Chapter 15: A Pyrrhic Victory

“What’s all this shouting about?! The battle’s over?! Everyone, disperse immediately!”

He strode forward and without hesitation kicked one soldier sharply from behind.

“Sergeant Jonah, Sergeant Bowman, and you!” He pointed at another sergeant. “Take your squads, advance in platoon units, providing alternating cover! Clear out any remaining enemies in the village!”

“Remember! Do not fire on civilians unless met with resistance! Is that clear?”

“Yes, Lieutenant!”

The three sergeants snapped to attention under his shouted orders, realizing this was no time for celebration. They immediately led their troops into the village’s close-quarters combat.

As the main force launched their charges and engaged in hand-to-hand fighting, the Kingdom Army’s resistance within the village quickly crumbled.

These poorly trained and disorganized troops might manage to fire from a distance, but they certainly lacked the courage to face the fierce Saxon soldiers in bayonet combat.

Some Kingdom soldiers, sensing defeat, had slipped away from the other side of the village before the fighting fully ended.

Those slower to react were either shot on the spot or surrendered meekly.

Saint Isidore Village was ultimately seized by the Saxons.

...

After the battle, the casualty report was quickly submitted to battalion headquarters.

The result silenced everyone.

Indeed, the Kingdom Army’s fighting spirit was quite poor—only marginally better than those troops who fired wildly into the sky at the first sign of the enemy.

Yet this very force, once dismissed by many Saxon soldiers, exacted a heavy toll on the 1st and 2nd Companies leading the assault.

The command structure of these two companies was broken: officer casualties exceeded twenty-five percent, and soldier casualties surpassed thirty-five percent, severely degrading their combat effectiveness.

This meant that on the first day of battle, the 1st Battalion under Major Thomas nearly lost half an infantry company’s strength...

In stark contrast stood Captain Hauser’s 3rd Company—especially the 3rd Platoon led by Morin.

Miraculously, during the entire left-wing assault, the 3rd Platoon suffered no combat casualties.

Only two soldiers twisted their ankles crossing the riverbed, and one tripped in his excitement during the final charge...

Effectively, zero casualties.

...

Furthermore, post-battle statistics revealed that the machine gun positions they knocked out on the flank, along with the Kingdom infantry attempting to reinforce them, totaled at least forty men.

A zero-for-forty kill ratio—simply unbelievable.

When Captain Hauser entered the village with his company and found Morin, the gruff platoon leader could no longer contain his emotions.

He rushed over and gave Morin a hearty bear hug, slapping his shoulders hard while repeating just a few words:

“Well done! Well done, Morin!”

Around them, soldiers of the 3rd Company looked on with a mixture of awe and admiration for this young lieutenant who had just taken command yesterday.

Previously, their respect had largely been based on rank alone.

Now, it had transformed into genuine and heartfelt reverence.

The military, especially the rank and file during wartime, tends to admire strength.

No matter how grand the words, they don’t compare to leading them to victories that save lives...

Since the 1st and 2nd Companies had suffered losses and required urgent rest and medical care, the task of establishing a defensive perimeter naturally fell to the 3rd Company, which had sustained minimal casualties.

Captain Hauser led the main force to fortify the village’s side facing Seville—the likely direction of enemy counterattack—using the remaining buildings and low walls to build a defensive line.

At this time, infantry tactics had not yet embraced large-scale trench warfare, and Morin noticed no entrenching tools among his men.

Thus, their so-called defensive line relied mostly on buildings and existing earthen walls.

Morin and his 3rd Platoon continued to hold the village’s left flank.

Drawing upon his training from two military academies and aided by detailed maps, he swiftly directed his soldiers to construct the defenses.

“Sergeant Klaus, bring over that captured Vickers machine gun and mount it on the platform by the mill. If there are any grain sacks nearby, stack them in front for cover.”

“Sergeant Jonah, lead the first squad to establish a crossfire position at the gap beside those houses.”

“Sergeant Bowman, second squad, keep watch over our left flank and inside the village. Make sure civilians stay indoors and don’t come out.”

...

Clear and precise orders flowed steadily from his lips.

Beyond this, Morin also assigned outer observation posts and sentries, arranging them carefully.

Although these Saxon soldiers had never encountered such tactics before, Morin’s patient explanations quickly brought them to understand their tasks.

Sergeant Klaus and several other sergeants now executed Morin’s commands without question, immediately setting their men to work.

Before long, a defensive position anchored by the captured Vickers machine gun and supported by multiple dispersed firing points, featuring some depth and overlapping fields of fire, took shape on the village’s left flank.

At this moment, Morin could not help but appreciate the advantage of having an ‘extra-large’ infantry platoon of eighty men.

Whether building defenses now or commanding the earlier assault, the ample manpower allowed him to orchestrate complex tactical deployments with ease and flexibility.

When the setup was complete, Morin and Sergeant Klaus examined the Vickers gun emplacement.

Klaus had previously had the opportunity to operate this kind of heavy machine gun—manufactured by the Bretons—during an earlier joint military exchange, so he was able to teach others the basics of loading, aiming, firing, and simple troubleshooting.

More advanced maintenance and repairs were irrelevant at this stage.

After all, ammunition for the captured heavy machine gun was scarce; Morin guessed that a proper defensive fight would likely exhaust their supply, much like a limited-use ‘reward weapon’ in a game.

After Klaus’s inspection confirmed the gun was fully operational, he began instructing two temporarily assigned gunners, striving to have them proficient in the shortest possible time.

Morin meanwhile ordered four sergeants to arrange squad rotations and commanded most soldiers to rest as much as possible.

Not long after, the 1st Battalion’s command post moved forward to a small but intact chapel in the village center.

Morin, brought there by Captain Hauser, could see that Major Thomas’s face was extremely grim.

Though they had successfully taken the village, the cost was so great that the major found it difficult to justify the losses to the brigade command.

Yet upon seeing Morin, he mustered his strength to praise the young officer’s outstanding performance and promised to recommend him for commendation.

After exchanging a few words, Major Thomas instructed Captain Hauser and the 3rd Company to prepare for further action.

Taking Saint Isidore Village was not the end, but the beginning of this campaign, and more intense fighting would soon follow.

This news only heightened Morin’s pressure.

Saint Isidore, a village on the outskirts of Seville, was clearly intended to delay the Saxon advance.

But if such a village already boasted machine gun positions, then Seville’s defenses would be even more formidable.