//------------------------------// // Chapter 78; Counterattack // Story: The War of 1002 // by Fireheart 1945 //------------------------------// James carefully angled the makeshift periscope he'd managed to make - out of a few square pieces of glass, some duct tape, and a tall carton of orange juice - as he observed the enemy defenses. While the periscope wasn't perfect, it was better suited to his face than one made for a pony. The griffon and mercenary defenders were still there, obviously; sniping on both sides could be heard here and there. While artillery fired occasionally, both sides were largely conserving their firepower, making it safe - mostly - to observe the enemy defenders and their city. The walls had taken a beating, though sections of them were still standing, and those off the east remained largely intact. "Anything, sir?" "Nothing, Crystal." James lowered the periscope and shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. "Nothing new, at any rate. Doesn't look like they're foolish enough to try breaking out." "About time some measure of logic got through to them, sir." "I'd prefer they do the dumb thing, but it doesn't look like it's happening. Not yet, anyway." "How does their morale looks, if that's visible?" "It's not that good of a periscope, and morale isn't always something easily read anyway. I'd say they're suffering from hopelessness, but a determination to fight it out regardless, either out of fear of what the emperor will do to them if they don't or out of a determination to not go down without a fight." James sat down in the dirt, scratching his head and thinking. It would be difficult to attack the city outright, but the war was continuing to drag on, costing lives, money, and labor. Sooner or later, the army would need to make its move, and sooner would be better. Artillery fire began to the northeast. It didn't immediately catch his attention; both sides had been firing at one another, on and off, since the siege began. "So, what's your plan for after the war?" Crystal asked. "Assuming I survive - and I haven't died yet, so I think that's a decent probability - I honestly am not sure. I think the Royal Sisters are going to want me to be around during the peace accords and trials to follow, so that means additional work, though hopefully no more killing. After that, I think..." The artillery fire had intensified. James stopped talking and looked up, over his left shoulder. "Hmm. Someone's laying it on a little thick. I thought we had ordered ammunition reserved where possible." "You did; I remember sending out the orders." Crystal's ears turned toward the sound of the fighting. "I'm not sure it's ours, or ours alone." More cannon fire sounded; if James could have put an emotion on it, it would have been "surprised." "I think that's ours. That means the griffons are shooting off more of their guns than they generally have been." "Which means potential trouble." "Hmm. I'd better see what this is about. Maybe it's nothing but a local commander getting edgy, or something. But..." "Something tells me its more than that. In any case, you'd do best getting on my back; it seems like you and the other commanders may need to take charge." "I'll wait until we're out of the trenches, and out of range of their snipers, to do that. Let's try to get out of here without our ticket's getting punched." "I like my ticket right where it is - attached to my neck - sir, so I agree with you completely." Both of them were careful to keep their heads low as they made their exit. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shining Armor was inspecting the defenses in the northeast. They seemed adequate to stop any attack the enemy might make, not that they'd attacked yet; there were even a couple of captured Gatling guns, placed in bunkers of made of wood and sandbags. Overall, everything here looked good. The troops were in relatively high spirits, though they seemed bored. A few were playing cards while others tossed dice; another two played marbles. "Just stay alert, guys," Shining said, nodding to a group that was watching for enemy activity. "Don't want to become lazy." "Ah, general you're worrying too much," a soldier from the group playing cards said. "We've got those birds in a cage, and they're not getting out." Just then, artillery from the griffon lines began firing. That wasn't unexpected in and of itself, so for a moment Shining disregarded it. "Don't get comfortable, they're going to get desperate soon if they aren't now. Why..." He trailed off. The enemy artillery wasn't slacking off, and it wasn't shooting in a half-hearted sort of way. This wasn't harassing fire. "They mean it this time," he said., before throwing up a shield as more shells came in, more than in the first volley. "Everypony under the shield!" Soldiers scrambled, picking up their weapons and rushing to the measure of temporary protection Shining was giving them. The shells began exploding, two of them against the shield. The magical barrier shuddered, but withstood the blasts, at least for the moment. "Still think I'm worrying too much?" he asked the soldier who had questioned him. "You know what, General? Maybe you weren't," the green pony replied, lying as prone as possible on the ground. Shining would have replied, but more hostile ordinance fell on the shield, which began to crack, forcing him to devote more attention to it. It soon became apparent that the enemy would be dropping more shells than his shield could hope to stop. "Get to good cover, NOW!" He shouted. Everyone nearby hurried to obey, ducking behind trench walls, rocks, and mounds of dirt, as well as the few trees standing. A minute later, the beating was too much; Shining released the spell and the shield simply vanished. He ducked into the trench as well, hugging the dirt as shells blew up all around, shaking the ground and making it feel like an earthquake was taking place. He placed his hooves over his head in an effort to protect it, forgetting that he was wearing a helmet for the moment. Dirt flew around, as did timber that had been used to reinforce the trenches. "Great, more wood gone to waste," another soldier moaned. "Shut your mouth and keep alert!" a sergeant yelled. The bombardment seemed to last ages. The shaking and detonations seemed almost unceasing. The world shook, the world rattled, and the very air seemed full of the terror of those helpless to influence their current situation in any meaningful way, as well as dirt, rock, and wood. Shining soon realized that he was one of those screaming in terror. He wasn't even ashamed; who wouldn't be screaming from fear at a time like this? At long, long last, the pounding, shaking and exploding ceased. Shining got up, as did everyone else, shaking their heads in bewilderment and looking to their weapons. A long, sharp whistle sounded in the distance. There was no need to wonder about what that meant. "Get ready! Here they come!" Shining called. He looked over the trench wall. The enemy were indeed coming. Some were flying, though most stayed on the ground; anti-air guns had forced such prudence upon the flyers of both sides. The ones who were flying might have been raw recruits or conscripts. He hadn't expected to fight a battle today. What he'd expected hadn't mattered; the battle was here. He charged his horn, preparing a combat spell. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. And considering the other soldiers nearby already aiming their weapons at the approaching enemy, he wasn't alone. ---------------------------------------------------------------- James tried to remain seated on Crystal's back as the pegasus raced toward the tent that the commanders and Princesses shared when discussing plans for the battle. He was certain that they would be there, and if this was going to be a major engagement, he wanted to take action right away. He leaned over the Guard's neck as the pony ran at a breakneck pace. It took longer than it would have if snipers hadn't been a worry, but they still reached the tent very quickly. He dismounted almost before Crystal has stopped moving and ran into the tent. The Princesses and most of the other army commanders, minus Shining, were already there when he came in. "Ah, James," Celestia said. "Glad to see that you've made it through this so far." "This isn't where they are launching their attack," he replied. "They're trying to break through in the northeast, as we'd thought they would," Barrel said, moving some blocks on the map table. "Unfortunately, they have some chance of success, unless we move reinforcements there now. We have the numbers to reinforce the area, but I'm worried that this attack might be a diversion for another, less overt, attack elsewhere." "They might do that," Luna said, "or they might have put what they have into this assault. They are outnumbered overall and must concentrate their strength." "But they can outnumber a section, or multiple sections, of our line if they concentrate their strength," Barrel countered, forgetting for a moment who he was speaking to. "If we don't move quickly, they might break our line, outflank it, and endanger it, and perhaps allow for temporary relief of the capital, lengthening the siege and giving the enemy hope that they can win. I say we throw everything we can spare at that location and suppress the attack." "I concur," James added. "I also suggest that we consider attacking them while this is going on, activating our attack plan that we devised earlier. Since they are weakening themselves in other places to conduct this attack, it makes sense to push them now." "I suppose it may be possible," Al-Malik said through his interpreter. "But we must contain this attack. This is our first priority." "We should take full advantage of this opportunity," Jelani responded. "Attack, and defend the northeast. We have the numbers and firepower to pursue both at the same time." "I agree that it's an opportunity," Celestia agreed. "We should make an attempt to gain ground, as well as avoid losing it." Al-Malik saw that he was being outvoted. "I propose that we at least wait until the enemy are fully engaged in their attack to the northeast before launching any offensive of our own." That idea had merit. "I think that's a good idea," James said. "But we'll have to judge the proper moment regarding when to do that. If we wait too long, they might break through." "I have no objections," Barrel said. "Assuming that we can halt their advance with reinforcements, an attack in the other direction should do something; they'll either have to pull troops off the attack to contain us, or they'll keep expending them and allow us to break their lines elsewhere." "We should act on this right away," Luna urged. "The hour of action is upon us. I agree with James and Al-Malik. We should wait until the enemy have fully engaged our forces in the northeast, then strike them as soon as possible." "I concur with my sister," Celestia said. "Now, let's put this decision into action." -------------------------------------------------- "FIRE!" A roar of gunfire reverberated through the air as the entire line of Equestrian soldiers opened up on the attackers. Smoke curled through the air. The captured Gatling guns opened fire as well, sending streams of bullets through the air. Griffon soldiers and the mercenaries they'd employed stumbled and fell, but more took their place. Some of them shot back as they came; such fire wasn't accurate, but it did make some of the Equestrian troops keep their heads down. The griffon soldiers who were flying soon learned the folly of their ways; anti air cannons, firing flak shells, brought a large number of them down. The survivors got the idea pretty quickly, and dove to the ground, where they remained. The enemy continued to take heavy losses, but under officers who were more interested in pleasing their king than in their soldiers' survival, and who were authorized to do whatever they had to in order to keep the soldiers going, they continued to press forward. Allied artillery continued to fire, though the griffon artillery had opened up again, this time targeting their counterparts, suppressing and distracting them from the griffon soldiers rushing toward the forward lines. Support fire was drastically reduced as a result. For a while, it appeared as though this might not matter. The enemy forces continued to suffer badly from rifle fire alone; the Gatling guns seemed almost unnecessary. Griffon after griffon after minotaur and diamond dog fell, some dying immediately, others crying out in pain as comrades continued to go forward. Shining didn't have a rifle, but with his magic he knocked down numerous enemy soldiers. He sent beam after beam of energy into the enemy lines. And he wasn't the only unicorn to eschew a rifle; others were fighting in the same way. But their horns weren't the only weapons firing beams. Obviously, the new emperor had ignored Celestia's warnings, or else Grayfeather hadn't told him. Some of them were armed with beam rifles, which they fired as fast as they could. Shouts of rage came from the Equestrian lines. Many unicorns, knowing exactly what had gone into the energizing of those weapons, focused their fire on those using them. More than one griffon clutching a beam rifle was torn by multiple lances of magic shot by unicorns, with terrible results. The enemy had taken severe losses by now, but some of them were getting close. Some were going to ground. Something round or oval-shaped went by Shining's head. He threw up a protective shield. Were the enemy out of ammunition already and reduced to throwing rocks? He had his answer a moment later. An explosion occurred behind him, battering his new shield and shattering it, though the blast and shrapnel were kept from harming him. What was that? It couldn't been their artillery... Other explosions were occurring up and down the trench line. Shining saw one of the griffons throw one of the "rocks" he'd seen earlier... which exploded seconds later. The explosions weren't big, but they were inflicting a lot of damage on the defenders, who, until moments before, had been doing quite well. Now the enemy charged again. Rifle and Gatling shots still claimed a number of them, but there was noticeably less of it. A relieved cheer arose from the griffons, who seemed surprised, but they still came forward. One of the Gatling bunkers was still shooting as griffon soldiers came right up to the firing holes. What happened next was horrible. The ponies inside, surprised, tried to escape, but the enemy tore at the sandbags and wood, ripping the weak structure apart. They shot both gunners... and kept shooting them well after they were dead. One of their officers fired both of his pistols into one of the corpses, and two of his soldiers began tearing at the bodies themselves. "Thought you could do that to us and walk away or give up?" one of the killers demanded. Shining had no time to take this in. The enemy were attacking his section of the line as well. They continued coming. He fired three more bolts into the enemy, hitting two of them. "It's Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire! Capture him!" an enemy officer yelled from atop the trench, pointing at Shining with his sword. Griffon soldiers ran forward. Shining got off another two bolts before one of the enemy soldiers slugged him in the face with his rifle. Shining let out a cry of pain and fell on his side. A dozen or so griffons ran or flew up to bind him; a few others, still angry about being subjected to a storm of bullets that had cut their comrades down by the dozens, began to hit him with their fists. Is this... "Ungh!" ...the end? Suddenly, two of the griffons fell; one of them clutched at a spear in his throat, the other held a wounded arm in his claws, yelling in pain. The others looked up. "Amandla Ngawethu Pundamilia!" Zebra warriors scrambled over the trenches, engaging in sudden shock combat as their foes were hit by the counter-assault. Struck from an unexpected direction, the griffons were momentarily pushed back; the officer who had ordered Shining's capture was felled by a sharpened zebra hoof to the neck, and his command was ravaged by striped, frenzied warriors. Everywhere, clubs, spears, rifle butts, and swords flashed and whirled in a fierce clash of arms. Shining, somewhat bruised and battered, slowly got up, careful to avoid getting into anyone's way while doing so. Allied reinforcements had arrived, then, and more would be on the way. Not that that meant it would be an easy battle; the griffons began to recover from the shock of being hit in the side by zebras, and fought back with the desperation of people who wanted earnestly to live but were trapped by circumstance and unyielding superiors. This would be a long battle. ----------------------------------------- Rolling Barrel had waited impatiently through the past couple of hours as he had raced to take charge of the troops who would engage in the assault on the hopefully weakened griffon lines to the west of Gryphos. His legs had ached at bit after the run, but it was imperative that the news and the change in plan got to the soldier who would be taking part in this action, as well as someone being there to take charge. He'd also had to run around the trench line perimeter, in order to avid being killed by snipers, which had taken time. The fighting in the northeastern sector had been going on all this time; even across the distance, the fighting could be heard. Shouts of fury, clashes of weapons, cries of pain and of frustrated and angry combatants and the yipping bray of zebras came to his ears, and to those of the soldiers around him. There was a nervous silence going around. The plan that had come up in the tent had been spread to the divisional and regimental commanders whose units would take part in the offensive. They, in turn, told the officers under them, and they had told the noncoms, who at last told the regular joes what was going on. Unfortunately, other than runners, there was no immediate way for the other commanders to tell him, via runner, at least, when the time was ripe to launch the attack, simply given the limitations of time and space. The sniper cannons were currently located on the very front where he had taken command, and any pegasus who attempted to fly the gap would be shot down, or else attacked by flying griffons, and an earth pony or unicorn would have to run through the trenches or else take a long route around them, as he had. It was not an ideal situation. While the idea of using radio to communicate had been thought up as an idea by many, the labcoats had been slow to convert a civil technology into a military one, something Barrel swore he was going to do about when this battle was over. There had, naturally, been a way around the problem. A normal flare would not suffice, and a pistol shot, as James had used at Ragna Fortress, would likely be lost amidst the sound of battle already raging. However, the royal sisters had said that they would send up a magical flare from behind the lines when the time was judged to be ripe for the Equestrian attack to commence. Obviously, it would be a big and obvious signal, and the griffons could hardly miss it. There would be no time for an artillery barrage; the assault would have to be launched immediately after the signal was given. Barrel and his tank corps were ready. So were the regular soldiers. Weapons were checked and ready for action, and the troops awaited the order to move out. --------------------------------------- James watched the distant fighting from a perch just beyond sniper range. It was difficult, even with the powerful binoculars that Celestia had given him, to see the battle in great detail, but he could tell that the Allied forces were struggling. The enemy continued the fight, and were bringing in reinforcements to bolster their attack forces. "Do you think they've committed enough to allow us to begin our assault now?" the Solar Princess asked. James thought about it for a moment. After seeing another battalion of enemy troops going forward, he nodded. "I think it's time. The northeast will be broken if we wait any longer. If your Majesties will send up the flare, your armies will begin the attack." Celestia and Luna nodded in their turn. "We're ready. if this goes well, perhaps the war could be ended today." "I doubt it will end today in particular. Maybe within the next few days. But we'll take decent steps forward. But I urge you to take them now before our enemy has the chance to break through." "Indeed," Luna replied. "Let us begin." Both sisters began to charge their horns. It didn't take very long; within seconds, both were flashing with power. They unleashed it skyward; the two beams coalesced into one, a mix of blue and yellow, easily visible for many miles. ---------------------------------------------------- Barrel watched the beacon of magical light reach up to the sky. "That's the signal! Go, go, go!" Tank engines revved up, soldiers got up from their trenches, and the allied forces began their advance. "Here we go," Barrel murmured to himself. "The battle that'll decide the fate of this city... and the war."