Chapter 81: Navarese Civil War II
Part 1: Iberian Slam-Dance
TIME: 07:35 IT
DATE: War Day 748/22 Quartus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Montferrer, Navarre
Three days ago, I became a father. S.. sort of. My twins, seeded by Forest Spirit, Arthur Turner and Liberty K--- were born to Celestia. Dr. Allcome was there to hand them off to me and Applejack. I couldn't be prouder, and we'd stayed up all night fussing over them. As much as it pained me to do it, I had to send them back to Equestria soon, so they would be safe. I just had them, I would not risk losing them, here. As per prescribed orders, they needed to Nurse from Celestia for at least a week before even considering that. I had all kinds of Volunteers to take them home. I decided I'd have Luna come out and take them back. If anyone had claim to watch over them, it was Starlight's Mom.
On the war front, things went well. We took our time gathering and training additional volunteers from everywhere we could. As the Navarese Royal Army was still being assembled, we took a couple of smaller towns near Girul ourselves - with Lieutenant Espinoza with us, to accept surrenders in the Dukes' names.
It was now time to take our first "big city." And we had the manpower and equipment to get it done. The Royal Army of Navarre had spent about two weeks in intensive training. Infantry tactics, firearms handling, and most importantly, how to follow orders - and when to bring up alternatives.
We had ten full-strength companies - numbered 6 through 16 for book keeping reasons - which gave us a regiment and change. The primary force was the 1st Royal Navarese Infantry Regiment. Attached to it was the 1st Navarese Rangers (two companies), and 1st Navarese Cavalry (the other two companies).
We didn't have enough spare artillery to give them their own, but, Duke Alfonso assured me, the castle town of Montferrer had artillery pieces we could take.
K: "Backing you up will be the 1st Prench Infantry Regiment to the south, and the 1st Equestrian Royal Army Regiment to the north. If there's Tanks, my troops will handle it. Derpy, that'll be on you." I nodded to her.
Derpy: "No problem!" She beamed a grin.
Indeed, European armies organized along a Regimental line, whereas the Equestrians did so by company - an Equestrian regiment was a mixed formation, European Regiments were not. I was gravitating towards our own changes, now that the Army had expanded to three full Divisions. Keeping in mind, a Division here had 9,720 personnel, period, and most Earth military divisions had at least 11,000 to 25,000 troops. So, a Regiment here was basically two Companies on Earth (360 ponies in one Regiment vs ~180 in one Company on Earth).
I'd likely reorganize the Cavalry and Artillery into their own Regiments so I could focus my Armor and Heavy Guns better, and set up Infantry Regiments somewhat like Stryker Companies (which were JUST proposed when I left Earth) - three Infantry Companies, a Reconnaisence Company, a Support and HQ Company, and a Weapons Company. The Recon Company would get M-5 Wheeler Scout Cars, everyone else would get trucks and our new Jeeps.
European Infantry Regiments were just five companies of Infantry troops on-the-hoof (they were still in the process of making their own automobiles and finding the needed oil to run them) and one Support and HQ Company, which also included a Weapons Platoon.
Essentially, move up from a Company-oriented force, to a Regiment-oriented one.
K: "Cosmic, the Prench have a battery of 105mm guns. I want you directing them." I nodded to him.
Cosmic: "Of course." He shrugged with a grin. "I'll get those eggs in the basket, no problem."
K: "They'll be set up at close to their maximum range, so there'll be a delay of about 8 seconds flight time." I looked at the others. "Remember that when you call in artillery - you kinda have to predict where the enemy is going to be about fifteen seconds after you tell Cosmic to open fire."
Duke Condor: "I see." He studied the sand table carefully.
K: "Spitfire." I nodded to her.
Spitfire: "Let me guess - I'm manually directing the Prench fighter-bombers?" She shrugged her wings a bit.
K: "Exactly. You shouldn't have to do too much, they should know their jobs, but keep an eye on them - this is their first fight." I nodded slowly to her.
Duke Alfonso: "I think we are ready, General K." He nodded, swishing his horns a bit.
K: "Alright. I'm going to stay right here and help teach you how to direct a battle from the rear-"
Forest Spirit: "-Which is unusual, as our General tends to lead from the front." He smirked.
K: "-ah. Heh. He's right. Anyhow." I shrugged at the Dukes.
Duke Alfonso: "And we are in the rear..?" He tilted his horns to me.
K: "Because I learned how to lead from the rear for decades, with numerous mock battles of varying kinds. I started off back here, far from the action. If you can't think strategically, you can't win operationally. You may win a battle, and lose the war. Plus, you haven't any subordinate officers of the kind of skill that I had - you have good Captains and Lieutenants, but no other Generals." I wagged a finger at him. "Once you have Colonels and Generals that can command war FOR you, ones you trust implicity, then you can think about getting closer. The closer you get to the front, the smaller your view is, unless - like me - you spent so long practicing strategic warfare, you can think both ways at the same time."
Forest Spirit: "It's a matter of attentiveness, synergy, and experience. This is your soldiers' first major offensive action. You guys need to think Big Picture." He nodded.
Duke Condor: "I see." He nodded to his cousin. "We shall learn."
For this battle, I would direct general strategy, and show them how it was done. All future battles would be theirs to conduct, and I would advise. I would also be there to step in if they became indecisive, or lost.
Forest Spirit: "Sergeant, let the units know it's time to move in." He directed to the Comspony with a nod.
GySGT Ochre Wave: "Aye, sir." He keyed up the radio and made his broadcast.
K: "Unlike the old days, radios allow us to track the position of our units as they move. Before radios, leading from the front, or a VERY high place, was about the only way to maintain control of your forces. That, or relying on messengers." I gestured to the table.
Duke Alfonso: "I see." He nodded. "Generally, we would entrust our officers with full authority in raids and defensive actions. General Falco, we understand, places himself close to the front and exercises more control - mainly through messengers, as you said."
Duke Condor: "Radios, indeed, by themselves, are a huge help." He rubbed his chin with his knuckle.
K: "My world has even more advanced technology - we could, if we desired to, place a beacon on each soldier, and communicate with each individual, using orbiting communications and global positioning satellites. The technology was only improving, when I left, but was good enough to track units as large as Squads over an area as small as this headquarters." I gestured to the tents we had set up in the assembly area.
Forest Spirit: "That's.. that's pretty good, K." He smirked a bit.
K: "We won't get that far, I figure. I'll be happy with radios that have better ranges, boosted by magic, and really good plotting on sand tables." I gestured to the little unit markers.
Pinkie: "You never knoooow!" She chimed in, making herself busy moving things around.
Toola: "I'm just glad my artistic skill is coming in handy." She nodded.
K: "I wouldn't have such accurate map details without them, Toola." I smirked.
Ochre Wave: "General - 6th and 7th companies have advanced to contact with the enemy. X-15, Y-24." He nodded to the sand table as Twilight moved the unit flags. "6th Company is reporting heavy resistance in a set of buildings at the edge of town. Stone block houses. They're asking for support."
K: "Have them mark the houses, and call for air support." I nodded. "I don't want stray artillery shells hitting the town."
Ochre Wave: "Roger." He nodded to the other Comspony, Radio Active.
Radio Active: "Alpha to Crimson, air strike, stone blockhouses, X-15, Y-24, target marked with smoke." She called in, efficiently.
Duke Condor: "So it begins." He hmpf'd a bit, and got close to the sand table, watching as my staff moved the markers around.
K: "Everyone knows the general plan. Advance along their axis as best as possible, converge at set rally points, redistribute, and move on. The town is kinda pentagon-shaped, so, that makes it somewhat easy to assign specific objectives." I ran a hand through my hair.
Duke Condor: "Indeed." He nodded to his cousin.
Twilight Sparkle: "General, the 8th Company has encountered a mine field along their axis of advance. They're requesting medical evac, and asking for further instructions." She sighed.
K: "Flutters." I nodded to Fluttershy, who was already grabbing another Pegasi medic and taking off. "We don't have a large enough combat engineer unit to effectively clear that mine field. Have 8th Company return to its starting positon, then make their way here. We'll hold them in reserve."
Twilight Sparkle: "Of course." She nodded, and relayed the orders.
Duke Alfonso: "8th Company's objective was the industrial quarter. How do we work around this complication?" He leaned over the sand table a bit.
K: "I'll have 9th Company clear it if their axis of advance is clear to town. They were supposed to support 10th Company's attack on the east side, but 10th Company will have to do it themselves - if it gets tough, I'll redeploy 8th Company to support them." I gestured.
Twilight Sparkle: "Part of directing battle strategy is being flexible. I learned that in Neighpon." She shrugged.
Radio Active: "...GENERAL!" She suddenly looked up. "Scout team, repeat last..!" She paused and pressed the headphone to her ear a little harder. "Sir, I-" She paused, looked down, tried to increase gain on the radio set, then shook her head. "We have a problem. The scout team from the Prench Infantry Regiment just went silent. They said they'd seen something hug-"
I could feel the rumble beneath my feet.
K: "That's a Monster." I looked up from the table, to my team.
Things were about to get devastating.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Iberian Monster Mash
TIME: 08:12 IT
DATE: War Day 748/22 Quartus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Montferrer, Navarre
Twilight Sparkle: C> "Attention all Equestrian Forces, we have a Code Turquoise. Repeat, Code Turquoise. Reserve formations report to HQ, all HQ personnel report to the General. Air force units prepare for anti-tank strike." She got up, and, not waiting for a response, started getting her gear on.
Duke Alfonso: "This is very bad, si?" He tilted his head.
K: "They shouldn't have had one. I don't get it." I was distracted. "You two stay here. You let us handle this. Forest Spirit? You're in charge!" I paced out of the tent. "GORCAT! WEBLEY! WE GOT ANOTHER MONSTER!!" I snatched up my Bradley/Gavin from the rack as I moved towards the emergency assembly area with the girls.
Webley: "There's no way this is a coincidence." She shook her head. "How bad?"
Twilight Sparkle: "The Scout Platoon from the Prench Infantry Regiment is down, they're probably.. dead.." She shook her head.
Sacquet: "Sacre damn!" He hissed.
K: "Sacquet, I need you and Forest Spirit to command the battle for me." I pointed to the tent.
Sacquet: "Really, mon ami?" He narrowed his eyes. "I need to know how to kill these things, too, you know!"
Julienne: "REALLY!?" She sniffed, and poked her general in the torso. "Right after proposing?" She kissed Phillipe.. HARD. "You had better return, mon General.." And ran her hoof gently under his chin.
K: "Hey..!" I smirked at both of them as I got my tactical vest on.
Sacquet: "Ehh..." He flushed red. "..it has been a long time coming."
K: "Indeed it has." I nodded slowly, letting the grin spread across my face as I stuck extra grenades into my dump pouch.
Havoc: "W'how're we gonna play this one, K? I remember what you told me about Neighpon." He shrugged a bit.
K: "Our air support goes in first, knocks out anything it can - escorting units, machine gun turrets, and so on. We come in from the side while it's distracted with our aircraft." I nodded to Spitfire. "We'll do it from close in."
Fluttershy: "I'll.. take Kiwi." She nodded.
Kiwi Spritz: "Are you serious?" She racked the bolt of her Chaffee.
Cosmic: "She can do it." He was loading a contact fuse HE shell.
K: "Lads. Gorcat, you're going to have to carry me. Dash, AJ, Fluttershy. Spitfire. Soarin. Coco. Gilda. Webley. Kiwi. Gilda, get Havoc. Webley, get Phillipe." I directed. "Webley, Gilda, Gorcat, grab Funstons. The rest of you, satchel charges."
Dash: "On it!" She zoomed off to grab some extras.
Cosmic: "I'll radio our air support and coordinate with them." He nodded, pulling on his radio pack.
K: "Alright. We get one shot at this." I nodded to each of them.
Cosmic: "Ah, sir?" He tugged my sleeve.
K: "Yeah?" I looked up, to see Ember and several of her Dragons landing, with a few members of the Ponyville Militia.
Ember: "We saw it as we were approaching." She smirked. "General.. does this give you another option?"
K: "I-" I blinked, thought for a moment, then looked up. "I need Ice and Fire." I looked around to the others. "Flash freeze the armor plate, rapidly heat it, and it'll shatter like glass." I shrugged. "Simple metallurgy."
Norfy: "Then, I'm going." He stood forwards. "I'm the best ice mage you have."
Ember: "Filament, Wick, Opalfire, Rocket, Flamu." She pointed.
I should note, they were all wearing dragon-sized uniforms, tactical gear, and were all carrying adapted Canidan weapons. Flamu was the largest, bigger than Gorcat, and he was hefting an Abrams like a pony would a Ridgway.
K: "Opalfire, you carry Norfy." I nodded. "Norfy, I'm going to need you on point. Freeze the armor as we approach - freeze it as hard as you can. When you dragons get in range, cook that armor he froze with all of your might." I did a final chamber check of my weapon. "Ready?"
Norfy: "Any time, K." He smirked, and nodded.
Flamu: "Let's see your skills, human." He grinned wickedly, nodded to Gorcat and the others, and rested his Abrams on his shoulder.
K: "Let's do this. Cosmic!" I looked to him.
Cosmic: "We better go now - Air Support is starting its run, by the time we get there, they'll be done." He shrugged.
Flamu: "Right. Let's RIDE!" He hefted Cosmic.
And the others picked up their partners in their arms, claws and whatever else.. and we were airborne.
I could see the entire field of battle, now. The Monster Tank was trying to press on the flank, and drive us into the swamp land on the very far side of the town, at the other flank. A terrain feature I'd picked as the "side wall" since it would be impassable to the enemy, preventing that flank from being turned. Now, they wanted to drive us there, so we'd get bogged down, and slaughtered. Interesting - the commander here wasn't dumb.
I saw the F/A-1 Falcons make their run at high speed over the Monster's back. They hadn't yet adapted their tactics to account for my powered aircraft, so any return fire was from small caliber machine guns. Still, they hit one of the Falcons, and I could see it start smoking from its engine. The pilot pulled out immediately, arced over, and retreated before it finished its run. The rest of the Falcons plastered the top of the Monster with machine gunfire, rockets, and a couple of small 45kg fragmentation bombs.
Our flight arced downwards, and started aiming a turn towards the Monster's left side. I couldn't communicate with this wind, so I trusted Norfy to do what needed done. Once we were about 200 meters from the Monster, I saw its entire left side start to frost over, and a VERY thick carapace of ice form at a 10 meter by 10 meter circle towards the center.. Norfy tapped Opalfire's arm, and the Dragons let loose with their Fire Breath Weapons once they got to within 50 meters and closer.
The intense heat, flash heating the frozen metal, made it blow out and shatter in spectacular fashion, shattering a 12-meter hole in the side of the beast, exposing all four of its decks. We randomly dove into the two center ones. Gorcat released me a bit short of the deck floor, but with momentum, and I just tucked into a roll, slamming into a Porcine as I landed.
Gorcat dove on another one that was handling a powder bag for the powder magazine elevator, and slammed him to the ground. I found myself climbing off the stunned Porcine, as AJ, Dash, Fluttershy, Kiwi, and Coco landed by me.
K: "Watch the powder bags!" I called, as I drew my bowie knife, and jammed it into the Porcine's right eye - so much blood, and it smelled like filthy, rotting pork.
Coco: "General!"
She slammed herself into another Porcine that was coming for me with a shovel, and Kiwi was instantly on its back. AJ came in low, and fired her Chaffee into both of its knees, making it fall, while Coco and Kiwi knifed and beat it to death.
Gorcat: "THIS is FUN!" He stood up, with Porcine blood all over him, guts dangling from his claws. "Bahaha!" He hefted his machine gun, and moved over to me.
K: "Up the access ladder! Get to the engine room! Gorcat, grab a powder bag!" I said, taking the lead. "COMING UP!"
Opalfire: "Clear up here!" She grabbed me from the ladder and hauled me up. "Fluttershy! Get up here!"
Cosmic: "It's nothing serious!" He limped over to me, favoring his left foreleg. "Ow. I take it back, I think it's broken." He nodded to a dead Porcine. "I.. um.. punched him in the face as hard as I could."
Flamu: "You shattered his skull is what you did!" He laughed.
Gaze: "Oi, Coz! Fer serious, mate, ya should'a let me blast'im!" He chuckled as well.
Sacquet: "Oui, mon ami, but you saved me." He grinned.
Norfy: "Yeah, while you were busy saving ME!" He snickered.
AJ: "Y'all ain't an Earth Pony, Coz." She got up with Fluttershy. "Done good, there, buddy." She pat his head.
K: "Fluttershy, tend to Cosmic. Dash, Gaze, stay with them, prepare to evac when I say so." I trusted Fluttershy to be able to get Cosmic at least clear of the blast zone.
Gorcat: "Got the powder bag." He hefted it up. "Where to?"
K: "Engine Room. Webley! Point!" I ordered, and took up position behind her.
Webley: "This way!" She moved, firing on targets as she did so.
They all did. Everything trying to come down from their manned stations, after us, was being chopped down as soon as it showed its face. This is what Professionals can do.
We moved to the Engine Room, and saw they'd shut the hatch door. I was going to assume they'd sealed it as best as possible, so I nodded to our Dragons.
K: "Flamu, Wick, wrench it open, but don't destroy the hinges." I looked at Gorcat. "Wrap a satchel charge around the powder bag, and pull the fuse when they get the door open, then throw it in." I looked back to the Dragons. "Slam it shut, hold it shut."
Flamu: "Ahaha! This is what I was looking forwards to!" He sunk his claws into the metal, and nodded to Wick as he did the same. "Ready!"
K: "Pull!" I shouldered my weapon, and waited, ready to gun down anything inside.
They yanked the hatch open, shattering the lock bars, but leaving the hinges intact. The crew inside the engine room - all Goblins as I could see - were too distracted manning the machinery to worry about. Gorcat pulled the fuse, and spiked the powder bag into the room. Flamu and Wick shut it hard, and leaned against it, spreading their wings to cover the hatch better. The muffled, but concussive explosion from within, followed by the feeling of the steel beast slowing down and stopping.. told me we'd killed it.
K: "Alright, everyone prepare to evacuate. Coco, satchel charge into the powder magazine, pull the fuse when we take off. GO! GO! GO!" I moved back to the opening in the side of the hull, and held out my arms.
Gorcat grabbed me, and we were airborne again.. flying away, and after a minute, the entire Monster detonated as its powder magazine went up, rocketing its superheavy turret into the sky, and back down on its own roof.. the steel shell crumbled underneath its weight.
As we landed by the HQ, I looked back at the smoke column coming up from it.. another option, indeed.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Iberian Happy Dance
TIME: 11:24 IT
DATE: War Day 748/22 Quartus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Montferrer, Navarre
After the Monster was destroyed, the enemy forces in the town either surrendered, or retreated. It was a rout. The Monster had been the lynchpin. We were in the center of town with the Alcalde, Senor Loyola.
Loyola: "Duke Condor, Duke Alfonso, as Alcalde of Montferrer, I surrender the town to you." He bowed, and placed his staff of office before them.
Duke Condor: "We accept, in the name of the Throne of His Majesty, King Alfonso VIII." He had an assistant pick it up.
K: "As The NEIGHTO Supreme Allied Commander, I acknowledge the honorable surrender of the municipality, and promise its residents safety, under the NEIGHTO Standardization Agreements of Laws of Warfare." Which, really, was a short paragraph that actually ended with the statement 'at the discretion of the Supreme Allied Commander.'
Loyola: "Indeed. We had not heard that NEIGHTO and ponies were on the side of the King." He bowed slightly to me.
K: "The NEIGHTO Council has decided to offer its support to the rightful Throne of Navarre." Sidestepping the fact that no one sat on it. "And The Government in the name of His Royal Highness accepted, graciously." A nod.
Starlight: "Tirek is everyone's problem, Senor Alcalde." She graciously added. "Given enough time, his troops would have started eating your people."
Loyola: "Then you would be most interested to know. That massive steel monster arrived some months ago." He sighed, defeatedly. "Many people in the town starved, in order to feed the voracious appetites of those.. Gigante Puerco.." He spat that last word.
Starlight: "If you've the means, Senor Alcalde, please, spread the word that NEIGHTO is here to help those in need. We can bring in food, help repair farms and buildings.. whatever you need." She nodded to him, with a small bow, similar to a goat's mannerisms.
Loyola: "Si!" He beamed a grin. "Please. If you can help, we do need it." He looked over to one of the buildings in the center of town. "They shut down our hospital and turned it into a barracks.. stole foods from the mouths of our Kids.. they were horrid, guttonous, brutes."
K: "I'll see to it that relief supplies are brought up immediately." I bowed out, and let Starlight handle this, meeting back up with my Staff.
Forest Spirit: "How goes?" He nodded.
K: "Well. The people are suprised to see us, but not ungrateful. Just the opposite, they're begging for aid. For the time being, have everyone hand out their field rations to the people, and call back to the Prench and let them know we need food for about 20,000 people." I shrugged. "We'll have to truck in a lot of stuff to help these people out - Tirek's troops went over the town pretty good, the people are hungry and sick. Let them know we need medical assistance as well." I looked at Cody and Well. "Grab some nurses and get down there with whatever you can scrounge up."
Dr. Allcome: "You know it, K." He patted Well on the arm, and off they went.
Sacquet: "I shall pass word to Command that we are in need." He nodded, and moved to the comms tent.
Forest Spirit: "The Navarese suffered 37 casualties - 12 dead, 25 wounded. The Prench lost that scout platoon, took another 11 wounded, 1 dead. We lost 7 injured, one killed." He shrugged. "Enemy casualties are in the hundreds - they left behind 57 wounded, mostly critical cases."
AJ: "We dun got off easy." She sat down with some coffee, and yanked me into a chair. "Sit, I know yer tired."
K: "We did." I shrugged a bit. "Could have been a lot worse." I glanced over at the sand table. "I'd estimate a battalion-strength unit, weakened, escaped." And a glance down at my coffee cup. "I have a feeling, we didn't just attack a major enemy force, we hit somebody's HQ without realizing it."
Forest Spirit: "There was supposed to be the main force of the Ibexian Anarchist Collective, here." He shook his head. "That wasn't the troops we fought, though. These guys were regular army, backed by some Tirek forces. No Gizmonks, only Raptorians and Porcines, with a very few Goblins to run the Monster."
Lt. Espinoza: "Senors!" She paced in, and placed part of a uniform sleeve on the table. "That is because, this was a unit of the old Royal Army.. the 4th Battalion of the 2nd Territorial Army." She sat down by us, and accepted coffee from Sigmask. "They defected to the Anarchists about a month after it all started. In whole. Very few deserted. They were all hunted down and killed to make an example of. I think, now, we know why, si?"
K: "The Anarchists are the ones getting Tirek's help. It fits. He prefers Chaos in our ranks.. and Anarchists are just the sort of people - ponies, goats - to turn on each other the second they beat their mutual enemy." I rubbed my chin a moment. "How good was that unit?"
Lt. Espinoza: "They were one of the best units in the Army. One of the first to have Rifles, drilled very hard, by General Falco himself before his reassignment. The leader, Coronel de la Cerda. He was a student of General Falco.." She looked down at the floor. "..and my father."
K: "Espinoza is your mother's name, isn't it?" I nodded to her.
Lt. Espinoza: "No, senor Marchal. It was the name of my husband, before Coronel de la Cerda killed him for desertion." She fixed me with a steely gaze.
Forest Spirit: "That.. explains a lot. I'm so sorry, Lieutenant." He pat her shoulder.
Lt. Espinoza: "I served in the unit as well, but was reassigned to a Guard Unit in the Capital once I was with Kids.." She sighed. "..he never saw them. Our twins are back at our headquarters." She gave a small smile. "I fight so they may have a land in peace to grow up in."
AJ: "Whul, if that don't jes' beat all." She beamed and gave her a half-hug. "That's a Momma for ya!"
Sigmask: "Very brave of you, ma'am." He sat down as well. "I've got our casualties being evac'd, K."
K: "Good job, Sergeant-Major." I gave him a nod.
Lt. Espinoza: "That is why, why, when you said you were taking Girul, I had to help. You.. you can help us march forwards." She looked out of the tent, at some of the Navarese walking wounded moving past. "There was so much, only, that I could do by myself."
Forest Spirit: "I can see why the Duke trusts you." He nodded a bit. "I was a Forest Ranger before the war." He smirked.
Sigmask: "I was a butcher." He beamed a grin. "Kinda still am."
Lt. Espinoza: "You are no butcher, Sergeant-Major." She patted his shoulder. "You are a surgeon, carving out infection from our lands."
Sigmask: "Ha! Haha.. ah, thank you, ma'am." He blushed - first time I'd ever seen that from him.
K: "I had no military training, either. But, I had a lot of knowledge of warfare. Somehow, I'm not that surprised that Goats, of all races, would have some kind of martial tradition. In my world, Goats are used, often, to protect chickens and ducks, sometimes sheep, from predators." I shrugged.
Lt. Espinoza: "Interesting that goats would take such jobs-"
AJ: "Sugarcube? He means, we wuzn't people." She looked over the top of her nose at her. "None'a us. Just humans."
Lt. Espinoza: "O-Oh.." She blinked.
K: "As foreign a concept to consider as me even existing, but, yes, in my world.. none of you would be sapient or sentient." I shrugged. "And in some parts of the world - like the equivalent of the one we're in right now - you'd be raised for your meat and milk."
Lt. Espinoza: "Oh!" She blushed at that.
Sigmask: "Took some getting used to for me, too, ma'am. He's eaten pony before - his world. Probably goat, too, I figure. He said chicken, beef and pork are staple meats where he's from." He shrugged. "And THEY don't even have dragons!" A grin.
K: "Yeeaahh.. didn't want to bring it up.. ahh." I shrugged. "I once had a goat that was slow cooked in a pit in the ground for 12 hours." A small gesture. "They DID kill it first."
Lt. Espinoza: "Well.. It's.. a different world. You are here, now, si?" She smiled.
K: "I also ate the King of Cowrea." I gave a broad, unapologetic grin.
AJ: "That FAT BASTARD deserved it!" She snorted.
Forest Spirit: "To be clear, Cowreans place no value on the corpses of their dead. Moreover, 172 ponies died defending them, when they were.." He cleared his throat. "..They see every other race as servants to them, and that their only job in life is to get fat and live in luxury. The social elite, at least. They disrespected us, treated us like dirt, and refused to lift a hoof in their own defense when they were besieged by Tirek."
Lt. Espinoza: "It sounds like he DID deserve it." She blinked.
K: "We're just pointing out that, despite vast gulfs of differences between our cultures, we're gathering together not just to fight Tirek, but because we honestly believe we can put aside those differences and be real friends in the future." I sipped my coffee.
AJ: "A'yup. And each'n ever' one'a us would lay down our lives right'chere, right nao, if it meant endin' all the fightin' an' everyone goin' back to bein' all neighborly an' friendly-like." She nuzzled into me.
About then, Corporal Garcia came in, and saluted us.
Cpl. Garcia: "Sirs! Ma'ams! Sergeant!" He beckoned us.
We went outside, and saw a small procession of Cowreans.. behind them were a couple of Prench engineer ponies, dragging wheeled carts with cow corpses in them, some partially processed into steaks and chops.
K: "Speaking of." I nodded, and paced over to the Cowrean in the lead, who wore large ceremonial beads and a sort of shroud. "What is your name?"
Kim Luk: "I.. Kim Luk. Of Seoul." He nodded to me.
K: "When did you arrive here?" I asked.
Kim Luk: "Months ago." He shrugged. "Me and others. They keep us for food. Not surprise. When dead, we are but meat."
K: "Are you a Monk, sir?" I nodded to his beads.
Kim Luk: "Yes." He nodded back. "She is farmer, he is cabinet maker, he over there was fisherman. Those in cart. All.. officials." He couldn't find a more fitting word.
K: "They were social elites." I shrugged, as Ember came up.
Ember: "Dead cows?" She sniffed one of the bodies.
K: "Yes. Also, beef is delicious." I smirked. "I.. ate your king, Brother Monk."
Kim Luk: "Mm. No matter." He shrugged. "His path was dark and dangerous from beginning. We all know. Him was promise great feed and luxury if he roll over. Let Tirek make fights." He snorted slightly. "Attract you."
Lt. Espinoza: "Ohhh.." She blinked, realizing what this meant.
Forest Spirit: "OF ALL THE TREASONOUS, VILE, DISGUSTING THINGS TO DO!" He whinny-roared, and slammed his forehooves on the ground.
K: "..that bastard." I sighed.
AJ: "Oh, fer.." She sighed. "..I wondered about all'a that!" She looked at me. "Pardon yer simple country pony wife, honeybun, but don't this make a whole lot'a sense? Why he were so durn passive? Why'n the rest'a'm didn't lift a single hoof to help us?" She waved her hoof before the survivors. "Hey'y'all? Y'all wanna help us kill Tirek'n his boys?"
Ho, the Farmer: "YES! He take my farm! Evil! Kill de evil!" He pawed the ground like a bull.
K: "Hit the nail on the head, honeybun." I nodded to the side. "Let's go get Celestia and tell her. Ember? Get those corpses somewhere cold, for now. I'll butcher them properly so we can eat them. No sense them going to waste."
A terrible truth revealed. Now, I felt even less guilt for eating, as my son put it, that "mean ol' king."
[End of Part 3]
Part 4: Iberian Pop-Lock
TIME: 17:33 IT
DATE: War Day 752/26 Quartus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Montferrer, Navarre
A few days had passed, as we helped the town recover from their devastating occupation. Food was brought in from Prance, along with seeds for planting, a Civil Engineer unit from Prance's Civil Services Departments (which administered their pre-war local police, fire brigade, municipal engineers, maintenance, road and rail repair, and so on), a hospital from the Holy Order of Grace (a religious order that worships Celestia), and a volunteer unit of Militia drawn from 37 towns and cities across Prance.
Princess Escargot was also meeting with the Dukes. Germaneigh had supplies on the way, but it would take time for them to arrive. The next-nearest was Ambleon, which - in this world - was on what would be the Medditeranian-side of Prance. They had supply ships loaded with everything they could spare - bombs, beans, bullets, bandages, and more.
We now had the idea that Cowrea was a plot from the very start, and all part of a grand strategy Tirek had put together long before my arrival.
Celestia: "So, what have you figured out, K?"
K: "Well.. going back and questioning the Cowreans we resettled in Maine, most of the former high society cows admitted to the plot. But, in a very dismissive fashion - like, it didn't matter to them if the plot failed or succeeded, and of course, it didn't matter if we died." I shrugged.
Sigmask and Ochre Wave brought in coffee, tea, and cookies for us. Forest Spirit, the girls, the lads, and I were all seated in the Alcalde's mansion, which he volunteered as a headquarters.
Forest Spirit: "I understand Chemical Lens.. heheh.. got a bit rough with them, too." He smirked, but it faded. "I'm glad the monk survived.. and most of the rest of them. The commoner cows aren't bad people. It's those ultra rich ones that were the problem." And shook his head. "Lotta calves suffered because of that."
Sigmask: "What gets me, sirs and ma'ams and highnesses, is that Prince Milk-Sum was in on it. He seemed adamant about helping." He shrugged.
K: "I don't think he knew the plot. Remember, the Prince apparently died on his way back to Cowrea - they blamed it on Griffon pirates, but I wonder?" I shrugged.
Ochre Wave: "Think they had him offed once he outlived his usefulness, sir?" He tilted his head.
K: "I think that's exactly what happened, and his corpse was eaten." I wagged a finger, taking a cup of tea (for once). "We don't know, but I'm pretty sure Tirek is an omnivore, and if he likes beef.. well.. there's several servant races that are omnivores, too, that could eat the Cowreans as a food source."
Rarity: "Simple economics, darlings. We get punished in Cowrea, Tirek takes over, Tirek gets a victory against us and has the Cowreans for food." She shrugged. "Comrade Kang? Probably saved our hides."
Twilight: "Yeah. He had the North Cowreans turn on Tirek's limited forces, and kill them, before we..." She winced.
K: "We surrendered the field to him, were defeated, and retreated to a more politically defensible position, leaving the whole of Cowrea in Herdiet hands." I shrugged. "But, I can't say we messed up when so many of the Cowreans themselves, didn't care. Kang gave me the dignity of calling it a Stalemate. I say, I was defeated before I sent a single soldier out there."
AJ: "Think that was Kang's plan all along?" She tilted her head to me.
Cosmic: "More.. I'm betting.. Kang took an opportunity when he saw it." He was being hoof-fed by Kiwi, given his broken left foreleg.. to be honest, she was babying him in the sweetest way, and blushing while she did it.
K: "I think Cosmic's right." I nodded. "Kang got there before I did, had a better understanding of the culture, and saw a chance to covertly resist Tirek without coming out and declaring a side just yet, while gaining territory for the Herdintern Pact. He DID say it'd likely get him a promotion. Kang's another smart one - I respect him, but I'd rather not have to face him."
Celestia: "Interesting." She rubbed her chin, as she took a cookie. "How about Navarre?"
K: "Well, this is a major victory - Montferrer is a large town, with a huge agricultural base. Granted, it's been strained to its limits, the people are almost entirely out of their own food, and some of the fields were stripped of young plants, so this year's harvest is going to be reduced.. but.. this gives us a foothold to take a major city." I chewed a cookie, nodding to her highness.
Sacquet: "Which do you plan on? We could advance to Barcelona, or Zaragoza." He shrugged. "Given another two weeks, we could incorporate volunteers from Montferrer."
K: "Zaragoza. My intent is to retake the national capital of Pamplona. Falco is focused on the Valencia region, and seems to be aiming for Barcelona himself. The Dukes control eastern Catalonia, northern Aragon, and have a foothold in Navarra proper. I want to expand the front south and westward, take the captial of Aragon, and partially isolate Pamplona from the south. If we can retake the Capital, and show that we can do so handily, we can shut down a lot of the smaller factions, or get them to join us." I pointed on the operation map with a free finger. "And, yes, I want volunteers to join us from every small town, every hamlet, we take in the process of moving towards Zargoza - we'll have to stop at some point to take time to train the recruits in basic soldiering. Which will give us time to let our supply chains catch up to us."
Sacquet: "Germane forces should be arriving in Bayonne soon - La Legion has three Regiments retrained, refitted, and prepared to cross the border at Aragnouet - at the highest points of the Pyrenees. The volunteer militia troops will be at Girul in three days, fully assembled in ten." He made points on the map as well.
K: "Blueblood should be here with the Ambleon Royal Army in two weeks.. he's bringing over mostly green troops, backed by two companies of Royal Marines veterans interpsersed with them as advisors." I sat back and nodded slowly. "When I said the Spanish Civil War was a dress rehearsal for World War II, I meant it - this is a fantastic dress rehearsal for the invasion of Tirek's lands. And we'll have more time to analyze our progress."
Celestia: "Hm. Perhaps we should thank Tirek for overextending himself like this." She smirked.
K: "If I hadn't arrived, though, this wouldn't be an overextension.." I looked at Twilight's Morgan, laying on the planning table. "..without the means to resist, he could have marched forces from multiple points right into the captials of the major NEIGHTO powers before they even thought about resisting together as a unified front." I looked up at them.
Gaze: "Th' legend, K." He smirked.
K: "Yep. I guess the powers that be grabbed a good one." I shrugged.
AJ: "The best, honeybun." She cuddled my arm.
K: "Still.. there were thousands of people more qualified than me.." I lowered my head. "..smarter, properly trained, better leaders.."
Celestia: "Fate brought you. You've done well so far." She nodded in a Mommy-ish fashion to me. "You are right that we'd be Tirek's slaves by now.. had you not."
K: "I'm just saying.." I shrugged. "..there's other humans that could have done it."
Norfy: "Well, I'm glad it was you, K." He smiled warmly.
K: "Alright. For now? Let's make sure these goats have food, and see about integrating the volunteers. Then, we'll start moving towards Zaragoza." I nodded, and gestured to the map.
TIME: 11:03 IT
DATE: War Day 758/2 Quintillius, 1004 C.S.
We took the time to train anyone that wanted to volunteer. We ended up with another 372 recruits immediately, with another 412 promising to join once the farm situation was handled. That gave me another full Regiment. We trained them as Infantry, while replacing our losses elsewhere.
On my insistance, Lt. Espinoza was promoted to Captain, and given command of this entire new regiment from Montferrer. I told her to drill them to elite status, like the unit she and her husband had been a part of. She was skilled at picking natural leaders and competent NCO's for the task.
The Dukes agreed to make Zaragoza the next major goal - we would take a slow walking path there. It was 275 kilometers or so, depending on the route. We were taking the longest route, at nearly 300 kilometers, and planned to do about 30km of marching per day, for a total of ten days' travel. We would take the provincial capital of Huesca along the way, stop there to resupply, train and absorb new recruits, then take Zargoza.
Right now, I was conferring with the Prench volunteers, who were, themselves, training a local defense force for Montferrer.
Sacquet: "And, hopefully, we can finish their basic training soon.." He nodded to the volunteer in charge of the hastily assembled squad.
Sergent Sentien: "Oui, mon General." He looked at me. "Ands.. what we do once we trains them, eh?"
Sentien was a large, grey stallion, about Mac's size, but sporting the stereotypical French mustache. His normal occupation was as a dockworker in La Rochelle.
K: "Stay here with them, provide them with expert instruction. If there's a fight, reinforce them." I shrugged slightly. "Hopefully, the war will be over quickly, and there won't be much fight to be had."
Sgt. Sentien: "Oui." He nodded sharply. "Let zem come. I give Tirek's boys plenty of hurts!" He snickered darkly.
K: "Alright, alright.." I gave him placating gestures. "Don't go overboard. These people were terrorized by their occupiers. They're in a tough enough spot. They'll be looking to you and your ponies for leadership and confidence."
Sgt. Sentien: "Oui, mon Marechal!" He beamed a confident grin.
K: "Alright, Sacquet? What was the status of those heavy guns that the enemy left behind?" I paced away with him as Sentien and his ponies moved back towards the Militia recruits to train them.
Sacquet: "Odd calibers. Montferrer was in the process of building an artillery testing range when the civil war started. We have twenty total guns, but none of them use the same ammunition, and none are compatible with our own." He shrugged a bit. "They do have some ammunition. Seven are transportable by goat power alone. One can be transported by truck. The others are just bare pieces with no provision for towing, but three could be loaded onto trucks if we extend their rear cargo beds. They would, however, take a lot of time to set up and assemble."
K: "Alright, get the more mobile guns together and have Cosmic pick gun crews for them. Make it a 50/50 split of Navarese to your own expert artilleryponies." I nodded to him.
Sacquet: "Oui, mon ami." He grinned. "You know, when first we met in Quirtbeck, I did not think we would end up as such friends. I thought, here comes the human, he teaches us maybe, he helps us with our problem, then he leaves." A smirk. "Yet, because of you, I have risen through the ranks and earned the respect of my Monarch, to the detriment of those who thought themselves superior." And a soft smile. "And now, I will have a wife. A family. Who could ask for more?"
K: "Least I can do." I patted him on the back. "For a friend. A brother."
Sacquet: "Bahah!" He beamed. "I do hope, mon ami, that you would be allowed to enjoy the peace you will create." He lowered his head as we headed for our HQ area. "It saddens me to think that you, whom deserve it the most, may be cheated of that peace for forces beyond your control." And raised his head. "But, fear not, I will ensure your name and legacy are carried through the ages, if that is your fate."
K: "You don't have to do that.." I started, blushing at the idea.
Sacquet: "Non, mon ami. I do." He looked at me, as we got inside the HQ area perimeter. "Megan, Danny, Molly.. their names were nearly lost to time. I will ensure yours is not." He gave me that curt, sharp nod that a man makes when they make a solemn vow, and I knew better than to argue.
For the moment, we had to focus on our next objectives - Huesca, then Zaragoza. I'd worry about my friends immortalizing me, later.
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: Iberian March
TIME: 06:37 IT
DATE: War Day 762/6 Quintillius, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Departing Montferrer, Navarre
We had with us, now, 16 Companies of Navarese troops, numbered 6 to 22, spread into two Infantry Regimentd (6th - 11th companies and 12th to 17th), and one (understrength) mixed Regiment of 2 Cavalry (18th and 19th companies), 2 Ranger (20th and 21st), and 1 Reconnaisence Company (22nd) that were acting as pointmen. Cavlary was in the very front as scouts, Recon at the head of the column, Rangers at the flanks.
The remaining soldiers were mixed in to the Pranco-Navarese Artillery Company, commanded by Cosmic, despite his broken leg. We also had Sacquet's entire Legionnaire Team, my General Staff, two companies of Equestrian volunteers of all job descriptions, one proper Prench Legionnaire Company (11e Co., Prench Foreign Legion), one company of Prench military engineers, and 57 Prench Civil Engineers that were assigned to come with - while they carried arms and were Militia-trained, they weren't combatants, and mostly wore blue jumpsuits with yellow (covered in black grease stick) helmets.
The Dukes walked with the Infantry, I was in their immediate rear at the point of the NEIGHTO force. Forest Spirit was with the actual HQ team, and Sacquet was at the head of the Prench troops, behind us.
Dusty: "So.. ah.." She was blushing. "..the anniversary festivities.."
K: "That was a month ago." I smirked.
Dusty: "W-well.." She side glanced to Rarity and AJ. "..they kinda backed me up.."
Rarity: "She is welcome with any down time fun we have, darling." She kinda hip-bumped Dusty, flirtatiously. "ANY."
AJ: "Hot damn, she is." She said that softly, and flicked me bedroom eyes.
K: "I suppose that makes you an offical inner circle girl, then, huh?" I smirked - the lot of us hadn't really banged since we got to Navarre, but there was a lot of naked sleeping and cuddling.
Dusty: "I.. I'm glad." She was blushing hard - even through her sandy coat, you could see pink. "Really."
AJ: "You keep that tongue work up, sister.." She gave her, her own little bump. "..maybe I invite you to the farm if K gets taken away from us at the end of the war."
That was about as close to a Lesbian marriage proposal AJ would make. And I knew she meant a lot more in that, than just hot mare-on-mare action - AJ is a very emotionally driven woman. She wouldn't accept Dusty like that if she didn't care about her.
Twilight: *AHEM!* "Let's get THROUGH the war, first, huh?" She interrupted, moving between all of us. "Seriously!"
K: "Hey, I can't help it if my brand of friendship includes a lot of exercise, sweating, and loud vocalizations." I smirked at her.
Twilight: "So does dancing and singing!" She gave me a bratty look.
K: *Sigh!* "War or no war, you're all still Ponies and I love it." I grinned.
TIME: 18:44 IT
DATE: War Day 762/6 Quintillius, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Outskirts of Oliana, Navarre
The units were assembling for action at our first goal - Oliana. Known to be a prime defensive location for its steep limestone cliffs on two sides, the road leaning up to it, and away from it, were the only two approachable paths.
I was ahead with AJ, Dusty, Derpy, Vigilance, Dash, and Coconut Cream. While the Dukes wanted their own troops to scout, and I'd agreed, I made him let us go first, so we could verify they got it right.
Really, I was more afraid we'd see a bristling defense guarding the town and very alert watchstanders. I was right.
Dusty: "I'm seeing.. five.. seven.. ten guards patrolling in twos. Five machine gun nests with overlapping fields of fire. I also see a couple mortars farther back - probably pre-zeroed." She shrugged and slid back down. "That road is very well barricaded."
K: "Problem is, Oliana has one of the very few electrical component factories in the country." I shrugged. "We.. kinda need this town. And it's impossible to go around."
AJ: "What'cha thinkin', honeybun? Place's a defender's dream." She frowned, and looked through her own binoculars.
K: "Derpy? Vig?" I looked back to the two Rangers.
Derpy: "I.. can take a small team of the best Navarese Rangers in on a night attack and disable that defensive works. Vigilance and I trained them. I want Teddy and Rarity on Sniper Overwatch." She nodded firmly.
K: "M'kay. Want Sacquet's team as backup?" I made a few notes on a small pad.
Derpy: "Yeah. If we get detected, I want Sacquet to be the one charging in to cover us while we fall back. Artillery, too. I think we can set up two of the Prench 76's on the road and have them at the right angle to lay some smoke and Aych-Eee." She rubbed her chin a moment.
K: "Let's report this to the Dukes." I slid back from our tiny little crevice/flat spot on a cliff overlooking the entrance to town, and made my way back to the Dukes.
We had a temporary field HQ set up under an overhang. The troops were resting, eating cold rations - no fires, this close to town.
K: "We have a problem." I stepped over, and sat down, sketching out a sand table. "That road is very heavily defended. Looks like the old 4th Battalion, or elements of it - five MG nests, guards everywhere, all alert. These guys are experts."
Duke Alfonso: "Si. But we must have the victory, or taking the town will be meaningless.." He lowerd his head.
K: "I agree. The victories should ultimately be yours. Derpy and I are going to take a select mixed unit of your Rangers in, and take out the barricade. The artillery will provide light support. Once we knock out the barricade, you need to rush the town with Cavalry, and back it up with an Infantry assault. Recon should come in and cover the key points - first, the barricade itself. Then, rush forward with the Cavalry and pin down the other side of town. If we can simply push the enemy out, that's great. If we move so fast that we take prisoners, even better. But, speed is of the essence, here. Absolutely." I nodded, tapping the dirt with my finger.
Duke Condor: "I agree - one day, we do this ourselves. Today is not that day. Pick whom you need." He nodded to Alfonso.
Duke Alfonso: "Si." He nodded firmly.
So, now we had to rush the small town of Oliana.. there shouldn't be too many troops there, but one never knows...
{End of Chapter 81}
