Author: tfielding38

Preparing for Engagement

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A runner came from regimental headquarters. He talked with Major Kestel. Major Kestel nodded and turned to the unit, “Word from Brigade. Mortars are to fire as before, but from second line. We are to hide until the armored beasts get on top of us. We are then to pop out and engage the infantry that Intel says will be coming behind them. After, we are to take out any of those things nearby by opening them up and dropping grenades in. The Regiment holding the second line will be fighting. Ideally, they will take the fire from the beasts and leave us without heavy casualties. Right now, I want everyone to start digging grenade sumps. Even if they think our line is abandoned, they will likely be smart enough to drop grenades in. In about ten minutes, I will be blowing the retreat command. Do not follow this command. The other companies and Battalions are getting this order as well, so do not worry, we will not be alone out here.”

She paused for a moment and smiled, “Now, I know many of you are frightfully scared. We are about to engage in close battle with the foe. But this is not the 202nd’s first dance. To not make this a long list, I will just call to mind the Battle of the Crater. We held then. And we will hold now. So, everyone. Fix Bayonets. Prepare your entrenching tools for battle. And Lane,” She paused and looked to her personal assistant, “Fetch my saber, I believe I shall need it before the day is through.”

Evans could see the fear turn to momentary excitement. Major Kestel knew how to excite the troops. If it weren’t for her insane belief that a Noble’s place was at the front, she would have been doing a circuit of Ethslin campaigning for war bonds.

Shrugging, Evans got out his entrenching tool and started to help dig a sump along the front of the trench. Grenade Sumps were a simple thing, oft forgotten because they didn’t provide protection from the normal dangers of combat, but when the enemy attack finally came, they were invaluable. The regulation sump for a trench was 30 centimeters wide from the back of the trench, ran along the whole line, and was 50 centimeters deep. When a grenade dropped in the trench, the nearest soldier would kick the grenade into the sump. The walls would then direct the blast upwards, hopefully sparing the soldiers in the trench. If they had more time, the whole floor of the trench would be angled towards the sump, encouraging grenades to simply roll into it. But this was clearly not the time to rearrange the whole trench. With the rumbling growing louder and louder, it was very clear that the Vledscans would be at the trench within the hour. Hopefully they would fall for Brigades ruse. No way to know until it happened though.

The Ethslin Artillery Corps opened up with artillery fire once the Armored Beasts were about a kilometer out, and the second lines machine guns soon after. And, it seemed, that the return fire was directed at the second line, so the plan was somewhat working.

Now, the 202nd Infantry Regiment waited.

Rumbling

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It was the morning of 24 June. Before sunrise. The barrage had ended. Major Kestel ran out of the dugout, followed my Evans. She set about inspecting the Battalion, getting ready for the inevitable attack. During the inspection of Fox Company Evans had time to quickly revisit old friends. Tiscornia was inspecting the soldiers under his command. He quickly said to Evans, “You know, my first real battle was here. Tsiv River. Would be kinda poetic if I died here eh? Then I’d get to go home. Mary. Renoir. Stanhope. Sinclair… Have I ever told you about my sister?”

“Yeah,” Evans shrugged, “You said she looks like my wife.”

“Not just looked. Acted. Just the way she carries herself. The way she talks. When I see her… It’s almost like… About a month after I joined up, on the train back to Liguria, she got a fever. A month later…. I’ll see you soon Adelina.”

Tiscornia turned back to his soldiers, who were understandably shocked overhearing this conversation. Evans tried to reassure the soldiers, “Tiscornia helped make me the soldier I am today. Pay attention to him kids and you might make it out alive…” Kids… Evans was twenty one. But these new privates looked so young. God. Was it possible that they were eighteen? They looked fifteen at best. Had he looked this young two years ago at White Beach? Fucking Hell. These were someone’s kids. In less than twenty years this could be Mary or Graham or Paul. And in a few hours they were likely to be dead.

Major Kestel waved him over. Evans was glad for the excuse to turn away. If he looked at those kids any longer he’d start crying.

She was about to tell him something when a rumbling started up over from the Vledscan lines. It sounded like hundreds of tractor engines starting up. Major Kestel moved to the edge of the trench and looked through a mounted periscope. She stepped back with a worried look on her face, “Everyone to the firestep. NOW!” She turned to two of her runners, “Move to the D and E Companies and inform their commanders of my position. Tell them Machine Guns fire at 2 clicks. Mortars at seven hundred meters. Rifles at 500. See if any of them have Charles Rifles.” She turned to a third runner, “Find out from the Colonel what the HECK those things are.”

Evans peaked over the parapet. A long line of large metal… things were spaced evenly on the horizon. Black smoke billowed from them.

He heard shouts from the soldiers of Fox Company.

“The fuck are those things?”

“We’re gonna die.”

“Oh God. Oh God.”

Evans looked at one of Tiscornia’s kids. Her hands were shaking. He stepped over to her and patted her on the back, “Hey kid, what’s your name?”

“I… I’m Anna Sir… I mean Sergeant. I mean. I’m Private Howe.”

Evans smiled and said, “No shit. My wife’s named Anna. Where you from Anna?”

Howe put on a nervous smile, ”Didcot Sergeant. It’s-”

Evans cut her off, “East of Strongfield? I’m from Halton. Must have passed through Didcot a thousand times bringing crops to market. After this blows over, we should get together and chat. Not every day you meet someone from down the road of your hometown.”

“Yes… Sergeant…”  Howe shuddered, “You’re Sergeant Evans, right Sir. I mean Sergeant.”

“Yes Anna,” Evans smiled, “What about it?”

“Is it true what they say about you Sergeant?” She stuttered, “How… How aren’t you afraid?”

There was a short blast of a whistle. Evans could see a flurry of activity around Major Kestel, but she didn’t seem to need him yet. He shrugged and dodged the second question, “What do they say about me?”

“That you-”

“Stop bothering the man Howe.”

“It’s fine Dom. I felt the same way my first show. Plus, what’s really my job right now? The Major doesn’t really need any sewing or typing done.” Evans turned back to Howe, “Continue.”

“That you rescued a intelligence officer by riding a horse through enemy fire. That you escaped a Prison camp. That you saved,” Howe’s voice became quiet, “Her Grace from a sinking ship by swimming her to a patrol boat under fire. That you got hit by an artillery shell and have been shot in the head. That you-”

“MOVEMENT!” one of the Sergeants to the right shouted.

Evans looked at Howe, “Don’t worry kid. You’ll be fine.”

Third Battle of Tsiv River

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The First Battle of Tsiv River had taken place in the opening days of the war. It had happened before the trenches had been dug. The Ethslin Army managed to take positions on the Vledscan side of the river and held it. After a few months, the trench systems had developed, and the Vledscan army decided to take back the river. This was the Second Battle of Tsiv River. The battle was known for its ferocity. Some units found themselves with only a few survivors in the chaos. The battle was a complete success for the Vledscans and they managed to drive the Ethslin Army back across the river. They held the river until the Battle of Northern Gate made the whole Vledscan Army withdraw to more defensible positions. In 1328, the Vledscan Army decided that they had mustered enough troops to retake Tsiv River. The General in charge of the operation said that this would be the hammer blow that would break the Ethslin Army for good. Most commentators after the war said that it was the last desperate blow of a dying army.

 

On 16 June 1328, the heaviest barrage of the war began. It started off slow. Enough to get the Ethslin units to take cover. But, as the week wore on, the shelling got worse. The 202nd had to advance up to the frontline under this shellfire. They only suffered about five percent casualties on the way to the line. By 23 June, the shell fire had reached the peak of its crescendo. About a million shells were fired on the 40 kilometer section of front that day, concentrated at a strong point about 5 kilometers North of the 202nd. This heavy shellfire required hundreds of kilometers of supply trains. And on those trains, the Vledscans brought in a new kind of weapon to be fielded in the battle. While they wouldn’t win the war for the Vledscans, they certainly changed the way war would be fought in the coming decades.

 

The 202nd was one of the first units to encounter this new weapon. The Vledscan army sought to punch a hole through the Ethslin lines, flank around the strong point, crush the resistance inside, then move into open war. When the initial attack failed, five months of brutal fighting ensued.

Waiting

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Drowning. Drowning. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Evans tried to move up to the air. He started to flail against Captain Ricci. He tried to scream at her, but that just let water in. He could feel the heat from the surface. The beautiful heat. He needed to breath. He was going to die. But Captain Ricci held him firm. Every breath drew in more of the putrid water.

After what seemed like an eternity, Captain Ricci dragged him out of the water. Evans coughed up water as silently as he could. Captain Ricci whispered to him, “The hell is wrong with you Sergeant?”

“I can’t swim Ma’am.” Evans crawled a bit further from the water, “Water fucking terrifies me.”

“Didn’t you win your MoE First by saving Duchess Medway from a sinking ship?”

“Yeah, I grabbed onto a big piece of wood with one arm and Major Kestel with the other. I also did a lot of screaming…” Evans shuddered thinking about it, “So, what did the orders say.”

Ricci took a long pause, “How long are you on the line here?”

“Two more weeks,” He paused a moment, trying to remember further and then said, “Last five days are frontline.”

Her face went a bit pale, “Do you want a transfer? I need someone like you, and… I can’t tell you why, but you should accept.”

“You know the answer Ma’am.”

“I had to ask Sergeant… I’m sorry.”

After about twenty minutes, the Vledscans repeated the flamethrower sweep. Evans was calmer this time. From Captain Ricci’s panic and the Vledscans trying their hardest to kill the two, it was evident that something awful was going to happen within the next two weeks.

The two waited in silence until the sun fell. A few more artillery barrages attempted to find the two. But, once the sun fell, the two were able to sneak their way back to Ethslin lines.

Captain Ricci gave him the standard talk about how he couldn’t reveal anything he had learned. And then, like that, they parted ways. Evans returned to Major Kestel’s dugout. She gave him a hug, told him she was worried, and they went back to work.

Whispers

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They were silent for about an hour. Listening to orders shouted as the sun came up. Both sides were doing their ‘Stand To.’ A few machine gun bursts were fired off, and a few shells were dropped. But, even with that, it was about as quiet as Evans had ever heard on the front. It was actually a pretty nice day. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. Weather was plenty warm.

Captain Ricci eventually broke their silence by whispering, “So what do we do Sergeant?

“Wait Ma’am. Isn’t nothing else we can do.”

The two waited a while more before Evans whispered, “So what was the actual mission Ma’am?”

“Well part of it is true. I was supposed to be getting pictures of the new artillery shells in action. But I was also supposed to try and pick some intelligence off their officers. Luckily, the first man you killed was an officer, and his papers were relatively intact. That’s why I had you flip him over.”

“What do they say?”

“I don’t know. That’s not my job. I checked for the official seal and date and then hid it.”

“Can we read it?”

“No, it’s above even my clearance.”

“Really? It’s probably just a daily update or something.”

“All updates have to go directly to my superiors, who pass it up the chain. It’s read once it gets to the top… How do you know if I can even read it?”

“Because that would have been the easiest way to deny it. You could have just said-”

There was a loud fwoosh noise. Shit. Evans pulled out his pocket periscope, dirtied up one mirror and poked it over the top and scanned the horizon. A jet of flame burst out from the Vledscan Trench and swept over a few shell holes.

He whispered to Ricci, his voice as quiet as possible, “Flamethrower. They’re trying to flush us out, or burn us alive.”

“Fuck. Pattern?”

After three more bursts, he got a pattern, “Ten second burst. Ten second pause. Sweeps about twenty meters with each burst. They’ll reach us in about two minutes if the pattern doesn’t change.”

“Alright. We have to do this fast. Take off your webbing, helmet, and scarf,” Evans followed her orders. Captain Ricci pulled the letter out of her boot, ripped it open, read it a few times and stuffed it back. She dropped her bandolier, haversack, helmet, and scarf, “How close is it now?”

“One Burst, two at most,” Panic started to rise in Evans’s voice. He didn’t want to die. And not of this. He had been lucky to avoid flamethrowers in comb-

Captain Ricci whispered, “Deep Breath” and pulled him underwater.

Counter Barrage

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They must have been running the wrong way, because Evans ran way more than fifty meters and hadn’t gotten to the sap. And then the Vledscan artillery opened up on No-Man’s Land. Instinct kicked in. Protect the Officer. Evans pulled Captain Ricci down into a shell hole and tried to cover her body as much as possible. The explosions started to blend together into a constant roar. The only other noise he could hear was the occasional shriek of shrapnel flying overhead.

Evans wanted to run. Almost every fiber of his being was telling him to get up and run as fast as he could to the lines. But luckily, in the back of his mind, he knew that it would mean death.

Captain Ricci didn’t have that knowledge. Fear overcame her. Death falling from the sky and the claustrophobia from Evans attempting to cover her was too much. She rolled and elbowed Evans to get him off her. She dragged herself to her feet and started to run. She had to get–

Something tugged at her foot and she fell face first into the mud.

It was no longer a question of covering Captain Ricci. Evans was just trying to keep her in cover. He was gripping her ankle tightly with both hands and trying to get deeper into the shell hole.

He slipped lower and lower until he was half submerged in the water that flooded the shellhole. For some reason all Evans could think of was the time he tried to grow mold in a bucket in his room. It was probably the dumbest idea he had ever had. His dad yelled at him for the better part of an hour. His sister still jokes about it in her letters. Evans started to laugh. If Dad could see him now. Waist deep in water that’s been standing for God know’s how long, wearing clothes that he’s been in for over a week.

With a thud, a shell landed next to Evans. A dud. Evans laughed harder. Maybe he was immortal. Captain Ricci had stopped struggling and calmed down. He pulled her down so she could help him toss the shell out of the hole. Carefully. Anna would be very angry if he died.

The barrage kept going for a while. Longer than usual. By the time it had lessened enough for the two of them to leave the shell hole without it being certain death, a new day was dawning. Which meant the two would have to stay in this hole until night came. No talking louder than a whisper, no food, no clean water, and no sleep.

Sliding over, Captain Ricci whispered into his ear, “Thanks for… Not letting me die.”

Whispering back, Evans said, “Hey, we ain’t back yet. We’ll probably die before get back.”

“But at least my death won’t be embarrassing Sergeant.”

Photography

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As Evans got closer to the hellish red glow, he heard screaming. He saw a sudden movement from the trench. Without thinking, Evans brought the Auto Gun to his shoulder and fired a short burst. It was easy to see the man tumble. His body was covered with… Fire, sticking to him. And he collapsed smoldering. Holy Fucking Hell.

Captain Ricci dashed forward and took a long exposure of the body. She signaled him over and gestured for him to roll the body over. Evans nodded, grabbed a piece of lumber and rolled the body over. He quickly looked away as Captain Ricci took another picture. She waved Evans forward.

Evans slid into the trench. The combination of being out of open ground, and a lightening in the barrage led to Evans being able to hear things beside the endless roar. Another burning man started to stumble towards him. He could barely make out the words the man was speaking. It wasn’t Vledscan. “Killlll Meee”

…

He unbuckled his holster and drew the pistol. Placing it carefully against the man’s forehead, he saw a pained smile and a nod. Evans pulled the trigger. The man crumpled to the ground. Captain Ricci slid in behind him. She took a picture down the trench line, turned around, and whispered in his ear, “Dugout forward. Try and clear it without grenades.

“Ma’am.” Evans dashed forward to the dugout stairs. Captain Ricci followed halfway down the stairs, then took a position covering the entrance.

Evans turned the corner at the bottom and…

Fuck

Everything was fire. He started to sweat from the intense heat. Evans saw two charred bodies, embraced in their last moments. Evans looked around the room. Nothing could have survived that. Evans ran up the stairs, gave the Captain a thumbs up and vomited. He took up the guard position while Captain Ricci took her pictures. No one came. Why would anyone come.

Captain Ricci ran back up and whispered, “Lucky. Shell must have tunneled through the ground and burst right in their dugout. We can make our way back to the sap now.”

“Lucky?” Evans made his way up. He looked left and right. Still clear. The artillery had stopped. Likely moments before the Vledscan soldiers came rushing to retake the trench. Captain Ricci waved him over the top.

Rolling over, Evans flattened himself and watched for movement. Captain Ricci rolled over next to him. She whispered, “Let’s run like Hell.”

The two got up and sprinted to the sap.

Barrage

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The listening sap was about fifty meters from the Vledscan line. Evans looked at Captain Ricci. He could just see her under the flickering light of a star shell. Her face had been darkened with mud. She was gripping her pistol tightly in her right hand. Her left hand was in the haversack that held her camera. She was wearing a bit of a motley uniform. A regular helmet, with her Captain’s insignia. She had an Enlisted jacket with her Officer’s insignia hastily sewed on. A scarf and goggles around her neck She had a bandolier over her jacket, mostly with extra magazines, but in the bottom it had a loop that held a smaller folding camera that she had taught Evans to use. She wore high cavalry boots with leggings tucked in. And, oddly enough, she still wore the officer’s skirt. Evans whispered to her, “Ma’am, I’ve been wondering all the way down here, Why the skirt? You’re out of uniform everywhere else.”

“It started off as a way to mock the uniform, but at this point, it’s become expected of me. Plus, it’s like a good luck charm,” She shrugged, “And it probably confuses the hell out of the enemy.”

Evans shrugged. The two sat for a few minutes listening to distant gunfire. Captain Ricci glanced at her watch and took out her camera.

The thunder rolled.

He could hear the shriek of shells overhead followed by sudden bursts. Looking up, he saw… well… What he imagined Hellfire was. A burst of burning white acicular flames. Other shells burst on the ground spreading burning white smoke. He looked at Captain Ricci. She was poking her head over the crater with her larger camera. She slid the camera back into the haversack and whispered “Protection on.”

Reaching to his neck, he slid his goggles over his eyes. He wrapped the scarf around his face, covering any exposed skin. Then he pulled his gloves on and clipped them onto his jacket sleeves.

“On.”

“Weapons ready.”

Auto Gun was ready with one in the chamber. He tapped the Pistol in the holster. Yep. He checked the quick release latch on his haversack filled with… grenades. Good. Shovel was well in place too. Fuck this was really happening.

“Ready.”

The barrier barrage started up. It was forming a corridor of constant artillery fire around the section of trench ahead of the pair. About 100 meters to their right, about 100 meters to their left, and a 150 meters ahead. Not much margin of error.

If only he were allowed to smoke.

“NOW!” Captain Ricci shouted over the roar of shellfire.

Evans took in a deep breath and dashed forward. It had been a while since he paid a visit to Hell.

Armory

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“So this is the armory,” Captain Ricci said as she opened the steel door, “Take whatever you want Sergeant.”

Evans looked around the room. To his right was a rack of Standard Ethslin Rifles, the most commonly issued firearm of the Ethslin Army. Next to that were a few Blaire Auto Guns, a kind of machine gun that was light and fired pistol rounds. It was across from the Automatic Ethslin Rifle, about the heaviest gun a single person could operate and still be able to run with. It fired rifle rounds as fast as a machine gun, but still could be carried on the attack. There were also a few Frost Guns, the standard issue pump action shotgun of the Ethslin Army. There were also a few Bennet Pistols in a cabinet.

There were a few that Evans couldn’t identify. He looked at Captain Ricci, “What’s the other rifle?”

“New, just introduced last month. It’s… Semi Automatic. That means every time you pull the trigger, it shoots one bullet, then automatically cycles the next, but you still have to pull the trigger again to shoot again. Like with a Bennet.”

“And what are those SER’s with the weird bolt?”

“A failure of sorts. It’s a bolt redesign that fires Semi Automatic. But it fires pistol rounds. So while it is more accurate than an Auto Gun, it’s larger and heavier. And while it fires faster than an SER, it isn’t as accurate and is prone to jamming. Plus it’s damn expensive.”

“And the–”

“Yeah that was a terrible idea. We’ve been testing it the last few weeks and it is a hard no. It’s a cut down Blaire Medium Machine Gun, with air cooling and a harness to go over your shoulder and an attachment for a box containing the ammo belts. So it would constantly overheat, and only about the strongest people could fire it at a target. They could stumble forward slowly, but only on flat, hard ground. Reloading on the move is basically impossible without help. And Joshua forbid you take fire while carrying this fucking thing. The only reason we’re still testing it is because some fucking General’s kid is a wannabe inventor and we can’t just dismiss it outright. My orders were to basically keep this “in trials” until he gets distracted by someone else. They were tested in Newacre, but the guy kept hanging around the testing facility.”

“And the big metal boxes?”

“Grenades. We’ve got a few types. First is the regular five second fuse shrapnel. Second is impact. It goes off once it hits the ground, but it can be a bit finicky. Third is Incendiary Grenades, which are a no. Could be confusing in the pictures. Fourth are Concussion. They don’t chuck shrapnel, three second fuse. They have to land close to someone to work though.”

“Alright then. I’ll just go with the Auto Gun, a Bennet, and regular old Shrapnel bombs. Don’t want to accidentally blow myself up with any fancy new Bombs.”

“You know they’re called grenades. At least officially.”

“Yes Ma’am. I’ll use your fancy name Captain.”

“It’s not my name, it’s just proper language Sergeant,” She paused, then said, “Do you know how to operate a camera Sergeant?”

Evans shook his head, “No Ma’am. We don’t have much of that fancy stuff out in Halton”

“Very Well then. I’ll have to make sure not to die then.”