The Longboats

During the night the Greeks sent over artillery shells more of a harassment fire than to destroy and it kept most awake but Ralf was doing the same thing to the Greek lines. The troops didn’t dig in but were behind hastily built defenses such as feld trees or slightly dug holes against some rocks but no deep holes or trenches. I couldn’t sleep so I started walking the lines around midnight, watching the Greek artillery shells coming in about one every few minutes with ours going out one every , well, less than a minute. Ralf wanted to keep the Greeks awake all night I suppose. As I walked the line I heard a few soldiers talking nearby.

“I wish those dogs would stop running. I want to get in close so I can run this bayonet through them.”

“Yeah. But if they stop they know we’ll walk right over them!”

“What about Gunny?” I stopped to listen.

“You mean the KING?” One said in the dark.

“Well, yeah but he likes to be called Gunny.” Was the reply in the dark.

“I know. But I wish he could be here with us like a few years ago. I was with him when he saved a group of cannons from a Greek counter attack. You should have seen him!” There was a pause. “He jumped right over the guns with our guys still standing behind him and attacked the Greeks with nothing but an ax!”

“You were there?” Another asked in the dark.

“Sure was. I went right behind him and jumped in the middle of three or four Greeks with him then the guys behind us came in when they saw he was not giving up.”

“I wish I could have been there with you guys. Those days are finished with these new weapons.”

“That’s for sure. But you know, I like these rifles a lot better than the ax.”

“But you still carry an ax!”

“I know. It’s for when we get close. I still like using it up close.”

I didn’t want to walk in on the conversation so I walked away, continuing my evening stroll of the lines. I felt I needed to be in the lines with my troops, to show them we are all in this together and there is no turning back from it. Hearing them talk was what I needed to get back into the right frame of mind. With everything happening so quickly I had forgotten what was at stake, our very existence! Now, with the Romans turning on us and the fact they had over three thousand Sharps rifle that fired metallic cartridges was a game changer. Yngvildr needed to find them and take them out of the fight for good or we could, possibly, be in trouble.

Turning around I walked back but further in the rear this time to check on my troops that supplied us. As I neared some wagons I saw they were mostly asleep with only the guards walking around with their rifles slung over their shoulders. I passed by without them knowing who I was and continued to the cooks wagon where I saw several of them still working on breakfast. The smell was over powering so I went to check their chow and see if they had any tea.

“Good morning!” I said as I came to them.

“OH! Good morning, Gunny! Out for a stroll?” A very big man said as he stirred a hug pot over a small fire.

“Yes. Just walking the lines. What do you have, it smells delicious!” I said as I leaned over the pot to smell its content.

“Just breakfast. We have to make another three of these pots before sunrise. If you want, I’ll get you some.” He stopped and grabbed a dipper as I untied my mess tin from my belt and held it to him.

I took a sip and it was so good I hummed at its flavor with closed eyes.

“OH! That’s so good!” I said as I sat near the fire. I could see the cooks’ broad smile as he went back to stirring the pot.

“I think I’ll sit here for a while.” I said as I enjoyed my breakfast then fell fast asleep leaning against a wagon wheel.

I woke up right at dawn with the sound of music in the distance. I sat up quickly, rubbing my eyes and looking around at the cooks still cooking breakfast and stirring the last of three pots.

“Do you hear that?” I asked as I stood up looking to our rear.

Out of the morning mist I could see a group of soldiers marching towards us in perfect formation playing drums and fifes with bugles in the background. The tune was Battle Cry of Freedom and one female soldier was carrying our flag in front, keeping in step with the music. As they approached us the band leader saw me and held up his hands to halt but the music continued to play until they had completed the song. The band leader turned, saluted me then stood at attention as he waited.

“I can’t believe you did this, Marine!” I said as I approached and to stand at ease, recognizing the man as the Marine I had spoken to weeks before.

“Well. You did say for me to form a band, Gunny.” The Marine said.

I saw they were wearing what looked like shakos for hats with the Mjolnier, or Thors Hammer, in brass on the front. Red pipping ran down their pants legs and there was red pipping on their epaulets as well. I shook my head with a smile.

“You did a fine job, Marine. Damn good job!” I said as I looked them over. “But I was thinking of may be a four piece band to keep the troops entertained.” I sighed deeply with a smile.

“Have your soldiers get something to eat then get to playing. I think the troops would like that.” I slapped him on his back and turned to walk back to the front lines and find my communicators.

“Message form Gunny, King Oswald!”

He took the message and read it as he ate from his mess tin.

“Gather the officers for a meeting in fifteen minutes. We are starting the push again.” He turned clean out his mess tin the walked towards the communicators.

“Any messages from the Saxons?” He asked while sitting down on a wooden crate and re-read the last message from Gunny.

‘Do not use the gas unless the Greeks use it first!’

He thought that was a good idea if it does what Gunny says it will do. He said it would kill anything that was not wearing a gas mask including all the horses and animals it touches. If the Greeks have this then they are a much worse enemy than he originally thought. It seems they want to annihilate them rather than just defeat them and this changes the whole concept of why they are fighting in the first place. He glanced at the gas shells still in the broken crate and wondered what evil had this made.

“Patrol inbound, sir!” Someone yelled.

He looked up and saw his soldiers coming in from the patrol he sent out several hours ago and noticed one missing. They gathered around him with the leader squatting next to him to tell him what they had seen.

“OK. What’s out there, young man?” He asked the young leader.

“Sir, we went to within several yards of their main camp last night, their guards were out but they are not very alert so we got close enough to hear what the officers were saying in their tents.” He poured himself a cup of tea then continued.

“I heard them talking about falling back to Mannheim and reforming their lines there. They also have supplies coming in from the south through Rome and their supply lines are thin. I heard them talk about moving the supply depot from Zurich to Stuttgart.”

“Stuttgart would be closer to their lines.” He thought. “Sounds like they want to try to renew an attack formation after they get reorganized. We can’t let that happen.”

He turned to the communicators.

“Send a message to Gunny.” He sent everything the patrol had seen and heard hoping Gunny would want to renew their attack this morning.

Sigrun had organized his forces beside those of the Saxons and surrounded the city with Hagan and his ships patrolling the coast and beyond. His patrols reported the Greeks had fallen back past Antwerp to midway between Brussels and Charleroi reforming a line of battle that ran up towards Liege then back down. Hagan reported no enemy contact so the sea was still open and that was what Gunny wanted so he could send emissaries to England. He had to radio back for more reinforcements to occupy the city so he and his group could advance to the Greek line.

Message from Gunny!” The communicator said, handing him a piece of paper.

‘Have your forces hold the line where you are. Keep the city under control and we will use it as our base of operations and resupply. Our lines will advance and make contact with the enemy this morning.’

He felt relief at this message which meant they were in control of the front and apparently the Greeks are in retreat. If he could hold here and use it as a naval base to launch attacks, this city would be contested with the Greeks wanting it back. Hagan only had six ships left to keep the port open as well as shuttle emissaries back and forth to England. If he contacted the rear he may be able to get reinforcements by sea to the city which would be faster than land. He immediately sent a message back to Skipper to organize a reinforcement resupply to get here using the Greek barges.

Yngvildr had the Hardcore assemble behind the troops just south of Amsterdam then sent out a patrol to find the Greek lines, which did not take long. Within the hour the patrol came back with information that the Greeks were only five or six hundred yards away behind some hills and were digging in. She found out the enemy lines stretched for miles away from the coast but was thin with only a hand full holding these lines. She turned to her second in command, Aage who was a very tall man with a heavy beard and shaved head and wanted to get back in the fight.

Aage? If we attack here, we’ll need artillery support but I really think we can break through their lines. They are weak all along their lines here.” She said looking at him with a questioned face.

“If we do attack, we could turn north and look for those Romans like Gunny wanted us to.” He cocked his head.

“You’re right.” She was forgetting the reason she was here in the first place, to find the Romans.

“I just wanted to get back into a fight, I really didn’t care who it is as long as it was ‘over there’,” she said pointing with her thumb behind her.

“OK! Let’s send out another patrol to the north along the coast and see if we can find those damn Romans.” She seemed irritated.

A deep rumble shook the ground slightly with the echo of thunder rolling across the hill side. Instinctively, she and the others looked up for clouds but there were none, then they looked at each other.

“What was that?” She asked as they all looked around trying to determine where the noise was coming from.

“There!” Someone pointed to the south west as the morning sky became a glowing red.

“Is that our lines or the Greeks,” someone asked from behind her.

“I don’t know.” She said but everyone began to stand up to try to see what was going on.

“TAKE COVER!” I yelled as I ran and dove into a shallow hole near the communicators.

The artillery began as if on Que with hundreds of Greek shells falling as one, tearing up the landscape as if a huge farmer was plowing the earth. The ground shook constantly as if vibrating, making it difficult to even stand up, throwing earth into the air and covering everything in sight. I tried to yell for the troops to stay down but no one could hear me over the noise. My ears felt as if they would burst at the sound of a constant artillery barrage and my head felt like it would explode any second. I covered my head with my hands as best I could, glancing out over our lines to make sure my troops were in some sort of cover.

Another shell landed only a few feet from me, throwing me backwards into the side of a small trench wall causing me to lose my breath. I began yelling; cursing the Greeks with every word I could think of then made some up for good measure. This would not go on forever but when it stops I knew the Greeks would not be far behind the last shell that landed. It was a major World War One attack theme, I thought. This was used to soften up the enemy just before a major attack and the troops would be right behind this artillery barrage waiting for it to stop then try to roll over the enemy. I had to let the troops know about this and to be prepared.

I started to crawl from one soldier to another, telling them the Greeks would be right behind this when it stopped and told them to spread the word down the line and to be ready when it was over. I saw them crawling away in different directions spreading the word, hopefully they would all get the same message and we could stop the Greeks when they attacked. All we could do now is try to stay alive in this wave of destruction.

I felt something hit me in the face, knocking me back a few feet onto my back and nearly making me black out. I felt dazed and dizzy as I tried to get up but the world was spinning so fast I could only roll over to my stomach with my face feeling a pain that was overwhelming. Shaking my head I rubbed my face and found blood covering it but I couldn’t find a wound and it was then that I saw a human leg lying not far away. It must have hit me in the face and that’s where the blood came from.

“By the GODS!” Sigrun said as he stood on the edge of the city atop a small building he had climbed up, to see what the noise was.

“It looks like Hella opened the doors to hell!” He said to someone standing near him.

The sun was just coming up but the red glow from the Greek lines still lit up the morning sky with what seemed hundreds of artillery pieces firing all at once. In the rear of the Greek lines he saw red/orange flashes from hundreds of enemy artillery pieces. The thunder it caused rolled among them as a fog from the sea but didn’t stop. This was something else the gunny spoke of a few months ago in a war of his time. He remembered him saying they use to pound each other with as many artillery guns as they could get in one spot and then attack with infantry once the guns went silent. That means Gunny is, or will be in trouble when these guns fall silent.

“QUICK!” He yelled down at a few soldiers standing below him watching the spectacle. “Go find Fiete, that new Saxon General and tell him we need to talk...NOW!”

He again turned to watch the Greek artillery pound the front lines as it churned the ground high into the air all along the front and wondered how long it would last. Gunny said sometimes it would last hours and other times days. It all depended on how much ammunition they had to fire. One thing was for sure, he had to get reinforcements ready to move against the Greeks on the flank to relieve pressure on the main lines where Gunny was. A flank attack would take Greek troops from the attack to counter it but it had to be done quickly to be effective.

Oswald could hear the rumbling in the distance and thought it was rain so he paid it no mind until one of his officers had him stand up and look south. The entire sky had turned red/orange with a pulsating glow as the thunder rolled across the hills and echoed into the distance.

“What the HELL is that?” He asked absently as he stared towards the distant clouds on the horizon.

“Greek artillery?” The officer asked as more men started to stand and watch.

“If that’s Greek artillery we are in big trouble.” He said with his mouth open.

After a few minutes he turned to his officers.

“Get the men ready; tell the supply wagons to load up. We’re moving to make contact with the Greeks. We’re not going to sit here and wait any longer.”

He gathered all his equipment, putting it on as he looked around at his men then looked forward. The Greeks were out there somewhere but he had no idea where so he had to go find them. His entire army would be on the move so communication was his concern as he told the communicators to spread out along the line as they advanced.

“Sir, message form Gunny.”

He jumped up then grabs the message.

‘Heavy bombardment. Greek attack imminent. Move in for flank attack.’

Just what he had planned in the first place, he thought. Now he had to get in touch with Sigrun on the coast and see if anything was happening there with him and the Saxons.

“Send this to Sigrun on the coast.” He handed the paper to the communicator.

‘We are attacking from the left. What is your position?’

The message in return was exactly what he thought.

‘Mounting an attack to relieve pressure on the front. Sea lanes still open.’

“Move out!” He yelled to his men as his entire army was on the march to close the door as Gunny said.

“Message from Sigrun.” The communicator handed Yngvildr the message.

‘Attacking from the coast. Need your assistance.’

She looked up at Aage who was standing not far away.

“It’s about time!” He said with a smile.

“Get the Hardcore on the line, I’ll get with the Saxons and I want to move out as soon as I can.” She said as a First Sergeant come to her. He had been the one that organized the attack the other day with the Saxons. He saluted her then stood there looking at her.

“Orders?” He asked. “I have three communicators with me that were assigned to the Saxons but it’s just four of us here.”

“You can join me or stay with the Saxons. Do they have communicators?” She looked at him.

“Yes. They have a dozen wirelesses with them so they can still communicate...not fight very well but they can communicate.” He said with a smile.

“OK. Follow me with your troops and stay close.” She turned and moved off towards the enemy lines at a quick pace.

As suddenly as the bombardment started, it stopped with a silence that left my ears ringing loudly. I could see my troops moving their lips but I could hear nothing but one was pointing forward. I looked over the top of the small berm around my hole and saw a line of mustard yellow uniforms walking towards us that stretched nearly as far as I could see from right to left.

“GET ON LINE!” I yelled but it seemed I was speaking with my hand over my mouth.

I grabbed a rifle lying on the ground and began to fire at the Greek infantry who were now only a few hundred yards away and began to run towards us.

“FIRE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!” I yelled and it seemed as if I was yelling into a bucket.

Turning I could see hundreds of my soldiers firing intently, some reloading as others fixed bayonets waiting for the Greeks to close with them. Our machine gun began to hammer away sounding like a carpenter hitting a board repeatedly. Ralfs artillery began their thunder behind us bursting into the Greek lines throwing earth and bodies into the air as they approached, leaving gaps in their line of march that were filled by the men behind them.

I reached for ammunition from a dead soldier next to me and found a wooden box of grenades. I tore it open quickly grabbing as many as I could and pulled the string at the bottom and began to throw them forward. Another soldier beside me found another box of them and started doing the same thing but the Greeks were on us as a wave on a beach. Pulling my K-bar I jumped onto the top of the small berm and began to meet them head on beside my troops who used their axes and bayonets as the Greeks poured over us.

It seemed like a wave, that’s the only way I can describe it, a wave of humans pouring over our position with such force it pushed us back as we fought. I used my K-Bar but picked up a rifle and began to use it instead as the Greeks continued to push us back quickly. We fought them without pausing as there were just too many and came from all around us. I saw my troops had begun the fight in a thick line but now we were beginning to thin out with casualties lying behind the Greeks. I thrust my bayonet into several Greeks then saw more take their place over the dead bodies of their comrades.

“HOLD THE LINE!” I yelled as loud as I could. We could not let them through because it would be a straight shot to Amsterdam and then right into our homeland.

“HOLD THE LINE! HOLD THE LINE!”

I parried another Greek bayonet then hit him with the butt of my rifle as another came to me.

“GET SOME, DEVIL DOGS! GET SOME!” I started yelling obscenities to the Greeks as I fought, then began to kick them as well as use my rifle and bayonet.

The noise of the battle hit a high pitch with yelling, cursing, screaming and rifle shots on occasion. I saw my troops using axes and knives when their rifles either broke in half or were dropped. One soldier had a Greek on the ground and was chocking him with his hands, growing at the same time. I also saw fear in the faces of the Greeks as they were pushed forward by their officers in the rear. Then I spotted an officer behind several Greeks that had balked a few yards away from us. Holding my rifle in a tight grip, I charged the officer, running through the Greek soldiers that stood between me and the officer. As I pushed through the enemy, I saw the face of the tall officer frozen in fear as I ran to him, bayonet to my front, thrusting it into his chest and pushing him to the ground. I stood over him looking at the Greeks that stood between me and my troops and stared to growl as my soldiers did when they saw the enemy.

There were about eight of them just standing there looking at me with open mouths as I stood over their officer, my bayonet still in his chest. Three of them dropped their rifles and ran past me, to their rear. The others ran to the side, not wanting to get close to me, all of them racing for their own rear lines.

“Sigrun!” A messenger yelled. “Message from Gunny’s position. They are getting over run!”

“By the GODS! Not while we’re this close!” He turned, grabbing a rifle and ammunition pouches and put them on as he ran towards Yngvildr.

“The center is falling! We have to attack NOW!” He yelled as he passed her at a dead run towards his left flank.

“Follow Sigrun!” Yngvildr yelled to her Hardcore as she began to run behind him. She could see the Greek line of infantry not more than five hundred yards away and it looked as if a giant wave of yellow was rolling over the front line below the hillside they were on, their flags waving among the hundreds of mustard yellow soldiers. It looked like a bright yellow backing with the Cross of Lorain trimmed in black and stood out brightly.

One of the officers started rolling the captured artillery from the coast line to the top of the hill, overlooking the battle below. He still had stacks of ammunition but he needed troops to help him with it so he began to grab soldiers as they ran past him, barking commands to them to carry the ammunition to the top of the hill. In a short period of time, he managed to begin a bombardment into he Greek lines behind our own troops.

Yngvildr was nearly out of breath as they neared the flank of the Greek attack. From where she was, it looked like ants on a hill after you stir them up and they were still moving forward with their momentum. Scanning the center she could not find where Gunny would have his position because it was a mass of our green and the yellow mixed together in a death struggle.

“HURRY!” She yelled again and Aage ran past her, his rifle on his back with his ax in his hand.

Yelling, barking and hooting began as their line neared the Greek flank and she saw the first of her Hardcore jump high onto the Greek soldiers, flailing their axes as they did so. The Greeks turned, seeing the Vikings running down the hill and balked in place. Their line stuttered at the sight and began to back up slowly. Yngvildr glanced back to see how many were behind her to follow up the attack when she spotted three of their flags waving among her troops coming down the hill. Its light blue with the longboat and stars was stiff in the breeze as they ran forward. On the side of this hill, she could see beyond the center to the left flank of their lines and the Greeks were attacking all along the front with over whelming numbers.

“TO VALHALLA!” She yelled what she thought would be her last words and they were echoed loudly among the Hardcore as they continued to run into the enemy lines.

Fiete had taken command of the Saxon forces along with the help of Sigrun but now it was in his hands as only he and his men were between the Greeks and the coast. He saw the Hardcore running down the hill to his left but they were heading to the Greek flank so it was up to him to hold the line here or the Greeks would be in Antwerp in a matter of minutes. Grabbing his Sharps, he led his men towards the Greeks, firing as they walked forward. In seconds the Greeks were on them and he was fighting them with his knife and ax, not knowing if they were winning or losing. It became mass confusion with a noise as if a giant cat was loosed and growled, hissed and spit.

“HOLD YOUR LINE!” He yelled as he backed away for a few seconds, trying to assess the situation.

The Greeks attacked, breaching his left flank where he was joined to Gunny’s center but they managed to close the hole with his reserves. His men were fighting with knives, axes and bayonets, pushing the Greeks back slowly leaving dead and wounded strewn about the ground as if leaves from trees in the fall.

“PUSH! PUSH THEM BACK!” He yelled then returned to the fight.

The Greeks tried to push a hole in his lines but he saw it as his line began to bulge in the center. He grabbed a few Saxons, throwing them into the bulge.

“GET THAT HOLE PLUGGED!” He yelled as he hit a Greek that broke through by himself.

Turning, he tried to see where Sigruns lines were but there were too many Greeks and they were keeping him busy just holding the line. I tripped over several dead Greek soldiers then noticed his right flank was starting to bend back towards the city. They were turning his flank!

“PUSH RIGHT! PUSH RIGHT!” He yelled as his men started to attack more to the right, keeping his lines straight and not letting the Greeks turn him around.

Looking back towards the city and the hill behind him, he could see the Norse running downhill into the fight to his left. They seemed hell bent on not letting the Greeks through so he renewed his attempt at pushing the Greeks back.

“HOLD THE LINE! HOLD IT!” He yelled, then jumped forward into the lines to attack with his men.

I was so tired, the Greeks managed to push us back to our cook wagons which were several hundred yards to our rear. We held the line in good order, however and never let them break through but our reserves were already in the battle as well so we had nothing left to plug holes with if they broke through. The Greek soldiers had been trained well, I thought and fought nearly as well as my troops but it was still not good enough. Slowly we started to gain the upper hand in numbers as they were dying three or four to every one of ours. The ground was littered with dead and wounded as we began to push forward stepping on and over bodied.

“GIVE IT TO’EM SOLDIERS! GET SOME!” I yelled as we still fired, used axes, bayonets and rifle to push them out of our lines and back to the starting point of the battle.

Glancing to my right I saw our forces running down the hill from town in what looked like ants coming out of an ant hill. I even saw three of our flags waving in the morning breeze and it was a sight to behold. It was the first time I had seen the flag other than on paper. I pointed to it and yelled.

“LOOK! Our flag is coming down the hill! GET SOME, lads. GET SOME!”

A cheer rang up from my troops of barking, yelping and just yelling as a renewed strength pushed the Greeks past our original line into the open ground beyond. Our right flank was doing the same as they too, hit the Greeks hard and started to actually roll up their flank, causing them to flee in confusion. We had just won a great battle and the victory cost us many of our troops. I stood there with sagging arms that felt numb, out of breath and so tired I could hardly take another step. We had won!

Yngvildr caught up with Sigrun with her Hardcore just as they hit the Greek lines and began to push them back. The fighting was nothing like she had ever seen or done before and was completely foreign to her and her Hardcore but it was exactly as Gunny had said it would be. She knew they had to push the Greeks until they were completely on the run or they could regroup and counter attack so she kept fighting them as they tried to flee.

Someone grabbed her arm from behind her, turning, she held her ax high to strike but balked. It was one of Gunny’s original people that wore an officer uniform pointing to his right.

“We need to push right. The Greeks are trying to go around us!” He turned, pointing to their right flank as Greek soldiers began to run past them to their rear.

“AAGE!” She yelled and pointed to her right.

Aage yelled then grabbed a few Hardcore and they started after the Greeks.

“HOLD THE LINE!” The officer yelled as he fired his pistol into the Greeks to his front, then stood there as calm as if it were a day off and reloaded his pistol calmly.

Yngvildr smiled slightly at the sight, wondering where the Gunny found such men for his unit. She turned and began to attack again, pushing her way through her own troops so she could make contact with the enemy and her ax.

I could hear music as the Greeks began to fall back. Looking behind me I could see what was left of our new band striking up a tune among the noise of battle. They stood in perfect order as bullets still flew around them, striking one in his leg and he fell, but the music continued to play, our flag flying high in the morning wind. I raised both my arms and yelled like a child at a circus to them as my troops began to chase after the Greeks. The tune they played was Battle Cry of the Freedom and it was a perfect tune for today.

I turned to join my soldiers in the counter attack when something hit me in the back with a plopping noise, forcing me forward a few steps. I glanced behind me to see what it was then felt the pain in my chest and saw the blood on the front of my uniform.

“Not now!” I said with a low voice. “Not yet! I have to ..........” I fell to my knees because I didn’t have the strength to stand any more and the morning light was fading.