Muskets and Carbines

Chapter 11: Bagpipes

Juna, Belwas Region. Mara 8th, 113 AP.

The sound of bagpipes slowly rang louder in the valley. Them and the unmistakable sound of fifes and drums had announced a new force had entered the fray.

From the forest to the west came a visible line of scarlet uniforms marching towards the raging fight between General Shafer and Lord Herald's troops. General Shafer took a second from shooting knights with his revolver to look and see the thin scarlet wave approaching the American left. His next words would be recorded by historians on when this battle would turn.

"I never thought I would ever be happy to see such a pretty parade."

Lord Herald was in the opposite mood. He quickly realized how bad a situation was now forming and sent messengers to reorganize the plan and divert to also face this new enemy force. He also turned to his maesters and knights. It was time to commit the reserve.

General Wolfram had actually gotten off track and on rerouting his division had actually found a quicker way to Juna than the road General Hammersmith was taking his men. On seeing the situation before him he had turned to his officers and ordered them to get into the fight.

The Royal artillery battery was quickly setting up to add their Armstrong guns to the brawl while the Guard regiments advanced. The 2nd Grenadier Guards and Scots Fusilier Guards marched to the sound of "Scotland the brave" and "British Grenadier". In their lead Colonel McGee rode his horse and waved them on with his sword.

"Come on me ladies. There's a fight we're missing!"

Behind the Scots and British came the Canadians and Prussians. Both of these brigades would peel off to the north while the Guard regiments marched straight towards the Antaran's fighting the Poles. By now the remaining Poles had formed a ring around their wounded Colonel and were surrounded. The 2nd Virginia had broken and the 3rd Ohio were barely hanging on.

The Guard regiments formed up and fired a devastating volley into the mass of Antaran foot infantry. A few hundred or so under a Baron tried to charge the scarlet line only to fall to the second volley. Colonel McGee dismounted and proceeded to lead the Guard regiments in a bayonet charge into the Antaran mass. This saves the remaining Poles, who were down to less than 300 from their starting thousand.

Another blessing comes as the 2nd Virginia reforms under Captain Jason Clark, the last officer of that regiment, who rallied the routing survivors. They joined the 3rd Ohio as they pushed the Antarans back.

The whole tree line was a mix of Bayonets facing spears, swords, axes, and maces. The American, Antaran, and now British soldiers all in a desperate melee. Very few men got any opportunity to try reloading their rifles, and none of the Antaran archers wished to fire into their own troops. So now it was all now melee in that part of the battlefield.

The Canadian and Prussian troops suddenly were hit by a bombardment of fireballs and boulders as the Antaran maesters focused on them. Soon this was followed by barrages of shots from the Demicannons, but only for a time. The Demicannons themselves were getting silenced one by one by the British battery. The quick firing and accurate breech loading cannons were immediately making their presence known.

The Canadians and Prussians had very little time to catch their breath before being faced with a wave of armored knights charging them. Some of these knights were even coming from different directions as Lord Herald had instructed them too.

The Canadian soldiers, veterans of the Crimean war, had quickly formed squares to counter the swarming knights charging on horseback. They met the knights with bayonets and hard resolve.

The Prussians also formed squares with ease that showed their level of drill that matched their reputation. Prussian officers and NCOs shouted loud commands as the soldiers used their needle guns to chip away at the mass of knights swarming and attacking them. The fast breechloaders made many of the knights steer away from the squares of Prussian dark blue.

Handfuls of these knights attempted to charge the British artillery battery. While their armor and training may be an advantage, the British gunners were quick with canister shot. The surviving knights who still persisted found that the Royal gunners were well trained on fighting cavalry with their short swords. Aiming for the horses legs and swarming the riders they showed that there was a price to attacking British artillery batteries.

All of this was visible to Lord Herald who was seeing the battle beginning to turn against him. He recognized that his men were not going to win this fight and his maesters were running out of mana. His knights were dropping like flies and his flanking attacks were failing. He admitted the battle was lost and ordered the withdrawal.

While Antaran troops were getting tired and bloodied, they still followed order well and did an organized retreat. Those who had shields left formed walls to protect against the rifle volleys while their comrades fell back and reformed. Whenever the remaining American cavalry tried to charge the Antarans they were met with spears and crossbow bolts. The Coalition soldiers began advancing on the Antarans but at a distance.

The British artillery had a number of their guns damaged by knights who realized their power. Only a handful of artillery shots smashed against the withdrawing Antarans as the American batteries were mauled by the melee.

Lord Herald had used his men well enough to keep order and give enough time for his wagon trains to withdraw first. As the orange glow of a setting sun covered the horizon, the Antaran army left the field.

While there was a victory for the day. General Shafer's division had been mauled, and showed the Antarans shouldn't be underestimated. Shafer met Wolfram in the center of the field. A painting would later be made to show the American blue rejoicing with British Scarlet, Canadian Green, and Prussian blue on the victory as the two generals shook hands.

Major Ryker was to one side of the field with his dragoons. He panted softly as Rook huffed and groaned under him. Ryker smiled slightly as he stroked Rook's mane with his blood covered glove. His eyes looking over the battlefield and trying to calm his senses.

Major Ryker then looked to the city to see some people on the walls cheering to the victory as well. His eyes met a woman's among them, their eyes both in a stare before Rook shook Ryker and made him focus back to the field.

He sighed and went to check to see how many were dead or wounded. He would think of the woman later, but he had a duty to do.