A Threat Realised IC (TWI Only)
Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 6:00 am
23:00, 6 May 2018
Sir André de La Blanc, now a brigadier of the New Model Army, Third Brigade, First Division, First Corps, pondered his new rank. It was a promotion of sorts, considering there were in essence no ranks in previous Ilsan armies, where the knights could do as they pleased, provided that they killed the enemy. Now people would have to listen to him, though his own knights would likely conveniently forget his superior rank. Though the New Model Army had been sold as a meritocratic and democratic defence force to the Commons and Peers, and had been debated as such in the House of Lords, the reality was that top positions were mostly filled by nobles of some degree anyway. The army in fact was not changed much at all, save that de La Blanc now had two incomes, his pitiful army salary, and his estates, where he was a well recognised bottler of Ostin. Thoughts of his estates turned his thoughts to his wife Marguerite, and his sons, André and Rène. He passed on though, fearing to dwell on what he loved, and fear of acknowledging his fear of death.
He put his mind back to the war, and back to his brigade, which would be landing on Lortik occupied shores that night. Previously, a group of Ilsan knights would have snuck across, launched a spirited diversionary attack covering the landing of the main attack, and then rampage through the countryside until dawn, when they would withdraw to established lines, loaded with plunder. New Model doctrine, however, insisted on concentrated forces with heavy fire support, for which the old beauty Maximilien III came out with its fifteen inch guns. They had also insisted on air support, and vehicle support, but the boats hastily acquired for the landing could not hold vehicles, so that was dropped, but the air support was already blowing things up, for which they receive a great deal of glory, which could only truly be won in combat.
An adjutant, some commoner, entered.
“Brigadier Sir, our boats can only transport the first regiment and eight companies of the second regiment across.”
André scowled at the adjutant, and walked out of his quarters towards the beach. As far as the eye could see, various craft lay moored, with men and knights loading supplies and men into the boats. Two Berrydons and a Fairview flitted further out at sea, and the sound HIMS Maximilien III firing her guns could be heard in the distance.
“Let us embark,” said Le Blanc, condescendingly, assuming that the boats could always sail back.
He was taken by row-boat to an elegant luxury speed boat, the donated boat that was to be his transport. It had been offered by the young Baron Roland de Bellemon, a cousin of the unfortunate Pierre. The Baron was their himself, and the other knights, about twenty eight, had all bedn pledged to the Baron, who had magnanimously offered to serve under de La Blanc despite the Baron’s obvious superiority.
As André boarded the boat, Baron Roland bowed, setting La Blanc at ease, so much so that he returned the bow comfortably.
“Some good fighting tonight, eh?” began the Baron, smiling.
“Indeed,” smiled André. “Though I fear the Lortiks will have all fled from the shelling and bombs.”
De Bellemon laughed. “Or maybe they will prepare for us, and we can have a hot fight, with many songs praising our deeds.”
“I hear the Lortiks are keeping a large peasant force near our landing, hopefully they won’t all run before we come.”
Bellemon smiled, and nodded to the captain. The ship sailed for about twenty minutes, leaving many boats behind, ere it made landfall. André was disappointed by the lack of immediate resistance, but upon seeing the battered outline of a fortress above him, he, Roland, and the other knights decided to storm the heights on which the fort was built. Roland mentioned its castellan, who was the thirteen year old son of the Lord Falhelm, executed at Fosseury Hall. After several minutes of walking through a forest towards the castle, they climbed the rock studded hill, several shots from the castle greeted them, burying themselves in trees and bouncing off rocks. André easily spotted the few peasants, evidently frightened hunters impressed into militia duty, and shot two in the head. The remaining hunter fled, alerting those in the fort itself. The knights rushed forward, dashing through the forest under the forts embankments, and near a postern door, with only one being slightly wounded. Evidently the defenders were not fully alert, or blinded by the dark to the quick movements of the knights. They moved fairly quietly along the wall towards an entrance, which evidently had been unintended, and a result of the bombardment. Several knights drew swords and battle axes, but one approached Sir André and requested to go first through the breach. The knight, Sir Georges, was ridiculed by his own men for his antiquated weapons, a rare feat for Ilsan knights. In his case, he had two flintlock imitation pistols, dual-barrelled and sporting a blade vertically between each barrel. André smiled, but consented.
The few men on the trenches against which the knights were hiding had lost sight of the knights, and were resolved to investigate with a fairly strong party of about twenty, five of whom were waiting near the fatal breach, the rest of whom were gathering reinforcements from within the castle or from the surrounding countryside. Sir George, like a phantom approached the men, and raising both arms, fired, killing or injuring for of the five. The final man fled, but was shot by Roland in the heart. One of the injured men shot Sir Georges, however, which he regretted as several precise shots from the other knights perforated him painfully. Sir Georges, who had been wearing armour, fell, but was caught, and joked merrily with the others, before obliging himself to sit at the breach with another knight, where they would wait until Georges had recovered from his still severe wound, or the fortress stormed.
The other knights went on, overpowering the generally fragile and surprised guards in and about the main bunker, many of whom were servants trained with cooking and accounting rather than shooting and assaulting. After reaching the door, the knights prepared to burst in. This door was guarded however, and two knights fell wounded, and one dead, though the knights responded quickly and drove off the defenders as the fanned out into the castle. There they easily killed whomever they encountered, though sometimes after extended firefights, where the knights superior training won out. Those defending the castle itself appeared to be veterans of previous campaigns, and the Baron swore he recognised several of the from the Lortik invasion in 2017. The knights took a few more casualties, but eventually fought their way to the Lord’s personal chambers. Their the thirteen year old Lord Falhelm was giving orders to two knights and a few militiamen. The Lortik knights noticed their counterparts first, and drew their swords with Falhelm. The first Ilsan knights to enter shot the militiamen, and thus forfeited their right to single combat while de La Blanc attacked Lord Falhelm and two other knights engaged the remaining Lortiks. Lord Falhelm fought with a Colichemarde, and André with a hand-and-half broadsword. Lord Falhelm was young however, a one missed, overzealous thrust allowed de La Blanc to remove his sword-hand, and then his head. The other two knights defended themselves admirably, and after fifteen minutes of fruitless duelling, they agreed to leave the castle for the Ilsans, in exchange for freedom and an hour long truce, which was fair, for their were few Lortiks of high blood left, and even fewer with any military competence.
There was no counter-attack, so the first division had landed with less than a thousand casualties, though Lortik resistance had been scattered through a series of coastal castles which had been easy targets for the Super Banshees and warships. Lortik casualties had been slightly higher. The First Division had landed. The invasion had begun.