Listening to Major General Knobelsdorff, Georg recalled the operational meeting before their departure.
At that time, Morin stood in the Fifth Army Group’s command center, drawing a bold line on the map with a red and blue pencil, and introduced the concept of “penetration operations” to all the senior officers present.
Georg hadn’t slacked off after Albert II threw him into the military academy; he had genuinely worked hard.
He knew the Imperial Army’s infantry tactics and combat regulations inside and out, backwards and forwards.
Therefore, when Morin proposed “penetration operations,” the Crown Prince was certain this concept had never appeared in Imperial military textbooks.
After the operational meeting, Georg called Major General Knobelsdorff to his office to specifically ask this experienced Chief of Staff if he fully understood the tactics Morin described.
Major General Knobelsdorff’s answer was frank—he stated that it was the first time he had heard of it, too.
However, the Fifth Army Group Chief of Staff believed that based on Morin’s description, this tactic overlapped with the “infiltration and outflanking” found in combat regulations.
But he also emphasized that anything new coming from Colonel Morin was highly likely an entirely new tactical doctrine…
Crown Prince Georg gripped the edge of the gondola, feeling the gunsmoke blowing back at them. Thinking of the instruction unit that had already penetrated deep behind enemy lines, he was somewhat worried.
His Chief of Staff, Major General Knobelsdorff, keenly noticed the Crown Prince’s mood change and immediately offered reassurance: “Your Highness, the original intention behind establishing the instruction unit was to test new tactics and new equipment for the Imperial Army… So Colonel Morin is just doing his job. You needn’t worry too much.”
“Furthermore, you should have confidence in the Empire’s troops, not to mention the elite unit led by Colonel Morin…”
“With all due respect, in the face of the instruction unit, the armies of the Balkan nations can hardly be called professional militaries.”
Georg nodded at his Chief of Staff’s words, but he still sighed:
“Lord Schmidt, I understand the reasoning… but this is the first time putting this tactic into actual combat. As the commander of the Fifth Army Group, I am responsible for the entire battle situation, and I must also be responsible for the thousands of men in the instruction unit…”
Major General Knobelsdorff suddenly laughed and teased:
“I suspect Your Highness isn’t nervous about the frontal battle situation, but afraid that Colonel Morin will run into trouble behind enemy lines, aren’t you?”
Having his thoughts exposed by his Chief of Staff, Georg wasn’t annoyed and laughed along:
“You’re right. Colonel Morin is a rare genius of the Empire… He can not only fight but also propose these subversive theories. I really do treat him like a treasure.”
“Hahaha, Your Highness, actually, it’s not just you.”
Major General Knobelsdorff put away his smile, his expression turning serious.
“Many senior officers in the Imperial Army, especially the younger, more radical ones, are keeping an eye on the instruction unit’s performance. Everyone is waiting for a result… and so am I.”
“Therefore, before departure, I approved all of Colonel Morin’s requests for supplies and fire support, ordering all army group departments to assist him without reservation.”
Hearing this, Georg felt quite comforted. It was definitely a good thing that his subordinate generals could unite as one without playing factional politics.
After a moment of silence, the Crown Prince brought the topic back on track.
“How are the preparations for the unit coordinating with Colonel Morin’s forces?”
“The Army Group Operations Department has finalized the 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division.”
Major General Knobelsdorff reported rapidly:
“Because the task of this coordinating unit is very heavy… Once Colonel Morin fires the first shot behind enemy lines, the 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division must, simultaneous with the entire army group’s offensive, punch directly through the Serbian First Army’s defense line, complete a secondary penetration, and link up with the instruction unit.”
Hearing this, Georg pondered for a moment and raised a question:
“I recall this unit has always been training in the rear. Even after being dispatched to the Western Front previously, they didn’t experience any decent combat. Are you sure they are up to such high-intensity maneuver warfare?”
“Your Highness, it is precisely because the 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division has been training in the rear that they had the time to adopt the new infantry training syllabus promoted by the instruction unit.”
Major General Knobelsdorff gestured to the soldiers below the observation balloon to pull them down, while continuing his explanation: “The individual technical and tactical levels and physical fitness of their entire division are already very close to the instruction unit’s standards… More importantly, they currently have the highest number of newly issued, modified military trucks among infantry divisions. Only they can barely keep up with the instruction unit’s advance speed.”
Hearing this, Georg ultimately raised no further questions.
“Since that is the case, execute it according to your arrangements… I hope Colonel Morin can bring us a massive surprise.”
Meanwhile, in the wilderness behind the Kingdom of Greater Serbia’s First Army.
The various battalions of the instruction unit had completed the first phase of their penetration mission, smoothly rendezvousing near a designated forest.
This was also the juncture between the defense sectors of the Kingdom of Greater Serbia’s First and Second Armies. Due to marching coordination issues, a massive gap of nearly thirty kilometers had opened up between these two armies.
After all participating penetration units were in position, Morin ordered the troops to rest in place, racing against time to inspect the trucks and replenish ammunition.
This temporary hidden area was filled with busy truck drivers and supply company soldiers. The sound of wrenches striking metal echoed constantly.
“These damn Serbians, their roads are so terribly built!”
A grease-faced supply company soldier cursed while tightening a screw:
“After the war is over, we must make them repave this road completely!”
Morin, who was inspecting the area nearby, heard the “Saxon national cursing” coming from this direction and walked over to the vehicle being inspected out of curiosity.
“How is it, gentlemen? Can we still handle this broken road?” Morin patted the shoulder of the supply company soldier who had just been cursing loudly.
The soldier turned around, saw it was Morin, and immediately snapped to attention:
“Reporting, Commander! The road is indeed terrible, but our trucks are sturdy. No major problems so far. After an inspection, they can keep running!”
Morin smiled and patted his shoulder, telling him not to be so nervous, then said with a smile:
“Inspect them well. Your supply company is the ‘Mr. Clutch’ of the entire regiment this time. Without you guys, the thousands of us would have to walk back on our own two feet.”
After chatting a bit more with a few nearby supply company soldiers, Morin was about to return to his command vehicle when he suddenly smelled the aroma of meat broth.
Subconsciously, Morin followed the aroma to a nearby field kitchen that had already been set up.
Just as his nose told him, thick meat broth was boiling in the large pots of the kitchen truck, emitting a rich fragrance.
“Hey, busy? Let me help you taste if it needs more salt.”
Morin jogged over to the kitchen truck, took a spoon from a combat cook, and tasted the broth.
“Hmm… Not bad. By the way, don’t skimp on the canned meat; pour it all in. Once the fighting gets intense later, the men won’t have time to drink soup.”
“Yes, sir! Guaranteed to make everyone’s mouths drip with grease!”
Morin just walked around the camp like this, joking with the soldiers he met, looking very relaxed.
One could completely not tell he was commanding an isolated force deep behind enemy lines, liable to face encirclement by heavy enemy forces at any moment.
And his demeanor acted as a “reassurance pill,” relaxing the instruction unit soldiers who saw him significantly.
After all, if the sky falls, the tallest person holds it up. Since the “tallest person” in the instruction unit wasn’t panicking, they didn’t need to be so tense either.
After the inspection, Morin returned to the regimental command truck. His relaxed expression vanished, replaced by a slightly more serious one.
On his system map, the space between the instruction unit and the Fifth Army Group was packed with red unit cards.
These were the “lit-up” subordinate units of the Serbian First Army.
The biplane reconnaissance aircraft of the Fifth Army Group’s aviation unit had been circling over the Serbians’ heads these past few days—this was one of the requests Morin made to Major General Knobelsdorff before departure, to have the reconnaissance planes scout the enemy’s deep rear as much as possible.
Although Major General Knobelsdorff didn’t know what use aerial reconnaissance would be to the instruction unit, which was already isolated deep behind enemy lines and detached from the main force, he still agreed to Morin’s request.
And the pilots of the Fifth Army Group’s aviation unit were exceptionally bold; many flew their reconnaissance planes to the absolute limits of their range.
Furthermore, the Serbians paid no attention to concealment while marching. To advance their troops, they swaggered down the main roads. As a result, the effectiveness of the aerial reconnaissance was better than Morin had anticipated.
It was precisely because aerial reconnaissance provided the movements of the various enemy units that Morin dared to boldly order the instruction unit to complete a casualty-free penetration right under the enemy’s nose, operating in battalion-sized units.
To be honest, this command performance of his was already secretly viewed as a “miracle” by the instruction unit officers of all ranks.
Because no matter how you looked at it, this was a bit too absurd.
A regimental-scale movement is completely different from a battalion or company-level movement. The commotion made by thousands of men and a large number of trucks moving is not small.
Kleist and Manstein had discussed it privately many times; they completely couldn’t figure out how their commander did it.
Because the various battalions merely followed orders, periodically setting up radios to receive directional adjustments from the regimental headquarters, and thereby precisely avoided all main enemy forces.
In their view, Morin seemed to possess some kind of “All-Seeing Eye.” Not only could he grasp the precise location of every battalion at any time, but he could also anticipate the enemy’s movements in advance.
Although somewhat incomprehensible, as soldiers, they knew that at this time, they only needed to execute Morin’s orders to the letter.
A while later, after Morin completed another round of map work on the unrolled map based on the enemy and friendly situation on the system map, he looked up to meet the “knowledge-seeking” gazes of Manstein and the others.
“You’ve been asking all along the way what the difference is between penetration tactics and infiltration/outflanking.”
Morin tapped the table and continued:
“Well, the upcoming operation is when we demonstrate the ‘difference’.”
The officers immediately sat up straight and pricked up their ears.
“Traditional infiltration and outflanking are always auxiliary methods for the frontal battlefield… They remain at the tactical level, focusing on reconnaissance and harassment, relying on the covert movements of small units.”
Morin paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone, then emphasized his tone, directly reciting the clear definition from the old Tactics manual:
“But penetration is different. It is an entirely new concept.”
“I divide it into forced penetration, covert penetration, and a combination of both… Its fundamental purpose is to break through the weak gaps in the enemy’s defense line, directly seize key points in depth, strike important targets, block enemy reinforcements, and completely sever their retreat route.”
“In short, we are not going to harass the enemy; we are going to take their lives!”
Manstein frowned, digesting this information:
“Commander, this sounds extremely risky… Once discovered by the enemy, the penetrating force will be surrounded. The thousands of us will be fighting an isolated battle deep in the enemy’s heartland!”
“This is the core difference…”
Morin pointed to several enemy targets he had drawn on the map and continued:
“To execute a penetration operation, you must discard the stereotype of ‘discovered equals failure’! What we must do is penetrate if we can, and if we can’t, we fight our way through and force a penetration!”
“This is an extremely violent tactical model! During a penetration operation, we will very likely engage in repeated, high-intensity firefights with the enemy we are penetrating!”
Morin looked at Manstein sitting beside him and patted his shoulder heavily.
“If the battalions had been unlucky enough to run into the main Serbian force while penetrating dispersedly… my order to them would have been to concentrate all firepower, punch through their blocking positions at maximum speed, step over their corpses, and forcibly penetrate to our current designated position!”
The carriage was dead silent; only the faint hum of the generator outside drifted in.
Kleist swallowed hard, feeling his scalp tingle.
This supremely arrogant tactical concept completely subverted everything they had learned in the military academy.
But thinking about it carefully, combined with the instruction unit’s terrifying firepower and fully mechanized advantages, this tactic was simply tailor-made for them!
Looking at everyone’s expressions, Morin knew very well what they were thinking.
However, Manstein and the others would never guess that the first army to adopt this tactic possessed no firepower or fully mechanized advantages; they executed their penetration offensives entirely on foot…
After everyone in the carriage digested the information, a somewhat excited Manstein pointed to the Serbian First Army on the map and asked Morin:
“Commander, how do we set our next targets? Do we continue penetrating deeper, or eat this piece of fat meat right in front of us first?”
Morin smiled and waved his hand: “Continue penetrating? My appetite isn’t that big… This is the instruction unit’s first actual combat test of penetration tactics; taking too big a step risks pulling a muscle.”
“We’ll first coordinate with the main force of the Fifth Army Group on the front to completely paralyze this corps before us. Meals must be eaten one bite at a time; battles must be fought one by one.”
He picked up his red and blue pencil and drew several circles on the map.
“This enemy corps is currently in an offensive posture. Based on the movements observed during our penetration, they haven’t fully deployed. Their controlled area is roughly between sixty to eighty square kilometers.”
Morin tapped the red circles, looking up at everyone.
“So our next attack targets are the command centers, artillery positions, and supply dumps of the various divisions subordinate to this corps.”
Manstein rapidly jotted down the key points in his notebook, then looked up and asked:
“Commander, if we destroy their command centers, the Serbians will definitely fall into chaos…”
“But they still have a numerical advantage. Once they react and organize an effective counter-encirclement, where is our retreat route? We can’t just keep running circles within these eighty square kilometers, right?”
Morin gave Manstein an appreciative look; this future Field Marshal could indeed always grasp the critical issues.
“We don’t need to find a retreat route ourselves.”
Morin used his pencil to draw a thick red line on the map, pointing straight at the instruction unit’s current position.
“The moment the instruction unit launches its attack, the main force of the Fifth Army Group on the front will launch an all-out counter-offensive. The 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division will act as the spearhead, punching straight through the Serbian First Army’s defense line to link up with us.”
“So what we need to do is turn the Serbian First Army into a brainless husk… Once the 4th Division arrives, we’ll join forces to completely dismember this husk.”
At this point, Morin turned to Kleist: “What is our current reserve status?”
“Commander, after the first phase of penetration, we’ve consumed one-third of our fuel.”
Kleist immediately answered, opening his small notebook.
“As for ammunition, the various units basically haven’t consumed any… But if we engage in high-intensity combat, the supplies we carry can support us for three days at most.”
“Three days is enough.”
Morin nodded, feeling secure.
“Order all battalion commanders to assemble at regimental headquarters in ten minutes to assign specific combat missions.”