Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 178 Urban Warfare Deployment
However, after capturing the Liege fortress, raiding Charleroi, and the brief but intense cavalry skirmish just now, the training assault battalion has suffered more than 110 casualties.

Excluding those wounded who were slightly injured but still able to fight, the actual combat casualties were already close to one-tenth.

Morin knew very well that compared to the bloody battles to come, the previous battles were merely appetizers.

General Ludendorff ordered them to hold Charleroi for a full three days.

During this period, the 1st Guards Cavalry Division of the 3rd Army might arrive ahead of schedule to provide reinforcements.

Meanwhile, a portion of the vanguard of the Ludendorff battle group may arrive by truck after completing its mission of blocking the Fifth Division of the United Kingdom of Flanders.

But all of this is just a 'possibility'.
Before reinforcements arrive, they must face the wrath of an entire Gaulish army alone.

Even if the small space of Charleroi city could only accommodate an enemy division to launch an attack at a time, that would still be a difference of more than ten times the troop strength.

What else can we say? There's no option to desert; we have no choice but to resolutely engage in urban warfare.
Based on Manstein's analysis of the Gallic army's marching speed, he estimated that the enemy infantry would not reach the city of Charleroi from Ilson until at least this afternoon or evening.

In theory, infantry need necessary rest after a long march and are unlikely to launch a large-scale attack overnight.

Therefore, the real all-out offensive will most likely begin tomorrow morning—August 10th.

This means that the training commando battalion has most of a day and a whole night to build their city defenses.

This is an extremely valuable preparation period.

"Alright, gentlemen, time is of the essence."

Maureen clapped his hands, drawing the attention of both Kleist and Manstein.

"Now that we've decided to fight in urban warfare, we need to carefully consider how to do it."

When it came to the specific preparations for street fighting, both Kleist and Manstein turned their attention to Morin.

There was no way around it; Morin's formidable reputation in the street fighting of Seville had already spread through various channels among the officers of the Saxon Empire.

Morin's undeniable achievements have firmly cemented the label of "street fighting master" on his person.

Faced with the trusting looks in his two subordinates' eyes, Morin had no reason to refuse at this moment.

He picked up a blank sheet of paper and, based on the precise data from the system map in his mind, quickly drew a simple sketch of Charleroi South City, and then began to make specific troop deployments.

Here's my plan.

He sketched on the drawing with a pencil.

"The overall deployment remains unchanged. The 2nd Company will be responsible for defending the western area of ​​the city, and the 3rd Company will be responsible for defending the eastern area."

"The 1st Company, as our strongest combat unit, is under my personal command and is responsible for the most pressured front of the city, which is also the most likely direction of the enemy's main attack."

"The 4th Company is temporarily deployed as the general reserve force on this main road near the riverbank, ready to reinforce in any direction at any time via the street."

Flying on both flanks, directly confronting the enemy head-on, with the reserve force providing support in the center.

Morin's deployment strategy was very clear, or rather, at this point in the war, there were no other tactics to arrange.

"In terms of firepower."

莫林继续说道：“火力分队那12挺MG08重机枪，直接拆散，加强给负责一线防御的1连、2连和3连，每个连分到4挺。”

"In this way, in addition to their own 12 light machine guns and a large number of submachine guns, these three companies can also receive fire support from 4 heavy machine guns."

"This level of firepower density, in the confined space of urban warfare, is enough to give any Gallic infantry attempting a frontal assault a hard time."

"In addition, notify the supply train to distribute all the spare light machine guns in the warehouse to each company. Tell the machine gunners not to worry about the barrels when the fighting starts; if the barrels get red-hot, just switch to the spare guns. Try to maintain continuous firepower in critical moments!"

In urban defense warfare, mobility is no longer the primary consideration.

Morin's current idea is simple: to arm each squad into a mobile firepower fortress, overwhelming any enemy that dares to approach with a barrage of bullets.

Just give the infantry a massive boost in firepower, and that's it!

"In terms of the specific construction of the defense line, I plan to divide the entire southern city of Charleroi into four lines of defense."

Morin's fingers drew four parallel horizontal lines on the sketch, from south to north.

"The first line of defense is the city's perimeter."

He pointed to the southernmost line and continued:

"Use the buildings on the outermost edge of the city to construct the first line of defense."

"The main purpose of this defensive line is to delay and wear down the enemy, and to probe their main attack direction and firepower intensity. There is no need to hold it to the death! Once the pressure becomes too great, we can take turns providing cover and retreat to the second defensive line."

"The second and third lines are respectively the No. 1 and No. 2 defense lines of the South City."

Morin then drew two zones within the city, distinguishing them by two roads that run through the southern part of Charleroi.

"These two lines of defense will be the main battlefield for street fighting. We must make use of the city's complex streets and buildings to fight the enemy house by house and street by street, to deplete their manpower to the greatest extent and delay their attack."

"The last line of defense is the bridgehead."

Morin pointed heavily to the southern ends of the three bridges and drew three circles.

"This is our last line of defense, relying on the buildings at the bridgeheads and the streets along the river to form the final defensive core! No matter what, we must hold these three bridges until reinforcements arrive."

Four lines of defense, advancing layer by layer, blocking attacks at every turn.

This is a defense system with immense depth and remarkable resilience.

Its core idea is to trade space for time and use complex urban terrain to offset the enemy's numerical superiority.

As Kleist and Manstein watched the deployment gradually become clearer on the sketch and listened to Morin's steady explanation, their unease was slowly replaced by confidence. This plan should be feasible!
As if remembering something, Maureen added:
"Before leaving the Liege fortress complex, I had a premonition that we might be fighting a fierce battle. So I specially got a lot of burlap sacks from the quartermaster of the Ludendorf fighting group, which filled two trucks."

“I remember that,”

Kleist nodded.

"At the time, I wondered why you needed so many empty sacks."

"Now they come in handy."

Morin smiled and continued:

"Add to that the sandbags we collected from Charleroi, and distribute them all immediately. Have each company organize its men to go to the riverbank and fill all the sandbags!"

"Then we used these sandbags to set up sturdy sandbag fortifications on the city's main roads, intersections, and all the defensive points we had set up!"

"I will also draw up a sketch of the specific layout so that each company can refer to it."

Apart from that, the deployment is basically the same as before.

The doors and windows on the first floor of some buildings along the main roads were sealed off, leaving only firing ports on the second and third floors.

Walls should be opened up between all key buildings to create internal passageways, facilitating troop movement between buildings and avoiding exposure to enemy fire.

This time, the training commando battalion carried a large amount of explosives, which will make the work more efficient.

This series of arrangements are all valuable experiences that Morin summarized in the urban warfare of Seville.

Compared to the haste and hardship they faced during the fighting in Seville, the training commando battalion is in a much better situation now.

They had ample time to prepare, sufficient troops to build defenses, and their personnel training and firepower were completely on par with those of the past.

Therefore, Maureen was not particularly worried about the upcoming street fighting and meat grinder with the Gallic infantry.

He was confident that, with the powerful firepower and meticulous preparations of the training assault battalion, the Gauls would pay a heavy price for every step they took forward.

What he was really worried about were two other uncertainties—

Armored knights and mages of the Gauls.

Thinking of this, Morin's relaxed expression vanished, and his expression became serious.

The Gauls' armored knights belonged to the Knights Templar, and like the armored knights of Brittany and Saxony, they were the strictest fathers of the infantry.

Faced with such a target, the training commando battalion did not actually have many effective countermeasures.

Even if another batch of homemade HEATs were produced, none of the Teutonic Knights' armored knights would be able to use them for a charge this time.

Sending ordinary infantrymen carrying earthen HEAT shells to fight armored knights to the death is too risky, with a very low success rate and a high probability that they won't be able to win.

As for the Gaulish mages, Morin currently has even less information.

All he knew was that the Gallic mages were roughly somewhere between Britannia and Saxony in terms of power and influence.

Moreover, the Gallic army also seems to have a tradition of having accompanying mages.

How effective these mages will be on the battlefield, and what spells they are good at, are all unknowns.

The unknown is the scariest thing.

"It seems I need to find a way to take down a few Gaulish mages first before I can get more detailed information from the system."

This thought flashed through Morin's mind.

Just as he was discussing some details of the defensive deployment with Kleist and Manstein, a messenger suddenly ran in.

"Reporting, Battalion Commander! Company Commander Jonas of the 3rd Company is back!"

"So fast?" Morin was a little surprised. Calculating the time, they had been gone for less than an hour.

The three of them immediately left the command post and went out onto the street.

Two trucks were parked not far away, and a group of soldiers from the training commando battalion were carefully unloading sets of breastplates covered in blood and mud from the truck beds.

"Clang, clang."

The heavy breastplates were piled on the ground, making a series of metallic clanging sounds.

Jonas saw Morin and immediately ran over excitedly.

"Reporting, Battalion Commander! We have collected a total of 46 undamaged breastplates on the battlefield!"

He pointed to the spoils on the ground, his face beaming with undisguised joy.

"Most of the guys wearing these breastplates were shot at by their horses, fell off, and were then shot in the thighs or other unprotected areas by us, bleeding to death. There were also some unlucky ones whose heads were smashed open."

Morin nodded and walked over quickly.

He bent down and casually picked up a breastplate.

It feels very heavy when you hold it, I estimate it weighs at least ten kilograms.

This gleaming breastplate consists of two steel plates, front and back. Although the surface is covered with blood and dirt, its excellent workmanship is still evident.

The moment his hand touched the breastplate, a new notification popped up in the system's [Technology] tab.

['1890 Model' Enchantment Cavalry Breastplate Technology Unlocked: 0%]

The system's powerful hand is starting to exert its strength again.
(End of this chapter)