Operation Diarchy: The miniseries.by Nikolai the GryphonChaptersPreparations [Equestria]Preparations [Griffons]Preparations [Part Three] and PartisansHorseshoe bay and the northern peninsulaPreparations [Equestria]Author's Note The Equestrian Institute for History [EIH] has put together this video for the convenience of teachers. If you are a teacher, please have your students take out their copybooks, as this will be on the test. Preparations [Equestria] Year of our Diarchy,1198 ANM [After Nightmare Moon] Hearthswarming Eve. It was four years since the war began, three years since the Equestrians had been pushed out of Saddle Arabia, two years since the Griffons entered the war, and one year since Equestria had began to fortify it's beaches. Before Commander Irving Remmel "The forest wolf" took over, the beaches of Equestria were a mess. Namely, they had no defenses at all. And this was only a year after the failed Griffonese attack at the Pas de Canter. Yes, they had repulsed it, but this was just barely, and that was but a probe attack. So, Remmel had the beaches completely re-done. He had Czech Hedgehogs set up on the beaches, and on the main roads. He had landmines buried under the beaches, sea mines chained to the ocean floor, and the best reserves left in Equestria. He had artillery set up so that it went along the beach, extending it's range in case the beaches were stormed. And he had bunkers built, with enough spells and charms to survive a MOAB. I mean, if it landed right on top of it then bye-bye bunker, but otherwise, It's all fine. Now, there was one last thing that Remmel wanted to do, and that was call up the Armored divisions inland. But a rival general, Commander Heinrich Antlion, wanted the tanks to stay in Ponyville, where they would be safer from offshore bombardment and airstrikes, and could be easily mobilized against any attackers who made it inland. This was one argument that nobody could pull rank to solve, as they were the two theater commanders in charge of coastal defense, and the only people that outranked them were the princesses themselves. So, the issue was brought to the Canterlot court. When I say it was brought, I mean a note was fire-breathed into Canterlot [Of fucking course Spike isn't the only one who can do that], brought into the mail room for aging, and lost in transit. [I never said that it went straight to Celestia. Only Spike can do that.] A month later, they tried again, this time using a Pegasus to fly it in. It was brought to a mail room for aging, lost, found, lost again, then found again in someone's sandwich, and brought to be given to the princess. It was promptly lost and found again in another sandwich, but this time it had two bites taken out of it and was covered in sandwich sauce. Yet another month later, both theater commanders rode in to deliver the letter personally. It was taken, and after a few days, found in a horseshoe, with some lipstick smeared over it and a grocery list on the back. And bit a week later, the generals came back. This time, they didn't write a letter. Antlion and Remmel stormed into the palace and personally brought up the issue with the court. They said they would consider bringing it up to Celestia, forgot about it, and moved on to other things. Canterlot was horribly inefficient at responding to ponies who weren't the mane six, and considering that these were two generals who NEEDED the princesses to help fix an issue, this was appalling. Eventually, Antlion and Remmel came to a agreement. A third of the armor in Ponyville was put under Remmel's command, who spread it around the beaches, a third was given to Antlion, who kept it in Ponyville to be mobilized in case of invasion, and a third was garrisoned permanently in Ponyville. Now, this left nobody happy. Not Antlion, who wanted to have all the armor under his command, not Remmel, who wanted the tanks defending the beaches, and not Ponyville, who just wanted to be left alone, without high priority targets that the enemy would quite enjoy to firebomb. But, without intervention from Canterlot, this was possibly the best that they would get, and even with intervention from Canterlot, all that would happen is the division of the armor in Ponyville in-between the two commanders, which would probably please Ponyville, but both generals would still want that other half. Then, Celestia, that magnificent bastard who's book I read, finally decided that NOW was good time to poke her nose into this situation, probably because one of the mane six complained about having soldiers and tanks there. She looked at this and decided, No, nope. This is not working out. Now, this is a logical conclusion to draw. What she did to remedy this, however, was give Antlion control of the ALL the tanks, but give full control of the theater to Remmel. This was somehow WORSE than before, and now Antlion undermined the complaints of Ponyville's residents by putting ALL of the tanks there, thereby ensuring that Ponyville would get a nice present in the form of incendiary devices in the near future. And Remmel, without control of the tanks, had no tanks he could have easily respond to attacks. Ponyville was at least a day inland from the coast, and that was a day longer his men would have to hold off the griffons. So, with two quibbling commanders in charge of the defense of Equestria, and no real system in place for said commanders to receive help from Canterlot, Celestia and Luna took, and I quote from a memo, a "Well Deserved Vacation." Now, as bad a time as this was for a Royal vacation, This was an even worse time for a fault in Equestrian Weather prediction. There was a fault in Equestrian weather prediction. A rather large hurricane was spotted going north across the ocean, and its projected course was to the polar ice caps, meaning that no griffons would cross for a while. This was, of course, wrong. The hurricane was already petering out, but they wouldn't know that, as it passed quite close to the Griffonese coast, and nobody volunteered to pass within range of the Griffish air patrols and AA fire to look at some stupid clouds and wind, which is quite ironic if you think about it, considering that in Equestria, Pegasai are ALL about controlling the weather for the government's uses. Anyways, the Hurricane was gone, but nobody [In Equestria] knew that, the princesses were gone, and everybody [Including Gryphgen] knew that, and since it was so close to Christmas- err, I mean, Hearthwarming eve, Remmel and Antlion decided, feh, fuck it, and took leave to go home to their wives and children. And it was also Remmel's wife's birthday on Hearthswarming eve, and Remmel had to go home to cheat his wife out of a gift on her birthday. But on Hearthswarming Day, as everything winded down, and Remmel settled into bed, there was an emergency Communique, from the Coastal Defence control in Baltimare. The griffons had come. Preparations [Griffons]The Griffons too, had been planning. Operation Diarchy [Overlord was taken, and "Operation murder some ponies, nuke Canterlot and T-bag the princesses" was too long and obvious.] would go forth. With an extensive spy network behind them, they managed to even find out when the Equestrian commanders needed to pick up their kids from flute lessons, and if they knew that, they would certainly know the best place to attack. And the best place to attack was the St. Hoofman harbor. This was no beach, and nobody in his right mind would attack. It was the muster point of the Equestrian navy, and anything that even attempted to come in would be obliterated by thousands of tonnage in ordnance. But despite that, this was the best place to invade. Clearly their intel was just plain wrong. What was the second best place to attack? Ah yes, the beautiful island city of Manehatten. It would be yet another months long, bloody battle of Stalliongrad, and that was JUST what EVERYBODY needed. What was the third place? HORSESHOE BAY? Nobody in right in the head would attack there! It's LITERALLY RIGHT NEXT TO BALTIMARE! Like I said, just EVERYBODY needed a repeat of Stalliongrad! Right? Well, it turns out that Baltimare and the surrounding area was almost COMPLETELY unfortified, other than the usual bunkers and [Please, dear god, please, somebody find a pun name for this, I know you're out there.] Czech hedgehogs. This was where they would attack. Now, how could they convince Canterlot that they were aiming for the other two? Well, first they bribed every single high ranking Equestrian counterespionage officers to their side that they could. What's the destruction of your motherland for a few bucks? Then, with this vast network of bribed officials, they told them all to go look at how undefended and helpless Manehatten was. They oughta look into that! And when they did, SOMEBODY "Leaked" that there would be a diversionary attack at Horseshoe bay, but the REAL attacks would be at Manehatten and St. Hoofman. The counterespionage was HORRIFIED! Even the non-bribed were fooled! This HAD to be reported to Canterlot! So, NOW there was no need to create fancy diversions and tricks and film reels for Equestria to "capture", because, hey, if you got a legion of bribed, stupid, bad at their job spies, all believeing what you want the to believe, and no scouts coming within eyeshot of your coast to disprove it, you have GOT IT MADE! But this wouldn't prevent them from fortifying Horseshoe bay. There would be an attack, however diversionary, there. So, to lull the Equestrians into a false sense of security, they made a rather large hurricane that would "Surely" prevent the Griffons from crossing for another month. This was just not the case, and it was much weaker than it first appeared, and had to be supplied clouds just to keep running, even over water. This could be easily detected as a fraud, so they made sure to tamper with the Equestrian weather equipment, although some were worried that whacking them with a large wrench several times crossed the line from "Covert sabotage" to "Demolition". And so, with no flyers coming within AA range, and the Equestrians thinking they had some downtime, they managed to assemble the largest foreign Invasion force IN THE WORLD, much less to ever set foot in Equestria. So, all this managed to delay the Equestrian counter-espionage. And what a delay it was! First, the officers marched straight into Canterlot and had a Pegasus fly right up to Celestia's window, with a note requesting more budget for troops and defenses, then a note, reminding her of the first one. They debated hotly for a few hours as to whether or not to send a third note reminding her of the second, but this was shot down. SURELY she wouldn't be stupid enough to forget it when it was LITERALLY DELIVERED TO HER ON A SILVER PLATTER. *Cough Cough* Anyways, a minute passed, then an hour, then several. Then, at midnight, a messenger with a note: "We're sorry, but we have been unable to process your letter at this time. Please write again later." So, pissed off at getting a half-assed response from Canterlot, they tried again. This time with a four-pony team carrying a 20 pound bag up into the air and shoving it through Celestia's balcony. Inside the bag were HUNDREDS of copies of the same note. This time, they didn't even get A response. They tried over and over. They tried paper airplanes, they tried carpet bombing the note all over Canterlot, they tried to force their way into the court [No luck, Imperial Guard answers only to Equestrian Intelligence Service (EIS), not Counter-Espionage, and nobody was in anyways.], they tried to write it in the sky, they tried to write in on the ground, they tried the John Cusack method, where they loudly played a boombox outside her balcony and tried to shout it to her, and they even enlisted the help of the mane six, but evidently Celestia only responds to letters involving friendship. And then, the Diarchy left on vacation. And the Canterlot Nobles [Who were in charge until the princesses returned] happened to not like the commander of Counter-Espionage, and they would REFUSE to cooperate with him. There would not be more mines on the beaches for a while. And the griffons had assembled quite a force. Engineers, Shock troopers, Marines, Airborne [A large component of their invasion], Infantry, Mechanized, Armor, Artillery, and Sleeper cells within Equestria were all prepared for the attack. This was almost every single soldier in Gryphgen, ready for invasion, and that's not to COUNT the Zebrakin [From the East] Draconian [From the Southeast],Changeling [From the South], and Saddle Arabian [From the South] that had all queued up to kick Equestria's ass. This would surely be the end of Equestria, if the invasion was completely unprepared for. Sadly for the griffons, It's allies had not been so careful at being secretive in their preparations. Author's Note Next time on the Equestrian History channel: Preparations [Part three] Preparations [Part Three] and Partisans Now, listen. This chapter, I realized, Is violent, very, very violent, so, brief summary for anyone who might not be able to take it: I mention the sleeper cells, and then I begin the invasion. In between is bloody, bloody interrogation, and I am honestly ashamed. You should skip this. And for those who didn't, don't complain to me. Frankly, I felt a bit sick to the stomach after writing this, and I felt that it's worthy of making this go from "Teen" to "Mature" I am truly sorry. [Although, It might not be as bad as I first thought.] The Saddle Arabians had taken great caution in preparation, and had mobilized 1-in-10 of their [Remaining, after Equestrian Invasion] population. So had the Zebrakin, and the Dragons, while technically not being a sovereign nation, sure acted like one, and with dragons, I don't think anybody's gonna question that. The Changeling Collective, however.. Well, being the source of almost every sleeper cell and secret agent the Anti-Equestrian Alliance had to offer, they had to be careful, possibly more than the others. And they were, but that was just the spies. The army was decidedly less secretive. And by decidedly, I mean that they didn't use a code, they didn't force levels of clearance for certain intelligence, and a day before the attack, they lined their army right up, nice and close to the the border. When rogue Changeling patrols were discovered by the Equestrians, they were captured and taken in for interrogation, then summarily executed when they refused to give. The Changelings had the best anti-interrogation training for non-spies, and it showed. They gave name, rank, and serial, and at times not even that. They didn't even give to the interrogation charms that the Equestrians used, and were barely fazed when they attempted to search their mind. Not everyone passed anti-interrogation training, and these men were given cyanide pills. When taken prisoner, they just bit down until the capsule burst, and now they had a corpse, which wouldn't do them any good unless they were either necrophiliacs or had a "revival" spell that wasn't a necromancy spell, which didn't exist. These Changelings, whether executed or self-poisoned, were the first casualties of Operation Diarchy. Needless to say, about eighty Changelings were captured, and were either executed or had cyanide pills, before the Changelings caught on and stopped all scouting patrols. But before they did, one changeling by the name of "Zorky MacLin" was captured, and it turned out his pill was bought at the cheapo alchemist, 'cause it just caused him to throw up a bunch and pass out. When he woke up, he was in a room with a unicorn with a surgical mask on, and a bright light in his eyes. A quick look around showed that this was in a white, tiled room. He was on a hospital bedpan, and struggling only made the magical binding tighter. "My name is PFC Zorky MacLin, serial number eighty-eight five four sixteen five-" "We got all that from your Dogtags. We're here for what you know." The unicorn pulled gloves onto his hooves, and picked up a scalpel. "That''s all I know. Now let me the fuck go." The unicorn chuckled. "Our dream probes may have been unsuccessful, but it wasn't fruitless." He pointed his scalpel at Zorky. "We know that you know something." "Watch where you fucking point that. What do you mean by "We know"?" The unicorn smiled a sadistic, sick smile. "We, as in we two here, know that We, as in we here in information retrieval, know that They, as in High command, know that We know." Zorky briefly struggled against the binds. "So They know We know They know We know?" "Yes, We know They know They know We know." "I see. So If They know that We know that We know that We know, and They know that They know, Do We know what They know?" "No. And stop stalling." The unicorn stabbed Zorky in a wing with the scalpel. "I think we'll start here." Despite being stabbed in a minor artery in a major body part, and blood spilling out and onto the floor, Zorky managed to keep from screaming until he started cutting. The unicorn turned up the light, and as his wing was cut open, Zorky stared into that light. He felt himself going mad from the pain, but he stayed sane until the Unicorn stopped and poured some salt into the wound. JESUS CHRIST, THIS MAN IS A PSYCHO! is what he would've thought, if he hadn't been going mad while in immense pain. Instead, he imagined that he was back home, in the hive, while he actually said "AAAGHGAHGHHAGHAH" He remained this way until a healing spell was cast on his wing and a bucket of water roused him from his pleasant dream. Disoriented, he turned his head over the shoulder and saw that the wall opposite his wing, and even the ceiling, was splattered in a sizable amount of blood. And if he could see the floor, he would see that it too was covered in blood. An IV full of plasma was attached to him, and another IV full of blood was attached to his wing. The unicorn was looking at a spell scroll, but when he looked up, he seemed pleased to be pleased. "Back from Slumberland, Little Nemo?" "Fuck." "Now, now. No need for profanity. Now, what do you know?" "I ain't telling you, you 'sumbitch." "Come on, We both know that They know that YOU know. What do the numbers mean?" "What?" "Wrong answer." The scroll was activated, and a sizable electric shock was given to Zorky. "GAAAAAAGH!" It was perfectly timed to prevent his heart from fibrillating, but just large enough to cause immense pain without killing him. "Zorky, m'boy, you may just be the most co-operative Changeling we've found all day. Oh, I DOlove it when a special interrogation order comes down from Counter-Espionage. Now, tell me you killed twenty Innocent Equestrians." "FUCK." Another shock was given, and once again the twisted surgery began. The disgruntled and oppressed civilians of Equestria, the Equestrian Griffons, the Mules, the Donkeys, the Diamond dogs, the similar, were all too happy when Anti-Equestrian Sleeper Cells contacted them and asked if they wished to overthrow Equestria from the inside. This was their chance to show that they deserved citizenship, and they would kill Ponies to have it. Other, less enraged or better off non-Equine Equestrians were against it but not so against it that they would report it. If these idiots wish to make life worse for themselves, they thought, Then let them. I'm too rich/friends with the local watch captain/not involved, so I should be fine. Then, because of species-ism, xenophobia, and the fact that the nobles are just arseholes, some Non-Equines, maybe they had criminal records, maybe they were suspected subversives or had a conflicting political stance with the local government, or maybe the local guard commander just didn't like them, started being re-located to the internment camps on the eastern coasts. This was NOT like the Japanese internment, as not everyone was carted off, but many were, and this only served to enrage the Non-Equines. Arms were snuck in and hidden in safe-houses, or buried in the backyard, or just stolen from the local garrison, and they planned. Or rather, the Sleeper cells got plans from High-Command, passed them to the insurgent groups, and high command planned. Some consistent themes in the plans? They would toss Manelotov cocktails into the town hall, they would round up the local garrison and police to use as hostages, and they would [Hopefully] hold out until the Invasion force arrived. This plan was xeroxed and sent to every single Sleeper cell and Partisan group in every major or notable Equestrian town or city. And the moment the invasion sirens started, they would strike. It had been Twelve hours since Zorky was captured, and after the information retrieval torture, he was confessing to everything that he was told to. "And say that you stole my yogurt from the break-room fridge." "I STOLE IT FROM THE BREAKROOM FRIDGE!" "Good, good. Now say that you didn't really, but you saw Larry take it." "LARRY TOOK IT!" "Now, now, what's this? First you say you, a Changeling SPY, did it, now you say that Larry, a good friend of mine, did it. Who do I trust?" "I LIED, I LIED, I DID IT!" "Now, now, do you need another slicing for that?" The unicorn jabbed a buzz-saw at Zorky. "DEAR GOD NO! PLEASE!" Zorky had cried so much that he had run out of tears. All he had was yelling. Suddenly, another pony poked his head in. "Oi! William! You broken that Changer yet?" "Yeah, Larry. I was just about to extract the info from him." The unicorn said. "Well, Counter-Intel told me to tell you that that information isn't needed now. The invasion has already begun." "GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" William stabbed himself in a hoof with the scalpel. Blood spilled over the floor. He pushed a button that said PRISONER ESCAPE. "THE CONVICT HAS ATTACKED ME! TAKE HIM TO THE HOLDING CELL!" Two guards rushed in, brutalized Zorky, and threw him into a holding cell, where he stayed without food or water for eight more hours, until the Changeling army finally got to the Info-Retrieval HQ, where he was immediately sent to a hospital within The Collective's borders, where he recovered and, after being awarded a medal for keeping calm under interrogation and getting medically discharged, wrote his account of his experiences in the army leading up to, and including, his horrific interrogation. This whole segment was adapted from it, and it's on assigned reading. It WILL be on the test. Next episode: Horseshoe bay. Author's Note I would've named "Zorky" something bug related, but: (A) I was too lazy, and (B) I couldn't find anything good on the first page of google resu Horseshoe bay and the northern peninsulaA typical Griffonese landing craft had a machine-gunner, a driver, and space for about two squads. A typical Griffonese Attack Airship had a small crew and space for about a platoon. A typical Griffonese Transport/Gunship helicopter had two pilots, a side gunner, and space for a squad. And an Atypical Griffonese landing craft had a tank in it. Almost 5000 landing craft were used by the army to land on the beaches. About 3,200 Helicopters were used by the army to act as airborne troopers. And exactly 182 Airships were in use to maneuver at high altitudes, far behind enemy lines. Almost All ten-million of Gryphgen's troops would be in the invasion. Not all would land at During the initial invasion. Only about 400,000. But this would hopefully be enough to clear the beaches. Battleships would bombard from offshore. Aircraft would drop ordnance and bunker-busters on bunkers and "Special Targets", which were highly classified, even to the Bombardiers and Crew. Early in the morning, the men climbed down nets on the side of ships, and into the boats that sat short above the water. Rifles were loaded, prayers were said, and the ships set off into the horizon. The landing waves at Horseshoe Bay came in three groups, and each of those was subdivided in turn. The first two waves were on the "Toes" of the Horseshoe, which stuck out. They would attempt to clear the North and south sides of the actual bay itself, in order to prevent deadly enfilade fire from artillery on the shores. First would come the sappers. With mine-clearing tanks and combat engineers, they would clear the beaches of mines and barricades. Next would come the shock troopers. With body armor and advanced training, they would see if they could breach the bunkers before the main wave arrived. Should they not, the third wave will come in hot, with whole boats of men being cut down at the hooves of the Equestrian Machine-gunners. First, the attack began at the north. With the largest shoreline, it had the most risk for artillery and the highest chance for an Equestrian Counterattack. Immediately, when the Engineers arrived within a few Kilometers of the shore, the fight was fierce. Planes twirled and overhead, and on occasion, one would explode like a gruesome firework. Artillery rained down upon bunkers and more inland targets. And if one was lucky, but no too, a boat would explode in a fireball of men and HE shell, and one would reflect on who they knew that was on that ship. And when the boats finally reached the shore, the tanks would roll out first. Immediately, before they could activate their mine-flails, they would be hit with artillery and AP bullets, and would implode violently, scattering shrapnel and pieces of their comrades over the Engineers. Then, the Sappers were free to take the beach. As soon as the door opened, guns would open up, and the unlucky ones in the front would be cut down in a salvo of bullets and the flesh of their comrades. The ones in the middle would rush out, only to dive down behind any cover they could find, assuming they didn't step on a mine that they were meant to clear, accomplishing their goal with their last step. The [Only slightly so] more lucky ones in the back would jump over the side, and be cut down by stray bullets. They would drown as they bled out, and by mid-afternoon, the beaches were washed in the blood of the combat-engineers. But, they had done their job. Whether by their death or by crawling beside tanks and cover, grabbing and disabling mines as they did so, they had gotten the beaches clear of mines. Then, the Shock Corp sailed in. With body armor across the chests and Kevlar helmets on their heads, they could take three bullets to the chest [Or one bullet to the head] before the armor gave and they were pumped with holes. This, combined with experience and training, made the survival rate much higher. Not by much, but enough so that by the time the second wave died down, the beaches were flooded with enough shock troopers to take the whole Northern Peninsula, and maybe storm Baltimare. But with the bunkers still live, this was a no-go. So, the third wave rolled in. Much of this previous section was Adapted from Karl Hoofden's EXCELLENT history of wars in Equestria, and as such, it's on the required reading. Write a reminder to get it down in you planner, and make sure that you took down the previous section in your copybooks. Much of this next section was adapted from Sergetov Talovich's Memiors. This is not on required reading, but it is recommended. As always, take notes. Private Sergetov Talovich was in LC 508, on the attack on the Northern Peninsula, and wrote a detailed account of the Third wave. As I stood in the boat, I looked up. I saw our landing support flying overhead. The fly-boys would cover our approach from enemy Aircraft. I smiled, and tried to wave. Suddenly, AA fire ripped across the formation, and one went down, crashing in second into a ship a few down from us. "SHIT! FRITZ WAS IN THERE! THAT BASTARD OWED ME, THE SONSOFBITCHES." said nobody in particular. I was too mesmerized with the ship, as it smoked and burned. How can fire burn over the water? I saw fellow griffons jump out, and watched as they fought to stay afloat, and slowly drowned as nobody stopped their boats to help. The smart few flew up, and were again cut down by AA fire. Suddenly, the driver cried out "OPENING STOCK IN THIRTY SECONDS! PREPARE FOR TRADING TO BEGIN!" Afterwards, he turned to McLean, saying "Can I have a light?" Gesturing to the cigarette hanging from his beak. Just as McLean got out his lighter out, A stray bullet struck the side of the ship. Then, another. Then, three more. Then, the bastards crossed the line from unintentionally hitting the ship to Trying To Kill Us. A ship beside out exploded. Before I could become mesmerized with this, as before, the ship ran aground. "OPEN ER' UP!" A Sergeant opens the door. As the door lowered, the Driver scarcely said "TRADING HAS BEGUN! WE'RE IN BUSINESS!" Before a hail of bullets descended upon hit. It happens like it was in slow motion. The bullets first hit in his head, killing, then they ripped flesh from his bones, and plunged into his stomach, spilling it's contents as they ripped through, and as blood splattered over the back of the ship, I wondered what his name was. Too late now. I thought, and rushed out to fall behind a Czech hedgehog. Orsons was there. Hiding behind some pieces of metal hoping not to die was bad enough, but about an hour in, John arrived, and right where he sat down was a landmine, and we had to wait for a sapper to come over to disable it. And the worst part was, right afterwards, a bullet cracked his skull. Anyways, we pushed on. After about two hours, we had finally made it to the seawall. As we waited for engineers to arrive with Bangalore torpedoes, we attempted to snipe the bunkers. Two minutes later, we had to stop, as Orsons was dead with a bullet through the neck, and I didn't want the same to happen to me. After what seemed like an eternity, crouching under that little hill of sand, engineers managed to blow through. as we rushed up the cliffs, we were stopped dead in our tracks. The enemy had dug trenches, and nobody was too eager to run through them. So there I was, sitting behind a rock with some men from a whole other division, and somebody mentioned how it was a but a "Stones Throw Away" from the bunker. I think it was a Griffon with green plumage who said "Well, why the hell not?" and started throwing grenades into a bag. After about half an hour, we had thrown our bullet's gunpowder into a handkerchief, tied it up, and thrown it into a bag of explosives. When all was set, we threw a lit match in, then threw it at the bunker. It worked pretty damn well, all said and done. But even though there was a sizable hole in the side of the bunker, we all cursed ourselves for how stupid we had been. That was all of our bullets! After a half a day of fighting, the Griffonese troops had finally taken the Northern Peninsula. On that same day, the southern peninsula had to be taken, and things went a little less swimmingly there. Author's Note Horseshoe bay and the Southern peninsula, next time on the Equestrian History channel.
Preparations [Equestria]Author's Note The Equestrian Institute for History [EIH] has put together this video for the convenience of teachers. If you are a teacher, please have your students take out their copybooks, as this will be on the test. Preparations [Equestria] Year of our Diarchy,1198 ANM [After Nightmare Moon] Hearthswarming Eve. It was four years since the war began, three years since the Equestrians had been pushed out of Saddle Arabia, two years since the Griffons entered the war, and one year since Equestria had began to fortify it's beaches. Before Commander Irving Remmel "The forest wolf" took over, the beaches of Equestria were a mess. Namely, they had no defenses at all. And this was only a year after the failed Griffonese attack at the Pas de Canter. Yes, they had repulsed it, but this was just barely, and that was but a probe attack. So, Remmel had the beaches completely re-done. He had Czech Hedgehogs set up on the beaches, and on the main roads. He had landmines buried under the beaches, sea mines chained to the ocean floor, and the best reserves left in Equestria. He had artillery set up so that it went along the beach, extending it's range in case the beaches were stormed. And he had bunkers built, with enough spells and charms to survive a MOAB. I mean, if it landed right on top of it then bye-bye bunker, but otherwise, It's all fine. Now, there was one last thing that Remmel wanted to do, and that was call up the Armored divisions inland. But a rival general, Commander Heinrich Antlion, wanted the tanks to stay in Ponyville, where they would be safer from offshore bombardment and airstrikes, and could be easily mobilized against any attackers who made it inland. This was one argument that nobody could pull rank to solve, as they were the two theater commanders in charge of coastal defense, and the only people that outranked them were the princesses themselves. So, the issue was brought to the Canterlot court. When I say it was brought, I mean a note was fire-breathed into Canterlot [Of fucking course Spike isn't the only one who can do that], brought into the mail room for aging, and lost in transit. [I never said that it went straight to Celestia. Only Spike can do that.] A month later, they tried again, this time using a Pegasus to fly it in. It was brought to a mail room for aging, lost, found, lost again, then found again in someone's sandwich, and brought to be given to the princess. It was promptly lost and found again in another sandwich, but this time it had two bites taken out of it and was covered in sandwich sauce. Yet another month later, both theater commanders rode in to deliver the letter personally. It was taken, and after a few days, found in a horseshoe, with some lipstick smeared over it and a grocery list on the back. And bit a week later, the generals came back. This time, they didn't write a letter. Antlion and Remmel stormed into the palace and personally brought up the issue with the court. They said they would consider bringing it up to Celestia, forgot about it, and moved on to other things. Canterlot was horribly inefficient at responding to ponies who weren't the mane six, and considering that these were two generals who NEEDED the princesses to help fix an issue, this was appalling. Eventually, Antlion and Remmel came to a agreement. A third of the armor in Ponyville was put under Remmel's command, who spread it around the beaches, a third was given to Antlion, who kept it in Ponyville to be mobilized in case of invasion, and a third was garrisoned permanently in Ponyville. Now, this left nobody happy. Not Antlion, who wanted to have all the armor under his command, not Remmel, who wanted the tanks defending the beaches, and not Ponyville, who just wanted to be left alone, without high priority targets that the enemy would quite enjoy to firebomb. But, without intervention from Canterlot, this was possibly the best that they would get, and even with intervention from Canterlot, all that would happen is the division of the armor in Ponyville in-between the two commanders, which would probably please Ponyville, but both generals would still want that other half. Then, Celestia, that magnificent bastard who's book I read, finally decided that NOW was good time to poke her nose into this situation, probably because one of the mane six complained about having soldiers and tanks there. She looked at this and decided, No, nope. This is not working out. Now, this is a logical conclusion to draw. What she did to remedy this, however, was give Antlion control of the ALL the tanks, but give full control of the theater to Remmel. This was somehow WORSE than before, and now Antlion undermined the complaints of Ponyville's residents by putting ALL of the tanks there, thereby ensuring that Ponyville would get a nice present in the form of incendiary devices in the near future. And Remmel, without control of the tanks, had no tanks he could have easily respond to attacks. Ponyville was at least a day inland from the coast, and that was a day longer his men would have to hold off the griffons. So, with two quibbling commanders in charge of the defense of Equestria, and no real system in place for said commanders to receive help from Canterlot, Celestia and Luna took, and I quote from a memo, a "Well Deserved Vacation." Now, as bad a time as this was for a Royal vacation, This was an even worse time for a fault in Equestrian Weather prediction. There was a fault in Equestrian weather prediction. A rather large hurricane was spotted going north across the ocean, and its projected course was to the polar ice caps, meaning that no griffons would cross for a while. This was, of course, wrong. The hurricane was already petering out, but they wouldn't know that, as it passed quite close to the Griffonese coast, and nobody volunteered to pass within range of the Griffish air patrols and AA fire to look at some stupid clouds and wind, which is quite ironic if you think about it, considering that in Equestria, Pegasai are ALL about controlling the weather for the government's uses. Anyways, the Hurricane was gone, but nobody [In Equestria] knew that, the princesses were gone, and everybody [Including Gryphgen] knew that, and since it was so close to Christmas- err, I mean, Hearthwarming eve, Remmel and Antlion decided, feh, fuck it, and took leave to go home to their wives and children. And it was also Remmel's wife's birthday on Hearthswarming eve, and Remmel had to go home to cheat his wife out of a gift on her birthday. But on Hearthswarming Day, as everything winded down, and Remmel settled into bed, there was an emergency Communique, from the Coastal Defence control in Baltimare. The griffons had come.
Preparations [Griffons]The Griffons too, had been planning. Operation Diarchy [Overlord was taken, and "Operation murder some ponies, nuke Canterlot and T-bag the princesses" was too long and obvious.] would go forth. With an extensive spy network behind them, they managed to even find out when the Equestrian commanders needed to pick up their kids from flute lessons, and if they knew that, they would certainly know the best place to attack. And the best place to attack was the St. Hoofman harbor. This was no beach, and nobody in his right mind would attack. It was the muster point of the Equestrian navy, and anything that even attempted to come in would be obliterated by thousands of tonnage in ordnance. But despite that, this was the best place to invade. Clearly their intel was just plain wrong. What was the second best place to attack? Ah yes, the beautiful island city of Manehatten. It would be yet another months long, bloody battle of Stalliongrad, and that was JUST what EVERYBODY needed. What was the third place? HORSESHOE BAY? Nobody in right in the head would attack there! It's LITERALLY RIGHT NEXT TO BALTIMARE! Like I said, just EVERYBODY needed a repeat of Stalliongrad! Right? Well, it turns out that Baltimare and the surrounding area was almost COMPLETELY unfortified, other than the usual bunkers and [Please, dear god, please, somebody find a pun name for this, I know you're out there.] Czech hedgehogs. This was where they would attack. Now, how could they convince Canterlot that they were aiming for the other two? Well, first they bribed every single high ranking Equestrian counterespionage officers to their side that they could. What's the destruction of your motherland for a few bucks? Then, with this vast network of bribed officials, they told them all to go look at how undefended and helpless Manehatten was. They oughta look into that! And when they did, SOMEBODY "Leaked" that there would be a diversionary attack at Horseshoe bay, but the REAL attacks would be at Manehatten and St. Hoofman. The counterespionage was HORRIFIED! Even the non-bribed were fooled! This HAD to be reported to Canterlot! So, NOW there was no need to create fancy diversions and tricks and film reels for Equestria to "capture", because, hey, if you got a legion of bribed, stupid, bad at their job spies, all believeing what you want the to believe, and no scouts coming within eyeshot of your coast to disprove it, you have GOT IT MADE! But this wouldn't prevent them from fortifying Horseshoe bay. There would be an attack, however diversionary, there. So, to lull the Equestrians into a false sense of security, they made a rather large hurricane that would "Surely" prevent the Griffons from crossing for another month. This was just not the case, and it was much weaker than it first appeared, and had to be supplied clouds just to keep running, even over water. This could be easily detected as a fraud, so they made sure to tamper with the Equestrian weather equipment, although some were worried that whacking them with a large wrench several times crossed the line from "Covert sabotage" to "Demolition". And so, with no flyers coming within AA range, and the Equestrians thinking they had some downtime, they managed to assemble the largest foreign Invasion force IN THE WORLD, much less to ever set foot in Equestria. So, all this managed to delay the Equestrian counter-espionage. And what a delay it was! First, the officers marched straight into Canterlot and had a Pegasus fly right up to Celestia's window, with a note requesting more budget for troops and defenses, then a note, reminding her of the first one. They debated hotly for a few hours as to whether or not to send a third note reminding her of the second, but this was shot down. SURELY she wouldn't be stupid enough to forget it when it was LITERALLY DELIVERED TO HER ON A SILVER PLATTER. *Cough Cough* Anyways, a minute passed, then an hour, then several. Then, at midnight, a messenger with a note: "We're sorry, but we have been unable to process your letter at this time. Please write again later." So, pissed off at getting a half-assed response from Canterlot, they tried again. This time with a four-pony team carrying a 20 pound bag up into the air and shoving it through Celestia's balcony. Inside the bag were HUNDREDS of copies of the same note. This time, they didn't even get A response. They tried over and over. They tried paper airplanes, they tried carpet bombing the note all over Canterlot, they tried to force their way into the court [No luck, Imperial Guard answers only to Equestrian Intelligence Service (EIS), not Counter-Espionage, and nobody was in anyways.], they tried to write it in the sky, they tried to write in on the ground, they tried the John Cusack method, where they loudly played a boombox outside her balcony and tried to shout it to her, and they even enlisted the help of the mane six, but evidently Celestia only responds to letters involving friendship. And then, the Diarchy left on vacation. And the Canterlot Nobles [Who were in charge until the princesses returned] happened to not like the commander of Counter-Espionage, and they would REFUSE to cooperate with him. There would not be more mines on the beaches for a while. And the griffons had assembled quite a force. Engineers, Shock troopers, Marines, Airborne [A large component of their invasion], Infantry, Mechanized, Armor, Artillery, and Sleeper cells within Equestria were all prepared for the attack. This was almost every single soldier in Gryphgen, ready for invasion, and that's not to COUNT the Zebrakin [From the East] Draconian [From the Southeast],Changeling [From the South], and Saddle Arabian [From the South] that had all queued up to kick Equestria's ass. This would surely be the end of Equestria, if the invasion was completely unprepared for. Sadly for the griffons, It's allies had not been so careful at being secretive in their preparations. Author's Note Next time on the Equestrian History channel: Preparations [Part three]
Preparations [Part Three] and Partisans Now, listen. This chapter, I realized, Is violent, very, very violent, so, brief summary for anyone who might not be able to take it: I mention the sleeper cells, and then I begin the invasion. In between is bloody, bloody interrogation, and I am honestly ashamed. You should skip this. And for those who didn't, don't complain to me. Frankly, I felt a bit sick to the stomach after writing this, and I felt that it's worthy of making this go from "Teen" to "Mature" I am truly sorry. [Although, It might not be as bad as I first thought.] The Saddle Arabians had taken great caution in preparation, and had mobilized 1-in-10 of their [Remaining, after Equestrian Invasion] population. So had the Zebrakin, and the Dragons, while technically not being a sovereign nation, sure acted like one, and with dragons, I don't think anybody's gonna question that. The Changeling Collective, however.. Well, being the source of almost every sleeper cell and secret agent the Anti-Equestrian Alliance had to offer, they had to be careful, possibly more than the others. And they were, but that was just the spies. The army was decidedly less secretive. And by decidedly, I mean that they didn't use a code, they didn't force levels of clearance for certain intelligence, and a day before the attack, they lined their army right up, nice and close to the the border. When rogue Changeling patrols were discovered by the Equestrians, they were captured and taken in for interrogation, then summarily executed when they refused to give. The Changelings had the best anti-interrogation training for non-spies, and it showed. They gave name, rank, and serial, and at times not even that. They didn't even give to the interrogation charms that the Equestrians used, and were barely fazed when they attempted to search their mind. Not everyone passed anti-interrogation training, and these men were given cyanide pills. When taken prisoner, they just bit down until the capsule burst, and now they had a corpse, which wouldn't do them any good unless they were either necrophiliacs or had a "revival" spell that wasn't a necromancy spell, which didn't exist. These Changelings, whether executed or self-poisoned, were the first casualties of Operation Diarchy. Needless to say, about eighty Changelings were captured, and were either executed or had cyanide pills, before the Changelings caught on and stopped all scouting patrols. But before they did, one changeling by the name of "Zorky MacLin" was captured, and it turned out his pill was bought at the cheapo alchemist, 'cause it just caused him to throw up a bunch and pass out. When he woke up, he was in a room with a unicorn with a surgical mask on, and a bright light in his eyes. A quick look around showed that this was in a white, tiled room. He was on a hospital bedpan, and struggling only made the magical binding tighter. "My name is PFC Zorky MacLin, serial number eighty-eight five four sixteen five-" "We got all that from your Dogtags. We're here for what you know." The unicorn pulled gloves onto his hooves, and picked up a scalpel. "That''s all I know. Now let me the fuck go." The unicorn chuckled. "Our dream probes may have been unsuccessful, but it wasn't fruitless." He pointed his scalpel at Zorky. "We know that you know something." "Watch where you fucking point that. What do you mean by "We know"?" The unicorn smiled a sadistic, sick smile. "We, as in we two here, know that We, as in we here in information retrieval, know that They, as in High command, know that We know." Zorky briefly struggled against the binds. "So They know We know They know We know?" "Yes, We know They know They know We know." "I see. So If They know that We know that We know that We know, and They know that They know, Do We know what They know?" "No. And stop stalling." The unicorn stabbed Zorky in a wing with the scalpel. "I think we'll start here." Despite being stabbed in a minor artery in a major body part, and blood spilling out and onto the floor, Zorky managed to keep from screaming until he started cutting. The unicorn turned up the light, and as his wing was cut open, Zorky stared into that light. He felt himself going mad from the pain, but he stayed sane until the Unicorn stopped and poured some salt into the wound. JESUS CHRIST, THIS MAN IS A PSYCHO! is what he would've thought, if he hadn't been going mad while in immense pain. Instead, he imagined that he was back home, in the hive, while he actually said "AAAGHGAHGHHAGHAH" He remained this way until a healing spell was cast on his wing and a bucket of water roused him from his pleasant dream. Disoriented, he turned his head over the shoulder and saw that the wall opposite his wing, and even the ceiling, was splattered in a sizable amount of blood. And if he could see the floor, he would see that it too was covered in blood. An IV full of plasma was attached to him, and another IV full of blood was attached to his wing. The unicorn was looking at a spell scroll, but when he looked up, he seemed pleased to be pleased. "Back from Slumberland, Little Nemo?" "Fuck." "Now, now. No need for profanity. Now, what do you know?" "I ain't telling you, you 'sumbitch." "Come on, We both know that They know that YOU know. What do the numbers mean?" "What?" "Wrong answer." The scroll was activated, and a sizable electric shock was given to Zorky. "GAAAAAAGH!" It was perfectly timed to prevent his heart from fibrillating, but just large enough to cause immense pain without killing him. "Zorky, m'boy, you may just be the most co-operative Changeling we've found all day. Oh, I DOlove it when a special interrogation order comes down from Counter-Espionage. Now, tell me you killed twenty Innocent Equestrians." "FUCK." Another shock was given, and once again the twisted surgery began. The disgruntled and oppressed civilians of Equestria, the Equestrian Griffons, the Mules, the Donkeys, the Diamond dogs, the similar, were all too happy when Anti-Equestrian Sleeper Cells contacted them and asked if they wished to overthrow Equestria from the inside. This was their chance to show that they deserved citizenship, and they would kill Ponies to have it. Other, less enraged or better off non-Equine Equestrians were against it but not so against it that they would report it. If these idiots wish to make life worse for themselves, they thought, Then let them. I'm too rich/friends with the local watch captain/not involved, so I should be fine. Then, because of species-ism, xenophobia, and the fact that the nobles are just arseholes, some Non-Equines, maybe they had criminal records, maybe they were suspected subversives or had a conflicting political stance with the local government, or maybe the local guard commander just didn't like them, started being re-located to the internment camps on the eastern coasts. This was NOT like the Japanese internment, as not everyone was carted off, but many were, and this only served to enrage the Non-Equines. Arms were snuck in and hidden in safe-houses, or buried in the backyard, or just stolen from the local garrison, and they planned. Or rather, the Sleeper cells got plans from High-Command, passed them to the insurgent groups, and high command planned. Some consistent themes in the plans? They would toss Manelotov cocktails into the town hall, they would round up the local garrison and police to use as hostages, and they would [Hopefully] hold out until the Invasion force arrived. This plan was xeroxed and sent to every single Sleeper cell and Partisan group in every major or notable Equestrian town or city. And the moment the invasion sirens started, they would strike. It had been Twelve hours since Zorky was captured, and after the information retrieval torture, he was confessing to everything that he was told to. "And say that you stole my yogurt from the break-room fridge." "I STOLE IT FROM THE BREAKROOM FRIDGE!" "Good, good. Now say that you didn't really, but you saw Larry take it." "LARRY TOOK IT!" "Now, now, what's this? First you say you, a Changeling SPY, did it, now you say that Larry, a good friend of mine, did it. Who do I trust?" "I LIED, I LIED, I DID IT!" "Now, now, do you need another slicing for that?" The unicorn jabbed a buzz-saw at Zorky. "DEAR GOD NO! PLEASE!" Zorky had cried so much that he had run out of tears. All he had was yelling. Suddenly, another pony poked his head in. "Oi! William! You broken that Changer yet?" "Yeah, Larry. I was just about to extract the info from him." The unicorn said. "Well, Counter-Intel told me to tell you that that information isn't needed now. The invasion has already begun." "GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" William stabbed himself in a hoof with the scalpel. Blood spilled over the floor. He pushed a button that said PRISONER ESCAPE. "THE CONVICT HAS ATTACKED ME! TAKE HIM TO THE HOLDING CELL!" Two guards rushed in, brutalized Zorky, and threw him into a holding cell, where he stayed without food or water for eight more hours, until the Changeling army finally got to the Info-Retrieval HQ, where he was immediately sent to a hospital within The Collective's borders, where he recovered and, after being awarded a medal for keeping calm under interrogation and getting medically discharged, wrote his account of his experiences in the army leading up to, and including, his horrific interrogation. This whole segment was adapted from it, and it's on assigned reading. It WILL be on the test. Next episode: Horseshoe bay. Author's Note I would've named "Zorky" something bug related, but: (A) I was too lazy, and (B) I couldn't find anything good on the first page of google resu
Horseshoe bay and the northern peninsulaA typical Griffonese landing craft had a machine-gunner, a driver, and space for about two squads. A typical Griffonese Attack Airship had a small crew and space for about a platoon. A typical Griffonese Transport/Gunship helicopter had two pilots, a side gunner, and space for a squad. And an Atypical Griffonese landing craft had a tank in it. Almost 5000 landing craft were used by the army to land on the beaches. About 3,200 Helicopters were used by the army to act as airborne troopers. And exactly 182 Airships were in use to maneuver at high altitudes, far behind enemy lines. Almost All ten-million of Gryphgen's troops would be in the invasion. Not all would land at During the initial invasion. Only about 400,000. But this would hopefully be enough to clear the beaches. Battleships would bombard from offshore. Aircraft would drop ordnance and bunker-busters on bunkers and "Special Targets", which were highly classified, even to the Bombardiers and Crew. Early in the morning, the men climbed down nets on the side of ships, and into the boats that sat short above the water. Rifles were loaded, prayers were said, and the ships set off into the horizon. The landing waves at Horseshoe Bay came in three groups, and each of those was subdivided in turn. The first two waves were on the "Toes" of the Horseshoe, which stuck out. They would attempt to clear the North and south sides of the actual bay itself, in order to prevent deadly enfilade fire from artillery on the shores. First would come the sappers. With mine-clearing tanks and combat engineers, they would clear the beaches of mines and barricades. Next would come the shock troopers. With body armor and advanced training, they would see if they could breach the bunkers before the main wave arrived. Should they not, the third wave will come in hot, with whole boats of men being cut down at the hooves of the Equestrian Machine-gunners. First, the attack began at the north. With the largest shoreline, it had the most risk for artillery and the highest chance for an Equestrian Counterattack. Immediately, when the Engineers arrived within a few Kilometers of the shore, the fight was fierce. Planes twirled and overhead, and on occasion, one would explode like a gruesome firework. Artillery rained down upon bunkers and more inland targets. And if one was lucky, but no too, a boat would explode in a fireball of men and HE shell, and one would reflect on who they knew that was on that ship. And when the boats finally reached the shore, the tanks would roll out first. Immediately, before they could activate their mine-flails, they would be hit with artillery and AP bullets, and would implode violently, scattering shrapnel and pieces of their comrades over the Engineers. Then, the Sappers were free to take the beach. As soon as the door opened, guns would open up, and the unlucky ones in the front would be cut down in a salvo of bullets and the flesh of their comrades. The ones in the middle would rush out, only to dive down behind any cover they could find, assuming they didn't step on a mine that they were meant to clear, accomplishing their goal with their last step. The [Only slightly so] more lucky ones in the back would jump over the side, and be cut down by stray bullets. They would drown as they bled out, and by mid-afternoon, the beaches were washed in the blood of the combat-engineers. But, they had done their job. Whether by their death or by crawling beside tanks and cover, grabbing and disabling mines as they did so, they had gotten the beaches clear of mines. Then, the Shock Corp sailed in. With body armor across the chests and Kevlar helmets on their heads, they could take three bullets to the chest [Or one bullet to the head] before the armor gave and they were pumped with holes. This, combined with experience and training, made the survival rate much higher. Not by much, but enough so that by the time the second wave died down, the beaches were flooded with enough shock troopers to take the whole Northern Peninsula, and maybe storm Baltimare. But with the bunkers still live, this was a no-go. So, the third wave rolled in. Much of this previous section was Adapted from Karl Hoofden's EXCELLENT history of wars in Equestria, and as such, it's on the required reading. Write a reminder to get it down in you planner, and make sure that you took down the previous section in your copybooks. Much of this next section was adapted from Sergetov Talovich's Memiors. This is not on required reading, but it is recommended. As always, take notes. Private Sergetov Talovich was in LC 508, on the attack on the Northern Peninsula, and wrote a detailed account of the Third wave. As I stood in the boat, I looked up. I saw our landing support flying overhead. The fly-boys would cover our approach from enemy Aircraft. I smiled, and tried to wave. Suddenly, AA fire ripped across the formation, and one went down, crashing in second into a ship a few down from us. "SHIT! FRITZ WAS IN THERE! THAT BASTARD OWED ME, THE SONSOFBITCHES." said nobody in particular. I was too mesmerized with the ship, as it smoked and burned. How can fire burn over the water? I saw fellow griffons jump out, and watched as they fought to stay afloat, and slowly drowned as nobody stopped their boats to help. The smart few flew up, and were again cut down by AA fire. Suddenly, the driver cried out "OPENING STOCK IN THIRTY SECONDS! PREPARE FOR TRADING TO BEGIN!" Afterwards, he turned to McLean, saying "Can I have a light?" Gesturing to the cigarette hanging from his beak. Just as McLean got out his lighter out, A stray bullet struck the side of the ship. Then, another. Then, three more. Then, the bastards crossed the line from unintentionally hitting the ship to Trying To Kill Us. A ship beside out exploded. Before I could become mesmerized with this, as before, the ship ran aground. "OPEN ER' UP!" A Sergeant opens the door. As the door lowered, the Driver scarcely said "TRADING HAS BEGUN! WE'RE IN BUSINESS!" Before a hail of bullets descended upon hit. It happens like it was in slow motion. The bullets first hit in his head, killing, then they ripped flesh from his bones, and plunged into his stomach, spilling it's contents as they ripped through, and as blood splattered over the back of the ship, I wondered what his name was. Too late now. I thought, and rushed out to fall behind a Czech hedgehog. Orsons was there. Hiding behind some pieces of metal hoping not to die was bad enough, but about an hour in, John arrived, and right where he sat down was a landmine, and we had to wait for a sapper to come over to disable it. And the worst part was, right afterwards, a bullet cracked his skull. Anyways, we pushed on. After about two hours, we had finally made it to the seawall. As we waited for engineers to arrive with Bangalore torpedoes, we attempted to snipe the bunkers. Two minutes later, we had to stop, as Orsons was dead with a bullet through the neck, and I didn't want the same to happen to me. After what seemed like an eternity, crouching under that little hill of sand, engineers managed to blow through. as we rushed up the cliffs, we were stopped dead in our tracks. The enemy had dug trenches, and nobody was too eager to run through them. So there I was, sitting behind a rock with some men from a whole other division, and somebody mentioned how it was a but a "Stones Throw Away" from the bunker. I think it was a Griffon with green plumage who said "Well, why the hell not?" and started throwing grenades into a bag. After about half an hour, we had thrown our bullet's gunpowder into a handkerchief, tied it up, and thrown it into a bag of explosives. When all was set, we threw a lit match in, then threw it at the bunker. It worked pretty damn well, all said and done. But even though there was a sizable hole in the side of the bunker, we all cursed ourselves for how stupid we had been. That was all of our bullets! After a half a day of fighting, the Griffonese troops had finally taken the Northern Peninsula. On that same day, the southern peninsula had to be taken, and things went a little less swimmingly there. Author's Note Horseshoe bay and the Southern peninsula, next time on the Equestrian History channel.
