It was a cold day.

The place was the Sun's gate; quite pleasant mountain zone. People were rushing; HQ received a report from the scout indicating multiple unknown tanks moving into our territory. As usual, we were outnumbered, but we always had the advantage of our beloved landscape. The Centurions and the Patton were discussing the defense plan, what trap to use, where deploy and when to attack. I had no doubt about the outcome. There was only one road they could use to come, one of those mountain road bordering on a steep rock face on one side and a scary drop on the other, and this would be where they would die.

Since our creation we excelled in traps and ambush, and since we were up here our losses have been almost null. We had a hard time in the middle land though. Plains, farmlands and lakes are no easy places to defend. Our guns had a long range, yes, and we were trained to use it, but we had nowhere to take cover once we fired, and placing traps in those lands was completely ineffective.

So we trapped the cities as much as we could and left. Yes, cities are easy to defend, but we can be easily surrounded, so staying was not an option, as our leaders told us. In addition, cities are huge blocks of buildings in the green land, and many enemies would investigate to see what they can find.

Well, they found our traps. Our rather, our traps found them.

We got word from the AMX 13 teams, scouting somewhere down our mountains sometimes, reporting tales of how enemy tanks fell for that booby trap, and how they mostly destroyed themselves thinking the trap they triggered was actually friendly fire.

But…

Sometimes, the scout team was returning in tears and a tank was missing. That was our cold reminder of the reality. The reality of the war. Fortunately that was not frequent. Less frequent than battles at least. The battles were mostly short and flawlessy executed, our plans never failed to surprise the enemy, but there was always something that could go wrong. Yes, this was war.

Our forces were probably not the best of the world. The Old Ones talked about how our ancient civilisation was really different, and how « war budget » and « logistics » made our commander buy us. I didn't understand all of this, but apparently back then we weren't conscious. We were mostly Hetzers, and a few Centurions. Our commander Patton - again this is what I was told - was bought to be tested. As we only found two - one died defending our retreat from the plains - I assumed that the Pattons didn't passed that « test ». And for the same « budget and logistics » problem, we had AMX 13s.

So Hetzers we were, but not regular Hetzers. Again I'm talking about things I never really understood, but we ended up with a nice 7.5cm KwK 40 gun, and some of us even got a diesel engine. Yeah, that wasn't such a great and powerful army as other clans may display. However not a single tier ten made it through our lines.

The only reported breakthrough were lights and fast tanks, taking dangerous shortcuts and found some days after, down a cliff or frozen to death.

There's a reason why we only use a handful of roads, others are too dangerous for tanks. That's where the Old Ones' version makes sense. Why were all those path built if even the lighter tanks cannot use them?

All those stories are stuck in my head and I cannot stop thinking about them. They make so much sense but there's this lack of evidence… And why did that mysterious other civilisation disappear? On the other hand, why would tanks have built those things we cannot use ?

Anyway; the HQ was ready, the plan to welcome the new immigrants was as well. Winter would be here soon and that was probably our last battle before spring. Then we'd have some happy and quiet days again.

The battle was going to be one kilometer after the mountain pass in our direction. Only one trap was to be activated, as we had a short amout of time to rearm traps before the snow. We had to take specific positions, as usual.

As usual, the Patton and the Centurions were right in the middle of the road, waiting, and way after them the red and white wooden barrier was placed. The AMX were closer to the objective, but hidden and they had a quick escape road in case something should go wrong.

One of our two engineer tanks (they were modified Centurions chassis) had the radio command for the trap and the activation code. We still could shoot in the trap to activate it, but why waste a shell when we can do it by radio?

We took positions as planned and waited. One AMX on one of the highest observation points eventually reported the incomming threat. He could count up to 37 tanks. That was a lot; we were only 19 tanks in total here.

But that number would soon change to a disadventage. The countdown was running, and soon the same AMX could identify some of the tanks.

Even if all the tanks were not known, there was nothing higher than tier seven. There was still a lot of tanks though, but unknown tier sevens were easier to stop than unknown tier tens.

Apparently, the pack was led by an AMX M4. That was not a heavily armored tank, so we could handle that easy, and the rest of the pack was other french tanks as well.

After that report, HQ decided the scout had done his job and could head home. He carefully moved away from the enemy's pack and rushed to the base to have some food and rest.

The rest of us stuck to the plan. According to the scout's data, there was only a few minutes before they were in our sight. Those minutes were long, as for every battle the pressure was high, because we shouldn't fail; we COULDN'T fail. Even if it wasn't my first battle I still had that strange feeling in the engine.

And finally, something appeared on the mountain pass. They didn't notice anything. They were rolling along obliviously and the scout reported careless chatting.

Apparently they were not aware of our presence.

They couldn't ignore the fact that this territory was sharply defended, but they probably thought this path would be okay. Again, some scouts got the order to go home. Their job was done for the most part, and only the most experienced stayed, to report the aftermath and analyze the battle's course.

When they saw the red and white barrier, the scout reported that they had gone quiet and somehow anxious. They were realizing we were actually there, and they were not as safe as they thought. Probably they thought they could pass through this mountain and we would be defending either a city in the valley or the mountains on the other side of the valley, and that they could resupply and rest at a town, but now their path was blocked in the high mountains. Going back would be a huge waste of time and fuel, but they had no choice. We left no other choice. As the AMX M4 reached and stopped at the barrier, our commander took their usual role and broadcasted their message on most commons radio channel.

«YOU ARE IN THE DEFENDED AND GUARDED TERRITORY OF THE CONFEDERATIO HELVETICA. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. TURN BACK NOW, OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES.»

For stealth purposes, the scout had turned his radio off before the message, and soon quickly contacted our HQ to report the enemy got the message. Now, we were waiting for their reaction. If they fell back, if they really fell back, then we wouldn't even have to risk anything. But if they didn't, sadly they were going to face the consequences. Carefully, the AMX M4 pulled up the barrier with his gun. Once the barrier opened, he sent a short radio message.

«What now?» he asked.

As he did this, our three command tanks turned their lights on, making them brightly visible on the mountain road. The whole pack who could see them immediatly pointed their guns at them.This was the most dangerous part of the plan, but this part was only executed when risk can be taken, and they were not really dangerous. They had poor accuracy, which also meant they had low penetration at high range.

The Patton answered as curtly as the AMX :

«FINAL WARNING. TURN BACK. NOW.»

Sadly, the AMX didn't listen. In his arrogance, he crossed the barrier, still looking at the three tanks down the road. That, the simple fact that he crossed the « border », was the signal.

Without waiting any longer, everybody opened fire. The target was not of a great importance, their AMX M4 was in front and was going to be the first to recieve our welcome gift, no matter what. Perfectly coordinated, the ten Hetzers shot the invaders. Our carefully planned position made it so that every shell would reach the barrier at the same time. And except for one of us who fired a split second late, all our shell reached the pack at the same time. As suspected, the AMX took most of the shots. Six out of the ten shots hit him. As he was on the border line, ever shell got him at the same time, combining to a huge blast.

Through the expected randomness, one shell tracked him, one other ripped through the gun mantlet, making vertical movement impossible, and one third shell penetrated the lower glacis. The shock turned the tank around, about thirty degree. For the 4 shells left, each found their target.

A little AMX 12t has been ripped open and died.

One other shell found a way through an ARL V39, severly damaging it and breaking a track.

The third shot, shot from the best position, got the side of an ARL 44, but didn't cause any apparent damage.

The last shot hit the back of the enemy, killing their only SPG, an AMX 13 AM.

Panic broke out among the survivors. For those who were still able to to shoot and hadn't lost their cool, we had several shots in store; a few fell around our HQ.

Now, we were reloading, watching the pack going crazy.

The poor AMX M4 did his best to not show his pain to the others, but he had much to endure. With his track down and gun gun mantlet damaged, he couldn't do anything other than take the shots to protect his soldiers. Some of them were not only panicked by the shots but also by the poor condition their leader was left after only «one» shot. The fact that every shell had arrived together had made it seem like a single shot to them.

Only the M4, who had taken six of them, understood. As he was fighting the pain, he told to the others to fall back or hide. Everything happened so quickly, and nobody saw where the shots were coming from, so hiding or falling back was the only solution; plus the tracked AMX blocked the way.

Sadly, that was not our plans. Not exactly. We would let a few tanks escape. Some quick and not dangerous tanks like the ELCs or whatever would achieve to fall back to the other side of the mountain first. Then, the TRV would activate the trap. As expected, those stubborn French would not fall back that easy and most tried to fight back and help their leader. Of course, they could only try to shoot back, but they just shot in random directions trying to scare us off. Although they're stubborn, they are also cowards, and some did indeed fall back.

Our AMX was on the radio, ready to signal the TRV. One ELC, two AMX 12t and a S-35CA were about to get to the other side. By this time, we had all reloaded, and now we were shooting independently, causing a huge echo across the mountain, making it even more difficult to localise our firing positions. Shooting panicked targets was of course harder, but now, hitting was not the point. This second salve was only to freak them out more. And hell, they freaked out.

Some even accidentally threw themselves down the cliff. Although three of our shots hit something, killing the agonised ARL V39 on the occasion and crippling the poor leader even more, most fell in the ground or hit the cliff next to the road where they were trapped.

As they got shot, the engineer tank triggered the trap, and a dozen of tree trunks fell from the cliff over their head. With the sound of our shots and the mayhem they produced, they hardly noticed their fast incoming death. Picking up speed from rolling down the cliff, the trunks hit the pack hard, pushing most of them over the sharp edge of the road. Those who didn't fall were crushed against each other, stunned and gravely damaged. The battle was almost over.

Our scout reported only a few survivors. Still under the trunks were the AMX M4, the ARL 44, an ELC and a few AMX 13s, lucky enough to be trapped between the trunks and the heavy tanks.

The Centurions took their shots. They gave the final blow to the french commander. The Patton wasn't really accurate so he started moving forward. Order had been given to our AMX to watch over the tanks and kill those who'd represented a threat, but as the only undamaged tank was an ELC, and the trunks completely blocked him, our scout reported the threat terminated.

Looking to the mountain pass he saw the fleeing tanks trying to peek, so he took a shot next to them, spurring on their escape.

Our 3 commanders drove to the huge mess. The engineer tank of the operation had been asked to come as well, and volunteer Hetzers could come too. As always, I went to help my friends with the cleanup. First thing we did was confirming the shape of their commander, and he was indeed cold dead. We couldn't tell what killed him, the trunks or the Centurions hits, but he was no longer in this world.

Second thing was to make sure the survivors would not fight back. So while they were stuck, we put a kind of lock on their guns. Those locks were only disabling their gun, so if they shot they would damaged themselves, but that was protection enough for us, and there was hardly anywhere to flee.

Once that was done, we cleared the road of the trunks and replaced those we could up in the trap. The whole HQ took charge of the prisoners and escorted them to the hospital. Us Hetzers were left here to clean the road from the wrecks. That was the most horrific, yet morbidly fascinating part. On one hand, you face the horror of death. Ripped steel sheets, exploded compenents, crushed turrets… But on the other hand, you could scavenge a lot of usefull pieces on those wrecks. I loved that and didn't miss an occasion to enhance my gear or change a worn piece. Also I spared parts for my friends and more particulary for the AMX team. Those 4 tanks were the only we had here, and we didn't have a lot of spare pieces. We Hetzers had a lot of them, while not always better than what we had before we could always repair ourselves, but not the AMX.

This day the loot was not really for me, but we found a lot for our scouts. Not big surprise though, we shot french tanks. And for me, what I found was more than enough. We also took all the fuel and other consumable we could. The ARL 44 died from a trunk hit. He turned out to be a cargo carrier. The house-like turret could have given us a clue. It was modified for a higher storing place. Some of the cargo was lost with the few shots he got, but we could still get some fuel, oil, a bunch of spare parts and some brand new cables, even a can with a little of high octane fuel. We also found two brooms so we could clean the road. Once everything we could take to the base was gathered, we pushed the wrecks down the cliff, cleaned the road from bits and pieces and went home.

After storing the loot, which represented a good part of the winter supply for us now, I went to the hospital to check the survivors. Although the ELC was not severly damaged, he was terribly shocked, and would probably be traumatised for the rest of his life. We kept him to watch over him for a while. Of the three survivng AMX 13, one died in our care and was sent into the metal pit with his old comrades.

The engineers talked about the mantlet having been rammed into the hull by a trunk. My engine went freezing cold thinking about it. Thank god I didn't see him suffering. The two others were indeed gravely damaged. One got the gun bent so much a crack was clearly visible, and the turret ring also suffered. The other had «only» the engine and transmission damaged. The repair would take some time, but anyway they were stuck here for the winter.

None of the survivors could talk yet. Shocked or unconscious, all of them probably would forever remember that day. And all of them would be pursued by the memory of their friends being massacred. A horrible fate.

Yet who should be blamed? That was none of my concern; for me their leader made a mistake that led the pack to their doom. We warned them, why didn't they listen and turn back?

But then again after all, this was war.