The Kingdom Army soldiers were quick to flee, but the assault team members following the smoke wall were not slow either.
Upon reaching the gateway, the assault team’s division of labor was clearly defined.
The assault soldiers armed with the large-drum P08s followed Morin directly into the archway, unleashing a torrent of 9mm bullets to ‘harvest potatoes’ (slaughter the enemy) furiously.
The Kingdom Army soldiers were all jammed together in the gateway, requiring little to no aiming.
Once a unit’s morale collapsed, the spread of fear was beyond imagination. No one even thought of returning fire…
The other soldiers, armed with Gew.98 rifles, began engaging in firefights in the street.
Although the street in front of the castle had virtually no cover, these assault team members were quick to think.
They used the still-dissipating smoke wall as cover, moving toward the archway while occasionally delivering accurate single shots at any enemy daring to peek out from the castle wall.
In just over ten seconds, the castle gateway was completely secured. The room directly above the archway, which controlled the drawbridge and the gate, was also cleared out by the assault team with grenades.
Morin, having reloaded his last spare drum magazine, led the team charging into the interior of the castle. A cold, damp air immediately greeted them.
The scene instantly switched from an open battlefield to a typical close-quarters indoor environment.
Narrow corridors, dim lighting, countless rooms and corners…
This was every infantryman’s nightmare.
Morin glanced at his system map, his brow furrowing.
He found that his ‘cheat’ also exposed some limitations in this environment.
On the map, the area representing the castle was a gray square, with a unit marker for a Kingdom Army infantry company on it—the unit to which the soldiers who fled into the castle belonged.
Beyond that, he could only see one red number: 【42】.
This number represented the remaining enemy strength inside the castle.
But specifically where these enemies were, in which room, or around which corner, the map showed nothing.
“Just like a point-capture mode in a war game, it only shows the enemy count in the area, right?”
Morin complained inwardly, but he knew this was no time to dwell on it.
After quickly checking that the durability of his 【Mage Armor】 was running low, the Bro activated his other defensive spell.
【1st-Circle Spell – Shield】
A round shield made of pure magical energy instantly appeared in front of him, moving as he moved.
Morin had roughly planned for today’s battle during his all-night trench digging. He had loaded his Spell Slots as follows:
【2nd-Circle Spell – Misty Step】 0/2 【1st-Circle Spell – Mage Armor】 0/2 【1st-Circle Spell – Shield】 1/2
Today’s battle also made him realize that the Mages’ stamina in this world was truly poor.
At least the stamina of low-level Mages couldn’t sustain high-intensity combat…
“So, how are the Britannians managing to specialize solely in Evocation and Transmutation?”
As the assault team advanced deeper into the castle, the Kingdom Army defenders inside began to counterattack.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Gunshots rang out repeatedly from the darkness at the end of the corridor, but the incoming bullets all struck the shield, only causing two transparent ripples.
“Enemy at the end of the corridor! Fire suppression!”
The assault team members following Morin immediately reacted. Leaning out sideways, several P08s fired simultaneously, the dense rain of bullets instantly covering the entire corridor.
Stone fragments flew from the walls. The three Kingdom Army soldiers hiding at the end were hit, letting out a ‘Wilhelm scream,’ and then fell silent.
“Don’t stop! Keep moving!”
Morin gave the enemy no breathing room.
The battlefield was not like a counter-terrorism operation. In this high-pressure environment, there were no fancy corner-cutting, room-clearing CQB tactics.
The most effective approach was simple, brutal, and overwhelming firepower.
Lead with grenades, suppress with dense fire, and just charge.
Morin’s ‘Stormtrooper Youth Version’ assault team possessed overwhelming fire density superiority in close-quarters combat.
Therefore, there was no need for cautious peering and slow advancement.
Furthermore, they had no time to move slowly.
No one knew the situation outside the castle or if enemy reinforcements were approaching.
The most important thing was to quickly end the fighting inside the castle and completely secure this strategic high ground.
It must be said that the twenty soldiers Klaus had selected for Morin from the entire company were indeed excellent candidates for assault troops.
After enduring the fighting outside the castle, they had quickly adapted to the high-intensity combat rhythm.
They had even developed a habit of ‘pre-firing.’
Whenever they encountered a corner or an open doorway, they would first throw a grenade, then charge forward while firing.
The advantage of this simple and brutal tactic was that it maximized the assault team’s fire superiority, giving the enemy no chance to fight back.
The disadvantage was the extremely rapid rate of ammunition consumption.
By the time the assault team had fought its way through, clearing most of the first-floor rooms and preparing to advance up the stairs to the second floor, the P08-equipped assault soldiers had already emptied two 32-round drum magazines and were reloading their last one.
Morin had long since picked up an enemy rifle and fixed his bayonet.
“Company Commander, we’re almost out of bullets!” a Corporal reported to Morin in the interval between reloading.
“Use your rifle once your pistol is empty! Pick up ammo from the enemy corpses!” Morin roared without turning his head. “Don’t stop! Break them in one push!”
He knew very well that if their offensive slowed down, the defenders in the castle would recover.
Once they reorganized an effective defense, his twenty men would likely be counter-encircled and annihilated.
Therefore, they had to maintain the push and completely shatter the defenders in one go.
Morin, protected by the [Shield] spell, charged at the very front, drawing almost all the enemy fire.
The assault team members behind him only needed to follow and pour bullets onto any suspicious targets.
This indoor fighting style, while challenging the assault team members’ psychological and mental resilience, paradoxically required less technical skill than the infiltration outside.
Since virtually no bullets hit them, all the assault team members had to do was pull the trigger.
Even so, by the time the assault team fought their way to the second floor and reached the main castle hall, only 15 men remained.
Their ammunition was largely depleted, and most of the assault soldiers had switched to rifles.
Standing outside the main hall’s door, Morin was temporarily unsure how many enemies were inside.
The true value of 【1st-Circle Spell – Detect Life】 would have been realized now.
Unfortunately, Morin had not yet learned that spell.
“Count how many grenades we have left in total,” Morin instructed a Corporal who was constantly by his side.
The Corporal quickly reported a number: 8.
Morin: “How did you use them so fast?”
“It’s because you kept ordering us to use grenades to clear rooms here, and suppress fire there, Commander…” the Corporal replied, sounding slightly wronged.
“It’s fine… You did well…”
Morin quickly brushed past the topic, then turned his back to the main hall’s door and kicked it open with a powerful shove.
A flurry of gunshots immediately rang out from inside the main hall.
The assault team members did not delay. After receiving a signal from Morin, they threw the remaining grenades inside.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The continuous grenade explosions filled the main hall and the corridor near the door with dust and smoke.
Following this, led by Morin, who was protected by the [Shield] spell, the assault team members spread out to his sides and charged inside, utilizing the smoke and dust.
Several surviving soldiers close to the door attempted to return fire.
But the reaction of the assault team and Morin was quicker. The Kingdom Army soldiers who tried to resist were instantly shot down.
This was like knocking over the first domino.
The remaining Kingdom Army soldiers lost all will to resist.
“Don’t shoot! We surrender! We really surrender!”
They threw down their weapons and raised their hands high, their faces a mixture of fear and despair.
“Tie them all up! Check if there are any survivors on the ground!”
Morin stopped and issued orders to the assault team members behind him.
He himself leaned against a pillar, guarding the interior of the hall, feeling all the strength drained from his body.
From the start of the charge until now, he had been under extreme tension, with massive mental and physical exhaustion.
And the previous day’s march had already taken a huge toll on his physical strength…
Just then, Morin noticed that the uniforms of a few of the surrendered Kingdom Army soldiers were noticeably different from the others.
Although Morin was not familiar with the Kingdom Army’s black uniform styles, he could tell these were officer uniforms.
His heart skipped a beat. He opened the system map again.
He was surprised to find that on the castle’s gray square icon, besides the original unit marker for the castle garrison.
There was now an additional marker he hadn’t noticed before, bearing the symbol of crossed swords.
【Kingdom Army 32nd Infantry Regiment Headquarters】
“Holy cow, this really is a surprise attack…”
Morin couldn’t help but curse out loud.
Major Thomas had indeed mentioned that the enemy’s Regimental Headquarters might be in the town…
But his aggressive push had actually captured the enemy’s Regimental Command in one fell swoop.
Before long, Klaus arrived at the castle with a squad of soldiers.
When he saw the mess in the main hall and the dejected Kingdom Army officers, who were tied together in a line, the battle-hardened Company Sergeant Major couldn’t help but gape.
“Company Commander… you really took out the enemy’s Regimental Headquarters?”
Klaus asked incredulously, a hint of regret in his voice.
Being a ‘ballast’ is no fun when the Company Commander is leading the charge…
“More or less.”
Morin had recovered somewhat by now. He dusted off his clothes, pointed at the officers, and said to Klaus:
“Keep a close watch on these guys. Have the others clear the battlefield and count the spoils and prisoners. Pay special attention to securing any maps and documents!”
“Yes, sir!”
Klaus saluted enthusiastically and immediately began organizing the soldiers into action.
As news arrived from the rest of the 1st Company, including the allied 2nd and 3rd Companies, the preliminary results were tallied.
The assault on the town had achieved a spectacular victory for the battalion, with fewer than a hundred casualties.
They had not only routed the Kingdom Army infantry battalion garrisoned in the town, capturing most of its soldiers, but also taken out the Headquarters of the Kingdom Army’s 32nd Infantry Regiment.
Among the captured were the Lieutenant Colonel Regimental Commander of the Kingdom Army’s 32nd Infantry Regiment, the Infantry Battalion Commander, and the Major commanding the Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion that was providing coordinated defense.
In addition, they had captured a large amount of weapons, ammunition, military supplies, a complete field hospital, and over a hundred military horses.
The most important war trophy was the six Magic Crystal Cannons, which the 1st Company soldiers captured intact.
Company Sergeant Major Klaus’s voice was shaking with excitement as he reported the results to Morin.
Morin smiled with satisfaction, listening to the report.
This battle was indeed fought quite well.
He had proven the value of his new tactics to everyone with a resounding victory.
More importantly, his company, having gone through this baptism of fire and blood, could now truly be reborn.
Everyone who survived this battle, whether the new recruits or the three new Platoon Leaders, gained significant experience.
“Well done, Klaus.”
Morin patted his veteran’s shoulder: “Have everyone continue their hard work, clear the battlefield thoroughly, and then… we’ll go take a look at those Magic Crystal Cannons.”
He was far too curious about those ‘air burst’ superweapons.
As the fighting in the town gradually subsided, an observation balloon, one of the three colossal ones positioned several kilometers behind the battlefield, slowly began to descend.
In the basket, Crown Prince Georg lowered the bulky optical observation instrument he was holding, his face still bearing the shock that had not yet faded.
“General…”
He turned to Mackensen, whose expression remained solemn, his voice filled with amazement.
“I… I never imagined that infantry offensive operations could be executed this way.”
Although the distance and angle prevented them from seeing the specific details of the street fighting inside the town.
The 1st Company’s earthwork before the assault and the assault team’s infiltration after the battle began had delivered a tremendous visual and mental shock to the young Crown Prince.
Especially the scene of Morin using [Misty Step] for the first time, using a smoke wall to breach the enemy’s line, had filled him with excitement.
As the Crown Prince, Georg had naturally met more Mages than the average Saxon.
But he had never imagined Mages, who mostly served as researchers for arcane technology in the rear, could be used like this on the battlefield…
“This is simply… like a ‘Formation Breaker’ from ancient epics,” Georg muttered.
General Mackensen did not immediately offer a comment.
But the slight, barely suppressed upturn of his lips revealed his true feelings.
“Your Highness, please don’t praise him too much.”
A moment later, the old General spoke in his usual stern tone:
“I know that rascal too well… If you praise him today, he’ll dare to promise you he can take Madrid single-handedly tomorrow.”
“Hahaha, if he truly could, my Father would be greatly relieved…”
(End of this Chapter)
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