The fighting ended quickly.
When Klaus and his men charged forward, the surviving Flanders soldiers offered almost no decent resistance and were quickly all killed by dense submachine gun fire.
The smoke dissipated, leaving behind only a mess and bodies strewn across the street.
1st Platoon Leader Kahn walked up to Klaus. Even at night in August, Liège was not cool. He wiped the sweat from his face and asked:
“Sergeant Major Klaus, what do we do next? In which direction should we attack to find the Battalion Commander and the others?”
This question was the most pressing one for all the 1st Company soldiers.
Klaus was silent for a moment. He looked at the darker area deeper inside the city, then said in a deep voice: “Don’t worry about all that for now. Follow the original battle plan and continue the assault toward the fortress core area!”
He paused and added: “Think about it, according to the plan formulated before the operation began, if the Battalion Commander and the Assault Team successfully completed their mission, they only have two choices.”
“One is to find a place in the core area to hold out and wait for reinforcements; the other is to break out from the core area and link up with us.”
“Regardless of which choice the Battalion Commander makes, their position and route of action will inevitably overlap with our attack route… as long as we keep fighting our way through, we are bound to run into them!”
“Understood.”
1st Platoon Leader Kahn checked the ammunition in his MP14 Submachine Gun and said earnestly: “We will definitely retrieve the Battalion Commander!”
On the other side, in an abandoned warehouse in the core area of Liège City, Morin was tracking every movement of the battle outside the city via the system map.
When he saw the ‘Meuse River Battle Group’ on the perimeter of the Liège Fortress cluster begin to launch an all-out offensive ahead of schedule, he knew General Ludendorff had also noticed the chaos here.
And when the green unit token representing the Instruction Assault Battalion’s 1st Company finally entered the edge of the Liège City map, the knot in Morin’s heart finally loosened a little.
Reinforcements had finally arrived.
He glanced at the Assault Troops sitting or lying around him, and at this moment, a wave of fear washed over him. Looking back now, the night’s operation had been incredibly dangerous. From a certain perspective, the Assault Team he led could truly be called a ‘Suicide Squad.’ God knows what he was thinking before, daring to enter the heartland of the Liège Fortress to wreak havoc with only 20 men.
Although they ultimately succeeded in destroying the enemy’s Command Post and Magic Power Hub, they paid a considerable price.
Of the twenty-man Assault Team, two soldiers were killed while attacking the Magic Power Hub. Another seven had sustained injuries of varying degrees in the previous fighting—including burns from the Fire Ball Spell. Although the injuries were not fatal, they severely impacted combat effectiveness.
More critically, the ammunition they carried had been depleted by more than half after the defensive battle outside the Command Post and the assault on the Magic Power Hub. Especially the two Light Machine Guns… Morin had originally thought that with some Assault Troops helping to carry ammunition, they would have enough. But he underestimated the speed of these ‘major bullet consumers.’ By now, both Light Machine Guns had only two 250-round ammunition belts left in reserve, and the barrels were scalding hot from prolonged continuous firing.
Furthermore, he himself only had one [Mage Armor] spell left.
If things continued this way, forget about carrying out any further missions; once they were surrounded by a large enemy force, they would struggle even to defend themselves.
“We must link up with the 1st Company quickly…”
This thought flashed through Morin’s mind. He then changed into another Grand Duchy of Flanders uniform. With the city in complete chaos right now, wearing a Flanders uniform was actually safer than wearing the conspicuous Britannian uniform.
He opened the system map, carefully planned the route, and then quietly led the exhausted Assault Team out of the warehouse, preparing to link up with the 1st Company.
At this moment, Liège City was in total pandemonium.
The ‘retreat’ telegram, personally crafted by Morin and containing only factual information without any exaggeration, was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up massive waves.
The morale of the over twenty thousand Flanders soldiers garrisoned in the city had completely collapsed after learning a series of genuine messages: ‘Fortress Command Post compromised,’ ‘General Leman killed in action,’ and ‘Magic Power Hub destroyed.’
Panic spread through the army like a virus. Everyone wanted to leave the city, which they believed had been ‘captured by Saxon Assault Troops,’ as quickly as possible and flee to the relatively safer rear.
In a short time, the city was filled with chaotic troops everywhere. Soldiers scurried through the streets like headless flies, and officers shouted themselves hoarse trying to maintain order, but with minimal success.
In this situation, no matter how Morin utilized the system map’s advantage to avoid them, he was eventually bound to run head-on into these routed troops.
“Enemy ahead!” A Scout responsible for the vanguard alert reported in a low voice.
Morin immediately gestured for everyone to stop and hide behind a barricade on the side of the street. He cautiously peered out and saw a Flanders unit of about a company rushing chaotically toward their position in the distance.
“Shit, that’s too many people.”
Morin knew that a direct confrontation was out of the question. Even with their automatic weapons, engaging a hundred-plus people on the street was too great a risk.
“Attention everyone, no one is to open fire without my command!” Morin whispered to the soldiers around him, simultaneously giving Manstein a meaningful glance.
Soon, the Flanders unit spotted Morin and the others hiding behind the barricade.
“Hey! Which unit are you from?” a Flanders officer walking at the front of the column shouted.
Without waiting for the officer to approach, Morin and Manstein, both in officer uniforms, stood up from behind the barricade. Morin, using standard Netherlandic, yelled at the top of his lungs:
“We are from the 11th Brigade’s 24th Regiment! Our regiment has been crippled and can’t retreat, so we’ve broken up and are positioned throughout the city, preparing to delay the pursuing Saxons! You all pass quickly, don’t stop here!”
Morin’s voice was filled with a sense of tragedy and resolve, as if he were ready to die for his country at any moment.
The officer was first surprised by this, then his face showed an expression of deep admiration. He hadn’t expected to find such loyal and brave soldiers, willing to stay behind to execute a doomed rearguard mission, at a moment when the entire army was collapsing. A rush of fervor surged into his heart.
“Soldiers! We cannot abandon our allies!” He drew his officer’s revolver from his waist and shouted at his subordinates, “We are staying too! We will fight the Saxons with them!”
Hearing this, Morin almost fainted on the spot. ‘Big Brother, wasn’t your morale supposed to be shattered? Why are you not leaving when someone offers to cover your retreat?’
He forcefully suppressed his frustration, plastered an even more tragic expression on his face, and shouted at the officer:
“Sir! We appreciate your kind offer! But your unit’s formation is more intact! You must retreat to preserve the effective force for Flanders! Avenge us later!”
Manstein also chimed in with impassioned support:
“Yes, Sir! Please leave quickly! We are fewer in number and less of a target, and we can lead the Saxons on a chase around the city! If you stay, it will only lead to unnecessary sacrifice!”
The Flanders commander’s eyes reddened looking at Morin and Manstein’s ‘ready to die’ demeanor. He hesitated for a moment, then finally let out a heavy sigh. He also knew the other party spoke the truth; staying in this situation would only increase casualties.
“Brave warrior! Take care!” He gave Morin and the others a solemn military salute, then led his troops around the side and quickly moved away.
Watching the retreating unit disappear, Morin and the Assault Troops let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Sir, it’s a shame your acting skills aren’t being used at the Dresden Theatre,” Manstein said, leaning toward Morin with an admiring look.
“Your acting and quick thinking aren’t bad either. We can go together, hahaha~” Morin chuckled and waved his hand, then checked the map to confirm the surroundings were temporarily safe before continuing to move toward the 1st Company’s location.
Relying on this ‘rearguard’ technique, they successfully fooled another sizable group of routed troops.
Finally, after traversing half of the chaotic urban area, Morin at last led his Assault Team into a secluded alley, where they encountered the 1st Company’s forward reconnaissance unit.
The latter unit clearly noticed their presence in enemy uniforms and immediately found cover to hide. Seeing this, Morin ordered everyone else to stay down, then shouted loudly in Saxon [German]:
“Bread for five hundred thousand Marks!”
“That’s the morning price! Commander, we finally found you!”
The soldier matched the password, and the vigilance on his face instantly turned into joy. Morin led the Assault Troops out of the shadows.
“Sir!”
“Commander!”
The 10 soldiers from the 1st Company reconnaissance squad in the alley were all excited and rushed over to surround Morin’s figure.
“Alright, alright, calm down! We are in a battle! Keep an eye on the perimeter!” Morin scolded jokingly, then patted the shoulder of the soldier closest to him:
“Where is Klaus?”
“The Acting Company Commander is directing the troops behind us to eliminate the remaining enemies. He sent our squad forward to provide security!”
Morin nodded, then led the Assault Troops behind him into the alley. Soon, the 1st Company soldiers, having cleared the remaining enemies and received word, rushed to link up.
They didn’t know the full extent of the incredible feat the Battalion Commander and the small squad had accomplished in the city, but judging by the irresistible offensive outside the city and the utter chaos inside, they could roughly guess. This was undoubtedly a raid worthy of being recorded in history.
And when Morin saw the familiar faces behind him, the stone that had been hanging in his heart finally dropped. He knew he was finally safe.
He had won this mad gamble.
(End of this Chapter)