Morin had always considered himself a rather steady commander.
Whether it was his experience studying at the military academy before transmigrating, or becoming a company-grade officer after arriving in this world, Morin’s preferred style had always been “building sturdy camps and fighting methodical battles.”
Utilizing absolute firepower superiority and earthworks for cover, advancing steadily, nibbling away at the enemy’s effective strength little by little like a millstone—this was the art of war that best fit his aesthetic.
But unfortunately, since arriving in this world and stepping onto the battlefield, the actual combat situations he encountered seemed to force him to take unorthodox paths.
Whether it was the initial battle in the Kingdom of Aragon or the multiple surprise attacks that followed, he was always forced to dance on the edge of a knife, exchanging one bizarre tactic after another for victory.
This penetration in the Balkans was no exception.
If the war situation were truly as stable as the paper simulations suggested, Morin would definitely have chosen to turn the instruction unit around and support the 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division.
Then, coordinating with the main force of the Fifth Army Group pushing up, they would prioritize eliminating the already-encircled Serbian First Army. This would have been the safest approach.
The problem, however, was that the friendly forces on the flanks of the Fifth Army Group were not the Saxon Army, whose backs one could safely trust.
They were the Austro-Hungarian Fifth and Sixth Armies.
According to the joint plan formulated after communications between the Saxon and Austro-Hungarian Army General Staffs, the Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army would coordinate with Crown Prince Georg’s army group to prioritize eliminating the Serbian First Army.
Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian Sixth Army, located on the right flank of the Crown Prince’s army group, was responsible for covering the friendly flank while simultaneously pinning down the Serbian Second Army.
Judging from the terrain and enemy dispositions, the Austro-Hungarian Sixth Army’s task wasn’t actually that difficult.
First, according to reconnaissance from forward units, the field army of the Kingdom of Montenegro had halted its advance after occupying key mountain passes.
To this moment, they were still holed up in the mountains, showing no intention of marching north to support the offensive, seemingly content with just guarding the “backsides” of their allies.
As for the Serbian Second Army wanting to march north to reinforce, they also had to consider crossing the Sava River, which conveniently separated the two army groups.
And the upstream area, which was more suitable for crossing, was currently still controlled by the Austro-Hungarian and Saxon armies.
If the Serbian Second Army truly intended to force a crossing, the Austro-Hungarian Sixth Army could completely rely on the advantage of the river to attack them mid-crossing, easily racking up a massive battle result.
The plan on paper was perfect, and the staff officers’ analysis was also very reasonable.
But Morin’s trust in the Austro-Hungarian Army had plummeted through the center of the earth long ago.
Having experienced that absurd “Vienna Direct Express Train” incident, he had profoundly learned just how ridiculous the Austro-Hungarian Army… or rather, this country, could be.
A country that could send friendly troops to completely irrelevant destinations via military train; a country that could mass an army of 500,000 for a steamroller advance at the start of the war, only to be backhanded back into their own country by the Serbians.
Entrusting his flanks to such friendly forces left Morin feeling completely uneasy.
Under these circumstances, although Crown Prince Georg and Major General Knobelsdorff believed that with a massive numerical advantage, the two Austro-Hungarian army groups could at least achieve their designated objectives…
Morin didn’t believe a single word of it.
If the Austro-Hungarians suddenly dropped the ball, allowing the Serbian Second Army to press up unopposed, the flanks of the entire Fifth Army Group would be exposed like a gypsy dancer stripped of her skirt.
Therefore, he felt they couldn’t methodically encircle and annihilate the enemy one by one.
That was too slow…
If the Austro-Hungarian troops on the flanks “detonated,” the excellent initial situation the Saxons had painstakingly planned would likely collapse in an instant.
“So rather than pinning our hopes on unreliable friendly forces, it’s better to cripple the enemy reinforcements first…”
Morin sat in the bumpy command truck, looking at the map by the light of a flashlight, and updating it with reference to the information on the system map.
At this time, he had already observed from the system map that the Serbian First Army was desperately contracting its defenses, attempting to build a hedgehog formation around its corps headquarters.
Leading troops in a forced assault at a time like this, although capable of breaking through the defense line, would result in meaningless sacrifices in Morin’s view.
This was also why, after setting off again, he solidified the bold decision made before the battle—to cross the First Army’s controlled area and directly raid the Serbian Second Army.
The instruction unit could already be considered the unit most adept at night combat in this world.
Coupled with the mobility brought by full motorization, it was enough to make the enemy severely misjudge their movements in the dark.
The entire “Morin Kampfgruppe” began to turn on this plain highly suitable for truck transit, sliding silently in another direction like a long snake disappearing into the shadows.
Before departure, Morin specifically gave a “vaccination” (warning/heads-up) to all the main officers of the instruction unit.
“The daytime surprise attack worked because the enemy was unprepared… But now the First Army has suffered this loss, so the enemy Second Army has definitely received the news.”
“For the upcoming battles, we must assume the opponent is already prepared, perhaps even waiting for us.”
“Therefore, we must strike faster and harder, giving them no chance to react.”
Because in the daytime fighting, the Serbian Second Army, whose offensive had failed, had already consciously moved towards the First Army, constantly trying to close that thirty-kilometer gap between the two armies.
By the time the sun set, the gap between the two armies had shrunk to less than twenty kilometers.
This also meant the distance the “Morin Kampfgruppe” needed to travel for their raid was actually much shorter than anticipated.
Less than an hour after the Kampfgruppe set out, the 5th Guard Reserve Cavalry Regiment, scouting ahead to clear the path, sent a messenger back.
“Reporting to the Colonel! An enemy temporary camp discovered three kilometers ahead, about company-sized, equipped with horse-drawn wagons.”
The messenger expertly reigned in his warhorse, stopping behind the command truck’s trailer, and reported loudly to Morin inside.
Hearing the news, Morin appeared exceptionally calm, merely asking with some curiosity:
“How did you discover the enemy?”
“The forward cavalry on an elevation saw the firelight from the enemy camp. The Serbians don’t seem to have the habit of enforcing fire and light discipline at night…”
“Ah, then it’s not surprising.”
Morin nodded, then asked the messenger to bring the map he carried. He quickly drew a detour route on the map while instructing:
“Tell your regimental commander not to alert them; bypass these enemies directly.”
“The cavalry regiment’s mission is to act as the vanguard of the Kampfgruppe and continue penetrating forward. I need you to light up… cough, scout out the latest positions of the main forces of the enemy Second Army.”
As a unit newly attached and receiving Morin’s command for the first time, the messenger of this Guard Reserve Cavalry Regiment was clearly somewhat unaccustomed to this entirely different command style.
In his past experience, orders given by superiors were generally not this specific, not even marking out the march route.
In most cases, the orders from Saxon officers to subordinate units were basically, “You go take Point A.”
As for how to “take Point A,” that was not a problem for the superior to think about, but left for the various units to freely exercise their initiative.
However, the messenger honestly recorded Morin’s order, saluted him, pulled the reins, and disappeared into the night again on horseback.
After the messenger left, the command truck, which had temporarily parked by the roadside so as not to block traffic, started up again, closely following the massive convoy on the move.
Manstein leaned in close to Morin, looking at the dense markings on the map in front of him, and couldn’t help asking.
“Commander, the specific combat missions for each unit haven’t been issued yet. Everyone only knows we are penetrating right now, but the specific target of the penetration is unclear…”
“It’s not time yet, Erich.”
Morin set down his pencil.
“We currently don’t know the detailed deployments of the enemy Second Army’s various divisions. Relying solely on the intelligence gained during the day is not enough.”
Morin wasn’t speaking nonsense here, because even the specific situation of the enemy Second Army on the system map had stopped refreshing after the daytime aerial reconnaissance ended and the opponent ceased contact with frontline units.
Morin looked out at the shadows of trees flashing backward outside the trailer, then turned to Manstein and said:
“I won’t issue the final strike targets until the cavalry regiment and vanguard units ascertain the opponent’s approximate deployment.”
“Because this time I think our appetite should be a bit bigger: directly destroy the enemy’s corps headquarters… As long as we sever the nerve center, the remaining tens of thousands of Serbian soldiers in this corps will just be a swarm of headless flies, even if they have guns.”
Manstein nodded, feeling the aura of inevitable victory radiating from Morin.
This kind of plan—marching over ten kilometers in the dark to take the enemy’s head—was something only this “most dangerous man in Europa” before him would dare to think of and execute.
Not to mention, Morin currently indeed had much more abundant troop strength than during the day.
Besides the instruction unit as the spearhead, there was also a fully staffed infantry regiment and a highly mobile cavalry regiment.
Even this newly attached Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment was trained according to the new training syllabus.
Setting aside combat resolve, at least in terms of technical and tactical levels, they had already left other infantry in this world far behind, beginning to move closer to the direction of “red collar tabs, green uniforms”…
This gave Morin the confidence to play “blossoming from the center” (striking from within the enemy’s core).
Marching in the dark is always full of uncertainties, but for the commander of the 5th Guard Reserve Cavalry Regiment, this uncertainty conversely made him feel an inexplicable excitement.
This regimental commander was clearly a bold fellow. Upon receiving Morin’s reconnaissance order, his reaction also exceeded the messenger’s expectations. He wasn’t at a loss due to the completely different style of the order; instead, his eyes lit up.
He looked up at the moonlight—tonight was close to a full moon. For those accustomed to night combat, visibility was good.
A moment later, this regimental commander directly ordered the six cavalry companies under the cavalry regiment to break up. He scattered five of them at once, retaining only one company to accompany the regimental headquarters and the horse artillery company.
These five cavalry companies radiated rapidly outwards in the night, like a giant spiderweb, exploring northward along the routes Morin provided.
Morin, watching the movements of the various units on the system map, sighed in admiration that this cavalry commander was a fierce man, while also feeling this operation was very familiar.
Because this was exactly like a Zerg player in Starcraft splitting “Zerglings” to scout. And the combat power of these scattered cavalry companies was even stronger than “Zerglings.”
The fog of war on Morin’s system map began to be illuminated bit by bit with the rapid movement of these five cavalry companies.
Although the cavalry’s first wave of penetrative reconnaissance didn’t acquire very detailed unit designation information because the night was too dark.
But in military command, sometimes “finding no enemy” is in itself a massive piece of information.
Sitting in the truck, based on the unit cards constantly lit up by the cavalry and the “outdated information” being overwritten, Morin rapidly eliminated incorrect options in his mind one after another.
A corps-sized unit’s deployment range and logistical reliance leave traces.
After eliminating large tracts of open ground and areas where no one would choose to camp based on terrain, the locations of the various key nodes of the enemy Second Army were actually ready to be revealed.
Just as Morin was pondering how to divide the subordinate forces, one of the cavalry companies lit up a new red unit card on the system map.
【Guard Battalion, Headquarters, Second Army, Kingdom of Greater Serbia Army】
The moment he saw this unit card information, Morin violently pumped his fist inwardly, cheering “Excellent!”
Special units like a headquarters guard battalion are, in the vast majority of cases, inseparable from the headquarters.
Finding this unit meant finding the nest of that Second Army commander.
Just as Morin expected, as that cavalry company—which had earned the chief merit—continued to close in for reconnaissance, they indeed found the enemy Second Army headquarters, which also lacked light discipline, in a place resembling a small farmstead a few kilometers away.
That cavalry company commander had likely received instructions from the regimental commander, so he didn’t launch a hot-headed charge just because he discovered the enemy.
After confirming the target location and surrounding defensive deployments, he immediately led his men to silently withdraw from the opponent’s line of sight, and swiftly dispatched a messenger to rush back to the cavalry regimental headquarters at even greater speed.
At this moment, the approximate deployment map of the Serbian Second Army was finally completely sketched out on Morin’s combat map.
The Second Army actually knew in the afternoon, when they received the First Army’s request for help, that an elite Saxon unit was shuttling through the rear of the theater.
So the Second Army’s commander indeed ordered all units to heighten surveillance, but he clearly hadn’t realized that this elite Saxon unit had set its sights directly on him, and had come charging over under the cover of night…
“Erich, take this down. I’m making the following deployments…”
Morin patted Manstein beside him, his speaking pace becoming extremely fast.
Manstein immediately opened his notebook, looking focused.
“Deploy the 2nd Battalion of the instruction unit and the 1st Battalion of the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment to the southwest of the enemy headquarters.”
“Deploy all units of the instruction unit’s 1st Battalion except the 1st Company, the 2nd Battalion of the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment, and the Guard Reserve Cavalry Regiment to encircle and attack the location of the enemy headquarters. You must destroy their command core at maximum speed!”
“Deploy the 3rd Battalion of the instruction unit and the 3rd Battalion of the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment to the northwest to establish a defense line and intercept any enemy forces attempting to relieve the siege.”
“Deploy the 4th Battalion of the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment to the north, while simultaneously dispatching small units to scout forward and monitor the movements of the enemy Third Army.”
“The instruction unit regimental headquarters, the guard company, and the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion will act as the reserve force, ready to provide mobile support to any defense line at any time.”
“All regimental combat engineers and anti-armor gun companies are to be attached to the various units to reinforce them…”
Morin spoke voluminously. Finally, he turned towards the artillery battalion’s position.
“The 105mm artillery battalion will find a position behind the temporary defense line and launch the observation balloons. As soon as the main attacking force signals, immediately provide long-range fire support, prioritizing the destruction of the enemy headquarters!”
Having said all this, Morin originally wanted to very “fundamentalistly” add: “Erich, repeat that back to me…”
But as the words reached his lips, looking at Manstein’s wise and calm eyes, he forcefully swallowed them back.
After finishing recording, Manstein quickly closed his notebook. He had already run Morin’s deployment through his mind and immediately understood the true intention of this young commander.
“Commander, are you planning to stage a ‘blossoming from the center’ right in the enemy’s heart?”
Morin took a sip of the warm water prepared by his orderly, then put down his canteen and nodded approvingly.
“You caught on quite fast… The Serbian Second Army is currently focusing all its attention on the First Army and the Crown Prince Army Group over there, so we’ll directly smash our main force onto their headquarters!”
“The outer perimeter forces will be responsible for blocking returning enemies while utilizing our firepower advantage to inflict sufficient casualties. As long as we quickly consume their command center, this corps will absolutely not be able to escape.”
After a brief exchange with Morin, Manstein didn’t delay. When the command truck stopped, he immediately hopped out in a hurry, clutching his notebook.
The radio officers and messengers of the regimental communications company also quickly sprang into action. Radio waves and fast horses precisely distributed Morin’s combat orders to the various battalion-level units.
Morin sat quietly alone in the trailer of the command truck, crossing his hands over his nose bridge, cosplaying Commander Ikari.
On the system map, the blue unit cards representing the Morin Kampfgruppe began to change.
The marching column, originally lined up like a long snake, quickly split and transformed upon receiving the orders. The various battalion-level units rapidly deployed towards their respective designated blocking positions according to the routes planned by Morin.
This experience of controlling the movements of multiple regimental-level units from a bird’s-eye view gave Morin the illusion that he was sitting in front of a computer screen, commanding a vast army with a mouse.
The only drawback was that due to the limitations of communication methods in this era, it took time for regimental orders to reach grassroots companies, and it took time for troops to execute those orders.
So it was equivalent to micro-managing with a super-high network latency of a thousand milliseconds. The feeling… well, it was probably something like that~
Meanwhile, in various locations within the Serbian Second Army’s defense sector that had already been invaded by the “Morin Kampfgruppe.”
The fall of night caused this army, which had suffered severe setbacks during the day, to completely cease all tactical operations.
Like the vast majority of armies in this era lacking night combat training, the Serbian Army wouldn’t easily launch combat operations at night—because doing so made it very easy for units to “get lost” structurally.
The commanders at all levels of the Second Army merely posted routine sentries on the perimeters of their camps and then hid in their tents.
They would occasionally step out of their tents, looking worriedly towards the direction where the First Army was surrounded, silently praying in their hearts that their friendly forces could hold out until daybreak.
Because according to the latest orders from the headquarters, as long as they waited until daybreak, they could reorganize their offensive and open communication between the two armies.
As for the grassroots Serbian soldiers, they were even more exhausted.
Continuous marching and fierce daytime fighting had drained their stamina. Moreover, the supply problem for the entire corps was beginning to surface. Thus, many were too lazy to even dig their trenches deep, simply wrapping themselves in blankets and falling into a deep sleep behind the defense lines.
They had absolutely no idea that a mechanized unit, armed to the teeth, was silently closing in on their heart under the cover of night.
The various convoys of the Morin Kampfgruppe, guided by the cavalry, skillfully utilized the gaps between the defense sectors of the Serbian Second Army’s units to penetrate deeply.
Even if some units had heard the rumbling of hooves or the sound of radiant crystal engines, they still didn’t react, instead assuming it was supply units delivering much-needed provisions.
Many had even started dreaming, thinking they would be able to eat a hearty, meat-filled stew first thing tomorrow morning.
The noise of the truck engines was largely masked by the evening breeze sweeping across the plains.
Because the moonlight was very bright tonight, completely capable of illuminating the road ahead without light pollution, the instruction unit drivers also maintained high-speed maneuvers in the darkness, relying on their exquisite driving skills and the silhouette of the vehicle ahead.
The soldiers of the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment sat in the swaying truck beds, gripping their weapons tightly.
Although they lacked the rich night combat experience of the instruction unit, infected by this tense atmosphere, everyone held their breath, not daring to make the slightest sound.
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
Morin saw on the system map that the two battalions responsible for the main assault had quietly arrived at their designated positions southwest of the enemy headquarters.
The status of the unit cards also changed from “Marching” to “Combat,” indicating the soldiers had begun jumping off the trucks and successively entering their jump-off positions for the attack.
The blocking forces in other directions were also in place. Morin could even imagine the soldiers wielding entrenching tools in the darkness, quickly digging hasty foxholes and ultimately connecting them into trenches.
The main assault force had already completed deploying into combat formations at this time.
The flamethrower troops hefted their heavy fuel tanks, and the machine gunners draped extra belts of ammunition for their MG14 light machine guns around their necks. Everyone was waiting for the final order.
Even the soldiers of the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment, participating in this kind of night surprise attack for the first time, became calm and collected under the leadership of the surrounding “Pro-bros” (veterans).
At the position of the 105mm howitzer battalion, the artillery observation balloons were being urgently inflated, and the twelve K14 105mm howitzers had been detached from the truck hitches and set up.
Under faint flashlight illumination, the artillerymen nervously adjusted their firing data according to the newly updated coordinates on the map.
Gleaming brass shells were finally loaded into the breeches, and the gun crew members ran far away, with one holding the lanyard, ready to pull it hard at any moment.
Morin, who had maintained his “Commander Ikari” pose all along, abruptly opened his eyes and glanced at the watch on his wrist.
It was exactly 2:15 AM.
While not quite the most drowsy and least vigilant moment of the day for a person… for the men of the Serbian Second Army, it was close enough.
Morin jumped down from the command truck, which had already driven to the edge of the artillery position, and walked briskly to the artillery battalion commander.
He then looked toward the direction of the Serbian Second Army headquarters, picked up the main unit of the “portable magitech communication equipment,” and connected to the 1st Battalion.
“1st Battalion, attention, bombardment is about to begin! Ensure the Guard Reserve units do not launch their attack prematurely!”
Although the 1st Battalion couldn’t answer at this moment, Morin had absolute trust in the troops under his command. So he looked at the artillery battalion commander and nodded. The latter quickly moved near the crew of Gun 1.
“Gun 1, ranging shot, fire!”
As the words fell, a deafening cannon roar tore through the tranquility of the night sky. The high-speed shell ripped through the air, smashing viciously into the slumbering headquarters of the Serbian Second Army.