Reserve Force, Advance!

Another platoon leader from the 3rd Company, upon hearing that Morin seemingly had other methods besides a frontal assault, also chimed in to persuade, "Sir, the casualties from a frontal attack are just too heavy. Maybe Second Lieutenant Morin's method is worth a try!"

Time ticked by second by second. The miserable screams of the survivors from the 1st and 2nd Companies ahead, along with the intermittent single shots of that Vickers Machine Gun, lashed at everyone's nerves like a whip.

A few seconds later, Captain Hauser seemed to have made up his mind as he waved his hand fiercely.

"Fine! Morin, take your men up from the left flank! If your plan fails, I don't care how well you fight, you are to fall back to the main force immediately! Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" A heavy stone fell from Morin's chest.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately turned to face his subordinates.

"All of 3rd Platoon! Follow me!"

He wasted no extra words, turning on his heel to run along the edge of the brush toward the much more complicated terrain on the left.

Platoon Sergeant Klaus reacted first, roaring, "Keep up with the platoon leader! Fast! Move it, everyone!"

The four corporals and section leaders also immediately urged the soldiers under their command. The eighty-man unit quickly broke away from the main company force and, following Morin's figure, plunged headlong into the complex terrain of the left flank.

Upon entering the woods, Morin immediately issued his first truly combat-oriented command in this world.

"Attention, the whole platoon! Spread out and advance by section! Mind the intervals, don't bunch up together!"

This set of commands was, naturally, completely unfamiliar to the Saxony soldiers.

Fortunately, Morin's voice was clear and decisive, and with Platoon Sergeant Klaus and the other four corporals quickly grasping his meaning and repeatedly shouting the commands, the soldiers, though somewhat flustered, still carried them out.

"1st Squad, stop at that earthen slope fifty meters ahead! If there are enemies from other directions approaching the main force, open fire to cover us!"

Morin pointed to a location and shouted to a corporal.

"Yes, sir!"

The corporal quickly led the two sections of soldiers from the 1st Squad in a fast charge up the earthen slope, setting up their rifles by leaning against the trees and the slope.

"The rest of you, follow me! Across the riverbed!"

Morin took the lead himself, sliding down into the dry riverbed over a meter deep.

The other soldiers followed closely behind, moving forward rapidly under the cover of the sunken terrain of the riverbed.

The roar of the Vickers Machine Gun still raged on the right, but its attention was completely captured by the frontal battlefield, and it failed to notice this small unit quietly closing in from its blind spot.

After running rapidly through the riverbed for nearly a hundred and fifty meters like this, Morin glanced at the minimap. Seeing that they were about to reach the flank of the village, he suddenly heard gunfire erupt from the earthen slope behind where the 1st Squad was stationed.

He made a hand gesture, and the entire unit came to a halt, lowering their bodies within the riverbed.

As for Sergeant Klaus, who was beside him, he didn't even need Morin to give an order before he crawled to the edge of the other side of the riverbed, carefully poking his head out to take a look.

"Second Lieutenant, a small number of enemies are approaching us from the village direction. The 1st Squad is opening fire on them and has already suppressed them."

"Good!"

Morin nodded, then looked solemnly at his platoon sergeant.

"Sergeant Klaus, you and the 2nd Squad establish a stronghold right here. If we are beaten back, cover our retreat back to the riverbed..."

"Second Lieutenant, you should stay here! Going on the attack is too dangerous!" Sergeant Klaus hesitated, evidently reluctant to let Morin risk his life.

"No nonsense, that's an order!"

Sergeant Klaus stopped arguing and immediately, along with another corporal and two sections of soldiers, quietly climbed up the gentle slope on the edge of the riverbed.

Meanwhile, Morin led the remaining two squads, numbering over forty soldiers, and continued to lower his body, advancing along the riverbed.

Perhaps the 1st Squad's cover had taken effect, as the subsequent advance encountered no further interference, and Morin soon led the group to the junction where the riverbed met the village.

That two-story farmhouse serving as the machine gun emplacement was now exposed directly to their front-left, which the map showed to be less than one hundred meters away.

"Corporal Jonah!"

Morin raised a hand to summon one of the two remaining corporals beside him, and the latter, hearing his voice, immediately hurried over with his rifle in hand.

"See that two-story farmhouse?"

"Seen it, Second Lieutenant!"

"I will lead the 3rd Squad to launch an assault, and you will lead the 4th Squad to keep your eyes on the doors and windows of this farmhouse facing our direction. Open fire directly if there's any movement, suppress the enemy, and don't let them attack us! Can you do it?!"

"Leave it to me, Second Lieutenant!"

Morin nodded, directly leading the last corporal and two sections of soldiers as they climbed out of the riverbed and sprinted toward the farmhouse.

This movement was quickly discovered by the enemy.

When Corporal Jonah, who was tasked with watching the farmhouse, noticed a figure appear at a second-story window, he directly raised the Gew.98 rifle in his hand, took aim at the window, and squeezed the trigger first.

"Second-floor window of the farmhouse! Free fire! Open fire!"

"Bang!"

First, a crisp gunshot rang out.

Immediately after, the twenty rifles beside him fired simultaneously.

The Gew.98 rifle was already renowned for its high precision, and during their daily training, Saxony soldiers were held to strict requirements regarding shooting accuracy.

Consequently, all twenty bullets flew straight into the second-story window of the farmhouse, sending a flurry of wood chips flying and causing the figure inside the window to vanish.

Suppressed!

Corporal Jonah felt a surge of joy in his heart and shouted immediately, "7th Section, keep firing! Don't give them a chance to breathe! 8th Section, keep your eyes on the other doors and windows!"

He pulled back the bolt, ejecting a piping-hot casing, and shoved another round into the chamber.

On the other side, Sergeant Klaus, lying prone on the gentle slope of the riverbed, watched Morin and the others' actions, still somewhat uncomprehending as to why this new platoon leader wanted to lead men to hold this position himself.

Before he could figure it out, however, he saw a number of soldiers wearing the black uniforms of the "Royal Army" burst out from other buildings to the right of the two-story farmhouse, running toward Morin and the others' direction.

"Everyone, aim at the enemy in the direction of the farmhouse, open fire!"

The rattle of gunfire rang out instantly. The soldiers Morin had arranged here used their precise and sustained rifle fire to immediately send the emerging "Royal Army" soldiers tumbling over one another in disarray.

Field of vision!

The location of this gentle river slope happened to bring the two-story farmhouse and several surrounding buildings into their field of fire. If the enemy wanted to launch an attack on Morin and the group, they would inevitably have to cross right in front of their muzzles!

Thus, as long as they nailed themselves here, the enemy in the village would find it very difficult to threaten Morin and the others' assault.

On the other side, Morin led two sections of soldiers straight to the edge of the farmhouse without encountering any obstacles.

"Corporal Baumann, you and the 5th Section keep an eye on the inside of the village! 6th Section, follow me, grenades ready!"

After giving instructions to the last corporal, Morin took the lead, rushing to the side of the farmhouse's main gate and pressing his back against the wall.

The soldiers of the 6th Section, along with the two runners who had been following him all along, followed suit, pressing themselves against both sides of the gate.

"Throw the grenades in through the second-floor windows! And someone bold, toss one into the machine gun firing port!"

Two soldiers from the 6th Section, who carried less rifle ammunition but bore four spherical grenades each, immediately acted on Morin's orders and hurled the grenades through the second-floor windows.

One particularly daring soldier, after peeking out from the corner to confirm there were no enemies, slipped to the underside of the machine gun firing port, pulled the pin, and accurately lobbed a grenade inside.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several explosions echoed on the second floor of the farmhouse, and the red enemy-emplacement icon representing the hostile machine-gun position on Morin's minimap was marked with a red cross.

The chilling roar of the machine gun on the battlefield finally came to a halt.