Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 159 The Emperor's Blade (Bonus Chapter 610 for Silver Alliance)

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Liege fortress complex.

Ludendorff, who was personally overseeing the commando unit's attack zone while training the assault battalion, also felt the violent tremor coming from the ground.

The staff officers around him all looked surprised.

"earthquake?"

"No, this tremor doesn't seem to be coming from the center of Liege."

Ludendorff didn't speak; he simply took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time.

Nearly three hours have passed since Morin and his team landed.

His slightly chubby face was now filled with tension and anticipation.

Could it be that Morin and his team actually succeeded?

This idea grew wildly in his mind.

After a fierce internal struggle, a resolute glint flashed in Ludendorff's eyes.

Bet!

"Give me the order!"

He suddenly raised his head and gave orders to the messenger beside him.

"Order all attacking forces to immediately launch a probing attack on the enemy in front of them!"

Ludendorff's order was perfectly timed.

As the Saxon assault forces, including the training assault battalion, began their cautious advance, they came to a stop just as the defenders of Baxon Fortress were frantically preparing to retreat.

Kleist, who was in charge of leading the attack, directed the soldiers of the training assault battalion to nervously cut through the barbed wire surrounding the fortress and silently sneak into the first trench, which was deserted.

"Where are they? Where did the enemy go?"

A soldier asked, puzzled.

Kleist did not answer; he simply raised his binoculars and looked toward the distant Baxon Fortress.

The fortress, which resembled a steel behemoth during the day, was now eerily silent, without a single light.

He immediately realized that the enemy had really retreated because of the chaos caused by the battalion commander!

"Red signal flare! Quickly!"

Without any hesitation, Kleist shouted at the signalman beside him.

A dazzling red signal flare, trailing a long flame, roared into the night sky.

This was a pre-arranged signal to confirm the enemy's retreat from inside the fortress and to launch a full-scale attack.

Almost simultaneously, similar red signal flares were also raised in several other directions where the Metz River battle group launched its attack.

Kleist cocked the MP14 with a 'click' and then pointed it forward.

"Full battalion assault! Target: Liege!"

He only had one thought in his mind right now.

Hurry up and storm Liege to meet Morin and the commandos!

The instructors quickly dispersed as they were in their daily training and then cautiously charged toward the Baxion Fortress that had once filled them with despair.

After sending out a platoon of soldiers to carefully enter the fortress and confirm that it was indeed deserted, they decided to send out a platoon of soldiers.

Without pausing, Kleist immediately commanded his main force to launch a swift assault towards Liege.

Meanwhile, the Flanders garrison, who had just abandoned their fortified fortress and were retreating toward Liège, soon noticed the lights that had lit up the hillsides behind them, as well as the pursuing Saxon soldiers.

"The Saxons! The Saxons have caught up!"

"How could they be so fast!?"

Panic, like a plague, spread rapidly among the retreating ranks.

The commanders of the Flanders garrison were now filled with deep regret. They couldn't understand why the Saxon attack had come so quickly and so coincidentally.

It was as if they already knew they were going to retreat.

Inside the fortress, they could rely on the strong fortifications to fight off an enemy several times their size.

But now, on this flat, open land, they are like a flock of lambs to the slaughter, with no defenses to offer.

"Quickly! Set up defenses! Hold them off!"

Colonel Flanders was shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to reorganize the troops that had fallen into chaos.

The defending force, consisting of less than a battalion, under his command began to attempt to construct a temporary blocking position on the top of a gentle slope with a slight terrain advantage.

They hoped to slow down the Saxons' pursuit here, and then retreat at a relatively calm pace, rather than being chased in a panic.

If it were any other Saxon soldier, they might actually have been repelled by these determined Flemish soldiers.

Unfortunately for them, they encountered the most elite assault force in the Saxon Empire at the moment—the Training Assault Battalion.

Under Kleist's command, the remaining three companies of the training assault battalion had already completed their combat deployment according to the battle plan they had practiced countless times in their daily drills.

The 1st and 2nd companies, as the 'forward attack team', quickly opened up from the front.

They operated in small squads, using the terrain for cover and continuously firing at the enemy on the gentle slope, successfully drawing the full attention of the defenders.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Company, as the 'flank attack team,' ceased firing under the leadership of its company commander and quietly circled around to the enemy's flank and rear from the right flank of the gentle slope.

"Grenade!"

With a command from the 3rd Company Commander, dozens of spherical grenades were simultaneously thrown onto the enemy's position at the top of the gentle slope.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Amidst the deafening explosion, the Flanders soldiers who had just gathered to prepare for the attack were instantly blasted to pieces.

Before the smoke from the explosion had cleared, the soldiers of the 3rd Company, armed with submachine guns and rifles, launched an attack with shouts.

The rapid assault, powered by automatic firepower, instantly tore through the enemy's defenses.

The Flanders defenders on the gentle slope collapsed completely under the double attack from the front and flanks, putting up almost no decent resistance.

Kleist did not stop to admire the first direct engagement of the training assault battalion.

He dispatched several messengers, ordering the three companies to quickly finish the battle and clean up the battlefield, and then immediately follow.

He himself led the 4th Company, which served as the "deep attack force," and the battalion headquarters, without even glancing at the still fiercely fought slope, and continued to rush towards Liege at full speed.

With its brand-new tactical concepts and powerful automatic firepower, the training assault battalion's offensive speed is astonishing.

When Ludendorff, who was personally overseeing the battle on the front lines, arrived at the gentle slope, panting, with the main force following behind, the fighting there had already ended.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

On the gentle slope, apart from a few dozen prisoners who had miraculously survived and were strung together with their hands tied behind their backs, the ground was littered with the corpses of Flanders soldiers.

Only on one open space to the side were the bodies of more than twenty soldiers from the training assault battalion laid out.

The main force of the entire training assault battalion had long since disappeared.

A staff officer stepped forward to check the situation and then reported to Ludendorff.

"General, the enemy's force, nearly a battalion, has been completely annihilated here."

Upon hearing this report, Ludendorff and all the officers behind him fell into a long silence.

They looked at the battlefield strewn with corpses, and then thought of the swift, wind-like unit that had long since vanished into the night.

An indescribable shock surged into everyone's heart.

Is this the combat effectiveness of the training assault battalion?

After a long silence, Ludendorff finally spoke, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement and admiration.

"This is the emperor's true weapon."

(End of this chapter)