The Battle of Alealmayn Part II
40 years after the Great War
Londinium
The memoirs of General von Romel: "the Fennec," is perhaps the finest source concerning the battle of Aleamayn and indeed the entire southern campaign. Although not written by Romel himself, it is based on the many interviews taken after the war and all the declassified information available in the early 1940s.
Hidden within these pages is a detailed description of the General's plan to attack the Commonwealth forces. In order to counter the superior numbers of Ketchener's forces, he sent a small force of mages led by the Saint to launch a surprise attack on the Commonwealth flanks. This was unexpected, since the Qattara depression was considered all but impassable and at this time the Allied Kingdom was unaware of the Empire's ability to send false mana signals.
Romel's next blow to Ketchener came as he sent a second, larger force of mages ahead of him as a vanguard to weaken the front lines as his main force approached. This force was led by none other than the so-called Devil of the Rhine and contemporary reports tell that this near-mythical magic-user caused a great deal of devastation.
Meanwhile, Romel initially advanced his force of armour and infantryacross a wide front, spreading them out in order to minimise damage. However, as he closed, he expertly manoeuvred his troops back into a tight formation and at the final moment assaulted a small section of the line. In what he called a spearhead attack.
All this was in order to achieve a swift breakthrough so that Romel and the imperial forces could isolate individual units and disrupt the Commonwealth forces. However, Romel's account implies he was surprised and impressed with how quickly Ketchener was able to recover and counter his tactics. Indeed, the ex-imperial commander is quoted as saying "If not for those aces, the south would likely have been lost that day."
– Andrew WTN Special Correspondent.
September 12th Unified Year 1925
Züriech Train station, Waldstätte Confederacy
Reinhard stared at the puddle at his feet, watching as the raindrops created ripples that spread through the water. When he was younger, he had loved playing in the rain, despite the warnings of mother his and father that he would catch a cold. He'd always found the patter of the raindrops calming and enjoyed jumping in the puddles so that the water would splash everywhere.
It didn't calm him anymore and the happy memories of splashing around in the rain seemed foreign to him now. Somehow the rhythmic beating of the water droplets just made him feel angrier and he couldn't figure out why.
It felt like he had been angry since the day the news about father had arrived. No that wasn't true, he hadn't believed it when the Lady Captain had appeared and told them he wouldn't be coming home. Even as his mother hugged him close and cried her eyes out, he refused to believe that father wasn't there anymore. It simply couldn't be true.
Everything felt wrong; like the world was muffled, as if it was covered with a thick fog. It didn't feel real; it must have been a terrible dream that he would eventually wake up from. The woman was wrong, Father would come home and visit soon. He was sure of it, he just needed to wait.
He'd started skipping school to wait for him at the station. Just a few days here and there at first watching the trains go by and watching in disappointment as they disappeared in a cloud of soot and steam after failing to return his father.
It wasn't like he wanted to go to that stupid school anyway. They had always treated him differently there; the students were all rich snobs and they mocked him for being the son of a simple soldier. He hated that, he was proud of his father and had wanted to become a great warrior just like him. He couldn't stand them making fun of father and ended up getting into more than a few fights with the other children. Mother had been furious.
It had only gotten worse since the Lady Captain had visited. The lies about father had spread to the school. Instead of teasing him, they left him alone and began whispering how terrible things must be for him and mother. Some of his previous bullies had even tried to be friendlier towards him, apologising for their earlier insults. Maybe he should have been happy about that, but he hated it and he had begun to feel bitter frustration bubbling up inside him.
He'd been going to school less and less since then, and when he did go, he would usually end up lashing out at someone. Instead, he spent his days sitting on the base of some statue of a Waldstätte banker in front of the train station, willing his father to walk through the exit so that he could run to him and hold him tight. Willing the Lady Captain to be wrong, willing the pain inside to leave him.
Every day that passed made him feel worse until his anger seemed to want to spill out in all directions. He wanted to blame the François for starting the war that father had been forced to fight, he wanted to blame the Lady Captain for taking father to that war and failing to bring him back. He wanted to blame the Argent and Saint who had saved so many but failed to save the only one he cared about. He'd wanted to blame the Prince who sent him and his mother away to this awful country and spent so much time with his father when he could not.
Most of all he wanted to blame his father for breaking his promise and leaving them alone here.
When he was alone, he wanted to yell out and give voice to this anger. He wanted the world to know that he blamed them all for how he felt but it didn't help. He just felt empty. Neither the anger nor the sound of raindrops would fill the void left in his chest.
"Let go of me, you bastards!" A voice from behind yelled angrily causing Reinhard to gaze up from the puddle. "I'm a Letzenbourg citizen, you can't treat me like this."
Two policemen had grabbed a man by the arms and were dragging him forward towards the station while a third officer was carrying a walking stick and a briefcase. All wore dark and violent expressions, whatever the man had done had clearly angered them.
"We don't care, we don't want warmongers like you here. We are a peaceful country; you can leave your war at the border like everyone else!" One of the officers leading the man stated sharply, as he dragged him along.
"I'm a veteran, I served in the army and the resistance! I didn't live through the Day of Tears just to have bullies like you manhandle me like this!" The man returned angrily as the officers shoved him into a puddle in front of the station.
"You are not to recruit in our country, if you know what's good for you, you'll be on the next train home!" Another officer threatened as the third threw his walking stick and briefcase at him, causing it to spring open and the papers inside to fly everywhere. "And take this filth with you."
"Cowards!" the man called as the officers turned and walked away, leaving him on the floor desperately scrambling to pick up his papers before the rain made them unusable.
Reinhard felt a pang of sympathy for the man and found himself rushing to help him. The man had said he was from Letzenbourg, they had to stick together. Besides, he was intrigued about what the man might have to say, even if his mother would not approve of him talking with strangers.
Reinhard moved to help the man out of the puddle, but the man initially ignored him, electing to save his papers first. Reinhard knelt down, grabbing as many of the errant documents as he could before offering a hand to help the man up once again.
It was then he noticed the man's leg was missing from the knee down. Reinhard's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a metal prosthetic lying on the floor nearby; obviously dislodged by the man's fall. The man obviously saw the boy's shock and gave him a reassuring grin before stuffing the artificial limb under his arm and taking the boy's proffered hand.
"Thank you lad, it's nice to see someone in this country has some manners." He said as Reinhard guided the hobbling man to a nearby bench.
"Are…are you ok?" The boy asked, unable to take his eyes away as the man reaffixed his leg.
"Fine lad, I've had worse." He returned before realising the boy was talking about his false limb rather than his run-in with the police officers. "Lost it in an artillery strike on the Rhine, but it doesn't stop me from doing my part for the motherland."
"You're from Letzenbourg? What are you doing here?" the boy asked looking at the man properly for the first time. He looked old, at least older than father was, and had short whitening hair and an unshaven chin. He wore a suit but didn't look like he belonged in it and he had a battered and damp cigarette tucked behind his ear. However, despite looking so out of place, he wore a bright and friendly smile that helped put him at ease.
"I could say the same for you, you don't sound local. And shouldn't you be in school?" The man replied with a grin, causing Reinhard to redden as he realised, he may have to admit his crime. The man glanced down at him for a moment before letting out a hearty laugh.
"Sergeant Oliver Thorn at your service. Formally of the Letzenbourg 2nd light infantry, now recruiting for the His Majesty's volunteer army." The man said bowing his head to the boy. "Or I'm supposed to be at least, this damned country is full of cowards. They won't even let me wear a uniform! They didn't seem so happy about the pamphlets either. Maybe I wasn't the best guy for this job."
The man passed him one of the damp pamphlets, the ink now running due to the water. It had the words: "Will you fight with the Saint?" in large, stylised letters written across the top and a picture of Prince Wilhelm brandishing his sword underneath. Of the rest he could make little out, the water had smudged the print too much, so he stuffed it in his pocket and turned back to the man.
"It's a shame really." The man said wistfully reaching behind his ear for his damp cigarette and putting it in his mouth. "So many more failed God's test."
"God's test?" Reinhard asked becoming increasingly confused by the man's words.
"Yep, all this war is one of his tests. He's finding out who is good and who is evil, see?"
Reinhard did not see; the man wasn't making any sense and the boy found himself staring blankly at him causing him to chuckle.
"Hmm, let's see if I can explain this in a way you'll understand." He said thoughtfully, pausing a moment to phrase his words and fail to light his soaked cigarette. "Any Priest will tell you war is evil right? So obviously anyone who starts a war is evil right?"
The boy nodded, that much made sense at least.
"Legadonia started this war, they tried to take what didn't belong to them so they were evil, and the Empire was right to stand up to them so they must be good. That part is simple enough but that's where the real testing starts to come in. You see the Francois and the Allied Kingdom never had to join the war, they knew the Legadonians were wrong, but both chose to side with them. They failed God's test and sided with evil, so we all have to defeat them so that they can be redeemed."
Reinhard thought about this for a moment, he'd always been told it was the right thing to stand up to bullies, so it made sense that the Empire should stand up to other countries. However, this was all very different to how everything was explained in school and at church. Besides, if they were his bullies he wasn't sure he'd want them to be redeemed.
"The Priests say that killing is wrong." He replied scrunching his face in confusion. It had always puzzled him that there were so many wars if God thought it was wrong.
"I'm no Priest but we soldiers pray plenty and I can tell you that I'm sure he forgives those who fight for self-defence and especially those who offer mercy and redemption to their enemies like the Saint. This war is a holy war son, one that the Lord will reward us for our struggles if we chose the right path."
Reinhard felt a strange stab of anger again at the mention of the Saint but pushed it aside for the moment. He wanted to know more about the strange man's ideas and there was one question that he needed answering.
"What about Letzenbourg? How were we tested?" He said thinking of his father once more. The man's face went sombre for a moment and he leaned down to scratch his leg, stopping himself before he reached his false limb.
"We had the hardest test of all, one we nearly failed." He began with a frown, "At first we did the right thing and joined the Empire, despite how small and weak we were. We did the right thing. Then that traitor Ludwig had us switch sides and almost dragged us into the pits of hell! If not for the Saint's guidance we would have been lost."
Once again Reinhard felt a strange ache in his chest upon hearing about the Saint. It was strange, he used to look up to Prince Wilhelm but since the Lady Captain had tried to tell them the lies about Father, he had found himself having mixed feelings about him. Hearing this man speak so reverently about him made him feel uncomfortable.
"We passed in the end though!" Said the man suddenly perking up, "And now Letzenbourg is greater than ever! The Empire has granted us control of half the lowlands and a decent portion of the Republic. We won't be a small country to be bullied anymore! Hell, the way things are going, the Empire might even crown Prince Wilhelm as the next Emperor! The Letzenbourg Empire! Nice ring to it eh?"
Reinhard didn't have much to say about all that, it was a lot of information to take in but at least it made some sense. Still, it didn't fill the void left inside him and it didn't displace the anger he felt in his blood.
"I'm Reinhard Hausmann by the way." The boy replied awkwardly feeling the need to repay the strange but friendly man the courtesy now that he'd shared so much. "My father is a soldier too. He's a mage with the Prince."
The man's jovial attitude froze again, and he turned back to stare at the boy again with an unreadable expression.
"He didn't happen to be Captain Dietrich Hausmann, did he?" The man asked carefully.
"You know him? I'm waiting for him to come back. He promised he would." Reinhard replied with a mixture of surprise and discomfort at the topic at hand. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about father with a stranger, but the knowledge that the man might know something about him made him unable to keep quiet about it.
"I see." The old sergeant replied sadly "I'm sorry son. He…" The man's voice trailed off and an uncomfortable silence passed between them. Reinhard knew what he was going to say and desperately wanted to deny it, just as he had been for these past few months. He wanted to call the man a liar and drive him away like the policeman had, but deep down he knew he had to face the truth.
"He's not coming home, is he?" Reinhard said quietly feeling the sting of tears return to his eyes.
"I didn't know him in person, but I doubt there's a single person in Letzenbourg that hasn't heard of Dietrich Hausmann." The man whispered softly, "I'm sorry for your loss boy, I really am but know that your father died a hero and a martyr, everyone who was lost to that traitor Ludwig is. They put them all in St Willibrord's church, we're building a memorial to all of them."
Reinhard felt the tears run down his face, his father was really gone. He felt his anger rise up again and closed his eyes as he clenched his fists in resentful frustration. His father had lied to him, he'd promised he would come back! He was going to be a mage and they would fly together, beat the bad guys together!
But he lied.
"It was because of his sacrifice and the words of Prince Wilhelm that we in the city knew we had to rise up against the Francois. The Saint may have asked us not to fight but he had to. We knew we couldn't let their suffering be for nothing and we made sure the Francois paid."
"Prince Wilhelm?" Reinhard spat vehemently unable to bottle up his anger any longer, "Why does everyone love him so much? Even Father liked him more than he did me!"
The man seemed surprised by the boy's statement and stared at him in silence for a few moments. Meanwhile, Reinhard felt his tears run freely down his cheeks and sobbed audibly as all the repressed feelings billowed out of him.
"Do you really believe that?" The man eventually asked quietly.
"He spent all his time with Prince Wilhelm and sent me and mother away to this place! He obviously wanted to spend time with him instead of me and mother!"
The man let out a long sigh before discarding the still unlit cigarette in his mouth. He carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out a fresh packet, frowning as he saw the battered condition of his favoured vice.
"I'd be lying if I said most of us soldiers don't love the Saint." He said eventually "He has a way of getting people to follow him."
He paused for a moment as he considered his next words.
"Even now, just knowing that he's in the south fighting for our future puts a fire in my belly but…" His tone shifted and a look of great sadness crossed the man's face. "We also hate him; despise him so very much. And the Argent for that matter."
Reinhard looked up through the tears and glared at the man. He was obviously lying; everyone loved the Saint and the Argent. They were heroes! He was trying to trick him; he was certain of it.
"Most soldiers would never admit it, but they make us feel ashamed of ourselves. They're so young, they should be out playing or be at school, not in a warzone. That they need to fight at all shows us how close we came to failing God. We hate them because they show us what failures we are as human beings, they show us how much we have sinned. That's why we have to do everything to help win this war. It's the only way we can clear our consciences."
The man paused and the rain began to stop as the sun tried to break through the clouds.
"The fact you are safe here in Waldstätte proves your father loved you more than the Prince. Just knowing the Saint is out fighting for us, refusing to return until the war is over is tortuous. I can only imagine how bad it was for your father to see him and be by his side. Your father sent you here so you'd be free from the war, so you wouldn't be like him."
"Then why did he stay with him?" Asked Reinhard through bleary eyes. "Why didn't he just come home to me and Mama?"
"The same reason the rest of us fight, we can't bring ourselves to let the Saint fight alone."
September 12th Unified Year 1925 09:00
Gyption Western Desert, 60 miles from Iskandria, near the town of Alealmayn
It seemed that every soldier amongst the Commonwealth forces had frozen in place when the command centre fell silent. Every pair of eyes stared in amazed horror as they saw the column of smoke rise up from the former location of their commanding officers, every man found themselves unable to move or react to the sudden change in their fortune.
Every man aside from Lieutenant General Horatio Ketchiner.
"Stand to and hold your positions!" The man's bellow cut through the noise of the battlefield as though they were commands from God himself.
"You and you! You're now part of my command staff, get whatever equipment you can together and put them on my Jeep." The soldiers saluted quickly before abandoning their machine gun and leaving to commandeer some radio equipment. "You! Get in contact with the remaining units and tell them I want a situation report. All of you, get moving. Now!"
Ketcherner orders were obeyed without question, each soldier rushing to fulfil the man's commands. Perhaps they were simply clinging to the slim piece of comfort the chain of command provided but it didn't matter to Ketchener, as long as these men obeyed, they would fight. They would be victorious!
Ketchener had been out visiting the Indus soldiers when the command centre had been attacked. He'd stationed them between the front and the command post in the hopes of using them as a reserve, but he had been concerned about how well they might perform in such a role. He had assumed these young farmers would need the most encouragement for the upcoming battle, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that they recovered from the shock quicker than most. They had even managed to persuade some of the neighbouring Gyption and Nova Australian units to stand fast and hold the line as they hastily reassembled some semblance of organisation amongst their forces.
He was proud of these brave boys from the Raj, their steadfast attitude was precisely what they needed now. They reminded him of the Irish Fusiliers back when he led them in defence of the Suez against Magna Rumeli in 1886. Inexperienced but with enough spirit to take on the world.
Their hasty return to operational strength and resolute attitude meant that they now made the backbone of his new impromptu command staff. Despite the lack of equipment and experience, they were already proving to be infinitely better than the defeatist bureaucrats he had left in the command centre. God rest their souls.
Both the commander of the Allied Raj 12th frontier force and many of his men had a decent grasp of Albish, enough to get simple messages across at least. Meanwhile, Ketchener knew enough Gyption that between them they could manage to communicate well enough with most of the task force. Although Ketchener usually found if he shouted loud enough the job would get done eventually anyway. Now they just needed to re-establish contact with Bastine out on the front, once they did, they should be able to get things stabilised again.
"Sir, we can't find enough spare radio equipment to get the messages out." A Nova Australian private reported with the nervous salute any young soldier carries when he's the bearer of bad news.
"Well send runners man! Keep the radios for the units further afield and use your legs for the closer ones! And someone get me in contact with Bastine on the double!" The old General yelled, doing his best to keep a grin from his face as he saw the soldiers scurry off once again.
Ketchener felt younger and more alive than he had in decades. This was where he was supposed to be, how he was supposed to be serving his country. Not as some political figurehead, but as a soldier – a leader! By robbing him of the command centre the enemy had freed him from his shackles, he could now prosecute this battle in the way he was most accustomed, without the dithering and complaints of his staff officers.
However, they had suffered a blow and had been partially blinded by the enemy surprise attack. Ketchener had no choice but to fight this battle the old-fashioned way, using the experience and tricks he'd picked up over a lifetime of service. He would not rely on scattered and unreliable reports, he would not rely on charts and figures. This battle would be fought in his mind's eye as he predicted his enemy's next move and his best way to counter it.
"Sir, report about the group that attacked the command post." One of the Raj officers announced. "Mages, company strength, they are moving off to harass our rear lines."
Mages he thought with a were not something that he ever really needed to worry about in his younger days. Before the invention of the portable computation orb, mages needed a great deal of equipment to manifest spells. They used to be used with artillery or be attached at command level to provide extra support with detection. Now they had mobility, they were a deadly weapon all by themselves.
But despite their power, they weren't invincible.
"What do we have unengaged in the area? How much anti-air?" Ketchener asked, it wouldn't do to let these mages run free behind the lines. Besides, they clearly hadn't yet realised that their attempt to shatter the chain of command amongst the Commonwealth forces had been unsuccessful.
Now was the ideal time to punish them for their transgressions.
"Elements of the Gyption 9th and 10th Infantry along with the Nova Australian 5th. All the anti-air support." The man replied before frowning. "Sir, there are reports that one of the mages is broadcasting something… the Australians say it's a call to surrender."
"The damned Saint." Ketchener hissed through gritted teeth. The boy was well known for his ability to sap the morale of those he engaged, it seemed that Romel had dropped one of his aces at his back to try and hasten the collapse of the lines. It wouldn't help him this time though, the Saint couldn't demoralise troops that couldn't understand him.
"We'll have the Gyption units move in and surround them, tell them to throw up a wall of lead in the air to keep them at bay. Have the Nova troops pull back for now."
The Saint was known to be a caring soul. If he offered mercy to his enemies, he wouldn't risk his own troops on a suicidal charge. Ketchener felt certain the young prince would surrender as soon as it became clear his situation was hopeless. It had been a brave gamble though; he would have to invite the boy to dinner once the enemy was repelled and he was safely incarcerated.
Before long, more radio equipment was brought in and placed unceremoniously around his jeep while out of breath messengers appeared and reappeared with information from the closer units. The little vehicle soon began to resemble a proper command post as soldiers fashioned some tables and a makeshift shelter from nearby scrap. Slowly but surely, they were regaining a picture of what was going on.
"Scarab command! Anyone! Do you read me? Is there anyone left alive?" A familiar voice yelled as one of the reclaimed radios screeched into life.
"Finally," Ketchener said to himself as he snatched the Radio receiver from the startled operator. "Bastine this is Ketchener I need a report from the front."
"General? Your alive?" The man replied with a mix of relief and disbelief. "But the command po…"
"Never mind that now! Your report! Tell me they haven't broken through yet!"
"Not yet sir but we're close to breaking. The Devil is wreaking havoc here, I've lost almost a third of my mages already, not to mention the ground forces. Romel is about to hit us with the main force and I'm not certain we can hold out once they hit." The Lieutenant colonel replied urgently. "We need any help you can send us General."
Ketchener glanced at a map placed down by an enterprising Lieutenant while listening to the flow of information he was being given by the surrounding soldiers. He closed his eyes for a moment and envisioned the movements of his forces as a plan began to form in his mind.
"Bastine, please confirm that the enemy is focusing their primary strength on your position." He asked calmly, not even opening his eyes.
"Yes sir, we need to sure up the line or…"
"I'm sending the Nova Australian 5th and whatever other reserves I can spare for you." He declared, opening his eyes and nodding to a nearby officer to see that his will was carried out. "Hold that position Colonel, you have authority to take whatever steps necessary. Just give me time."
Ketchener passed the receiver back to the soldier trusting that Bastine would carry out his orders. He closed his eyes once again and took a deep breath as he envisioned his army and their positions.
There was an old maxim about not interrupting your enemy while making a mistake and this upstart Romel had just made one. His intentions were obvious, smash a hole in the lines while the command was disrupted, then isolate and destroy each pocket until the army routed. However, when surrounding units, it is imperative that you do not find yourself surrounded instead.
As long as Bastine could hold, they could exploit that and bring about victory.
"Peel back anything we can spare from the flanks and have them move and envelope the enemy." He ordered allowing his lips to curl into a grin, he would have his last victory, he would show his detractors in Londinium he wasn't a has-been. But most of all, he would maintain his honour while doing it.
"Once they are in place, we will offer the enemy the chance to surrender. Call Iskandria and tell them to make space for prisoners."
September 12th Unified Year 1925 11:00
Gyption Western Desert, 60 miles from Iskandria, near the town of Alealmayn, behind Commonwealth lines
"Damnit!" Wilhelm hissed with frustration as he snapped off a few shots from his pistol before ducking back behind the cover of the smouldering remains of an overturned truck. "She'll never let me hear the end of this."
He didn't expect to hit anything with the sporadic fire. The air was filled with too much dust and smoke from the explosion making it almost impossible to aim at through the fog of war. However, he hoped that adding a little suppressing fire might help deter any further enemy reinforcements from breaking ground and assaulting their position. If they were lucky, they might even fall back and give them some breathing room.
Unfortunately, and typical of his run of recent luck, this hope was quickly dashed as a flurry of equally inaccurate rifle fire revealed the presence of another squad of Commonwealth soldiers hiding amongst the smog. A few bullets pinged off the metal shell of the truck, indicating that they must be close enough to at least make out his silhouette peeking out of the cover despite the thick smoke.
They were closing in, they'd be coming for them soon.
"I can hear her now. You shouldn't have gone back; you should have pushed on to the secondary objective and regrouped with the rest of the battalion." He muttered to himself, imitating the girl who would doubtlessly give him an ear full when this was all over.
The worst part was, she'd be right.
It seemed that the run of bad luck that had been plaguing him since Letzenbourg had followed him onto this new continent. His plan to strike a decisive blow against the enemy and cause them to flee had failed, just as every other scheme had failed since the botched coup back home. Once again, he was on the back foot, trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
"Things never seem to go smoothly anymore." He grumbled to himself, firing off a few more rounds in defiance. This was a far cry away from the perfectly crafted plan that had first placed him and Tanya together on the Rhine. Although at least he hadn't been shot so far.
At first, things had appeared to be going according to plan. As Tanya and Romel began their attack, Will and the close combat company had taken to the air and assaulted the enemy command centre. He'd ordered a barrage that had quickly destroyed it while the few units guarding the approach from the Qattara Depression were left in confusion as they tried to figure out where this new threat had come from.
The first phase had gone off without a hitch.
He'd ridden this wave of surprise and had ordered his troops to push on to cause some havoc behind the enemy lines. As distasteful as gunning down fleeing and panicking enemies was, it was an ideal way to harvest some of the souls the monster demanded. It would also help hasten the collapse of the front once they knew that the enemy was already behind them.
However, it soon became apparent that something was very wrong.
He hadn't expected the enemy to collapse immediately of course. It took time for order to break down and the news of the command centre's destruction wouldn't reach the front lines immediately. However, without someone overseeing the battle, it should have been almost impossible for the enemy to react to the ebb and flow of the conflict.
They would be unable to see where to reinforce and where to manoeuvre to counter incoming assaults. Panic would set in as soldiers waited for some instruction from their commanders, orders that would never come. The silence from command would soon have them a hair's breadth away from fleeing the field and it would only take a small push to make them break.
Romel should have been able to take advantage of this situation with ease and Will had expected his forces to begin breaking through the enemy lines without delay. However, this hadn't happened. Although the enemy were noticeably slower to react to each new threat, it quickly became apparent that the Commonwealth forces were still operating in concert and the expected drop in morale had not manifested itself.
Someone was still in control.
Will and the close combat company had soon found themselves facing heavy resistance as multiple enemy units converging on them. This commander had even peeled off a portion of the anti-air guns from the flanks and redirected towards them. Meanwhile, messages from both Tanya and Romel had confirmed that resistance was still strong at the front line. They had yet to break through and it was clear that the enemy had not lost their ability to coordinate their defence.
Will must have missed something; enough equipment and officers must have survived the blast at the command centre for the Commonwealth to mount a swift counterattack. The situation was dire, while they still maintained their command structure, Tanya and Romel would be unable to break through their lines and all of them would eventually be overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers.
Everything was going wrong.
It was the monster's fault, he was sure of it. Those dreams had been the reason for his confidence, they had given him the idea for this plan, and he had felt certain that it would succeed. He should have listened to his unease about the source of this confidence. The whole affair had been doomed from the start, the dreams were simply another trick, a way for the evil deity to rob something more from him.
The failed assault rekindled the memory of a poem that he'd studied back when Christina had first become his governess. Into the valley of death rode the six hundred. They did not number so many but much like the soldiers in the poem, they were surrounded by cannon or at least anti-air and heavy machine guns. Stormed at with shot and shell.
The poem had not ended well for its subjects. Perhaps they too had fallen foul of God, maybe they owed that vile creature something too.
Will began to feel panic bubble up within him as he thought what the villainous deity might try to take from him this time. The monster had already taken Hausmann from him, who would be next? Tanya? Sophia? Christina? The creature could target any one of them, perhaps all of them in its quest to take away the happiness he deserved. He couldn't let that happen, he refused to allow it.
It had been that fear that had driven him back towards the site of the former enemy command centre. They had to finish what they started, or Will's failure might destroy the task force.
It had been an ill-conceived idea and a foolish mistake. There was nothing left amongst the burning mess of the enemy command post, how could there be? Without permanent fortifications, a barrage from a company of mages was easily enough to wipe them off the map. There were no signs of survivors or useable equipment at the site. There were scarcely even any bodies amongst the wreckage, most had been vaporised by the explosion or burnt to a crisp by the flames.
He'd squandered the initiative and the element of surprise while wasting one of warfare's most precious commodities. Time.
The enemy commander did not make the same mistake and quickly moved whatever unengaged forces he had close by to surround the close combat company. Will's decision to return had trapped them and they were now besieged on all sides by infantry divisions backed up with anti-aircraft guns to keep them out of the skies. They'd already lost two in their first attempt to break out, the anti-air fire forcing them back to the ground when they attempted to gain some altitude.
The weight of fire had forced them to take cover amongst the smoking wreckage while they regrouped and came up with a new plan. They'd been subjected to sporadic attacks since then, the enemy was clearly testing their strength as they prepared for a full assault. It was only the poor visibility amongst the smoke and the sparse cover provided by the debris that caused the enemy to pause at all. Without it, they would have likely been wiped out already. Will's mistake had put them in a desperate position, as soon as the enemy came at them in full force, they would be done for.
A yell from the smog interrupted Will's mental self-flagellation. He glanced out from his cover; flinching as a burst of shots lit up his shield from a squad of Commonwealth soldiers who were charging at him through the soot.
"Incoming enemy, north side." He shouted as he raised his weapon once again, unsure if anyone had heard his report over the noise of the battle, before adding more fire into the chaos. Two soldiers fell as his shots hit home, their heads erupting in a splash of gore and ichor as the magically enhanced bullet passed through their skulls.
Will swung his aim around to target a third as the enemy began returning fire. His shield started to waver as the enemy closed and their fire converged on him, becoming more accurate now they were close enough to see through the smoke. He squeezed the trigger once again but instead of a gunshot, he was greeted with a soft click.
"Damn." He muttered raising his sword, he wouldn't have time to reload before the enemy arrived. It would be dangerous to leave cover, but it would be worse to let them overrun their defensive position. He prepared to charge, hoping his shield would hold long enough for him to drive off the enemy.
"My Prince! Get Down!" A familiar voice called from behind. Will obeyed without thinking, turning to watch as Sophia raised her twin pistols at the approaching soldiers. He felt a surge of mana from her as she fired off several shots into the crowd and glanced out from his cover to see several small explosions erupt amongst them.
The air filled with screams as bodies flew in every direction; scattered like tumbling rocks in a landslide. Soon after he made out more panicked shouting, that he recognised as a call to fall back. The urgency of the call making the message clear, even if he couldn't understand the Gyption language.
He glanced back to Sophia and nodded in thanks as he breathed a sigh of relief. She returned it with a slight smile, opening her mouth as if to speak but they were soon interrupted by another call warning of another attack from the east.
"Sir, I'll go to reinforce." She stated reloading her weapons before disappearing into the smog as quickly as she had appeared. "I'll give you time to get us out of this."
Will frowned as he began reloading his own pistol, feeling slightly nauseous from the pressure of what was expected of him. It was clear they couldn't stay here much longer but what should they do?
Ideally, he would like to push out and attempt to regroup with Tanya and the 203rd, perhaps they could manage an impromptu pincer assault that could help with the breakthrough attempt. However, that would be easier said than done and smacked of the same sort of hubris that had led to the end of the soldiers in the poem.
The smoke that protected them and hid their presence was a double-edged sword. Although it currently shielded them from much of the enemy fire, it also prevented them from seeing where their greatest threats were. After the last attempt, it was obvious that they couldn't risk taking to the air to survey the situation, they'd be ripped to shreds by the weight of fire. Any breakout via the sky would have them suffer the same fate and even if they managed to escape it was difficult to tell what direction they should even head in order to try to regroup with the main force.
"Sir. Incoming attacks from the south and west, the enemy is getting more coordinated, we need to get out of here soon." Christina reported across the radio. "What are your orders?"
What are my orders? What should I do? He thought biting his lip with frustration. He wasn't thinking straight, the shock of how disastrous this operation was going had robbed him of his ability to think clearly.
A small part of him considered surrender for a moment, it would ensure the safety of Christina and Sophia at least. No, he couldn't do that; surrender would mean leaving Tanya and the 203rd to their fate in exchange for their own survival. That was precisely the sort of thing the monster would want him to do. He wasn't willing to trade with the monster for the safety of any of those he cared about.
Besides, if he surrendered, he might end up out of the fighting and then he would lose everything to the creature's debt. There had to be a way out of this, one where he could keep everything.
What would she do? He thought taking a deep breath to calm himself.
The simple answer was that she wouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place, but that train of thought was hardly productive. Instead, he focused on what he had available; the strengths of him and his company and how Tanya might use them.
He still had the reputation of the Saint, however his usually effective morale damaging broadcasts had been having limited success. He was uncertain whether this was due to his fame being less widespread outside of mainland Europa or simply the language barrier. He was fairly good at Albish but aside from a little Rumelli, he knew little that he could use to convince the Gyption soldiers to flee. Regardless, it was clear that the Saint's influence would not turn the tide of this battle.
That left the specialisation of the company itself. Even Tanya admitted it had its uses.
When he'd been in command of a full battalion, he had wielded it like his sabre. He swung with full force at the enemy so that it would cause as much damage as possible before thrusting deep into the enemy ranks. Armies had adapted to the idea of shooting at each other over long distances, this meant charging them was often dangerous and casualties were almost guaranteed. However, once you got in close, the enemy rarely knew how to counter, and the enhanced speed and strength of a mage made them all but invulnerable to anything but another mage in melee.
This tactic had always worked in the past, hence why his unit had often been used to break open a hole in the enemy lines. Unfortunately, now he only had a single company. He couldn't afford to take too many casualties; every loss made them incrementally weaker. They'd already lost two members in the fighting; much more and they would no longer be an effective fighting force.
His eyes were drawn down to the blade in his hand a thought began to ferment in his mind. A sabre wasn't the only type of sword used in fencing. A rapier was smaller and lighter, used almost exclusively to lunge and strike at the heart of the enemy. Its sharp point was designed to bite deep into the flesh and cause the foe to bleed out with devastating speed. This was how he should be using his company.
He laughed as he realised Tanya had already told him this in her own way, she'd seen how to get the most out of his troops when she'd written that report on his tactics. Without thinking he'd used his company as he had his battalion, Tanya would doubtlessly be even more furious with him when she found out he'd ignored the advice.
Still, there was no use dwelling on mistakes, it was time to take the initiative.
The enemy had parried his first blow, now he needed to counter, to lunge and strike while his foe believed themselves to have the advantage. This time the attack would be highly focused like the point of a rapier, but where should he strike?
It was often said that it was wisest to attack where the enemy is weakest; although he couldn't deny this fact, he wasn't sure it would work in this scenario. Their attack had come to a halt both here and at the front, until whoever was coordinating the commonwealth response was neutralised, this was likely to remain. Their primary objective hadn't changed, they had to deal with the enemy commander in the field and Will had a feeling where he might be.
They would attack where the enemy was strongest, even if the enemy commander was not amongst this group, it would cause him a distraction that the main force could take advantage of. If his tactic worked the enemy numbers wouldn't matter, they wouldn't be able to bring their superior firepower to bear against them. The point of his sword of mages would bite deep into the enemy's chest and if they were lucky, they would pierce the heart.
He chuckled to himself as he realised, he was adopting the same doomed tactic from the poem that had been plaguing his thoughts. Unfortunately, it seemed like the best course of action if he were to win even if it was a desperate roll of the dice.
He glanced back into the sea of smoke, sand and corpses and a flash of blue, white and red caught his eye. It was the flag of the Allied Kingdom or at least the ensign of whatever part of the Commonwealth these troops were from. The sight brought a small smile to his face as he realised something very important about the poem that he had missed.
Albion had lost that one.
"Disengage and form up on me in close formation." He sent, trusting his troops to follow his orders without question. They soon complied and joined him behind the enemy truck, now it was simply a case of deciding which way to assault. They'd had the most resistance from the south-west, that seemed the logical place to start.
"We're going in fast, close and at ground level." He explained quickly meeting the eyes of each of the soldiers around him. "Stay together and don't let them bog you down. I want you each to angle your shields in different directions, we'll trust each other to cover our backs."
With limited numbers came limited strength, however, if they used it properly it would be greater than the sum of its parts. If they only focused their shields in one direction each, the barriers would be strong enough to shrug off all but the most powerful weaponry the enemy had on the ground. The risk was that it left them exposed in other directions. However, as long as each member of the company directed their shields in different directions, it should cover the weakened flanks of each individual. Once they were amongst the enemy, they could revert to normal shielding and focus on the butcher's work.
He looked again at the faces of those around him, from the grim determination of Christina and Sophia to the nervous but trusting gaze of Corporal Litz. This wasn't going to be easy, he felt like he should say a few words.
"I trust that every one of you will protect my back." He began truthfully meeting the gazes of his remaining troops. "I hope you trust that I will lead you through this.
He turned, staring out at the smoke once again and his mind turned to a different piece of Albish literature. He raised his sword and pointed through the smog towards the enemy, pouring a portion of mana into his flight boots to raise him a few inches from the ground.
"Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more." He began, unable to keep a smile off his face as he relished the irony of the subject before uttering the second line more quietly to himself. "Or close up the wall with their Albish dead."
September 12th Unified Year 1925 11:00
Gyption Western Desert, 60 miles from Iskandria, near the town of Alealmayn, Commonwealth outermost defence line
"02 to 01, Major, we're under heavy fire and resistance is far stronger than expected. Suggest we withdraw and regroup with the General." Called Weiss as the hail of lead and smoke filled the air around them.
Tanya would have loved to oblige her subordinate, right now she would prefer to be as far away from here as possible, but she knew she couldn't order a withdraw without good reason. General von Romel had begun moving his forces closer to hit this portion of the line with the spearhead, he was relying on her and her battalion to weaken the line enough for him to breakthrough. Failure could mean the destruction of the task force, or worse demotion, disgrace and a permanent position in the worst parts of the organisation.
"Denied! We've all suffered far worse than this on the Rhine Captain Weiss." She shouted angrily, trying her best to sound convincing with the half-truth. "I expect you all to do your jobs!"
It was true they had suffered worse on the Rhine but even she had to admit that it was scant comfort. The amount of fire they were taking reminded her of the delaying action they had performed for operation Fog and Sun. Although at during that time they had been closer to friendly lines when the time came to withdraw.
Right now, they had nowhere to run even if they wanted to.
If they pulled out, they'd have the Commonwealth guns at their back all the way back to Illdoan Libya. Besides although the General had given her relative freedom with the use of her battalion, she was sure he wouldn't appreciate seeing her troops falling back right when he decided to commit his main force. That was precisely the sort of action that would end in a court marshal and Tanya was not keen on the possibility of standing in front of a firing squad.
Unfortunately, the Commonwealth international forces were proving to be tougher than anyone had expected. Wilhelm had reported that his attack on the command post had been successful and the tower of smoke originating behind the lines showed he had caused some damage. However, as she had feared, this time the decapitation strike had not been enough to disrupt the enemy.
It appeared they had learned from the mistakes of their Francois allies during Operation Revolving Door. Hardly surprising considering how much the Allied Kingdom had been meddling before they joined the war. Perhaps they had spread their command team across the whole force to prevent a complete collapse of organisation? Regardless, it seemed that cutting off the head was no longer an effective option when dealing with the enemy.
Machine gun fire echoed around her and the sky filled with munitions once again. For a nation renowned for seaborn their prowess, the Allied kingdom and their Commonwealth allies were putting up quite the fight on land. It was understandable why General von Romel had wanted to deal with this threat first. It was almost depressing, no matter who won this battle, more promising human capital would be wasted. She had to do her utmost to make sure she wasn't among them.
The enemy had been hitting them hard with a combination of heavy fire from the ground while their mages harassed them at a distance. Both making themselves a serious threat and dividing their attention as they closed on their objectives. Additionally, the Allied Kingdom had plenty of anti-air, artillery and anti-tank spread across their lines meaning Tanya hadn't been able to target the threats to the main force as effectively as she would have liked.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm's harassment attack behind enemy lines had not been as effective as they might have hoped. Contact with him had been sporadic since the assault began but it seemed he was having just as much trouble as she was. Rather than drawing the enemy away from the front, he had been surrounded by some of the enemy reserves and had been forced to take cover. If they didn't break through soon, it looked like the brat would end up captured or dead.
No, not captured, that idiot would probably fight to the death. She thought feeling inexplicably uncomfortable as she thought about his possible loss. It felt the same as when she'd seen Visha's orb overload on the Rhine watched her fall towards the ground. It was a growing feeling of dread as the thought that Wilhelm might not make it out of this mess.
She gritted her teeth with frustration as she thought about how badly things were going. Their spearhead attack had been blunted before it had even hit and as the tip of that spear, she would likely be blamed for the failure. Worse still as Wilhelm's keeper, she would have to explain to the High command how she allowed the Emperor's favourite nephew to be lost to the enemy.
She felt another twinge of panic as she imagined the idiot being gunned down as he attempted some foolhardy charge at the enemy. As skilled in combat as he was, he wasn't the strongest of mages, he'd be gunned down eventually.
I should never have allowed him to go on this foolish mission. She thought with a heavy sigh, annoyed at herself for letting him irritate her enough to approve his participation.
They needed to break through somehow, she needed to get him out and keep him close by from now on. His continued survival was integral to the future of her career! Yes, that was it, that must have been the source of this unusual source of concern for him.
She considered the type 95, it would surely be enough to punch a hole in the enemy lines. However, she wasn't willing to risk the mental corruption. If she used it, it was entirely possible that she might lose all memory of the rest of the battle, maybe even the next few days! It had happened in the mountains during the training of the 203rd, who knew what being X might force her to do or say.
No, I'm not willing to risk it. Not yet at least. She thought, surveying the battlefield as she prepared to give her orders.
"02 take Second company and try to keep the mages off our back. 04 your company is to target the anti-air positions. The rest of you follow me and take out the anti-tank and artillery. I want to roll out the red carpet for the general." She ordered steeling herself for a hard fight ahead.
Weiss and Koenig would have the harder time in this assault, the mages and anti-air cannons were the most likely sources of damage. However, one company on each threat would only distract some of the enemy, the rest of them would still come under heavy fire. She would like to assign more to each, but they needed as much firepower as possible to support Romel's breakthrough attempt.
"Yes ma'am." Came the chorus of confirmations of her troops, as expected they could be relied upon to follow her orders without question or argument.
Weiss and his company broke off and moved to intercept a group of incoming mages, the latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of attacks that the Commonwealth commander was able to accomplish. Meanwhile, Koenig's company dropped below the rest of the battalion and began picking out their targets as the anti-air fire turned to meet them.
Tanya sensed the remaining companies form up on her and she increased speed as she descended towards one of the fortified positions. She felt several surges in mana as the soldiers around her picked their targets and began preparing to fire their explosive formula's. She felt a twinge of pride as she did the same, her troops were competent enough to anticipate her wishes without waiting for orders. She'd trained them well.
"Fire!" She ordered, smiling as she saw the devastation her troops wrought upon the enemy.
Her good humour was short-lived however as a fresh hail of fire peppered her shield from the troops below causing her to bank and turn away. Suddenly a second set of shots struck Visha's barrier beside her and Tanya looked forward to seeing a partially diminished company of mages heading straight for them, firing as they closed.
She cursed, bringing her weapon around as she ordered her company to fire on the new threat. As she'd feared, Weiss had been unable to tie up all of the mages and she had now been caught as they tried to recover from their attack run. She squeezed the trigger hard, letting loose a flurry of shots into the approaching mages while pouring as much mana into her weapon as possible.
She was rewarded with the sight of two of the enemies falling to the ground while another fell to the fire of one of her comrades. Unnerved by this, the enemy turned and ran back as a second flurry of fire attempted to cover their escape. Tanya considered giving chase; these mages were causing her too many problems to be ignored for much longer, but her thoughts were interrupted by a blood-curdling scream from one of her troops below.
"Report, what was that?" She called urgently as she guided her troops upwards into the cover of a cloudbank. It wasn't much but it would give them a little break from the punishing torrent of fire, at least until the enemy sent their mages to smoke them out.
"Major, this is Corporal Mann. It's Lieutenant Koenig, he's been hit!"
"I'm fine, I can still fight." Koenig replied, voice strained with the effort of hiding the pain.
Once they were hidden in the clouds, Tanya called a halt and levitated over to her injured subordinate. He was supported by Corporal Mann, who also held his battered rifle while Koenig winced in obvious pain as he cradled one of his arms close to his chest.
As Tanya approached, she saw that little if any of the man's hand remained. It had been blown apart, leaving little more than some exposed bone hanging from a few threads attached to the bloody stump. Meanwhile, blood was flowing freely from what little flesh remained and Koenig had turned a deathly pallor. He looked as though he were struggling to remain conscious and it was nothing short of miraculous that he was able to contribute anything towards helping Mann keep them in the air.
The sight made Tanya feel slightly nauseous but more than that it filled her with a cold rage. How could this happen? Koenig was one of her best! One of her most precious human resources!
"I'm sorry Major, I must have gotten careless and been clipped by one of the AA rounds." He breathed, grimacing in pain as the Corporal began dressing his wounds.
Tanya felt her fist close with instinctive anger. She knew Koenig well enough to know that he was not prone to carelessness, he was amongst the most professional of her team, so she knew this injury was no fault of his. Her troops were tired, and the desert heat was sapping their strength, it was hardly surprising that the number of munitions that the Commonwealth was throwing at them was beginning to take its toll on them. Although that knowledge did nothing to calm her simmering rage.
"Corporal, finish dressing his wounds and get the Lieutenant out of here." Tanya ordered unable to hide the anger she felt of losing one of the top members of her team.
"Major, please! I can still fight!" Koenig pleaded desperately.
"How? You can't even hold a rifle!" Tanya snapped harshly as her eyes darted to his damaged hand. It was clear that this injury would likely mean the end of Koenig's career, at least as a front-line officer.
"You are ordered to get to the nearest medical station First Lieutenant. I can't afford you weighing us down!"
Tanya saw the man's face drop and his shoulders slump as he whispered a pained acknowledgement before she turned away and floated upward to meet the rest of her senior officers.
How dare they? She thought, shaking slightly as she cursed the Commonwealth gunners that damaged one of her finest resources. Her fingers clenched into a fist and her jaw set as she ground her teeth together with frustration. How dare those Commonwealth bastards do this to me? They shouldn't even be in this war!
"Major, are you ok?" Visha asked tapping her gently on the shoulder, gazing at her with a look of concern. Tanya felt herself calm slightly, seeing her adjutant's worried eyes bore into her. She opened her mouth to reply but they were soon interrupted again.
"Commander!" Called Wiess from above. "The enemy are on the move; you might want to take a look at this."
Once again, her deputy was proving how indispensable he could be. While she had been dealing with the stricken Koenig, he had taken it upon himself to check the overall situation below and was gazing around the battlefield intently.
Tanya grabbed her binoculars as she moved to join him and gazed down towards where Weiss was had indicated. What she saw wasn't good, further reinforcements had almost reached the line, almost undoing the damage they had inflicted upon the enemy. Meanwhile, more enemy troops were moving forward to flank General von Romel's task force. He had already committed, trusting that she would breakthrough for him but soon he would be the one that was surrounded.
This was a disaster.
Tanya clenched her fists with barely controlled rage. This battle might be the end of everything! She'd already lost a precious human resource without anything to show for it, how many more could she afford to lose? It was clear Wilhelm would be lost if they failed and that would mean the end of her career or at least an end to any chance of a comfortable position in the rear. She couldn't let that happen, she had only one choice left.
Tanya reached to her neck and switched her computation orb. She immediately felt the immense but unstable power fill her body as she raised her weapon and aimed directly reinforcements moving towards the front line. She felt her mind turn hazy as she struggled against the vile relic and felt bile rise up inside her as she heard her voice begin mouthing words she did not wish to speak.
"Dear Lord, I pray that You give me the same strength declared in Your Word." She began feeling her sense of self slipping away as hey type 95 stripped it away from her. "When I am weak, it is You who gives me power, and when I have no might, You increase my strength! I pray that I lean not on my own human ability, but instead find strength in Your supernatural never-ending strength and love."
As the final syllables fell from her lips, she squeezed the trigger, and everything went blank.
Author's notes
Hello everyone and as always, thank you for reading.
I apologise again for the delay in getting these chapters out (I'm doing that a lot lately). I'd like to say I have a good excuse but in reality, it's because I keep getting stuck.
I always planned to expand on the southern campaign as it isn't fleshed out too much in the canon. However, aside from a few key parts of Will's storyline, I never really planned out exactly what would happen and I'm suffering the consequences because of it. I had hoped the muse would favour me but instead, this has turned into a little bit of a slog. Hopefully, the quality isn't affected too much by this.
I still plan on forcing my way through this though as I really want to eventually finish this story. It has also made me realise that I will have to plan out a few other bits better in future so hopefully, it will all be for the best.
A few other notes:
Reinhard mistakenly blames Francois for the war rather than Legadonia (partly because Letzenbourg didn't enter until the war until they did).
I was originally going to mention Notre dame cathedral in Letzenbourg but I didn't want to cause confusion as the famous one that everyone knows is the one in Paris (Parisii) so I changed it to St Willibrord's church (which is where Damian grew up).
Koenig doesn't have his hand blown off in the canon (spoilers?). However, he and Neumann aren't mentioned much in the LN after the 203rd is formed and they don't feature much in the movie either and I needed someone to be injured. Fear not though if you are a fan of his (despite him being possibly the blandest character in the franchise) I have plans for him in the future.
Thank you again for reading, reviewing and the favourites.
Xanen