Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 155 I'm Fighting My Own Team
Here he comes; it seems this officer isn't so easily fooled.

The thought flashed through Morin's mind.

However, he was already prepared and answered without changing his expression: "24th Regiment, sir. We just withdrew from the front line during the day and haven't even had a chance to catch our breath before we were sent to carry out this mission."

This unit designation is also the unit designation of the owner of this captured uniform.

Morin even had a military officer's ID card with a replaced photo in his pocket.

However, Maureen would not take out his officer's ID unless it was absolutely necessary, because there was simply no time to re-stamp the photo.
"Regiment 24?"

A look of realization dawned on the lieutenant's face. He seemed to have been recalling something before asking:
“I know your regiment’s quartermaster, Lieutenant Van der Waals, a very capable fat man.”

The moment he uttered that name, a new message popped up in Morin's "Intelligence" tab.

The current quartermaster of the 24th Regiment, 11th Brigade, United Kingdom Army, is Lieutenant Hendrik de Vries; the previous quartermaster, Brahms van der Waals, was transferred last month.

Good grief, we almost got caught.

Morin cursed inwardly, but his face remained impassive, even showing a hint of regret.

"You mean Lieutenant Van der Waal? He was transferred last month. The officer has replaced him with Lieutenant De Vries, a tall, thin man who doesn't talk much."

This fluent response completely dispelled Lieutenant Flanderberg's last doubts.

Manstein, who was behind him, also took the opportunity to chat in Dutch with the driver and soldiers in the following vehicle, creating a very relaxed atmosphere.

"So that's it."

The lieutenant nodded, then pointed to the car behind him and said in a somewhat urgent tone:
“We have urgent business to attend to. The liaison officer in the car is from the Holy Britannian Empire Expeditionary Force. We must get to Liège immediately to see General Lehmann.”

"Oh? An ally of the Holy Britannian Empire?"

Morin feigned surprise, then stood at attention and saluted.

"Sir, we certainly don't want to delay your official business, but it's our duty. Please show your identification and that of the friendly forces in the vehicle. We'll do a quick check and then let you pass immediately."

"this is necessary."

The lieutenant greatly appreciated Morin's conscientious attitude.

"We need soldiers like you to keep those damned Saxons out of our country!"

As he spoke, he took out his military officer's ID from his pocket and handed it to Morin.

The other passengers, including the two Breton officers who had remained silent in the back, also began preparing their identification documents.

However, none of them noticed that Morin and the other 'sentinels' had inadvertently surrounded their two vehicles and were so close that they could almost touch them.

Just as Morin reached out to take the officer's ID.

Something unexpected happened!

Morin grabbed the officer's wrist with his left hand, while his right hand flashed out from behind his back and pulled out an MP14 submachine gun that he had been hiding. The dark muzzle was pressed directly against the head of Lieutenant Flandersberg!

At the same time, Manstein and several other commandos also drew their weapons and aimed them at the other seven people inside and beside the vehicle.

"Don't move!"

The entire scene froze instantly.

The smile on the face of the Flanders army lieutenant froze. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he was seeing.

The other people in the car also looked bewildered and confused.

They couldn't understand why their comrades, who were 'duty-bound' just a moment ago, had turned into enemies wielding weapons the next.

"Are you...are you all insane?!"

The Breton officer in the back seat, wearing the rank of major, was the first to react. He angrily rebuked the officer in heavily accented Dutch:
"Check our identification! We are allies! Attacking allies is a serious crime!"

Morin didn't even glance at him, but stared at the terrified Lieutenant Flanders in front of him and spoke coldly.

"I didn't make a mistake."

His voice wasn't loud, but in the deathly stillness of the night, it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"I'm targeting you allies."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he used the wooden butt of his MP14 to smash the lieutenant hard on the back of the neck.

The lieutenant didn't even utter a sound before collapsing limply to the ground.

"Do it!"

At Morin's command, the assault team members descended like tigers from a mountain, swiftly and decisively dragging the remaining seven people out of the vehicle and knocking them unconscious one by one with rifle butts and fists.

The entire process took less than thirty seconds, and not a single shot was fired.

Before being knocked unconscious, the Britannian major muttered angrily, "You people will pay for your stupidity."

Maureen walked over to him, squatted down, and patted his face, which was filled with anger and confusion.

"Rest assured, Major, there will definitely be a price to pay, but it won't be us."

After saying that, he swiftly knocked the Brittany major unconscious, then waved to his men.

"Come on, strip these two Britannians of their uniforms!"

A rather comical scene was unfolding in the woods by the roadside.

Eight captured soldiers were tied up tightly like dumplings with ropes found in the vehicle and thrown onto the cold grass.

Two of the unfortunate ones were only wearing their underwear.

Morin personally demonstrated to his soldiers a special binding technique he had learned in military school in his previous life.

“Look closely, this method of binding is called ‘pig’s hoof knot’, which is specifically used to deal with strong and powerful prisoners.”

He demonstrated and explained at the same time.

"The knot should be tied like this: go through the wrist and then around the ankle. This will ensure that the more he struggles, the tighter the rope will become. Even God couldn't break free."

The commandos watching were stunned by Morin's incredibly skillful technique.

They simply couldn't understand what their superior had done before.

Forget everything else, how come even the person tying the bundle is so professional?

"Don't ask, it's just a personal hobby."

Seeing the curious expressions on the faces of the commandos around him under the lantern, Morin dusted off his hands, his face full of inscrutable mystery.

The soldiers looked at their commander with even greater awe.

They speak multiple languages, understand tactical command, can go anywhere, and now they're even so professional at binding. Is there anything in this world that their superiors can't do?

After dealing with the prisoners, Morin ordered the soldiers to gag them with socks and then scatter them deep into the forest.

"Make a note of this location."

Morin said to Manstein, "These Britannians are important prisoners. Once we're done, let the Second Army take them over. We should be able to pry some useful information out of them."

Manstein nodded emphatically; his adoration for Morin had now reached an indescribable level.

In his eyes, his superior officer was practically the god of war incarnate.

He always seems to find an unexpected way out of any seemingly unsolvable predicament.

Morin carefully examined the Brittany major's uniform; it was about the same size as his.

He readily took it for himself, and incidentally also found an officer's ID card with an exquisite crest and a letter sealed with wax in the other's pocket.

“Cavendish,” Morin muttered, looking at the name on the document. “Hey, seems to be a nobleman.”

He put the documents and letters in his pocket, then picked out a soldier of similar build to another Brittany lieutenant and had him change into another officer's uniform.

"From now on, you are my adjutant." Morin patted the soldier on the shoulder.

The soldier's face flushed with excitement. He straightened his back and shouted, "Yes, sir!"

“No, you should say ‘Yes, sir!’” Manstein said with some concern upon hearing Maureen’s correction.

"Sir, will this work? What if we encounter a stop along the way and need to talk to them?"

"fine."

Morin waved his hand, looking confident.

"When the time comes, I'll be in charge of playing the aloof role, and you'll be in charge of negotiating in the Netherlands."

“You must remember that I am a noble officer from Brittany, and I am too proud to talk to ordinary soldiers. Just tell them that we have urgent military information, and anyone who dares to block the way will be delaying our mission.”

"Besides, if we really encounter an emergency, I can speak Bretonnian, so don't worry~"

Since Morin had said so, Manstein naturally had no objections.

He quickly changed into Lieutenant Flanders' uniform, transforming himself into an escort officer protecting his 'ally'.

everything's ready.

The two Huijing Power vehicles restarted, but the people inside had been replaced.

Morin and his 'adjutant' sat in the back of the front car, while Manstein sat in the passenger seat.

The other four commandos, who didn't look so 'Saxon,' were in the back vehicle.

The others loaded their light machine guns and chest rigs onto the vehicles and then marched quickly along both sides of the road.

"set off!"

Morin leaned back in his seat, watching Liege City draw ever closer, a smile creeping onto his lips.

"Watch me do this, I'll give you a really tough job."

Under the cover of night, two Huijing Power vehicles drove slowly along a country road.

To accommodate the team members running alongside them on the roadside, the vehicles did not travel at high speeds.

The group traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping frequently along the way, and finally arrived at the outskirts of Liege around midnight.

Because of a significant air raid that had just taken place, especially the aerial bombs dropped by the Saxons, which caused some chaos and damage to the city, the atmosphere in Liège was tense and chaotic.

The guards at the city gate were clearly in disarray, and the necessary sentries were incomplete. In particular, when Manstein, dressed in a lieutenant's uniform, got into the passenger seat of the car in front, he was not thoroughly checked.

Manstein simply shouted a few words in his heavily accented Dutch, "The situation is urgent, and none of you can afford to be late," and the guards readily let him pass.

The vehicles and the commandos beside them successfully entered the city of Liege.

The situation inside the city was worse than it appeared outside; soldiers were fighting fires and civilians were running around everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of burning.

Morin and his group did not linger in the city. They drove straight to the fortress command post located in the city's core area.

The remaining twelve commandos quietly broke away from the group after the vehicle entered the core area, found a place to hide in the nearby streets, and waited for the signal to begin the operation.

According to the plan, once they heard gunfire coming from the direction of the command post, they would immediately launch a supporting attack from the outside.

Before long, the vehicle carrying Morin and Manstein arrived at the gates of the Liege fortress.

This fortress is less a stronghold and more a city within a city with high walls, serving as the core and brain of the entire Liège defense system.

"Stop the car! Submit for inspection!"

Several sentries at the fortress gate blocked their way.

Manstein resorted to his old trick, sticking his head out and unleashing a torrent of abuse on the sentries.

"Are you all blind?! Didn't you see who was in the car?"

He pointed to Morin, who was sitting upright in the back row.

"This is Major Cavendish, the liaison officer for the Holy Britannian Empire's expeditionary force! There is extremely urgent military intelligence to report to General Lyman immediately! If you delay, all of you will face a court-martial!"

His heavily accented Dutch, coupled with his arrogant attitude, made him the quintessential image of a Yankee officer.

Those Flanders sentries were truly intimidated by his appearance.

They looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.

After all, the person sitting in the car was an ally of the Holy Britannian Empire, and it seemed that he was indeed in a hurry.

Just as they were hesitating, Morin, at just the right moment, urged them on in a haughty tone in Brittany.

Although the sentries couldn't understand, seeing that the 'Allied officer' was unhappy, they didn't dare to stop him any further and could only wave him on.

As the vehicle slowly drove past the sentry post, Morin even clearly heard one of the sentries mutter a curse under his breath.

"Damn Yankees, what's with the attitude?"

After passing this checkpoint, the road ahead was clear and unobstructed.

The vehicle traveled along the wide stone-paved road inside the fortress. Morin observed the surrounding environment while simultaneously merging the simplified map he had obtained from the army group's intelligence personnel with the system map in his mind.

Soon, the system map clearly showed the location of each key building, and even thoughtfully marked the entrances and exits of the main fortress building.

Morin's gaze was also drawn to the three enormous, crystal-like objects atop the main fortress building.

Judging from the map markings, that should be the 'large anti-aircraft magic device' that launches anti-air attacks during the day.

"That's it."

Morin pointed to the main building and spoke to the commando in the car.

The vehicle sped along and finally stopped at the entrance of the command center, which is the main building.

A row of heavily armed guards stood at the entrance, making the atmosphere noticeably more tense than outside.

Manstein took a deep breath, opened the car door, and got out.

He straightened his uniform, strode up to a guard captain, and repeated what he had just said.

"I've been ordered to meet the Brittany liaison officer. Major Cavendish has urgent business and needs to see Major General Lyman immediately!"

The captain of the guard glanced at him, then at Morin sitting in the car. Although he had some doubts, he still dared not be negligent.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go and inform them right away."

He turned and walked into the command building.

Everything seemed to be going very smoothly.

Morin and the other team members in the car were ready to get out and rush in to wreak havoc.

However, at this moment, an accident happened.

A tall Captain Flanders followed the captain of the guard out of the command post.

He appeared to be the officer specifically in charge of receiving guests.

The captain first gave a polite salute to Morin in the car, then turned his gaze to Manstein.

When he saw Manstein's face clearly, his brows furrowed instantly, and he looked Manstein up and down with a look of doubt and scrutiny.

"The person I sent to pick them up was Lieutenant Liam."

He stared at Manstein and spoke slowly in a low voice.

"who are you?"

At this moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Morin's heart skipped a beat.

That's it, I can't make it here anymore.

The officer he sent to pick him up clearly did not resemble Manstein.

(End of this chapter)