Raid on the Trenches! [Erik]

[Daniel Brennan]

Wolf is behind the rock in the top left hand corner, btw.

[Rhys Bevan]

OOC: Seeing as you didn't include a map, I kept all of your men in the same positions as earlier although I added the surviving scout into the same group as the rest of your men.

It may seem like quite an optimistic post to say at the least but it would take less than three minutes for all of these actions to take place. Thanks for reading.

P.S: Apologies for the cheesy death-ish scene. I couldn't help it; the cliche was before me and I had to grab it with both hands. ;D



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Cadwaladr let out a muffled roar of pain as he crashed to the floor, his entire form bloody and punctured with bullets. It took every ounce of Parker's willpower not to yell out in horror as his companion smashed to the ground, coughing up blood. He pushed forward to where he lay and kneeled down at his side. It was obviously hard for him to breathe; every time his chest weakly rose up and down, he writhed in agony as beads of sweat mingled with the blood.

"Geraint..." Parker whispered pathetically. Cadwaladr opened one eye weakly and smiled faintly at his young comrade.

"I'm feeling a little under the weather," he murmured almost silently, the smile on his face delirious. Parker forced himself to quell the tears that were daring to appear.

"You're fine, Geraint," he whispered in answer. "You're...you're fine...."

Cadwaladr looked his friend straight in the eye and felt around weakly for his rifle. Parker bent down immediately and handed it to him, letting it rest on his wan chest.

"Take it," Cadwaladr spluttered, as yet more blood dribbled from his mouth.

"What?"

"Take it...use it...'gainst them...for me..." wheezed the dying man, as his vision became blurry.

Parker nodded as tears pricked his eyes and discarded his own rifle, Cadwaladr's in its stead. It was cold, deathly so. Like its owner.

"Gwell angau na chywilydd," whispered Cadwaladr.

"Gwell angau na chywilydd," replied Parker faintly. Cadwaladr coughed pathetically once more and fell still. Dead or unconscious, Parker did not know. The only thing that mattered was that Parker would fulfill his apparent dying wish or forefit his own life instead.

***

Rhys swallowed dryly, and smeared his chapped face with more mud just to be on the safe side. The enemy scouts had pulled back into the trench and for a second, Rhys felt certain that the day was his. But, no, it seemed the enemy were still standing their ground, seemingly driven forward in determination by the death of their man. Rhys felt no remorse for his actions; he had done what needed to be done. But shooting a man from behind...Rhys shook his head firmly and took control of his senses. Now was not a time for morals. Now was a time for survival. And that suited the Staff Sergeant just fine.

He took a deep breath and rose from his prone position to kneeling and from then to his feet. He counted to three and then darted through the open area, shielding his head with his hands. As he approached the first cluster of rocks before him, he dived to the floor and rolled once more into the prone position behind his newfound cover, trying to calm his beating heart.

Rhys peered breathlessly over the rocks and scanned the immediate area. He was close to the target but there was still some distance to go before he could put his plan into action. For the first time since the battle had begun, he was glad he was alone in his venture. With a troop of men behind him, he would have been discovered within seconds. Alone, he had a chance. A fighting chance to rip the enemy to bits. And he would take any chance he could get if it meant victory.

He waited a good ten seconds before continuing his push, knowing full well that the enemy would be alert for any movement in the area. Despite the pitch dark, he reckoned that, if they were lucky, they might be able to spot him and presumably be scared of him. And from Rhys' experience, Germans tended to shoot at things they were scared of.

Rhys dived to the floor and began to crawl steadily towards the next cluster of rocks. He knew he was completely out in the open and didn't relish the opportunity of getting his head blown off when he was so close to his goal. When he had covered roughly half the distance needed, he rose to his feet and sped silently towards the target. He dived down and pushed his back against the firm wall of rock, hoping his heavy breathing would not attract attention.

He fumbled clumsily around in his pack for a few seconds and withdrew his brand new flare gun. Unnused, it was unusually handsome for such a clumsy piece of weaponry but it would serve him well enough. It was all about timing.

Rhys raised the flare gun to the air and pulled the trigger. The entire area was suddenly engulfed in an almost blinding light. As he was ready for the sudden burst, Rhys' eyes adjusted to the sudden light instantly and without hesitation, he charged forward while the enemy were distracted. He ripped a single grenade from his belt as his heart beat inside his ripcage like a drum and pulled the pin. He counted to three steadily as he had learned in training and hurled it as accurately as he could over the trench wall and straight into the middle of the column of men.

Ducking down, the Staff Sergeant sent a few blind shots into the trench in a bid to pin any fleeing foes down before diving to the floor and lying prone and still behind the rock before him. He wiped his brow. He was vaguely aware of Diaz, Rich and Hughes attacking from behind but what of the others? He hoped to God they were still alive.

***

As the blinding white light lit up the battlefield like a Christmas Tree, Parker shielded his eyes in surprise but soon came to the conclusion that it must have been the Staff Sergeant. He was alive at least. For now, in any case.

This was all Parker needed to take the initiative. With Cadwaladr's rifle still fresh in his arms, he charged forward and crouched behind a large boulder. There was a single German, but feet away from him, within the trench. It didn't look like he had seen him. Parker was amazed at how close he had been to the rest of the troop and breathed quietely. He trained Cadwaladr's rifle expertly on the figure before him.

Snipers were trained to aim for the neck of their foes and for good reason; there was little anyone could do about a bullet in the neck. Parker was not a sniper, far from it, but he appreciated the knowledge and aimed directly at the German's outstretched throat.

"For Cadwaladr," he murmured in a half-whisper. He pulled the trigger.

[PuNk! ™]

Moderation Post:[/b]

The following actions have been made;

S.SGT. R,Bevan:

• Successfully advancing across the no-man’s land with agile and due to the right flank causing a mass of distraction, the German’s seem totally unaware of anything advancing upon their left flank. A clumsy move.
  
  - Just for the record, I have seen no sentries assigned to the left flank as guards, as everyone in the middle is being used to volley shots and one/two people on the far right are guarding the tree-line.
  
  
• Shooting the flare gun into the sky, the whole area has become a dazzling blaze of flickering white and red; More than enough for accurate visibility to such close enemies.
  
  - However, shooting the flare into the sky has caused R,Bevan’s concealed position to become noticed and his spur of the moment at running towards the trench to lob a grenade, didn’t go unseen. Two German soldiers almost fell from their feet, as they hastily reloaded and cocked their rifles forwards to try and nail a desperate shot…
  
  - One bullet has ripped straight through R,Bevan’s left leg (from the low stature of the men in the trench, shooting upwards at the close target) and the second bullet cut straight past R,Bevan’s right cheek. Perhaps the closest bullet to have nearly killed him, but also the luckiest in R,Bevan’s case…
  
  None the less, these wounds didn’t stir the S.SGT as the grenade was hurled in mid process to being shot at. The grenade fell Successfully amongst the men in the trench and the two soldiers witnessing the account had barely a breath to yell out about it, before they dived head first into the mud to save themselves.
  
  The Grenade exploded and shrapnel ripped straight through a unsuspecting private, killing him instantly, whilst one of the men diving to the ground from the close proximity, bounced as the close explosion blew apart his whole right lower leg and his left foot. This unit is critically wounded and will die in the next mod-mark if not treated medically.
  
  The rest of the shrapnel bounced throughout the trench, wounding Armin Fuchs in the process, as splinters of jagged shrapnel (no bigger than cornflakes, but plenty of them!) needled throughout his right leg. Although not serious, the shrapnel wounds will slow Armin Fuchs and prove to be a distraction from the pain, for the remainder of the battle…
  
  
  
  
  
  
• NPCs; All of them!
  
  - Most of the Allied units shooting, failed to hit anything, due to the stir-up in the trench, causing almost everyone to fall flat on their faces…
  
  - NPC, Parker’s shot narrowly missed, as the bullet sped past the German Soldier’s helmet, causing an almighty clang! This has shaken up the soldier and without much assistance, after hearing a grenade go off further down the trench, has a real low morale… He is beginning to contemplate on surrendering or running.
  

NEXT POST, ARMIN FUCHS!
~Danny[/color]

[Daniel Brennan]

Maybe you should change it so someone else got the injury... Armin is the one in the far right of the trench. Sorry, I forgot to add the little black circle that I had put on the him in the other posts when I moved him to there.

[PuNk! ™]

Hey Dan,
Unfortunately, I don't see the move in your prior post. Plus, I naturally assumed you was amongst your men, as you lead them to fire volleys of rounds towards different enemies?

Unless you can quote the move, I'm sticking to the Moderation made. I would have appreciated the map to be more readable, as I've had to guess your whereabouts.
~Danny

[∬: Armin Fuchs]

A quiet shout of pain came from the semi-darkness and told the men they had at least hit one of their targets. This wasn’t going good. It appeared the enemy outnumbered them by half a squad, judging by the amount of fire that was coming in at them and there was no way for him to get reinforcements. He had lost at least one man and the enemy just kept advancing. They had lost the valuable forward position which had let the enemy to start advancing on a wider front than his men could cover. He tried to stay calm. The first thing on his list was to find and kill or capture the enemy commander. He could see nervousness in the faces of the men near him and he tried to calm them down.

”Eyes peeled, eyes peeled.” He said loudly and putting fake cheer into his voice. The men’s morale would drastically raised by hearing their commander in a good mood... hopefully. He peered over the top of the trench and strained his eyes. Was that a figure? He was sure he had seen something dash from behind a rock out in the field. He didn’t see the figure emerge again, so he presumed that they were in no immediate danger from it.

”Enemy movement sighted!” shouted Private Amsel loudly who fired just as he said it. Most soldiers dived into the mud as the grenade dropped down into the middle of the trench. It lay there for less than a second before exploding and sending thousands of fragments through the air, most of which impacted into the body of Private Ald Fuhrmann, ripping into the skin and tearing apart the important organs inside. He was dead before his brain even recognised the grenade going off. More shrapnel ripped into Private Amsel, who had warned them of the figure seconds before. His legs were mangled so much you wouldn’t even know they used to be legs and the pain was so immense that he couldn’t even bring himself to move his body away from the position he had landed in. He lay there against the wall of the trench in shock as people moved around him.

Armin had also received damage; his leg had been peppered with small pieces of shrapnel the size of pebbles. It was sore. He flopped down onto his back in the mud, but he pulled himself into a sitting position after a few seconds when he remembered he was meant to be commanding this squad. He felt a freezing pain in his head as he looked down the trench. His face had gone stark white as he gazed at the carnage caused by the grenade. The grenade has been devastating, two of his men lay dead and Private Kalb just sat there in the mud, looking shocked. He felt a little relief as one of what he had thought were dead bodies groaned in pain. His brain started to work in overdrive. He had no clue what to do, how could he even retreat with his men in a position like this! Two shots from a German rifle echoed through the night and a shout shortly after. ”Fuchs, we have the British commander in our sights! He is wounded! Get them to surrender!” Armin raised his mouth in astonishment and exchanged a look with Kalb.

Wolf lay shivering behind the rock, but he soon calmed down after more calming words from Wolf. Schmidt leaned out of the trench almost to the wire, to be as close to his friend as possible and was in a slightly uncomfortable position, but he was concentrating more on keeping Wolf’s moral up. Running footsteps suddenly sounded and they stopped... Right on the other side of the rock Wolf was behind. He started shaking violently. The enemy must have seen him go behind the rock and they were coming to kill him. He was about to jump out and bolt for the second time in a few minutes, but the Briton moved on. He watched in horror as the grenade was thrown into the trench. He stared at Schmidt and Schmidt stared back. His mind worked and suddenly he noticed how juicy the target was. He was flopped down on the ground, his torso an easy target and he wasn’t even facing him. Wolf apparently had the same idea and he signalled for him to fire.

A determined expression lightened onto his face and he determinedly raised his rifle. He rested himself against the rock, which helped to steady the barrel which would improve his accuracy he was staying calm. He told himself that even if he missed he could still get in another shot. He raised his body slightly to get a better shot at the middle of the Sergeants back. He placed the sights evenly on his back. It was an easy range for a rifle and the enemy was clearly there for him to see. There was no way he could miss. He started to squeeze the trigger. Then he stopped. He nudged the sights a millimetre to the left and then he fired, intending for his shot to penetrate the enemies back and to destroy his internal organs. As he fired, Schmidt also fired. Schmidt called out to Armin as they both kept their sights firmly on the commander, knowing they would shoot if anyone came close.

Armin spoke quickly and quietly, but Kalb still understood him. ”Kalb try and shoot up a few Germans before we try and get them to surrender. If we ask now they probably won’t comply: their moral is too high. Do the fatherland proud, I’ll be disappointed if you fail” Kalb grinned at the last bit which had been designed to cheer him up and then he moved into position. His rifle pointed straight at the chest of a Corporal who it seemed was already injured and he fired quickly, before anyone else could fire at him. He pulled back the bolt as he moved into a second position. This one would be much, much easier. The figure was beside a rock, but that wouldn’t prove to be an obstacle since it wasn’t in his line of fire. The rifle was lifted again and the butt was placed firmly into his shoulder. His careful eyes looked down the sights and he fired. Without moving his feet he swivelled around so he faced an enemy beyond the injured Corporal. He repeated the manauver he used last time and then ducked down behind the wall.

On seeing him finish firing Armin was quick to start talking in English. He was the son of a rich Austrian family and he had learned the ugly language in school. ”Allied soldiers, there is no point fighting any more. Your commander is injured and in our sights. Surrender at once or you will die like a few of your friends have already done. All you have to do is throw down your weapons and then walk towards us with your hands in the air. I’ll give you 10 seconds before your Sergeant gets shot.” He shouted the last bit in German too.

OOC: If you have a complaint that goes something along the lines of: ‘I didn’t know where Wolf was’ or something like that, then it’s not my fault. I put in lots of detail when I was positioning my units: I said Wolf was behind a rock beside the trench and later on said Schmidt went to the very end of the trench to get nearest to Wolf. Well, it obviously wasn’t the end to the right since that would mean Wolf had crossed over the enemy positions so it had to be where they are placed on my map now. Also, just before Rhys posted I said where Wolf was.

[PuNk! ™]

Moderation Post:[/b]

Just for the Record, Armin’s line of defence is almost broken - the enemy are nothing but a stone’s throw away; Meaning they are practically successful in charging across the no man’s land to comprise your Trench Armin.

You have a broken line of defence, with men leaving the trench to make shots and you single men running back forth, to try and cover a segment of frontier that should be manned by three soldiers roughly. So the Axis morale is incredibly low, but this doesn’t mean the Allied Morale is any better - The Allies have encountered casualties and are thinning on the man power being used…

Dan, in future, if you’re going to name your units individually and control them as singletons, could you possibly colour code them? The use of one colour for units, is when they’re being used in bulk and with no reference to names as such. As it stands, you’re using your units as singletons and it’s highly confusing, having to continuously read through your post to work out who’s what and who’s where… Thanks!

Armin Fuchs:

• Giving clear and direct orders, the morale of the men is incredibly low still, but they feel like they still have a chance at fending off the enemy with being told what to do…
  
  
• Armin’s leg is bleeding excessively and the pain is causing him to feel quite faint, falling Unconscious/Into Shock at this stage in the battle, could result in Armin dying or being captured.
  
  - Medical treatment must be sought’ for the leg immediately within the next few posts, otherwise Armin will find himself growing weaker and weaker, before consequences would emerge from the splintered shrapnel in his leg; Some of which may enter the bloodstream if Armin isn’t careful, that could result in the inevitable death if it reaches any main-internal organs.
  

NPCs;

• Wolf: successfully made it out of the trench without being seen, due to the mass commotion on-going within the trench distracting most of the Allied units attention.
  
  
• Lining up his shot upon S.SGT Bevan, who is stunned (from a rifle round cutting straight past his cheek) and wounded (from a rifle round cutting through his leg), was entirely unsuspecting to be out-flanked by the enemy in the trench.
  
  - Wolf’s rifle shot was Partially Successful.
  (Rhys is laying prone on the ground and Wolf isn’t exactly in any elevation position to be shooting directly down onto the back of the Sergeant, none the less, the following has occured ).
  
  The bullet zipped straight across the upper back of Rhys Bevan, ripping an entire inch deep gash (in some areas) from his left shoulder blade, to his right hip, barely missing his spine in the process. The wound is incredibly painful and Rhys is hardly able to move from the agonising pain that has almost paralyzed his torso.
  
  
• Schmidt’s rifle shot from the trench, was also Partially Successful.
  
  The bullet cracked right across Rhys Bevan’s left shoulder, during the moment Rhys Bevan slightly raised his body out of sheer retaliation and instinct to see who was shooting him from his left side. The bullet has caused no major injury, other than another deep gash across Rhys’s left shoulder-blade; That in turn, has rendered the Sergeant’s left arm too painful to use…
  
  
• Kalb; The shots at the Corporal were merely suppressive and the Corporal Diaz has found himself pinned momentarily… Any actions used with his unit during the next post, will be slightly inaccurate, due to a growing fear and low morale; From the wounds he’s acquired.
  
  - Shooting at Parker, the bullets missed, as the unsurprised private had been watching Kalb from the end of the trench and his apparent quick movements through the dark and quick firing, made him stand out like a sore thumb. Out of a quick retaliation and the heat of the moment, Pvt Parker leant out from behind the rock and shot back with a quick single round, after Kalb had so predictably tried to shoot him.
  
  - The bullet cut across Kalb’s forearm during the moment he was about to lower his weapon and move to another position. The wound is flesh orientated and major, as the bullet managed to cut the main artery and excessive bleeding had begun. This unit Must seek medical attention in the following few posts (alike Armin) or he will too, pass into shock/faint or bleed-out.
  
  (Kalb was trying to do the work of at least three soldiers and for that reason, with his quick movement and rapid firing, made him noticeable to awaiting enemy closer to the trench…)
  
  
• Private Amsel has died quietly in the trench, due to no-one helping him. It took less than a minute for him to bleed out and pass unconscious, where he laid stone cold against the dirt, his lower body mangled from the explosion.
  

At this stage, I would like to advise both sides in considering a retreat.
Although Rhys Bevan is Injured quite badly with numerous wounds, with a little help from his remaining NPCs, he could pull off a successful retreat. The Offensive units are also scattered outside of the trench, but wearily close to the trench.

Armin is also wounded and with a lack of thin-defence, spread outside and inside of the trench, it would be advisable to pullback immediately.

So both sides have been warned.

NEXT POST, RHYS BEVAN!
~Danny[/color]

[Rhys Bevan]

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OOC: Oh...dear...

I wasn't sure which one was Amsel, so I just removed a random German from the map. Also, I made Armin white in my map, just to avoid confusion. Thanks.

Rhys rolled over onto his back as the agony washed over him and his vision became clouded. The wounds he had sustained were more intense than he had ever felt in his life and he felt like he was going to be physically sick. If this was dying, he managed to muse, then he could see why people tried desperately to stay alive at all costs. He coughed pathetically, desperate to fully gain control of his senses just long enough to escape the blanket of death that was beckoning ever closer to him. But he concentrated on the pain; the agony that was engulfing his body and seemed to be pouring into his bloodstream. The pain was so intense, so utterly agonising, that, as he bit his lip so hard that a droplet of blood squeezed out, he knew that nothing could ever hurt so much. And that, it seemed, gave him courage. He swallowed hoarsely and scrabbled around for his medical bag, concentrating wholly on pulling out a syringe of morphine from within. Rhys was not a trained medical technician but he had some grasp of basic medicine and he guessed that it was the agony of the shots that was limiting his movement rather than the actual wound itself. If he eliminated the pain, he reckoned he'd be able to at least move with some degree of speed and perhaps even marshal a couple of shots towards the enemy.

He raised the syringe dully and searched for a vain. Rhys had done the exact same manouvere on tens of people but it was a lot more difficult inserting the drug yourself whilst in agony. The Staff Sergeant gritted his teeth and plunged the syringe into his lower wrist. A sharp nip of pain shook his body for a fraction of a second until Rhys inspected his wrist, staring incredulously at the luck he had achieved. The morphine had been injected directly into his bloodstream - more dumb luck that any great accuracy. He knew that it would take about a minute for the morphine to kick in to its full effect and so there was nothing to do now but wait. He managed to roll over back onto his chest and crawled a couple of inches to the side to push into better cover than he had previously initiated. Suddenly, he felt the pain numbing and he gritted his teeth in determination as the pain dulled to a bearable hum. He removed his Webley pistol from its holster and trained it directly on the very man that had shot him. Ignoring the still niggling pain in his back, Rhys pulled the trigger, confident that the enemy would soon be tasting his own medicine.

***

Sean Parker felt a sensation of dread wash through his body as he heard the German's guttural tones echo across the battlefield. Could he be bluffing? He had no idea, he could have no idea. But...what could he do? Parker knew that retreat was not an option; the Sergeant wouldn't want them to flee the field, he would not let Cadwaladr have died for nothing, he would not. Parker sighed. Was this what it felt like to be a hero? He didn't feel particularly heroic; just scared. So scared.

He crawled steadily but at a relatively fast pace towards the domineering figure of the American private Daniel Rich. He was a huge man with bulging biceps and an unrivalled skill with firearms amongst the platoon. He was not particularly popular with the other privates but Parker was glad to see that he was alive. Cadwaladr's rifle was still cold in his hands. He was yet to have fulfilled his promise to his late friend; he knew that sooner or later, this would change.

"See the enemy leader," hissed the Englishman to the powerful American who was taking cover behind a moderately sized rock, unshaken by the shots fired at him by the cowards within the trench. "He's injured; if we take him down, his army is nothing,"

Rich nodded slowly, reluctant to take orders from the younger man at his side. He raised his rifle intently and breathed steadily, in his element, in the zone. His entire body seemed to ripple with anticipation - and power - as his finger pressed down on the trigger and a single shot whistled through the air towards the wounded German commander.

"Keep taking shots at the trench," whispered Parker. "Keep him pinned down; we don't want him running off, do we?"

"What are you gonna do?" hissed Rich, instinctively ducking down to the floor for a second, awaiting any retalliation.

"I'm gonna help you, Daniel," replied Parker stoutly, sending a shot of his own towards the young private whom he had already injured but seconds earlier. "And we're going to win this thing, you hear me?"

Rich grinned at the Englishman, the first time he had ever done so. Then he returned to his task at hand and sent another shot screaming towards the unwitting German commander.

***

Phillip Hughes was glad of the corporal's presence at his side as they sent shot after shot towards the enemy. He was a brave man, a seasoned NCO, who knew what it was to lead and understood the chain of command explicitly. But even he was unable to fight the rising sense of hopelessness that was appearing unwelcomingly into his bloodstream. Corporal Diaz gritted his teeth.

"We'll never hit anyone from back here," he said firmly. "Push forward; come on,"

Before Hughes could answer, Diaz had made began an almost silent charge towards a near cluster of rocks, keeping his head down to avoid attracting unwelcome attention to himself. Hughes followed him indirectly, pushing forwards in a more northerly direction to his superior, but metres away from Rhys.

"I'll open fire on this ponce up here," whispered Diaz with a grin. "Look after the Sergeant; if he's dying, at least defend his body. We owe him that much,"

Hughes nodded confidently and crawled up to the side of his wounded commander, terrified that Diaz' words would ring true and that their leader was dying. A wan smile from the Staff Sergeant raised his morale more than any rising battle cry; their leader was alive, their was hope yet.

"Hughes," smiled the Welshman weakly. "It looks like you're looking after me now, eh?" Rhys opened up his closed fist to reveal a single Frag grenade and brought his hand to Hughes. "I'm too weak to throw, Private," he said. "It's down to you. This is the final reckoning, my friend, it's all down to you,"

Hughes took the grenade from his commander's shaking hands and swallowed miserably. However, the grim determination on his leader's face soon brought the ferocity back to his blood stream.

"Let your rage on history's page, in German blood be written," whispered Rhys, quoting from an old poem. "Rather fitting tonight, isn't it, Private?"

Hughes nodded as tears began to prick his eyes. He wiped his eyes forcefully and, after taking a huge breath, he pulled the pin. He counted three seconds in his head as Rhys himself had taught him and with all his might, he threw the grenade right into the middle of the enemy base. A fraction of a second after the throw, Hughes looked down to see Rhys pulling the trigger of the flare gun. Instantly, a molten flare screamed into the air in the general direction of the man who had shot Rhys seconds earlier. Both men knew that it was about as accurate as a wet sponge, but from such range, there was a reasonable chance that the flare would actually hit the target, if not with such force as to kill him. Then it dawned on the private; he wasn't trying to kill the enemy (assuming he is still alive). He was trying to provide the private with a distraction so as to retreat.

"Run," whispered Rhys.

Hughes shook his head blindly and pulled the Sergeant to his feet by the scruff of his neck and pushing forward, practically dragging his leader behind him before diving back behind cover beside the corporal. Rhys coughed heavily, the dust from the mad dash thick and fast. He smiled at Hughes and nodded at Diaz.

"Nice to see you again, Jack," he said, almost pleasantly.

Diaz returned the grin and reloaded his rifle. He sent another shot whistling through the air, this time at the German commander before sending another burst towards the closest enemy to the Allied forces. Rhys knew that it would be impossible for him to fire with his rifle due to his wounded arm and that his pistol would be almost useless at such long range. Nonetheless, he thought. as he tapped his revolver fondly, he was ready for them.

[∬: Armin Fuchs]

Btw, PuNk. Not like this will change the mark or anything, but Wolf didn't have to climb out of the trench: he'd never been inside. :/

[PuNk! ™]

Moderation Post:[/b]

Sorry Dan. I wasn't able to tell, as you didn't supply a map and Rhys made the modifications for you - showing all the men in the trench. So ideally, it's not my fault and neither would it have changed anything as you said; But no worries.

Rhys Bevan & Co':

• Injecting yourself with a syringe/syrette of morphine, has backfired a little. Unqualified and in a haste, you have accidentally injected a fraction of too much morphine. Dulling the pain immediately, it has also caused Rhys to become slurred and lethargic.
  
  
• Shooting at the enemy (before you were moved), the shots inaccurately missed, but none the less, suppressed Wolf from taking anymore pot-shots momentarily.
  
  
• Rich & Parker: shooting at the enemy from their dug-in position (strong position, due to their suppressive firing and close range on the enemy) - none of the shots hit anything, but have stopped Armin and the wounded German Soldier from making any retaliation fire.
  
  
• Hughess: being given the grenade by the passing out Sergeant from the high dose of morphine, Hughs threw the grenade successfully towards the enemy trench…
  
  - The grenade fell a tad short, due to Hughess worrying about being shot by Wolf on their left flank if he rose his body too much, or his arm for that matter. None the less, the grenade exploded just outside of the trench.
  
  - The explosion sent all three men in the trench down upon their faces, suppressing them completely and dulling anything they could have seen through the dark to start with, to nothing now, as a cloud of dust and grit scattered inwards amongst the remaining German soldiers; Blinding and deafening them.
  
  
• Rhys: shooting a flare at Wolf, it done nothing but spiral off into the dirt aside the rock, lighting up the entire area - fowl move. The flare may be blindingly bright, but due to the fog of darkness, it has provided a good sight of visibility within the small area…
  
  - As Hughes dragged Rhys from out of cover, Wolf had the brief chance to take a pot shot from his huddled position (hardly suppressed anymore from any shooting; Diaz was taking shots at the commander - as you said, BEFORE Rhys and Hughes pulled back to his position, to shoot at Wolf)…
  
  Wolf took a quick shot at the slow running Private, dragging his wounded Sergeant like a sack of potatoes, hitting Hughes right through the neck. The lit up area made them stand out and the close proximity of the slow moving soldiers, made it almost like shooting a slow animal…
  
  Hughes staggered the last few steps, successfully dragging his Sergeant behind cover, before falling to the ground, choking. During this moment, Rhys has passed out from the high dose of Morphine in his system and may not retreat without NPC help (as before). Hughes is alive, but critically wounded, due the rifle round passing straight through his throat - medical attention must be sought immediately to save his choking soldier; I would provide advice on how to do so, but that would be cheating.
  
  
• Corporal Diaz: the corporal’s shots were ineffective; But have suppressed Wolf from making anymore quick retaliation fire.
  

At this stage, again, I would like to stress a retreat towards either side. Members may die during any point and this thread is becoming very unpredictable. You’re both risking a lot from here on out.

~Danny[/color]

[∬: Armin Fuchs]

OOC: I was just going to retreat and let Rhys get the victory, but then I took a look back through the thread and realised that only one of Rhys’ units is uninjured. Here’s a list of the injuries of both sides to help the mod-marker:

ALLIES:
Griggs: Shot through lower torso.

Diaz: Small cut along calf.

Parker: Took a round in upper shoulder.

Diaz: Shot through shoulder.

Hughes: Shot in neck.

Rhys: Scrape along cheek, two scrapes along back, one bullet straight through leg.

Rich: Uninjured.

AXIS:
Armin: Legs peppered with shrapnel.

Kalb: Bullet in shoulder, artery hit.

Wolf: Cut along hand.

Schmidt: Uninjured.



IC: Bullets flew through the air in every direction. It seemed like there was a whole platoon out there, firing at them. Armin and Kalb ducked down to the bottom of the trench. They stared with wide eyes at each other and Armin’s gaze swept from the privates face down towards his arm where a steady torrent of blood was gushing out of. On impulse he clapped his hand over the wound, not caring about Kalb wincing in pain. It seemed like a sort of thing a medic would do. If he squeezed on the hole like he was doing now it would stop the blood from getting out. Blood was valuable. Kalb needed his blood. They could just about hear loud footsteps over the sounds of the bullets, but they didn’t dare stick their heads up and see what was happening. An explosion came from just at the edge of the trench which made them press themselves into the ground even harder. How many grenades did they have up there?!

The firing stopped and Armin finally had a chance to look around. He had a feeling the enemy had moved closer to the trench. He didn’t dare look up though, so he tried to contact the rest of the squad. He looked up the trench where he could easily see Schmidt from the light of the flare that had gone off sometime in the fighting. He wind milled his hand frantically, to tell him to get come down. From his position Schmidt could see the two Germans a matter of metres away from his silent commander who didn’t know the danger he was in. „Privater Wolf, ich hinabgehen Fuchs helfen. Geben Sie mir ein Abdeckungsfeuer auf den zwei hinter dem Felsen“. "Private Wolf, I'm going down to help Fuchs. Give me some covering fire on those two behind the rock." Wolf nodded in confirmation and shuffled a few spaces. The light of the flare still burned brightly and would make these shots much easier. He was crouched down with one leg under his body and the other supporting him in front of. He aimed at the nearest target that was showing up easily against the rock. He fired once and then again. He fired another four more shots over a twenty second period, until he was sure Schmidt was down there.

Schmidt was crouched down double as he moved quietly down the trench towards the NCO. He arrived there and before Armin started talking he held up to fingers and pointed over the edge of the trench. Armin understood and said nothing. Schmidt took a closer look at Kalb and saw that the whole of his arm was bloodstained and that most of his sleeve was ripped off. The sleeve appeared to be wrapped tightly around the hole and Kalb was putting even more pressure on the wound by constantly keeping his hand pressed down on it. The senior sergeant reached to a pocket on his uniform and took out a stick grenade which he handed at Schmidt. The private nodded and moved up to the edge of the trench. He twisted the cap off the grenade and only held it in his hand for a couple of seconds before he stood up and tossed it gently the short distance to the rock. He made sure that it didn’t hit off the rock and bounce back in his face by throwing it to the side of the rock rather than over it. He ducked down again as the grenade exploded, hopefully killing the two men right beside it.

Armin and Kalb stood up – the first with a bit of difficulty. Armin got to the side of Kalb which wasn’t injured and the two of them helped each other hobble down to the end of the trench. Schmidt ran past them and to the edge of the trench near Wolf. He could see two figures. Wolf had shot one of them during the last exchange of bullets and he was probably dead. Another appeared more than alive and that would be his target. His rifle was getting a lot of use in a short space of time and was getting warm, but it wasn’t too bad yet. He rested the weapon on the edge and aimed at the alive figure. He fired three bullets, each of them could be the death of the poor British soldier, but Schmidt didn’t care. These people were the ones that had launched the attack and these were the people that had murdered his friends. These people deserved to die if anyone did.

At the same time Wolf was aiming at the same person. He was talking his time in aiming. He leisurely positioned the sights on the targets chest and he slowly pulled the trigger. He ducked behind cover and pulled the bolt. He turned around again and fired a bit more quickly, aiming at the mans chest again. Armin and Kalb sat down on the ground at the end of the trench and Kalb put his good hand over his injury again. Armin was starting to feel tired and woozy from his injuries and he took great relish in taking out his canteen and nearly draining it. He poured the rest over his legs to try and clean up his wound. He doubted it would do anything though. What he really needed right now was a medic…

[PuNk! ™]

Moderation Post:[/b]

Following actions have been made;

Armin Fuchs & Co’ :

• Helping Kalb who endured a serious wound to his forearm, Armin has successfully calmed the soldier and helped prevent this unit from dying/passing unconscious for a further two posts (so when you next post, this unit will pass unconscious, unless sought’ medically again to help prevent the bleeding further).
  
  
• Armin also gave Schmidt the grenade successfully.
  - Throwing the grenade at the cocky two privates fuelled on adrenaline and a good morale, they did not expect the Germans to counter them so fiercely…
  
  - The Grenade fell just beside Pvt. Rich’s left side (meter or so away). The head of the stick grenade thumped against the ground heavily, attracting their attention a brief second before it exploded.
  
  Pvt. Rich has been killed instantly as his left arm and leg were blown completely off by the speeding shrapnel slicing through the left side of his body, causing horrendous wounds to the head in the process. The left side of Private Rich’s head collapsed inwards from the explosion, blowing away half of his face in the process, instantly killing the man as his body catapulted like a rag-doll into Private Parker from the explosion.
  
  Private Parker has lost his left foot, but the rest of his body has been shielded by the half-mangled corpse of Private Rich being blown onto him. Private Parker is in critical condition and with such a close proximity to the enemy, it would be hard to reach this unit to save - Private Parker will pass out from his wounds if untreated in the next few posts.
  
  
• Wolf:
  - Shooting at Corporal Diaz // Covering fire, Schmidt (obviously as you already know) did successfully make along the Trench unharmed.
  
  However, Wolf’s shots didn’t hit anything, as the flare burning aside the rock is proving to be a burden than saviour now. Due to the aim southwards, rather than eastwards, Wolf’s aim is just above the burning flare and the bright light beneath his eyes is partially blinding him from making any accurate shots towards the South from his current position; Whereas aiming to the East was much better suited, as the flare was beside him.
  
  None of the shots hit the enemy and neither did it suppress them much in the process…
  
  

• Corporal Diaz: the corporal’s shots were ineffective; But have suppressed Wolf from making anymore quick retaliation fire.
  

  
  
  Wolf’s eagerness in hitting the enemy for the second time, didn’t go unnoticed by Corporal Diaz, who was protecting his Sergeant and Private Hughes paid off. He’d already suppressed the German Soldier and even that didn’t stop the German man from becoming cocky in his moves, with a swift payback, Corporal Diaz was able to get off a quick round the moment Wolf reared his head from behind the rock, ready to shoot them yet again for a second time in such short time; Even though he were suppressed momentarily, he didn’t take it as a warning.
  
  (Remember, Diaz is a Corporal and therefore, his current wounds wouldn’t be much of a deter on his aim. Just moving)
  
  Popping off a quick single shot, Wolf was knocked from off his feet as the bullet cut straight through his left arm the moment he tried to get a suitable aim on the Corporal’s chest…
  The wound isn’t major, but a bleeding gash.
  

I would suggest an immediate retreat immediately, upon Rhys Bevan’s behalf. I have not commented upon your state anymore, other than you’re still out cold. Hughes is choking, Pvt. Rich is dead and Pvt. Parker is terribly wounded, immobile at that.

Out of advice to a friend, I would suggest a cut your losses and run. Armin still has a very wealthy defensive position and a couple of men beaten and bruised to still fight with. So please, consider a retreat, otherwise the next round of posting would undoubtedly lead to a member death at this rate.

~Danny[/color]

[Rhys Bevan]

OOC: No map supplied because I've gone and bloody retreated, haven't I? Well done, Dan, you thrashed me. If you think my reviving of Rhys is unfair, then I guess I'll have to try again. I've given Diaz a radio by the way. Hope that's OK.

Jack turned instantly to Hughes in a state of panic. The man was down on his knees, choking and retching like a gutted fish. There was blood...so much blood. The corporal knew the figures off by heart; five minutes without oxygen and death would envelope the young man, three and brain damage would kick in. There wasn't a second to lose.

Diaz snatched at his canteen and poured water over the gaping wound in the man's throat so as to be able to determine the exact location of the wound. It looked like the bullet had passed cleanly through the windpipe and had missed the artery, thank god. The corporal pressed a couple of fingers against the wound to hold any escaping air, knowing full well that the private had minutes left until death took him. With his other hand, Diaz snatched at the medical bag and withdrew some smelling salts. He brought the item to Rhys' expressionless face to revive him from his dreamless state.

"Come on," he whispered to himself, as a single bead of sweat appeared on his grubby cheek.

***

Rhys woke up with a jolt as the colourless gas hit him hard and his eyes opened with a snap. The effects of the morphine were still intent on battling on in his bloodstream but he was conscious and that was one thing.

He glanced over to where Diaz was holding Hughes from the claws of death and rolled over to the young private's side in fear. "I'll take over, corporal," he said weakly, covering the gaping hole with his aching fingers. "You get Parker out of here," Rhys nodded to where his revolver lay on the floor at the corporal's feet. "Take that with you," he said. "You might need it,"

Diaz nodded frantically and picked up the cold Webley intently, before darting off to where the grisly remains of Daniel Rich lay. He kept his head down and made sure that he stayed out of the dull light that was pushing its way into the battlefield and rolled into cover behind the rock and turned to the agonised Parker. The man was in a bad state; the ground was stained gruesomely red and the sight of one of his companions' mangled corpse almost caused Diaz to keel over in a dead faint. Jack raised Rhys' Webley to the air and sent a single shot flying towards the general direction of the enemy, the only chance of distracting them and thus earning their retreat availiable to him.

He bundled Parker over his shoulder and charged through the murky battlefield, sending a series of shots towards the enemy to pin them down. Exhausted, he placed Parker firmly on the ground and turned to Rhys.

"Retreat," he whispered. Rhys nodded stoically, and, still keeping his hands firmly on Hughes' wounded throat, bundled him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Keep low," said the Staff Sergeant. "We don't want to put them at risk,"

Diaz nodded and held up three fingers, counting silently down to one. As soon as the final finger had disappeared, the two made a mad charge back towards the initial Allied location, sending shots behind them as they went. The barely conscious Parker even managed a couple of pot shots to keep the Germans at bay just until they could get back to base.

"We need a Medical Plane here ASAP," Diaz spluttered through the small portable radio in his pack. "We've got a wounded man with us; he needs urgent medical attention,"

"Roger that," came the stiff reply. "We'll be down there in half a minute,"
Jack nodded and placed the radio safely back into his bag. He reckoned that if the pilot would be true to his word and get their in less than a minute then Hughes would be saved. Just.

*RHYS RETREATS*

OOC: If you've got a problem with any of my actions, tell me and I'll make the post again.

[PuNk! ™]

Moderation Post:[/b]

Oh Rhys, you’ve made quite a few slip ups.
I left you such a massive hint, saying; “Cut your losses and Retreat” -Sighs- =(

Rhys Bevan and Co’:

• Rhys has passed out from the high dose of Morphine in his system and may not retreat without NPC help (as before).
  

  
  
  (That’s quoted from a prior mod-mark)
  
  - Successfully coming around from the smelling salts, Rhys is in a extreme state of sickness and nausea from the morphine in his system, hitting him like a tonne of bricks.
  
  Unfortunately, Private Hughes has died from the blood clogging up his airways, despite the efforts of Corporal Diaz and S.Sgt Bevan (What should have been done, was an emergency tracioctomy in the upper chest; You have a medical bag, so the tools were there to use).
  
  
• Corporal Diaz made a fowl move in running across no-man’s land towards Private Parker. Although the enemy trench is practically disbanded, with everyone to the West of the trench, he wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. Plus, Corporal Diaz has endured quite a few wounds throughout the battle…
  
  - In agonising pain, Corporal Diaz successfully reached Parker, amidst the fatal remains of Private Rich. Lugging the soldier over his shoulder, Corporal Diaz hardly made it three steps, before Private Wolf was back on his feet, enduring the pain in his shoulder like a true soldier.
  
  - A bullet rang past the slow-moving Corporal’s legs and before he knew it, Private Schmidt was at the Trench wall, shooting the male in the open. Corporal Diaz’s shots with the revolver were practically useless from such a long range and only attracted himself attention.
  
  - Dropping the body of Parker, bewildered and screaming not to be left, Corporal Diaz made a run for it, knowing he’d be shot any moment if he didn’t move faster.
  

With the help of Corporal Diaz, Rhys has retreated successfully.
The only reason I didn’t make this a failed retreat, was because everyone is at the far end of the trench and with everyone’s nerves being shattered (from grenades being hurled at them) and wounds they’d endured. The German frontier was tired, knackered and too far in the dark to get a good shot on the enemy.

So to save this thread prolonging any further, I can’t see why Corporal Diaz wouldn’t have had the energy to at least drag a semi-conscious Sergeant from off the field quickly. The Germans have no man-power to pursue… If they did, then this would have been a complete unsuccessful retreat.

Private Parker is now a POW; But NPC POWs may not be executed or put on bail, so Armin, you have earned yourself 1 soldier. Please post a name for your recruit in your divisional roster and I will add the soldier to the list.

Private Hughes was also killed in this battle.


CP Handouts:

Armin Fuchs: 38CP (Victor)
~ Although this thread was long winded and half of the time, you could have used your men to hold down the entire trench, rather than parts of it, you have none the less excelled in commanding your men and shown a true spirit for the Fatherland. You have also earned yourself numerous kills throughout this thread, but many losses. Consider this a minor victory for the Fatherland and good progress in prospering your career in the SS.

Private Wolf has been Promoted to Corporal.
~ This unit has been promoted for his valour in the heart of battle and surviving against all odds.


Rhys Bevan: 18CP (Retreated!)
~ Launching a very mixed assault on the enemy trench, has ended up costing big losses and almost your own life. There were moments during your tactical assault that begged to be differed with, from charging an open trench single handed, to committing all your forces upon one frontier of the trench.

I think you could have lead this battle a little better and used your initiative to be patient; You are armed with a superior weapon at greater distances, yet you disregarded this and many other small areas during your assault.

You did break the enemy’s back and caused them to scatter in disarray however, but the cost of reaching such a feat already meant you were on your knees and practically, in a situation just as bad as them. I was unimpressed by many of your tactical movements throughout and thought you could have done better.

~Danny[/color]