Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 225 Crossing the Somme

The entire assault force swept across the hundreds-of-meters-long railway bridge with overwhelming force.

After clearing out the remaining enemy near the bridgehead on the south bank, they finally met up with Morin, who had been waiting there.

"Morin! Are you alright, kid?!"

Ludwig stopped the armored knight, his voice booming through the loudspeaker.

"I won't die!" Morin wiped the soot off his face and grinned at him. "I just almost got roasted by a fireball."

"battalion commander!"

Klaus also rushed up with his men, his face full of lingering fear.

"You really scared us! Please don't rush like that next time!"

"Don't waste time talking nonsense, hurry! Establish a position! The enemy is about to counterattack!"

Morin pointed in the direction of the south city and gave a loud command.

The soldiers immediately sprang into action, using the ruins at the bridgehead and the destroyed bunkers to quickly establish a semi-circular defensive position facing the south of the city.

Taking advantage of this moment, Morin quickly began searching the corpses of the two highland mages.

"Let me see what good things you've brought."

Without any hesitation, he looted everything that looked valuable from the two of them, including unused magic scrolls, several notebooks that looked like spell notes, and some miscellaneous magical materials and equipment, stuffing them all into his backpack.

After all, it was a spoil of war that I risked my life to get back, so I should definitely use it myself first. At worst, I can just use up all the experience points in the spell notes before handing it over.

After doing all that, he went to find Klaus.

"Klaus, take a few men and find a ship nearby. Then go down the bridge piers and dismantle all the magic crystal bombs the Britannians have planted!"

"Morlin commanded sternly."

He knew in his heart that although he had obtained the detonator, it did not mean that everything was foolproof. Who knew if the enemy had any backup detonation methods?

Only by dismantling the bomb itself can we truly rest easy.

Moreover, he believed that the high and mighty mages would certainly not do such rough work as installing bombs themselves; they would most likely have ordinary engineers do it.

Since it was installed by ordinary engineers, then theoretically, one's own soldiers could also dismantle it.

"Yes, Battalion Commander!" Klaus accepted the order and immediately summoned two squads of soldiers to begin searching for boats along the riverbank.

Just as the Saxons were busy consolidating their bridgehead positions, in the southern city of Amiens, Master Albert, who had just completed his transfer with the expeditionary force headquarters, suddenly changed his expression.

He glanced down at a magical artifact on his wrist, resembling a bracelet. The two points of light representing the two mage apprentices on it had completely gone out.

"what happened?!"

Master Albert's heart sank, and an ominous premonition welled up in his mind.

He immediately tried to contact the two apprentices guarding the railway bridge via his bracelet, but all he got back was silence.

"Albert, has something happened over at the railway bridge?"

Another seventh-ring magician, a polymorphic archmage, noticed the change in Albert's expression and asked a question.

"Carter and Nelson's communications have been interrupted."

Master Albert's voice was very somber.

"I suspect they may have met with some misfortune."

He closed his eyes, and his powerful mental energy instantly expanded as he began to sense the location of the magic crystal detonator that he had imbued with a tracking mark.

The next second, he suddenly opened his eyes, a look of shock and anger flashing in them.

"The detonator is still at the bridgehead! But it seems someone has already taken it! And I sensed the presence of an unfamiliar spellcaster near it!"

Master Albert immediately reported this astonishing news to Field Marshal John French, Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force.

Inside the command center, an uproar erupted.

"What?! The railway bridge has fallen?!"

"The mage in charge of blowing up the bridge was killed?!"

Marshal John French's face turned deathly pale; he knew what losing the railroad bridge meant.

"Master Albert!"

He practically roared at the highland mage:
"You must take back the railway bridge at all costs! Even if you can't take it back, blow it up!"

"understand!"

Master Albert nodded without saying anything more. He turned around and looked at the Archmage of Transmutation behind him.

"Assemble the troops! Gather all nearby armored knights! Follow me!"

His voice was filled with undisguised murderous intent.

"I will personally crush those damned Saxon barbarians into pieces!"

The killing of two apprentices and the loss of a strategic location were like a slap in the face to the entire Highland Mage Corps.

Soon, an elite counterattack force assembled in the central square of the south city.

Four 'St. George III' armored knights painted with the insignia of the Knights of the Garter, along with twelve knight squires to assist in the battle. Behind them were nearly a battalion of Britannian infantry.

Archmages Albert and Angus, escorted by several knights and heavily armored soldiers, walked to the middle of the group.

"set off!"

Master Albert didn't waste any words. He waved his white oak staff, and the massive procession immediately began to march toward the railway bridge.

Meanwhile, the south bank bridgehead of the railway bridge.

As more and more Saxon soldiers poured into the southern city of Amiens across this crucial bridge, the intensity of the battle began to escalate dramatically.

The narrow streets and dilapidated buildings became battlefields where soldiers from both sides fought to the death.

Gunshots, explosions, and screams of the dying echoed over the war-torn city, seemingly impossible to dispel.

The other two companies of the training assault battalion, which were attacking in other directions, also crossed the railway bridge and joined up with Morin, led by Wolf and Jonas.

The other four armored knights under Ludwig's command also followed.

"Battalion Commander, what's our next move?" the group asked.

"Don't worry."

As Morin looked at the jagged enemy and friendly forces on the system map, his expression turned serious when he noticed a sizable enemy unit rapidly moving in his direction.

"There might be a tough nut to crack coming."

Just as he was about to issue new mission assignments, a torrent of flames suddenly erupted from the corner of a street leading deep into the southern city!

The flames seemed to have a life of their own, instantly engulfing the entire street.

Almost a platoon of Saxon soldiers, who had just rushed into the street and were trying to advance further, were completely engulfed by the blazing flames before they could even utter a scream.

Only a few unfortunate souls, their bodies still ablaze, rushed out of the inferno like madmen, screaming desperately as they jumped into the icy Somme River in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

"Spells! It's a Britannian mage!"

The soldiers around Morin were stunned.

Is this the [Burning Hand]?

Morin tried to identify the spell, but his heart sank when he saw the destructive effects it caused.

If it really is the [Burning Hand], judging by its power, the caster's level is definitely not low!

The flames gradually subsided, leaving only a charred patch of ground and some twisted human-shaped charcoal remains in the street.

Immediately afterwards, heavy footsteps sounded.

Four enormous armored knights of the Order of the Garter, surrounded by knights' attendants and a large number of infantry, slowly emerged from the street corner and came into everyone's view.

Behind the four armored knights, two figures dressed in dark mage robes stood out conspicuously.

It was Master Albert and Archmage Angus.

"This is bad; it really is a high-level mage on their end."

Morin felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the two bright red high-risk markers on the system map, labeled 'Seventh Ring Mage'.

He knew this might be a big problem; four 'St. George III' Teutonic Knights might not pose much of a threat to the Teutonic Knights now.

But if you add two seventh-ring mages, the situation becomes completely different.

"Ludwig! Watch out! There are two high-level ring mages on the other side!"

Morin shouted a warning in Ludwig's direction.

But Ludwig's eyes were now bloodshot.

Seeing his own soldiers burned to a crisp, and then seeing the Garde Knights on the other side, his anger was instantly ignited.

Ludwig roared, ignoring Morin's warning, and led his six armored knights to charge towards the enemy.

"Don't go! Ludwig!" Morin was so anxious he was jumping up and down, but it was too late.

The streets along the river are not wide, and can only accommodate two armored knights charging side by side at most.

The six Siegfried 1s from Saxony and the four Saint George 3s from Brittany collided head-on like two colliding torrents of steel.

"Bang!"

The loud clashing of metal against metal was so loud it hurt people's eardrums.

All eyes were drawn to the duel between armored knights taking place in the narrow street.

Ludwig took the lead, and he was becoming increasingly adept at using the 'shaped charge armor-piercing projectile'.

He deliberately created an opening, luring the driver of the 'St. George III' in front of him to swing his massive battle axe at him.

Just as the enemy's battle axe was about to fall, Ludwig's 'armor-piercing spear' shot out like a venomous snake from its hole, stabbing towards the enemy's cockpit from an extremely tricky angle.

The pilot of the Garde Knight was clearly a veteran, reacting extremely quickly, and at the critical moment, he suddenly held the giant shield in his hand in front of him.

Ludwig, through the Teutonic Knights' previous internal tests, already knew that the 'shaped charge projectile' would have its penetrating power greatly reduced after penetrating the first layer of armor.

Using a shield to withstand the attack is indeed the best way to deal with it.

But this was the opportunity Ludwig had been waiting for!
(End of this chapter)