A Pyrrhic Victory

"What are you yelling about?! Is the battle over?! Spread the fuck out! Spread out!"

He strode forward and unceremoniously kicked a soldier in the backside.

"Corporal Jonah, Corporal Baumann, and you!" He pointed at another corporal. "Take your squads and advance by sections, covering one another! Clear out the remaining enemies in the village!"

"Remember! Unless they resist, you are not to fire on civilians! Is that clear?!"

"Yes, Second Lieutenant!"

His roar reminded the three corporals that it was not yet time to celebrate. They immediately led their men into the street fighting.

As the main force broke through from the front and began fighting hand to hand, the Royal Army's resistance in the village quickly collapsed.

These troops were neither particularly well trained nor well organized. They could manage firing a few shots from cover at a distance...

But expecting them to have the courage to cross bayonets with these ferocious Saxon soldiers was another matter.

Some Royal Army soldiers, sensing things were going badly, slipped out the other end of the village before the fighting had even finished.

Those who reacted too slowly were either shot dead on the spot or obediently threw down their weapons and surrendered.

The village of San Isidro finally fell to the Saxons.

After the battle, the casualty reports were soon submitted to Battalion Headquarters.

The figures left everyone silent.

Yes, the Royal Army's fighting spirit was poor, only a little better than that of troops who fired into the air the moment the enemy arrived.

Yet this force, which so many Saxon soldiers had dismissed before the battle, had exacted a heavy toll on the 1st Company and 2nd Company as they led the assault.

Both companies' chains of command had suffered serious gaps—officer casualties exceeded twenty-five percent, while casualties among the soldiers exceeded thirty-five percent, drastically reducing the combat effectiveness of both infantry companies.

That also meant that on the very first day of the war, the 1st Battalion under Major Thomas had effectively lost nearly half an infantry company's worth of men...

In stark contrast stood Captain Hauser's 3rd Company... especially the 3rd Platoon under Morin.

Throughout the entire flanking assault on the left, the 3rd Platoon had miraculously suffered no combat losses.

Only two soldiers had sprained their ankles while crossing the riverbed, and another had gotten so excited during the final charge that he tripped over his own feet...

In a sense, they had suffered zero casualties.

Not only that, but according to the postbattle tally, the machine gun position they had knocked out from the flank, together with the Royal Army infantry attempting to reinforce it, accounted for at least forty men.

An exchange ratio of zero to forty was practically the stuff of fantasy.

When Captain Hauser entered the village with his company headquarters staff and found Morin, the rough-mannered company commander could no longer contain his emotions.

He rushed forward, gave Morin a crushing bear hug, then clapped both hands hard against his shoulders, repeating the same few words over and over.

"Well done! Well done, Morin!"

The surrounding soldiers of the 3rd Company also looked at their new platoon commander, who had only taken up his post yesterday, with a mixture of awe and admiration.

Before this, their respect for the young second lieutenant had largely come from his rank.

Now, that respect had become utterly genuine and heartfelt.

The military, particularly its rank-and-file soldiers and junior officers in wartime, was naturally drawn to strength.

No amount of eloquent talk could compare to leading them through a few more victories and bringing more of them home alive...

The losses the 1st Company and 2nd Company had suffered during the attack meant they urgently needed to regroup and treat their wounded.

So once the main force had cleared the village, the task of establishing perimeter defenses naturally fell to the 3rd Company, which had suffered the fewest losses.

Captain Hauser led the main body in building a defensive line around the surviving buildings and low walls on the side of the village facing Seville—the direction from which an enemy counterattack was likely to come.

The infantry of this era had not yet developed the concept of large-scale trench warfare, and Morin had not seen any soldiers in the company equipped with shovels.

Their so-called defensive lines generally relied on buildings and existing earthen walls.

Morin, meanwhile, continued to hold responsibility for the village's left flank with his 3rd Platoon.

Drawing on what he had learned at military academies both before and after his transmigration, along with the assistance of the System Map, he quickly began directing his soldiers in setting up defenses.

"Sergeant Klaus, sorry for the trouble, but bring that captured Vickers Machine Gun over and set it up on the platform at the mill on the right. If there are any grain sacks nearby, just stack them in front of the gun!"

"Corporal Jonah, take the 1st Squad and establish interlocking fields of fire across the gaps beside those houses!"

"Corporal Baumann, the 2nd Squad will watch our left flank and the village interior! Have all the villagers stay inside their homes!"

Clear, precise orders flowed from his mouth in a steady sequence.

Morin also assigned outer observation posts, along with both visible and concealed sentries.

Although these soldiers of the Saxon Empire had never encountered such arrangements, they quickly understood what he wanted after he patiently explained his orders and requirements.

Platoon Sergeant Klaus and the corporals now followed Morin's orders without question, immediately putting their men to work.

Before long, a defensive position took shape on the village's left flank, centered on the captured Vickers Machine Gun and supported by several dispersed firing positions, with a measure of depth and interlocking fields of fire.

At that moment, Morin could not help marveling at just how useful an eighty-man, "supersized" infantry platoon was.

Whether setting up defenses now or attacking earlier, he had found it remarkably easy to work with. The ample manpower allowed him to be positively lavish in his tactical deployments.

Once the arrangements were complete, Morin and Sergeant Klaus went to the Vickers Machine Gun Position.

Klaus had previously had the good fortune to use this Britannian heavy machine gun during an exchange between the two armies, so he could now teach the other soldiers to operate it—though only the simplest tasks of feeding ammunition, aiming, firing, and clearing basic malfunctions.

As for maintenance and repair skills, those were not important just then.

After all, ammunition for this captured heavy machine gun was severely limited. Morin estimated that one substantial defensive battle would exhaust its supply, much like a "bonus weapon" with limited ammunition in a game.

After inspecting it, Sergeant Klaus concluded that the machine gun had indeed suffered no real damage and could function normally.

He then began instructing two hastily assigned gunners, hoping to teach them how to fire the machine gun in the shortest possible time.

Meanwhile, Morin had the four corporals arrange duty rotations for their squads, then ordered most of the soldiers to get whatever rest they could.

Before long, the 1st Battalion's Command Headquarters also moved forward into a small, reasonably intact chapel in the center of the village.

Captain Hauser brought Morin along to Battalion Headquarters, where Morin could see that the battalion commander, Major Thomas, looked grim.

Although they had successfully taken the village, the price had been far too high, leaving him, as battalion commander, hard-pressed to explain himself to Brigade Headquarters.

Still, when he saw Morin, he rallied his spirits, offered the outstanding young officer a few words of encouragement, and promised to put him forward for a commendation.

After a brief conversation, Major Thomas also told Captain Hauser and the 3rd Company to be ready. Taking San Isidro was not the end, but the beginning of this campaign, and even fiercer fighting lay ahead.

The news doubled the pressure Morin felt. San Isidro, a village on the outskirts of Seville, was clearly intended to slow the Saxon advance.

Yet even a village like this already had a machine gun position... Seville's defenses could only be stronger.