Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 53 The Darkest Day for the Knights of the Garter

The northern part of Seville.

The Kingdom's second offensive began with great fanfare but ended quietly.

As General Sanhurho eagerly awaited news of victory from the front lines, he was met with a series of bad reports.

"Reporting to the General! The 124th Battalion is stalled on 'Sun Avenue' with heavy casualties. Requesting a retreat!"

"Three companies under the 126th Battalion have been separated, their flanks attacked by unidentified fire, and they have been routed!"

"General! We still can't break through! Those Saxons are like rats in the ground, they appear out of nowhere, we can't hit them at all!"

As he listened to the messages brought back by the messengers, Sanhurho felt his head buzzing.

He couldn't understand.

We've already plowed up the area north of the city with powerful magic crystal bullets, so why can't we break through?
Weren't all those buildings destroyed? Were those Saxons made of iron, impervious to artillery shells?
What he didn't know was that when the Kingdom's soldiers trudged through rubble and ruins into the deeper streets, the scene they saw was almost exactly the same as during the first wave of attacks.

It was still a dense barbed wire fence, still various oddly shaped obstacles, and still deadly bullets coming from all directions.

The Saxons seemed endless, pouring firepower at the attacking kingdom's army from every crevice in the ruins and behind every broken window.

This time, field artillery attacks were even added.

The veterans and officers in the Kingdom's army who had experienced many battles never imagined that they would see a field gun lying flat at the end of the street.

By the time they saw the flash of light from the cannon muzzle and heard the roar of the shells, it was too late.

The old-fashioned shrapnel seems to want to let out one last roar before leaving the stage of history.

The deadly hail of bullets swept across the streets like a wall; this time, even the Kingdom's soldiers might not be able to keep their bodies intact.
Many soldiers panicked and tried to hide inside buildings, but the 77mm field guns, which used full-load ammunition, had an extremely high rate of fire. This continuous suppressive fire quickly made them realize that it was a mistake.

After switching to high-explosive shells, the gunner quickly looked through the direct-fire sights at the windows of the building where the soldiers were hiding.

On the second shot alone, the 77mm high-explosive round penetrated the window and detonated inside.
The second round of attacks ended in another crushing defeat.

The Kingdom's forces on all fronts of attack retreated in disarray once again, leaving behind hundreds of corpses and even more wounded who could not move.

Inside the command tent, General Sanhurho paced back and forth like an enraged bull, cursing incessantly.

"Useless idiots! A bunch of useless idiots! So many people, and they can't even take down a single broken city!"

The other officers in the tent all kept their heads down and dared not utter a sound.

Just then, the tent flap was suddenly flung open.

A chilling coldness instantly rushed in.

High mage Eldridge, accompanied by two other mages and several Britannian officers, walked in expressionlessly.

Eldridge's gaze, like a knife, pierced straight at Sanhurjo.

"General Sanhurho, I would like to ask you to explain why our last magic crystal cannon position was attacked by enemy cavalry?"

Sanhurho was startled; he hadn't expected the other side to arrive so quickly.

But the news of the attack on the magic crystal cannon position that the other side mentioned made him even more alarmed, because he didn't know that his last artillery was gone.

"My lord, isn't the magic crystal cannon position in the rear?"

Eldridge said expressionlessly, "Yes, in the rear. But you ordered them to fire like an idiot, giving the Saxon cavalry the opportunity to attack!"

Upon hearing the highland mage's words, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Sanhurho's forehead. He forced a calm reply, "Lord Eldridge, this was an accident. I didn't expect the enemy cavalry to..."

"Accident?"

Eldridge interrupted him, his tone finally tinged with sarcasm.

"You sent all your troops to attack, but left not a single soldier to protect our most important long-range firepower. You call that an accident?"

Sanhurho's face flushed red and then turned pale.

He wanted to argue, but didn't know what to say.

Indeed, it was his stubbornness that led to the destruction of the magic crystal cannon position.

"Although my comrades and I arrived in time and wiped out that damned cavalry regiment, it didn't change anything."

Eldridge's gaze swept over all the Kingdom's officers present, sending chills down their spines.

"We have lost our last means of long-range suppression, which means the upcoming battle will be much more difficult."

Sanhurho felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze, and could only force himself to say, "My lord, please rest assured, I will definitely win the next attack."

"you?"

A Britannian colonel standing next to Eldridge suddenly chuckled.

He looked at Sanhurjo with undisguised contempt and spoke to Eldridge in Britannian:

“My lord, I think we should not count on these Aragonese country folk. They can do nothing but waste time and send people up to their deaths.”

Although he spoke in Brittany, some of the Royal Army officers present could understand him.

Humiliation and anger were evident on everyone's faces.

Sanhurho was so angry that he trembled all over, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

But he didn't dare to get angry.

Because he knew that what the other person said was true.

Moreover, he couldn't afford to offend these Britannians.

"Colonel Henry, watch your words."

Eldridge said something understated, his tone ambiguous, neither blaming nor offering a reminder.

Then, he looked at Sanhurho again, his tone becoming unquestionable: "General, I think we should take the lead in the next offensive."

Sanhurho's lips moved, but he ultimately lowered his head in dejection.

"Yes, sir."

He knew that from this moment on, command of the battle no longer belonged to him.

The Britannian colonel named Henry smiled smugly, then addressed the royal officers behind him in somewhat broken Aragonese:

"Watch closely, you country bumpkins. I'm about to show you how a real war is fought."

After saying that, he turned and walked out of the tent.

A new round of attacks began quickly.

This time, those leading the way were no longer soldiers from the Kingdom Army.

Instead, it was the well-equipped and orderly Northumberland Fusiliers Regiment.

Behind them stood eight white steel giants exuding a powerful sense of oppression—the armored knights of the Garde Knights.

As for the soldiers of the Kingdom Army, they were placed at the very back, euphemistically called 'cleaning up the battlefield'.

"Platoon leader! Look! It's the enemy's armored knights!"

The orderly Hans's exclamation rang in Maureen's ears.

Morin, who was observing from a rooftop with his orderly, immediately raised his binoculars and looked in the direction the other was pointing.

Several white armored knights, accompanied by a large number of Brittany infantry, were slowly approaching their defensive line.

Sunlight shone on their smooth armor, reflecting a dazzling light.

Moreover, this time, in addition to the uniform sword and shield configuration, many armored knights have also switched to weapons such as tower shields and heavy hammers.

Morin's worst fears came true.

His envisioned urban warfare system was indeed very effective against infantry, but it proved somewhat ineffective against these steel monsters that were impervious to swords and spears.

"Attention all squads! Enemy armored units have appeared! Do not engage them head-on. Prepare to retreat to the backup line and hand these guys over to our armored knights!"

Morin slid to the edge of the roof and poked his head out to give orders to the waiting messengers, who immediately scattered to their respective positions to deliver the messages.

On the city map before Morin, the armored knights of the Garde Knights, under the cover of their knightly attendants and infantry, were advancing along different streets.

Deep within the city, the Teutonic Knights' tokens, having received notification from other sentries, also sprang into action and quickly disassembled into six smaller tokens.

However, Morin's orders could not reach all the defenders. Many soldiers hiding inside the buildings, upon seeing the armored knights, still chose to open fire out of fear.

Rifle and machine gun bullets rained down on the eight armored knights.

However, all this is in vain.

Countless bullets struck the armored knight, only creating a series of insignificant sparks, leaving not even a scratch.

The armored knights neither activated their blue shields nor slowed down; they maintained a steady pace, advancing step by step.

They are like invincible behemoths from myths and legends; any weapon of mortals seems so laughable in their presence.

"boom!"

An impatient 105mm howitzer fired a direct shot, but the armored knight targeted simply raised its heavy turret shield to protect itself and a large number of friendly troops behind it.

The shells exploded on the tower shields, but failed to cause any effective damage. Instead, some kind of artillery weapon that the armored knight had raised with his other hand flashed, and the artillery position was completely destroyed.

The Britannian soldiers following behind them burst into laughter upon seeing this.

"See that? This is the Saxon resistance? How pathetic." "Like throwing stones at a castle."

The Saxon soldiers guarding the ruins looked on with despair as they watched this scene.

Their bullets couldn't penetrate the enemy's armor, while the enemy could easily destroy the bunkers they relied on for survival.

An armored knight walked up to the first barricade. It didn't even use its weapons; it simply raised its massive mechanical leg and kicked hard.

The barricades, made of wooden frames, doors, and bricks, crumbled instantly.

Then, it just rampaged through, crushing the barbed wire and obstacles behind it.

The other armored knight walked to a three-story building where the International Brigades were stationed.

That was the place that Andrei defended with a group of soldiers after he left the rear.

The armored knight raised his massive warhammer and slammed it down on the building's load-bearing wall.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, a huge hole appeared in the wall.

Then came a few more blows.

The entire building groaned under the strain and began to shake violently.

"Evacuate immediately! The building is collapsing!"

The bearded Andrei was shouting at the top of his lungs inside. Before he could even throw an incendiary bomb, the International Brigades soldiers fled in panic through the back door of the building.

They hadn't run far when the three-story building collapsed completely with a loud bang, burying several slower soldiers forever underneath.

The armored knights' continued advance boosted the morale of the driver and the Brittany soldiers behind them.

In their view, the outcome of the battle was already decided, given their inability to fight the armored knights.

Victory is only a matter of time.

Just as the eight armored knights dispersed, preparing to assist the infantry in completely clearing the street.

At the other end of the street, armored knights also appeared.

Those were armored knights of the Saxon Empire, painted with black and white Teutonic crosses.

"Oh? You've finally decided to come out?"

Colonel Marcus, the squad commander of the Garter Knights, watched the Teutonic Knights armored vehicle appear in the distance from the cockpit of his St. George III, a cold smile playing on his lips.

He wasn't worried at all.

He had already seen the previous battle intelligence; after the last battle, the Teutonic Knights of the Saxons were reduced to only six units.

With eight against six, the opponent has lost its greatest advantage in numbers.

More importantly, these are narrow city streets.

This terrain limited the Teutonic Knights' most effective siege tactics.

As for a one-on-one duel?
The Knights of the Garter have never feared the challenge of any other armored knight.
Marcus even felt that he could easily knock over those rough lumps of iron with one hand.

The Knights of Garde are currently the most advanced pure magic armored knights. In terms of armor material, protective enchantments, and magic power furnace, they are superior to the Saxons' Siegfried series in every aspect.

Even against the Gauls' 'Charlemagne Type 2', it still has the advantage.

This is a technological gap, which cannot be bridged by so-called courage.

"Attention everyone, search for the enemy freely and eliminate them."

Marcus issued commands via the 'communication stone' built into the cockpit, a significant and expensive improvement to the 'St. George III' that enabled short-range communication between squads on the same frequency.

Although intelligence reports indicate that the Saxons are attempting to miniaturize radio transceivers and mount them on their armored knights, it seems they have not yet succeeded in the short term.
"Yes, sir!"

"Let them see the might of the Knights of Garter!"

"I can't wait to tear them down!"

The drivers responded confidently over the channel.

The armored knights of the Garde Knights, their morale soaring, dispersed to various streets and took the initiative to meet the enemy, ready to end this tedious battle with a resounding victory.

However, as they got closer, they discovered something was amiss.

The armored knights of the Minton Knights seemed to be actively approaching as well.

Moreover, besides their shields, the other weapon they held in their hands was very strange.

It wasn't their usual mace or battle axe, but rather something that looked like a spear, except the spearhead was a strange, concave metal funnel.

The weapon looked crudely made, with a rustic, handcrafted feel, and the paint wasn't even applied evenly.

"Ha, what's that? A fire poker?"

"I thought it was a manure-scooping fork."

"Are the Saxons crazy? They think they can fight us with this junk?"

The pilots of the Knights of Garde, watching this scene from their respective cockpits, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

In their view, this was simply an insult.

Marcus frowned, his mind filled with doubt.

But he didn't think much of it; in his view, this might just be a sign that the Saxons had run out of ideas.

His vehicle was the first to encounter the armored knight driven by Ludwig.

"Teutonic Knight, state your name, I do not kill nameless men."

Marcus activated the armored knight's communication device, his tone filled with noble arrogance.

Ludwig did not answer.

He simply raised his shield silently in front of him, while the weapon that Morin called a 'combat-grade shaped armor-piercing bullet' rested on the side of the shield, seemingly having no intention of communicating with Marcus at all.

"Hmph, courting death."

Marcus was furious when he saw that the other party was ignoring him.

He controlled the armored knight to raise the massive armed sword, preparing to use his superior swordsmanship to completely sever the limbs of the Saxon armored knight before him.

The heavy rumble of footsteps echoed through the street, and everyone nearby stared intently at the two steel giants.

Just as the two armored knights were about to make contact, Marcus swung his sword first.

Equally tense, Ludwig, relying on his experience, first used his shield to parry the opponent's sword strike.

Then, as instructed by Morin, he delivered the tip of the armor-piercing round about 20 centimeters from the enemy's cockpit, as if performing a spear thrust, and seized the opportunity to detonate it immediately.

The mechanical fuse triggered the picric acid explosive filled inside the projectile. Although not as rapid as modern high-explosives, its detonation wave of over 7,000 meters per second still precisely crushed the copper shaped charge liner at the front of the projectile.

The instantaneous high temperature and pressure transformed the copper shield into a jet of scorching metal.

Due to limitations such as the energy of the explosive and the asynchronous ignition of the charge, this jet failed to form the sharpest needle tip, but at that moment the jet still easily broke through five times the speed of sound.

The armored knight's hastily activated shield was no match for such an intense attack in a short time, bursting instantly like a soap bubble.

Then, the supersonic 'blazing spear' struck the main armor plate on the front of the armored knight in an almost straight trajectory.

The powerful momentum and extremely high pressure caused the jet head to vaporize the armor material at the point of contact like a hot knife cutting into butter, instantly creating a tiny hole.

"boom!!!"

A dazzling flash of fire suddenly erupted between the two armored knights.

The violent explosion even distorted the surrounding air.

The knights and squires following Marcus and the Britannian soldiers were unaware of what had happened.

They only felt a powerful energy erupt between the two armored knights, and then the two armored knights collided due to the inertia of their charge.

When the Brittany soldiers regained their footing and looked up, they witnessed a scene they would never forget.

Suddenly, the white 'St. George III' armored knight of the Garter Knights ceased all activity.

The armed sword in its hand was still poised to launch a second round of stabbing.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, the massive steel structure simply fell straight backward.

"Boom——!"

The heavy aircraft crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

The street fell silent.

Everyone was stunned, their minds blank.

what happened?
How did Colonel Marcus's car end up falling over?
Before they could recover from their shock, the black-and-white armored knight had already thrown away the strange 'spear' in its hand and taken out its iconic giant spiked mace from its back.

Then it charged toward the dumbfounded infantrymen.

A chilling killing intent instantly enveloped everyone.

(End of this chapter)