Part Six: And Back They Were
The Kyoshi Islanders and the Gaang celebrate the 74th's triumph at repelling the Fire Nation without actual force. The officers of the 74th, and the island's main leaders are not so certain that the Fire Nation is gone, but have agreed to allow the 74th to take care of it.
That night, the Kyoshi villagers couldn't help but celebrate the 'victory' over the Fire Nation, and Mackenzie was hailed the hero for his part, despite his insistence that he never actually defeated the Fire Nation, just deprived them of their objective for the time being.
After seeing that the villagers were going to laud him triumphant over the "Dragon of the West" whether he tried to dissuade them or not, Mackenzie resigned himself to a corner of the celebration, a mug of coffee, spiked with a bit of ale, in hand. He had allowed the men to relax for the time being, while making sure to beat it into them that the Fire Nation would likely return that night, and anyone drinking more than a mug of beer would hear it from him.
The villagers enjoyed drink and food, and danced to their own tunes as well as some that the Scots taught them, the sound of bagpipes filling the cool, crisp night air. Mackenzie saw several of his men faux dueling various Kyoshi Warriors and Sokka. Katara was over with one of the pipers, talking to him about his strange instrument.
Meanwhile Aang and the majority of Second Company was on the other side of the bonfire, dancing to a Scottish folk tune that Mackenzie yearned to join, yet he stayed in his corner with his coffee, enjoying the sight of the men relaxing. They deserved it.
At the same time, many of the Grenadiers were sitting with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, regaling tales of their experiences in the campaigns against Napoleon. The girl-warriors were enthralled by the tales of massive armies clashing for supremacy, and were mystified by the fact that, even with such mysterious weapons as theirs, warfare was still largely familiar, fought with swords and spears, company against company, and hand to hand.
The men of the First and Second companies, Seventy-Fourth Highlanders, were no fools, and understood the strategic situation to the same relative degree as Mackenzie, once he told them all about what happened. These men were veterans, and knew their way around a battlefield, and knew that they would be useless if they were piss-drunk with the enemy at their doorstep.
Mackenzie had yet to directly call the Fire Nation the enemy, but once again, these men were no fools. It was implied, especially in the actions of the day, that they were more likely to face a contest of arms with the Fire Nation marines than not.
That contest of arms started several hours later, when the party was starting to wind down and the villagers returned to their homes. The men of the first and second companies were resting, but not quite asleep. This was a state of affairs they were used to, back when they faced the French, and were faced with the need to get all the rest they could before the fight. Reports started to come to Mackenzie of the Fire Nation's approach. The sole vessel was spotted on a course for the island. For the same spot they had previously landed, in fact!
By the light of a dying bon-fire, and the half-moon, a bugle called out the call to arms. The drummers and pipers were the first to assemble, followed swiftly by the standard bearers and the rank-and-file in a fluid, well-practised motion.
As soon as everyone was in place, Mackenzie commanded a forward march up to the bend two hundred yards away from the village. Around this bend was a wider path, able to fit both companies. The path continued more-or-less straight for about 500 yards before it bent out of sight. The Scots halted just before the bend, out of sight of the other side, and were ordered to fix bayonets.
Meanwhile, as the marines under Prince Zuko were disembarking their full force, rather than the expedition force from earlier, a voice rang out across the landing area;
"Colonel Mackenzie of His Majesty's Seventy-Fourth Highland Regiment of Foot bids you to leave, Fire Nation invaders, under the authority of the Sovereign Island of Kyoshi and its Council of Elders, as well as of his station as Colonel in the army of His Royal Majesty King George III."
Corporal Eddie Campbell was in the tree line with a handful of other men from the 8th company, the light infantry. The rest of his comrades were in similar stations along the route back to the village. Most were stationed along the shorter route, but there were a handful of sentries along the long route around the island. The colonel was expecting that the Fire marines would take the short route, and also wanted a man to tell the Fire Nation troops to leave, and Eddie was chosen of the men that were to go to the landing site.
Honestly, Eddie made all of that up on the spot, especially the part about Kyoshi Island, but it seemed to have an affect on not only the marines, but the young prince, who threw a fireball (a fireball!) from his hands at the general location of Eddie and his comrades, who scattered amongst the trees to avoid the fireball.
Despite the clear hostility, the lights were under orders not to open fire, not yet, at least...
The Fire Nation troops continued assembling and started marching, despite the warning. Along the way, many felt the weight of watching eyes, out in the darkness of the forest that covered most of Kyoshi Island.
As they neared the village, they saw a figure standing out in the path, who quickly retreated as they rounded a bend. The tension among the marines was palpable as a sudden uproar of drums and a scraggly-sounding instrument filled the air. The sound grew louder and louder, until it rounded the bend, and in the place of one man, were now many. Two bodies of troops marched out onto the path, each taking half and halting.
The marines knew, because of the bellicose and ill-tempered nature of their commander and youngest prince, not to mention his anger from the slight to him by the very men that stood in their way a second time, a conflict was inevitable.
Mackenzie once again stood with his men positioned in front of a foe. This time, however, he knew that force of arms, not wit and posturing, would win this encounter. Even so, he rode in front of his force, and called to the Fire Nation marines and princes, "This is your last chance, leave this place at once!"
Not one to needlessly place himself in danger, however, this time Mackenzie rode back behind the troops and positioned himself between the two companies.
The Fire Nation troops continued, however, and halted a convenient 150 yards away from the Scots. The prince looked back at his men, and said something, and they all drew their swords and began to march once more.
At the sight of the approaching enemy, Mackenzie glanced either way at his men, bayonets and firelocks gleaming in the faint moonlight, and shouted in a fierce voice, "First company, front rank! Make ready!"
The front rank of the grenadiers took their muskets from their shoulders, and set their flintlocks from half- to full-cock with a series of clicks echoing down the line. A drum signal accompanied this command
"P'sent!" As a unit, the men then brought their firelocks down to their shoulders, and aimed down the barrel, using the bayonet lug as a makeshift fore-sight, another drum beat keeping their timing. It was not long after the command that the Fire Nation marines entered musket range, which was when they charged.
After waiting a painstakingly long moment, Captain Holland yelled, "Fire!"
Immediately, the entire front rank pulled the trigger on their muskets. An equal number of flints struck frizzens, which bathed the waiting black powder with sparks. The priming pans were set ablaze, and promptly the main charge of each musket was detonated, sending several lead balls screaming down range at their targets.
As soon as Holland took over commands for his unit, Garllie did the same, ordering his front rank through the same motions, albeit faster. Normally, Holland would have given orders from the start, but by a prearranged agreement, Mackenzie would give the orders to make ready and present. Not only the psychological effect on the enemy, as Mackenzie was the loudest of the officers when he wanted to be, but also for the thrill of commanding the volley, something he hadn't been able to do very often since he took over as colonel.
As soon as the Garllie's first volley was off, the Fire Nation attack shuddered to a halt. A number of them had dropped dead, including most of the men in the front few rows. The prince, Lt. and general were alright, since they had let the troops move around them.
Zuko threw a fireball over the heads of his own troops, which made them remember that some of them were fire benders. They started their katas while the rest of the marines surged forward.
Two more volleys were fired before the men were ordered to "port arms", essentially bringing the musket across their chests diagonally in both hands. The sound of bagpipes soared over the men shouting war cries as the front rank brought their weapons forward, to present the bayonet at the enemy.
"Quick! March!" The order from Mackenzie saw the men advance quickly towards their charging foes, and the "March of the Cameron Men" rose above the war cries as the 74th broke into a charge and the Fire marines gave their own shouts.
A fierce melee broke out, but the 74th had an advantage from the start, both in numbers and morale, as well as the first strike due to their longer muskets doubling as spears against the swords, which were shorter. The fight didn't last long, maybe for five or ten minutes, before the Fire Nation soldiers began slipping away, retreating against the fierce protests of Zuko. Finally, Iroh saw it fit to remove the boy from the battlefield, and command the rest of the men to retreat.
Mackenzie stopped the pursuit before it started, by having his men stop and assist the wounded. The regimental doctors and the surgeons aboard the ships were brought ashore in anticipation of a battle, and were prepared to receive wounded.
From his initial reports and a survey of the carnage left behind, it seemed that around ten of his own men were wounded, nobody killed. Thirty Fire marines were left behind, ten of them dead and the rest wounded in some way or another. For what it was, the battle had taken very few lives, and that's the way Mackenzie liked it.
War was not pretty, despite what the bright-eyed boys who he had to beat the notion of glory and fame out of thought. The less that had to die at the whims of a few, the better. Make no mistake, the Colonel had no qualms about killing on the battlefield, he didn't make it as far as he did as a pacifist. But when it came time, it was better when the enemy peeled off early, allowing for less men to die.
As the enemy retreated, the light infantry in the woods and trees took their shots, killing and wounding many more of the marines on their escape back to their ship. Once on the ship, the Fire Nation took off quickly, and without any intention of ever returning.
Mackenzie allowed himself to relax after that, and retired to his quarters while the men celebrated their victory, despite it being a relatively minor one. Mackenzie allowed them this respite, as a reward for the melee and for holding back at the earlier party. This one lasted until the sun rose, and Mackenzie gave them some slack in their training as a result. No sense in punishing the men right after rewarding them, after all. But the next day would be business as usual.