Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 162 Not a Toy
After a whole night of pursuit and advance, by the morning of August 6, when the first rays of sunlight illuminated the ancient city, the Meuse River battle group had essentially taken complete control of Liège.

Resistance within the city has largely subsided, with only sporadic gunfire still echoing in the corners of the city.

Most of the Flanders garrison, amidst that unprecedented chaos, chose to break out to the northwest, following the 'instructions' sent by Morin via telegram.

However, their breakout attempt was quickly blocked by the Meuse River battle group, which flanked them from both sides—after all, this battle group was 6 strong.

Ultimately, only about half of the defenders managed to escape, while the vast majority of the routed soldiers became prisoners of the Saxon Empire.

Most of the twelve outer fortresses were abandoned by the retreating defenders and easily captured by the Saxon troops that followed.

Only the Longsing and Lanting fortresses in the northwest remained, still putting up futile resistance due to poor communication and the stubbornness of their commanders.

But after losing the energy supply from the magic center and the unified command of the fortress headquarters, these two isolated fortresses became trapped like turtles in a jar.

It was only a matter of time before the armored airships, now back on the battlefield, were destroyed by heavy anti-tank missiles.

The Liege Fortress, a fortress complex that was widely considered impregnable by military experts from various countries before the war, fell in less than two days.

This news will soon cause a major upheaval among the countries involved in the war on the western front.

Second Army Group Command.

When General Bilough received the latest battle report from the Meuse River combat group at the front from the communications officer, he even thought he was hallucinating because he hadn't slept all night.

Are you sure the telegram wasn't mistranslated?

His hand holding the telegram trembled slightly as he looked up at the young staff officer before him, his voice filled with disbelief.

"General, I've confirmed it three times, and I've also confirmed it via landline."

The staff officer straightened his back and answered loudly, but his face was also filled with shock.

"The Meuse River Combat Group reports that they have completely taken control of Liège this morning. The main force of the Liège fortress garrison has been routed, and Commander General Lyman was killed in last night's raid."

General Bilo glanced at the telegram again, then slowly placed it on the table.

He was silent.

In the entire operations room, all the officers held their breath and focused their attention on the white-haired old general.

After a long while, General Bilo seemed to have used up all his strength and slammed his fist on the table.

"boom!"

The loud noise startled everyone.

But what they saw next was the relieved smile on the old general's face.

He slumped backward and sat heavily back in his chair, as if all the bones in his body had been removed.

This 66-year-old veteran had been directing the battle in Liège for almost a whole day without closing his eyes.

Upon hearing this earth-shattering good news, his taut nerves finally relaxed completely.

"Send a telegram to the General Staff!"

General Bilo's voice was hoarse from staying up all night, but it couldn't hide his excitement:
"Report the latest military intelligence to the Chief of the General Staff immediately!"

"Yes, General!"

The adjutant accepted the order and left.

General Bilo leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

But the images of Ludendorff's slightly chubby face and Maureen's young and confident face involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

"Two lunatics, one old and one young."

He muttered to himself in a low voice:
"Who would have thought that their crazy plan would actually succeed?"

An overwhelming drowsiness washed over him, and after repeated persuasion from his adjutant and staff, General Bilo finally agreed to take a rest.

As he was helped to his bed in the adjacent temporary rest room, in the last moments before falling into a deep sleep, only one thought remained in his mind.

—The nature of warfare may truly be about to change.

When Maureen woke up, it was already noon on August 6th.

Sunlight streamed through the holes in the warehouse windows, forming beams of light in the dusty air.

He sat up from his cot, feeling as if all the bones in his body were broken, aching and sore.

But this feeling of exhaustion made him feel incredibly grounded.

It feels so good to be alive.
The entire training assault battalion, as the key contributor to the capture of the Liège fortress, was also the first unit in the Meuse River battle group to enter for rest and recuperation.

The other units in the battle group had no objections to this arrangement.

Everyone knows that without this unit's miraculous surprise attack last night, this arduous battle would never have ended so quickly.

Even the officers and soldiers of the 14th Infantry Brigade who were rescued by the assault battalion during the night battle took the initiative to clear out several clean and spacious warehouses and barracks for the assault battalion after learning that they needed a rest area.

Overnight, the status of the training assault battalion within the entire Second Army Group was elevated to an unprecedented level.

No longer did anyone treat them as 'the Crown Prince's expensive toys,' but rather as trump cards capable of creating miracles. In terms of military supplies, all kinds of provisions, especially ammunition and medicine, were prioritized for their deployment.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the training assault battalion, which is equipped with a large number of automatic weapons, consumes far more ammunition than conventional troops.

Morin stretched and was about to get up to find something to eat when a soldier came over carrying a still-warm lunchbox.

"Commander, you're awake! Commander Kleist wants you to eat something as soon as you're awake."

The lunchbox contained a bowl of thick soup, two sizzling pieces of fried meat, and half a loaf of bread on top.

Morin wolfed down his food while listening to the orderly's report.

While he was asleep, Kleist and Manstein, who had woken up earlier, had already completed the resupply of ammunition and equipment for the entire battalion and reorganized the troops.

"Where are the Kleists?" Morin asked after finishing the last sip of milk.

"The deputy battalion commander is currently tallying the casualties; he should be here soon."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Kleist's tall figure appeared at the warehouse entrance.

"Sir, you're awake."

He walked up to Morin and handed him a casualty statistics report.

Morin took the report and quickly skimmed through it.

In the fighting from last night to this morning, two members of the 20-man commando team that participated in the airborne operation were killed and seven were wounded.

The entire training assault battalion suffered a total of 39 dead and 28 wounded, six of whom were seriously injured and temporarily incapacitated.

Seeing this number, even though he knew that casualties were inevitable in actual combat, Morin couldn't help but sigh.

He felt like a commentator from an RTS game before he time-traveled: "You Zerg players feel like you've lost out even if a single Zergling dies."

Although this loss is not significant for a battalion-level unit in such a large-scale offensive battle, it is even far below his previous estimates.
After all, this was the first large-scale combat operation since the training assault battalion was established, and the results and exchange ratio achieved were nothing short of miraculous.

But the casualty figures are not just cold statistics; behind each name is a living, breathing life.

Moreover, most of the soldiers in the training assault battalion were already married, with wives and children waiting for them to return home.
No commander would want as many casualties as possible among his soldiers.

"How are the seriously wounded? Have they all received proper treatment?" Morin asked.

"Everything has been arranged."

Kleist replied, "The battle group's field hospital has been deployed to Liege, and our wounded are receiving priority treatment. As for the fallen soldiers, I have arranged for their information to be registered, and the distribution of compensation and the sending of letters home will be handled as soon as possible."

Morin nodded, satisfied with Kleist's arrangements.

"You must personally oversee this matter and ensure that no mistakes are made," he instructed.

Just as the two were confirming a series of tedious details, such as the evacuation of the wounded and the registration of the dead, a messenger rushed in.

"Sir! General Ludendorff requests your immediate presence; he has an important combat mission to assign!"

Important combat mission?

Morin and Kleist exchanged a glance; it seemed their short break was about to end.

Having just woken up and already having a mission, Morin couldn't help but click his tongue in satisfaction.
"Go and take care of things. I'm going to see the general."

Morin gave Kleist a few instructions, then followed the messenger and hurried toward the temporary command post of the Meuse River battle group.

This so-called temporary command post was the very main building where the Liege fortress command post was located, which he had personally destroyed last night.

"Returning to a familiar place."

Stepping into the familiar command hall, Morin saw Ludendorff standing in front of a huge map, engaged in a heated discussion with several staff officers.

The hall had only been lightly cleaned; traces of last night's fierce battle, including bloodstains on the floor, were still clearly visible.

"Captain Morin, you've arrived."

When Ludendorff saw Morin, he immediately stopped the discussion and waved to him.

"General!" Morin stepped forward, stood at attention, and saluted.

Ludendorff returned the greeting, then got straight to the point:

"Captain Morin, the army group command has just issued a new operational order. From now on, the 'Meuse River Combat Group' will be officially renamed the 'Ludendorf Combat Group' and will be under my full command."

Morin understood; it seemed that Ludendorff, thanks to his great contribution in conquering Liège, would be entrusted with an important task next.
"Our soldiers have also found the eight prisoners at the location you provided yesterday. The Brittany major is an important figure, and we have already transferred him to the army group command."

Ludendorff first briefly mentioned the prisoners, then continued:
"Next, our battle group will cooperate with the main force of the Second Army Group to quickly launch a new offensive."

"The main force of the Second Army Group will launch an attack on the Namur Fortress complex, while our combat group has an even more arduous mission."

His finger traced an arc on the map, bypassing the formidable Namur fortress complex, and pointed directly to a city further west.

"We will bypass Namur and attack Charleroi directly as quickly as possible!"

(End of this chapter)