Ten minutes earlier.
The 16th Brigade’s temporary headquarters had been set up in a still relatively intact building south of Seville. Bullet scars left by the fighting could still be faintly seen on the walls.
At that moment, in the largest room of the building, Brigadier General Paul was rubbing his temples hard, his brows twisted into a knot.
Spread out on the table before him was the compiled casualty report—the brigade’s casualties had exceeded 37%, and several battalions that had suffered heavier losses were on the verge of losing their organizational structure entirely.
Besides that, there were several urgent reports just delivered back by frontline scouts, and the chief of staff was briefing him on the information.
“The Kingdom Army and the Britannians didn’t go far. They stopped less than eight kilometers outside the city and are regrouping.”
“And they’ve received a large number of reinforcements. Preliminary estimates put it at least two to three regiments’ worth of troops.”
That news was already bad enough, but worse was yet to come.
“The most critical point is…”
The staff officer paused, as if unsure how to continue.
“We’ve confirmed that the enemy’s Garde Knights have increased their number of armored knights from the previous two units to eight.”
“Eight?!”
Major General Paul snapped his head up, feeling as though someone had just slapped him hard across the face.
This meant that even the Teutonic Knights’ insignificant numerical advantage in armored knights had completely vanished.
In the previous battle, Ludwig and the others had only managed to take down the enemy’s two armored knights with a threefold numerical advantage and the loss of half their own armored knights.
But now, their own armored knights had already been surpassed in number by the enemy. If they clashed again…
Major General Paul did not dare think further.
“General, should we consider temporarily falling back?”
A young officer suggested in a low voice.
“Fall back?”
Major General Paul snorted coldly and slapped the table.
“Fall back to where? We are standing in Seville, the city we just captured. It is a key city in southern Aragon, and more than that, it is the Empire’s primary objective!”
“If we lose it, not only will all our previous sacrifices be in vain, the entire southern front will be shaken!”
He stood and paced back and forth across the room, his leather boots striking the floor with heavy thuds.
“We cannot retreat. Not a single step.”
Major General Paul stopped, his gaze sharpening.
“Send a telegram to the Expeditionary Force Command and the General Staff. Report the situation, and tell them that the 16th Brigade will hold Seville until the armored airships arrive!”
He swept his gaze over his subordinates, his voice resolute.
“Order: summon all officers of battalion level and above to brigade headquarters immediately for an emergency military conference!”
The order was swiftly passed down.
Before long, Major Thomas and Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig, who had just finished handling the disciplinary issue with Morin, received the messenger’s notice.
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in each other’s eyes. Without saying a word, they immediately set off for brigade headquarters.
At the same time, at the temporary station of 1st Battalion, 3rd Platoon, Morin was holding his second after-action review since arriving in this world.
Unlike the restraint everyone had shown the first time, the atmosphere this time was clearly much livelier.
Having just survived a bloody battle, these soldiers all had a bellyful of things they wanted to say.
“Platoon leader, I think this flank firepower thing is incredibly useful!”
A corporal was the first to stand up. When he spoke of this topic, his expression even became somewhat excited.
“Especially that heavy machine gun—my God! Set up in that position, it was practically a slaughterhouse! Those Kingdom Army soldiers fell in rows like wheat!”
His words immediately struck a chord with everyone.
“That’s right! We always used to think heavy machine guns were just clumsy things, only useful for defending positions. Who would’ve thought that during an attack, as long as you find a good position, they can play such a huge role too!”
“Yeah, yeah. We used to bunch up too tightly, and one shell would take out a whole patch of men. This time, after listening to the platoon leader and spreading out, it looked messy, but our casualties really were much lower!”
The soldiers discussed all at once, each sharing more or less some insight of their own.
Morin listened with satisfaction. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
These soldiers were no longer puppets who only knew how to obey orders. They had begun to think on their own initiative, to summarize experiences and lessons.
This improvement in initiative was far more significant than winning a single battle.
However, before long, someone brought up a question that made everyone fall silent.
“Platoon leader… those heavy-armored soldiers of the Britannians—how are we supposed to deal with them?”
The voice of a soldier who had survived the close-quarters fighting was a little unsteady.
“Our bullets hit them and don’t do anything at all.”
The lively atmosphere from moments ago instantly cooled.
Everyone remembered those heavy-armored soldiers who had charged around the positions like iron cans, and a chill crept into their hearts.
Morin looked at Platoon Sergeant Klaus. “Klaus, how did the army deal with situations like this in the past?”
Klaus frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“Platoon leader, to be honest, ordinary infantry regiments like ours rarely face enemies like that directly… From what I’ve heard, they’re usually dealt with by several of Saxony’s Royal Guard divisions.”
“There are also some soldiers equipped with heavy armor in the Royal Guard divisions, capable of engaging in ‘equal combat.’ I’ve never heard of ordinary infantry like us being sent to clash with them head-on.”
This answer was within Morin’s expectations. After all, Saxony could not possibly have no way of dealing with these heavy-armored troops, just as with armored knights; there had to be units capable of countering them.
From the looks of it, in this world, elite units were used to deal with elite units. There was a clear chain of arms counters.
Just as everyone was at a loss, a messenger from battalion headquarters came galloping over on horseback and reined in at 3rd Platoon’s temporary assembly point.
“Is Second Lieutenant Morin here? Major Thomas orders you to report to battalion headquarters for a meeting immediately!”
Morin immediately stood up. Being called to battalion headquarters for a meeting at a time like this probably meant that Major Thomas and the others had learned something at brigade headquarters that needed to be passed down.
“Klaus, continue organizing the discussion. Record all the issues raised.”
“Yes, platoon leader!”
After giving Klaus his instructions, Morin did not dare delay. He followed the messenger at a brisk pace toward battalion headquarters.
He had a premonition that something major was probably about to happen.
“I hope it isn’t bad news…”
When Morin arrived at the temporary headquarters of 1st Battalion, he found the place already packed with people.
All the surviving company commanders and platoon leaders had gathered in this command post temporarily set up with a few folding map tables.
Everyone’s face carried a trace of fatigue they could not quite conceal, and several people still had bandages wrapped around them.
Battalion Commander Major Thomas stood before the map, his expression extremely gloomy. That look showed that what he had just learned at brigade headquarters was no good news.
Seeing Morin enter, he merely nodded, indicating for him to find a place to stand.
Once everyone had arrived, Major Thomas cleared his throat and got straight to the point.
“Gentlemen, at the meeting just now at brigade headquarters, we received news: the enemy has not fully withdrawn. Instead, they have completed regrouping and received a large number of reinforcements. Brigade headquarters estimates that once they finish assembling, they will launch a counterattack against us.”