Reserves, advance!

Another platoon commander from the 3rd Company heard that Morin seemed to have an alternative to a frontal assault and joined in urging him. "Sir, a frontal attack would cost too many lives. Perhaps we should try Second Lieutenant Morin's plan!"

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

A few seconds later, Captain Hauser seemed to reach a decision. He gave a sharp wave of his hand.

"All right! Morin! Take your men around the left flank! If your plan fails, I don't care how the fighting is going—you are to rejoin the main force immediately! Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" A great weight lifted from Morin's heart.

Without a moment's hesitation, he turned to face his men.

"3rd Platoon! Follow me!"

He wasted no more words and broke into a run along the edge of the bushes, heading toward the more difficult terrain on the left.

Platoon Sergeant Klaus reacted first, roaring, "Follow the platoon commander! Quickly! Move!"

The four corporals and the section leaders immediately urged their soldiers on. The eighty-man force quickly broke away from the company's main body and plunged into the tangled terrain on the left flank behind Morin.

Once they entered the woods, Morin immediately issued his first true combat order in this world.

"Attention, platoon! Advance by sections and spread out! Keep your spacing! Don't bunch up!"

These orders were completely unfamiliar to the soldiers of Saxony.

Fortunately, Morin's voice was clear and decisive. Platoon Sergeant Klaus and the other four corporals quickly grasped his meaning and kept repeating his orders. Although somewhat flustered, the soldiers all complied.

"1st Squad, halt at that rise fifty meters ahead! If enemies approach the main force from any other direction, open fire and cover us!"

Morin pointed out the position and shouted to a corporal.

"Yes, sir!"

The corporal quickly led the 1st Squad's two sections up onto the rise, where they readied their rifles behind the trees and earth.

"The rest of you, follow me! We'll go through the riverbed!"

Morin led the way himself, sliding down into the dry riverbed, which lay more than a meter below them.

The other soldiers followed closely, moving swiftly forward under cover of the sunken riverbed.

The Vickers Machine Gun still roared on their right, but its attention was entirely fixed on the frontal battle. It had not noticed this small force quietly approaching through its blind spot.

After running nearly a hundred and fifty meters along the riverbed, Morin glanced at the minimap. They were almost at the village's flank when gunfire suddenly erupted from the rise behind them, where the 1st Squad was positioned.

He made a hand signal, and the entire force stopped and crouched low in the riverbed.

Sergeant Klaus, who was beside him, did not even need an order. He climbed to the opposite edge of the riverbed and cautiously raised his head for a look.

"Second Lieutenant, a few enemies are approaching us from the village. The 1st Squad is firing on them. They've already pinned them down."

"Good!"

Morin nodded, then turned a solemn gaze on his platoon sergeant.

"Sergeant Klaus, you and the 2nd Squad will establish a strongpoint here. If we're driven back, cover our withdrawal into the riverbed..."

"Second Lieutenant, you should stay here! Leading the assault is too dangerous!" Sergeant Klaus hesitated, clearly reluctant to let Morin risk his life.

"No arguments. That's an order!"

Sergeant Klaus stopped protesting. He and another corporal immediately led two sections of soldiers quietly up the gentle slope beside the riverbed.

Meanwhile, Morin took the remaining two squads, more than forty soldiers, farther along the riverbed, keeping low.

Perhaps the 1st Squad's covering fire had done its job. Their advance met with no further interference, and Morin soon led his men to where the riverbed met the village.

The two-story farmhouse serving as the machine-gun position now stood exposed diagonally ahead of them. According to the map, it was less than a hundred meters away.

"Corporal Jonah!"

Morin raised a hand to summon one of the two corporals still beside him. Hearing his voice, the corporal immediately came over with his rifle.

"See that two-story farmhouse?"

"Yes, Second Lieutenant!"

"I'll lead the 3rd Squad in the assault. Take the 4th Squad and watch the farmhouse's doors and windows facing us. Fire as soon as anything moves. Keep the enemy pinned down and don't let them attack us! Can you do that?"

"Count on me, Second Lieutenant!"

Morin nodded, then led the last corporal and two sections of soldiers up out of the riverbed and charged toward the farmhouse.

The enemy soon spotted their movement.

Corporal Jonah, who was watching the farmhouse, noticed a figure appear at a second-floor window. He immediately raised his Gew.98 rifle, aimed at the window, and fired the first shot.

"Second-floor window! Fire at will! Open fire!"

Bang!

A single crisp gunshot rang out first.

Then the twenty rifles beside him opened fire together.

The Gew.98 rifle was renowned for its accuracy, and the soldiers of Saxony were held to strict marksmanship standards in their regular training.

All twenty bullets struck through the farmhouse's second-floor window, sending wood splinters flying. The figure inside vanished from sight.

Pinned them down!

Corporal Jonah was delighted. He immediately shouted, "7th Section, keep firing! Don't give them a chance to breathe! 8th Section, watch the other doors and windows!"

He worked the bolt, ejecting the hot casing and chambering another round.

Meanwhile, lying on the gentle slope beside the riverbed, Sergeant Klaus watched Morin and his men move. He still did not quite understand why his new platoon commander had ordered him to hold this position.

Before he could figure it out, however, he saw soldiers in the black uniforms of the "Royal Army" rush out of other buildings to the right of the two-story farmhouse and run toward Morin's group.

"Everyone, aim at the enemy near the farmhouse! Open fire!"

Gunfire immediately crackled like beans popping in a pan. With accurate, sustained rifle fire, the soldiers Morin had stationed here sent the charging "Royal Army" soldiers tumbling to the ground.

Field of view!

This gentle slope beside the riverbed brought the two-story farmhouse and several surrounding buildings neatly within their field of fire. Any enemy trying to attack Morin and his men would have to cross right in front of their muzzles!

As long as they held this position, the enemy in the village would struggle to threaten Morin's assault.

Meanwhile, Morin led his two sections all the way to the farmhouse without obstruction.

"Corporal Baumann, watch the village with the 5th Section! 6th Section, follow me! Ready grenades!"

After giving the last corporal his orders, Morin rushed to the side of the farmhouse's front door and pressed himself against the wall.

The soldiers of the 6th Section and the two messengers who had stayed with him followed his example, flattening themselves against the walls on either side of the doorway.

"Throw grenades through the upstairs windows! And someone with the guts for it, put one through the window that machine gun's firing from!"

Two "grenadiers" in the 6th Section, who carried less rifle ammunition but four spherical grenades each, immediately followed Morin's order and threw their grenades through the second-floor windows.

One particularly bold and skilled soldier even peeked around the corner to make sure no enemies were there, then slipped beneath the machine gun's firing window, pulled the safety pin, and hurled his grenade cleanly inside.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several explosions erupted on the farmhouse's second floor. On Morin's minimap, a red cross appeared over the red unit marker representing the enemy machine-gun position.

At last, the terrifying roar of the machine gun fell silent across the battlefield.