Although Morin had called for an artillery strike, he knew very well that under the current technological conditions, the accuracy of tube artillery couldn't compare to the guided munitions of future generations.
So this barrage, to put it bluntly, was essentially "drawing a lottery ticket."
One battalion with twelve 105mm howitzers firing a few rounds of rapid fire at an anticipated coordinate, just to see if they could take out some unlucky bastards.
Even if their luck was terrible and all the shells landed on empty ground, it would still effectively delay the advance of the enemy reinforcements.
At the very least, Morin did not believe that the morale of these Serbians could sustain them charging forward through a barrage of 105mm high-explosive shells.
The main reason they fought so fiercely against the Austro-Hungarian Empire was that the Austro-Hungarian troops were too pathetic.
This time, colliding head-on with Saxon troops would be the true test of their mettle...
On the other side, after 3rd Battalion Commander Steiner received Morin's order via his handset, he immediately summoned three messengers.
"Latest order just in from regimental headquarters: the artillery battalion is about to lay down an interdiction barrage on the southern sector."
Steiner quickly tapped a few locations on the map, then looked at the three messengers and said:
"Hurry and notify the 3rd Platoon. Tell them under no circumstances should they wander into these artillery coordinates!"
The three messengers confirmed the approximate locations and bearings. The lead messenger circled these coordinate areas on his own map, then immediately mounted his horse, cracked his whip, and galloped toward the target direction.
As a battalion-level unit, Steiner's 3rd Battalion hadn't actually deployed over a massive area.
So right now, the reinforced platoon acting as the "security team" was less than two kilometers in a straight line from the 3rd Battalion's forward command post.
The three messengers galloped all the way and soon arrived near an elevation where the reinforced platoon was located.
The sentries on the elevation spotted the three galloping figures from a distance.
After calling for the platoon leader of this reinforced platoon, the latter immediately had them intercepted and brought before him.
Soon, led by the sentry, the three messengers arrived at this reinforced platoon's temporary position.
"Phew... Second Lieutenant!"
The lead messenger, panting, saluted the platoon leader, then pulled a map from his leather satchel, unrolled it on the ground, and pointed to the coordinates he had just circled:
"Regimental headquarters just issued an order. The artillery battalion is about to blanket these areas with artillery fire. The Battalion Commander wants your platoon to evade. You cannot enter this area!"
The platoon leader leaned over the map, glanced at it a few times, and immediately turned to wave at the platoon sergeant not far away.
"Change of plans! Cancel our scheduled close-range ambush mission!"
"Yes, Platoon Leader!"
The platoon sergeant nodded, then turned and ran towards other parts of the position.
Hearing this, the messenger was visibly taken aback and couldn't help but ask: "Sir, what were you originally planning to do?"
"We just scouted an enemy support unit approaching."
The platoon leader kept looking at the map, explaining casually:
"The enemy has about two companies of troops. Didn't see any artillery with them, not even many horse-drawn carts... So after calculating our firepower density, I was planning to take my men over and ambush them on their path."
Hearing this, the three messengers all simultaneously thought, Holy shit.
One platoon ambushing two companies?
Even if it's a reinforced platoon, that's way too gutsy!
The platoon leader didn't notice the "seen a ghost" expressions on the messengers' faces. Instead, he put his hands on his hips and sighed in admiration towards the rear of the elevation.
"The Commander's battlefield insight is truly divine! Literally 'Eye in the Sky'... The support is perfectly timed. He even calculated exactly the pressure our single platoon was about to face."
Just as they were talking, a muffled sound of objects tearing through the air came from the distant sky.
"Boom!"
Rumbling artillery fire subsequently erupted on the plains to the south.
Seeing this, the platoon leader immediately waved at the messengers to indicate he understood and would not lead his men a single step into the bombardment zone.
The three messengers didn't linger. Since the order had been delivered, they immediately mounted their horses and returned the way they came to report back.
After sending off the messengers, the platoon leader walked briskly to the very front of the position. He and the platoon sergeant lay in the tall grass, raising their binoculars to observe in the direction of the bombardment.
In the binoculars' field of view, a Serbian infantry column was marching rapidly along a dirt road, attempting to close in on the supply distribution point.
The impact points of the first volley were slightly off, mostly smashing into the wasteland on both sides of the road, blowing up clumps of dark brown dirt.
However, as the shells fell one after another and began getting closer and closer to the road, the formation of this column visibly became panicked.
The instruction unit's artillery battalion brought observation balloons. Before the various battalions launched their attacks, the artillerymen had already sent up the balloons for real-time calibration.
As the impact points of the first volley were observed, the artillery battalion's firing data was continuously corrected under guidance, and the impact points began inching closer and closer to the center of the road.
Faced with the approaching explosions, the Serbian soldiers could no longer maintain their marching formation. They grabbed their heads and dove to the sides of the road to avoid the shelling.
When the bombardment reached its fifth volley, a 105mm high-explosive shell landed squarely in the center of the road.
A cloud of smoke kicked up by the large-caliber high-explosive shell soared into the sky. Several unlucky Serbian soldiers, along with the rifles in their hands, were instantly blown high into the air.
This direct hit became the straw that broke the camel's back.
The other soldiers lying on the ground could no longer hold on; their psychological defenses collapsed completely.
Some soldiers near the rear of the column scrambled to their feet, fleeing backward without looking back.
Meanwhile, the soldiers at the front of the column, urged on by their officers, bit the bullet and charged forward, attempting to rush out of this artillery coverage zone as fast as possible.
The commander of this support unit was completely unable to understand what was happening right now.
He couldn't understand why he had already encountered enemy artillery fire while still on a rapid march...
And those Serbian soldiers charging forward under the officers' orders didn't realize that they had just escaped the artillery's kill zone, only to plunge headfirst into the crossfire network of the 3rd Battalion's reinforced platoon.
Lying in his position, the platoon leader watched the disorganized, panicked Serbians getting closer and closer, yet delayed giving the order to open fire.
"Platoon Leader, do we shoot or not?" The palms of the platoon sergeant gripping his rifle were already covered in sweat.
"Of course we shoot, but let's let them get a bit closer!" The platoon leader stared intently ahead. "Wait until they all enter our optimal range, and try to cripple them in one wave!"
Before departing, this reinforced platoon had been specifically reinforced by Steiner with one MG08 heavy machine gun and two light mortars.
This firepower configuration would be considered luxurious in any other infantry company of the Saxon Army, let alone being used by a single platoon for an ambush.
When the routed Serbian soldiers rushed to a position less than two hundred meters from the trench, the platoon leader patted the platoon sergeant's shoulder beside him, and the M1915 semi-automatic rifle in the latter's hands also "bang-banged" as it opened fire.
For the other soldiers of this platoon, the gunshot was the command.
So, the second after the platoon sergeant opened fire, the others, having already aimed at the Serbian soldiers, also opened up with full firepower.
The MG08 heavy machine gun, set up in a temporarily dug machine gun bunker on the elevation, roared first.
A thick, long tongue of fire spewed out, and dense bullets whipped up a storm of blood and gore among the Serbian ranks.
Immediately after, the two light mortars also let out crisp firing sounds. Seconds later, 75.8mm high-explosive shells smashed one after another into the rear of the Serbian formation.
The Serbian soldiers, who had just been rejoicing at escaping the bombardment zone, were instantly stunned.
The soldiers in the front row fell in swathes as if hitting an invisible wall. Mournful screams rose and fell at the front of the position.
The soldiers in the rear were scared out of their wits by this ferocious firepower. Without even the courage to return fire, they turned and ran.
After just a few minutes of firefight, this reinforcement unit, the size of two companies, was completely routed.
They left nearly two hundred corpses and immobile wounded in front of the position. The remaining Serbian soldiers, ignoring the attempts of surviving officers to stop them, began fleeing in all directions.
Similar situations played out simultaneously in all sectors where the instruction unit launched attacks.
Since Morin had the "right to choose," he naturally picked the easy targets first.
Therefore, the targets the instruction unit set its sights on were all rear nodes of the Serbian First Army, not having massive numbers of soldiers like the front lines.
Furthermore, they had never seen this kind of "tactical play" before. Consequently, upon encountering this utterly unreasonable penetration strike from the instruction unit, they were essentially completely routed within a very short time after engaging.
The division headquarters of the two infantry divisions subordinate to the First Army were successfully wiped out, and the supply distribution point also fell into a sea of fire.
And just as the instruction unit was "wreaking havoc in heaven" behind enemy lines, the main force of the Fifth Army Group, under the command of Crown Prince Georg, also launched an all-out counter-offensive on the frontal battlefield according to the original plan.
Following an order from the Army Group artillery commander, the massed 150mm heavy guns and 105mm howitzer batteries of the Fifth Army Group roared in succession.
The earth trembled, and the sky was obscured by gunsmoke.
The Fifth Army Group's bombardment this time was not the traditional prolonged artillery preparation, but more like a brief and violent sudden strike.
The Serbian soldiers, originally the attackers, had not dug complex defensive works, only simple assault positions.
Therefore, the lethal effect of this brief barrage by the Fifth Army Group was also very impressive.
Under the attack of the 150mm heavy guns, the Serbian troops squeezed into the not-so-deep trenches were broken structurally at the platoon level.
And just as the cannon fire ceased, before the surviving Serbian soldiers could even poke their heads out from the foxholes still ringing in their ears, countless Saxon soldiers wearing field gray uniforms had already appeared at the front of their positions in multiple assault columns.
Fierce close-quarters trench combat erupted instantly.
At this point in time, MP14 submachine guns and MG14 light machine guns had been gradually issued to frontline units of the Saxon Army.
Therefore, once entering the narrow terrain of trenches, the Saxon soldiers held an overwhelming advantage in close-range firepower.
Even more fatally, ever since Morin's instruction unit repeatedly achieved astonishing combat results in actual combat, various units of the Saxon Army had also dispatched core personnel to receive training in the new tactics.
The Fifth Army Group, directly commanded by Crown Prince Georg, became the fastest "reforming" unit in the entire army under the Crown Prince's influence.
Every infantry division had drawn elites and concentrated automatic weapons, forming "Stormtrooper Detachments" dedicated to breakthroughs.
When these assault battalion soldiers, concentrating submachine guns and light machine guns, charged with automatic weapons right into the Serbians' faces, what should have been a somewhat tragic close-quarters battle turned directly into a suspense-less "one-sided slaughter."
Even though many brave Serbian soldiers, relying on courage, still charged with bayonets trying to counterattack as they did against the Austro-Hungarian soldiers...
Faced with the dense rain of bullets sweeping toward them, the bolt-action-wielding Serbian soldiers fell in swathes, practically collapsing at the first touch.
The entire frontline temporary position was quickly breached by the Saxons in an extremely short time.
And precisely at this critical juncture, the division headquarters in the rear had completely lost contact because they were wiped out by the instruction unit.
The various frontline units were unable to receive specific instructions from superiors. No one dared to be the first to order a retreat, vainly missing the best opportunity to disengage.
By the time the frontline commanders of these two infantry divisions of the First Army finally reacted and spontaneously organized their troops to retreat backward, they were actually already tightly entangled by the two attacking divisions of the Fifth Army Group.
Meanwhile, Morin, sitting in the trailer of the command truck, though looking "unperturbed like an old god," was actually staring at the system map in front of him.
Amidst the constant sounds of gunfire and artillery from the contact line in the distance, the Fifth Army Group's attacking spearhead was advancing at an unprecedented speed.
Looking at Morin's system map, those red unit cards representing Serbian frontline units were all blinking.
Moreover, they were visibly turning grayish-white one by one and beginning to rout toward the rear.
Some unit cards, after blinking, were directly marked with an "X"—meaning they were annihilated structurally or had surrendered.
And Morin keenly noticed that the two main attacking Saxon infantry divisions had undergone an earth-shattering change in their offensive tactics.
They abandoned the old tactic of drawing out a wide offensive front and charging with skirmish lines swarming over the mountains and plains.
Instead, they used battalions as the basic tactical unit, seeking weak points in the Serbian defense line, and launched a multi-point assault tactic similar to the instruction unit's.
Or rather, it was more like the tactic Morin had demonstrated during the wargame at the Saxon War Academy.
As long as one battalion successfully punched through the defense line and tore open a gap, another battalion would immediately pour in through that gap, completely ignoring remnant enemies on the flanks, and launch an attack directly toward deeper rear targets, acting as a "deep strike force."
This entirely new assault tactic tore the Serbians' relatively "traditional" linear defense to pieces.
Although judging by the movement trajectories of the unit cards on the system map, the execution process of the entire offensive tactic still appeared somewhat raw, and some units even showed obvious signs of disjointedness...
But facing the Serbians whose formations had already been disrupted, this tactic still achieved extremely astonishing results.
"Not bad, they really learned it..."
Morin leaned back in his chair and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
He originally thought it would take some time for those junior officers of the Saxon Army, accustomed to line infantry tactics and trench warfare, to fully understand and master this tactic.
But he didn't expect the Fifth Army Group's adaptability to be so strong. In just about half a year, they could already fight with some semblance of order in actual combat.
Soon, Morin shifted his attention to another key target on the map—the 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division.
This unit did not participate directly in the frontal assault on the frontline positions.
They had been following behind the main attacking force. When one of the infantry divisions successfully tore open the Serbian defense line, the 4th Division immediately poured in through that gap.
As the first infantry division in the entire army to completely achieve "motorization"—although not all their trucks were upgraded models—their advance speed was staggeringly fast.
The 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division completely ignored the sporadic resistance along the way. After pouring into the gap in the Serbian defense line, they frantically executed a massive outflanking maneuver towards the rear of the Serbian First Army, which was the area currently occupied by the instruction unit.
Aided by their entirely new mobility, in less than forty minutes, the vanguard units of the 4th Division had already completed their outflanking, and its subordinate infantry regiments began to poke at the "buttocks" of the Serbian First Army.
Besides these infantry regiments and the division-attached support artillery, a blue unit card marked "4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division Headquarters" was also rapidly approaching the instruction unit's designated assembly point along a dirt road.
Seeing this, Morin immediately jumped down from the back of the trailer and waved to the regimental adjutant, who was coordinating ammunition resupply for the battalions not far away.
"Kleist! The 4th Division headquarters should be arriving any minute. Take a few men to the intersection to receive them and guide them over!"
Hearing Morin's words, Kleist immediately handed his work to a regimental clerk, took a few guard platoon soldiers, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the intersection.
A few minutes later, the low roar of engines came from the end of the road in the distance.
A convoy consisting of over a dozen radiant crystal trucks, kicking up dust filling the sky, drove grandly into the area where the instruction unit's regimental headquarters was located.
Morin adjusted his uniform and walked briskly to the roadside.
The leading trucks slowly came to a stop under the guidance of the guard platoon soldiers. The doors opened, and several Saxon officers bearing senior ranks jumped out in succession.
The general officer walking at the very front was burly and sported a thick handlebar mustache. Although his uniform was covered in dust, his spirit seemed exceptionally excited.
When Morin saw the person's face clearly, he couldn't help but smile. He immediately snapped to attention, but didn't salute.
"Long time no see, General!"
Upon seeing Morin, the major general in general's uniform also strode up to him, looked him up and down, and suddenly let out a hearty laugh.
"Hahahaha! Colonel Morin, long time no see!"
While laughing, the other man proactively gave Morin a hug.
This commander of the 4th Guard Reserve Infantry Division was none other than Major General Karl Paul, who was the commander of the Saxon 16th Infantry Brigade when Morin first transmigrated to this world and was accidentally dragged into the Aragonese Civil War.