//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 Interlude // Story: Sins of the Mother // by Duffman18 //------------------------------// An Examination of the Logistical, Military, and Domestic Situation of Mankind During the Equestrian Crusade Written by Betz the Elder The Equestrian Crusade, as mankind referred to the war between the Empire and the nation-state of Equestria, was a conflict that shaped the very fabric of human and Equestrian politics for many decades to come. While I could write vast tomes on the varying aspects of the war itself and the myriad consequences for both sides, and have incidentally, in this chapter I will confine myself to an examination of the human tactics and a general overview of their logistical situation. When mankind launched its crusade under the personal leadership of Emperor Aurelian, it had just come out of a brutal civil war against the rebel group known as the Collective. As such, much of the Empire’s military was already mobilized and many formerly green soldiers were now battle scarred and hardened. Recovery was still required if the Emperor wanted his armies to fight at full combat effectiveness, it allowed the crusade forces to be mustered and armed for battle much faster than would have been allowed in peace time. To prepare for the coming war, months were spent repairing and rearming the empire’s military with up-to-date siege cannons, more advanced rifles and grenades, and replenishing and reorganizing the various companies of the armed forces. It was a blessing from Magnus then, that while the ground forces required much time and effort to be made ready, the navy was relatively unscathed. During the civil war, the Collective operated mainly in inland provinces and cities. The result being that the Empire was able to hold onto many of its ports during the opening engagements of the war and preserve a marked naval superiority for the duration of the conflict. What this meant for the Equestrian Crusade was that ready transports and warships were available to transport their troops across the sea. However, the sheer size of the crusade forces sent ensured that there would need to be a massive transport fleet raised to bring them to the battle. A full half of the Imperial Navy was dedicated to the task at the beginning of the war, though not at the same time. The ships dedicated to the crusade were split into two separate task forces under the command of two admirals with Lord Admiral Arianna commanding the overall forces. Of this task force were an estimated 60 ships of the line along with at least 200 or more supply ships and smaller transports vessels specifically designed to carry any additional forces and the penal legions. The penal legions numbered an estimated 1,000 men and women each with about 10 legions in total raised for the crusade. Conditions on the transports for the penal legions were horribly cramped as these ships were converted cargo haulers and, while not directly intended, a small number of deaths were reported during troop counts following the taking of Manehatten. All in all, there were an estimated 45,000 regular troops and 5,000 penal troops that made landing in Equestria during the first and second waves of the crusade. The remaining penal troops were en route during the opening battles of the crusade and a number of fresh recruits were being put through some basic training within the Empire’s borders to form a potential wave of reinforcements. Though even if needed it was unlikely that these recruits would be able to reach the Equestrian lands in time to prevent any major disasters due to transit time for both messages and transports. ---- So, while numbers and weapons were present in large numbers, there still remained the issue of supplies while in the field. This is where the large supply fleet came in. Large amounts of ammunition, gunpowder, and other necessary supplies were stored on these vessels and transported and offloaded into coastal regions where crusade forces had forced a landing. However, even with large initial stores, these supplies were unlikely to last the army forever. Army units were allowed and even encouraged in certain areas to hunt for food in the wild within perimeters blessed by the priests of Magnus. Further, it was discovered that certain foodstuffs within Equestria’s boundaries were actually edible for human consumption after some cautious testing. Some of these foodstuffs included: eggs, wheat, bread, certain fruits like apples (which were surprisingly abundant, especially within the settlement of Ponyville), and more. As a result of this, foraging off of the land itself and the conquered regions provided for the remainder of the soldiery’s food needs. However, this foraging was not always possible and in more isolated areas of Equestria food supplies were far more limited and rations were stretched dangerously thin. ---- However transport of the large stores of iron, food, ammunition, and more needed to be transferred to land conveyance as soon as the crusade moved beyond the coastal regions. In order to accomplish this large baggage trains were formed in order to swiftly move the supplies and siege weapons that formed the backbone of the human military. While many front-line soldiers carried their own equipment, including a rifle, ammo bandolier, gunpowder, canteen, field rations, etc., the bulk of the army’s supplies were carried on carts pulled by the wisunt. For my more urbane readers, the wisunt were a fairly large pack animal similar in body structure to the Buffalo mankind warred with during the crusade. Typical wisunts measured 7 to 10 ft. long and 5-7 ft. tall. Female wisunts could weigh up to 1,900 pounds while the males could weigh up to a staggering 2,200 pounds. The wisunts were one of the first types of animals that the nascent Confederacy encountered that could be tamed and domesticated. For many years the wisunts were kept as a source of meat and furs but eventually were used as pack animals to transport the growing numbers of goods and supplies being traded between the growing lands of the four tribes. A fair number of these animals were sent along with the crusade forces to assist in transporting their supplies and weapons across areas where more ready means of transportation, trains for example, were not available. In this way the crusade forces were able to keep a steady pace over large areas and maintain tenuous supply lines across Equestria. However it was clear to all involved that despite this method of ensuring mobility, their supply lines were thinly stretched and only the bottling up of the Equestrians in their remaining holdings had allowed them to function fully for as long as they did. Finally we come to the source of the iron and raw materials needed for mankind’s war machine. Situated on a continent as we are, iron is plentiful in many areas throughout the empire, and supplies were transported along with the initial invasion forces. However, there were some examples of iron in Equestrian architecture, mainly in the city of Manehatten, that made it possible to use some of the ruined buildings to add to the stockpile. However while the initial stockpile was large, certain events and setbacks drastically reduced said stockpile and hindered the war as a result. But the reveal of the princesses’ airship, and the civil conflict within Equestria, changed everything . . . for both sides. ---- A Cursory Examination of Human Foreign Relations Written by Betz the Elder For reasons I believe are clear to any and all of my readers, our race has long been one prone to isolationism over trade and diplomacy abroad. Dealings with races like the dragons and the vile Drak’shaal did nothing to mitigate this belief. However, after the reunification of mankind and the apotheosis of Magnus, the nascent human empire realized the value in trading with species other than our own. It was with this mindset that mankind began its great program of exploration, sending ships and explorers in every direction except southwards. Initially this great exploration yielded little result. Numerous reports would return to the capital speaking of small, but fairly unimportant island chains and little else. All of this changed with the journeys of Captain Albrecht. Albrecht was a man of little importance before his journeys and took to the open sea in a desperate attempt to do something, anything, more with life. He and his crew sailed through violent storms and endured hunger and disease over many miles of uncharted waters. After one such bout, Albrecht and his men were stretched to the breaking point until they came across another ship. They were elated until they realized that it was not a human vessel. While initially fearful, Albrecht convinced them to not begin attacking and was able to hail the other vessel. The being that returned those hails referred to himself as a Taloran and to all onlookers appeared to be little more than a humanoid lizard, with blue scales and red ridges around the head. Eventually the stilted and awkward first meeting turned an amiable trip as the Taloran crew agreed to give the humans supplies and show them their lands. What followed was an epic months long trek across foreign lands that made Albrecht and his crew famous. He encountered the Talorans and myriad other races and peoples all of whom he recorded in great detail in his reports and journal. In time he garnered a great friendship with the Talorans and is hailed as being near solely responsible for opening up Taloran ports to trade. Foreign spices, herbs, fabrics, and more soon began to flow into the Empire. This trade agreement allowed for humanity to begin to see what life was like outside of the empire and in fact many humans emigrated into these new lands establishing businesses, trade houses, and even minor shrines to Magnus. New settlements and ports soon sprang up on those previously unimportant islands as rest stops and dockyards for the myriad ships sailing between the Taloran lands and the Empire. Mankind has maintained an amiable relationship with the Talorans and others on their landmass, but has kept the bulk of their trade and diplomatic focus on the first civilized race they encountered as an empire. As for the races living spread across the southern continent, like the Equestrians, Buffalo, and Griffins, humanity’s relationship is far different with them for myriad reasons. The Crusade and the events that followed it played a large part in shaping the Empire’s relationship with them and is discussed in further in the text: Our Southern Neighbors.