“General, you are quite the judge of character.”

Crown Prince Georg remarked.

“That’s enough, Morin. Stop with your wild conjectures.”

Mackensen waved his hand impatiently. He had sensed trouble the moment Morin abruptly stood up.

“Do you have any training in arcane technology research and development? Some things cannot be spoken so carelessly or presumptuously…”

Morin immediately became anxious: “But I was the one who developed that anti-armor warhead, General!”

Mackensen: “Oh? Last time you told me it was an accidental discovery. How has it become your own research now?”

“…”

The Crown Prince laughed: “Lieutenant Morin, don’t be agitated. We just believe that, compared to a researcher sitting in a laboratory, you are perhaps better suited to be a front-line soldier, charging into battle…”

“Now that we finally have a combat Mage who can fight on the front line and performs so well, we hope you can accumulate more experience. It will also help me promote the formation of the ‘Assault Corps’ in the future.”

“The formation of the Assault Corps… Your Highness, does that mean a decision has already been made?” Morin asked quietly.

“Hahahaha, General Mackensen originally didn’t want me to tell you, fearing you would become complacent and arrogant…”

Hearing this, Morin immediately glanced at General Mackensen.

The latter glared back with a sharp gaze.

Crown Prince Georg laughed heartily: “But I felt I couldn’t keep withholding the good news, or my ‘rising star’ here would become discouraged.”

Morin: “Your Highness, I’m truly not that kind of person…”

The Crown Prince laughed twice more, then walked forward and patted Morin on the shoulder.

“I have decided that once the situation in the Kingdom of Aragon becomes clearer, you will be transferred back to the homeland to organize a teaching-oriented ‘Assault Corps’…”

“It will be a battalion-level formation, reporting directly to the Saxon Royal Guard. You can select the core personnel yourself, and ask for any equipment and supplies you need… As long as it is reasonable, I will find a way to satisfy your requests. Oh, and one more thing…”

The Crown Prince seemed to recall something and continued after a pause:

“I already know about the ‘shaped charge anti-armor warhead’ you created in Seville. Once you return, I will instruct the Imperial Patent Office to take your invention seriously and ensure your rights are protected…”

“Your Highness, does this mean I don’t have to sue the Imperial Patent Office over the compensation amount for the state secret patent?”

Morin deliberately emphasized ‘compensation amount for the state secret patent,’ as he was a meticulous individual.

“…”

The Crown Prince was briefly stunned, clearly not expecting Morin to be so specific about the details, but he shook his head and laughed:

“General Mackensen was right after all… Don’t worry, First Lieutenant Morin, you will definitely receive a compensation sum that satisfies you.”

Mackensen, on the other side, could not help but interject, fearing Morin would continue to bring up something else extraordinary.

“Morin, you rascal, you are only creative when you are in a combat zone! I hope you don’t resent me for keeping you on the front line, because I know perfectly well that if you were to return home and receive that money, you would immediately book out all the taverns and theaters you frequent in Dresden within three days!”

The Crown Prince and Mackensen, tag-teaming the conversation, completely disarmed Morin’s objections.

He realized that the two men had summoned him today not only to discuss new tactics, but also—

Especially General Mackensen—to completely crush his hopes of returning to the rear for a life of ‘comfort.’

Well, at least no returning for now.

“Very well, Your Highness, General, I obey the order.”

“Excellent.” Mackensen nodded with satisfaction.

After the conversation concluded, Morin intended to hitch a ride back to the town.

Before he left, Mackensen called out to him.

“You scamp, is there anything else your unit needs? Ask now while His Highness is here…”

Morin’s eyes lit up. An opportunity!

“Then I won’t hold back!”

When a truck stopped at the 1st Company’s temporary garrison and the canvas cover was lifted, the surrounding soldiers let out gasps of amazement.

“My God! More Artillery P08s!”

“And drum magazines! So many!”

“Look! And heavy machine guns!”

The truck was piled high with weapons and equipment Morin had brought back from the Command Post.

Over thirty Artillery P08 pistols, their blued finish shimmering in the sunlight.

Beside them were several full wooden crates, packed with 9mm pistol ammunition and the corresponding 32-round drum magazines.

In addition, there were crates of spherical hand grenades.

And, most importantly, the two MG08 heavy machine guns, along with their tripods, cooling water tanks, and spare barrels.

The Crown Prince and General Mackensen had indeed shown astonishing generosity in meeting his request.

Morin had merely mentioned in passing that he hoped to enhance the assault team’s close-quarters firepower and requested two more heavy machine guns.

In response, His Highness had instructed the quartermaster to immediately deliver the weapons and equipment Morin needed.

However, when Klaus found Morin, who had hitched a ride back with the truck, he noticed that the Company Commander didn’t seem particularly happy.

“Company Commander, what’s wrong?”

“Sigh, I was too polite, damn it…”

Morin suddenly started pounding his own thigh, his face a picture of remorse.

Klaus: “Huh?”

“If I had known they were so accommodating, why didn’t I dare ask for more?”

“…”

Regrets aside, the arrival of this cache of supplies elevated the 1st Company’s overall firepower to a new level.

Morin immediately instructed Klaus to organize the men to rationally distribute the weapons and equipment, storing any surplus with the quartermaster.

The P08s and drum magazines could be used to increase the number of assault soldiers.

And the addition of two new MG08 heavy machine guns brought the 1st Company’s total number of heavy machine guns to an astonishing four.

If they added the two captured Vickers guns, which had limited ammunition, the number of heavy machine guns the 1st Company now possessed was frankly equivalent to a Regimental-level unit in the past.

The conversation with the Crown Prince and Mackensen, while failing to get Morin a ‘free pass to the rear,’ did give him new insights.

He realized that the Saxon Empire’s current situation truly did not support squandering a large number of valuable low-level Mages on the front lines.

After all, one could not sacrifice the long-term progress of the nation’s technology tree for a temporary tactical advantage.

Therefore, integrating magic with infantry tactics perfectly seemed to offer only two paths right now.

The first path was to find a way to ‘mass-produce’ low-level Mages.

Making the number of spellcasters so large that they were no longer precious and could be committed to the battlefield like ordinary soldiers.

The second path was to find a way for ordinary people to also use ‘magic.’

For example, mass-producing items similar to spell scrolls or magical equipment, allowing ordinary soldiers to cast one or two low-level spells at critical moments.

But neither of these issues was something he could solve on the battlefield in the short term.

So, Morin could only temporarily set these ideas aside, planning to study them further once he had the opportunity to return home.

He found Klaus, confirming several routine matters for the company, such as casualty count, ammunition resupply, and prisoner guarding.

Following this, he convened two brief combat review meetings, one with the members of the assault team and another with his three Platoon Leaders.

In the meetings, he was generous with praise for everyone’s bravery in combat, while also pointing out their shortcomings in tactical execution.

The three new Platoon Leaders, in particular, were taken aside and walked through every command detail of the street fighting.

From squad deployment to fire allocation, and coordination with adjacent units, Morin provided them with detailed analysis and explanation…

“Barrack, tell me, why did your 2nd Platoon get bogged down on this road for so long?”

Morin pointed to a seven-to-eight-meter-wide road inside the town. According to the post-battle review, the 2nd Platoon was stalled there for a long time and suffered six casualties.

If the 3rd Platoon, the Company Reserve, hadn’t charged forward, the 2nd Platoon might have been encircled by Kingdom Army troops retreating from other directions.

“Company Commander, there were many enemies on that road, and later they also learned from us and brought up a machine gun to block the intersection,” Barrack explained, somewhat dejectedly. Their 2nd Platoon’s breakthrough progress was poor in this battle, and they suffered the heaviest casualties: 5 killed and 8 wounded.

“And you just stood there in a firefight? Why didn’t you try to maneuver around? How many times have I told you about infiltration and flanking maneuvers? These tactics work in the town too…”

Morin finished, then turned to Kahn and Lahm, who were also participating in the review.

“Don’t be so rigid when executing tactics! Think more! You shouldn’t perform perfectly on the training ground and then forget to adapt when the location changes!”

By the time all matters related to today’s battle were handled, and the combat report was finalized with the assistance of the company clerk, the sky had slowly darkened.

Morin dragged his tired body back to his temporary tent.

He didn’t light the oil lamp, lying directly on the camp bed and opening the system map.

On the map, the blue arrows representing the Saxon Expeditionary Force’s 2nd Corps showed a complete advantage in today’s offensive.

Besides the town of San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, where Morin was, the other key strongpoints along the front line had also been captured by the 7th and 8th Divisions.

The Kingdom Army and the Britannians’ first line of defense had been swept aside by the Saxon Army’s fierce offensive, crumbling almost instantly.

Looking at the map’s irresistible offensive stance, a premonition rose in Morin’s mind.

Mackensen, the old General who was dubbed ‘Forward Marshal’ in another world, seemed ready to formally begin his whirlwind offensive after completing the initial probing and troop assembly.

As if to validate Morin’s premonition.

That same evening, Regimental orders were delivered to the 1st Battalion.

The 32nd Zwickau Infantry Regiment was to continue advancing toward Madrid.

The town they had just captured would be handed over to the 9th Infantry Division, which was following in the rear, to take over defense duties.

The next day, before departure, Morin had planned to take the captured Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion with him.

After all, under his guidance, that thing was quite the ‘bug.’

However, when he watched the ‘horse-drawn’ Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion begin disassembly and packing early that morning, he was exasperated by the sheer clumsiness of the weapon.

Dismantling a single cannon required a winch and specialized crane.

Just the disassembly and loading process took nearly three hours, starting before dawn, right up until the troops were about to depart.

And the largest of the nine components—the barrel—weighed a staggering twelve tons!

This directly resulted in the fully-loaded, horse-drawn Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion having a pathetic marching range of only seven kilometers per day.

“At this speed, I walk faster than they move!”

Morin looked at the sweating, overworked Magic Crystal Cannon prisoners and completely gave up the idea.

Even now, he still couldn’t understand why the Britannians would use such heavy cannons for field combat, or why they didn’t consider miniaturizing them.

Did they not want to?

Major Thomas, who was also observing, couldn’t help but laugh and curse when he learned that Morin’s single company wanted to attach an entire Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion: “You rogue have an appetite! One company wants to be reinforced with a Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion? Then should I, as a Battalion Commander, be reinforced with a whole Magic Crystal Cannon Regiment?”

Morin immediately smiled cheekily and moved closer: “With your Major’s brilliant command and martial prowess, even reinforcing you with a Magic Crystal Cannon Brigade wouldn’t be excessive!”

“Go, go, go, hurry up and get ready to depart!”

Ultimately, the slow-moving Magic Crystal Cannon Battalion was left in the town to be taken over by the follow-up forces of the 9th Division.

Of course, the combat merits for capturing the six Magic Crystal Cannons were firmly credited to Morin and his 1st Company.

Morin was a little disappointed but had to accept the situation for now.

Fortunately, the progress bar for the ‘Griffin Type IV’ Siege Magic Crystal Cannon Technology in the 【Technology】 tab had reached 100%, so he would have the opportunity to study it later.

Meanwhile, the commanders of the Kingdom Army and the Britannians had not anticipated that the Saxon advance would be so rapid after they stopped committing their precious Mages and Armored Knights.

The first line of defense, including the town of San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, was crushed by the Saxon Army’s overwhelming offensive in just one night.

The units hastily committed to the counterattack also suffered heavy losses.

Especially the two Britannian home-based infantry battalions that counterattacked the town.

They expected to fight a soft target but ran straight into a brick wall, suffering over fifty percent casualties after being hit by their own Magic Crystal Cannons.

The Britannians, having suffered this terrible misfortune, belatedly realized that there might be a Mage present in the Saxon attacking force in this sector.

Furthermore, this Mage had mastered the technique of guiding Magic Crystal Cannons for accurate strikes.

Otherwise, the shells could not have been as precise as their own, landing on the heads of their attacking troops with a single volley.

This news was immediately relayed to the Britannian Expeditionary Force Command in Madrid.

Expeditionary Force Commander Douglas Haig’s face turned predictably dark after hearing the front-line report.

He immediately sought out the accompanying High-Level Mage Corps, proposing that they dispatch Mages to the front line again to counter the Saxon Mage.

However, the response he received nearly made him pull out his Webley Revolver in anger right then and there.

“I apologize, Commander Haig… but until we receive concrete orders from the homeland, the High-Level Mage Corps will only participate in the defense of Madrid and will not launch any more preemptive attacks.”

(End of this Chapter)