Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 516: Actual combat is the only criterion for testing theory
"The First Heavy Infantry Regiment, with the giant machine as its core, will deploy horizontally and move eastward.

“The 3rd and 5th Guards Regiments, listen to the order and move to the vicinity of Village No. 2 in the north. If a battle breaks out in the east, force a crossing to provide support.

“The cavalry regiment will first ascend Hill 3, and then all artillery regiments will go to Hills 3 and 7 respectively, aiming northeast at enemy positions and wait for orders.

"Once the rest of the troops have reached their designated combat positions, please stay hidden and do not use open flames. All giant machines will begin assembly and commissioning."

Thirteen hours had passed since they detected the Imperial Army's position and completed the deployment. During this period, Paul had not closed his eyes once. Energy potion was still flowing from the corners of his mouth, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot under the [Light Spell].

Pascal did not rest for a whole night. In the second half of the night, in order to carry out Paul's deployment, he needed to temporarily widen the ramp to the high ground to allow the artillery and ammunition trucks to pass. Pascal participated in it personally. In order to avoid excessive noise and light, the spellcasters could only use [Earth Shaping] to repair a wider and stronger road bit by bit.

……

After finally getting all the guns on the high ground, Pascal yawned as he returned to the command tent. He was startled by Paul, who had fallen into a frenzy: "You didn't sleep all night?"

"Sleep? If you dare to sleep now, many people will not have to get up soon, including me." He exhaled bloody air. Now Paul's chest was beating hard, and the strong blood supply from his heart made him feel excited. "I guess the enemy's actions will be advanced."

"what?"

"Now that we have dealt with the annoying airships, the enemy will not be able to figure out our situation for the time being. The imperial garrison is also facing the same pressure as us, and the commander is impatient. From the reconnaissance report, the northern defense line has not changed, and the imperial army in the east is frequently mobilized. He is seeking to take the initiative.

"In that case, I'm ready to respond to his expectations!" Although he didn't know who the commander on the opposite side was, in Paul's eyes it was not important. The most important thing was to understand the other party's mind.

"Although the enemy cannot get a glimpse of our army's entirety, the reconnaissance ahead has already given them a rough idea of ​​our position. The Imperial Army may be thinking that while we are charging towards the northern position, the eastern army will seize the opportunity to attack the flank of our main force."

The northern defense line of the Imperial Army was between the main city of Sassan and the National Guard. If it was the former guard, this deployment would be correct. But when the war started, the Imperial Army soon discovered that the artillery shells from the Valois were aimed at all positions, and they carried out short and unfocused bombardments, making it impossible for them to determine where the focus of the National Guard's attack was.

"They will be confused, their deployment will be slower than ours, and then the weak links in their defense will be exposed."

The Imperial soldiers in the position found themselves without further orders, while the vanguard of the National Guard was approaching, and at the few points where the artillery and gun lines were sparsest, sudden bursts of smoke appeared.

The smoke was not poisonous, it simply blocked the line of sight and marked the target. The abnormally thick smoke continued to float to a height of more than ten meters. Under the cover of the smoke, tall steel giants stood up and rushed towards the weak points in the defense line.

Sasan did not have a long-term anti-magic device, but the airship pulled the impact device and lowered the altitude to begin preparations.

The Rat Whisperer immediately drove the flock of birds towards the airships that had lowered their altitude, aiming for their engines. Two of them successfully lost power on one side and began to spin uncontrollably, apparently having lost their function. Unfortunately, one of the devices was successfully activated.

Suddenly, the light column fell on the battlefield, and all the giant machines were visibly stuck, but the task Paul set for them was to charge and break through. These giants burst into steam and did not fall down. They continued to step into the enemy's position with difficulty under the pure power of fire and air. "Now the Empire's accompanying wizards can't cast spells to let the shells focus fire." Before Paul finished speaking, three machines fell down unexpectedly.

"What's going on?" Pascal was very nervous when he saw the sudden situation.

Paul put down the binoculars and slapped his thigh: "Chain bullet!"

When faced with the giant machines, the Imperial Army did not think of countering them with equal technology. Instead, some clever person did some reverse archaeological work and pulled out the chain bombs that were commonly used in past naval battles.

The artillery fired two shells in succession, connected by a thick iron chain, and spun and swept across the legs of the giant machine. Chain bullets have low precision requirements, and once they get entangled near the joints of the giant machine, they can easily cause large-scale deformation of the skin, as well as damage and jam the transmission mechanism.

"Who said that the giant machine must be humanoid? Bring him to the military court!" Paul was furious, but he quickly calmed down and gritted his teeth to give orders: "The cavalry will charge according to the established plan! The reserve troops will be deployed to the battle.

"The two Guards Regiments act according to my first order: force a crossing to stop the enemy in the east. At the same time, the artillery will cooperate with the Guards Regiment to attack the Imperial Army in the east first. The barrage will advance slowly with the speed and direction of the Guards Regiment's movement, and strive to cause the greatest blow to the enemy!"

Regardless of whether the giant machines can still operate, they have been deeply embedded in the Imperial Army's defense line. The infantry of the National Guard took this opportunity and space to rush in, cutting off the originally complete Imperial Army's northern defense line, and setting up iron plates to allow the cavalry to whiz through several gaps. They split into two groups, one group frantically harassed and destroyed the rear of the Imperial Army's northern defense line, and the other group rode around, bypassed the northern defense line and appeared behind the Imperial Army's eastern group.

At this time, the Imperial Army Corps in the east was hit by artillery shells, in front of them were the elite guards of the National Guard, and in the back were cavalry that appeared out of nowhere.

The gaps in the defense line are also constantly expanding, and are gradually being divided and swallowed up in sections.

"It's over, it's over." The commander of the Imperial Army looked ashen. He had originally wanted to wait for the enemy to attack, building trenches on the north and east sides. He had never expected that the National Guard could break through the northern defense line so quickly.
The military wizard beside the commander listened attentively, and after a while, he relayed, "Your Majesty's order: Report the current battle situation as soon as possible. If the six corps in the east are making good progress, all the soldiers deployed on the northern defense line should take the initiative to attack and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop."

Second, I didn't expect that these military mages, who had nothing to do after eating, had developed communication technology so advanced that His Majesty could remotely command the battlefield. And what about the General Staff? Why didn't the military brain connect to the front line, but let His Majesty connect first? The commander was puzzled, but had to obey the order of the theoretically supreme commander of the army.

Some commanders were wrong. In fact, it was not convenient for His Majesty the Emperor to convey orders because there were magic-proof devices in his palace. Every order was handwritten and then sent to the military wizard outside the palace. Then, it was transmitted to the transfer wizard using [radio communication], and then amplified by the signal tower and transmitted to the battlefield in Sassan.

The delay was approximately 17 minutes.

But it didn't matter how long the delay lasted. The commander had already witnessed the great defeat. He pulled the corners of his mouth into a half-smile and said, "Report it. Report it to his grandmother!"

The military mage said expressionlessly: "Do you want to convey this message as well?"

For some unknown reason, the commander of the imperial army was filled with hatred, and when the spellcaster was completely unprepared, he punched him hard in the face: "F**k you!"

(End of this chapter)