"Their defensive works appear to be very effective." A Spellcaster said in a deep voice via a communication wristband: "Conventional airburst shrapnel is ineffective against enemies hiding in Trenches."
"Then give them a few more rounds!" The leading Spellcaster was obstinate, guiding three more rounds of bombardment. The results were still unsatisfactory. The Saxons were like unkillable moles; one batch was blasted down, and another immediately popped up. The pace of the digging was slowed but not genuinely stopped.
Field Marshal John French, hearing the frontline reports via wired telephone in his headquarters, grew increasingly grim. The Spellcaster in the air, whose face was equally grim, quickly issued a new command to the artillery position below.
"All gun crews, switch to 'High-Impact Magic Crystal Shells'! Target the enemy Trenches! Blast those dirt holes directly collapsed!" The Britannian artillerymen immediately sprang into action upon receiving the new command. They laboriously moved the much heavier 'High-Impact Magic Crystal Shells' to the gun positions. These shells lacked a complex shrapnel structure but contained more violent magical energy, designed solely to release that energy in the purest form of an explosion the moment they contacted the target.
"Begin guidance! All cannons fire directly after loading!" The Highland Mages in the air used their mental power to mark the impact points for the twelve Magic Crystal Cannons.
"High-Impact Magic Crystal Shells loaded!"
"Fire!"
Another roar. Twelve shells tore through the air, carrying an ear-splitting shriek, accurately slamming into the second parallel Trench the Saxons had just constructed.
"Rumble!!"
This time, the sound of the explosion was far more terrifying than before. Amidst the deafening roar, blinding blue spheres of light violently erupted. The shockwave slammed into the ground like an invisible giant hammer. The segment of the Trench that took a direct hit, along with the Saxon soldiers inside, was instantly torn to shreds by the furious energy. Large amounts of earth, wood, and human remains were violently thrown into the sky, then rained down. The entire section of the Trench was blasted into a massive crater nearly fifteen meters in diameter. The walls of the Trench collapsed, burying nearby soldiers alive.
"Well done!" The Britannian soldiers observing from the rear position erupted in a thunderous cheer. The morale that had been suppressed for so long received a huge boost. In their eyes, as long as the omnipotent Highland Mages were present, all of the Saxons' schemes were futile. This underground earthwork was completely helpless against absolute power.
The three Spellcasters in the air finally allowed satisfied smiles to appear on their faces. "That's more like it," the leading Spellcaster sneered. "Continue the attack; destroy all their Trenches one by one." The Saxons' overnight work seemed to have been rendered useless. The balance of victory appeared to be tilting back toward the Britannians.
However, the smiles on their faces did not last long. Just as they prepared to guide the next round of bombardment, a low, oppressive roar, growing louder and clearer, came from the distance in the sky.
A Spellcaster instinctively looked up, toward the direction of the sound. He saw two unimaginably large black silhouettes slowly emerging from behind the broken clouds. They looked like two mountains suspended in the air, moving slowly toward the Amiens battlefield with a suffocating sense of menace.
"Is that… a Saxon airship?" a relatively young Spellcaster's voice trembled slightly.
The leading Spellcaster's pupils instantly constricted, and the color drained from his face. He recognized those things. In the military intelligence brief before the war, these Saxon War Behemoths had been highlighted as a critical threat.
"Armored Airship…" he spat out the word with difficulty. The Saxon Imperial Air Force's L29 Armored Airship, and the L24 Armored Airship that had rushed over from the rear as support, had arrived at the battlefield.
"Attention all Highland Mages! Prepare for anti-air combat!" The leading Spellcaster quickly issued a warning through his communication wristband to the other two Spellcasters guiding the artillery in the air, and to the other Spellcasters on standby inside the city. However, he knew in his heart that confronting two fully armed Armored Airships with just eighteen Spellcasters would not be easy.
On the ground, the cheering Britannian soldiers also noticed the anomaly in the sky. Their cheering instantly ceased, replaced by a deadly silence. Everyone looked up, staring blankly at the two colossal objects getting closer, their faces etched with horror and disbelief. Just like the Gallic soldiers in Charleroi…
On the other side, the Saxon positions erupted in excited cheers.
"Airships! Our airships are here!" The soldiers hiding in the Trenches waved their engineer spades and rifles, jumping and shouting with excitement. The gloom of being suppressed by the previous artillery fire was completely swept away, replaced by an unparalleled sense of pride and security. Above their heads, the two War Behemoths, symbols of the Empire's highest military might, were their strongest backing.
The three Highland Mages only managed to hastily guide two more rounds of artillery fire before the two Armored Airships, moving at an astonishing combat speed, reached the skies over northern Amiens.
A colossal shadow fell over the ground.
The two Armored Airships arrived over the battlefield and immediately began their operations, each with a clear division of labor. The larger L29 Armored Airship quickly turned its massive hull sideways over the battlefield. The four Twin-Barreled 203mm Main Turrets slowly rotated, their dark muzzles aiming at the Britannian outer defense line on the ground.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The eight giant cannons roared simultaneously. Shells tore through the air with a sharp shriek, slamming violently into the Britannian position. The ground shook fiercely. One Heavy Machine Gun strongpoint after another was uprooted by the blasts. The sandbag breastworks were easily ripped apart, and countless Britannian soldiers were pulverized in the firelight and shockwaves.
With just one salvo, a seemingly sturdy section of the Britannian defense line was riddled with holes. The intense artillery fire the Saxon soldiers had just endured was now being returned to the Britannians.
The other airship, L24 Armored Airship, was an older model, smaller in size and carrying capacity than L29. L24 occupied a higher altitude, as its mission in this operation was not ground attack, but to provide air cover for its allies. L24 was not equipped with 203mm Naval Cannons. Due to weight concerns, it was only armed with twelve 150mm single-barrel Naval Cannons. These muzzles were slightly angled up, unanimously locking onto the three small yet extremely troublesome black dots in the sky.
The observer in the airship gondola quickly completed the ranging. "Range 2500, bearing 3-3-0, altitude correction -20!"
"Attention all gun crews! 'Anti-Air Shells' loaded, fuse set to 6 seconds!" In the Fire Control Center of the Armored Airship, the Fire Control Officer rapidly issued instructions.
"Fire!"
The twelve 150mm cannons roared. The shells traced faint trajectories in the air, flying toward the position of the three Highland Mages.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Black smoke clouds erupted in the air not far from the Spellcasters. Searing shrapnel and violent shockwaves swept through the area. Although protected by [Mage Armor], the three Highland Mages dared not directly withstand an attack of this magnitude, scrambling to perform evasive maneuvers.
"Fired too far! Correct fuse setting! 5.5 seconds!" The Fire Control Officer quickly calculated and corrected based on the shell burst effect.
A second round of artillery fire followed immediately. This time, the shell bursts were noticeably closer. One Spellcaster, unable to dodge in time, was grazed by the shockwave and shrapnel of a near-miss. The aura of his [Mage Armor] flickered violently, and he completely lost balance in the air. He struggled to regain his composure and, after tracing an arc in the sky and dodging the blast radius of another shell, his face had turned deathly pale.
The Spellcasters in the air tried to guide their Magic Crystal Cannons to return fire, but under this density of anti-air fire, concentrating was impossible. As the two airships continued to advance, the countless MG08 Machine Gun Turrets covering their hulls also joined the fray.
"Portside fire too thin! Increase firepower!"
Countless tracer rounds interwove in the sky, forming a curtain of death that completely sealed off all of the Spellcasters' maneuvering space. Finally, after yet another hair-raising near-miss, the three Highland Mages could no longer endure the attack. They had no choice but to descend rapidly toward the ground, temporarily disengaging from the fight.
"Well done!" A thunderous cheer erupted from the Saxon Trenches. Seizing the opportunity created by the airship suppressing the enemy fire, the soldiers immediately resumed the final sprint of their earthwork operations.
Meanwhile, outside the rear parallel trench, Morin, leading the fully regrouped Instruction Assault Battalion, was ready for battle. He raised his binoculars, calmly observing the battle situation. General Mackensen had given him considerable autonomy in this operation, allowing him to find the most suitable time and place for a breakthrough, positioning the Instruction Assault Battalion as a dagger to stab deep into the enemy's heart.
Just then, the aerial situation changed again. A piercing alarm sounded in Amiens City. Field Marshal John French's face was grim when he saw the three High-level Spellcasters completely pinned down by the two airships. He knew clearly that if he couldn't deal with the two colossal objects in the sky, let alone hold the outer defense line, even the Magic Crystal Cannon position in the city would be in danger.
"Master Albert!" He turned to the silent Spellcaster leader. "We cannot wait any longer!"
Master Albert, whose hair was white, opened his eyes. He said nothing, merely nodding to the Spellcasters behind him. Then, with a change of hand gesture, he uttered a series of obscure incantations. An invisible magical force immediately enveloped the other seven Spellcasters.
The next moment, eight Highland Mages, including Master Albert and the two other Seventh-Circle Archmages, soared into the sky. They formed a triangular formation, aggressively charging toward the two Saxon Armored Airships in the sky.
"Enemy Spellcasters airborne! Quantity eight! Magic Fluctuation: Strong!" The observer on the L24 Armored Airship immediately issued a severe warning.
"All turrets, Fire at Will! Prioritize the leading target! Machine Gun Turrets deploy barrage fire to slow their approach!" The Airship Fire Control Officer calmly issued commands. L24 Armored Airship immediately poured all its firepower onto the eight advancing Spellcasters. The twelve 150mm Naval Cannons fired continuously at their maximum rate of fire, forming a steel screen of explosions and shrapnel in front of the airship. The MG08 Machine Gun Turrets, controlled by the internal gunners, also spun, weaving a thick, impenetrable web of fire in the air.
However, this time, the enemy was much harder to deal with than the three Spellcasters who had just retreated.
(End of this Chapter)