Please note that I'm not killing the other one. Not at all.

This is not based on a real game, well, partially it is, but not fully so.

Dedicated to the unsung heroes of history.

Prologue.

“Never forgive; never forget.”
- Motto of the Raven Division.

Smoke was rising after the thunderous volley was let out by the Babylonian troops. Artillery, though in a disadvantageous position, was occasionally hitting the advancing Egyptian forces, and when it did, it was a very gruesome death for the unlucky southerner troopers.

In the trenches, the stench was enormous – the corpses were too many to remove in the heat of battle, smoke was rising here as well and the soldiers were sweating heavily under the merciless sun of this day. From behind the small hill just in front of the Three Lines of Defense, the Egyptians were coming and coming.

Oradza was extremely nervous today, though he was occupied by having to command the defense. The bullets were not infinite; the Egyptians seemed close to that. Many, many sons of Egypt died this day…

…and yet they came. In their khaki uniforms, often bloodied by blood of their fellow Egyptians that died in the initial charges, with the long – they seemed almost spear-like! – bayonets, the bald desert-white Egyptians came, fought and died. There were more then enough to take their place.

‘Where the hell is Uruta?!’ – Oradza thought when, though for only a small while, the Egyptians that were up-close to the first line were pushed back.

The Babylonian troops were getting tired. Their bayonets red with blood just as their uniforms, decaying corpses of their comrades around them and the dirty yellow stream of death not ending. The once-green grass was trampled and bloodied as well. This was yet another bit of land for which they fought against the invaders; a piece of land devastated and worthless, but still their land. Five divisions of Babylonians against an unknown, but doubtlessly huge number of Egyptians. The best of Babylon – and of the world! – they might have been, but not even Hammurabbi could defeat so many fanatical attackers.

More and more Egyptians, while their comrades gave cover fire, and while their artillery was trying to break through the trenches, attacked. It was hard to reload or indeed fire accurately in the chaos of this battle, so they fired once, praying to their Pharaohess for luck, and then attacked with bayonets, tearing Babylonian uniforms and flesh alike apart. The Babylonians replied similarly. But more Egyptian cannons were apparently set up, and the First Line was badly battered. Oradza blew the horn, sounding for a fighting retreat to the second line. And in his mind, cursed Uruta.

Firing back when possible (with the special pistols rather then rifles that were hard to use while running), the Babylonians begun to retreat. Those who were heavily wounded, but still able of fighting, were left to hold back the Egyptians – after all, that way they could be useful before dying.

Egyptians were yelling war cries and celebrating the first victory. They overcame the First Line! And towards the Second Line they went, before the retreating Babylonians could turn around again. Those of them who were previously left there to prepare positions and give cover fire were barely enough.

Oradza felt a burning pain in his back. ’Is this the end?’

For him it was. But already, a cavalry horn was sounded and the both Egyptian flanks were attacked by the cavalry forces of Priest-General Uruta. Griffon and Jackal divisions slammed into the disorganized, charging mob. Egyptians tried to resist, to fend back the cavalry, but they simply could not do that, now that the skilled cavalry split up and isolated Egyptians into small pockets, while the Babylonian infantry charged forth, reversing the tables.

---

I awoke from the dream, in which I remembered yet again about events that happened precisely 130 years ago. Events that I never witnessed, but knew about so much that I could make out the details quite clearly.

I'm intrigued. Please continue. :goodjob:

Chapter One: Under Siege.

“Babylon has no allies – there are only enemies and neutrals.”
- Sayings of Hammurabbi.

I awoke from the dream, in which I remembered yet again about events that happened precisely 130 years ago. Events that I never witnessed, but knew about so much that I could make out the details quite clearly.

I yawned, and stood up.

After half an hour of getting myself in shape and ready to appear, I walked into the command center. It was filled with the new computing technology, though the good old military maps were also present. I was glad they were, because I was quite used to them in all those years... and decades... and centuries... and millennias.

I shook off those thoughts, ofcourse. For an Immortal, it is often dangerous to look too deep into one’s own memories as it can lead to bad comas – those memories tended to be so numerous that it was hard for the consciousness and subconciousness alike to overcome them.

There was, as usual, no time for comas today.

Ezerti stood up to greet me, as did the technicians and the programmers at work. In their eyes, I saw holy dread and veneration. In Ezerti’s eyes, much to my reassurance, I saw only tiredness. He was a friend; not a slave.

Immortals rarely have friends. Only lackeys and traitors who try to take the place of those friends.

“Continue the work.” – I spoke briefly and turned to face Ezerti. The old advisor looked back at me and reported.

“Hammurabbi, the final wave of Egyptian landings has been repulsed in the north. Meanwhile, the Sumerians...” – and as he reported all those events and details, I noticed a weakness in his voice that wasn’t there before. It was not hard to guess what happened.

“Our casualties,” – he continued – “Are about seventy thousand thus far, all-in-all. Fairly low.”

“Yes, indeed.” – I said. I knew by now that his only son died. It was, for an Immortal, rather easy to find out a lot from a mere move of an eyebrow. – “Their casualties?”

“Very heavy indeed, but we cannot be certain.”

“Good enough.” – I looked at the large map of Babylonia – “Is the map up-to-date?”

“Indeed it is. As far as I know, anyhow.”

“Good enough for me.” – I walked to study the map, which was pinned to the wall. It was my favorite one, due to size and detail. The situation was indeed quite good, for a change. The northern coast was, despite the near-break of our lines, still in our hands. The small raven-shaped pin in the west, on the ‘Nazer Isthmus, identified the fact that the Sumerian forces were safely pushed out of our land. And even in the southeast, where the situation was quite desperate as of late, the German panzerkorps were forced to retreat all the way towards Ninneveh, stopping only slightly north of it. One more push, and the enemy will run. Only the naval situation was still bad, if not worse then before. Carthaginian-Egyptian-German fleet was still bombarding Akkad, and the Lobster Subnaval Squadron was, sadly, decimated. But still, Babylonia was self-sufficient, and so reestablishment of trade could wait.

Reestablishment? Not that it ever was serious established...

I stopped myself again. Lately, it was becoming harder and harder to remain in the present.

Ezerti approached me by then.

”Hammurabbi, so where do you propose we should strike?”

Instead of replying, I took the tiger-shaped pin from Babylon, and pinned it on the outskirts of Ninneveh.

“Daring.” – commented Ezerti.

“Daring plans are the ones that tend to work.” – I spoke – “Tell Edath that his forces should arrive there as fast as they could.”

Ezerti nodded.

“The details are up to you.” – I said. That was, after all, the way it always was – “I think, however, we should test out some things.”

“Why not?” – asked Ezerti rhetorically.

---

It was a very cold day. Edath studied his men. They were all in perfect shape, though they still were suffering from the loss of one-fourth of the division in the latest combats. It was decided not to introduce any new soldiers into the unit yet – there was no time to make them fit in in this elite unit.

They had enough time to rest for the last two days. Now it was time to once again go into the field of battle; to once again defend Babylonia against its enemies. To free Ninneveh.

That was, more-or-less, what he said, before beginning the real briefing.

”Air: 9, Art: 2, Sea: 0.” – he begun – “We will also be testing some more new... weapons this time. We will strike at them from the air, and then all we need to do is take and hold the positions outside the city. Clear?”

It was clear.

They boarded the D9 APVs, sometimes called “wheeled coffins”. Windowless, they deserved their name indeed. Yet it was, for a change, a good thing that they were windowless. Edath did not want to have to look at the devastated landscape in Babylon itself. The bombing raids have been stopped not too long ago, but far from all the consequences of those raids were removed. And the bombers were not the only thing. There were also cruise missiles, that still time-to-time slammed into the besieged, impoverished, starving – but never surrendering! - Babylon.

Around the noisy convoy of thirty APVs, there were gray cemented streets, and collapsing old brick houses, and craters where the missiles hit. It was a very sad sight, even though very few – apart from Hammurabbi Himself, ofcourse – remembered the days of The Truce. The last, ten-year truce ofcourse, not the grand thirty-three-years truce of so many centuries before and which was most often called The Truce, with capital “T” and with the “the”.

They arrived at the air base. It was one of few things in Babylon that wasn’t in ruins or collapsing, or at least desperately undermaintained. In part – so the rumors said - this was because the current domestic advisor, Senachrib, served previously in the air force.

Edath left the APV as soon as it stopped and opened the door on the right side. The rest of the Tiger Division waited.

He was immediately greeted by Charech and his pilots, and ofcourse the newest pride of the air fleet – the helicopters. His troops had the honor of testing the prototypes. But this final version was larger, and also was apparently equipped with various weapons – machine guns and rapid grenade launchers. Edath looked at it with respect. Here was a machine of war.

---

“Well, Ezerti?” – I asked.

The old advisor walked towards me and the map again and took out the “temporary marker” – with which to mark something on a map, knowing that it will disappear by itself, eventually. He drew an arrow, from Babylon to the intended positions near Ninneveh.

“They are almost there,” – he commented – “and Hawk Airsquad has been prepared.”

“Good.”

---

The controls, already usual to Tigur by now, seemed quite easy to master – much unlike what they seemed two weeks ago. These were an improved and more convenient version of the old ones, but the difference was largely aesthetic, as Tigur learned.

It was the opposite with the planes. They seemed, at first, usual. Ofcourse, one can barely say it when they were in flight. These planes did not use the common dashal engines. No. They used the new “jet” engines, which allowed them to develop very good speed.

Tigur turned on the radio.

“Hawk One to Hawkfleet. Hawk One to Hawkfleet.”

“The time is now.”

On the radar and the horizon, the massive and lumbering German bombers, with fighter support, were appearing. They were flying to bring death to Babylon.

“No longer.” – whispered Tigur to himself. And made it so. His plane, previously moving slowly to confuse the Germans, suddenly shot straight forward, as did the others. Before the Germans could regroup, he used another technologic innovation: the air-to-air missiles, (sometimes called the plane-to-air missiles by frustrated test pilots when they missed) though still rather primitive and not fully developed, slammed into the German bomber’s side.

The dogfight that ensued did not last long. Germans were shocked, taken by surprise. The many villages they bombed were now being avenged.

Tigur smirked grimly, and attacked the nearby fighter.

---

The wind was blowing harshly as the forty tested, refined and enormous helicopters were making their way south. Like a swarm of locusts, they appeared in the sky and yet were closer to the ground then planes. Their propellers were rotating loudly, warning anybody who can hear them of their arrival.

Nobody could hear them, and even if they did, it would not have helped them.

Charech was guiding his helicopter craftily. Edath and his own landsquad were anxious, but patient – they were taught patience during all those long campaigns.

There were no windows, but Edath knew that his information about support was correct. Air-9. The Hawk Airsquad has probably by now swept the sky in the region of all flying threats – Hammurabbi himself seemed confident here, and Edath was sure that some more new technology was involved.

Air-9... Art-2. Artillery was still being set up, he knew, but it will add to the shock that was necessary. That was because, like he already told his troops, they were not simply landing in the countryside of Ninneveh. They had a greater goal.

They needed to take Reichsturmzwei. One of the biggest German fortifications in Babylonia, and perhaps in the world. “Sadly”, the Germans by now were quite sure of their air superiority, and their anti-air defenses were lax. Too lax to survive an organized RGL storm, combined with artillery bombardment from two enormous artillery batteries.

As for Sea-0, that too was sadly true. The Ninth Coalition fleet was firm in its control of the sea. It will have to wait.

The siren-like sound filled all the helicopters. And so it begun.

I have the next chapter ready. Want it?

Yes, this is interesting to say the least.

Chapter Two: Under Siege, Part Two.

“For way too long, that island defied the free peoples of the world. For way too long did the existence of Babylon stain the map of the modern world. One cannot ask a German, a Carthaginian, an Egyptian, a Sumerian or a Celt to tolerate Hammurabbi’s barbaric totalitarian regime any longer.”
- Bismarck’s 1932 Proclamation.

The siren-like sound filled all the helicopters. And so it begun.

---

Hans Heimberg was standing there, near the door, guarding it, when suddenly, the quietness was broken. Odd noise was coming from the roof... or perhaps from the sky?

Suddenly, loud explosions started. Hans ducked for cover, while the Babylonian artillery - both land-based and air-based - bombarded the fortress.

---

The Reichsturmzwei was surrounded by a cement wall. On it, there were machine gun nests and startled patrolmen. The hatch in one of the helicopters opened, and Edath quick jumped out of it and land on the wall, yelling something and unsheathing a sharp knife.

The Germans were taken aback. The knife cut through the first patrolmen; Edath tossed it at the second one and, trying not to look down, took out his machine gun. He quickly killed two more Germans. To their credit, both managed to fire, though both missed. Also to their credit, a grenade almost hit Edath. Almost.

From the hatch in the massive helicopter, under the cover of machine gun fire, the Babylonian storm troopers of the Tiger Division landed on the wall. The fortress was to be taken by storm. Already within the military complex, the barracks and the storage houses were receiving the “RGL treatment”. The RGLs had very limited ammo, but enough to let out three or so volleys of “grenades”. It was capable of causing much damage.

Back on the wall, the Germans begun firing back, everywhere. The military training and the iron discipline prevented a disaster. But the Germans had no chances of winning by now. Firing as he did so, Edath charged at three Germans who were trying to set up their large, yet very powerful machine gun. They died, though one of them managed to throw another grenade. Edath ran too fast, though... but sadly, the grenade hit one of the Babylonian troops that was following him. An elite unit they were, but this sort of fighting was highly confusing.

Edath quickly ran towards the machine gun and turned it, with a powerful push, into the fortress itself. Another Tiger assisted him, and together they gunned down some of the Germans that were trying to understand what was happening and stood too close to the wall.

---

Hans Heimberg ran out of the burning HQ, and looked around in panic. Yet some military instinct prevented him from running away. He raised his machine gun-pistol and started looking for an enemy.

Soon, he saw... something. It was huge. It was... monumental. It was hovering in the air... and from it, a machine gun was hunting down somebody. Probably all the other German soldiers here.

Hans was desperate. He let out several rounds where the engine should have been, if it was there at all, and then ran towards one of the anti-air batteries.

‘Those Babylonian fools!’ - he thought - ‘They forgot this battery.’

He was but one man. Yet he knew what to do. He carefully raised the barrel of the battery, and waited for one of those flying things to approach it close enough.

And then, he started to fire. The armor resisted well at first. At first only. But soon, it gave in.

In one big explosion, this nightmarish craft blew up. Above his head, there was a huge fireball. Hans closed his eyes, and ran for cover again.

Those things, he realized, were not invincible.

---

The helicopters never did have a lot of ammo on this raid - a lot of space had to be occupied by the Tigers. Charech realized that his helicopter was, in fact, a flying fortress - fast, maneuverable warfare was useless.

So he and his helisquad started to search for German infantry. With RGLs, remaining storage houses were blown up. With machine guns, Germans were gunned down.

In the distance, the artillery battered away at Reichsturmein, the sister fortress to this one. That was to keep the Germans distracted, and to decimate their defenses fatally.

Suddenly, Charech noticed on the display a man. He was riding in the shadows between the two now-ruined barracks. The helicopter chased after him.

---

Hans Heimberg noticed the yet another Babylonian craft following him.

‘Darn, I have been sighted!’ - he thought. And ducked across yet another corner.

The helicopter followed. Finally, its machine gun opened fire. Hans leaned on the wall, but was hit. Cringing in pain, he collapsed.

Thus died Hans Heimberg. The unknown German soldier who was the first man in the world to destroy a helicopter.

---

Edath looked at the fortress essentially under his feet.

“So this is it.” - he spoke - “Reichsturmzwei. A good fort.”

Around him, the sounds of battle continued. The helicopter casualties were surprisingly high - about three of those were destroyed. The German anti-air batteries were cunningly camouflaged, and the failure to notice them cost Charech’s pilots much.

Edath begun climbing down the lattern from the wall, in one hand holding his machine gun and firing occasionally at the Germans.

The battle was about over.

Quickly climbing down, Edath suddenly heard gunfire. Very close.

’Darn the Germans! Can’t they just give up?’

The powerful wall was fired at. One of the soldiers, directly above Edath, caught a bullet but was still grasping for his life. Edath looked down. There was no time for indecision. He had a pretty decent chance...

He removed his grip from the metal lattern, and fell. He landed intact just barely.

---

The German panzers have formed a column. Organizedly, they moved out towards Reichsturmzwei. They were accompanied by flak half-tracks, and led by an energetic young leader.

All that was not enough. As they moved across the asphalted and almost clean road, two shells exploded nearby. They were under artillery fire. And before they could recover, one of those huge Babylonian things their commander was told about neared them. And another one. And three more. Their RGLs still had some grenades left.

The explosions were bright and loud.

---

Edath threw the grenade into the window of the bunker, and approached it cautiously after the sniper's fire ended. Three more Babylonians followed him.

Much of the fortress was taken, but some Germans were still resisting. The helicopters retreated for the repairs - darn the German bastards and their flaks! - and refuelling, so it was hard, with door-to-door fighting.

Some German ran out of it with a white flag. He was shouting something in his barbaric, guttoral language. Edath noticed the iron cross on the German's feldgreu uniform and the three lightnings on his black armband. Edath stopped, stunned. He knew what those lightnings meant.

The Babylonian forces never took prisoners during this war, though officially they did. Edath wanted to give the German a quick death before he noticed the armbands and the cross.

"Die, German scum." - he said in Babylonian. He approached the German, who stopped shouting. He kicked him in the groin quickly, and when the stunned German collapsed, he took out the knife...

---

I was walking on the balcony of the palace in my quiet, gray city and was thinking.

More and more soldiers go into hellish battlefields, to give their lives in my name. Already over two billion people died for my cause or against it. The problem was, I was not sure it was necessary.

But Bismarck really meant it in 1932. The war had to happen. If not this time, then in the future, yet another Coalition will probably wipe me out.

And now it was too late to stop it. The last chance, I realized, was long ago.

Once Babylon was majestic and beautiful. It was now partially in ruins. Because of me.

I dismissed the guilt and prevented myself from “sinking” again into the past.

I went to the war room again. There was much excitement there. Even Ezerti looked, at least to a certain extent, cheerful.

There was a victory. I needed no words. Reichsturmzwei has fallen.

It was time for yet another pointless diplomatic note to Berlin.

Keep writing, das!

Chapter Three: Under Siege, Part Three.

“And so, yet another coalition has been assembled against Babylonia. Again the peace treaties are broken and Babylon put under siege. A lot of Babylonian children will starve to death. Their deaths will be on your hands.”
- Hammurabbi's reply to Bismarck. 1932.

And so another pointless diplomatic note reached Berlin, was reviewed, and thrown out without reply. There could be no reply to such insults.

In the modest office, in between two Black Eagle flags of the Freireich, there was a good yet simple oak desk, and behind it sat a bald man in a military uniform, and behind his back there was a map of Germany, and the room was mostly empty.

Somebody knocked on the door.

The bald man said "Yes."

The seemingly older, very thin, gray-haired man entered the room.

"Yes?" - asked Bismarck - "What is it, Herr Kenersdorf?" - he asked with what seemed to be very bitter irony, or perhaps sarcasm - "Were there any problems in Babylonia?" - his tone implied that he knew there were.

’Damnation! So he knows...’ - thought Kenersdorf. But he kept his dignity.

"Herr Reichkanzler, there... were some problems."

"Were?" - Bismarck asked - "Are you sure they are gone now?"

Kenersdorf paled. Does this man... this Immortal know everything?! The old general stopped himself and looked Bismarck in the eyes.

"No," - he said - "I am not sure."

"So you are saying you came here before getting any fully confirmed information on the current status of the front?"

Kenersdorf decided not to answer to that provacation. The Iron Chancellor has caught him on his words again, with undaunting ease.

"So, Herr Kenersdorf, can you at least tell me what is the most probable current status of Reichsturmzwei?"

"It was attacked by an overwhelming Babylonian force and captured."

"It was not supposed to be captured," - commented Bismarck - "even by an overwhelming force. Fortresses are created to give defenders such an advantage that they could hold back an overwhelming enemy force. So, why did it fell, Herr Kenersdorf? Are the German engineers too lousy to come up with a good enough fortress to defeat an "overwhelming Babylonian force" consisting of a weakened division?"

"Herr Bismarck, it would seem you already read the reports."

Bismarck ignored that and waited. Kenersdorf sighed.

"They used those new... helicopters our spies warned you about."

"Oh? So its Bismarck's fault for not warning you a week ago that the Babylonian scientists are NOT as dumb as our propaganda says? Is it Bismarck's fault for not reminding you a week ago to bolster the air defenses?"

"Is it Kenersdorf's fault for not telling the late Herr Germann repeatedly to build up the air defenses in the 'Turms?"

"Oh? So it is now Herr Germann's fault... Blaming the dead, Herr Kenersdorf, is not a very moral thing to do."

Kenersdorf looked ready to explode in fury, so Bismarck calmed him down with a move of a hand.

"Very well, so we lost the fort. At least from the reports we can establish that those helicopters, as they call them, are far from invincible. We can react to them properly, I believe. Another problem altogether are those fast planes of which I, sadly, was not informed. We won't be able to compete effectively with them until we get similar planes. But back to the helicopters... Herr Kenersdorf, how are those anti-air missiles of ours along coming?"

"Quite well. We should have them in a week or two."

"Not fast enough, but better then nothing. We should train a special battalion-size unit to be dispersed amongst our divisions and used against the helicopters with great efficiency. Okay. Now, Herr Kenersdorf, I need to know about the strategic side of the matter..."

"Herr Bismarck, you know my opinion."

"It hasn't changed?"

"I became only more sure in my previous decision. Babylon should be starved out, bombed out." - Bismarck did not interrupt his minister of the military - "We cannot waste German lives on this!"

"Karl, Karl..." - Bismarck spoke at last, shaking his head - "You forgot about diplomacy."

"To hell with diplomacy! Our allies, who can't even defeat a single battalion with eleven divisions, are not worth German lifes."

"Oh, very well. So you think we can blockade Babylon and bombard it back into stone age. What about the new planes, Herr Kenersdorf? How are we going to bomb them out? And just starving them out would not work. It never did."

"We will develop new ones."

"And by then, they will have even better ones." - smirked Bismarck - "But that is not the point. If our objective is to maintain a military presence on Babylonian soil, what do you suggest we should do?"

Kenersdorf thought for a while and said - "We simply need to strike now, and fast. Their helicopters seem to have retreated. If our kommandokorps destroys their artillery - which they should be able to do - we can besiege the Babylonians in our fortress. It is badly damaged, so we should be able to assault it head on after a thorough bombardment from our own artillery." - Kenersdorf thought some more and added - "If casualties are not our primary concern..."

Bismarck considered this.

"Our artillery," - he said - "is much weaker then theirs."

"But we have more of it." - replied Kenersdorf.

Bismarck finally smilled.

"Good enough, Karl. Take care of the details, will you?"

---

Obchadzr was very tired by now. The enormous, bulky artillery piece was finally resting as well after several hours of severe bombardment against far-off targets.

He leaned against one of the barrels, and took out the flask with wine. He deserved it, even if artillerists were not allowed to use alcohol in any amounts unless on a "break". But a little wine won't hurt him, and besides, what were the chances of any more trouble happening?

As he sat down near the gray weapon of war and hid the flask, something very cold touched his throat and before he could yell, he collapsed.

---

The scarred kommando carefully slit the second Babylonian's throat, and signalled for the other two to place the explosives. The patrolmen were already taken out, and the rest of the guarding soldiers were resting. Quietly, they placed the boxes with active nitroglycelin on the artillery chassis, near their barels. It should be enough. They hid behind the bushes, hearing two more Babylonians approaching. One of them noticed an artillerist's corpse. Surprised, he went to study it.

Otto Skorzeny took out the miniature missile launcher, and fired at the closest nitroglycilin boxes. The German kommandos were running away as fast as they could, and behind them a vast fire replaced the rather fragile, though supposedly well-armored, piece of artillery that killed so many Germans, and the guards who never knew what hit them.

Meanwhile, another group was "removing" the other artillery piece ten miles from here.

---

I sat in the chair, reading the English newspapers. The English were, unlike us Babylonians and our enemies, very neutral and unbiased. They noted the humiliating short commings of the Sumerians, the nearly-succesful wave of Egyptian landings in the north, the German blitzkrieg in the southeast and the German air superiority... the latest news were yet to added in. Oh well. But it did not have any racist, nationalist or democratist bias attached. Much unlike the "World Observer", the UN newspaper.

England... If I ever do lose and get a chance to flee from this island, and if I actually do flee rather then fight a guerrila war like Mao Tse Tung did before very recently, then I would go there. They were a fellow island nation, Elizabeth was a very good friend of mine and it was the only other nation still intact which did not enter the United Nations. Also known as the Ninth Coalition, and the Eight one as well.

Not that I would, indeed, flee or be allowed to by the Ninth Coalition fleet.

Suddenly, a young aide ran up to me. He looked very concerned.

"What is it?" - I asked.

"The artillery pieces were sabotaged!" - he said, with excitement and panic. I thought I remembered him from somewhere, very nervous young man indeed.

"What artillery pieces?"

"O, Hammurrabbi, I mean the ones near Rayktumtwai."

Yes, that was the one. Very bad German spelling.

"How damaged are they?"

"Beyond repair, o Great Hammurrabbi..."

---

Reichsturmzwei, from outside, was still majestic and powerful. The only serious changes, apart from three barely-noticeable cracks in the wall and the missing portion of the wall in one place, were the flags - the two-headed black eagles on tricolor (black-white-red) backgrounds were replaced by the dark blue and golden stripes, and the red words in cursive: "Free Babylon Forever".

Inside, it was a pathetic sight. The massive barracks were ruined, there were many bombardment craters and German (and Babylonian, but mostly German) corpses, smoke was rising and there barely was, indeed, a building intact. Or even an ashtray.

Walking amidst the devastation, Edath wondered if the fortress will ever be rebuilt. It could be very useful - only a surprise attack such as this one could seize it with low casualties. If the Germans are not pushed out, or if they land again, this fortress could become their Shanghai. Or maybe even their Birmingham...

He walked back to an almost-intact barrack, where parts of his division were resting before receiving new orders. He hoped to find some food.

Suddenly, that ceased to be the priority for him. German shells started landing on the fortress. Oh, sure, there was some occasional enemy bombardment since they seized it, but this time... there was MASSIVE bombardment, explosions were everywhere. Ezerti ducked to the cold asphalt, and crawled towards some of the remaining sandbags.

He hid there. The shelling stopped just as suddenly as it has started. Cautious that it might start again, he decided to go to the central "square" of this enormous fortress, where there were less chances of being hit then in the narrow "streets" separating the barracks and the storehouses.

---

The APVs were moving very quickly towards the still-majestic (on the outside) fortress, in which the shells begun to rain again on the Babylonian heads.

Schmidt Alfshtein was extremelly glad that he had the chance to avenge his fallen comrades-in-arms. He was the only survivor of the panzer unit sent to retake Reichsturmzwei in the initial panic during the attack who was still able to fight and move. He still wanted to know how exactly a small panzer unit was supposed to retake the fortress, but that was not the matter.

In his hands, he held a small, compact and destructive mortar - as did the other soldiers in the APV. It was a matter of speed, a matter of quickly breaking in before the Babylonians are ready to counter the sons of Freireich.

---

"What is happening?!" - yelled out the young, yet wounded (probably lightly) Babylonian soldier who was leaning against a barrack wall and holding both hands to his chest. His eyes were full of fear. That was odd, because that by now all the Tiger Division saw enough insanity and cruelty in this eternal war against the world, and new recruits were yet to be integrated into the unit, for obvious reasons.

The question was apparently rhetoric, but Edath decided to explain it was the Germans either way. The soldier quited down and closed his eyes. His hands collapsed. The wound, Ezerti realized, was not light. The poor soldier was hit in the heart with pieces of shrapnel, but was not hit well enough to die. Edath cursed under his breath, stepped back and took an aim. The soldier's eyes opened, and he nodded intensively. Edath fired.

Meanwhile, the third wave of bombardment started.

---

'It is a shame that this wonder of engineering has to be destroyed.' - thought Schmidt. The heavy artillery was causing havoc IN the fortress. The light, or mortar, artillery now needed to break a hole in the fortified wall. Some of the Babylonians already reacted; there was occasional rifle or even machine gun fire (the latter was dealt with using a sniper).

The mortar bombs, fired by fifty mortarmen, bombarded the wall's section, punching large holes through it. The heavy artillery fire helped, too.

Finally, the hole was big enough for the wall in the area to collapse.

"Forward! Into the breach!" - yelled Ernst Inergeim, the unit's commander, and charged, followed by Schmidt who strapped the mortar to his back and the rest of the unit. Over the debris they charged, facing and returning fire. Into the fortress they charged, supressing what little resistance the Babylonians managed to gather.

Unbeknowest to them, they charged into one of the harshest battles in the Ninth Coalition War.

Keep on writing.

Am still writing. For your enjoyment, meanwhile, the flags.

Freireich:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/EaS_Freireich_flag.GIF

Babylonia:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/EaS_Babylonflag.GIF

The Babylonian flag has English written all over it? :p

Uh... You see, the Babylonians translated the writing so that the Germans will get its meaning as well.

Just found this... great story! I need more!

OOC: Writer's block is slowing me down, but occasionally I do manage to write something readable. Here.

IC:

Chapter Four: Under Siege, Part Four.

“With blood to our ankles and rising,
We fight for Babylon's survival.
This war was not of our devising
But that of our most hated rival.”
- Popular Babylonian soldier song. 1937.

Unbeknowest to them, the Germans charged into one of the harshest battles in the Ninth Coalition War.

At least, Edath hoped his plan would work well enough.

The Germans, in their gray uniforms, charged over teh debris, some of them opened submachinegun fire to, apparently, prevent any resistance. Amateurs.

The first German, a tall fat (for the military, anyway) man, entered the fortress and opened fire on a suspicious-looking piece of the debris already within the fortress itself. It was suspicious because there was obviously someone firing from it.

The German kept on charging, apparently hoping to distract the Tigers and allow the rest of his forces to secure a perimeter. A quick bullet from a sniper rifle solved that. As more and more Germans charged through the smoke and the dust, a grenade flew at them.

'There is a lesson for the Hanses in all this.' - thought Edath - 'Just because nobody is firing doesn't mean he isn't there.'

By now, though, he had to retreat. Very carefully. The Germans were much more cautious now. He crawled back to the largely-ruined barracks, where three more soldiers were supposed to be waiting.

He knew the German tactics very well from personal experience, at Nineveh. They would split up into several squads and try to secure the ruined fortress. But in the ruins, if the plan worked, there would be snipers and grenade-throwers, and there will be booby traps in the "streets" and even some land mines that miracilously survived, and generally, the assault of the fortress will cost the Germans much.

---

I downed another glass of trophey whisky, which was a gift to me from Shecherad, the commander of the Raven Division, who found it in the Celtic HQ at Akkad.

"So, Ezerti." - I asked, finally somewhat more capable to receive the news - "How bad is it?"

"Very bad indeed, I am afraid." - stated my advisor. We were sitting in my office and discussing the events in Reichsturmzwei, where one of our best divisions was quickly being turned into one of our best regiments. If not less.

"Read me the report again."

"In 2:30, the German special forces destroyed our two artillery battaries, the Enki and the Nintur.

In 2:35, the German artillery begun shelling Reichsturmzwei.

In 2:50, the German APVs arrived at Reichsturmzwei, and the mortar fire was used to punch a hole through the fortified wall.

In 3:10, the Germans started a massive assault on Reichsturmzwei, not giving our troops any time to reorganize.

Right now, the German forces are still securing parts of Reichsturmzwei. It seems that the Tiger Division is employing guerrila tactics against them." - said Ezerti tiredly. I understood him perfectly, it was for him a very busy day - much like usual - and he also today lost his only son. He did not say this to me, ofcourse.

"Very well. I believe we should try to relieve the fortress."

"With what?" - asked Ezerti. He was quite demoralized. I understood it and all, but that was a little too far. I needed right now a good advisor. Oh well.

"With the Raven Division, ofcourse."

"But the Raven..."

"It is a risky move, I admit, but the new recruits and a lot of disinformation can keep the Nebuchadnazer peninsula ours."

"Well..."

"No, I would not have that." - I had enough - "I need a definite answer. Is it logistically possible?"

"I guess it is, but..."

"Yes or no?"

"Yes." - said Ezerti, somewhat irritated.

"Good. I know there will be some problems involved, but I think we can handle it. Yes..."

"Yes." - said Ezerti firmly - "Sorry for not being as... definite earlier."

"Apology accepted. Alright, tell Schecherad and... Owerdzu to get an APV group ready for the transit of troops. How fast they arrive?"

"I believe it will take them two hours, if they are lucky."

"Good." - I said. It wasn't - "Let us hope the Tigers hold out until then."

"Let us hope." - he repeated.

---

The ten German soldiers jogged towards the Ninth Barracks. Two sniper shots.

The eight German soldiers approached the Ninth Barracks. Two grenades, one sniper shot.

The five German soldiers entered the Ninth Barracks. Gunfire coming from all directions, or at least it seemed so, and another grenade.

The one German soldier hid near the door, behind a comrade's corpse, and tossed a grenade. Paranoid, nervous fire.

Zero German soldiers of the Eleventh Squad survived to seize the Ninth Barracks, which was "intact" in that it still had portions of a roof left.

---

It was fairly quiet in the camp, placed near the mountain called Hammurabbi's, as so many other mountains in Babylonia were. The soldiers were resting in their tents, playing cards, drinking vodka and remnants of the trophey whisky, telling war stories and cursing, and reminding each other of how good it was at home and how bad it was here.

"Sir." - a radist called Schecherad, the Raven of 'Nazer, to his tent while he was passing by.

"What is it?" - asked the well-moustached Raven.

"We have to get ready for redeployment."

"Oh? Where to?"

"To Ninneveh."

"Or, rather, to Reichsturmzwei." - Schechered concluded, remembering the radio reports. That operation went smooth, too smooth - "What do the cats need us for there?"

"The artillery got sabotaged, and the Germans are overruning the fortress."

That was alittle too much for Schechered to understand. How the hell did THAT happen?

"Let me see that report..." - he said, quietly.

---

"Curse the Babylonians..." - said Schmidt Alfshtein outloud - "Curse the bastards..."

A quick bullet flew by. Another one followed, though it almost hit Schmidt.

He hid behind the corner, the last remaining corner of Second Barracks, and reloaded his submachinegun. The other four German soldiers prepared as well.

"Now." - he said.

A smoke grenade flew in the direction of the Babylonians. Firing at the enemy and not sparing much bullets, he hurried onwards. The others folowed, giving cover fire. Secretly, Schmidt was afraid. Not of the Babylonian bullets, but of friendly fire. There is nothing worse then dying from a bullet in the back that came from the one who was supposed to be on your side. Even if it was unintended. ESPECIALLY if it was unintended.

The Babylonians were rather surprised by the smoke grenade - apparently, they were used to have the "Hanses", as they called Germans, charge at them senselessly.

"Not this Hans, though..." - muttered Schmidt through his teeth as he tossed a real grenade in the general direction of another Babylonian. A one with a machine gun, it seemed.

"Forward!" - he commanded. The sneaky Babylonians were trying to regroup, and already the bullets begun to fly about, and already Schmidt heard a startled yell behind his back, but the Babylonians were dying as well. They were an elite unit, so Schmidt heard, but such "elite units" tended to be overconfident and believed themselves to be immortal. That was an eternal truth, and an omnipresent one.

Suddenly, the fire ceased. For a moment, Schmidt recalled that startled yell, and thought suddenly if this was his death. If it was, it wasn't too bad a death.

But he wasn't dead. The fire has ceased for real. The Babylonians retreated.

"Bloody hell," - he said, turning around to the three - no, now two - soldiers in his squad - "We're alive. Those kittens aren't as tough as they thought."

The same realization hit the other soldiers as well.

---

The sirens filled the once-quiet camp. These were special sirens that called for everybody to immediately gather near the head-quarters; the soldiers received reflex training to answer such sirens. They jumped up, stood up, and ran towards the HQ, outside of which there was a large ground.

An entire division has gathered in front of Schecherad.

“Attention!” - he commanded and shouted quickly - “Reichsturmzwei is under attack by the Hanses. We are to board the APVs and help the tigers IMMEDIATELY by relieving the German siege! Understood?”

He was understood enough for the soldiers to jog organizedly towards the camouflaged “garage”.

---

“This is not going well.” - said general Heimark’s voice, or something similar to it, through the radio.

“I see.” - replied Kenersdorf in the Coordination Room, far away from Heimark’s HQ, on the continent of Ostia, in the nation of German Freireich, in the city of Berlin - “Very well. The kommandos will be put in your disposal. But remember - take that fortress! The Kanzler, the Freireich and the German people demand this of you!”

Heimark’s radist ceased contact. Nervous. Heimark was always nervous.

“Get me Herr Busch.” - said Kenersdorf to his radist.

---

Edath rolled sideward just in time, as the grenade decimated his position. The Germans by now apparently controlled one half of the fortress.

Holding out was not an option, unless some relief comes. When for a brief moment he managed to contact Babylon, it seemed that they were trying to organize some assistance. Sadly, the support subadvisor board has screwed up again - there was not enough fuel for the helicopters, so aid has to come by ground. Edath was not fully sure of it, but he did not think there were any free ground forces left in Babylon’s reserve.

The Germans continued their attack. Edath carefully retreated towards the Eleventh Barrack’s smoldering remains. Either the Germans were getting more skilled so quickly, either these were some sort of elite forces, disguised as ordinary troops; they advanced carefully, one of them killed a Tiger sniper before he could fire.

’Yes, that’s it!’ - realized Edath - ’The kommandos… Apparently the Germans want this fortress back very badly…’

He continued to back away, hoping to share his discovery with other Babylonian troops. Apparently some of them at least were still alive, as there were explosions and gunfire throughout the fort.

---

On a planet called Aerat, there was a war. A gruesome war, like none before on that planet. One island was put under siege of almost all other nations of the world.

Hammurrabbi studied the map, and hoped - for Gods have noone to pray to - that the Tiger Division will hold its ground at Reichsturmzwei.

The Raven APVs advanced across the Eleventh Route in a very loose formation, uncertain of tomorrow and wary of German artillery - for at some point, it will surely notice them.

Ezerti was secretly mourning his son, while awaiting further reports from Reichsturmzwei.

Otto Skorzeny and his squad, backed by two regular ones, were assaulting the Ninth Barrack, where a large concentration of Babylonians was reported.

General Leopold Heimark was drinking beer and hoping that the battle would be over soon. The Babylonian resistance was beginning to seriously get on his nerves.

Schmidt Alfshtein was trying to stop his blood loss and to hide away from the Babylonians that destroyed the remnants of his squad.

Otto von Bismarck was speaking with the English ambassador in Berlin, hoping to persuade him to at least join the blockade and trade embargo against Babylonia.

Edath was cursing heavily and trying to keep at bay, along with five other Babylonians, a kommando squad in the Eleventh Barrack.

Kenersdorf was reading an English newspaper on the news from the front. The rather lagging behind news, to be sure, but the English sources were at least relatively unbiased, and had some time to develop a more precise knowledge of the situation then the commanders who reported to him - especially as in this case, they were filled with panic during the retreat to Reichsturmzwei. He wondered what will come out of it all.

Tigur and his Hawkfleet were patrolling the skies over Babylonia.

Somewhere in Babylonia, a village was burning.

The war went on.

---

Wow! This just keeps getting better!

Continue it Das!

Chapter Five: Under Siege, Part Five.

“We consider Babylonia to be a victim of aggression. Whether provoked or not, an aggression is an aggression to us. Therefore, England will have none of it and remain neutral.”
- John Pole, English ambassador in Germany, in a private audience with Bismarck

General Leopold Heimark was notable not only for his nervousness and irrational (even for a German) love for beer, but also for his old age. He was often called by the troops "Grandfather Heimark".

The old general coughed. The young officer approached him, in his office (located in the former office of the Babylonian governor in Ninneveh) and asked for the permission to report. The old general nodded.

"Herr Heimark," - the young officer said - "Our scouts have sighted Babylonian APVs on the Eleventh Route. They are in half an hour's distance, it is estimated, from Reichsturmzwei."

---

Schecherad expected it to come. As he was once again checking and re-checking his machine gun in the tight space of APV, the ground behind the APV's tracks begun to shake even more then before. He could barely hear what was happening outside of the APV, but he imagined the sounds quite well.

Artillery bombardment has commenced. The driver also noticed this, as did Kharewam, the commander of the APV fleet. Schecherad remembered their instructions quite well. Loosen formation, increase speed, set up smoke screen... pray to the Great Hammurrabbi for survival.

Schecherad prayed. He knew that some of his troops will probably not even get to the battlefield, but this was an emergency situation, and so they had to take risks.

---

I paced worriedly around the command center. The Room with the Map, some called it.

One of the radists stood up.

"O, Great Hammurrabbi." - he said. I nodded. He continued - "The Raven Division Armored Personnel Vehicle Fleet has encountered artillery fire. So far, they only lost one APV, and are in the meantime almost at their destination."

"Tell them to hurry up, to try to get there as fast as they could" - I said, unnecessarily - "Tell them that I am with them."

The radist nodded.

---

Schmidt Alfshtein was crawling away from the Twentieth Barrack, much pained, and was quite surprised by the sudden and loud sound of artillery fire.

'Bloody hell...' - he asked himself - 'Could the bastards possibly have set up another artillery battery?! Or perhaps... our command is frustrated enough with us as to start firing at the fortress...'

A moment later, though, he realized that the artillery was not firing at the fortress, but somewhere very close. He cursed. That could only mean one thing, not counting Grandfather Heimark losing what little mind he had.

He cursed again and dismissed the thought. There was no time for it now. He continued to slowly crawl towards German-held positions. What he hoped to be German-held positions, anyhow.

---

The APV fleet was moving as fast as it could, under a smoke screen and avoiding artillery shells. Burning with patriotic fervor, they pressed on, despite all dangers. Shells landed all around them, and occasionally got lucky, but most of the times they were not.

Kharewam could already see the goal on the radar screen.

One more push.

The APVs charged as if there was no tomorrow, and for many of the Raven Division soldiers, it seemed that that assumption was true.

One... more... push...

Kharewam cursed heavily - another APV was just destroyed. But they were nearly there.

Surprised German soldiers on the cement wall opened machine gun fire, some of them threw grenades. They knew what this huge cloud of smoke and dust advancing upon them meant.

One more push... and enemy runs.

The APV machine guns opened fire on German troops on the wall, while their fleet indeed reached the first breach in the local walls. It was time to besiege the assaulting army.

---

The hatch in the APV gave in quickly and smoothly. Schecherad jumped out quickly, noting for himself that it was already getting quite dark. The Germans were rather unprepared, well, they did try to put up some resistance but there was not much mere infantry can offer to an APV fleet of an elite division. Schecherad knew that behind him, three squads of ten men lined up. Only six APVs stopped here and formed a “wall”, complete with machine guns, to hold the enemy infantry that might attack from Ninneveh at bay; the others moved on to surround the rest of the fortress. The plan was quite obvious to begin with - charge in, raise havoc, surround the fortress before any Germans escape and unload the troops to keep the Hanses in for as long as Babylon will allow them.

Which was not very long; fighting against cornered rats is very nasty, and Schecherad always tried to avoid that. It was called “golden bridge tactics” - the enemy is surrounded, brought to a level of despair, and then left with a small route through which he, forgetting military discipline and dignity, might escape to save his life. That will leave the enemy’s morale quite devastated, though.

But before a golden bridge could be created, a moat must surround the fortress, much like they surrounded the Babylonian coastal forts in the days of the legendary First Coalition War.

The “moat squads” quickly charged to secure the breaches in the walls.

---

Skorzeny leapt forward towards the startled Babylonian, throwing his Freireich kommando knife at him. The Babylonian had no time to react properly.

Calling for the others to follow him, Skorzeny quickly moved on, throwing an ordinary grenade followed by a smoke one. The Ninth Barrack was a tough target, but not too tough for him.

Suddenly, he heard noise in his earpiece. Contact.

Skorzeny’s eyes widened, he cursed loudly. The Raven Division was here.

---

The German artillery was wary of firing at the Babylonian APVs so close to Reichsturmzwei. This left most Germans, apart from a few “lucky” patrolmen on the ruined fort’s walls, unable to do anything but idly watch at the fleet of APVs that moved quickly, surrounding the fortress and the Germans in it.

The few “lucky” ones were throwing grenades and firing back at the APVs. For no real avail.

I was studying the hand-drawn scheme map of Reichsturmzwei and its surroundings, including a literal “surrounding” by the Raven Division, and thinking about that operation, and seeing it almost as if I was there.

The plan was a simple one, a one designed initially for relieving “Fort Babylon”. The enemy was to be partially lured in, forced to fight within the fortress, while a rapid-strike force suddenly charges in and encircles the fortress, breaking the siege and beginning a one of their own; some of the troops of that force were to then advance into the fortress before the enemy there is ready. Fast and efficient, if somewhat risky.

Now it was used on Reichsturmzwei. Fair enough. It seemed as if it will succeed... in seizing a ruined fortress outside of Ninneveh and in breaking the German morale. Perhaps in paving the way for... what? Rout of the German forces in the southeast? One can hope. But Germans recovered from worse...

I, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, refused to sink back into past that was peaceful in that it was over by now and thus, as we still held, was not as desperate as today is.

---

“They... broke through, Herr Kenersdorf, but...”

The ghastly silence stopped Heimark in mid-sentience.

“I am sure,” - he decided to continue - “that not all is lost. We still have the artillery, and the reserves...”

Silence.

“Herr Kenersdorf?” - for a moment Heimark almost thought that Kenersdorf might have committed suicide. That was not so, though.

“Herr Heimark.” - said Kenersdorf, haven written down the last name and rank of “Grandfather Heimark” in the proscription list - “You are... Nevermind. Yes, throw everything you have got at them. Ignore casualties.”

Heimark was rather surprised by the blunt orders, but replied nonetheless - “Will do...”

---

Edath no longer cared about bullets. He simply fired at the attacking camouflage-uniformed kommandos.

Remain alive; kill enemies. Everything else was not important to him now.

He did not even know nor care how many of his comrades, here, in the Eleventh Barrack survived thus far.

He did not care about the setting sun.

He did not even care about the hastily-retreating German kommandos, who did not care about the wounded, bloodied, yet very defiant Babylonian when their lives were at stake.

---

Skorzeny was used to fight his way out of tough situations. This was one such situation. Three APVs were standing outside of the breach in the cement wall of Reichsturmzwei. The APVs were Babylonian and had large machine guns on their tops.

The scheme of dealing with that was the usual one. Magnet grenade, smoke grenade, ordinary grenade, magnet grenade... machine gun fire, crawling, escape.

Skorzeny threw the magnet grenade and ducked. All went as it should have. One of the APVs blew up, the other two were unable to react due to the smoke. An ordinary grenade distracted them well enough, making their commanders think the three Germans would attempt to break out right now. Magnet grenade - and another APV is decimated, as the kommandos break through with machine gun fire of their own before anybody stops them. A breach in the siege of the siege was created; the moat was bridged.

Skorzeny smirked. A Babylonian elite unit was not good enough for him.

---

Artillery fire was very careful, but very precise. It just started, and it was not very pleasant for Kharewam's fellow APV crewmen.

Shells exploded, breaking into death-carrying shards. Kharewam was beginning to worry - the Germans apparently recovered from the initial shock. A smoke screen might not be enough...

Suddenly he realized that contact with three more APVs was lost.

'Darn.' - he thought and activated the smoke screen. Then he decided to contact Schechered. He needed to know this.

Just as he started to contact him through the APV radio, there was a horribly loud explosion... somewhere. Somewhere close.

---

Kenersdorf has somehow startled the young radist.

"Herr Kenersdorf!" - he exclaimed, slightly bewildered.

"Radist Gnasnau," - Kenersdorf adressed him with a polite yet charismatic tone - "What are the news from Reichsturmzwei?"

"Herr Kenersdorf," - the radist repeated - "The battle is not going well; our forces had to retreat from the fortress..."

"How many made it out alive? In percents?"

"Seventy percent, Herr Kenersdorf." - spoke Gnasneu - "Herr Heimark ordered a massive human wave attack on the fortress to keep the pressure on Babylon, there are 25% casualties reported so far but some of the southern reaches are being held."

"Hmmm... Fair enough. Heimark is probably too eager to avenge his good name after the last setbacks... Tell him to keep the pressure on the enemy, radist Gnasneu. Keep up the good work."

Gnasneu saluted to his childhood hero, and continued the exciting and boring work of a radist in an army.

---

Leopold Meblischer seriously did not like the way this was going. The German forces were pushed out of the ruined and by now useless fortress, yet now again they were going to try and retake it. He did not doubt the ability of them doing that; he doubted the wisdom of it.

He was a squad commander from the 4. Reserwekorps, so his wishes, doubts and opinions did not really matter outside of the squad, apart from, perhaps, the enemies that squad encountered.

He, and his squad, took everything out on their enemies.

The artillery again gave a series of bombardment against the fortified wall, the Babylonian guards on it and the occasional dug-in APVs as well. Luckily, the Babylonians had no time to mine the place... There the luck ran out. Machine guns, grenade launchers, snipers: all that and more, the Babylonians DID have.

One more artillery volley. Leopold yelled "Vorvarts!" and threw his grenade energetically at an immobilized, yet still firing APV. He charged. Firing as he did so, he charged into the fray. What was the point with charging here, he asked himself. It was actually quite obvious - it is harder to be killed on the move then otherwise. Plus, they needed to take the new position - now.

The two APVs were by now badly damaged, and stopped from giving any fire. Yet there still was a persistant machine gun somewhere amongst those Babylonians, who ducked and took cover and threw grenades and fired at the charging Germans. Instinctively, Leopold threw a grenade beyond the pile of debris which marked one of the "entries" into the fortress.

The machine gun stopped. Babylonians started retreating. Leopold was shocked, he did not expect such a success. Even though the Babylonians succesfully, screened their retreat with smoke, it was a victory at last. At least... on this one position.

Against the other positions, the attacks continued as well. Leopold was very pleased with his victory now, but something he felt to be odd. There had to be something wrong here: absolutely had to be!

Yet there wasn't. Not yet.

---

Charech furiously slammed the metal door of the Supply Subadvisory Board Office open. He cared infinitely little for ceremonies or protocol. He was angry. He was mad.

He was fed up with this.

"Greetings, commander Charech." - Subadvisor Eppor gave him a weary smile - "I suppose I know why are you here."

"You damn better know it!" - yelled Charech - "I am fed up with this! And so is Hammurrabbi! I demand, in his name, that you immediately finish the preparations! The Germans are about take the fortress again, and..."

"Oh? The Ravens..."

"Bloody hell, the Ravens are having very hard time against the entire bloody German army! IS THAT CLEAR?! ENTIRE GERMAN ARM-"

"Calm down, commander Charech." - Eppor waved his hand - "Calm down. You will have your helicopters."

---

Will the Babylonians ever stop the fighting?

At Reichsturmzwei? Only when the Germans do.

At all? Only when everybody else does...

I have another chapter. Anyone still interested?

Definitely, this stuff is great. Too bad it's not a real game, or we'd have screenies...

Chapter Six: Under Siege, Part Six.

“Never before in this (and all previous) war did so many men die on both sides for so little gain for both sides.”
- Zheng Fu. "Ninth Coalition War, from a secret advisor's perspective".

...It was late. We were meeting in the second, empty control room. Empty in people - not in maps. There were plentiful maps here, as well as some other things: for example, a large built-in military computer.

There was I, Hammurabbi, the Immortal ruler of Babylon.

There was Ezerti, the old Military Advisor.

There was Zheng Fu, a former Chinese military advisor and now (ever since the fall of China) a secret advisor to me.

“Well, Ezerti.” - I said - “It would seem that our gamble did not completely pay off.”

“Indeed.” - he replied firmly at last - “The German kommandos successfully blasted their way through our blockade, while the Germans, desperate to retake the fort, started a new massive assault on it with apparently all of their forces on the island.”

“Oh?” - asked Zheng Fu - “They have undertaken a much greater gamble of their own, it would seem. If it does not pay off neither...”

“...then the Germans are as good as expelled.” - I finished for him - “Yes, perhaps. If we act decisively.”

“Are we not acting decisively?” - asked Zheng Fu - “I am led to understand that the work on resupplying the helicopters is almost complete, o Great Hammurabbi.”

“Indeed it is, Advisor Zheng Fu.” - replied Ezerti - “But allow me to get back to the report. The Ravens and the remaining Tigers are holding their ground quite well, evidently, as the Germans are afraid to use their numerical superiority in artillery on the fortress, or rather its ruins.”

“Pardon me again, Advisor Ezerti.” - asked Zheng Fu - “But ruins? Is it utterly beyond repair by now?”

“Well, no, but for quite a while it is.”

“I see. Carry on.”

“The Ravens have only lost one eight of the fortress to the enemy, and are holding them at bay for now, inflicting large casualties. Sadly, the Germans have many men, and their own assault vehicles might soon cause trouble for the Ravens - the debris is probably being removed by the German engineers even as we speak.”

“I see.” - I spoke at last - “So the Ravens are holding out. Very well, tell them to give up a small amount of ground, to draw in some more Germans.”

“Eh?” - asked Zheng Fu. I knew he already knew what I meant.

“After all, the helicopters are not our only asset left...” - I smirked.

---

Schecherad sighed. Do the Germans never learn?

Assembled from occasional debris, the makeshift barricade held. The gray-uniformed Germans once more charged stubbornly at it. Schecherad counted to five and fired simultaneously with the other Ravens and Tigers defending this position. Several Germans collapsed; others opened fire. Some grenades flew.

“Spread!” - yelled Schecherad, and his troops spread out in a looser formation behind the barricade, firing at the attacking Germans. Yet another attack turned back by automatic rifles.

It was getting rather dark.

Schecherad’s earpiece activated itself quickly.

“Commander Schecherad?” - a female voice asked him.

“Commander Schecherad here!”

“The Great Hammurabbi orders you and your troops to fall back slightly.”

“Wha... what?”

“Fall back.” - the woman repeated impatiently.

“Will do!” - he barked and interrupted communication.

He turned around to face his men, once more gathered at attention.

“Hear my orders.” - he said - “We are to fall back towards that... barrack. This is Hammurabbi’s order.”

---

Schmidt Alfshtein was very dead. Edath kicked the German’s corpse, and nodded.

“He is dead.” - he commented to the six soldiers hastily assigned to his command by Schecherad.

“Prepare the defenses!” - he ordered. The Babylonians quickly begun dragging pieces of debris to form a barricade on the “street” near the ruined First Barrack.

He himself assisted them. He also awaited patiently until the earpiece gives him a heads-up.

Finally, it did.

“The Germans are prepared for an assault. We must hold our ground.”

---

Charech made the final checks on the helicopter controls. He had no reasons to be afraid of them not working properly or anything, but he still wanted to be sure. Or rather, wanted to do something. He was extremely impatient. It was only natural, though.

’The resupplying should be over by now...’ - he thought.

Finally, the green button lighted on the control panel. About time.

The helicopter took off from behind the barbed wire. Followed by the others.

The Tigerhelifleet rode out. To death, glory or both.

---

“So, Herr Kenersdorf...” - Bismarck begun to speak - “Apparently we are advancing. However, also apparently and from the same source, we are taking heavy casualties. Unacceptable casualties, in fact.”

“The Babylonians,” - Kenersdorf pointed out - “are giving determined resistance.”

“I know. But it would seem that our forces are not even trying properly. They are not giving good artillery bombardment before the assault, they do not try to minimize casualties... Herr Kenersdorf, that is not acceptable, especially as much of the fortress is still theirs.”

“I understand it, Herr Bismarck. I agree, but how much more careful should we act?”

“Herr Kenersdorf, tell Herr Heimark to use the artillery to a greater extent. Also tell him to try and make an additional breakthrough in the fortress... Herr Kenersdorf.” - Bismarck suddenly stopped - “Why should I explain to you, and to Herr Heimark, accomplished military officers, the well-known basics of urban warfare? Just tell Herr Heimark to stop acting so... foolishly.”

“I will do so, Herr Bismarck.”

“Fair enough.” - Bismarck put both his hands on the table.

Kenersdorf turned around and walked out. Bismarck sighed.

’What the hell exactly was he supposed to achieve by telling Heimark to ignore casualties?’ - he pondered - ‘I had hoped him to be above such petty rivalry and revanchism...’

---

Leopold Meblischer charged. He ran.

Ran forwards. As the last few artillery shells hit the Babylonian barricade, he ran towards it, followed by two other squads, and threw forth as he ran a grenade. The explosion’s sound was mixed with that of a pained yell. It came from the barricade.

Machine guns fired at the attacking Germans, but rather sporadically due to the smoke cover and the previous artillery bombardment. Leopold opened (sub)machine gun fire of his own, as did the rest of the attacking Germans, charging forward as he did. The submachine gun was an odd one, as it had a bayonet. He ran as fast as he, with the gun, could and fired at the Babylonian just in front of him before the Babylonian could kill him.

The next Babylonian realized everything too late. The bayonet slammed into him and Leopold detached it. No time to lose.

Around him, the squads were assaulting the barricade. The Babylonians begun a fighting retreat, inflicting many casualties on the Germans who outran their smoke cover, but it was a retreat nonetheless.

Another victory. Leopold was still surprised. Something had to go wrong. It absolutely had to.

---

The Tigerhelifleet was still in flight, but Charech knew there was not much more time before they reach the fortress. Fortress? It was trully “the ruins of the fortress” by now.

Much further ahead of the seemingly locust-like swarm of giant helicopters, the battles for the ruins of the fortress that was called Reichsturmzwei - Imperial Tower Two - raged on. The Reichsturmzwei, just like two of her sister fortresses, were only finished a month ago after, some say, a year of hard work. It was a wonder of military architecture, built around Ninneveh, the primary German base of operations in Babylonia, in order to make sure that even if the German military fortunes in the north (at that point it seemed as if Babylon itself will soon fall, at long last) change, the Germans would not be pushed off.

Another important function of those fortresses was propaganda effect. German fortresses stood firm on Babylonian ground. There was no denying this fact. They were still held by the Germans. Despite all the possible Babylonian successes in the north, it was implied that those fortresses are still there, still German. It was an insult to Babylonian national honor.

And so, the ruins of one such propaganda weapon became a horrific battleground. The Babylonian elite Tiger Division attacked it from the skies, utilizing the new helicopters. The Germans were taken by surprise and largely defeated. But then, the helicopters had to withdraw, and the Germans started a massive counterattack. It was so furious (and combined with the sudden sabotage of Babylonian artillery as it was) that not even the Tigers could fend it back. But they tried. They retreated and used guerrila tactics, slowing down the Germans and harassing them. The Germans added in the kommandos, their elite special forces, into the battle. Then, in return, the other elite Babylonian division, the Raven division, rode in their APVs to Reichsturmzwei. They broke the siege and the German-counterassault, holing up those Germans who failed to immediately escape. It was glorious: the rapid assault relieved the fortress, much like many Babylonians hoped one day England, or maybe some other ally if such is found, would move in and lift the naval blockade, and “besiege” the attacking Ninth Coalition forces. But then...

Heimark apparently became desperate. This was quickly turning into the worst defeat in German history. He did not want THAT on him. And so, Grandfather Heimark sent the orders to ALL German forces in Babylonia: all-in-all, ten or so divisions, Charech was not sure. Those orders were simple: take Reichsturmzwei. NO MATTER THE COSTS, take Reichsturmzwei.

The Germans attacked again. And this time, there was no Raven division left to save the Babylonian forces there.

But there was the Tigerhelifleet. And ahead of it...

---

...Something had to go wrong.

Something did.

Leopold remembered the fire exchange, the assault of yet another hastily-assembled barricade. And then, suddenly...

He felt it. Something went wrong. Through the smoke, something was falling.

From the sky, firebombs fell on the German positions before anything could be done against the Babylonian bombers that flew in, unstoppably, while the German forces were too distracted (when they did notice the bombers, it was too late to organize fire). Leopold felt his uniform burn. There was no escape. He could no longer fire.

He died. Something went wrong at last.

---

Heimark waited calmly, as calmly as he possibly could, for the aide to leave his office. As soon as he did, the general grabbed his pistol.

He moved it to his head; his hand was shaking, but he forced himself to bring the gun to his right ear. He gulped, and tried to calm down again.

He aimed carefully, and... put down the gun. He could not do it.

’Suicide... is a coward’s escape.’ - he tried to justify his actions to himself. And sighed - ’I am too cowardly to even escape.’

The firebombs decimated the attack force. Oh, no, they did not cause too many casualties. But what followed... the disorganized, terrified Germans were attacked mercilessly by the Babylonians and pushed back to the original entry points.

And just before the news came in, Kenersdorf asked him to “decrease casualties” - as opposite to his previous orders. Heimark was beginning to suspect this was yet more of Kenersdorf’s political intrigues in Berlin.

“Never forgive, never forget.” - he muttered the Babylonian motto. Kenersdorf apparently followed it thoroughly.

---

It was very late by now. The twilight set in over Reichsturmzwei.

Schecherad fired once, just once, at the convulsing body of a German kommando. It stopped moving. He sighed. This wasn’t even a massacre. The massacre was over by now.

“Alright.” - he said, loudly, getting the attention of his men - “Time to take forward positions.”

The Babylonians moved out. Their target was the main German entry point, where they apparently set up defenses. Theoretically, when the Germans set up defenses they could hold their ground there indefinitely, with artillery cover and superior defensive position. But…

---

…Charech guided his helicopter to the German positions behind the debris-filled “entry point”, in the southernmost part of Reichsturmzwei.

This time, the Germans quickly reacted: their treasured flaks opened well-aimed fire. Charech was not sure, but felt it possible that at least two helicopters were lost immediately. Maybe more.

Charech pulled the rightmost switch. RGLs opened fire, causing several explosions amongst the German positions, specifically where the flaks should be. Machine guns - of his and of other helicopters - moved like a scythe of death, harvesting many Germans for hell.

The Raven and Tiger divisions already begun, he knew by the timetable, their offensive. The Germans were badly beaten up. They will not manage to hold back the Babylonian tide.

Victory was near. Charech was glad to be one of the first to learn about it.

---

Heimark listened calmly - as calmly as he could - to the latest report. This time, after the aide exited, he did not hesitate, did not think, simply brought the gun to his ear and fired.

The battle was lost.

Great chapter. Keep it up!

Good job, go on! :)


Best regards,

Slawomir Stachniewicz.

Great work! Keep going!

Will this be continued? It's great.

:bump: buuuuuump!

I second thtat...

I third that.

That is quite awesome. Seriously, i have read books that were worse.
The only thing that I can criticize is: You have misspelled nearly every single german word :p
But I should better not mention that, or somebody will take a look at my english spelling...