Magicless Extra: The Villain’s Survival Method – Chapter 87.2

At the very least, it would be much easier than becoming a mage knight. Magic and the sword were completely different realms, so there was no choice but for the achievements of both to differ. . . but with the sword and the gun, it would be possible to sufficiently narrow that gap.

In any case, Ingol, who had figured out how to use the artillery and established all the detailed plans accordingly, felt that there was no longer any reason to stay here and decided to march.

The next day, Ingol called all the commanders together and declared the advance on Lyon.

“The 3rd Field Army will take the lead. Lieutenant General Zurich.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“I will provide support with the Vatius Artillery Brigade, the Srunce Musketeer Battalion, the Aquila Musketeer Corps, and the Afangel Knights. Go and take Lyon!”

“I will capture Lyon within a week!”

Duke Maluan von Gram Zurich, who was in charge of the 3rd Field Army, stood up and thumped his chest.

Two days later. . . Military trains departing from Bern City began transporting the 300,000 troops of the 3rd Field Army to the border city of Lyon, near the neutral city of Geneva.

Upon hearing this news, the Republican garrison in Lyon could not help but become tense. They had also heard that 1 million troops had gathered in Bern, so they had stationed half of the 1 million soldiers they had conscripted in Lyon. In addition, they were confident that they would not be easily broken through, as the Marseille Musketeer Brigade had also taken up position.

“They’ve laid out a trench line from the border to Lyon.”

It was a very long and complex defensive line. It would be difficult to break through easily. . . . . . .

“Commander, please grant permission for our Afangel Knights to sortie! Our Afangel Knights will break through that long trench line and open the way for our army!”

At those words, Lieutenant General Zurich, the commander of the field army, immediately dismissed them.

“Denied, the Vatius Artillery Brigade will be utilized 100% on this battlefield.”

“Commander!”

“I will not accept any objections. Brigade Commander Vatius?”

“Yes, Commander.”

Count Balt von Lugano, who commanded the Vatius Artillery Brigade, stood up straight away.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, Commander. I deployed them as soon as we arrived.”

“The target is their first defensive line. Wipe them all out.”

At those words, Count Lugano sneered at Count Marlon von Deyla, the commander of the Afangel Knights. The look on his face was so hateful that Count Deyla tried to say something, but Count Lugano immediately ran away as if fleeing.

“Let’s see how great you are with my own two eyes.”

A little while later. . . Count Lugano, who had headed to the artillery positions on the front lines, called together the artillery commanders.

“The day has finally come for us artillerymen to show the Empire our true worth! Let us show the knights who have ignored us our terror! Our raison d’être!”

“Ooh-rah!”

“Ooh-rah!”

“Ooh-rah!”

“The target is the trench line right in front of us, starting from the maximum range, we will bombard them one after another and collapse the enemy’s lines!”

The artillery commanders immediately moved to the ‘Oswald Cannons’ they were each commanding. Then, they used magic devices to set the coordinates, and the gun barrels moved on their own to set the angle.

“Coordinates set, sir!”

“Angle alignment, sir!”

“Cooling device, sir!”

In order to prepare for the possibility that the gun barrels would overheat and become unusable if they fired shells in succession, a magic device was added to engrave cooling magic on the entire gun barrel so that the heat could be dissipated quickly.

“Load one high-explosive shell!”

“Loading complete!”

“Loading complete!”

“Loading complete!”

Once all 36 ‘Oswald Cannons’ had finished loading, Brigade Commander Vatius contacted the observation airship assigned to the artillery brigade.

“Observation airship, confirm position.”

━Observation airship position, sir!

“Commencing Operation Instantaneous Scorched Earth! Fire without rest until you have destroyed all enemies and trench lines within maximum range! Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thunder began to roar, and soon after, explosions began to erupt in rapid succession on the nearby front lines.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

━Shelling, trench line confirmed!

“Good! From now on, set the coordinates according to the information from the observation airship! From now on, fire as soon as you are ready without waiting for orders!”

From that moment on, an endless free shelling began.

Meanwhile, the infantry divisions of the 3rd Field Army, which had been preparing to advance while watching the trench line, were able to confirm enemy troops dying in the trenches, engulfed in explosions.

Originally, it was impossible to even guess how many people would have to die before they could break through that one line. . . but now, those lines were collapsing so easily.

“Is that. . . artillery?”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“At this rate. . . We’ll be able to advance easily without having to fight our way through!”

Of course, since the artillery warfare tactic was still in its early stages, there were no dugouts to prepare for the shelling, so the damage to the enemies was great.

After about an hour of relentless shelling, a 30km advance route was secured.

“From now on, our infantry divisions will advance to the maximum advance route! All troops, charge forward!”

“Ooh-rah!”

“Ooh-rah!”

“Ooh-rah!”

The infantrymen began to charge forward with their Oths rifles and Wald machine guns. There were Republican soldiers who had barely survived the barrage, but. . . they had already lost their will to fight due to the shelling, and they were able to advance smoothly.

“The paradigm of war is going to change completely. . . . . . .”

The knights’ trench breakthrough? If something like that fell on the heads of the charging knights, they would have to worry about surviving first.

Like that, on just their first day of the operation, the Third Army advanced thirty kilometers with just a hundred wounded. Even those hundred were not losses incurred in breaking through, but rather the total number of Republican soldiers who had somehow survived and been captured after advancing along the path created by the artillery’s suppression.

“I heard that the mobilized troops lost tens of thousands of soldiers when they broke through the trenches? Certainly. . . it’s amazing.”

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