1st Kaiserlich-Deutsche Landwehr compound Altdorf, a few days later
Kargan Ironbeard was baffled-something that did not happen too often to a Thunderer of 113 years. His king had pledged his services to the great battle against the Skaven that seemed to be coming. This was good, the Book of Grudges noted so many Grudges against the Thagoraki that any battle against them was a good thing.
Going to battle at the behest of his king was nothing new to Kargan who had done so many times. But everything that had happened since then had been a new experience to the dvarven handgunner, which was a bit much.
At first there had been the flight from Karaz-a-Karak to Middenheim. Kargan had heard of such machines and had once seen Makaisson`s airship from afar-but that had been different. The German airship had been bigger than anything mobile he had ever seen by far. The flight had been a wonder-immensely fast, quiet and the view had been something to remember forever. He had been transported with 400 other dwarfs to Middenheim where they had endured a ride in a mechanical contraption that the Germans had called a truck-and then a long train trip to Altdorf.
He had heard about all the new things before, but seeing them was an animal of a different name. A trip that should have taken several months of hardship at least had taken less than a week and if he was not mistaken he had gained a little weight from lack of movement and good food. Together with his comrades he had inspected as many of the new devices as possible and had asked countless questions. He believed that he had heard a lot of tall stories-who had heard of anything humans made with tolerances to 1/100th of an inch-and here humans claimed to make things ten times better than that. Alloys that were said to be better than Gromril, engines stronger, smaller and lighter than dwarf steam engines...the list was endless. They would have been far easier to dismiss if one would not have been sitting in a wagon traveling more than a hundred kilometers per hour and watching lights that needed no fire.
All of that had eased the shock when the humans announced that they would be issued new equipment. A week before this would have been greeted with disdain and incredulity at best and as an insult at worst. "Thunderers" were the dwarfs that used handguns. They modified them to their personal preferences or even produced them themselves outright and were sure they had the best handguns in the world. In the daze of seeing so many new things nobody had the energy to issue a challenge and everybody decided to have a look.
Presently they were standing at ease in two lines and listened to their instructor, a no-nonsense dwarven Sergeant called Thorgim Steinier. The Dwarf had a very short beard and hair-normally the evidence of somebody quite young. The burn scars the Sergeant had on his face spoke of a different reason.
"Listen up Thunderers, here is where you learn about your new tools of trade. As you will be part of the Cave Raiders the Germans decided to give you advanced weapons, here are the most important of them."
The rifle he lifted up looked rather strange to Kargan. There was no wooden furniture-instead the butt was a seamless green material and the stock was perforated painted metal. It had a pistol grip with an enlarged trigger guard and a metal box sticking out under the rifle in front of that. All in the rifle looked slender and delicate.
"This here is the standard rifle we will be issued. It is called the G3, weights 4 kilogram and shoots 7,62 mm ammo from a 20-round magazine."
"7,62 mm-my Bess has 20 mm, what kind of weapon is that-for shooting mice?" Some know-it-all saved Ironbeard the trouble to ask.
"Actually this rifle has roughly a third more energy than your Bess, just it puts it into a smaller round which means it goes faster-and a lot farther. Effective range for this one is 500 meters. As the round will pretty reliably disintegrate upon hitting you will not be dissatisfied with the results either."
Taking up the rifle the Dwarf pushed a couple of buttons which made targets appear along the firing range. Shouldering the rifle he squeezed off 10 shots in rapid succession, the hits made the targets swivel back. Putting the rifle back on its bench he addressed the silent dwarfs again.
"Think your Bess could do that? Thought so. So for killing an Tagoraki or 10 the G3 is just fine, but if you want to deal with larger groups this comes in-this thingy here is called the MG3. It fires the same round than the G3-1200 times a minute. Let me show you."
Thorgrim took the machine gun like many humans lifted a rifle and dropped into a prone position. Kargan thought it was quite undignified when the rifle made an ungodly racket and he saw rounds from the belt at its side disappear through it. The wooden targets at the other side of the range splintered and dropped instead of turning back. Getting back on his feet Thorgrim put the rifle back on the bench. "From what the humans tell me this is a weapon that changed the battlefield on their old world forever. From what I have seen I believe them.
And now for the last one-a shotgun. This one is called HK SG 15 and is supposedly the clone of a shotgun produced by another state in the world the Germans left behind. On the open battlefield the G3 is much better because of its longer range. Inside the tunnels and caves things are different. The shotgun has less problems with ricochets and even more power than the G3-about one third more in fact. There are many different munitions available, from a solid slug, several sizes of lead shots to specials. This one is an explosive round. If you fire it at something and it does not drop-RUN. And then we have this nasty piece of work."
Turning from his students the instructor charged the shotgun and squeezed the trigger. Instead of a mighty boom a sharp hiss caught the attention-and the 5 meters of flame that were ejected from the barrel and stayed for 2 eternal seconds.
"This is called the Dragon`s Breath and I can promise you it makes the Rats run like nothing else. Do you upstanding Gentlemen think you can spare the attention to learn about these human "toys"?
Kargan Ironbeard roared his approval like all the others. Yet in his heart of hearts he was less than sure. Not that he did not want to learn about these weapons-he wanted one very much, had set his heart on one of the shotguns in fact. Not that these rifles were no good-quite the opposite. But they were not dwarven rifles. And if the best of anything made from metal was no longer made by dwarfs-where was their place in this world?
A couple hours of instruction and first drills later the Thunderers were policing up the range when two beings approached their instructor.A tall lanky human carrying a sword and a G3 rifle was accompanied by a very young dwarf. Both the smooth skin and the very short beard spoke of few years, maybe 40 but certainly no older. Despite the age he was heavily muscled even for a Dawi and moved like he had not a care in the world. The dwarf wore an armor of human manufacture and a huge axe that was surely magical-how did the youngster get such a weapon?
The human approached Thorgrim "Good evening Sergeant Steinier. Oberst Grube told me I could use the range past 6 PM."
"Certainly Herr Jäger, we are just closing shop. Since when do you use an assault rifle if I may ask."
"Oh I learned that even human pistols are not so useful in combat than one would like so I try something heavier. And somebody has to take care of this oafs back, might as well be me."
"Manling, I will.."
Kargan Ironbeard did not hear the rest of the Dawi`s words for the roar in his ears. The last days had presented him with enough new things and concepts to last him a lifetime-and here was the next one. The young-looking, armor-wearing Dawi was none other than Gotrek, Deamonslayer and the first Slayer to fulfill his oath-and live. What was this world coming to?
200 meters AGL, Pirate Island of Saratosa, 2 weeks later
This was a perfect day for a holiday-a bright sky with nearly no clouds, a beautiful island with long beaches and picturesque hills with sparse vegetation-Mike Koslowski had taken the B-52 Bomber "Gray Lady" down into the weeds to bomb it all.
"Captain, MWO here-we are being probed by at least 5 powerful magic users-and there is at least one attempt at attacking us. I can keep this off for the moment but I suggest not to loiter around"
"MWO, Captain here-acknowledged."
Colonel Mike Kozlowski saw the column of purple smoke himself so that the corrections of the bombardier came as no surprise. "Left 5-ok, keep at it. Bomb bay coming open-Bomb bays open-bombs away."
A long row of canisters tumbled from the cavernous bomb bay. When they hit the ground their thin metal skins were ripped open and their liquid contents were spread into a kilometer long carpet that covered the ground while it caught flame. Nothing under it could live.
The bomber close the bay doors while climbing back up to attitude while a few green tracers ineffectively chased after it.
The 30 tons of Napalm B burned at 1200 degree for the next 10 minutes and killed 3 Skaven, 243 hares and countless snails and mice.
The heat wave could easily been felt in a kilometers distance like staring into a furnace point-blank. Joakim Vos did not feel any of this as he was totally encased in body armor. He did feel like a fool though. When Fräulein Meikle`s group had started to experiment with power armor they had made some really ridiculous monsters before common sense provided by some professional set in. Among the "Frankensuits" had been a couple of 750 kg monsters that could partially withstand 12,7mm ammo and carry armament that would not be out of place in an IFV. That it was nearly impossible to put anywhere where it was necessary as it fitted neither infrastructure nor common transports, that were no targets worthy of such a suit that could not also be fought by tracked vehicles that could go anywhere as he in this armor-who cared. It was cool. It was quite fortunate that several people like him had reigned the enthusiasm of the Technici in. And for all these pains he had been put in a suit that made him nearly 2,60 meters height. To top that off somebody had fixed the 1st Landwehr`s flag to the power module in his back like the Japanese back banners of old. All he was missing was a red nose and he could give a clown all right.
There was only one excuse for this miserable exercise-it impressed the locals to no end. And that job, if no other, his squad fulfilled in their current configuration to the max.
Currently they were the background to Ambassador Schäfers delegation that faced the assembly of Captains.
The Assembly of Captains and the Pirate King (or currently Queen) they elected were the ruling body of Sartosa, the Pirate Island that dominated the approaches to the western Harbors of Tilea.
This assembly a mixed bunch-humans, Druchii and a small group of Skaven-the latter kept a distance from the rest. The only thing in common that these worthy`s had was that they were well armed. Apart from that there were so many styles of clothing-often on the same individual-armament and bearing that they did not seem to belong to the same group. Still all of them extruded the charisma that individuals bear that have climbed to the top in a long and bloody struggle-and staying on top was a struggle too.
The other thing the Captains had in common was shock. They had just seen hell and they had not liked it any. They knew that large changes to their lives were in the future and all choices in front of them were shades of bad. The first to find her voice was the current Pirate Queen, Guilia de Allexandro. Were she 20 years younger, she could have starred in an US TV show about beach lifeguards-well maybe if one removed several dangerous-looking weapons, a nasty scar that went through half her face and an attitude that would have frightened Elisabeth Bathory.
"So, Reinhard Schäfer, this is what happens to us if we do not meekly leave our kingdom and become beggars elsewhere."
"I do not know about beggars Mylady, but this Island will be without you and your crews in a month, one way or another. We need safe havens in Tilea and safe transit routes through the Tilean sea, you are a threat to them both. We cannot tolerate such, so we need to remove you. Either you go by your own violation or …." A sparse gesture gestured towards the kilometer-long conflagration that died down slowly."
"And what are we to do in your esteemed opinion?"
"Oh, I do not care much as long as you leave these parts of the Tilean Seas. Do not change your hunting grounds to the Sea of Claws though, you might not like the experience. If you want to do something else besides pirating I hear that several Tilean princes are currently hiring mercenaries. If I remember correctly this is what you used to do before."
"What gives you the right to command us like this, German?"
"The fact that you tend to go board ships, take slaves, burn villages and steal cargo. Pirata communis hostia omnium."
"What was that?"
"The pirate is everybody`s enemy. In my world it was a standard, now it is coming to a sea near you. I suggest you and your associates consult on a course of action before we talk further."
"No talk talk." Joakim Vos proved that even these suits could move quite quickly if needed when he stepped forward and pushed the German ambassador behind him with his left arm. The projectile from the Warpstone pistol impacted barely above the Sergeants groin-and besides leaving a greenish smear did not do anything more. By that time Joakim already had his rifle up and his helmets superimposed a dot above the chest of Morkat, the Skaven Captain.
Two very different voices called for ceasefire at the same time one "Nobody was harmed, don't shoot" and another "There was a truce you furry bag of shyte." followed by another shot that missed the scurrying Ratman.
From here it became a chaotic scene where the Captains tried to form a common defense and scores of Skaven emerged from so far hidden tunnel entrances.
Joakim`s squad managed to form a line between the German diplomats and most potential dangers. "Neugebauer-have an eye on the Captains. The rest of us-go for the rats."
Joakim had to fight from a clowns suit that could not take cover, could not go to all placed because of its ground pressure and he was conspicuous as hell. He could not change magazines on his rifle as the armored gloves on this abomination were too clumsy.
And yet-he did not need any cover as his armor was proof against anything the Skaven could drag out of their hiding places. His size and flag meant that he was sot at often-and no shots fired at his charges.
And the ammo belt that came from his backpack did not really need reloading.
The Skaven ran into the fire of 6 machine guns-and it did impress the locals to no end.
When the last Skaven had either found a convenient tunnel for retreat or shuffled off the mortal coil the Landwehr sergeant saw Gulia amble over to the German ambassador who waved him off when he wanted to interfere.
"You said something about hiring mercenaries-can you give me any pointers Herr Schäfers?
River Reik, close to Nuln, some days later
The crew of the Barge "U12" were not members of any armed force and yet they were about to attack the enemy at the behest of their government-and with relish. Two crewmembers had children that had been caught by the Skaven bacteria. Both lived but for one of them it had been touch-and-go for a while. There were soldiers on board, the Landwehr had sent a detachment that guarded the workers, but these soldiers were just a side show.
Currently they were attaching another drill rod to the drill that had been digging into the Reik`s river bed. 50 meters below them 3 wheels tipped with industrial diamonds were grinding against each other with great force, converting loam, gravel and solid stone with ease into a mash that was pumped out via the drill shaft.
When a jolt went through the barge and the drill made some strange noises everybody went rigid for a moment, when nothing more happened everybody relaxed again. Getting the drill back up was a bit of a grind as it had wedged itself fast when it had penetrated the hollow below, but in the end brute force and experience combined retrieved the expensive equipment. That was a good thing as besides the Skaven tunnel under the Reik they had just flooded for many kilometers there were several more detected. This barge had two more on their to-do list.
Cave Mouth, Sartosa, next day
A small fleet of landing craft were approaching the cave mouth set into the clip in front of them. It loomed menacingly above them and the deep dark beyond the opening could hide all manners of threats. As this was said to be the entrance into the Skaven Pirates lair it was actually sure to hide some nasty surprises. The boots themselves had been built so they would fit the rescue boat davits of "Papenburg", a former cruise ship that now served as troop transport. Therefore they were not very big and now seemed utterly insignificant when they approached the Skaven Pirates lair. Like a flock of mice tiptoeing into a church the first 5 boats entered the subterranean harbor while their troops-bearing colleagues waited outside. The picture lied-the first boats were armed with a combo of 27 mm autocannons, 40 mm grenade launchers and machine guns. Size-wise they might be mice, but they were mice with teeth.
To no one's surprise the Skaven had not evaced the Island and so they had to be dug out. An added benefit was that the Bundeswehr could amass experience in fighting the Skaven in their own realm, a dire necessity for things to come.
Michael Klüger, the boatswain commanding LB-2 was an old hand who had taken part in the Hag Graef raid. He was not amused as he could not ascertain what lay behind that gaping opening-at least not as well as he would like to.
"Bosun, I see something on the Low-light-looks like some kind of cannon boat bearing 091 heading towards us."
"Guns-open fire. Cammo-inform "Papenburg" that we are engaging the enemy."
The gun on the prow changed bearing slightly before it spat several short salvos. The 27mm Autocannon did not have such an impressive caliber but such a high rate of fire that even the half-second bursts sent several kilograms of steel and explosives downrange. The Low Light TV did not give so many details, but the bright sparks of the hits showed up. Whatever happened on that boat after the first salvos remained hidden, but that it was no longer under its own power or steerage was clear. A small fire had broken out but was not tended to.
Klüger gave things a couple of minutes but then saw no other way than to continue forward. Keeping his boat to the left side of the cliff he tried to get the best possible angel of view into the parts of the harbor he could not see yet. His biggest advantages above the Skaven warships were range and speed-and he was entering a cave where both did not count. When his boat finally rounded the entrance his reservations promptly proved correct. Two more Skaven gunboats started to move in his direction and the starter flames that illuminated their muzzles with green flames made it obvious that the boats were not sporting some muzzle loaded cannon but warpstone enhanced flame throwers.
He was about to order his guns to open fire when the sound drowned out all others-and most thinking. It was the sound of a bell-and at the same time it was not. It was received by the ears-and by the mind in ways that had nothing to do with pressure waves and eardrums.
It was deep, loud and dissonant and came from an enormous green-glowing bell that was suspended above the deck of a big, floating ramshackle monstrosity. It was even bigger than the usual Screaming Bells so favored by the Skaven and struck again and again by a Rat Ogre. It kept most Germans from acting sensibly and seemed to fire up the Ratmen. The boatswain saw that he could not scream sense into his crew and pushed his way forward despite the mush in the head. By his reckoning it was no worse than the state he had after a good shore leave.
Pushing the drooling gunner aside he put himself behind the console of the autocannon and used the joystick to swivel his gun about. Pressing the trigger shook the whole boat and made a series of bright sparks and explosions on the bell. To the Boatswains horror it did not break completely but the next strike sounded even more dissonant than before which seemed to make the bell`s impact less.
Gaining more of his wits back the Klüger thumbed the joystick a bit down and pressed the trigger again. The Rat Ogre was ripped apart when the salvo hit and the next one collapsed the bells supports sufficiently to remove it from the battle.
Turning to the rest of the battle the boatswain found that one of the rat`s flamethrowers had fired the first salvo at the closest gunboat. While the prow was hidden under flames no further damage had been done. The nearest rat boat had bigger problems as there was no crew visible on deck anymore and several small fires had broken out all over the decks.
Fires-on a flamethrower equipped boat. The though battled its way through Klüger`s brain that was still addled from the effects of the Screaming Bell. When it finally registered he pushed his way back into the small as fast as he could. At the same time the fires that were raging on the first boat heated up the fuel tank for the warpstone flame thrower. Parts of the fuel had already vaporized and the pressure inside the tank rose to ever-increasing levels.
Klüger already had the microphone in hand when the tanks soldered lines finally burst and the fuel was distributed in a cloud of fine droplets that caught fire immediately. The detonation distributed flaming, clinging oil in a wide circle. It caught the two other Skaven Doombringers as well as the German LB-3 that had been too close. By that time the crew had been busy in dousing the fire that the earlier flamethrower attack had caused, now the detonation had mercifully killed most, leaving one sailor as a screaming torch crawling on the burning deck.
By this time anything afloat in the cave that was not German was under heavy fire. The autocannon rounds had a nasty tendency to light up anything that was not made from stone and metal so anything floating in the basin owned by the Skaven was aflame.
The quay that had been crawling with Clanrats and Skaven slaves received enough machine gun fire and 40 mm grenades to kill everything there twice over. The scene was lit by the Skaven lamps, the German floodlights and the flickering flames-the effects would go well with a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Klüger had sent another boat to aid the survivors of the burnt gunboat while he directed the fire of his own against the Quay and the gate that led inside the Skaven warren.
The troop-carriers made their way through the wreckage and the spots of flaming oil that floated on the waters and delivered the soldiers to the harbor facilities. There were three attempts of the Skaven to storm the open spaces again-they all ended in blood when the gunboats got into things.
Klüger watched as the soldiers drove a drone into the black opening at the end of the quay. A greenish explosion emerged from the tunnel seconds after the tracked vehicle had vanished inside. What were the poor footsloggers getting into?
In another tunnel Joakim Vos no longer felt like a fool-he had his "working" power armor back. That was a good thing as the Skaven tunnels were mostly too small to permit the passage of the armor he had used so few days ago. That did not mean he was well as entering the tunnels was a daunting prospect. The entrances to the warren on the island had been well defended until a couple of Tiger helicopters had fired HOT missiles against them. Joakim had used a couple of Thermobaric warheads of his RG (Rocket Grenade) already and they had proven to be excellent weapons to clear caves of the Skaven. Even the armored ones could not withstand the overpressure.
Currently he was making his way down a corridor with Jens Neugebauer that had shown no signs of movement when a drone was sent. Having the point he was walking very slowly down the long tunnel, looking for and tripwires or switches. He had been nearly hit by a piece of ceiling when he had realized too late that the flagstone under his feet had moved downwards. This crawling forward being 100% concentrated and under the impression of omnipresent danger was extremely exhausting-he would change back into his squad when he reached the end of this corridor. In the meantime he tried his best to see everything before it killed him. Unfortunately this was not easy as the walls and the floor were highly irregular-some hewn stone, something that resembled poor concrete, a lot of dirt. There was no lighting except that he brought himself and that of his partner.
The warning hit his earphones at about the same time as the spear his helmet. Deflected by the tough plastics into his shoulder guard the weapon that had been thrust through a hole in the ceiling failed to penetrate. Catching the shaft with his left hand the soldier thrust the weapon upwards a couple of times, using all of his armor-enhanced strength. He felt some resistance on the second and third stroke and blood started to seep through the hole occupied mostly by the spear. At the same time the drone that was parked at the end of the tunnel started to fire it`s submachine gun. This had "long day" written all over it.
Close to the Spring of River Isonzo, Irrana Mountains, afternoon two days later
Heinz Albers watched the gigantic airship hoover above his position. That was not his job, but it was hard to do anything else when a 270 meters long airship blotted out the sun and currently placed the last of 4 "AGM" modules it had carried directly in a foundation he had helped blasting out of the riverside.
The mountainside dominated by the near-Zeppelin was the northern Border of the Blighted Marches, the land around Skavenblight. The river alongside the camp was one of the main feeds of the Blighted March. From up here the Bundeswehr could watch and if necessary shoot anything moving for a long distance, even if this was not the main purpose of them being here.
The "Hugo Eckener" was the sister ship of the "Enterprise" and was taking up water from the nearby river to make up for the weight she was losing from the equipment and supplies she currently offloaded. As this was a short trip for the airship she was able to deliver nearly 200 tons to the mountain base in one go which was a good thing-this was the only way the base could be resupplied besides helicopters. The blaster-cum Landwehr Captain did not worry overmuch about that.
The 4 AGM modules had the same 155 mm cannon as a "Panzerhaubitze 2000" and from their elevated position could fire up to 50 kilometers into the Skaven`s domain. Several "Skyshield" 35 mm guns would take care of any aerial threat and dozens of bunkers watched any possible approach to the plateau on which Albers stood. The Landwehr Captain had watched far lesser defenses take out massive chunks of a Beastman warherd before. Given the better preparations and the difficult approach he was not unduly worried about being here.
The next two flights would bring his equipment-and then it was time to do something about that damned river.
Coliseum di Marco, Tabaro, midnight of the next day
The old ruins were more than a thousand years old and had been the site of gladiatorial games in a time long past. The games had been as elaborate as the coliseum itself-there had been cells, cages, tunnels, ramps and even lifts aplenty under the arena.
These days the Coliseum was no longer used and the beautiful travertine stones removed to clad lesser buildings. Only the base sandstone were left to the elements and so far nobody had cared to remove the ruins as this would have been a BIG job. The old tunnels were now a dark labyrinth that in places was connected to the sewers-and other, even less well known subterranean passageways.
The gutter runner was quiet and circumspect even for a specialist of a race that valued such attributes. Finally he had found a way into the old ruins that was not closed. That the humans occasionally found the entrances into their city and bricked them over was nothing new. That they used a grey, hard and brittle material that resembled the Skaven`s cement to glue the debris normally found in such construction was new but the humans did not find everything.
The opening was two-thirds down a tunnel that had connected an aqueduct with the arena floor so that the masses could be entertained with sea battles. The smooth sides of the tunnel showed no threats, yet the Skaven checked the walls and the floor of the passageway minutely for any hidden traps. Even the simplistic humans sometimes left some but here it seemed that the tunnel was still unknown to them. Having encountered nothing untoward the Skaven slithered back a way and gestured to the runners that had watched his progress. Hesitatingly at first yet with ever greater speed hundreds of Skaven emerged from the hole and filled the tunnel. The column moved towards the exit into the old service tunnels that would finally lead into Tabaro proper.
There the Gutter Runners would do their level best to put as big a part of the town to the torch as possible, all the while some plague monks would look after the wells. The Skaven did not know what had made their leaders to give them their marching orders, nor did they care. They would not have changed anything if they would have known that Paskit tried to remove possible allies to a German assault.
The last of their number had left the nether caves and entered the tunnel now and everybody was huddled into a tight group waiting for the go when their world ended. As series of slightly curved matt-black boxes at the ceiling of the tunnel exploded simultaneously. In front of the explosives were ball bearings suspended in resin. The hard steel balls were forced into the passage`s confines at terrible speed hitting mostly soft flesh and brittle bones. Those steel balls that did not find something organic to ledge into ricocheted from the stone walls to regain the chance at doing damage. Within a single second the tunnel filled with eager Skaven was transformed into an abattoir.
Roughly 150 meters away Sergio de Beluscani, nephew to the Prince and commander of the prince`s standing forces watched a monitor that depicted the carnage in monochrome green and stomach-turning detail. His mouth showed something that could have been a grin if it had contained any humor.
"I like your style Oberleutnant Erhard, I really do."
Excerpts from Wikipedia/Warhammer Germany edition
Erdöl(Petroleum)
Consumption of Petroleum per day:
2010: 425609 m³
2014: 345812 m³
Main Suppliers:
2010: Russia, Norway, UK
2014: Sylvania, Araby, Sea of Claws
Joakim Vos`s RG (Rocket Grenade)
201...lt-weapon-raw/
Camp "Köln", Close to Tabora, several days later
Major Henrik Gerber mused that the equipment in the briefing tent would not have excited Rommel-or Moltke the Elder in fact. Besides the folding chairs the room was dominated by several large maps printed on paper that hung from wooden racks. There were no big screens or projectors in evidence, no obvious computers or more advanced communications-there were kept elsewhere.
He was one of the few moderately rested officers in the room, the voyage to Tilea had not agreed with everybody in the "Tilea Corps", the imperial contribution to the campaign against Skavenblight. The "Corps" did not even have the size of a decent division, the designation was chosen as it was an amalgam of several imperial units.
The biggest contributors were "Wolf`s Dragoons" , the Cave Raiders and the 1st "Kaiserlich-deutsche Landwehr" as these two units had more than a little idea how modern armies worked. Surprisingly several Reiksguard units had also contributed. The Reiksguard city detachment had sent several companies, an Oberleutnant Emser was sitting not so far from Joakim. He seemed quite young for the job-until you saw his eyes. Henrik was pretty sure that this fellow would have some interesting stories to swap.
The burly Sergeant-at-arms whom General Wolf kept about did not shout-somebody who was used to make himself heard on a battlefield and by boneheaded recruits did not need such-but Henrik could have sworn the tent walls moved slightly outwards when a "ten-shun" brought everybody to up. General Wolf climbed to the podium and asked everybody to sit again.
"Gentleman, due to the haste by which this combat group was assembled this is the first time we all meet. We all would have preferred this to be otherwise but the enemy has disagreed with our plans. I will give all of you an overview of the situation and the broad outlay of our plans so we can sing from the same page as it were.
Seven weeks ago a series of terror attacks by the Skaven killed hundreds of civilians, including many children in Germany. On top of that the German armed forces stopped two attacks on cities with warpstone bombs that would easily have destroyed both with hundreds of thousands of casualties. As of 1st Bake Day, Harvest Month 2522 Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked the Empire for assistance according to the Reiksbund treaty and our Emperor has granted this assistance immediately. We are the vanguard of this assistance.
Our situation is as follows:
This is the Tilean Sea, this is the Blighted March-and this is Skavenblight, the ultimate goal of this campaign. Currently we are setting up a number of bases: Camp "Köln", which by the way is named for the train that was destroyed, is situated at the outskirts of Tabaro.
There is a second base close to the city of Miragliano, they will receive a large air base among other things. And then we have Sartosa, there we will build up a Reiksbund Naval and Air base that has the advantage of not being in the realm of any Tilean Price. To the North we have a couple of small bases at the base of the Irrana Mountains.
This campaign will broadly be dived into three phases. The first one, in which we are in presently will see the marshalling of the necessary forces, the gathering of intelligence and most importantly the building of an infrastructure –damnfangled new word that-that can supply the subsequent phases.
The second phase will encompass the capture of the parts of the Blighted March around Skavenblight and the aboveground city. During this time we will extend roads to the Ratman`s city.
The third phase will be to conquer the Skaven undercity and for a unconditional surrender by the rats.
Many of you will ask themselves why the Germans do not use one of their superweapons and simply make Skavenblight go away-or convert it into a glowing crater. Actually I asked the same question and the answer is that we cannot afford to do that that. In the words of Professor Trevayne of Humbold University: "The problem with eliminating the Skaven leadership is who can you negotiate with afterwards. The "Skaven nation" disintegrates and splinters into hundreds of fragment, who all hate the Germans." We need to surrender by the Council of Thirteen-and then we need to sit on the Rats till they clear up their act or till they no longer present a threat.
Mark my words fellow officers: This will be a long and bloody campaign and not all of us will see the end of it. But it needs to be done and badly. The bleeding Rats are a threat to all of us, not just the Germans and we cannot sit by and let them kill children, women and the elderly. We will teach the Skaven the error of their ways and if they do not learn then there will be less Skaven to worry about. None of us have forgotten what they did to Altdorf a few months ago-let us show them how the shoe feels on their foot.
The Germans have pulled our collective asses out of the fire more than once. They have given us modern weapons and communications. Now let us show them what we can do with them, shall we?"
