Tyranny of Steel

Honoria sat on the beach with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She had returned from the outback not long ago and had already reported her findings to the commander of the marine attachment which accompanied her and her girls on this perilous journey. As a result, the small outpost which was established on the shores of Australia's western coast was on high alert.

German marines rushed through the base, loading up their magazines, and stashing them away in their load-bearing equipment. To be frank, they did not know how large this island was, nor how many people were present here. However, because they had encountered hostiles within a one hundred kilometer radius, they were not willing to take any chances. 

As for Honoria, she was rather stoic as she took a puff from her cigarette and blew out the smoke into the air. Malissa was by her side, and was questioning what their next objective was.

"So we landed on the island, established an outpost, and raised the German flag. What else are we supposed to do here?"

Honoria scoffed as she heard this before responding to her first mate's questions with a hint of disinterest in her voice.

"Nothing... We're supposed to wait until a proper supply line is established from here to Singapore. Once that is made, the German military will invest heavily in taking control of the island. As for us, we will move on to the islands north of here and repeat what we have just done.

Right now, Berengar is concerned that the Japanese will invade these lands and take them for themselves. Thus, Berengar wants to establish control over the entire region himself, before Japan can claim they already have a presence here. 

I don't know what his whole strategy is, but from what I can tell, he intends to establish small military outposts throughout the region and use his power to coerce his allies into recognizing his claims over the entire islands.

Then if Japan tries to settle any island where there is a German outpost, he can use international pressure to remove them. I honestly feel sorry for Itami. I doubt she is a match for my man. He is an expert in many things, including geo-politics. 

Anyway, the point is it will probably be another week before we set sail for our next destination. In the meantime, you can tell the girls to go on regular patrols. The marines are already stretched thin as is. We need to do something to help out. Once we have maintained a direct supply line so this base can be a permanent part of German soil, we will be off to the next location."

Malissa listened to every word which her captain had spoken and took note of all the small details. After thoroughly comprehending everything that was said. She nodded her head and saluted Honoria before leaving the woman behind.

"Aye, aye, cap'n..."

After saying this, Malissa went to dispatch the orders to the rest of the crew. While Honoria sat on the shore drinking coffee in silence.

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Honoria was not the only one who was sitting quietly on the battlefield waiting for supply lines to catch up. Emperor Asha of the Bengal Empire sat within a large stone fortress that was established by the Pandya Dynasty centuries prior. He and his army had recently moved into the southernmost region of the Indian Subcontinent and had made great progress in their conquests of the region. 

However, after extending his forces too far, Asha realized his army was running low on munitions, and well beyond his supply lines. Thus, he sat back and waited for the logistic units to catch up to him, without the slightest worries that they might be ambushed.

Ambushed? That was laughable, considering how many war elements had Gatling guns mounted on their backs.  However, as he was waiting in the stone fortress, one of the Japanese advisors who was attached to the Bengal Army came forward and spoke his worries. 

"This campaign is taking too long. The Germans took over the Anangpur Empire in a single day. Since then, they have been doing their best to equip and train the Anangpur Army to a standard that is on par with your forces. If we do not make swifter progress, then by the time our armies reach the borders of the Anangpur Empire, they could very well pose a threat to your ambitions."

Asha frowned when he heard these words as he gazed off into the dense jungles of Southern India. There was a stern look on the man's face as he turned around and stared deeply into the Japanese Advisor's eyes.

"Do you truly believe that we can advance into the jungles, without supplies, and overcome our enemies who lie in wait for us? The Pandya Dynasty may be equipped with obsolete firearms, but those weapons are still deadly. I know what your Empress thinks of me, but I am not the fool that she believes I am.

If I march into the jungle without a constant supply of resources. My soldiers will run out of food, water, and, most importantly, ammunition. We will be forced to use our bayonets. Meanwhile, the enemy will have the advantage, because they will have access to firearms, primitive though they may be. 

They can make use of crude black powder and a small rock to punch through our armor at close distances. They do not need primers for their weapons to function! That is their advantage. Since I can not manufacture my own ammunition, I must wait for supplies to arrive from your homeland in order to continue the fight. Something your Empress should be entirely aware of! Do not fret. Within the hour, the latest batch of supplies should be reaching this outpost."

Though the Japanese advisor wanted to press Asha into advancing, he understood the Bengal Emperor's words to be true. Thus, just when he was about to capitulate, a bell rang in the distance. Signalling an enemy's approach. 

The Pandya Dynasty had raised an army and equipped its soldiers with black powder muzzle loaders. Normally this would not be a problem for the Bengal Army, and yet they had to conserve their ammunition.

In the entire stronghold, they had less than 3,000 rounds to fire. As for the Pandya forces, they had well over 10,000 men gathered.  Asha immediately cursed in his native tongue when he saw this and quickly gave the order to attack.

"Make sure those fucking cannons don't make it within firing distance. I want you mother fuckers to shoot anyone who tries to move them closer!"

With this order given, gunshots echoed in the air, as the men wheeling the cannons forward were blasted in the chest. Their lives were lost without even seeing who it was who had claimed them. However, whenever a body dropped, another man would take his place and push the cannons forward together as a team. 

The Pandya troops did not fire on the stronghold, instead they advanced further, wanting to conserve their shots for closer range in order to ensure maximum accuracy. While they marched forward towards the stronghold where the Bengal Army was held up. The soldiers who hid behind the ramparts fired their shots wantonly into the dense formation of Pandya soldiers. 

With each shot fired, a body fell, however the men were lacking in munitions, and because of this, they tried to make every shot count. Every time a Bengal soldier missed his target, he would grit his teeth in frustration before racking the lever and firing another down range. 

Eventually the muzzle loading cannons reached firing distance, and the artillery crews fired off a barrage of cannonballs which struck the ancient forces, and turned its stone walls to ruin. Asha nearly bit his tongue in rage as he realized that he did not have enough munitions to hold off the enemy, and because of this, he gave another order to his troops. 

"Protect the gates! Fix bayonets and protect the gates!"

As the Bengal soldiers continued to expend what little ammunition they had available to them. The Pandya troops marched forward through the gunfire without any regard for their own wellbeing. Their strategy was to bleed the Bengal forces dry of their supplies before breaking down the gates and engaging in an all out melee. If they could cut the head off of the Bengal snake, then the body would die with it. Or so they believed. 

However, as the cannonballs reigned down upon the stone fortress, the sound of an elephant's roar raged in the air, causing all the men on the battlefield to look to the east, where the supply caravan came into sight.

Upon seeing an army of the enemy laying siege to the fortress, the war elephants which protected the supply lines, aimed their Gatling guns towards the large army, and began indiscriminately spraying lead down range.

Within a minute, hundreds of Pandya soldiers fell to the ground, their lives rapidly fleeing from their bodies. In the end, the battle was won in Asha's favor, and the Bengal Army received their supplies. With a smug grin on his face, the Bengal Emperor approached the Japanese advisor and spoke with a haughty tone.

"Now we can advance further inland!"

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