The mage’s disheveled figure vanished into the horizon, and the silence on the high ground was shattered in an instant.
“We drove him off!”
No one knew who shouted first. Immediately after, deafening cheers resounded across the entire hillside.
The soldiers who had survived the catastrophe—Saxons and International Brigade volunteers alike—all leapt up from behind their cover.
They waved the rifles in their hands. Some even threw the spiked helmets on their heads into the air—of course, this act was immediately stopped by the officers, who kicked them hard in the rear for it.
But every soldier was venting the excitement and wild joy in his heart in the most primitive way possible.
The elation of this victory was far more intense than routing an infantry battalion of Northumberland fusiliers.
Molin was naturally infected by the atmosphere as well, and his whole body was filled with excitement. But what occupied his mind even more was doubt.
A high-level mage had been forced to retreat just like that by a volley of rifle fire?
It seemed the “value” of the mage lords in this world was not as high as he had imagined.
At first, he had been worried that every mage on the high ground was an existence like Liu Xiu with “Meteor Spell proficiency MAX,” but now it seemed they had not yet reached the point of being invincible.
As long as tactics were planned properly, it seemed... perhaps they actually could be resisted?
“I hope I’m not just deluding myself...”
Molin looked at the soldiers around him who had fallen into revelry, and the taut string in his heart slowly loosened as well.
“My God, Second Lieutenant Molin... we really drove off a high-level mage!”
The bearded commander of the International Brigade who had been lying beside him earlier was flushed red with excitement.
He slapped Molin hard on the shoulder, his voice filled with disbelief.
“I’ve fought in so many battles, but this is the first time! The first time I’ve ever seen ordinary people with guns like us make those high-and-mighty mage lords suffer a setback!”
Only then did Molin belatedly realize just how inconceivable what they had done just now was in the eyes of the people of this world.
The mages of this world had evidently always occupied a position close to the very top of the battlefield “food chain.”
Because of that, many ordinary soldiers had formed a fixed impression that they were existences impossible to oppose.
And today, a group of ordinary soldiers on Hill 127 had used the rifles in their hands to temporarily break that stereotype.
Just then, from the area below the high ground that had been turned into a mire by magic, there came the sound of a metal cockpit hatch opening.
The Teutonic Order armored knight that had sunk the deepest slowly opened its cockpit, and Ludwig’s figure rose from within.
He removed his helmet, revealing a handsome face stained with a little grease.
He looked up at the cheering soldiers on the high ground, his gaze searching through the crowd for a moment, as though trying to find the person who had fired first.
But after a moment, he gave up on that idea. He raised his right hand high and, toward everyone on the high ground, gave a thumbs-up.
That simple yet powerful gesture instantly pushed the soldiers’ emotions to yet another peak.
The cheers grew even more fervent, and some even began shouting the slogan “Long live the Teutonic Order!”
“Well now, he’s quite the show-off...”
Molin looked at the noble pilot below who was receiving the cheers, and also realized that the armored knights of the Teutonic Order seemed to be something like “battlefield stars” within the Saxon army.
“Stop standing around! Get down there and help!”
The voice of Major Thomas, commander of the 1st Battalion, rang out at just the right time. He directed the soldiers to rush down the high ground and help the armored knights still trapped in the mud break free.
Molin was also preparing to lead his men down after them.
At that moment, however, the messenger he had sent to the artillery command post came running back, panting heavily.
“Platoon leader! I didn’t find the artillery command post, but I ran into a unit of our cavalry halfway there!”
The messenger’s face still carried an excited expression.
“I told them the location of the magic crystal cannon position you marked. The cavalry officer said they would go deal with that problem!”
Molin came to a sudden realization.
So it seemed that was the Saxon cavalry regiment that had launched the charge just now.
No wonder they had left the battlefield in that direction in the end. It turned out they had gone to carry out a new combat mission.
Only, there was no telling whether their attack would succeed...
Down the hillside, the rescue work was proceeding in full swing.
The Teutonic Order’s logistics trucks and a large number of draft horses soon arrived at the scene as well.
The soldiers used spades and shovels found from the baggage train, digging with all their strength into the soil that had already solidified again.
Then they looped thick cables around the armored knights and had the trucks and draft horses pull together.
The two armored knights that had sunk relatively shallowly were soon the first to break free. After the Order’s technicians gave them a quick inspection, they restarted their internal combustion engines and joined in the rescue effort.
Molin stood to the side, watching this scene that looked like people digging giant potatoes out of a field, yet a trace of unease still lingered in his heart.
What if, at a time like this, the enemy’s magic crystal cannons fired a few more shots...
Fortunately, this time, the thing he worried about most did not happen.
Perhaps that cavalry unit really had taken out the enemy’s magic crystal cannon position. In any case, during the time that followed, the royal army’s magic crystal cannons did indeed all fall silent.
As the last machine—Ludwig’s mount—was successfully dragged out of the mire, everyone cheered once more.
Ludwig jumped down from the cockpit and was immediately surrounded by the fervent soldiers.
Even Major Thomas solemnly removed his spiked helmet and saluted this noble commander of armored knights.
Amid the noisy crowd, Molin merely stood at a distance, a polite smile on his face, then applauded along with the people around him.
Under normal circumstances, Molin, who had already blended into the crowd, would not have drawn anyone’s attention. But his calmness, which was clearly out of place with the surrounding atmosphere, quickly attracted Ludwig’s notice.
Ludwig’s gaze lingered on Molin for a few seconds, his brows furrowing slightly, as though he were recalling something.
“Lieutenant Colonel, this Second Lieutenant Molin here was the one who first gave the order for us to open fire on the mage in the sky!”
Seeing that the other man had noticed them, Captain Hauser immediately put an arm around Molin’s shoulders and introduced him with a look of shared pride.
The doubt on Ludwig’s face instantly turned into surprise. He examined Molin anew, his expression as if he had witnessed something that overturned his understanding.
He remembered now.
At several noble banquets before the war began, he had seen this young man.
A man who relied on the meager hereditary favor left by his ancestors and a thick skin to drift through every major banquet.
Then, with a face that could still be considered handsome and a glib tongue, he went around provoking sheltered noble young ladies.
Within the Junker aristocratic circles, he could be considered a somewhat famous “down-and-out playboy.”
Why was he here?
And why had he just done something that possessed both courage and wisdom?
Although his heart was filled with questions, Ludwig nevertheless put away that aristocratic arrogance.
He strode over to Molin and gave him a solemn military salute.
“Second Lieutenant Molin, on behalf of the Teutonic Order, as well as all the comrades you have saved, I offer you my sincerest respect.”
His voice was loud and sincere.
“The courage you displayed in the face of a powerful enemy is admirable.”
“You are too kind, Lieutenant Colonel. This was not my achievement alone.”
Molin looked at the other man’s rank, returned the salute, and then continued:
“Without the combined efforts of everyone in the 1st Battalion and the International Brigade, there is no way we could have forced that mage to retreat...”
After the Teutonic Order broke free, the various units also began collecting the bodies and providing emergency treatment to the wounded.
At the same time, a messenger came galloping over on horseback, finally stopping in front of Major Thomas.
“Report, Major! Orders from regimental headquarters! The enemy is retreating across the entire line. Our unit is ordered to pursue immediately!”