One Thousand Tears

The story you are about to read is true. What you will see was all seen through my eyes. I've seen death, and I have seen sorrow. In death, some of my comrades found peace while others suffered. I've seen soldiers missing limbs or holding their intestines in their talons. It is something I never want my eyes to see or my ears to hear again.

But it happened, and our legacy will be written by scholars in the pages of history. My name is Galiana Von Adler, but you will address me as Colonel or Colonel Von Adler. I am a griffon, I am as black as night from beak to tail. I look at my soldiers. They trust me to lead them in battle. To lead them over lands that were once green, and scarred.

If I can describe these frontlines in one word it would be this: Hell. There is mud, there are rats, and there isn't a single tree left standing on these fields. Shell holes cover the once fertile land, and fill with rainwater. In the bottom of many of them still lay the bodies of the dead. Through the hardships, you know only one thing: you are going to die.

For that is the destiny of living things. Everything that lives will die. Here death takes many forms. I have seen them all. Disease was just as great a killer as the enemy. The thing is the enemy is us. History will look back on this conflict to show that we griffons will never be united as one. We constantly fight, and our kind, innocent griffons, suffer.

Our lands are divided, and in chaos. Every griffon noble had their own private armies, and they all wanted the throne of the kingdom. I have never known any soldiers braver than those under my own command. They know who I am. They know that I am more than just a colonel in charge of them. I went to inspect my troops as sun began to rise.

One would not expect me to be here. The way things are at this present time, the only way to this throne is to fight. My wish is to create a kingdom where everyone, pony and griffon can live in harmony. If said vision is to be set in stone by way of the rifle then so be it. There are so many private armies that one can not predict who will attack you.

The armies use many weapons. Our weapons are the Mannlicher M95 rifle and Bergmann M1915 N.A. I trained my troops to be fast and mobile. I look at the faces of my troops. One of them was my cousin, Gabby. She was a mail delivery griffon. When the war came she was with me. I stroked her cheek, and saw her bright youth-filled eyes.

We also use improvised weapons for close quarters. Along with my Walther Model 6, I carry a trench club at my side. I modeled mine after a mace I saw in a museum, all steel construction with ten 1 1/2 inch long spikes affixed on a cylinder shaped head. I mounted it on a round steel shaft with a turned handle. It is 22 inches long and 4 3/4 lbs

Our uniform consisted of a M1918 Stahlhelm, and a jacket of a khaki-gray color with brass buttons, and a black leather waist belt. We wore leather webbing to hold five round stripper clips, and grenades. Officers like me are distinguishable by our M1917 Field Caps, but our troops under our command wear the standard Stahlhelm as standard issue.

The sky was light grey and dreary. That could only mean one thing, "Strength in honor, Gabby," I smiled at my round-faced cousin and ruffling her head. Our troops were hidden among the rocks, and looking up at the fortified positons on a 20 degree hill. There were machine gun nests and artillery positions. I gave the order, "Fix bayonets!"

It was around 200 yards between our positions and the hilltop forts. My plan was to divide our forces into two halves, and flank the hills. My second-in-command, Lieutenant Victoria Von Lowe, was going to attack the right flank, and I was to attack the left. Either way, we were going to have artillery and machine gun fire shoved down our beaks.

With her white bald eagle head and talons and brown lion body, Victoria is your average looking griffon, and she is one of my best officers. I pulled out my Walther Model 6 pistol, and cocked the receiver. I signaled my troops to move in closer, but a Vickers machine gun snuffed them out. Two of my soldiers went down like briars to the scythe.

"Move forward!" called out Victoria as her troops were moving to the left. The enemy artillery roared, and pounded the ground like the hammer of the war god. Schrapnel, smoke, and earth filled the air. I was able to get a look at the enemy in front. With their Pattern 05 stiff peaked caps and khaki green uniforms, it was the Gilda Clique Army.

The artillery was murderous on our troops. I could feel the shock and the earth tremble and the sudden 'thump' sound of a dead soldier. Still our troops moved forward. For us there is no surrender and no retreat. Victoria's troops were being held up by artillery. A few of our troops found positions and started shooting, "Come, Gabby, stay with me!"

She nodded and followed behind me with a ready rifle and bayonet amid the relentless onslaught of machine guns and artillery. Our losses were growing. We were being attacked from all sides. Another soldier followed my lead, but one shell fell too many. A black explosion of earth and tiny bits of burnt flesh came when an artillery shell hit her

I felt something hit me on the head. I looked to see the only left of the soldier was her head, frozen with a dead look in her eyes and beak lightly agape. I looked back, and looked at Gabby. I nodded to her, and slid down the hill to find cover behind a rock. Gabby covered her head as a shell hit near our position, and landed directly on a soldier.

I peaked over and saw the carnage unfold. A soldier was trying to get to a position when a shell hit near him, sending him flying through the air to the ground. A medic team was killed trying to pull away a wounded soldier. One tried to help a comrade to his talons, and was shot in the head. There were disembodied talons and dead everywhere.

I reached for a rifle with a few rounds almost hitting my talons. I turned to Gabby and nodded to her. Gabby nodded back, and turned to start shooting at the machine gun nests. One by one, we killed the griffons at the helm of the Bren guns, and killed anyone that tried to replace them, "Push forward!" I called out to the troops, and we charged

Gilda's lives began to break, and she was sent into retreat as we attacked. Gabby was at my side as we charged up the line. The will of Gilda's army had been broken. Soldiers ran bayonets into flesh and struck down soldiers with rifle stocks to any enemy that resisted. As wretched as it would make me, the only way to the throne was to conquer.