• Published 16th Sep 2012
  • 13,655 Views, 1,965 Comments

The War of 1002 - Fireheart 1945



A young man with a love of military history and MLP;FIM finds himself dragged into Equestria.

  • ...
85
 1,965
 13,655

PreviousChapters Next
Chapter 69; Ragna Fortress

"Are you sure that's where they're headed?" James asked, his arms folded.

The scout nodded. "My father is a merchant. He used to travel on this road. I didn't see Ragna Fortress with my own eyes, not yet at least, but it's on the road that he needed to get to Gryphos. And their entire army is going there."

"This is the first time I've heard of this Ragna Fortress," James said. "Did your father ever tell you anything about it?"

"Not much. He liked to focus on his profession. But he did describe how big it was. It makes the things we built around Trottingham look like children's toys, if his description was right, and he kept on about how many guns were in it."

"Well." James shook his head. "Well, thank you. If you're right, and I suspect you are, they think they can stop us there. Alright, dismissed. And keep this knowledge to yourself for the time being; I don't want our army to get discouraged by the knowledge that we're going up against a gigantic military fortification."

"Yes, sir." The scout saluted and left.

"That'll be hard on us, if they're really going to protect the place," Barrel said, spitting out the piece of grass he'd been chewing on. "Our scout might not have seen the place, but I have. Once. It's located right in a pass in the mountains, completely blocking anyone from getting in or out if they shut the gates and defend. The cannons there might not be particularly modern by this war's standards, but they're huge; you could fit a pony, or two, in them with room to spare, maybe three. And from what I've heard of it's history, no one has ever succeeded in capturing it."

"Might want to be careful there, or I'll suspect you of being an enemy propagandist," James said, and everyone laughed. "Is that why the place is called the Valley of Bones? Because it brings to mind a desert, and not the grasslands we've been travelling through."

"No desert, in fact flowers and grass everywhere, even a few trees. And yes, the losses armies suffered trying to capture it is where the name comes from." Barrel took up another piece of grass and chewed hard as he thought. "The fortress itself is indeed enormous. Maybe not exactly to the extent our scout described, but that wasn't that big of an exaggeration, either. It completely blocks the pass. We'd either have to find a way to fly our entire army around it - I assume they'll concentrate their anti-air cannons in the fortress, so going directly over it would be expensive - or we'd have to try to get around another way, and the paths in those mountains aren't well marked on maps, which I suspect is deliberate. We could go around the mountains..."

"But that might allow for an enemy counterstrike against Equestria," Shining Armor said. "That's not an option, not with the whole army."

"We could try flying the pegasi around the fortress, but that's at least 33% of the pony portion of the army," James remarked. "We don't know what they'd be facing on the other side."

"We could try to outrun the griffons," Shining suggested. "Try to get there before they do. We could even fly the pegasi over their army - or around it - and just take it before they can."

"I doubt they would have just left it entirely unguarded," Barrel said. "Griffons can fly too; they wouldn't have left that out of their plans."

"Hmm... I'd hate to have to order a head on attack on a place like that," James noted. "Not unless we managed to wreck the place before doing it, and taking out their heaviest weapons at the least. Even then, we'd take heavy losses. I'm not going to do that unless we have no other option."

"We have to try something," Barrel replied. "We need to get a plan together. I doubt tanks alone can breach that place."

"We'll need precise plans of the fortress," Shining said. "We should also scout aggressively, and attempt to cut them off before they're able to fortify themselves there."

James looked at the map in the tent he was inhabiting. They would be upon the pass in a couple of days; the defenders had a lead on their pursuers. Cutting the griffons off would be tricky, if not impossible. All the same, assuming the others agreed, he would attempt to do so, in the off chance he was wrong. Even a failed effort might do something to the enemy and shake them up to some extent. "I agree," he answered, if belatedly. "We should do what we can to separate them from their great fortress. In that regard, I suggest we abandon the idea of a completely united frontage, and rely on less conventional tactics."

"What do you mean?" Barrel asked.

"We retrofit our Gallop tanks to allow them to carry earth ponies and unicorns on them, and try to block their way with a pegasi force to keep them back until our tanks, and the reinforcements they carry with them, arrive. If it all goes well, we'll catch them in a vise and squeeze them, and hopefully that will mostly be the end to this business."

"We could try that, but the refitting would take time. We need to try this now," Barrel said, stomping his hoof hard into the ground for emphasis. "Try to cut them off before they reach the fortress. I know the pegasi and the few tanks that will be able to make it will have a hard time trying to hold them away, but the entire army will have a much harder time trying to storm that fort. We need their army trapped."

"We'll need to give the orders to tell everyone to move as fast as they can if we're going to pull that off," Shining added. "We'll have to gallop as much of the way there as possible, which will exhaust the army."

"Better tired troops in a good position than fresh ones in a bad position," Barrel replied.

"In any case, I think we should definitely make the effort to cut them off before they can get to this Ragna place," James said. "If anyone's opposed to the attempt, now's the time to say it."

No one answered, though Barrel grunted softly and Shining looked at the map with great intensity.

James moved up the bricks on the map to encircle the enemy forces. "We'll try this. Even if we fail, we'll be no worse off having tried. And if the enemy do reach their destination... well, we'll come up with another plan at that time. Now let's go."

---------------------------------------------------------------

The pace was quick, and tiring even for ponies. James could see that easily. Pegasi could fly, of course; those regiments that had been formed entirely or almost entire of pegasi were even now flying as fast as they could to stop the enemy long enough for the rest of the allied forces to catch them.

Unfortunately, the enemy weren't idiots. They quickly deduced what the Equestrians and their armies were doing. They had increased their own pace, flying as often as possible. Reports of major aerial engagements between griffons and pegasi came quite often. James read the reports even as he was carried by artillery caissons or on the back of Crystal Clear.

"Urgh," James growled, crumpling another report and cramming it into a coat pocket. "How did they know what we were doing so quickly?"

"I don't know," Crystal answered, feathers ruffling slightly as James shifted his position on his back. "Maybe they caught somepony; here and there, they take prisoners of war, you know, and now that there's a tyrant on the throne, who know what methods they'd use to get information? You have to remember, the majority of the army isn't made of Royal Guards, and they don't have the kind of training required to resist... extreme measures."

"I don't even want to think about that," James replied, shivering as corkscrews and torture chambers came to his mind even as he tried to dismiss them. "I'd hoped this land had no knowledge of that sort of thing."

"A valiant hope, but in vain, I'm afraid. Equestria may have been at peace for over a thousand years, but the griffons have been tangling with each other for a long time. This war is the first time that they came together for any reason since about two hundred years ago; I think the issue had something to do with outrage over economic sanctions or something." Crystal kept quiet for a moment, then asked, "Sir, what have high command said about dealing with griffon rebels? The kind that are revolting against their Emperor, I mean, not against us."

"You mean what the Princesses have said about it? Nothing so far," James answered. "I don't have the authority to deal with them; Shining Armor, as the only Royal Prince present with the army, is the only one with the power to make any deals, and seeing as the rebel forces were part of a hostile force..."

"Are you saying we'll have to fight them at the same time as the King's troops, sir?"

"I'm saying that it's likely that the higher ups will probably want the rebels disarmed, and I highly doubt they'll agree to that, or to obey commands from an invading army. After all, some of them almost certainly had part in the atrocities played out on Equestrian soil, and I doubt Celestia is just going to let the griffons off with a warning, now, not after we've made progress and they forced us to invade their land and come so far just to end this whole mess. I don't want to have to fight the rebels at the same time as government troops, but we may have to, and that would kill our progress in this war entirely."

Crystal was silent as he processed this information. "Well, what do we do, then?"

"I've already wrote a message asking for freedom of diplomacy regarding rebel forces we encounter," James answered. "Obviously, I also added that that didn't extend to the King, who's now calling himself an Emperor. Hopefully, the answer gets here without delay."

"I don't know about that, sir; we've been going forward as fast as we can, and messengers can only fly or gallop so fast." Crystal bit down on his lip. "And, as much as I hate to mention it, there are guerillas who have been contesting our occupying forces. They may not have heard about the regime change, and they may intercept anything that the army or the capital sends."

"Oh, I know about them. Blast it," James added, wanting desperately to curse out the insurrectionists who were causing trouble. "We don't have enough troops to do everything at once. That's one of the reasons why this offensive has to keep going and take the enemy capital, so we can end this war and not have to worry about guerillas behind our lines any more."

Crystal didn't say anything for a moment. Instead, he just bent down as he walked and ripped up a few blades of grass with his teeth. When he'd swallowed, he said, "The pegasi of old were warriors, as our traditions hold. I wonder who it was they fought against, since as far as I can remember the three tribes weren't fighting each other."

His interest piqued, James said, "Probably anyone who wasn't a pegasus or a pony. To my knowledge, they dwelt in the sky, so logically they'd have been fighting enemies who could also fly."

"That makes sense. They may have also fought against dragons; one pegasus might be impotent against one, but dozens or hundreds might well have been enough to take one down. And some of our old fairy tales feature fights with dragons. They're not a very popular race, seeing how they don't give a... flame about anyone else."

"I can believe you, given the one we fought a couple months back," James answered. "Given their performance in this conflict, I can easily believe the idea of the pegasi being highly militarized. Rainbow Dash definitely seems... self confident enough to have been one, had she been born in those days."

"The Bearer of the Element of Loyalty? Yeah, certainly. I've seen her a few times, though we haven't been introduced. And she definitely has the spirit. All the same, I'm glad we don't do this every day. War and fighting, I mean."

"So am I. Let's hope our forces are able to get there before they do."

-----------------------------------------------------

Silver Lining shook his wings; the joints at the base creaked. Bin flyin' so long n' fast... urgh! Hope I don't have ta do that again any time soon... or eva again, come ta tha.

Most of the pegasi in the army had been flying almost without let up for over two days, just to get a lead on the enemy. And they'd had to be careful to go around the enemy, to avoid horrific casualties from anti-air fire. Here and there, patrols of enemy soldiers had attempted to fight, so those had to be dealt with. And they'd been forced to go as fast as their wings could carry them.

To sum it all up, the pegasi were exhausted. They were armed, to be sure, and had rations, but they had only the lightest artillery, and no tanks whatsoever. They were positioned on a rise ten miles outside of Ragna Fortress.

Silver's shiver had nothing to do with pain or exhaustion. That fortress mounted huge, if ancient, cannons, and the anti-air they possessed had shredded a platoon sent ahead to check if the fortress could be captured quickly. The survivors had been shocked by the debacle. The enemy had produced a new type of anti-air shell; a sort of canister that didn't burst right away but would explode while in flight, flinging bullets in every direction. The results had been devastating, to say the least.

There hadn't been much more than a regiment or two or militia in the fortress, but that had been enough to halt a probing attack the pegasi had attempted. The artillery had made all the difference. There were numerous new craters in the ground before the fortress; the guns inside had started to inflict casualties, and the pegasi commanders had decided to call off the attack before it had escalated. The artillery the pegasi had brought - light guns meant for field work, not for siege purposes, and with a reduced range compared to bigger pieces - hadn't even been able to get close enough to fire.

A scout had brought word that the enemy army was approaching just eleven minutes after the attack had been scrubbed. Immediately, the army - about thirty thousand or so - had formed up on the rise of hills on which Silver and the rest of the pegasi were now occupying. Their limited artillery was now fixed facing the oncoming enemy, along with the rifles of all but two "reserve"' regiments that were watching the fortress to make sure that no sorties were launched.

Silver watched, lying prone on the ground, as a griffon regiment, accompanied by minotaurs and diamond dogs, approached his unit. It was clear that they hadn't expected to be intercepted; they continued in marching formation until the light shells the pegasi guns were firing began to land among them. Even then, they took a considerable amount of time getting lined up, allowing for more cannon shells to fall in their midst.

That was about the only good news there was. Silver forced himself not to look up from the enemies that he was targeting; the road behind the enemy line was crowded with distant, but quite real, enemy soldiers. Miles and miles of them, and this would be just... no, no, he had to resist such thoughts.

The enemy front line began to advance. Another line was being formed up not far behind them, as was a third behind that. They were going to try to brute force their way through. Some of those units would no doubt try to outflank the pegasi, which would be a major issue, to put it mildly.

Silver did his best to crush those thoughts. The pegasi had a job to do; delay the enemy until the rest of the army showed up to encircle them. It was what they were here for. And, as much as he and most pegasi loved flying, he didn't think he had much airtime that he could utilize, given his wings' exhaustion.

The griffon forces began to advance. They had a few artillery pieces covering their advance, but not many, and the shells, though they inflicted a number of casualties, were little more than an annoyance, and certainly not the destructive force they could have been in this situation. The Equestrians responded in kind; their fire wasn't that much more destructive than that of the enemy, but more of the griffons and their allies were falling to their fire than pegasi were to enemy fire.

Silver waited, aiming at a rather tall enemy soldier who was brandishing his bayoneted rifle threateningly as he advanced, like the rest of them.

"Fire!" an Equestrian officer ordered.

Silver fired; the entire line erupted in a deafening roar. Flames shot forth from muzzles and smoke enveloped the line. Even through it, Silver could see enemy soldiers falling in droves. He shifted the bolt on his gun, letting the spent shell fly loose and chambering another round.

"Fire!"

The pegasi fired again. More smoke, more enemy warriors and soldiers fell to the ground.

The enemy began to fire back as they advanced. Some briefly crouched, others simply pulled the trigger as they came on, bayonets still pointing toward the Equestrians. The majority missed, but here and there they struck targets; pegasi began to fall, some ominously silent and others crying out in pain.

"Fire at will!"

Silver began shooting his gun as fast as he could do so. Everyone else, or most of the pegasi anyway, were doing the same.

The pegasi artillery switched to canister; the sound of pellets and lead balls flying through the air made a horrible, eerie noise, as if death itself could be heard coming even if it could not be seen. Some of the enemy were merely grazed, and most of the minotaurs shrugged off the damage; others seemed to vanish from existence, obliterated.

"Shoot them down, boys!" an Equestrian officer yelled, no doubt carried away by the battle. "Keep on 'em!"

Silver and his comrades didn't need any extra encouragement. The enemy would have to break through them in order to get to the fortress, and they'd pay a price even if they succeeded. They were already paying the price, actually, as scores were falling.

That didn't mean that Equestria would win without loss. A pegasi nearby dropped his gun and began to raise his hoof to his face before falling over and lying motionless on the ground. Enemy artillery was starting to find the range as well; shells were falling more accurately, with more of them taking effect. Silver did his best to pay attention to the battle before him, and not the screams of pain and shock that were all around him.

The terrible crash of lightning smote the battlefield; Griffon soldiers and their minions fell to lethal shock from the sky. Some decided then and there to get out before they became fried chicken. Of these, some were shot by their own side, though Silver thought he could see a few that managed to escape... for the time being.

He chambered yet another round and fired. He attempted to do it again, but the gun didn't fire when he depressed the trigger. Outta ammunition. He released the magazine and slipped another in. This time, the rifle fired.

In spite of the losses they were taking, the enemy kept going. Even as a common soldier, Silver could understand why. The rest of the Equestrian army was on their heels, and if they didn't break through, the war was as good as lost for them, because they'd be surrounded; "In a cauldron," he'd heard an officer say recently. They'd either give up or be annihilated in a massive battle, or, if necessary, they'd be starved out. It was a matter of life and death for them. "So let's make sure it's them breakin' their necks, not us," he whispered to himself as he loaded another round.

But the pegasi weren't present in overwhelming force. Even though the whole army had more of just about everything - especially healthy, determined, fit soldiers - the pegasi here were outnumbered, and since the enemy were concentrating their entire strength against them...

Griffon soldiers fired away, still approaching. Those who hadn't been shot or blown up already were close enough to fire almost point blank. At such a range, both sides were hitting each other quite often, even without properly aiming. Many on both sides were firing form the hip and still scoring hits. A bullet whizzed past Silver's head; another grazed his coat and a third passed through his cap, knocking it off in so doing.

Not long now till it's us n' them clubbin' and stabbin' each other, and who knows where it'll end up?

He tried to keep his mind on the battle and not on the possibility of a clubbed rifle smashing him in the head, or of a bayonet through the gut. More lightning struck, zapping enemy soldiers and leaving some of them them twitching on the ground when their bodies initially refused to register them as dead.

By now, the first enemy attack force resembled a garment that had been chewed all to pieces by moths. Regiments had been chewed up by artillery and rifle fire, and what was still coming on was far less than what had started the assault. Granted, not all the losses had been casualties per se; a number (Silver wasn't sure exactly how many) had taken wing or to their heels. But most of those who were no longer fighting were dead or wounded. The enemy soldiers who were still advancing were either brave, stupid, or more scared of their superiors than their enemies.

However, the losses the front line had taken had allowed the second enemy line to advance with fewer losses. They still presented a serious threat, especially if the first line had the courage to press on to melee range, which it appeared they would. Not very many, but some.

The enemy cannon fire ceased as griffon soldiers and mercenary warriors closed the gap. Silver raised his gun as they approached. As he did, he noticed a large number of griffons in the distance - hundreds - take off and head for the sky.

Not as stupid as I sometimes wish ya were. If we can' get to and use tha clouds, we're weaker than we oughta be. If the enemy were going to interfere with the pegasi ability to rain lightning down on them, the fight would be much harder. The lightning was one thing the griffons, being non-magical, could not imitate. Take that out of the picture and leave the fight up to conventional arms and numbers, and the pegasi would not easily hold, even if they did leave the field strewn with dead and wounded enemies.

One of the enemy soldiers closed, screaming, rifle raised above his head for a downward stab.

"Yeah, I don' think so," Silver said quietly as he smashed the butt of his rifle into the enemy soldier's chin. The griffon fell backward; whether or not he was dead or merely stunned was hard to say, and as more were coming, it wasn't something he could afford to think about for long.

All across the battlefield, the two lines clashed. Swords were swung, bayonets were thrust toward enemies, and Royal Guards lashed out with spears. The clang of steel on steel and cries, some of pain, others of anger and adrenaline, rang out in the din.

Silver slammed his clubbed rifle into another enemy soldier, hitting him hard enough to send him flying backward several feet. An officer, thinking he'd have better luck, slashed at him with his sword; Silver stepped back and gave him a good old whack on the head, causing the officer to drop his sword. Another swipe, this one upward, sent the griffon tumbling back onto the bodies of his command.

Even through all this, the third line, the second having intermingled with the first, kept coming. Some lightning bolts were falling into their midst, but not many of them; the enemy detachments sent up to intercept the cloud-using pegasi were able to do that much, at least.

A fourth foe came, a griffon soldier with a bayonet extended. Silver didn't have time to bring the gun around for another pass, and he didn't have a bayonet, so he just shoved the barrel of the gun, hard, into the attacker's chest. The griffon coughed, dropping his gun and reaching for his stomach.

...Wait, do I have a round loaded? With the barrel still almost touching the enemy's chest, Silver depressed the trigger. BANG! Yep, he thought dully, as the griffon fell over backward.

The fighting continued. The Equestrian line buckled, but refused to break. The griffons kept coming; by now, they'd managed to keep the sky-borne pegasi so busy that hardly any lightning at all was coming down. With their artillery on the fighting line and in the process of being fought over, there was no real support to be had, and the pegasi were fighting fiercely with whatever they had; clubbed rifles, bayonets, swords, spears, even their bare hooves, which, being so hard, could inflict severe damage on an attacker without the pony in question suffering any pain or injury whatsoever. Both sides fought with desperation; the pegasi fought desperately to keep the enemy from breaking through and prolonging the war, the enemy just as desperate to get through to safety.

Through the din, Silver could almost swear that he could hear artillery on the distant horizon. His ears perked up. If that was the rest of the allied army coming, then the pegasi only had to hold on a bit longer before the enemy were completely encircled and reinforcements could reach them.

Migh' be able ta hold a mite longer, he thought to himself. Not sure how much longer we can stand, though...

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on!" James shouted as the army continued to advance. "We have to keep moving! I know you're tired, but when this war is over I promise that you'll be able to rest as much as you need!"

He didn't really need to encourage them; he could see that they were advancing as fast as they could. Nonetheless, the prospect of actually catching the enemy and crushing them was like a heady tonic, and he felt surges of excitement at the idea of the war ending in a few days.

The pegasi had actually managed to do it; get in front of the enemy and block them. Now he and his generals had to do their part, and reinforce them before they could be overwhelmed. The army was advancing at galloping speed. He'd rarely seen ponies run so fast in his life, and certainly not in the war thus far. Even the ponies pulling the artillery caissons were racing ahead at an almost breakneck speed.

"We might actually pull this off," he said out loud. "We might actually bag the whole blasted lot of them before they can escape us."

"I hope so, sir," Crystal said, carrying him on his back. "I also hope my legs can recover from this run."

"I'm sure they-"

A bullet clanged off the sword James was wielding, almost causing him to drop it in surprise. Another whizzed by his face, and more tore into his coat. A terrible Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat filled the battlefield.

At first, James wasn't sure what the noise was. He could see rifles firing at his command, and soldiers deploying - and falling - as they began to realize that they were in danger.

The words machine guns! had barely crossed his mind when he felt his left arm take a grazing hit. "Urgh!" he half groaned, half shouted as he began to fall backward, this time actually dropping his sword. He hit the ground flat on his back; his spine seemed to seethe with pain as the momentum carried him a few feet further, dragging him against the ground.

James coughed, groaning as he looked at the injury. It wasn't serious by any means - it wouldn't threaten the use of his limb in any way - but that didn't say anything about the pain of the wound. He moaned; even looking at it seemed to inflame it.

"Sir!" Crystal shouted, coming back around. "Sir, are you alright?"

"Get... down..."

"What?"

"Get down on your belly! Now! All of you, do the same!"

Some soldiers heard him and dropped to their stomachs on their own, while others just did so out of instinct. Of those who didn't, many were hit and fell. The remainder, seeing this happen, went down on their own.

James looked out as Crystal, now lying flat on his belly, began to bandage his injury. Still moaning, he tried to find where the suspected machine gun was firing.

Then he saw it.

It wasn't a true machine gun, not really, and there was only one. It more resembled the Gatling guns used in a limited capacity in the Civil War and to fight Native Americans out west, only with the crank located at the rear of the gun rather than the side, and the magazine was put in from the side. It was also mounted on smaller wheels, rather than on an artillery carriage, which allowed the crew to lie down, or at least crouch, rather than overly expose themselves to fire by standing; the crank handle was much shorter, so that the reduced height of the gun wouldn't cause the crank to get stuck in the ground.

Whatever it was, it was inflicting casualties on the soldiers under his command. "Bring up artillery," he got out as Crystal finished. "And get some pegasi to rain lightning down on that thing. The more melted a husk that gun is reduced to, the happier I'll be."

"Sir, with respect, you're injured."

"Don't tell me what I know. Now, as an officer, I am ordering you to give out my instructions."

"But sir-"

"I'll be fine. Just do it. It's not like the enemy are going to charge us; this is just a rear guard meant to slow us down. Now go," James growled, anger growing. "Or I'll court martial you."

Part of him could hardly believe he was threatening his trusted aide-de-camp, but between the pain of the his wound and his growing impatience, another part didn't care. Crystal's face twisted in surprise and shock, but he nodded, as if in understanding of what James was feeling. "Yes sir," he said, before getting up and taking wing. "Medics, see to the General," he shouted, pointing a hoof at James before leaving.

James heard someone answer Crystal, then turned his head to the right as a couple ponies, obviously medics, approached, both down on their bellies. "Sir, don't worry," one said. "We'll get that wound treated and get you out of here."

"Don't you dare move me until this contest is decided," James replied hastily and with another surge of anger. "I will see this engagement through to the end. And I doubt you could move me very far before being shot in any case."

"Well, that's probably true," the other medic said. "Still, I think it's best that we leave and make for the rear once that abominable gun and its crew are taken out. Band-Aid, I think the General's arm is as well treated as well as it can be for now, and there are other wounded out here, and many of those far worse." As the first medic left, the second turned back to James. "I think you've been lucky through out this war, sir."

"It seems I'm not able to move up to the firing line without remembering to forget my 'shoot me' sign," James joked, though this failed to elicit a laugh.

"You've suffered injuries that healed relatively quickly, and that have largely not interfered with your body's ability to operate."

"I don't think I believe in luck anymore," James said quietly, though he wasn't sure the medic heard.

Still under fire, the Equestrians gamely fired back at the griffon enemy. Most were clearly shooting at the big threat; the Gatling gun. A number of bullets clanged off the gun, others struck the crew manning it. before long, it's rate of fire sharply diminished, as crew were killed or wounded and others had to drop their own personal weapons in order to use it.

The pegasus lightning strikes weren't even necessary, though they did blast the gun and its crew. Nor was the artillery needed, though it shelled the gun and the area around it. Whatever the reason for its demise, the gun soon ceased fire completely, and enemy gunfire slackened off as Equestrian soldiers got back up and began to push forward.

"I think you'll be fine," the medic said to James as the gunfire died away. "Nothing much we can do for it other than keeping it bandaged for now. I'd still recommend a trip to the field hospital, though."

"That can wait. I need to see this thing for myself." Without waiting for the medic's permission, James pushed himself to his feet - it took a little longer than it would have otherwise - and began walking toward the gun.

Apparently, a bolt of lightning had fused some of the gears and barrels together; the gun was useless for anything other than a brief study and a trip to wherever scrapped items went. The ammunition must have been ignited by lightning as well, as the gun showed damage of such a sort and the corpses of the gunners showed a lot of bullet holes in numerous directions, and no doubt some were hit while down.

"Don't stop here, keep going," he said, raising his voice. "Don't let those who died here die in vain. Let's put an end to all of this, so that this doesn't happen again."

Already, Equestrian units were beginning to forge ahead. However, it wasn't at the reckless pace they'd been galloping at. He could understand; how many of these things did the enemy have, and how many more surprises did they have in store?

If we have anything to say about it, not enough, he quipped to himself. "Someone take this piece of junk to the rear," he said, pointing at the gun. "I think that Equestria's military scientists would like a look at it."

"Oughta just pound it into scrap right here," a soldier muttered. "Killed too many of us."

Again, James could understand his soldier's sentiments. He too felt like taking a sledgehammer to the ruined Gatling. However, if Equestria could get a gun like that, they should. "Just do it," he said urgently. "If we can make stuff like it, the balance shifts back toward us again. And those going forward, keep a sharp lookout."

The artillery began to fire at a much more distant target. clearly, this wasn't going to be the last such stand the enemy were going to make. James sighed. He'd known this wasn't going to be easy, but he'd had hopes for a quick end to the war. That might not happen if rear guard stands slowed down the army too much. The pegasi were no doubt giving their lives right now just trying to slow the enemy down, and were likely at great risk of being overrun.

"Keep going," he said again, even louder. "Let's end this!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Silver smashed another enemy soldier with his gun. He'd lost count of how many he'd beaten down or killed outright. The enemy just kept coming, without let up or withdrawal. He and the rest of the pegasi had been fighting for almost two hours, and every bone and muscle in his body seemed to bellow exhaustion.

He punched an enemy with a forehoof; the enemy soldier fell down. He felt no pain from the blow directly, but he was getting tired, along with most of the pegasi present. They still had ammunition, to be sure, but that no longer mattered much; the fight was almost entirely a melee.

A shadow came from above; Silver was barely in time to duck and avoid a sword strike by an airborne enemy.

Can' we not even keep 'em from tha skies? he thought to himself, as he took a quick look, to see the skies full of griffons. Some pegasi were contesting them, but they were clearly on the verge of being overwhelmed.

"Retreat!" a pegasus officer shouted. "Fall back to the rally points as planned!"

This had been part of the plan as well; if the enemy were going to overrun the position, the orders were to disengage and then fall back to either side of the griffon army and hope they were either too exhausted or determined to reach safety to pursue.

Silver took a swipe at another attacker with his rifle. The words began to make sense in his mind even as he sent another attacker sprawling. Wait, we've lost?

It was something he wasn't accustomed to thinking. Sure, during the first month or two of the war there had been retreats, as well as during the spring of this very year, but since then the army had won every engagement. Defeat wasn't something that pegasi were used to contemplating.

"Oh, blast it," he said out loud, continuing to curse most vilely as he whacked yet another enemy. Disengaging the enemy wasn't going to be easy, not with the enemy so close. And yet, it was the only realistic option at this point.

"Where do you think you're going?" a griffon soldier said, approaching Silver as the pony began to step backward.

"Not ta hell, and that's where you're goin' if ya follow me," Silver retorted. He heard the hoofsteps of other ponies as they began to fall back as well.

"We'll see about that," the griffon smirked, raising a sword.

He never got to use it. Silver stuck him with an officer's sword that had been dropped by an inevitable pegasus casualty of the battle. "Aye, I think we have seen abou' it," he said calmly. He let go of the sword - which he had picked up with his right wing - and took to his heels. Now he had to try and make good his escape... assuming that was possible.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

James got up and walked over to the gun his troops had captured. It was in no good condition; in fact, after the R&D department had had its way with it, it would likely end up as scrap. However, it was still good enough to be studied, and he was sure that someone could get something out of it.

Artillery was still firing, though the targets it was shooting at were even more distant now, as the enemy continued to withdraw. James could hear, if he strained his ears, the battle the pegasi were fighting to stop the enemy. However, the gunfire in the distance was starting to die off. He wasn't sure or not whether or not it was a good sign at all.

As hours began to tick by and the army continued its pursuit, he grew more and more worried. Now lying on an artillery caisson, James strained to hear any sound of battle ahead. All he heard were hoofbeats and the wheels and axles of the caisson creaking.

As dusk began to set in and the army began to slow down, a cream-colored pegasus came flying in from the northeast. James all but jumped off the caisson, only to come up short when he saw the soldier's face.

The pegasus in question could not have looked more mournful if he had played the part of ten years in a theater. "I'm s-sorry, sir," he said, tears falling down his face. "We... we weren't able to... to stop 'em... They got through us... and they're streamin' into that fort of theirs like a river breakin' a dam..."

James would have said something horribly pungent, but the sorrow on the soldier's face stopped him. "Well," he began, and stopped. There wasn't anything he could really think of to say. A lot of pegasi had given their lives for nothing. "Well, I guess that's that," he said finally. "We won't be bagging them this time, and the war is going to stretch on a bit longer." He sighed, knowing that he and his fellow generals were to blame for the hare-brained scheme that had apparently done no good at all, except maybe inflict casualties.

"Please, sir," the pony said. "My brother and I went into that battle together, and wh-when they called retreat, I don't... I don't think he got out... He's either captured or... or..." the pegasus broke up entirely, bawling.

Another life I'm responsible for. James knelt down and put a hand on the soldier's mane. "I'm sorry," he said at last.

He looked toward the northeast, in the presumed direction of Ragna Fortress. The enemy would soon be behind fortifications beyond those he'd yet seen in the war, safe from attack, as their insane Emperor gathered resources and soldiers with which to launch a counteroffensive.

He fingered the cross on his neck. What are we going to do...?

PreviousChapters Next