Pages

Praetorium Honoris

Saturday, October 28, 2023

The Long March - Hinge Point

(Source)
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

The Prince's manservant was standing next to the Prince's cot, trying to awaken his master. His voice was getting louder, but he was still, essentially, whispering. He didn't touch the Prince because he knew that to do so was to invite certain death, depending on the Prince's mood when he awoke.

"Sir! Your Highness, there's ..."

The Prince awoke with a start, sitting up abruptly, "Damn it man, what is this sniveling?"

"Highness, your bodyguard is leaving, they ..."

"WHAT?!"

Throwing off the bedclothes, the Prince stood up, shoving the manservant to the floor of the tent. "My boots, you idiot, my boots!"

The Prince was snapping his fingers angrily as the manservant scuttled across the floor to get the Prince's boots. Once he had them he went back to the Prince, kneeling, waiting for the Prince to sit back down on the cot.

"FOOL!" the Prince once again shoved the man to the floor, "I'll do it myself."

As he hurriedly pulled his boots on, he could hear the snorting of horses and the muffled imprecations of men as they hurriedly saddled their mounts.

Tugging his left boot on, then nearly stumbling as he started to walk, the Prince kicked his manservant who was trying to scurry out from underfoot. The man grunted as the Prince's boot slammed into his midsection.

"F**king oaf, move!" the Prince barked at the man as he strode from his tent, drawing his pistol as he did so.

"What is the meaning of this!" he bellowed at the nearest trooper who was trying to mount his horse. The animal was shying away from her rider, made nervous by the tumult around her.

"Damn it man! ANSWER ME!"

The rider successfully gained his seat, then turned his mount towards the road. The Prince, leveling his pistol, stepped in front of the horse. The rider buried his spurs in the animal's flank which caused her to jump forward, knocking the Prince to the ground.


The Major was awake and moving before his brain had really registered the reasons why. Close by was Joshua following on his officer's heels, ready to support him regardless of what they required.

"Joshua, what the ..."

"The mounted bodyguards, they're abandoning the camp."

Rushing towards the commotion, he could see the last of the mounted men heading down the road, back the way they had come. The Prince was standing in the road, without his tunic, firing his pistol at the receding figures.

"Sir, this doesn't look good."

The Major looked towards the bivouac of the Imperials as shots rang out from that direction. A number of men were firing in the direction of the road. No targets were in evidence but the Imperials were blazing away like the poorly trained troops they were. As more men joined in, the firing became heavier.

Stopping in his tracks, the Major turned to Joshua, "Come on, I've got to muster the battalion. You head over to the column commander's bivouac and let him know what's going on. My recommendation is that we stand to before the Imperials get completely out of control."

As the two men separated, the Major ran into the Sergeant, "Top, stand to. The Imperials are apparently mutinying. The mounted bodyguard has fled and the foot soldiers are firing at shadows."

"On it, I'll go to 1st and 2nd Companies ..."

"I'll get to 3rd and 4th. This is not good!"


Asher watched the chaos playing out below him. He didn't awaken Daniel or the others, the quickly mounting rifle fire would soon do that. As far as he could tell, their was something that looked remarkably like a mutiny going on in the regular's camp.

He felt a presence behind him, knew that it had to be Daniel, "Things have taken an interesting turn, Commander."

Daniel grunted as he pulled out his glass and trained on the proceedings below. "Mutiny?"

"Could be, all I can definitely say is that the mounted contingent took to horse and headed back towards the capital. Then the Imperials started firing into the gloom. There was one fellow on the road firing what sounded like a pistol. The muzzle flashes seem to indicate that he was shooting at the fleeing horsemen."

"Damn! I recognize the Prince, even from here. He's out of uniform and it looks like he just got out of bed. I'll bet that was his bodyguard fleeing. I wonder why? What could have spooked those bastards?"

Daniel turned, expecting to see Mary and Benjamin waiting behind him. They were.

"Benjamin, follow Rachel, let Abel know what's going on here. We might be facing fewer enemies than we anticipated in the next few days. Mary, go with him, Asher and I will follow once we've seen the outcome of all this. Tell Abel that we'll meet him at the old grist mill on the lower swamp road."

The two headed off into the darkness while Daniel and Asher settled in to watch the show.

"Too bad we don't have a force here to attack those rascals." Asher commented.

"Heh, why interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake?"


"The battalion is formed Major."

"Thanks, Top." Turning to face his assembled force, the Major bellowed out, "Battalion will fix bayonets!"

"FIX!"

The clatter of hands reaching for scabbards followed that command.

"BAYONETS!"

Even in the dim light from the nearby campfires, the flash of cold steel being affixed to rifle muzzles was unmistakable. The Sergeant felt a chill rush up her spine as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, "Battalion stands ready, Sir!"

"Very well."

The Major turned once more towards the Imperial camp. The firing had subsided, now the men seemed to be arguing, fights were breaking out in the Imperial's camp. The Major realized that he was going to have to take action now. As he turned back to his battalion, the column commander rode up.

"Major!"

"Sir?"

"Your battalion will advance and quell the disturbance over there." The column commander was missing his kepi but his sword was drawn and he was using it to point at the Imperial's camp. "The rest of the column will support your movements. Deadly force is authorized."

"Sir?"

"If the bastards won't fall in and cease this idiocy, kill them. Kill them all!"

The column commander then abruptly rode off to where the Major could see the other elements of the column forming up.

"Battalion will advance!"

The company commanders all commanded at the same time, "CHARGE BAYONETS!"

"HURRAH!" The battalion bellowed as one.

"BY THE RIGHT INTO LINE, QUICK... MARCH!"

The companies executed the movements required to put the battalion into three deep line, moving forward as they did so. Some of the troopers had grim looks of anticipation on their faces, very few of them had any love for the Imperials.


"Damn it, man! Get your people under control!" The Prince was screaming at one of the Fourth Cohort's centurions. He had no idea where his First Spear was.

The centurion looked at the Prince, not recognizing him at first, "Who the f ..."

Before he said another word, it dawned on him who he was speaking to. "Sir!" Then he dashed into the darkness, hoping to get away with his own bodyguard.

The lone rider who had returned to camp had been in a panic. He had reported that hundreds of rebels had attacked and overwhelmed the baggage train. He claimed that he and his companions had ridden into an ambush and that only he had narrowly escaped. Which was true, to a certain point.

But the centurion had no idea of the truth, all he could think of was to make his own escape and get back to the capital. If he could take his entire Century, then he would, but that was looking less and less likely as the chaos in the Imperial camp grew into a riot.


"BATTALION!"

The command, "COMPANY!" repeated down the line ...

"HALT!"

The Major was looking down a slight embankment at the Imperial camp, men were rummaging through the belongings of others, fighting each other, there were already bodies on the ground, dead bodies.

Some of the men in the camp looked up to see the battalion arrayed in line, bayonets fixed. They began shouting insults, one man raised a rifle and fired at the regulars. At that point, the Major made his decision.

"PRESENT!"

Again the command rippled down the line ...

"FIRE!"

The companies were well-drilled and did not fire all at once. Rather, it was a rolling volley, each platoon firing together, one after the other, until the 4th Company had fired. Firing recommenced with the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company, this would continue until the battalion was out of ammunition or the officers called a halt.

The Major let the volleys go down the line twice, as the Fourth Comapnay completed its fire, he bellowed out, "CEASE FIRE!"

The Imperial's camp looked like an abattoir, blood, body parts, and ruined equipment everywhere. Amidst the bodies and the debris of the camp, wounded men could be seen, struggling as they tried to extricate themselves from the mess.

"1st Company Captain!"

"Sir?"

"Take a platoon in and finish this."

"SIR!"


The Prince was beside himself with anger, "What the Hell have you done, Colonel?"

"The Imperials were out of control, in the field, in the midst of an enemy country, we can't spare the time to treat these types of men with anything approaching civility. They were ordered to cease, they did not. Now, they have ceased." The Colonel answered quite calmly, knowing that his career and probably his life, were now over.

"You will answer for this! With your head!"

The Prince reached for his holstered weapon, drawing it. The Colonel made no move to stop him, he understood that the Prince was well within his rights, as the government had decided, to kill anyone who opposed him.

"Any last words, Colonel?" the Prince said, with a smirk.

A shot rang out, the Colonel started, then realized that he was untouched. He looked and saw that the Prince, his arm extended, his finger on the trigger of his pistol, had a puzzled look on his face. Then the Prince coughed and bright red blood gushed from his mouth, spilling down over the front of his white shirt.

Behind the Prince, who collapsed to the ground making odd, gurgling noises, a struggle was taking place as two men were attempting to restrain the Prince's manservant. The man had let himself be disarmed as he stared at the body of the dead Prince, oddly enough, tears were streaming down the man's face.

The Colonel took a deep breath, now none of them could ever go home.




66 comments:

  1. Time to switch sides, away from the Imperial Government, and it's tyranny?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe, maybe not. But the militia would sure love the supplies of weapons and ammo. And uniforms.

      Delete
    2. That they would. The uniforms, maybe not.

      Delete
    3. The uniforms, because that way they could infiltrate.

      Delete
    4. Your thinking is far too modern. 😉

      Delete
    5. The uniforms are fabric, which can be made into many things.

      Delete
  2. Well, that puts a dent in the bloodline all right, wonder if there are any other brothers to the dead Prince? Never was a fan of the concept of royalty Sarge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, royalty is rather a stupid concept. Might work for a single generation, doesn't last.

      Delete
    2. I get the feeling the Prince was sent out to either stiffen his spine or stiffen him up to room temperature. He succeeded, on both parts in the same day.

      Delete
  3. Will be interesting to see how diplomacy between foes is going to go. Regulars cannot go home they are traitors and I suspect the other side has more concern about betrayal than feeding a new army with limited resources.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If enough of the Army keep their mouths shut, the Big Lie that the Prince was killed by his loyal servant who was a spy (which is mostly true...) could reign supreme (see what I did there?) But that would require soldiers who witnessed what happened to keep their fat traps shut.

      It depends on the number of people who actually saw what actually happened. It could be done. Given that the Colonel most likely surrounded himself with loyal and smart troops

      Delete
    2. The Colonel did not get to pick his troops, they were provided by the government. How that pans out remains to be seen.

      Delete
  4. Interesting. The nameless manservant pushed too far. I had expected the shot to come from Top.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beat a dog, a servant, a horse, one day they'll turn on you.

      Delete
    2. Or a random sniper shot from far away, just lucky enough... as the unit's scout/sniper moves to the next hide.

      Delete
    3. Killing incompetent commanders is something a sniper should avoid. Just sayin'.

      Delete
    4. Unless it was an Imperial scout/sniper who has had just enough.

      Delete
  5. Ok...that was different! Unexpected would be a good word also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm kinda surprised myself that way things went. The Muse is a tricksy one.

      Delete
  6. I think I'm almost as surprised as the Prince. If someone survived to make it back to town to report the destruction of the baggage train, the fleeing bodyguards will encounter the relief force. What tale will they tell? Can anyone survive?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hhmm, might be a thing I can use there.

      Delete
    2. Being on the far end of the supply trail, with your baggage destroyed or captured, with no clear line of retreat, that is a sucky position to have. Do you just sit on your hands and see what happens , hoping you don't run out of food or ammo or troops? Attack to the rear like at the Chosin? Break up into smaller parties and try to sneak/force your way back into 'The World'? Become your own mad warlord? Die heroically and futilely? Sooo many options, sooo many negative outcomes.

      Delete
    3. We're building towards something, what it is ain't exactly clear yet.

      Delete
  7. This is turning into a Charlie-Foxtrot of epic proportions. The comment from Daniel about never interrupting is almost prescient

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bad planning, a vague mission, what could possibly go wrong?

      Delete
    2. Troops have a mandatory DEI meeting with powerpoints and bad coffee?

      Delete
  8. Crusty Old TV Tech here. Cribbing a bit from Tolkein is Musie, eh? Like Wormtongue and Saruman in the Scourging of the Shire. As you note, beat a dog... And the mutiny, and the reaction of the "regulars", I can understand. This is getting more interesting by the episode.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. History seems full of beaten dogs turning on their masters.

      (As to the scourging of the Shire, it's something Peter Jackson should have done in the films. Mistake leaving that out.)

      Delete
    2. Peter Jackson- I recognize the name as the guy who did the superb "They Shall Not Grow Old" WW1 movie. Not caring a whit (or knowing anything about Tolkein) I did not know that he was involved with that highly successful series. Small world, and some people with very diverse interests.
      JB

      Delete
    3. Jackson also blew it by leaving out Tom Bombadill, the offer of hiding in the Lands of Fae, never changing, as the world around them crumbles. That was a very important part of the book that most people don't understand. And, of course, being dragged into a burial mound where they find the weapons to defeat the Nazgul without realizing it.

      The scouring of the Shire, and the rebuilding of it. Mustn't forget the rebuilding abs the adventuring hobbits become Big Men on Campus and lead the rebuilding.

      Delete
    4. JB - Jackson is a rather talented film maker.

      Delete
    5. Beans - Yes, he did leave out some key facets of the book. Whether the idiot studio executives had anything to do with that? Your guess is as good as mine. But I do smell the bean counters behind it all.

      Delete
    6. Would have been five films, at least.

      Delete
    7. Should have been, heck, he turned The Hobbit into three films.

      Delete
  9. One of the most interesting historical records of a mutiny - at least in the Ancient World - is Tacitus' record of the revolt of the troops stationed on the Rhine (which as it turns out, was put down with a minimum of bloodshed). Not quite the "we have to get out now" scenario presented in today's installment, but the thinking by the commander was the same: order had to be restored.

    That said, I cannot imagine things going well for the Major if an Imperial Cohort was effectively eliminated at his command and the Prince was killed during his watch (yes, I know the foot man killed him, but that can always be linked by the conspiratorially minded).

    And the militia followed the classic Sun Tzu: When your enemy is making a mistake, do not interrupt him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the Major may have cast his lot with the rebels without knowing that. Seems like his path is fixed at this point.

      Delete
    2. Depends. Who is/are the Imperial Spy/Spies and did he/they survive to tell the tale?

      Delete
    3. I mean, depending on how the spin doctors spin it, the Colonel and the Major could come out looking like gold. Or not. Politics is far murkier than war.

      Delete
    4. Beans #1 - If there even is a spy.

      Delete
    5. Beans #2 - The government in power may not care one way or the other. There are dark forces at work in the capital.

      Delete
    6. "If?" "IF???" With a government of the type it seems there would likely be as may spies as actual soldiers.

      Delete
    7. At least we haven't met a political officer. Yet.

      Delete
    8. Joe - In the capitals and cities sure. But in the field? Modern times these are not.

      Delete
    9. Beans - A Representative on Mission maybe.

      Delete
  10. Oookaaay...that was unexpected...definitely deserved but definitely unexpected...glad to see it...really shows the importance of good communication, and reporting to superiors first before blabbing to buddies...

    Suz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My Muse has taught me to expect the unexpected.

      Delete
  11. Further thoughts.

    Thank you for using "Charge Bayonets" properly, as a position rather than an order to charge recklessly.
    https://acws.co.uk/gilhams/gilharm2.php
    "CHARGE - BAYONET
    Face oblique to the right and take the first position in About-Face. Turn the musket lock plate to the front and grasp the small of the stock with the right hand making sure the musket is kept vertical and slightly away from the body. Let go of the musket with the left hand and lower the musket with the right hand. Grasp the musket with the left hand at the lower band. The left elbow is against the body, and the right hand against the hip. The barrel is up and the point of the bayonet is at eye level."


    "The centurion looked at the Prince, not recognizing him at first, "Who the f ..."
    I had fully expected the Centurion to cut down the Prince.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or the Prince to cut down the centurion. One or another.

      Delete
    2. Joe - I try, very hard, to "keep it real." (Research can be such a bear at times.)

      Delete
    3. Beans - There were many options available. The story flowed and things happened. Not even I can keep up at times. I try to make things "life like" as in, "Well, I didn't see that coming!"

      Delete
    4. I think it likely that the Prince probably has forgotten to reload after firing at his guard.

      Delete
    5. Probably emptied his pistol in frustration.

      Delete
    6. I thought he'd shot it empty at the rider, gave it to his servant to be reloaded. Who was then arrested in possession of it. Single or double barreled, a revolver? Did he or didn't he? Modern crime scene and forensics will have nothing to say.

      Delete
    7. Things could have gone that way.

      Delete
  12. You know, this is the second post where I just have nothing to say...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Back in the Capital there will be public grief but private thanks.. A hotheaded Prince has been removed from succession.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.