"I promise you, General."
Maurice nodded solemnly.
"I will do my best to persuade the Pope… Even if the Holy See disagrees, I, Maurice, will swear to the Lord in my own name to make everything that happened today public!"
"Very good." General Mackensen finally showed a satisfied smile on his face.
"Then, Your Excellency Archbishop, let's discuss the specific actions to be taken next."
He turned around, his gaze once again falling upon the enormous map of Paris.
But this time, his eyes no longer held the previous confusion and hesitation, replaced instead by an iron-like resolve and killing intent.
"Order! The First Army Group and the main force of the Teutonic Knights are to immediately enter the city of Paris in regimental units, coordinate with the clergy of the Holy See, and launch the largest-scale civilian evacuation operation! The scope of the operation is temporarily limited to outside the attack range of the Eiffel Tower!"
"Order! The Armored Train 'Odin' is to immediately conduct long-range fire suppression on any large-scale undead gathering areas that may appear within the city from its position outside the city! At the same time, make all preparations for activating its second attack form!"
"Order! The L28 Armored Airship and Armored Airship No. L29 are to immediately return to their maintenance platforms in sequence for emergency fuel and ammunition resupply, and complete the loading of Radiant Crystal Reaction Shells!"
"Order! The Instruction Assault Battalion, Third and Fourth Companies, are to serve as mobile forces, ready to support various front lines within the city at any time!"
"The First and Second Companies, personally commanded by Captain Morin, are to immediately depart with Archbishop Maurice's clergy! Destroy all known exits from the Paris Catacombs to the surface at all costs!"
"Once all preparations are complete and all civilians have been safely evacuated…" Mackensen's hand slammed heavily onto the location of the Eiffel Tower on the map.
"We will launch a general offensive!"
"Yes!"
Inside the tent, all the officers roared in unison.
As command after command was issued, the entire headquarters of the First Army Group, like a precisely activated machine, instantly began to operate at high speed.
Countless orderlies rode horses, rushing out of the camp and heading to various units.
Meanwhile, Morin stared intently at the system map, which was constantly refreshing its information.
On the map, in the area representing the Paris Catacombs, countless tiny red dots were lighting up at an astonishing speed, then converging into small streams and spreading in all directions.
The number of these red dots was so great that it seemed to make the system map momentarily freeze.
At this moment, within Paris.
The Saxon soldiers who had just established temporary defensive lines in the streets and alleys did not yet know what they were about to face.
They were simply terrified to discover that from the subway exits and manhole covers, an endless stream of… wobbly skeletons with red flames burning in their eye sockets were crawling out.
"Fire! Fire!"
In the 9th Arrondissement of Paris, on a wide avenue leading to the opera house, a Saxon Second Lieutenant shrieked hoarsely.
His P08 pistol was practically pressed against the skull of a skeleton that had suddenly rushed out of an adjacent alley, emptying the remaining bullets in its magazine.
"Bang bang bang!"
The bullets easily shattered the skeleton's skull, and it finally collapsed with a "clatter," scattering into a pile of fragmented bones.
"Hoo… hoo…"
The Second Lieutenant stumbled back, then reloaded his pistol, panting heavily as he looked at the increasing number of skeletons around him, ordering everyone to retreat and create distance.
Similar scenes were constantly unfolding at the Saxon troops' positions that had just established defensive lines throughout Paris.
When those skeletons with crimson flames burning in their eye sockets continuously crawled out of subway stations and sewers, the Saxon soldiers' first reaction was panic.
These monsters, which had only appeared in bedtime stories and church legends, were now appearing alive before them, causing immense visual shock and psychological pressure.
After all, in the Saxon Empire, undead creatures were absolutely a rare sight in everyday life.
"I didn't join the army to fight these things!"
A young soldier's hand trembled when he fired his first shot.
However, his squad leader quickly rushed to his side, then raised the MP14 Submachine Gun, equipped for non-commissioned officers and squad leaders, and mowed down two charging skeletons.
"Stop your damn nonsense! Just shoot these skeletons first!"
Soon, the Saxon soldiers also discovered that these seemingly terrifying skeletons were not as formidable as they had imagined.
Their bones were no different from ordinary bones in the face of rifle bullets; they were very fragile.
As long as the bone was hit, it would be completely broken or even shattered.
And once the body's support structure was severely damaged, such as a shattered spine or pelvis, they would immediately fall apart and be unable to get up again.
The crimson flame in their eye sockets would also extinguish with it.
"Don't be afraid, guys! These things are just piles of moving bones! Smash them!"
"Aim for their spines! Break them and they can't run!"
"Machine gunner! Where's the machine gunner?! Open fire!"
Under the scolding and command of officers at all levels, the Saxon soldiers quickly overcame their initial fear and began to organize effective counterattacks.
The roar of the MG08 and MG14 light machine gun, which had once seemed incredibly noisy to the soldiers, now became the most reassuring sound.
Dense rain of bullets swept across the streets like a scythe.
The leading skeletons were shattered into pieces in swathes, and bone fragments and shattered skulls covered the ground in a thick layer.
However, the only problem was that there were simply too many of these things.
They were like an endless tide, surging from every dark corner of the city, fearlessly assaulting the Saxon lines.
They had no fear, no pain, and their only command was to advance and tear apart all living things.
No matter how fierce the Saxon positions' firepower, they would step on the remains of their comrades and continuously push forward.
"They are everywhere!"
"Then fire everywhere!"
For a time, in the urban area controlled by Saxon soldiers, gunshots echoed throughout the city as if they would never cease.
In about two hours, orders from the Army Group headquarters were successively delivered to the struggling units within the city via orderlies.
It wasn't that these orderlies weren't fast enough, but that the urban area of Paris was simply too large, and the units were too dispersed.
Moreover, some unlucky orderlies would encounter skeletons appearing out of nowhere, forcing them to push through with grim determination.
A regimental commander responsible for guarding the Place de la Concorde was overwhelmed by the orders.
"What? You want us to help evacuate civilians too?"
He pointed to the dense, ant-like sea of skeletons surging from across the square, shouting at the orderly: "Look! Just look ahead! We can barely hold on ourselves! How can we save people?!"
Just then, a heavy metallic clanging sound, like the footsteps of a giant beast, came from behind them.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The ground trembled slightly.
The regimental commander and soldiers looked back in astonishment, only to see a 'Siegfried Type 1′ Armored Knight, painted with the Teutonic Knights' emblem, walking with heavy steps from the street behind them.
"It's the Armored Knights of the Teutonic Knights!" The soldiers cheered.
The six-meter-tall steel demon, upon reaching the front of the position, did not stop, but charged directly into the black sea of skeletons ahead.
The undead creatures also swarmed towards the Armored Knight without hesitation.
However, their fragile bone claws, striking the Armored Knight's thick leg armor, could only produce a series of feeble "clinking" sounds, unable to leave even a scratch.
The Armored Knight completely ignored these disturbances, its massive mechanical arm wielding a giant warhammer, sweeping it out like a golf club!
"Whoosh—bang!"
Wherever the warhammer passed, dense swarms of skeletons were instantly pulverized into bone dust flying everywhere.
With just one sweep, a large fan-shaped clear area was carved out in the dense sea of skeletons.
Immediately after, two more Armored Knights advanced, wielding giant swords like door panels, tearing apart skeletons attempting to approach from the sides.
These steel demons, when facing these low-level undead creatures, seemed to have entered a kind of "comfort zone."
They were mobile steel fortresses, unshakeable reefs in the sea of undead.
Soon, more Armored Knights dispersed and appeared on various main streets of Paris, beginning to assist the struggling infantry units in stabilizing their defensive lines.
Meanwhile, the artillery units also hauled 77mm field guns with draft horses and trucks, pushing them to the front lines of the urban area.
"Shrapnel! Load!"
"Fire!!"
As the artillery commanders of each gun crew gave the order, the gunners pulled the firing ropes one by one.
"Boom!"
The shell exploded in mid-air shortly after leaving the barrel, and hundreds of shrapnel steel balls, like a wall, covered a large area ahead.
Those dense skeletons were even more fragile and vulnerable in the face of this powerful weapon specifically designed to kill clustered infantry.
A sweep of bullets would often clear pathways filled with bone fragments in the sea of skeletons.
With the strong support of the Armored Knights and artillery, the various combat units of the First Army Group finally stabilized their positions and began to slowly attempt to push forward.
Search for civilians.
Strike undead creatures.
Evacuate survivors.
This was their mission.
Meanwhile, the L28 Armored Airship, waiting to return for resupply, still hovered over Paris.
It attacked some larger groups of skeletons on the ground with its 203 naval gun and machine gun turrets, while broadcasting through loudspeakers in stiff, stumbling Gaulish to the entire city.
"Citizens of Paris, please note! The city is under undead attack! Please leave your homes immediately and evacuate eastward!"
"Repeat! Please leave your homes immediately and evacuate eastward! The Saxon army will provide you with protection!"
Initially, the citizens of Paris, hiding in their homes and trembling with fear at the dense gunfire outside, all thought this was just a Saxon trick, trying to lure them out as hostages.
No one dared to open their doors.
But as time passed, the doors and windows of some buildings were violently broken open from the outside, followed by the terrified screams of citizens and the chilling sound of bones rubbing together.
When some citizens witnessed their neighbors being crushed to the ground by skeletons climbing in through windows, they finally broke down.
The instinct for survival overcame their fear of the invaders.
One after another, tightly closed doors were opened, and citizens, dragging their families, rushed out of buildings screaming and flooded into the streets.
Then, like a frightened flock of sheep, they ran towards the positions constructed by the Saxon soldiers.
The novel has already been fully translated up to the last updated chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at patreon.com/caleredhair