upon hearing Morin's words, the machine gunner immediately stopped his sweeping fire and began aiming at the heavily armored soldiers one by one.

However, the rapidly decreasing ammunition supply also means that this attack cannot last much longer.

However, at this moment of despair, the turning point of the battle appeared in an unexpected way.

Out of the corner of his eye, Morin noticed that the troop badge representing the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, of the International Brigade was rapidly approaching his location on the system map.

Since the two sides were not far apart, only about 600 meters apart, these hundreds of soldiers from the International Brigades appeared on the flank and rear of the Northumberland Fusiliers in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, a loud horn sounded from that direction.

"Come on—!"

"Ula——!"

A variety of deafening shouts of battle followed.

This sudden turn of events clearly caught the Britannians, who were charging forward, somewhat off guard.

They had to divert some of their forces and hastily turn around to try and engage this unexpected surprise attack.

The resounding bugle call not only ignited the fighting spirit of the International Brigades volunteers, but also made Morin's blood boil.

"Da da da da. Click!"

The machine gunner finally fired the last bullet from the canvas ammunition belt.

"Lieutenant, should we retreat?"

Sergeant Klaus asked the crucial question.

However, all the soldiers, including him, had already guessed the answer, and their hands reached for the scabbards at their waists.

"Go on the bayonet!"

Morin practically roared the order, and deftly drew his bayonet and mounted it on his rifle.

The cold touch from his palm calmed his chaotic mind slightly.

It was clear that the International Brigades soldiers had come to rescue Morin and his men.

Under these circumstances, Morin could not bring himself to abandon them and retreat.

The battle has come to this point, and we have no choice but to fight to the death.

"rush!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Morin was the first to leap from behind cover.

He held a rifle with bayonets fixed and led his remaining twenty-odd soldiers in a counter-charge against the enemy down the hillside.

When the distance between the two sides closed to about fifty meters, Morin roared again.

"Grenadiers, throw grenades!"

Several soldiers carrying ball grenades immediately lit the fuses and used all their strength to throw these deadly metal lumps away.

Taking advantage of their terrain, the grenades flew much farther than usual, landing precisely in the front ranks of the Northumberland flintlock regiment.

boom! boom! boom!
A series of explosions rang out, and the heavily armored soldiers at the forefront, along with the infantry behind them, were instantly blown to pieces.

Although their heavy armor protected them from most of the shrapnel, they were not truly indestructible like the Astartes, so sharp fragments still managed to penetrate through areas not protected by the armor.

More importantly, the massive impact and noise from the close-range explosion caused these metal cans to experience a brief period of dizziness and confusion.

It's now!

Morin and the volunteers of the International Brigades, like two sharp daggers, plunged fiercely into the Northumberland Fusiliers' formation from two directions.

At the top of the hill, the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, who had been struggling to hold out, also saw the battle situation here.

When the soldiers of the Kingdom Army rushed to within a hundred meters of the position, Major Thomas drew his pistol and let out a deafening roar.

"Saxon warriors! For the glory of the Black Eagle Banner! Counterattack!"

(End of this chapter)