Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 512 General Mobilization and New Tactics

While Byrne was preparing to take over the occupied areas, it also began to cooperate with the Empire to adjust production.

"From today on, all production lines will produce logistics and transportation vehicles. The family car department will be temporarily cancelled and the staff will be seconded to the logistics department."

The Vauxhall gas car factory received new instructions and the production line of family cars was suspended. Now the factory is fully committed to producing a vehicle with a large cargo box that can transport both materials and personnel.

The "Transmutation Dust Collectors" were concentrated and integrated together, and dozens of refineries were built in Byrne and behind the Imperial defense lines. The highest density solid form was used to fill the anti-magic device, and the solvent produced after combining with alchemical potions was then transported in barrels as energy for pneumatic transport vehicles.

These vehicles, together with the trains, pulled cartloads of guns and ammunition from Byrne, brought back raw materials, and traveled across the empire's borders to transport soldiers.

All the young people wandering on the streets of the imperial cities were caught by the conscription teams. Many of them were the first batch of imperial people to experience the "Byrne-made" technology.

"My Lord, I can only paint, not fight!" Olaf showed his slender hands stained with paint. If he had known that the conscription team would come to the street, he should not have set up a stall. There was no business anyway. But no business means no bread. The elf who opened the bakery is a **
"So you're neither studying nor working in a factory?"

Olaf's pale face showed a little blush: "Yes, sir, but I make a living on my own. As a painter, I can paint portraits for people, but I am best at landscapes. Do you want a postcard?"

"These things can't be eaten, and they can't kill the enemy!" The military police kicked over Olaf's painting tools and stuffed him into the truck: "Go to the military camp and learn real skills!"

"My Lord, I cannot join the army. I love the Empire, but I have flat feet."

"That's not the point now!" The military police locked the door of the carriage like a locked-up animal, and laughed recklessly: "Anyway, fighting these days is not about who can run faster, and your feet will soon rot in the trenches."

Young men like Olaf who were "voluntarily" recruited were fortunate to be "warmly received" by the empire. Not only were they given military uniforms and other items, they were also invited to ride on trucks and trains for the first time in their lives.

Olaf was startled by the whistle of the train. His comrade beside him was well-informed: "When the train whistles, you should go and see, it's already moving." He gave Olaf some basic knowledge, such as the train that emits black smoke first and then white smoke and makes a loud noise is an Imperial train, and the train that only emits white smoke and is quiet and fast is a Byrne train.
After receiving simple training, these new recruits were transferred to the eastern section of the "Helmuth Line".

The Empire's solid and reliable fortress group was just a few kilometers behind them. The Empire had not completely abandoned the occupied areas in front of the defense line, and there were several trenches with barbed wire as a buffer. Unfortunately, Olaf and his men were one of the buffers.

Olaf originally thought that the trenches were just a few gullies, but when he arrived at the site, he realized that the trenches were more complicated than he had imagined. There were various facilities inside, including the necessary kitchens and medical stations, and even an entertainment room where they could play cards and kill time when there were no orders.

But today was not the day. On a day when the cold autumn wind howled across the earth, Olaf thought he could just stand guard as usual and continue to rot in the ditch, but the alarm sounded.

The commander passionately mobilized the troops before the battle: "Loyal, brave and resolute soldiers! I know you have stayed in the muddy ditches for long enough. Now is the time to fight for glory for the empire and for yourselves!"

Olaf listened to the battle deployment in a daze. It turned out that the main force of the imperial army that penetrated into the northeast of Valois successfully surrounded the National Guard, and now about 30,000 enemies had been driven to the vicinity of the defense line.

Based on the intelligence obtained from the airship's observations in the sky and the analysis of the enemy's marching trajectory, the command judged that these 30,000 people would soon be forced to come into contact with the buffer zone of the defense line where Olaf was located.

The National Guard arrived as promised, but Olaf could not see them fleeing in panic. Instead, he could see a high-spirited charge through the barbed wire. The defenders fired round after round, knocking down row after row of attackers. The opponents seemed endless, and Olaf was sincerely grateful for the gun in his hand - he had noticed that his gun could fire five times in a row, while the opponent's fire stick could only fire once after a reload.

Coupled with the obstruction of the barbed wire, the breakout of 30,000 people failed. According to the commander, Olaf and his men only needed to wait for the main force of the Imperial Army behind the enemy to arrive, and they could form a double-sided encirclement to annihilate the enemy.

However, just as he was thinking this, an unforgettable scene appeared:
The enemy gave up the charge and threw tin cans at us, but they didn't look like cans. Soon, thick green mist began to spit out of their nozzles, which seemed to fill the trenches.

"Damn it, playing this!" Olaf heard a familiar voice. It was a comrade who knew a lot about trains. At this time, they could not see each other clearly due to the fog. Olaf was about to ask the other party what happened when his mouth, eyes and nose were attacked by severe pain.

The whole world turned into a strange, poisonous yellow-green.

No, I'm going to die. When Olaf's mind became blurred, the green mist was suddenly dispelled by an invisible force, and a transparent spherical cover isolated his head from the poisonous mist.

"Sorry, I'm just an apprentice. It takes time to cast [Air Filter Bubble]." The comrade who knew a lot was also a spellcaster. Olaf looked at the other person in surprise. At this time, the man's helmet had fallen off, revealing his pointed ears that were about to be broken. It was the elf that Olaf often cursed.

The gunfire and bombardment did not stop, and Olaf held the gun tightly and cried bitterly. Even though the empire finally won the annihilation war, he could not feel any glory or joy.

Although the Imperial Army's operations on the Eastern Front achieved their intended goals and wiped out a large number of Valois' manpower, the threat to the imperial capital was increasing day by day.

As the coastal gateway to the empire, the Low Countries have surrendered to the Va-I coalition.

As the biggest contributor to the battle, General Paul was the first to speak at the combat meeting: "We should abandon the tactic of concentrating our forces and charging at all costs! Now the empire's defenses are sufficient to withstand the human wave, especially when we concentrate our superior forces, the enemy can also easily concentrate its forces to defend against us."

Other generals disagreed with Paul's statement: "What else can we do? Re-employ the cavalry?"

"Of course we need to use the cavalry well, but the focus is not on the military branch." Paul looked at these veterans as if they were idiots, but he still had to patiently explain to them the new tactics he had conceived:
"Next we face the Imperial Army's homeland defense. They are used to deploying long battle lines and building fortifications. With strong logistics and transportation capabilities, as well as air units and familiarity with the terrain, they will definitely be able to concentrate their forces before us.

"That is to say, as long as there is no absolute advantage in numbers, the human wave tactics of the past will definitely fail.

"In this case, let's make sure the enemy can't see our main force on the battlefield! We should use the corps as units, with the giant machines as the vanguard, and simultaneously break through the enemy's defenses.

"The troops that break through maintain the gap, and the cavalry quickly advances through the gap to the enemy's rear to seize the enemy's artillery positions and logistics points. The supporting troops must also be deployed in the breached gap, with some advancing horizontally to disintegrate the enemy's resistance, and some advancing vertically to meet up with the cavalry."

Compared with a human wave charge like a "battering ram hitting a wall", Paul believes that it is better to increase the "sharpness" of the army and abandon the idea of ​​breaking through the enemy's defense line in one go. Instead, try to break through at multiple points, with fast troops giving priority to capturing rear targets, and follow-up troops attacking the breakthrough points.

There were many generals with higher ranks than him present. Some of them strongly opposed, some sneered, but more of them fell silent and thought, and finally recognized this young man with outstanding military achievements.

(End of this chapter)