Western Front/ Champagne/ German sector/ January 4th/ 1917
"Attack"
That was the first word that came out of Colonel Kampf's mouth. Colonel Kluge couldn't believe what he just heard.
Attack. He was suggesting an attack across the entire front to drive these things back. Was he insane.
"Sir we should probably just withdraw from the Champagne front entirely and fortify behind it-" Kluge suggested only to be interrupted.
"No. Do you hear yourself. Abandoning Champagne punches and hole across the entire western front. Champagne falls then Germanies southwestern border is exposed to an invasion. What then. Let them take Strasburg, Mulhouse, Munich. NO! Even if we retreat like you cowards are suggestion we will go down in history as impudent brats who were willing to let Hell spawn into German soil. We need to contain the threat if not eliminate it here. I don't care if Mashal Hindenburg doesn't believe the gravity of the situation and thinks our reports are lunacy. On the 7th we attack. All remaining artillery batteries are to begin an 8-hour bombardment of the creatures' positions. Tomorrow, I want any and all canasters of Phosgene, Chlorine, and mustard gas to be released to by us time to scramble our forces together." Colonel Kampf said cooly and with passion.
Kluge and the other staff officers looked at the Colonel with disbelief.
"And who put you in charge." One of the staff officers asked the Colonel.
"The chain of command. The prince is dead, the Generals are dead making me now have to take the mantle in leading the defense. Well offense against these insects/pony hell spawn." Colonel Kampf said with an annoyed tone as he stared at the stared officer that dared to question his orders.
Kluge gently took out the stack of papers he was holding and read them before saying.
"The 8th and 9th Storm trooper Division are fresh and ready for this offensive of yours. They have yet to see combat and are currently the only non-exhausted forces at our disposal." Kluge said adjusting his glasses and reading over the papers which contained the current strength of each and every unit in the Champagne sector.
"I want those units ready for the assault by the 7th as planned. How many gas canasters and shells do we have at our current disposal." Kampf asked Kluge.
"50 Canasters and 289 shells." Kluge said. "They wouldn't have the effect you would hope for if spread out across a large front due to the lack of gas ordinances we have. It would only briefly delay the enemy advance if they were affected by it at all." Kluge said reading through the papers that contained the armies' current ordnances.
"Well even so these creatures aren't just mindless beasts. They have some sense of sapience considering they performed some very basic military maneuvers as we've seen as well as being able to wear armor. I doubt that armor simply comes with their anatomy." Colonel Kampf said as he swept his right hand across the dusty map showing the Champagne region.
"The armor proves they have some level of intelligence. They made that armor or stole it from something from wherever hole they crawled out of. If these are the servants of the fly lord Beelzebub as rumored, then it would make perfect sense for them to have some intelligence. The bible or other holy texts has never stated that the servants of hell are mindless abominations. They are cunning, witty, and manipulative." Kampf continues before turning to face his staff officers and Kluge.
"These creatures will only have power over us as long as we truly fear them. As long as our army's morale remains low, we can never win. This attack of mine isn't to simply push them back. It is to show Humanity above all will triumph over such evil. That is all gentlemen. Meeting is dismissed and prepare for operation trust in god."
Kluge and the other staff officers nodded before leaving the bunker.
Kampf sighed before taking a pipe and smoking from it.
[b]Western Front/ Champagne/ German Sector/ January 7th/ 1917/b]
Thousands of men marched in unison towards the frontlines. The column of stormtroopers stretching out like a snake across the battered battlefield of Champagne. 10,000 total had been committed to the fight. They passed the bodies of the creatures killed in the gas attack the previous day.
Their faces were swollen, filled with puss, and blood. They looked as if they had drowned on land. Their skin racked with horrid scars. Their eyes swollen until they popped. Their skin irritated until it was bleeding. Their gums blackened. The entire advance of the creatures had been brought to a halt in one swift motion.
around 4,000 bodies of the creatures now laid spread out for the marching storm troopers to see. The gas had also affected their wings. It shriveled them up until they looked like dried leaves one might see at fall. The frontline had moved dramatically in just 1 day. Several soldiers broke off from the column to cut off the horns of the creatures to take as trophies.
Many soldiers who broke off stayed next to the dead creatures for a bit to examine the curious round holes they had all over their bodies as well as their unnerving similarities to the Pony's and horses of earth.
"Jesus Christ Gorring don't decapitate the thing." Maximillian said as he watched as his friend Gorring began to cut off the head of the creature with his bayonet. The blood of the creature spraying into Gorring gas mask covered face. By the time he was doe mutilating the creature parts of his uniform and gas mask which once had been clean were stained by green blood.
"I think the misses back at home would like such a trophy. I can hang this up on my wall. Claim to have killed the dam thing. I may have not killed this little fucker in particular, but I certainly will kill 1 or 2 of them in the upcoming fight." Gorring replied as he tied the head of the creature to his backpack and fell back in line with the marching column.
"Gross." Was all Maximilian could say.
He went back to rejoin the ranks as well as he watched a similar scene play out all across the march. Men breaking off the take personal trophies.
[b]3rd Person POV: /b]
There was a standstill in the war, repeating what had been done before
The storm troopers lined up across the shallow trenches that stretched out across the entire Champagne sector. They had been hastily dug and lacked good cover, but they were better than nothing. However, cover didn't matter anymore, it was time to attack.
It must come to an end a few will transcend
"5 minutes till attack Fix Bayonets!" The captain yelled as his orders were repeated across the front.
The artillery continued its crescendo as it pounded and flattened entire abandoned towns, and any position suspected of housing the creatures. Aerial reconnaissance while limited due to lack of Planes in the sector managed to prove good intel on where groups of these creatures were located. Just ahead of the Trenches lay 2 such locations. Hill 170 and Bellia's hill. The creatures have dug up basic earthworks and had set up a rather crude camp. Such locations would be targeted and task with being cleared by the stormtroopers.
They were under 25 and under fire they will thrive
Hundreds and Hundreds of these men in masks armed to the teeth with grenades, bolt action rifles, pistols, and submachine guns wait for the 5-minute mark to pass.
The strurmmann is born, there enemies scorn
"30 Seconds!" The captain yells.
A Glimpse of the future, new tactics in war
The whistle blows.
"For the Empire! For the Kaiser! Over the TOP!" The captain yells as the Stormtroopers raise a cheer and climb out of the shallow trenches.
New doctrine in combat is born
The rush forward. No slowing down. No slow jog. They rush towards the hills were their dazed and batter enemies remain.
as fast as lightning, there's no time to mourn
The first trooper goes down as an acid blast hits him directly in the chest taking him down. There is no time to help their comrade. The troopers continue their run forward.
A glimpse of the future and Blitzkrieg is born
The creeping barrage ahead of them lifts as the troops close in on the battered enemy camp.
Strike in Zero hour
The Stromtroopers leap over the earthworks and into them catching the mostly stunned and dazed creatures off guard.
with overwhelming fire power
Several with Submachine guns lay waste the insect Pony hell spawn annihilating any of them in their path. There creatures' bodies turned into past by the machine guns. Back inside the earthworks the creatures and Stormtroopers engage in chaotic close quarters. Storm troopers continue to jump in bring their combat knives and bayonets down on the creatures.
Fueled by the fear in their enemies' eyes
The creatures begin to utterly collapse at this point. Several are choked to death, bayonetted, shot, stabbed, rifle butted. One storm trooper bashes a creature's face in with a rock turning it into fine paste.
It's a shock troop infiltration, a fast and violent escalation, out of the trenches the stormtroopers rise. -Storm troopers, by sabaton
All across the German sector a similar scene plays out. Hundreds of Storm troopers go over and utterly surprise and overwhelm the Changelings. Already weakened from the gas attack a day prior the Changelings give way to the men clad in gas masks.
[b]Western Front/ Champagne/ Changeling General Headquarters/ January 7th/ 1917/b]
Drax looked over the reports flooding in. No! No! NO! Bucking Hell!
In just 1 hour the entire Front facing the Bipedals in Gray had collapsed. This wasn't how things were meant to go. He had to reverse the situation fast. How did the Bipedals in gray recover so quickly? It made no sense. First that gas of theirs had ravage his advancing units and now they had counter attacked with those men in mask of theirs.
"Sir drone units 7,6,8, and 4 have been encircled and destroyed." A Changeling drone said, as it flew into his command.
"By the Queen Dammit!" Draxs roared.
He looked over at his fellow staff officers who were witness his melt down. "I want all available units to be pushed into the fray. We cannot let the Bipedals get one over us so fast." Drax said.
"Sir we have no remaining reserves..." One of his subordinates said nervously.
"What!" Drax thundered
"We had to press the remaining reserves in the gaps formed by that gas that destroyed our forward advance north. Reinforcements are only slowly trickling in through the gate. There won't be enough men to close the gaps in our lines and to do that we'd have to pull out men from our southern push against the Bipedals in blue." His subordinate said nervously as he read through reports.
"How many Kilometers away are the Bipedals in Gray from the gateway. 10-8 they have only regained 2 Kilometers as of last report though they probably are still advancing as we speak." One of Drax's staff officers said.
"I-in just 1 hour all the painstaking progress we made is under threat of being reversed. We cannot allow such a reversal to happen."
"We have no available units to fix this reversal we will have to retreat and shorten the front. Attack is no longer an option until the Queen produces enough offspring or is willing to throw the Hives garrison into the fray. If none of this happens, I hate to admit it, but we have lo-" His Subordinate is unable to finish the sentence before a bolt of Changeling magic hits him knocking him out.
"Anyone who suggests we have lost will be blasted! Do you fools understand!" Drax said angrily and with nervousness in his voice.
"We haven't lost... This was just a minor setback. Pull troops from the southern Front to plug the gaps." Drax said as he regained his cool.
"But that will weaken our push we are already fighting the Bipedals in Blue for one of the towns in the southern Front. Pull troops means we'd have to halt our assault on the town." One of Drax's staff officers said
"Then so be it. The Bipedals in blue can wait for now. All offensive efforts are now to be focused on the men in gray. Let's end these pests once and for all." Drax said growling.
Western Front/ Champagne/ Sedan Road. January 7th/ 1917
The creature made an infernal screech as Maximilian brought his combat hatchet down on its head leaving a large wounded exposing its skull. The creatures struggled and groaned for 2 more seconds before expiring. It's body lumping on the floor as Maximilian pulled out the hatchet from its skull.
"This is bloody business ain't it." Gorring Remarked as he put a creature in a choke hold with his right hand before plunging his bayonet into its chest with his left hand. The creature hissed before its eyes dropped down and it breathed its last breath.
"You don't have to tell me." Maximilian said as he put the hatchet in his belt before picking up a Mauser bolt action rifle from a dead comrade. He took at one of the creatures fleeing and shot it clean through the head.
Maximilian wiped some blood off the lens of his gas mask. He looked at the green blood of the creatures that stained his fingertips. He looked back over to his comrades as they bayonetted and killed the remaining creatures on the road. It wss an utter massacre.
"Role call!" yelled his regiments Lt.
The captain went over the names of those in his regiment. His regiment had lost 29 soldiers in the grapple for the road. Nothing compared to the hundreds of creatures that lay slaughtered. Artillery did most of the work before they even arrived to mop up the camp.
In the distance he could see the dotted forms of the Creatures and another Storm trooper regiment battling it out for Le Fon de Aure. He could also hear the gunshots and saw the streaks of artillery slamming into the areas of the ridges not yet captured by his fellow stormtroopers.
"Form up we have new orders!" The Lt said as he stuffed the radio box back into his backpack. Maximilian and Gorring fell in with the other quickly as they formed several rows of men as the Lt addressed them.
"Orders are to follow the road and not to join in the attack on Le Fon De Aure. Apparently, the brass is impressed by how fast our offensive is going and wants to grab as much lost territory back as possible. Due to this we are marching to retake the town of Somme Py. That is all. Forward march!"
The rows of men quickly formed up into a single disciplined column. A Column that unknowing was heading straight to where the Changeling General Headquarters was located.
Champagne/ Somewhere near French lines/ 1 day Earlier
"Bipedals in blue Inco-" The Changelings words were cut off as it was shot directly through the head. The bullet piercing its skull as it fell to the floor dead.
"Vive La France!" Erupted throughout the ruins of the town of Tahure as hundreds of French men roared and charge forward. Not just Frenchmen but soldiers of the foreign legion.
"I think that thing just spoke English." Edward Bulliard remarked as he shot one of the creatures.
"You think these things learn English." John Seeger remarked as he tried to keep a steady hold on his light machine gun as he mowed down the creatures in the hundreds.
"Beats me!" Edward Bulliard said he shot another creature as it was about to shoot its acid beam. To his right a poor chap got his face melted off by a beam while another was hit by a beam in the leg. Both went down screaming and cursing.
"Clear the buildings! Go! Go!" There French officer shouted as he slides into a house. Edward watched the man catch one of the creatures hiding inside off guard. The creature tried to shoot its beam only for the Frenchman to grab it by its neck with one hand and shove his revolver in its mouth with the other before firing it. 4 bullets were fired as they came flying out the other side of its skull painting the roof (Which was mostly gone) in green blood.
Edward and Seeger ran into one of the buildings. Most of the second floor of it was gone turned to rubble but the 1st floor remained making it a good spot for the creatures to hide in. "To your left!" Seeger yelled as he leaped forward and brought Edward down as a beam of acid flew right at them. The Edward would have died right then and there had it not been for Seeger.
Edward, dazed, looked around to see several creatures in the house they had just entered. "Oh shit." He muttered before they lunged at him and Seeger.
Seeger was the fastest whipping out his digging spade and smacking it across the face of a creature that rushed to cocoon them. His spade knocked off some of the teeth of the creature as it hissed. Edward got up soon enough and delivered a rifle butt to a creature that tried to tackle Seeger from the right.
Just then several French soldiers joined in running through holes in the walls of the ruined building. One of them shot a creature though the face before he was blasted by acid bring the Frenchman down screaming. Another decapitated a creature with his bayonet as its head fell clean off onto the floor.
Edward grappled with one of the creatures in blue armor which was charging up its horn to fire one of its destructive blasts. It fired its horn, but Edward moved his head out of the way in the nick of time with the horn doing nothing but leaving a small crater on the floor. Edward then tried to get the creature in a choke hold, but it tried to stab him with its horn. Edward felt the horn graze his shoulder before the creature kicked him down with its forward legs. However, it also lost its helmet in the process as it stood on its hind legs to kick him.
As Edward tried to get up, he was pinned down by the front hoofs of the creature. It charged up its horn and aimed it at him. It gave him a grin as it said in perfect English "Any last words Bipedal".
Edward grinned back and said, "Fuck you." The creature either stunned by the fact that Edward understood what it said or by the fact Edward showed no fear hesitated for a moment before it let out a brief grunt before its eyes widen as Edward watched one of the French soldiers stab a large nail into the back of its head. The sharp side of the nail came out of the creature's mouth as it rolled its eyes backward and dropped to the floor dead.
The Frenchman grinned at Edward before extending his hand down. Edward took it as the Frenchman helped pull him up.
"Didn't know these creatures spoke your language." The Frenchman joked as he spoke broken English.
"Me neither pal." Edward chuckled as he and the Frenchman gave each other a hug before going their separate ways.
Edward exited the house. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes briefly. He opened them and looked around at the ruined town. The bodies of French, foreign legionaries, and the insect pony creatures laid about the town's streets in a macabre scene. Most of the bodies Edward knew would be located in the rubble, and the few semi standing houses of the town.
These creatures were utterly unprepared to be on the defense. His foreign legion unit and 2 French ones had been tasked with retaking the town of Fontaine. Then they were to move onto take what was left of the town of Gratreuil. It wasn't some large offensive in any way the brass wanted to take these two towns as they ensured control of the strategic hill 188. If the creatures had actually bothered to station anyone on the hill themselves, their soldiers in that blue armor would have easily been able to act as some form of artillery to bombard their forces in the towns of Cernay and Ritpoint which were part of the newly created 3rd line of defense in champagne.
"Hey, we got something!" One of the soldiers in his legion yelled.
Edward looked over to the right side of the town. He couldn't see it at first but there was a dot in the distance getting closer and closer.
Edward ran over to the right side of town as well as Seeger and some French soldiers. As the dot got closer it was revealed to be one of their guys. He was getting closer. The man. No kid dropped to his knees and collapsed some yards ahead of the town.
Edward and several of the French soldiers ran over to the boy who at close looked no older than 18. He was one of theirs. His uniform was stained with green and red blood as well as his helmet.
He had no wounded to speak up though he had collapsed due to exhaustion.
"He's one of ours!" Edward said as he saw the foreign legion insignia on the front of his helmet.
"Kid what happened, are you ok?" Edward asked frantically.
"My group was attacked...t-they're all dead." The kid said as he began to start crying.
"Which direction." Edward asked.
The kid pointed to the northeast with his bloodied hand.
"Get the kid a medic, now!" Edward yelled.
Thorax POV:
T-they spoke Equish...Good.
At least they understood him more than the others...
He drifted off into blissful sleep as he closed his eyes.