The sky was fulfilled with bright stars, the moon tonight was brighter than the torches in the hands of the soldiers guarding the city day and night. Inside the forest, the wheels of the artillery vehicles were still rolling restlessly, there were people breathing heavily, then lightly, whistling through the dense treetops that concealmented them, their breathings following the dry leaves blow towards the city in front. The artillery position was being silently installed by the SS, there were people holding their hands tightly, determined not to let go of the cannon behind their backs, there were also mechanics and engineers hastily adjusting the cannons, fixing them on the ground.
According to the plan, the artillery position would be set up at night, completed just before dawn, opening with a series of artillery bombardments on Mondstadt to weaken the outermost defense layer. However, too-heavy tanks such as Panther could may not be deployed due to the complex terrain of the city, although armored vehicles could escort the infantry to charge.
The operators soon quickly put their cannons into formation, ready to take up combat positions when ordered.
"The Günter will support us, right?" Jürgen asked his subordinate.
He turned to Jürgen, as if it were a given, and said calmly: "They cannot but cooperate with us."
As expected, Günter was to provide fire support for Jürgen's division's advance, using all that was left of his unit: Panther ausf G and F siege outside, Wirbelwind, infantry and mechanized units support the frontline. Determined to raze Mondstadt to the ground if necessary, the battle would not end until the rats surrendered.
"They have been too lenient with these mobs, it is our duty to show the Wehrmacht and Mondstadt the absolute might of the SchutzStaffel."
Jürgen added: "The power of the German people. The Wehrmacht has become more and more like a bunch of useless losers these years."
The two men laughed out loud, calmly waiting for the stars to fade and the morning sun come.
He looked at his watch, it is the time, the artillery began the barrage, the roar resounding throughout the sky, the shells continuously raining down like steel punches, like rain on the ill-fated citadel.
The bored soldiers on the high walls only had their last seconds to see countless streaks of dazzling light falling towards them, it impacted, and everything felt into dark.
It likes an earthquake under their toes! The shells hit the walls, the roofs, and then exploded into pieces!
The walls were riddled with shell holes in several places, and some couldn't stand and collapsed, the guards were panicking, some were crushed under the rubble, some were completely crushed by the sheer force of the Prussian-spirit artillery.
Aramis stood firm on the walls, coordinating his forces. Although the defense was in disarray, he was not discouraged.
"Report to headquarters immediately! This must came from those mysterious bastards again!", he tugged on Miles' shoulder, trying to revive his spirit.
Miles was like a person who lost soul, he must have been deeply shocked by the unbelievable bombardment.
The people were also awakened by the screams, the sound of explosions and the unbelievable chaos. When they ran outside, it was not difficult to understand that the invaders had returned.
"Miles! Wake up! We must report to headquarters! Quickly!"
The bombardment was still going on fiercely, the SS artillery had paralyzed Mondstadt's frontline defense on a large scale, temporarily taking the entire front into a passive position.
Jürgen had seen through the carelessness of Mondstadt's deployment, their war doctrine was fundamentally too poor compared to the German Army as a whole — Mondstadt did not have the years of war experience like Germany, did not have cocky "neighbors" surround, and even less did they might have the concept of "total war". Mondstadt could only rely entirely on their magic, which would sooner or later find a weakness.
He turned to the battalion commander, "Gustaw! It's time! Let's show them the mighty wingspan of the Imperial Eagle."
The panzer group consisting of Panther ausf F, Wirbelwind, StuH IVs and Tiger I, led by Günter himself, would advance to clear the way, while the infantry, including the limit presence of FallschirmJ?ger airborne units, would escort them from behind. StuH IV and Wirbelwind would not directly engage in combat, but would only provide fire support for Günter's Panzers to advance across the bridge.
One hour later, the sky gradually brightened, the artillery bombardment ended, clearing the way for the armored infantry to advance. Sure enough, the first units to enter did not encounter any resistance, the castle was suffocatingly silent, as if Mondstadt was luring Jürgen's troops into a trap that had been set.
There were only small gusts of wind that gently caressed the hands, kissed the iron crosses on the soldiers necks, and then brushed their foreheads. It turned out that there was only a faint scent of flowers from the meadows, mixed with the roofs of the houses on both sides of the road behind the gate welcoming them to the battle of Mondstadt.
The gray-clad group continued to walk carefree, until the tank tracks had just passed halfway through the gate when the gate suddenly collapsed, pinning the unfortunate Panzer on spot. In the alleys, on the walls, before the steps leading up to the castle, all of them aimed their crossbows at the invaders, may only God knows where they were hiding.
Perhaps the only sound the German soldiers heard before collapsing to the ground was their own growling. Surprised, Jürgen's vanguard was exposed to Mondstadt's firepower without any way to return fire.
"They set a trap! I told you! They won't let us in that easily!" Knippel grabbed his comrade who had been hit by an arrow and dragged him back to the alley in front of the gate.
Those who were hit by the arrows fell to the ground, those who were lucky enough not to be hit in the vital spot still able to ran, just until another arrow came from somewhere and finished them off.
The scene was chaotic beyond what they expected! No one thought that after such a fierce bombardment, the people and soldiers of a castle that was several centuries old would still stand firm, even fight back effectively. Günter and most of the tank column were stuck on the bridge because the leading panzer III was crushed by the iron gate.
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The platoon leader hastily predict that their firepower was most likely concentrated on the ramparts, and if that was the case, Kapon and his group would have to fight their way through the Mondstadt mob above the ramparts.
Hidden in the darkness, behind rows of half-open windows, the muzzles of the hand cannons lined up in rows, firing simultaneously. The smoke cleared, leaving a few soldiers lying flat on the ground, but at the same time, the Mondstadt army was exposed.
Grasping the situation, the Germans quickly re-established their formation, determined not to hold back any longer. Kalliope took down the wooden chests from Kettenkrad, opened the Panzerfaust crates to supply his men.
Mondstadt surprised them with their incredibly good concealment tactics, plus the new technology in their ranks – hand cannons, but unfortunately when they fired, their position would definitely be exposed. The Germans, who were used to at least two moves ahead of the Allies, responded mercilessly to the Mondstadt garrison with a series of mighty rockets that transcended the era – the Panzerfaust. Immediately, one, then two, then the whole row of houses exploded, seeing the danger, they hurriedly ran back, continuing to defend.
Simultaneously, Kapon and his comrades rushed inside, as soon as they entered, without hesitation, the crossbowman hiding behind the wooden barrels on the upper floor shot him, fortunately, his comrades covered Kapon in time.
"Argh!.." - He hissed softly, "Don't worry about me, keep going!"
The gunshots were deafening, the crossbowman fell down soullessly, Schwindler hurriedly pulled the platoon leader out for first aid. He was blessed! Luckily, it only hit his left shoulder, but he still needed medical support, or else it would get infected.
Schwindler reluctantly grinted, "Luckily for you, if it had gone another spot, you would have bought the farm...". That wound didn't scare Kapon, he was only scared when he heard Schwindler say that.
"The fuck are you talking about? I was the one who stepped out of Stalingrad before the soviets close the encirclement, just let you know again!"
Schwindler sighed, but the smile still on his face, "As long as you're breathing, you're still cocky... Haha.", he shook his head. "He shot his leg to get transfer back anyway...", Schwindler thought.
The SS continued to advance on the watchtower, it seemed that the garrison troops had not given up their resistance, as soon as Mondstadt's men fell down, another men came forward, they retreated constantly, simultaneously set up an ambush right next to the main gate shaft.
When the SS troops had just entered the gate tower, they were momentarily off guard, the vanguards were all knocked down on the spot, their arrows were so accurate! But they could not hold out for long, the absolute firepower in the narrow space combat of the MP40 had dealt with the soldiers carrying crude crossbows.
"They are counterattacking! Quickly form a formation!"
After the volley of hand-cannon that stunned the SS, the Mondstadt garrison troops began to charge forward from the thick smoke of gunpowder, with brave hearts burning, their chests burning, the garrison troops advanced towards the SS machine gun spots in the spirit of a Favonius Knight.
The commander hesitated for a moment, he had seen this scene before, the French soldiers that year were a bunch of mobs who did not know what death was, they charged up to take the trenches in the most savage ways, he suddenly felt like he was there again, under a shallow trench, commanding a machine gun group, it was like recreating the scene that year, "Open fire!" - his voice was fierce, as if he was really having to risk his life to fight back against the French that year.
It was just a pity that this game was no longer his, not only were they risking their lives, they were even more brutal!
Noelle slowly walked out from the smoke and fire, in her hand was a greatsword, the knight glided towards the already chaotic SS formation. The steel of the SS was nothing compared to those slashes that like fell from the great sky, she and the sword seemed to be dancing in the rain of bullets, a death song that they could not even want to hear.
Wilhelm struggled to turn the machine gun in the direction Noelle, she was too fast! He couldn't catch up. Suddenly she aimed at him, when Wilhelm realized he was her target it was too late, Noelle swung her big sword, it felt like a pillar from the sky was flying straight towards his face.
The great sword hit the ground, blow up the earth, obscuring the entire battlefield. When he regained his senses, he thought he must dead already, but perhaps God favored him, the sword inaccuracy cut to the ground, only the machine gun fell on his body.
Without hesitation, Wilhelm grabbed the gun, pointing it straight at Noelle who was a bit tired from using too much spells.
"You're quite skilled...! But that blunt sword won't save your life!"
Noelle pointed the tip of her sword at his throat, "Watch your mouth, I've never been good at holding back in battle."
He glared, his hand heavily gripping the trigger, "This battle is ours, do you think you stand a chance?"
At the same time, the handcannon and crossbow teams quickly deployed to retake positions on the ramparts. They rushed up along the fortifications, but this time they advanced with the guns of the unfortunate SS that they had confiscated. The unexpected firepower caused Schwindler and his comrades to hastily abandon their positions, retreating inside the watchtower that they had only recently occupied.
They seem use it skilled, that the SS can't do anything, "the last time I used the gun, it doesn't care who pulled the trigger", they are not Mondstadt's opponent of close combat, they are unbelievable strong, that much as the SS thought they were fighting a bull.
Quickly SS's positions are losing constantly, until they can't step back an inch more, "We can't retreat any further, Schwindler! This is our last stand!" - Kurt's face was pale, out of breath, he had just run back from the southeast watchtower.
Schwindler angrily grabbed his collar and pinned him to the wall. "What the fuck is going on? They're not only inferior to us in technology, but also in tactics you dumb fuck!"
Kurt resolutely shook his head, "No! Fuck no Schwindler! Have you forgotten that they have magic? It's hard to maintain the front line down there, let alone on such a high wall like this!"
He clicked his tongue, pushed Kurt away, and angrily kicked his helmet away, "Fuck! Didn't any of you feel anything? Those guys are nothing more than a bunch of useless peasants, yet we have to struggle...!" His eyes were filled with indignation, mixed with humiliation, he felt his honor was insulted to an unacceptable extent.
His overwhelming obsession was pitiful to look at, he wouldn't have fallen into such a miserable situation if the garrison hadn't been supported by magic.
Schwindler continued: "Open the gate! Clear the way for the tanks to enter! "
The iron gate was slowly pulled up, the cavalry crews returned to their duties. The engines began to roar, the wheels began to roll, modern armored vehicles had joined the battle, ready to flatten those who stood in their way.
Klaus and Anselm's field machine gun crews encountered many obstacles on the front line, the Mondstadts continuously harassed and attacked, fortunately the urban warfare had brought out the full power of the Mg-42, the position was still held.
The tank column entered, occupying positions in the front yard. As soon as they saw the silhouettes of the mighty steels rushing in, the garrison tried their best to use handcannon to counterattack, but it was absolutely hopeless against the thick armor of the Panzers.
The garrison could no longer hold their positions, the armored vehicles had joined the battle in time, relieving the infantry fighting in the city, thanks to the efforts of Kapon, Schwindler and his comrades clearing the way for the cavalry to advance.
"Retreat! Retreat!", the screams of the fleeing troops scattered, taking advantage of the opportunity, the SS and the Panzer squad pursued the remnants of the Mondstadt garrison and fled.
The battle that lasted from dawn to dusk finally came to an end, the SS temporarily occupied the front yard of Mondstadt.
However, during the battle, Mondstadt had captured quite a few spoils of war. "Don't worry! Their ancient technology can't copy us.", Jürgen curled his lips, but he was still worried.
"Their trunl card hasn't been down yet, how long do they plan to hide it?"
The attack of the SS was merely a surprise attack, Mondstadt was temporarily unable to react, once the news of the war reached the the Favonius Knights, it would be difficult to predict what would happen...
——To be continued——
