Aiming at the Fog

Chapter 1

1824
Usti, Village North of Prague

The river Elbe was bringing its tender lullaby to the Wessex Company. The British garrison was still sleeping. The winter was coming slowly, like the decisions from London. It made three months since Charles Becker
(http://www.imagedump.com/index.cgi?pick=get&tp=25
1668&poll_id=0&warned=y) and his compatriots
(http://www.imagedump.com/index.cgi?pick=get&tp=25
1671&poll_id=0&warned=y) reached Prague and were sent to Usti, a little village. The company passed difficultly through the dense forest: there were no roads at this time to open a path through North to Usti. The small village wasn’t a great town… simply a strategic position. Why? There was a bridge… it was one of the few other bridges except Prague’s in this region to cross the Elbe river. The British army stood at Prague, awaiting for the Prussian offensive, remembering the dark day when Britain declared war on Prussia, two years ago. Unfortunately, the first army was repulsed and suffered heavy losses before reaching Prague. The second one, lead by Marshall Haberty arrived a year later to reinforce the newly gained territory. This army was Charles’s one. Charles remembered when he first saw that it was so cold in these dangerous lands! Ambushed several times by the Prussians, his company succeeded difficultly to reach Usti, the crossing point. North of Usti was Berlin.

Charles was singing softly, watching the tiny shiny stars in the black sky. He was at the top of the church of the village. A local legend tells that every regiment who stood in garrison in Usti was shot at until no man could breathe. But, Charles didn’t care about legends. He trusted the Captain of his regiment, Richard Lockman. Richard was a great soldier and was a great sharpshooter. He fought wars since he was 20. Now, he was 32. Twelve long years of war can change a man. But not Richard. He was a stern but efficient officer, knowing where to strike, where to fight, and some even say that he knows the perfect place to die. Reading philosophy books, this man was no more than a philosopher trapped in a brute’s body.

Lieutenant Jerry Manning, a man from Portsmouth, was a miner before the war. He knew how to use everything that used powder. He knew how to use mortars, any kind of rifles and muskets, cannons, any kind of pistol… He was the kind of practical man who always had something interesting to buy in his pockets. He was thinner than Lockman, but he was a greater orator. Steve Robinson, on his side, was an American. His father emigrated to Britain in 1805, a few years after the American Revolutionary war, carrying with him his one month old son. They were banished from the United States of American because his father was a hardened and proud English partisan. His father died eight years later, leaving his son alone in the streets of Portsmouth. Placed in a “Childhood House” (like they wanted him to name it… meaning he was brainwashed slowly by his cruel religious Sisters from the “Adoption House”) and suffered a lot mentally. Having running away from the Childhood House, he lived poorly until he was 15 years old. Then, he started a new life in the army of Britain. He was a funny guy, always adding his bit of salt in a conversation, as if he never had a proper conversation with anyone before. He was the Company’s pet. His best friend. Randy McKelmer, was a Scottish. He dressed like a Highlander. His uniform was given to him by his father, an ancient Highlander dead on the battlefield of Waterloo. He was the best shooter of the company, even if he was still at the rank of Corporal.

Charles Becker was the black sheep of the company. No one talked to him, no one wanted to play cards with him… He had always been alone in his childhood and in his adolescence. Living in the poor quarters of London was like a jail for him. Even if he’s a good soldier, one of the best hand-to-hand fighter, has been awarded the rank of Sergeant, no one had any respect for him. He used all his money in buying his ranks. Yes, in this time, a soldier had to pay for getting a higher rank. This was too much expensive for a standard soldier that drank constantly his monthly payment, but for a man who knew how to win and keep his money, it was possible. Unless you had relations with the government, had noble blood, it was useless to try to reach sergeant with your salary. He was one of the rare sergeant that paid by his soldier’s salary his grades.

The regiment’s red uniforms didn’t warm enough the brave riflemen of the Wessex Company. Steve was doing his patrol near the bridge, sleeping on the barricades facing the main street. The bridge was made of stone and was pretty large for a bridge made 150 years ago. The Wessex Company had 250 riflemen. Of the 250 riflemen were the 25 sharpshooters under Craig Green’s command. Ironically, we could say that his green uniform of an elite rifleman was a particular coincidence. Sam Hagman was cleaning his rifle, smiling tenderly at Steve, sleeping like a baby. Sam was the kind of “secret” bodyguard of the American immigrant. He had always watched over him, considering him as his little brother. Sam and Steve were probably bound together by an unbreakable link of friendship and loyalty, like Randy. But, Randy and Sam had a kind of rivalry between each other. They hated themselves to the point of shooting the other in the back, even if they had a too great sense of honor to commit such a shameful act. Even if Sam didn’t like Americans a lot, this one was an exception. His brown eyes were shining with intelligence and cleverness. He fixed his bayonet and went to see Coal in the tavern.

Coal was a man of exception. He was about 17 and always had a stain of black in the face, as if he thought it gave him a dangerous look. He always carried a piece of coal in his pocket to tint his face in black. For night operations, he was the man of the situation. Discreet and silent, he always had a nervous or suspicious look hidden in his eyes. No one knew his name, so the men called him Coal. He was a drunkard and loved every pleasure that life was generous enough to procure him. He was a bit lazy though, as if he didn’t leave the world of his adolescence. He was one of the youngest soldiers of the Company. Sam slammed the door of the bar, seeing Coal sleeping on a table. He slammed the door another time, laughing at Coal being woke up by such a brutal manner.
-“Want a bit of sugar with this, darling?” he barked, slapping Coal’s back friendlily. “Wake up! Beer’s bad for you… leave it to the veterans!” he took a drink of the half-full bottle.
-“Give that back, you scum!” screamed Coal before snatching the bottle, laughing even louder than Sam.
-“Well, guess what? It’s your turn to go outside check the bridge! Come on!”
-“But, it’s cold, outside!”
-“Well, go freeze your can off like a man! Come on lady, take your umbrella!”
-“Okay, okay…” he groaned. He took his rifle, wore his red scarf and went outside, swearing that Sam was just a tired penguin sending camels in the glacial waters of North Pole. He had strange expressions that he said with a strange way. These expressions though were coming from nowhere.

Coal kicked Steve gently, whistling a tired “Wake up, damn!” between his teeth.
Steve woke up, launching instinctively a “I see that you still didn’t decide to clean what appears to be your face…” knowing that Coal would swear during an hour an apologize after, like every day since he knew him. Coal was known from everyone. Coal and Steve walked during an hour, and in fact Coal did swear during the whole hour. Sleepy and thirsty, both sat on the frozen fountain of the main place of city (near the bridge), took a puff from Steve’s cigar and they both released the grey smoke in the freezing air. They took their water can and took a drink. Steve couldn’t resist to slip a “It’s not alcohol, don’t spit it out!” that made Coal spit the water out. He took another drink, gazing at Steve with a grim smile. His throat accepted water too, after all.

Charles wrote in his personal journal “The life at the garrison was calm since the Wessex Company established itself in Usti. But, like always, peace probably won’t last. It won’t last for sure, but later. Okay? War can wait a bit…”

Chapter 5

-Usti-

Arthur Hagman, Sam’s twin brother, was waiting in the trenches. His bayonet was fixed to his rifle and he was ready to charge. The 2nd lieutenant Riley Denny was warming up his troops. “Today, you will fight like you never fought before! The Prussian soldiers are weak! Britain will have strength and fame while you stand firm on this ground! The Prussians are coming here! Form a double-line! Form ranks!” The soldiers formed up their formation, and the first Prussian regiment landed on the ground of Usti. A volley from the British made them waver and hesitate to make a step forward. But, they didn’t have the time to react. Arthur Hagman was leading the charge of the British with the lieutenant Denny! “VICTORY OR DEATH, BOYS! SHAKE THEM NOW! VIIIIICTORY OR DEAAAAAAAATH!” he yelled.

So the 40 British charged into the 120 Prussians. The shock was terrible! The British quickly overran the Prussians that weren’t experienced in close combat. Arthur smashed his rifle in a Prussian’s face, thrust his bayonet in the flag-bearer’s chest, and finally knocked off a Prussian conscript on the ground. The men were courageous, but not enough. More Prussian boats landed and the 60 remaining Prussians became 300, 500, and 700 in less than 10 minutes. There were other British fighting in the trenches to provide some cover to the melee going on near the river. The British fell back, completely overrun. Arthur jumped in a shell’s hole to hide himself from the deadly fire of the advancing Prussians.

“Where’s the lieutenant?” screamed Arthur. Thomas Anderson that was near him answered that the lieutenant was probably still out of the trenches… Arthur ran on the ground, avoiding difficultly the bullets whistling around him. He stumbled and crashed on the ground. Luckily, an incoming shell passed just over his head. A second more, and his body was no more than dead meat. He continued running and he saw the lieutenant 20 meters far from him, grinning on the ground. He was laying down on the ground, swearing that his leg hurt a lot. Arthur asked for the soldiers in the trenches to provide him some cover, and a regular beat of volleys fell in the Prussians to make their guns shut up! Arthur reached the lieutenant, took him on his shoulders, and crawled back to the trenches. Gasping, he asked a private to bring him to Fort Brenning as soon as possible. The men cheered, happy that their lieutenant was still alive! The Prussians had taken the first line of trenches (the ones near the water), but they still had to defeat the second line! All the cannons and mortars were behind the second line, firing on the Prussian battalions. Arthur gasped, shook his water can, drank a bit, gasped another time, and reloaded his rifle. Sam Hagman was looking gently at him discreetly. Deep in his heart, he was for the first time of his life proud of his brother.

-Krügerburg-

The battle in the church was raging! Bullets were breaking the window and the church was stinking with the smell of black powder! The battle in the plaza and in the village was over, but the last “bastion” of the Prussian forces was the church. Craig Green was discussing with the Major Alexei Mürgen, the leader of what was called the “Forces of the New Prussian Republic”. This political movement was more a “rebellion” than anything. It could provide help to the British garrison at Usti! And maybe even Prague! (which was besieged since a week, reported the captain George Gillian. The 76th regiment of Dragoons was sent to Usti to find some reinforcements, but they came for nothing because Usti was ALSO besieged. The soldiers of the “FNPR” (let’s make this long name a bit shorter, please!) were rebels and militiamen. They had a basic training but were numerous enough to face a basic Prussian army. Other villages were going to join them whenever they needed them! The village of Krügerburg had now a garrison consisting of the 75 Dragoons of Gillian, Green’s crew, and the 700 men of Major Mürgen.

-At Krügerburg’s church, an hour later-

The battle was nearly over. There were some soldiers left in the church, but they were running out of ammunition. A friendly “rebel” carried a banner with him, and his friends ordered him to reach the roof. He ran through the ruins of the church, but got shot down. His dead body fell down near the altar, and the precious banner fell down before being grasped by another hand.

Vassiliv and Randy, on their side, were running through the ruins, slaughtering more and more remnants of the blue-coated soldiers with their bayonets. Brent was leading the Dragoons to the right side of the cathedral, shooting with his pistols (yes, he had 2 pistols! I told you he was mad!) the Prussians hidden on the wooden beams at the roof of the church. The battle was pretty much lost for the Prussians. Suddenly, a man was running with a flag in his hands: Charles Becker. Yes, he was still alive! A bullet whistled near his head, another near his leg, a bullet hit his backpack, another went through his shako and 10 others went right into the wall. Charles charged wrathfully, swinging like a fanatic his flag! He smashed several Prussians before reaching a little stair. He ran, being deliberately shot at by the desperate blue-coats. He reached the roof of the church, and the fires instantly stopped. “Ve sörendder!” was heard in an awful English. Charles gazed at the village. It had barely nothing interesting, but he saw higher than the trees! He could see the Elbe river, but Usti was hidden by a mysterious fog. Some echoes of a distant battle were heard, but nothing much. The day was over for Craig Green, Charles Becker, Randy McKelmer (who had a warm hand shake with Charles who had been so courageous and “solid” enough to carry a flag to the top of a “damn” church!), Vassiliv Zaitev and Brute… huh! Brent Fletcher. But, the war wasn’t over: it was just about to begin.

During the night, Randy McKelmer was scribbling in an old book. He decided to update his “personal journal”. Here is what he wrote:

“Here comes the crossroads. The war is declared between Prussia and Prussia. The rebels call themselves “free men”, but for me it’s all the same: They’re Prussians and Prussians will always be Prussians. Prussians killed my old friend Kurt, and I’ll never forget it. I’ll never forgive any Prussian for having Prussian blood running wild through his veins. Vassiliv makes no exception. He just betrayed his country to fight for an Empire that just wants to send his best soldiers to far lands (that me and Steve called “Nowhere-Land”) like this lost country where it makes damn cold! I’m so eager to see Steve! This young boy misses me… Coal too! His silly manner of acting is always heating my heart a bit before it gets frozen. Like now.

Today, my fellows made a marvellous job! Charles was quite courageous to keep fighting even if he was kinda bad hurt! Brent also showed me that he was a mad guy, which always pleased us Scottish people in my family. I won’t make any comments on Vassiliv, except that he always gives me a pitiful look that tempts me to hit him right in the face! He wanna be my friend? Forget it! I’ll never trust a bloody Prussian of my life! Never!

By the way, my aiming’s greatly improving! I’m getting better and better! But unfortunately, I lost my corporal badges!!! Where did I lose them??? I don’t know what we’ll do tomorrow, it’ll be another job for Craig! He’s a nice guy, but he’s so damn stressed! Bah… All these “responsibilities” are beyond my understanding!”

He then walked to the ruined church, crossing some “rebels” trying to salute him in a strange mix of English and German. It gave something like “Hellüng!” or “Güten Hi!”… Randy walked a bit faster, trying to avoid any contact with the “uncivilized” people. He went in the church, and he found the whole crew making roasting a little hare. “Wanna join?” said Brent. Randy sat down and ate a leg of the hare. It tasted good! So better than the awfully bad tastefully non-eatable rations that he ate each day! A finger timidly tapped his shoulder. He turned back and saw Vassiliv. Randy cursed and turned back. The finger tapped his shoulder another time, and Randy turned angrily back to point his pistol at Vassiliv’s forehead. “WHATTA YA WANT?!?” yelled Randy! Vassiliv timidly handed some corporal badges to Randy. He said in a whisper “found ‘em in the snow” with a guilty tone. “I AIN’T TRUST YA, STUPID PRUSSIAN!” roared back Randy, snatching the badges from Vassiliv’s shaking hands. Vassiliv ran away from the crew, running to the top of the church. A tear fell down on the ground from his cheek.

Craig and Charles gazed angrily at Randy, which turned red. Brent said without looking at Randy: “I know I should mind my own business, man, but I’d just wanna slip the information that he found them on a Prussian corporal to give them to you. He even killed him just to make you happy to find new badges, because I don’t know if you realize it, but he keeps looking admiringly at you. D’you realize that he hates to kill! It’s the last thing he wants to do because he finds war disgusting! He just wanted you to be happy, he tries to be your friend, but you repulse him! He made something that he hated to do, in fact killing a Prussian, just to make you happy, and he even lied to you not to vaunt himself!!! You’re ugly like hell if you keep acting like that, man…”

Randy went to the rooftop and found Vassiliv, alone. Randy said “Want a cigar?” Vassiliv timidly nodded. Randy laughed and said: “Stole ‘em from Sam before we left! Ha! Ha!” Vassiliv said nothing. Randy’s failure to detent the atmosphere had shamefully failed. He then said “You know, Vassiliv, you’re not a bad guy… I… You… Well… I just wanna say… I don’t hate you, that’s all. I don’t hate you at all.”

Vassiliv smiled, happy to know that Randy accepted to be his friend. The two friends smoked together, looking at the tiny shiny stars hidden in the dark, mysterious and endless sky.

Chapter 6

-Usti Headquarters-

The captain Richard Lockman was slowly walking in the dark room that was his headquarters. The lieutenants “Jimmy Ranson”, “ Frederic Lany”, “Alan Paul” and “Lenny Laferty” were quickly scribbling confuse numbers on the yellow paper that used to be the map of a Prussian officer. “We have 20 men posted there, 15 there, and 20 other men right here, near the mortars.”

The discussion continued insipidly as the officers arrived to the conclusion that the line couldn’t hold anymore. It was already a miracle that the British had made this that far. ----“Captain,” said Jimmy Ranson, “Where should we withdraw our troops? To Usti or Fort Brenning?” The captain hesitated.
-“If we let Fort Brenning down, we’ll lose our main source of ammunition and supplies. But, if we lose Usti, we’ll lose the southern road, and we’ll give a direct access to Prague to the Prussians. By a way or another, we’re both dead meat. Listen. There are 160 soldiers fighting in the trenches for their lives. Let me remind you that it’s not really a strategic matter: it’s the lives of our men! I really don’t know where to regroup our men… I’d need some help to make a judicious decision from you guys. (The officers stood silent.) You don’t know? Well, let’s ask the table what it thinks about it…”

And the table stood silent.

-Fort Brenning-

The doors slowly opened, creaking as usual. The 2nd lieutenant Riley Denny was coming back to the fort, but not with the usual way. He was carried by two soldiers to the fort’s hospital barrack. It looked like more to be a fortified bunker or else. A messenger left from the hospital to Usti to tell Captain Lockman that the commander of Fort Brenning was in a quite bad state and that they needed another commander as fast as possible. The hospital was a fortified strategic point and an hospital at the same time. The stone walls of the fort would be soon reached by the Prussians. What was the plan of the high commandment?

-Usti-

Unfortunately, Richard Lockman still didn’t know what decision to take after 45 minutes of debates. The trenches’ line were going to collapse soon! Then, Richard said his decision. He calmly raised up, and gazed at his lieutenants.

“The lieutenant Jerry Manning and the 2nd lieutenant Riley Denny are still fighting on the battlefield, officers. Frederic Lany, Alan Paul and Lenny Laferty, you’re going to bring 140 of the remaining men to Fort Brenning. They are fighting in the trenches 12 to 3. Jimmy Ranson, I got a crucial mission for you. I’ll tell it to you later. The other 20 men will stay with the 40 men in Usti under my command and Jerry Manning’s one. I decided to hold Fort Brenning because I prefer to save the life of my men than to lead them into the dangerous street combats in Usti. I’ll need the hardest and the best veterans to hold the bridge with me. If Usti falls, you’ll be able to hold Fort Brenning. But, if Fort Brenning falls, even with a great garrison we won’t be able to hold it against the enemy.”

Suddenly, a messenger arrived in the room and whispered something in the ear of Captain Richard Lockman. Richard looked sternly at Jimmy Ranson, asking him to come close. He also made a sign for the 3 other lieutenants to go away.

“-Lieutenant, said Richard.
-Captain? answered Jimmy.
-Your men told me that your father was a veteran from the American Independence war in the colony of New Britain. Is it true?
-Yes, sir. He was a pretty good skirmisher.
-Are you a good skirmisher too, Jimmy? Your men told me that you were the best skirmisher of the whole company.
-My men have told you the truth, my captain.
-Then, I need you to escort 4 medics to Fort Brenning’s hospital from Usti. I’ve heard that they badly need medics out there. Will you do this particular task?
-I will, sir.
-Will you fight back with us in Usti, lieutenant?
-(the lieutenant blushed, proud to say I will proudly come back to Usti to fight to death with you, sir.
-Don’t say “fight to death”, man! ‘Gives me the creeps!”

The two men laughed, and Jimmy Ranson made a list of the ones who would accompany him to Fort Brenning, crossing the battlefield where the battle was raging. He said to himself: “Coal, you’re better not to be drunk, this time! I’m coming for you!”

-Krügerburg-

Craig Green was talking with Jake Flary. His green vest was turning browner and browner every day. Flary was slowly recovering from his injury and was feeling better. The crew began slowly to know Jake better and realized why Kurt had wanted him to live. He was inexperienced in pretty much everything, he thought that the life was all beautiful; in fact, he didn’t realize what important matters were going on here. For Jake, all of this was some kind of distant dream, some kind of strange illusion, some kind of strange sad part of an eternal life. Craig was, like Richard Lockman, a great philosopher. He had some difficulties to know the truth about Jake. Was he simply unconscious or did he still have a child’s mentality?

George Gilligan, on his side, was making a long briefing with his lieutenants. His dragoons suffered heavy casualties in the church. Five of his men were killed, and 18 were lightly wounded, but still able to fight on a horse. He was lucky, because Sergeant Becker’s diversion allowed his men to take down most of the sharpshooters on the roof. The leader of the “Forces of the New Prussian Republic”, some Prussian rebels, also called Major Alexei Mürgen, prepared a large scale offensive to break the siege of Prague made by the Prussians. The matter with the general Minnüsger (leader of the 5th Prussian army attacking Usti and Fort Brenning) didn’t seem to bother him at all. His goal was a unique one: Freeing Prague. Marshall Haberty, the British leader of Prague’s defence, needed help as soon as possible. Several villages and towns accepted to send men and ammunitions to the rebel army. Two days later, the rebels’ forces would be over 10 000 men large. And more men kept coming to join the army. Four days later, the army would consist of 25 000 rebels! This would maybe be enough to defeat the Prussians!

George Gilligan had four days to do whatever he wanted before he helps the rebels. He then called Craig Green, the sergeant Charles Becker, the corporal Randy McKelmer, Vassiliv Zaitev and Jake Flary to a secret meeting with the 70 dragoons. The meeting point was an underground passage which led to a bar. The bar was in ruins, but had a large underground room. Large enough to contain more than 80 men. It was once a secret rebel ammunition depot, but the Prussians made it explode before. So, it was unfrequented by the rebel soldiers. George Gilligan then began to talk. His men were calmly and carefully listening to their beloved captain.

“Okay men. Craig Green and Vassiliv Zaitev told me that, during their scouting missions they saw several Prussian reinforcements heading to Usti to join the army already assaulting the town. We need to stop them, or at least cause a lot of casualties to make them fall back or turn south to help the Prussians at Prague. The rebels are nice people, but their cause is lost since the beginning. The Prussians will surely overwhelm them a day or another. I had a secret mission that Marshall Haberty gave me in person. He wants me to break the siege of Prague to allow an evacuation. This evacuation needs to happen before the Prussians surround us. We have a few time ahead of us. We got horses for Craig and his men. Our two main objectives are to free Prague and to join the defenders of Usti and Fort Brenning if they held until then. Then, we’ll head south to join a fleet of the resistance to help us reach England safe. We have to reach Venice. I know this task is like impossible, but we must try. We’ll have to go south and pursue the evacuation. The Italians will maybe help us. I don’t know if England decided to declare war on Italy yet…”

The men laughed, knowing that it was indeed true.

-Usti-

-“COAAAAAAAAL! GET THERE!” yelled Jimmy Ranson.
-SIIIIIIIIR? yelled back another soldier.
-WHERE’S COAL???
-HE’S IN THE TRENCHES!
-THANKS! answered Jimmy before heading towards the trenches, followed by the 4 medics.

-Krügerburg’s road-

The rebels looked surprised to see a whole regiment of dragoons riding through the snow in the early morning to the forest in the North. George Gilligan roared:

“FORWARD MEN! A QUICK DEATH AND AN IMMORTAL FAME AWAIT US IF YOU GUYS DON’T FIGHT LIKE LIONS TODAY! FORWARD TO THE PRUSSIANS!”

“FORWARD TO THE PRUSSIANS!” roared back the men.

Jimmy Ranson was preparing himself mentally to accomplish the vital task he had to accomplish, George Gilligan was leading his men through the dark woods to kick some Prussian butts, the trenches were about to collapse. What worse could happen to our heroes?

-“These British pets will get too powerful if they lead us to a crushing victory… maybe we should crush them before they crush us… Shouldn’t we attack? suggested the small man watching the dragoons ride through the forest.
-In time, Alexei… In time…” anwered the other man back, as if they knew themselves since the beginning of time.

-“In time” was brought by the cold wind to the naked branches of the trees… The twigs slowly wavered and shivered, answering the call of the mysterious requiem running wild in the dense air…-

-Chapter 7-

-In the forest, eastern side of the river Elbe-

The lieutenant Garreth Erikson of the 76th regiment of Dragoons came back from his scouting mission. He approached near his Captain, George Gilligan, and whispered something to his ear. The captain smiled and gave a friendly slap on his old friend’s shoulder. The captain joyfully ordered his regiment to halt. He turned back and said:

-“A hundred Prussians on an open field unaware of what they’re doing here and who they’re fighting, folks… What would you think of that for this morning?
-We gotta shake ‘em up! Yeah! answered cheerfully the men.
-Well, you guys are gonna be even happier! There are 300 of ‘em!”

The men roared, happy to be led by such a man. Gilligan continued.

“I want 30 men with lieutenant Erikson. The rest of you, follow me!”

Gilligan didn’t have to give any orders because his men already knew what to do. He formed them well. Yes, very well. Gilligan’s men charged to the camp, shooting at the sleepy Prussians running out of their tents to get their weapons. Craig Green took a long pistol given by the captain Gilligan and took down a watcher in a little wooden tower. He took his sabre and began slicing his way through the tons of Prussians swarming to stop the charge. The dragoons charged effectively and succeeded to make it to the other side of the camp. Gilligan rallied his men and made another charge, more deadly this time. The horses charged into the panicking Prussians and few were able to aim properly at a charging dragoon, crushing everything and everyone in his path. The Prussians fled from the camp, but were quickly slaughtered by Garreth and his men that were waiting next to the camp to take care of the fugitives. Half an hour later, the battle was over. Over 250 Prussians were lying dead on the ground, and 50 men were taken as prisoners. George decided to execute these men instead of giving them to the major Alexei. He would have tortured them and George preferred a quick punishment. 50 heads fell on the ground, their blood tinting the white snow with an ugly red.

-“How’s your arm, son? Said Garreth to Jake Flary.
-‘Getting a bit better, sir. I could kill at least 3 Prussians, today.
-I killed 17, but that’s another matter. I’m glad your arm’s better. We need good swordmen in our regiment. But, how about this guy… you know? From your crew… What’s his name already? Duh… Baker?
-Becker. His back’s better but he’ll always have that mental problem.
-Which is?
-Since I know him, I could say he’s the strangest guy of my comp’ny. He talks to no one, he seems to talk to himself, he’s a sergeant and no one really knows who he is.
-Strange, meaning cultivated?
-We could say so… He knows things no one wants to knows…
-Whew… You’re gonna scare me, man!”

And the regiment rode through the mist to meet other Prussians. Their sabotage journey was only about to begin. They had to be quick and effective. They only had 4 days, after all!

-Trench 10-

“We’re getting the hell out of here, guys!” said Sam Hagman. “Hem… which way?” said his twin brother Arthur.
The men didn’t know where to go. Sam and 7 men decided to get to Usti while the 20 other decided to go to Fort Brenning. The retreat was called and the men were abandoning their positions. The cannons were packed on chariots and the horses rode back to Fort Brenning. Usti would have about 7 cannons, 12 with a bit of luck. Most of the men were called to Fort Brenning: order of the Captain. The men were running back to Fort Brenning, trying to avoid being shot down by the advancing Prussian regiments. A large mass of Prussians succeeded to land on the shore, but at a terrible price. The British had a strategic advantage and they knew how to use it. The shrapnels of the cannons took out about 3 men out of 5 that were killed. The 2 last men out of 5 was killed by a British rifle. But now, the battle in an open field was far more too dangerous for the British. The Prussians slaughtered the soldiers who couldn’t walk, due to a wound. So after an hour of evacuation, out of the 140 men fighting in the trenches, 50 will reach Fort Brenning, while 17 will reach Usti. But, I (the narrator, for instance) can’t talk of the dangerous retreat without talking of Jimmmy Ranson’s mission. It was during the retreat, 20 minutes before the gates of Fort Brenning closed, the last man running in the fort.

Jimmy Ranson and Coal were escorting the 4 medics to fort Brenning. Of course, bullets whistled near them, but the trenches and the ruins of the battlefield offered a good cover from the enemy fire. Coal had already killed 10 Prussians with his bayonet, having saved 2 times the life of the same medic. It was getting dangerous now. A shell crashed down near the crew and a little whistle was heard. Jimmy yelled “IN THE TRENCH!!!” and jumped with his 5 companions in the trench 11. Suddenly, Jimmy saw 40 well-armed Prussians soldiers. Two rifles wouldn’t save them, now. He hid himself, but: too late. An order was given in german and the Prussians ran to the trench. Suddenly, 10 Prussians fell down, screaming loudly. The Prussians turned back, aimed (5 other men fell on the ground) and shot. Two grenades were thrown at them and another volley made short work of these Prussians. Jimmy looked around and saw some other men fighting in the trench 10. He recognized Sam Hagman, Arthur Hagman and Josh Hart, the regiment’s flag-carrier. There were other men, but Sam yelled: “Run while you can, man! We’re covering the retreat!”

So Jimmy ran. Coal, on his side, had difficulties to keep up the pace with his energetic lieutenant. His asthma was giving him trouble and he was beginning to lose his breath. When Coal was about to fall down on the ground, an explosion made himself fly 4 meters away. The cloud of dust was still not dissipated, so he couldn’t see anything. He heard yells in German and he ran with the strength left in him. He yelled: “Lieutenant! Lieutenant! Where are you?”
Unfortunately, there was no answer. He yelled another time: no answer. He ran back to see the medics, but he saw that they were already hidden in a hole. He told them to stay here until he came back, but the medics preferred to run for the fort. Coal swore, and ran back. He was walking instead of running, but he suddenly began to cry. He had lost his favourite officer, his close friend. He couldn’t run anymore, and a Prussian was running at him. He gasped, ready to die. A scream sounded loudly in the battlefield.

The Prussian fell down. Jimmy Ranson, happy that he could shoot at a Prussian and get up at the same time, which made himself pretty proud. He called for Coal, but found no one. He was alone on the battlefield. At least, alone meaning that there were no more alive British. He ran to the fort, and found Coal in the snow. He was miserably lying down on the ground. He was grinning, and Jimmy stepped back. Then, he advanced to him, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him to the fort’s gates. Jimmy kept hearing: “Move it! Move it, dammit! MOOOOVE!” “I want to be out of there! Mom!!!” “JOHNSOOOON! REHAEEEERG!” “MOVE BACK! MOVE BACK!” “EVERYBODY MOVE! GET MOVING!” “I CAN’T, SARGE! HIS LEG’S MISSING!” “SHOOT ‘EM OFF!” Bullets hit hard the ground near Jimmy, but he succeeded to bring his friend back to Fort Brenning. The last man to enter was Josh Hart with his magnificent banner. He was bleeding, but he was alive. And, most important of all: he had the colours of the regiment. Jimmy Ranson, on his side, was slowly gazing at Usti. He remembered the promise he made to his captain: “I will proudly come back to Usti to fight to death with you, sir.
-Don’t say “fight to death”, man! ‘Gives me the creeps!”
He remembered the sharp voice of his captain. He heard that the medics were in the hospital, taking care of Coal and the other men of the company. He whispered:
“Please, get better, Coal. Get better, Jeremy.”

So ended the battle for the River Elbe.

So started the battle for Usti and Fort Brenning.

-Chapter 8-

-Usti-

Steve Robinson pulled the trigger of his rifle. The old gun spat fire and the bullet was rapidly ejected. Its trajectory was straight and went right through a Prussian’s belly. Steve was now used to the feeling of reloading his gun and shooting. Several hours of training made a wonderful work for him. He was a great soldier, even if he was young and inexperienced. He had rapidly but surely learned the REAL method to reload a gun. The drills given in the barracks of Portsmouth (where he was trained, I might add) taught complicated and numerous steps to reload your gun with a “proper” and “effective” way. The men reloading like that could barely shoot 2 bullets by minute. The best soldiers with their own methods could fire 6 bullets in a minute. Steve was now up to 5. His red tunic was stained with red. His bayonet had darkened with the dry blood on it and was stinking. But, it didn’t really seem to bother Steve. He already saw worse!

The village of Usti was hardly defended by 60 men of the Wessex Company. The northern entrance of the town was guarded by 3 cannons posted in the second floors of some barracks hidden in the town buildings. Two other cannons were posted at the main northern entrance. There was a large barricade there. Other barricades were in the streets, of course. The Prussians had to fight through dangerous street combats if they made it past the first line of barricades. But, for now. The British defender were holding well their positions.

-Fort Brenning-

The men were bravely shooting at the enemy regiments being tore apart by the British line of fire. Men fell as if some kind of unnatural precision was guiding the riflemen to shoot their bullet at the right place. The 120 defenders (who were fighting, without counting the men in the hospital) were fighting like lions! Coal, also called Jeremy, was resting in the hospital. He was suffering a lot due to a wound at the right leg. Jimmy Ranson then decided to go see him, despite the battle raging. Jimmy opened the hospital door, passed some barricades, and heard a terrible scream. The guy who produced this was probably named Stentor or otherwise, he was suffering as hell! Jimmy asked the doctor what was going on, and the doc’ closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said that a young man was being amputated. The lieutenant’s heart twisted in horror, and a doubt was in his mind. He ran to the second floor, and to the third one… He smelled an horrible smell of putrefaction, the air was dense and probably as toxic as the black pest itself. He heard grins, yells, cries too… He looked around and didn’t spot Coal. Suddenly, he heard a “Hey, Ranson! You fat dummy!”

Jimmy turned back, and saw Coal, trying to walk with his crutches. Coal sadly said:
-“They amputated this poor Jackson… I preferred to go out… I prefer to smell this than to hear the screams of this poor boy. The gangrene was too advanced, I think. The doc’ told me that he won’t past the night…”
-How about Denny?
-The lieutenant’s getting a bit better, but I’ve heard he lost the use of one of his eyes… Where’s Sam?
-The Hagman one?
-Yep…
-The last time I’ve seen him he was backing with his fellows to Usti. Usti’s stuck in a death trap. You’re lucky to be there, still. These Prussians are getting some heavy casualties as hell! I think we’ve killed and wounded at least a thousand men! Ha ha!
-There will be other, trust me! These guys are like Russians… They’ll send everything they got, even children!!
The two men laughed like little kids. A ray of light as shining despite the dark cloud of powder and suffering covering the fort.

-Bridge, eastern side of the river Elbe-

The general Minnüster of the 5th Prussian Army was gazing at the fog covering the entrance of the bridge. He looked at some men running back from the bridge, and he ordered his men to shoot them. “No retreat in my army!” he yelled. “Where’s the casualties’ list, for God’s sake?” Another regiment ran to the bridge to attack the British. A man came to see the general and he said: “Your highness! My Prince! I’ve got a report about our casualties! We’ve lost about 300 dead men, 1100 wounded. We still got 2500 men left on the battlefield. Should we focus on Fort Brenning, milord?
-No. Our main goal is Prague. We will take Usti first. How’s the progress of our troops?”

The discussion was cut by an HUGE explosion. Other explosions followed. What was happening?

-Fort Brenning-

“The ammunition depot of Usti!!! It’s on fire!” yelled the lieutenant Alan Paul, posted in a tower of Fort Brenning.

-Usti-

“MOVE BACK! FALL BACK! GET YOUR ASS OUTTA HERE! FALL BACK, DAMMIT!” yelled Jerry Manning to his men.

-End of Book 1-

Ouah, j´adore
Ben, perso je comprends pas tout, parce que bon pour moi y a quelques mots de vocabulaire qui me snot inconnus, mais niveau style c´est excellent. J´ai lu juste le premier chap, et franchement je continuerai A mon sens tu te debrouilles mieux en anglais qu´en francais, y a une plus grande fluidité. Ptet justement grâce à la langue.
Good luck ^_^

ouais merci! Par contre ce texte est bourré de fautes.... Et honnêtement je commence à déprimer en écrivant Black Phoenix... j´essaie de faire trop de choses en même temps.... je devrais focuser sur une seule chose... une seule histoire... et meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerde...

Mouarf, compte pas sur moi pour les corriger alors
Pour la focalisation, fais comme tu veux, ce que tu peux faire c´est garder plusieurs fics en cours, et selon ton humeur tu continues celle qui te tente. Ca te permettra de jamais perdre du temps sur l´écriture
Nempêche pour 16 ans chapeau, franchement.
Bon, je continuerai un peu plus tard

Tu vas avoir du mal avec tes lecteurs, en plus d´être en anglais tu nous as posté un joli pavé.
Si tu veux un conseil, car les gens sont malheureusement plutôt paresseux ici, fais-en effacer quelques poste à raison d´en conserver qu´un ou deux pour le moment.
Cela est alors une certaine marque de respect pour le lecteur au lieu de lui balancé ceci au visage et ça lui permet d´apprécier mieux l´oeuvre.

J´ai lu le début pas si mal, tu avais écrit ceci depuis un moment à ce que je vois.

http://forums.eidosgames.mes.com/showthread.php?t=50796