Chapter 5: A Different Early 20th Century

According to the original owner's vague memories, the Kingdom of Aragon had plunged into a premature "Otherworldly Spanish Civil War," decades ahead of its historical time, due to disputes over royal succession and the nation's development path.

The National Army, supported by the Saxon Empire, was losing ground to the Royal Army, which was backed by the Holy Britannian Empire, suffering defeat after defeat.

Increasing intelligence indicated that troops from the Holy Britannian Empire were also landing by sea within the Royal Army's controlled areas, preparing to personally end the civil war...

Seeing its interests within the Kingdom of Aragon threatened, Emperor Albert II of the Saxon Empire could no longer sit idly by.

He immediately ordered the General Staff to withdraw six brigades, totaling twelve infantry regiments, from various units to enter the Kingdom of Aragon under the pretext of "assisting allies in stabilizing the situation..."

More divisional-level units were also being mobilized in phases, ready to follow into Aragon to provide backup for the National Army.

In this world, the Kingdom of Aragon possessed a much larger territory near the Mediterranean than the Spain known to Morin’s memory.

Precisely because of this extra land, the Saxon Empire and the Kingdom of Aragon were able to share a border.

Morin was assigned to the 16th Infantry Brigade, which included two infantry regiments that had been drawn by the General Staff for this mission.

By the time Morin received his deployment orders, the 33rd Infantry Regiment, where he was supposed to report, had already departed by military train.

Left with no choice, Morin took the advice of the station staff to wait for the next military train heading directly to the Kingdom of Aragon.

Fate, indeed, is ineffably wondrous.

On this very train rode the military observation group led by Lieutenant General Mackensen.

Even more remarkable was that when the old man saw Morin’s familiar figure boarding near the window, he still had in his pocket the telegram delivered to his desk the previous day, requesting special care for Morin and his transfer to the rear.

Perhaps remembering his deceased close friend, or wishing to carry on that friend's legacy by training his descendant into a Saxon traditional "iron-blooded soldier," Lieutenant General Mackensen immediately decided to rigorously train Morin.

Upon arrival at their destination, Mackensen took Morin into the observation group, assigning him as a "senior orderly" to accompany their mission, with orders to report to his unit afterward.

The Saxon Empire’s intelligence capabilities did not disappoint Morin.

However, there was a significant information gap regarding the movements of the Holy Britannian Empire’s landing forces and the Royal Army.

By a twist of fate, Morin was ambushed along the outskirts of Seville while traveling with the military observation group and was captured alongside Lieutenant General Mackensen.

As to why a lieutenant general would lead so many officers to an unknown foreign land for reconnaissance — this was merely a military tradition of the Saxon Empire.

This vigorous empire was built through continuous wars.

"Senior commanders personally scouting the frontline" was one of many reckless but accepted military customs.

Moreover, Mackensen’s operation was intended to be a “quick, stealthy reconnaissance without alarming the enemy,” as he put it.

He even left behind the somewhat cumbersome “general’s guards”—those superhuman armored soldiers who had previously stormed the cellar to rescue people.

What puzzled Morin, however, was that such a high-level, covert military observation group should have had its movements strictly confidential and theoretically should not have been ambushed by a well-prepared enemy.

Therefore, he had good reason to suspect a mole within the empire had leaked their intelligence beforehand.

As for the possibility that the Holy Britannian Empire simply excelled at intelligence work—given this nation’s obvious "English reincarnation" traits, Morin remained skeptical.

Before Morin could clarify why Emperor Albert II was so eager to back up the National Army, his brief period of relative leisure abruptly ended.

He saw over a dozen soldiers, each slinging leather document bags, likely messengers, hurrying into Mackensen’s tent.

Not long after, the soldiers left again, running swiftly toward the camp’s outskirts.

One messenger, spotting Morin alone, ran directly to him, stood at attention, and saluted.

“Are you Second Lieutenant Morin?”

“That’s me,” Morin replied, nodding, somewhat puzzled as he regarded the obviously youthful messenger, finally returning a polite smile.

The young messenger smiled shyly in response.

“Second Lieutenant Morin, please come with me. I’m headed to the 33rd Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion camp to deliver orders from the regiment headquarters. The general instructed me to bring you along to report.”

...

At present, the 16th Infantry Brigade had not yet officially entered combat, and this area was still under National Army control, so the brigade’s camp was relatively concentrated.

The regimental headquarters of the two subordinate infantry regiments, the brigade headquarters, plus an artillery regiment and a cavalry regiment assigned to reinforce the brigade, all stationed in the newly established camp.

The two primary combat regiments, totaling six infantry battalions, were arrayed in a semi-circular line facing Seville, forming a shield-like perimeter.

Saxon Empire regiments apparently lacked wired telephones, so orders were still delivered by messengers on foot.

Morin followed the young messenger out of the brigade camp and had to navigate by moonlight toward the 33rd Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion camp.

“You were supposed to report to regiment headquarters right after you got off the train, then proceed directly to your company...”

“But who would have thought you’d be taken away by the military observation group on the same train and encounter this mess... Thank God you returned safe and sound!”

“The regiment is buzzing with talk that you’re related to General Mackensen, which is why he allowed you, a second lieutenant, to join the observation group.”

“Is General Mackensen really your adoptive father?”

The young messenger, named Schmidt, was clearly a talkative fellow, brimming with youthful energy.

After a few words with Morin and realizing this “miraculously surviving” second lieutenant had no airs about him, Schmidt opened up even more.

When his gossip began to grow increasingly absurd, Morin interrupted just in time.

“Ahem... you’re getting carried away. If Lieutenant General Mackensen were really my adoptive father, how could I still be here...”

“You have a point. But why would the general have you accompany the observation group?”

“Well, the general and I do share some connection...”

“See! I knew you were no ordinary person...” Schmidt clenched his fist excitedly, as if uncovering a great secret.

Morin could only smile wryly at the back of Schmidt’s head and, after a brief pause, asked curiously:

“Schmidt, have you ever wondered why we’ve come to the Kingdom of Aragon?”

“Of course! We’re here to break the energy monopoly imposed by the Britannians, so all nations can share industrial technological progress!”

Schmidt answered without hesitation, surprising Morin enough to pause.

Could a low-ranking soldier in an imperial army really say such a thing?

Morin had expected answers like “Following superior orders” or “Duty of a soldier,” but Schmidt’s response displayed a much broader perspective than a mere messenger should possess.

This clearly indicated that the Saxon Empire had conducted propaganda on this matter, at least disseminating it down to the rank and file.

“Breaking the energy monopoly, sharing technological progress...” Morin savored the key phrase in the young messenger’s words, feeling as if he had grasped a thread explaining why “international brigades” existed in this strange alternate world.

[Current information collection: 15%]

As his “golden finger” ability to gather information improved, Morin’s understanding of this world grew clearer.

This world, strikingly similar to early 20th-century Earth, was currently at a critical historical juncture.

Unlike Morin’s original world, this one truly possessed “magic,” or rather, magic technology.

Those armored “general’s guards” who stormed the cellar had relied on enchantments on their armor and shields to block bullets at close range.

The Saxon Empire, however, was not a traditional powerhouse in magic technology but excelled more in conventional machinery and heavy industry.

The true magic technology giants, according to intelligence, were the Holy Britannian Empire—with its vast global colonies—and the Gaul Republic, which competed with Britannia for colonial dominance.

They were the alternate world’s “English-French Hundred Years’ Rivalry.”

The magic technology here was all based on “magic crystal ore.”

This ore was actually ancient extraterrestrial meteorites that had struck the planet multiple times in the distant past, distributed sparsely and unevenly.

Hence, the old colonial empires Britannia and Gaul, with their global mining advantages, quickly rose to become dominant powers.

For the Saxon Empire, the situation was even more dire: most of the magic crystal ore in Europa lay within Britannian and Gaul territories, with only scant deposits in Saxon lands.

This gave the “German Second Reich” a natural disadvantage in magic technology development.

Fortunately, the humorous “German technology reigns supreme” adage seemed to hold true here as well.

Thus, the Saxons carved a thorny path forward in conventional technology, different from Morin’s familiar fuel routes.

Unlike Earth’s petroleum-based diesel, this world’s diesel was refined from a unique local mineral—brilliant crystal ore.

Although Morin didn’t know exactly how the Saxons converted this ore into fuel, knowing that brilliant crystal ore equated to petroleum in this world was enough.

Perhaps by divine fate, the Saxon Empire’s territory, along with the Lorraine and Alsace regions taken from the Gaul Republic, contained vast deposits of brilliant crystal ore.

This was a major reason the Saxons led in this technological path.

Over the years, these two technological lines’ representative nations had clashed repeatedly but avoided full-scale war.

Unfortunately, in the year Morin’s soul was transmigrated here, circumstances changed ever so slightly...

“Second Lieutenant Morin, we’ve arrived!”

“Huh?”

Just as Morin was lost in thought at this crucial moment, messenger Schmidt interrupted.

Morin looked up to see a sprawling array of tents on a distant clearing.

This was the temporary camp of the 33rd Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion.