Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 153 Gentlemen, See You on the Ground (Bonus Chapter 310 for the Silver Alliance)

Morin followed the officer through the long internal passageway to the bridge at the front of the airship.

The captain of L28, the bearded middle-aged man who had suffered a great loss during the day, grinned when he saw Morin.

"You're Captain Morin? I've heard about your plan. You're quite the daredevil! Only lunatics like you could come up with such a crazy battle plan!"

Although his tone sounded like he was scolding someone, his eyes were full of approval and a hint of admiration.

“You’re too kind, Captain,” Morin replied with a smile. “I was just doing what I was supposed to do.”

"Hahaha, alright, let's cut the chit-chat."

The captain's smile faded, and his expression turned serious. He led Morin to the aviation map and began to give him a final mission briefing.

"Captain Morin, according to the plan, the L29 armored airship will act as bait and launch the first attack. They will attempt to bombard and shell the Baxion Fortress and do their best to draw the fortress's anti-aircraft fire."

"Our L28 will first remain concealed in the clouds at an altitude of about 500 meters. Regardless of whether the enemy's magical devices fire, we will immediately descend to an altitude of about 200 meters when we approach the fortress complex, and fly over Liege at the fastest speed."

"The window of opportunity for you to jump is very, very short, maybe only a few minutes. So you must seize this opportunity."

Morin nodded, indicating that he understood.

He then asked, "Captain, do we need special training to use the parachutes on the airship?"

"Of course!" the captain replied matter-of-factly. "It's not something you can just carry around and use. Jumping out of the air without at least a week of ground and simulation training is no different from suicide."

Upon hearing this answer, Maureen completely abandoned the idea of ​​using a parachute.

He ultimately decided to use the relatively safe [Feather Fall Technique] to complete this unprecedented airborne operation.

As the night grew deeper, the operation officially began at 9:00 PM.

The L29 armored airship, acting as decoy, accelerated first, rushing towards Liège, which was surrounded by twelve fortresses, like a huge nocturnal beast.

Its enormous form was quickly revealed under the beam of light from the searchlights of the Baxiong Fortress.

"Target spotted! It's a Saxon armored airship!"

"Anti-air magic device, charge immediately! Prepare to attack!"

The commander of the anti-aircraft magic device in the fortress immediately issued orders the moment he saw L29.

They thought the Saxons were scared off, but they never expected that the other side would dare to send airships to their deaths at night.

The captain of L29 coldly gazed through the observation window at the hedgehog-like fortress below.

He knew the mission his armored airship was tasked with, and he knew that the fate of himself and his hundreds of crew members was now in God's hands.

"All turrets, fire freely! Throw all the bombs at that damn turtle shell!" he ordered into the communicator.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The 203mm naval guns on the airship began to roar, and aerial bombs poured down from the open bomb bay like rain.

In an instant, the entire sky above Baxiong Fortress was shrouded in the flames of the explosion.

Perhaps it was because nighttime aerial observation was much more difficult, or perhaps the daytime victory made the defenders somewhat complacent.

It wasn't until L29 had finished dropping its bombs and was adjusting its course to prepare for disengagement that the fortress's anti-aircraft magic device belatedly opened fire.

Three deadly crimson rays illuminated the night sky once more, slamming into L29's magic shield and triggering violent magical reactions.

This blinding light also illuminated an even larger, darker shadow hidden in the clouds higher up—the L28 armored airship.

In the magic device control room of Baxiong Fortress, the magic technicians responsible for guiding the shots exclaimed "It's all over!" the moment they saw L28's figure in the clouds.

They realized they had been tricked!
The captain of L28, upon seeing the anti-aircraft weapon below fire, immediately grabbed the microphone and roared out the order.

"Enemy anti-aircraft missiles have opened fire! All crew, take note! Descend immediately! Propulsion units at maximum power! Accelerate and charge forward!"

At the same time, he ordered a blitzkrieg to use the flashes and smoke from the explosions to cover the upcoming airdrop assault team operation.

Inside the cargo hold where Morin and the others were, the lights turned a dark red.

"Captain Morin, you have entered the target airspace and are ready to parachute in at any time!"

An airship officer, who was strapped with a safety rope, shouted to him, and then the cargo door below the cargo hold slowly opened.

Morin stood by the open hatch, the night wind howling in and making his uniform flutter.

He looked down at the land rushing past, its surface shimmering and glowing with the light of fire and searchlights, and felt a strange sense of peace.

He felt himself enter a strange and mysterious state, his mind was completely clear, and all the noise around him seemed to disappear.

He calmly raised his hand and quickly uttered an obscure word.

Soft white light flashed one after another, precisely enveloping the 20 commandos, including himself.

Four [Feather Fall Technique] spells have been cast.

He turned around, smiled at the group of soldiers before him, whose expressions were filled with tension and determination, and said loudly:

"Gentlemen! I remember you often say that you are the emperor's sharpest blade! Today, I hope that blade can pierce the enemy's heart!"

"Gentlemen, see you on the ground!"

After saying that, he took two steps back, then turned around without hesitation and took the lead in leaping from the open hatch of the airship into the deep night sky below.

Morin's swift and decisive leap was like a silent command.

The commandos, who had initially harbored some fear and hesitation, had their last remaining thoughts vanish instantly upon seeing their commander's back, swept away by a surge of fervor.

What's there to be afraid of! The battalion commander was the first to jump, so why should we back down?
"For Saxony!"

A young soldier yelled and jumped out of the hatch.

His actions were like lighting the fuse of a powder keg.

"For the Emperor!"

The commandos roared and jumped out of the plane one after another like dumplings being dropped into a pot, disappearing into the dark night.

Standing by the hatch, preparing to be the last to jump, Manstein felt an indescribable surge of adrenaline rush from his chest to the top of his head as he watched this scene.

In an instant, all fear of the unknown and death was burned away by this boiling passion.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

—To be able to fight alongside such a group of warriors, I would die without regret!
He took a deep breath, and without any further hesitation, jumped off the edge of the deck.

On the bridge of the L28 armored airship, the bearded captain witnessed this awe-inspiring scene through the observation window. He saw those twenty tiny figures resolutely plunge into the embrace of darkness.

Even a veteran like him, who works dangerous high-altitude operations every day, couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine at that moment.

"They're a fucking bunch of lunatics!"

He muttered a curse in a low voice, a tone that was a mixture of admiration and emotion.

Immediately, he grabbed the microphone and gave orders to the entire submarine.

"Cargo airdrop complete! Helmsman, gain altitude immediately! Full speed ahead to escape this damned airspace!"

The roar of the L28 armored airship's engines echoed through the sky, then it traced a huge arc in the air before heading towards the safe night sky in the distance without looking back.

Only the garrison at Liege Fortress remained, preparing in chaos on the ground for what was supposed to be a non-existent 'second wave of air raids'.

Feeling of weightlessness.

This was Manstein's first feeling after jumping out of the hatch.

Immediately afterwards, a howling wind rushed into his ears, making it almost impossible for him to hear anything.

He instinctively closed his eyes, feeling his body plummeting, his heart pounding in his throat.

But a gentle yet powerful force enveloped his entire body, slowing his descent to a point as slow as a feather falling.

He tentatively opened his eyes.

What came into view was a magnificent sight I had never seen before.

He was floating in the air, hundreds of meters above the ground.

Below, the menacing silhouettes of Liege and its fortresses are visible.

In the distance, the L29 and L28 armored airships are disappearing back into the night sky.

Further away, the artillery positions of the Saxon Empire were constantly spewing fire, engaging in fierce firefights with the fortress's gun emplacements.

The whole world seemed to be on fire.

This is war.

Meanwhile, Morin was adjusting his posture in the air, feeling like a feather, letting the wind carry him to an unknown distance.

On the system map, the green dots representing himself and his 19 assault team members were scattered in the air, slowly drifting down to the ground.

Their landing points were more scattered than expected.

The two furthest points are more than one kilometer apart as the crow flies.

There was no other way; it was a 200-meter jump, at night, and the wind speed was unpredictable.

Being able to keep it within such a small range is already considered quite lucky.

There was a soft "bang" sound.

Morin felt his feet stepping on solid ground.

He landed successfully.

He quickly unslung the submachine gun from his back and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

This place appears to be farmland, with the air filled with the smell of soil and vegetation, and a country road seems to be running in the distance.

After confirming that it was safe, he did not waste a moment and immediately opened the system map to plan the route to gather the troops.

With the help of the system map's precise positioning, Morin was like a player with a full map cheat, traversing the dark fields.

He quickly found his first target.

It was a corporal from the 2nd Company, who was lying blankly in a vegetable field, not yet figuring out where he was.

"Hey, come back to your senses!"

Morin walked over and patted the military cap on his head—the infantry of the United Kingdom of Flanders were not equipped with helmets.

The corporal was startled and turned around abruptly. When he saw it was Morin, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Sir! I thought it was the enemy!"

“The enemy didn’t find you as quickly as I did,” Morin chuckled. “Come with me, we’ll go find the others.”

And so, Morin, with the first team member they found, continued on their journey.

They quickly found a second, and a third.
The team grew bigger and bigger, like a snowball rolling downhill.

When Morin found Manstein in a grove of trees, clutching a rifle and looking around nervously, there were already more than a dozen men following him.

"How are you feeling, our operations staff?" Morin walked forward with a smile.

"Sir!" Manstein saw Morin and was so excited that he almost hugged him.

"That was so exciting!" he stammered. "When I landed just now, I almost thought I was going to break my leg!"

"Used to it."

Morin smiled and then pointed to the group of soldiers behind him who were also looking excited.

"Look, aren't they all perfectly fine?"

Manstein then noticed the group behind Morin, and he gaped in surprise.

"Sir, how...how did you find everyone in such a short time?"

It's important to know that the area where they landed was pitch black, with only the moonlight roughly illuminating the surroundings.

Even with a map and a compass, it would be virtually impossible to gather all twenty people scattered within a one-kilometer radius in such a short time.

Upon hearing this, Morin smiled mysteriously, then lowered his voice and said in a charlatan-like tone:
"Because the sacred Kara connects each and every one of us."

Manstein: "Kara? What's Kara?"

Maureen: "A belief, a spirit, a... well, I can't explain it to you. Just know that we will never be separated."

Manstein nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

(End of this chapter)