Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 264 Sentinel Project
"Attention everyone!"

Colonel Schneider took a deep breath, then gave the long-awaited order over the ship's intercom, his voice rising slightly with excitement.

"Full speed on the engines! Target the Gauls' Cree line! We'll make those Gauls taste the fury of the sky!"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Power unit control room! Set power output to maximum!"

"Helmsman! Course 0-3-5! Full speed ahead!"

"Fire control center! All turrets disengaged! Free fire! Bomb every Gaul you see into the air!"

Orders were quickly relayed.

The L29 armored airship, hovering in the air, suddenly shuddered, its massive steel body trembling.

The giant propellers around the hull also emitted a deafening roar, their high-speed rotation even distorting the surrounding air.

This aerial behemoth, over 450 meters long, began to slowly accelerate, and then charged toward the battlefield ahead at a speed completely disproportionate to its size and filled with an oppressive aura.

On the ground, the Saxon soldiers, who had just recovered from the barrage of artillery fire, heard the increasingly loud roar from the sky at almost the same time.

They instinctively looked up, and then everyone saw a gigantic shadow looming over them from the sky behind them with unstoppable force.

The armored airship, painted with the insignia of the Saxon Empire Air Force, resembled a steel fortress floating in the air, obscuring the sky that was just beginning to lighten.

Sunlight streamed down its massive hull, gilding its silhouette and making it look like a mythical chariot descended to earth.

"Yes, it's our armored airship!"

A soldier murmured, his voice filled with awe and ecstasy.

"The airship can finally be deployed!"

After a brief moment of shock, a thunderous cheer erupted across the entire Saxon position.

All the soldiers raised their weapons high and shouted their most fervent cheers at the approaching behemoth in the sky.

Morin also looked up, watching the armored airship getting closer and closer, his heart filled with the same shock.

Although it wasn't the first time he'd seen this thing, every time he saw it, he was captivated by its timeless aesthetic of violence.

This is how war is fought in this world.

Ancient chivalry and cold steel technology, traditional magic and modern artillery, have fused together in a peculiar way in this distorted era.

Soon, the L29 armored airship arrived over the Gallic defensive line.

Its enormous shadow loomed over the Gallic positions below that were still putting up a stubborn resistance.

"Target, the trench below! Free fire!"

Colonel Schneider stood on the bridge, looking coldly at the Gallic soldiers below, who resembled ants, through the huge observation window, and gave the order to attack.

The next second, the four twin-mounted 203mm main gun turrets beneath the armored airship simultaneously rotated their muzzles, aiming downwards.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Eight large-caliber naval guns roared simultaneously!

The enormous flames spewing from the cannon were clearly visible in mid-air.

The heavy shells, accompanied by a piercing whistle that tore through the air, slammed into the trench below at an almost vertical angle.

“Rumble——!!!”

A series of earth-shattering explosions rang out on the Gauls' positions.

The power of a 203mm high-explosive shell is completely incomparable to that of a 105mm howitzer.

Each explosion could completely wipe out a trench several tens of meters long, along with all the soldiers and fortifications inside, from the ground.

The massive blast wave sent mud, rocks, and severed limbs flying hundreds of meters into the air, creating a series of shocking plumes of smoke.

Those Gallic soldiers who were still stubbornly resisting in the trenches had no chance to fight back in the face of such a devastating blow.

They didn't even have a chance to escape; they were torn to pieces in the violent explosion.

The L29 armored airship, like a high-ranking Grim Reaper, ruthlessly and efficiently reaped the lives of the enemies below with its giant scythe.

In addition to the main gun, the MG08 heavy machine gun turrets mounted on the airship also began to fire wildly at all exposed targets on the ground.

The dense hail of bullets, like the lash of death, riddled everything on the ground with holes.

"my God."

Private Eric lay in a shell crater, staring in disbelief at the apocalyptic scene before him.

He saw a Gallic heavy machine gun emplacement that was still putting up a fight not far away being hit directly by a shell that fell from the sky.

The entire firing point, along with the dozen or so Gallic soldiers around it, vanished instantly into a massive fireball.

He saw hordes of Gallic soldiers falling like stalks of wheat under the strafing fire of the airships.

Is this... a strike from the sky?

Eric felt his throat was a little dry.

For the first time, he felt so grateful to be a Saxon.

Under the devastating blow of the L29 armored airship, the Gauls' last will to resist completely collapsed.

They began to throw away their weapons, crying and crawling out of the trenches, scattering in all directions like headless flies.

But where could they escape to? Under the watchful eyes of the airship, they had nowhere to hide.

Just then, Saxony's reinforcements finally surged up.

"Rush!!"

"For the Empire!!"

At this point, the 'Sharp Blade' assault group had achieved a true breakthrough along this two-kilometer-long front.

The troops behind did not waste this hard-won opportunity. Urged by their officers, a massive number of Saxon soldiers poured into the breach like a flood breaking through a dam, and then spread wildly to both sides like cancer cells.

The Krei Line, the line that had caused the First Saxon Army to bleed profusely, was finally breached at this moment.

According to the pre-war operational plan, the assault mission of the training assault battalion has come to an end.

They have already tackled the toughest challenge, and the Gauls' anti-aircraft magic has also been dealt with.

The subsequent battle could be easily handled by ordinary Saxon soldiers.

Meanwhile, Morin used messengers to rally the troops, and had Kleist and Manstein quickly tally the casualties before sitting down in an occupied Gallic trench.

After taking a few sips of water to moisten his parched throat, Morin couldn't wait to open the system interface, eager to see what he had just unlocked.

Then he discovered that, in addition to the basic information about the mage units of the Gallic Republic that he had obtained after killing the Gallic mage, there was a lot of other incredible information.

In particular, the Gauls' 'Sentinel Program'.

【'Sentinels': A secret combat mage unit formed by the Gallic Republic. Its members are selected through extremely rigorous criteria, consisting of elite soldiers with spellcasting talent who have undergone a series of high-intensity, high-displacement special training programs and physical enhancement modifications.】

The 'Sentinel' unit abandons the traditional mage training model, emphasizing the combination of traditional magic with rapidly developing modern military tactics. All 'Sentinels' are not only proficient in spells from specific schools, but also excellent close-combat experts and sharpshooters.

After undergoing special physical modifications, they possess superhuman physical abilities and reaction speeds, and are adept at using various magical techniques for high-speed mobile combat.

[Project Sentinel: Following the disastrous defeat in the Sagau War, the Gallo-Latin Republic, deeply saddened by its defeat, secretly launched a project, personally overseen by the then Minister of War, aimed at creating an elite magical force—the core of which was the establishment of the 'Sentinel' unit.]

Mo Linzai carefully read the system's introduction to 'Sentinels' several times.

"So that's how it is," he murmured to himself.

"Mass-produced Captain Gallic, huh?"

No wonder, he always felt that those 'sentinels' didn't feel like mages, but more like super soldiers from a science fiction movie.

After all that, these guys really are the 'super soldiers' of the magic side.

They not only possess spellcasting talent, but also undergo physical modifications to acquire powerful physical attributes and combat skills.

The Saxon Empire also had a body modification program, but it only gave the modified individuals 'magical affinity', which was nothing compared to the Gauls' 'Sentinel Program'.

The idea behind 'Project Sentinel' can be described as quite 'obsessive' and quite 'Gallic'.

This plan was born out of the constant fear of being driven back to Paris after the defeat in the Sagau War.

Morin recalled his battle with the 'sentinel'.

The opponent's terrifying reaction speed, fluid assassination moves, and fearless fighting style left a very deep impression on him.

If I hadn't advanced to a 3rd-ring mage and hadn't acquired the 'Guardian Necklace' which provided me with ample spell slots, I probably would have really been defeated by my opponent this time.

"However, its endurance is still poor, and its physical strength is within the range of carbon-based life forms, so ordinary light weapons can also cause damage."

Morin stroked his chin, pondering this information.

This is actually similar to the weakness of the Brittany's highland mages.

This explains why, even the formidable sentries appeared so helpless in the face of the overwhelming automatic firepower and "grenade bombardment" tactics of the training assault battalion.

Then, he clicked on the next item.

[Current number of mages in the Gallic Republic (including 'Sentinels'): 525]

[75% of the monks are at or below the third ring level, 23% are at the fourth to sixth ring level, and 2% are at or above the seventh ring level]

[The proportion of Evocation School mages is 64%, Conjuration School mages is 8% (mainly 'Sentinels'), Transmutation School mages is 7%, and other schools of mages account for 21%]

Comparatively speaking, although the number of mages in the Gallic Republic was not as large as that of the Britannians, their schools of thought were clearly more 'healthy'.

Of course, this 'healthy' is only relative to the Highland Mage Corps—which is also the abnormal configuration of the 'Turret Mage Corps' that Merlin mentioned.

After reading all this, Morin set his sights on the glass bottle he had picked up.

[PF-214 Laurent's Legacy: One of the secret products of the Gallic Republic's 'Sentinel Project,' a potent combat stimulant synthesized through potion-making techniques based on a potion developed by the legendary mage 'Laurent.']

[After injection, the user can significantly improve their spellcasting focus and reaction speed for a short period of time, while temporarily blocking most pain receptors.]

[Side effects: Causes irreversible damage to the nervous system and has a certain degree of addictive potential.]

"Holy crap, magic ice!"

Morin was stunned. He never expected that the Gauls were the first to develop this kind of 'combat stimulant'.

Although it seems to be exclusively for 'sentinels', who knows if it will become available for ordinary people in the future?
Given the current level of abstraction in our world, coupled with the fact that we are currently at war, this is highly likely.
"They've gone mad! They've all gone berserk! They're even more insane than the French in the normal timeline."

Morin shook his head and then looked at the last unlocked item.

[Project Fire Stealer: A secret operation planned by the Holy Britannian Empire's Army Intelligence Department and the Highland Mage Order, aimed at acquiring information and technology related to 'Project Sentinel' by taking advantage of the opportunity of sending an expeditionary force into the Gallic Republic.]

"???"

(End of this chapter)