Podcasts about dragoons

Luke's HAARP Time Warp: Part 11 Marion's expands her control. Based on a post by somethin fishy, in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Marion, in the meantime; was busy with some paperwork and hadn't even looked up yet. “Why don't the two of you have a seat” she pointed to a couple of chairs across from her “and I will be with you in a minute” Marion finished what she was working on and looked up. The older noble had to catch his breath for Marion was breathtaking. Her eyes were shimmering and her hair was reflecting the light with golden rays. She had a very light tan and her lips were bright red. The shirt that she had on hugged her curves nicely and the necklace that she was wearing matched her eyes. “What can I help you two gentlemen with today?” Marion asked. Gabriel then left the room with a stack of papers and gently closed the door. “We have come back to discuss my wedding proposal with you.” “Ah” Marion said as she leaned back in her chair. “And what exactly are you proposing again? Sorry but I have had a very busy week.” “That is quite alright lass. I am proposing you marrying me. After the wedding your lands will then be under my protection and I assure you they would be quite safe for I have the most powerful army in the midlands at my disposal.” “So, what will happen to my people if I were to marry you?” “They would also be under my protection.” “I see.” The nobles were really quite happy with themselves for they figured that Marion was about to give in. “So, what would happen if I refuse to marry you?” “My army will invade and lay waste to everyone before it.” “I see” Marion said without emotion “So you are trying to extort my hand in marriage?” “No, not at all milady. I just want to see the people of this province under strong leadership so that they are not tempted to stray.” Marion nodded and gave them a warm smile. “Well milords it seems that you leave me no choice” The two nobles smiled at hearing this. “Let me ask you two idiots something?” The warmth in Marion's voice vanished “Do either of you know what this ring on my finger means?” With this Marion held her left hand up and showed off her ring that Luke had given her. “Well do you?” “No, we do not.” “Well, “gentlemen” this ring means that I am already married and I am very happy.” She then called toward a closed door off to her left “Luke, honey, can you step in here for a minute?” “Seriously Marion? I'm about to be buried in paperwork.” “Just for a minute. Please?” “Fine.” Seconds later the door opened and through it came the biggest man the nobles had ever seen in their lives. Not only that but this big man was in some kind of uniform. “What's up sweetheart” “These are the nobles that I was telling you about the other week.” She then turned back to face the nobles. “Gentlemen, meet my husband; General Luke MacDougall.” The nobles were now petrified for this ogre looked like he could pick them up, throw them out, and get them to fly over the city walls. “So, you want my wife's hand in marriage? I must say you don't look like much and I bet that neither of you could possibly keep up with her for she is extremely active in bed and every other flat surface now that I think about it.” Marion snickered at this and earned herself dagger looks from the nobles. The older one went for his sword forgetting that it had been seized when he entered the castle gates. Marion bent over and picked up two swords. She unsheathed them and threw one of them to Luke. He kind of looked at the sword. “You call this letter opener a sword, sweetheart?” He retreated into his office for a second and came out with a large object. He tossed Marion's sword back to her and unsheathed his sword. It was almost three feet long, but in his hands was a single-handed sword. The sword itself was beautiful with the wavy lines running through the steel of the blade and the polished brass of the hilt and pommel. “Now this is a sword” he said smiling in his cold way. The nobles were growing more terrified by the second and the younger one was ready to piss his pants for he had never been so scared in his life and he had been in a large number of battles. When he looked at his older brother, the look that greeted him shook him out of his paralysis for his older brother was beyond scared. The younger one's diplomatic skills then came into play. “We are deeply sorry if we have offended you in any way Milady Marion, but we didn't know that you were already married and when I last met you didn't give any clue that you were.” “Actually, I did. If you had bothered to look past my tits, I have been wearing this ring ever since I was married to Luke last winter. Now gentlemen if nothing else we really need to get back to work. Oh, one more thing. You two will have a heavy escort on your way out for I want none of the women who work for me attacked. I heard all about your roaming stares during your last visit.” With that Marion called for her guards. “See these two gentlemen and their entourage out of York if you will please. If they try anything funny; kill them, no questions will be asked.” The guards snapped to attention “Yes, ma'am.” To the nobles “this way if you please” The nobles turned and almost fled out of the room. They collected their entourage and high tailed it out of York. They didn't stop running until they were kilometers away. When they were sure that they were far enough away the older one exploded: “The fucking cunt treat me like that! I will teach her the meaning of the word respect if I have to whip it into her!” The younger brother agreed fully with him. “We need to go talk to Duke Vincent for I heard that he recently had one of his plots stopped by Marion and it was one that had cost him dearly.” “Then what are we waiting for?” exclaimed the older brother. He and Vincent weren't exactly friends but in no way were they enemies. If the bothers approached him with an offer of alliance against Marion, they knew that he would agree and this would give the combined army a strength of almost ten thousand men with a number being men-at-arms and knights. Chapter 51. Gabriel came back in the door with more papers to find Marion with her legs wrapped around Luke's waist. “Hey! Seriously? You two going to start without me?” Marion looked over her shoulder and smiled at Gabriel “Of course, not sweetie! I was just thanking Luke” Gabriel was far from convinced. “So, what was that about? They didn't look happy when they left.” “That was the nobles who wanted to marry me.” Gabriel snickered at hearing this for those two nobles were ugly. “So, now what?” This time Luke responded with no humor in his voice: “Give orders to mobilize the army, Colonel. Those two basically declared total war on us” Gabriel was stunned but when Marion gave a nod, she went into action. Gabriel was out the door and was sending couriers to gather the army commanders to go over plans. Once Gabriel had left, Marion looked back at Luke “Well, what do you think?” “I think those two nobles are about the dumbest people that I have ever met, but we need to be careful here. It has to look like they started this war so we need them to make the first blow. After all the king is scheduled to be up here in about four months and the reports that we have been getting from Norway and Normandy are matching what happened in my timeline. The last thing I want to do is to have the king's army after us.” “Okay so what do you suggest?” “Moralize the army and make sure that they are completely rearmed, properly equipped, and trained. We might have to be a bit creative on how to get those idiots to attack but I don't think so.” “How much time do you think we have?” “Not more than a couple of weeks. At least now we have trains coming from Bard's steel works to York and the tracks to the lake district are only about a month away from being completed. Once they are done, we will be able to move the army around very rapidly. Even now with all the nice roads that are being built, army can move very fast. Also, we now have almost sixty artillery pieces and some of them are steel breach loaders.” “Well then we should probably get to work then.” “Hold on there, sweetheart.” Luke picked Marion back up as she walked by him causing her to squeal in delight. Luke then placed her on her desk and started nibbling on her neck. As always, this got Marion's juices flowing and they could both smell her pussy. Luke gave her an evil smile as he ran his hand over her crotch; causing her nectar to soak through a bit. Marion returned the favor by rubbing Luke's cock and causing some of his pre-cum to soak through his pants. Marion had been giggling when Luke picked her up and now, she had started to softly moan. This increased when Luke united her pants and pulled them off in one motion. Marion quickly untied Luke's pants and they just fell off. Both of them were so horny that they didn't need any foreplay this time. Luke sunk his cock into Marion in one thrust causing Marion to moan loudly. This was nothing though compared to what was to come. Luke put Marion's heels on his shoulders so that he had unrestricted access to his wife's pussy. Within six thrust, Marion was screaming at the top of her lungs as Luke thrust into her. With each thrust she could feel the veins on his cock rubbing her G-spot and his tip kissing her cervix. Not only that but he had one of his hands in a place to where he could flick her clit. This always drove Marion to new heights of ecstasy and it did this time as well. She started moaning in sync with Luke's thrusting, much to the amusement to everyone in the outer office. As Luke pushed harder into her, her moaning got louder. By this time Gabriel had got back to the office and joined in the pool the office employees had set up. This time Gabriel had bet that Luke and Marion would climax at the same time. Of course, Gabriel had the advantage here, being that she slept with Luke and Marion every night, but surprises can still happen. The last time this happened, Marion had managed to get Luke to fire first and Gabriel had lost almost a week's pay. Soon Marion's voice got even louder for she was now screaming at the top of her lungs again and was begging Luke the fuck her brains out. Luke had been pounding her senseless and she had quickly reached orgasmic heights. Marion, of course, wasn't defenseless in theses battles and soon she deployed her ace in the hole. She started flexing her Kegel muscles and this caused Luke to start moaning. Now the battle to make the other cum first was on. Luke used his cock to rub Marion's g-spot and his strong thumb to rub her clit in circles as his other hand had slipped under her shirt and was working one of her tits. Marion was using her Kegel muscles to rhythmically massage Luke's member and she had managed to reach around and was rubbing his balls. She was also talking dirty to him. Within five minutes they were both desperately trying to make the other one cum while holding their own off. Neither one of them succeeded and they exploded together. Marion's eyes were going in different directions and Luke's had rolled up into his head as his orgasm had been one of those that caused every muscle in his body to contract. Marion also let out a scream that actually shattered a glass that was sitting on nearby table. As soon as they were done, Luke collapsed on the floor and Marion couldn't move off her desk. She was also having problems with the light in the room for it was blinding her. Her pussy felt like it had a river flowing out of it for their cum mixture ran out of Marion's pussy and down the side of her desk. Luke had passed out on the floor and it would take him almost half an hour to get up and even then, he was shaky. Marion would take even longer before she could even think about moving for it would be almost forty minutes before she could function and she would be walking with a slight limp for the rest of the day. Out in the office, Gabriel cleaned up for she made much more then she had lost the last time. Of course, she had to share the pool with a couple of other employees who had bet the same as she had but she didn't mind for this was all fun and games. This was one of the reasons that everyone loved working for Marion for you never knew when the mood would strike her or Luke and they would be loudly fucking in their office. Of course, Marion was a very good boss for she was fair and usually easy going. If she fucked up then she would admit it and take full responsibility. Many of the employees loved that they could tease her about her sex life and usually they were able to even get a laugh out of Marion. Finally, Marion and Luke almost crawled out of their offices and got a standing ovation from the other office workers. Luke and Marion both moaned with pain and covered their ears. Their orgasms had given them killer headaches and Marion's pussy hurt bad enough that she was limping a bit. This only brought more laughter from her office workers. Her lover Gabriel was the worst of the lot as usual. She came up to Marion and put a hand on each side of Marion's face. “Oh Marion. What did that ogre of a husband do to you? You look like shit!” The office erupted into even more laughter as several of the employees fell over and a couple raced to the restrooms. “Oh, gee thanks Gabriel for that's just what a woman in pain wants to hear.” Was Marion's only response. With that Gabriel lost it and fell over as well. Marion and Luke somehow made it back to their chambers and fell asleep in bed without even removing their clothes first. When they woke up it was dinner time. This time they asked for some food to be delivered for neither of them felt like going to get something. They were expecting a servant to bring their food but they ended up with Gabriel. This meant more teasing for neither Luke or Marion had enough energy right now to do much about it. Sure, enough Gabriel let them have it with both barrels. Lots of stuff about wearing each other out and them getting too old to keep up. Gabriel could really rub this one in for Luke was eight years older than Marion and Marion was a couple of years older than Gabriel. After Luke and Marion had got dinner down, they went back to bed and stayed asleep until it was time to wake up the next morning. Chapter 52. When the brothers got to Duke Vincent's castle, they found it in an uproar. The duke was mobilizing his forces for he was getting ready to strike at Marion. When the brothers offered an alliance with Vincent, he was at first reluctant for he wanted all the land for himself. He agreed though when the brothers told him that they didn't want land, they wanted Marion and Gabriel for their personal whores. They then told the story of how she embarrassed them and they wanted revenge. “Can you two have your forces here within a week?” “Not a problem for we gave mobilization orders before we took off to meet with that bitch. In fact, if one of us can get out of here within the hour we should be able to start getting troops here within a day or two.” “Good. That bitch cost me over five hundred pounds sterling and my people didn't even manage to accomplish anything. I learned this morning that the guard that my men had been able to buy off was discovered and executed before he could strike.” With that, the younger brother took off so that he could ride back to their castle and get the first units of troops on the road. While he did this, the older brother went over their plans with Vincent and the other commanders. So far it was proving impossible to get their hands on whatever devil weapon that Marion's forces had been using and worse than that, they still hadn't found anyone who was willing to give them the secret of how they worked. Apparently, they were all either scared to death of Marion's husband or they were extremely loyal to her. The other brother confirmed that her husband was indeed one extremely scary person. Vincent didn't really care about the husband for he was more worried about the firearms that Marion used. After hours of debate, they finally came up with what they thought might be a workable plan. They would lure Marion's army into a trap and catch them off guard. Then the knights would be able to ride down those worthless peasants and the ones not killed would be put back to work on one of Vincent's or the bother's estates. It took almost a week to get the army ready and anyway it took that long to gather all their spies' reports and draw up maps of Marion's lands. Once they were in her lands, they would be able to use her road network to travel much faster and with the wealth that was rapidly concentrating in the area, they would be fixed for supplies and they might not even have to pay their men. This was a good thing for the nobles because they had just over ten thousand men in total when they had finished combining the armies. Six thousand of them were levy spearmen. The other four thousand were men-at-arms and knights. This was an extremely large army for the time period but they had managed to get extra recruits by promising them large amounts of loot from Marion's lands. Marion's army commanders all met the morning after the brothers were rejected. They all went over their spy reports and came to the conclusion that this was going to be their hardest battle yet. At least this time they had even more advanced weapons. They now had breach loading artillery that were made of steel and fired explosive shells. They also had mortars that were capable of firing out to three hundred meters. The biggest thing they had this time was almost six thousand men and woman in uniform with almost fifteen hundred being cavalry. Dragoons would have been a better term though, for their primary weapon was their rifles. They all carried swords but were not really trained all that well in their use. Marion and her commanders waited as Vincent mobilized his troops and the brothers combined their forces with Vincent's. Fortunately, they had all taken Luke's advice to heart and didn't just assume that they would win because they had superior weapons. If they ever needed reminders of this then they would have to face Luke on the training grounds with him playing the Op For commander. He would win about half the time and he wasn't using firearms. He won with ambushes and by forcing Marion's commander to engage him only under conditions that favored him. Through these wargames Marion's commanders were learning fast and if they couldn't learn they were relieved of command. The plan that they came up with was to use their dragoons to run circles around the enemy troops and raid constantly. The orders were to hit and run. Under no circumstances were they to let themselves get bogged down. After all it was far better at this stage to run away and be able to fight again then it was to stand and fight and die. The commanders developed plans for all kind of situations including ambush. This was how Luke guessed that the enemy would try to neutralize their firearms and he had done the same thing on the training grounds. By now though Marion's commanders knew how to defend against ambushes. After almost a week the spies reported that the combined army was on the move. Their supply lines were much thinner than what they should have been and it didn't take an expert to figure out why. The enemy was planning on raiding and living off the land. Marion immediately sent word to all villages in the path of the enemy to be ready to evacuate. Anything that couldn't be taken with them was to be destroyed. Nothing of value was to be left for the invaders. Marion's army marched out the following day. She gave orders that they were to march right through the city on their way to the front. As the army marched through the city, every citizen came out to cheer on their army. They all knew of the invasion and they knew what would happen should the enemy troops get to York. The person that was leading the parade was none other than Luke and the cheers that he got were deafening. He and Marion were now very popular, the citizens had even forgiven Marion for having an interest in woman for Gabriel was increasing in popularity as well. Two people however would definitely not be going on this expedition. Pollyanna had been confined to quarters until after she gave birth and Alice was her attending physician. By this time Pollyanna was almost ready to give birth and everyone was guessing that it would be within the next week or so. Thankfully she had recovered fully from her beating and most days she was able to get at least some work done. Alice had already warned her that she could hear two fetal heartbeats so they were expecting twins. Gabriel had made two cribs, one for each kid. Marion had given Pollyanna two sets of clothes for the kids, and Luke had given her a side-by-side stroller so that they wouldn't have to carry the babies everywhere. By now Alice was finally engaged and her fiancé was proving himself very competent in the medical field. Normally he didn't hang around with the rest of the group because he found it uncomfortable being around someone as open as Marion or Gabriel. It wasn't their sexuality that made him uncomfortable, it was their willingness to discuss sexual topics that made him uncomfortable. Plus, Luke had scared the shit out of him early in his romance with Alice and he still hadn't recovered. Alice of course took it in stride for she knew Luke well so she wasn't scared by him. Marion's army first rode the railroad to the Bard's steel mill. This saved them two days of marching for with the railroad it only took them an hour or so the get there. From there Luke's scouts kept a constant eye on the invading forces. With Luke commanding the army, Marion and Gabriel had stayed behind in York to continue their work there. Every village in the enemy's path had been abandoned and burnt so the invaders were suffering within days of crossing into Marion's territory. To make matters worse, Luke's dragoons were constantly harassing the foraging parties and made life very difficult for them. This slowed down the invaders even more. What should have been only a couple days march turned into a week's march and by the end of the week the men were starving so bad that they started killing the extra horses. Luke had been waiting for this. He knew that with the enemy army hungry and desperate for supplies that he could force them into combat where it would be best for him. He chose a wide-open area, one in which he could use his artillery to their full effect. His new artillery could fire a round well over a mile and he wanted to use that fact to pound the enemy army to pieces before they were able to close with him. He would also deploy another secret weapon in this battle. It was a tethered hot air balloon with telegraph wires attached to one of the ropes so the observer could tell the commander on the ground just what was happening. With this, Luke's artillery was even capable of accurate indirect fire. Something that was unheard of. Since he had been extremely careful on when and where he ran trials on this new weapon, he was sure that the enemy didn't know about it. Luke kept his troops in hiding until the enemy had entered the open field. Only then did Luke lead his troops out of cover. The enemy had taken a road that went through the trees so his artillery couldn't pound them as well as it could have if they had been in the open. Since Luke also had troops in those forest as well, he didn't fire his artillery at all. It was at this time as well that he deployed his balloon. Before the battle he had taken the time to walk the field with his commanders and they all memorized it. The artillery was positioned on the edge of the woods and was covered with brush to hide them until the right moment. As the tail of the enemy army came into view, Luke gave the order and the artillery was uncovered. Chapter 53. This expedition was turning into a nightmare for Vincent and the two brothers. As soon as they entered Marion's lands every village that had been overflowing with wealth just a couple of weeks before were now abandoned and burned to the ground. Every head of livestock was gone or dead while every kernel of grain was gone as well. Some of the building that the army came across were still burning, meaning that they had been abandoned only hours before. Worse yet was the fate of the foraging parties. They would go out in the morning and by noon they would be all dead. Once in a while their bodies would be found and they would always be stripped of everything of value. Many had strange wounds that some of the men that were from the lake district identified as gunshot wounds. Others had been cut down with a sword. Every bridge that the army came to had to be rebuilt and they would always lose a few men to skirmishing fire. When the knights would try and catch the shooters, they would disappear only to start shooting from a different direction. Trees had been cut down over the road. When the army stopped to clear the way, a few of them would be killed either by gunfire or booby traps in the forest. By far the worst was at night. Sentries would be killed by having their throats slit and the camp would usually be subjected to nightly cavalry raids. These raids never lasted for more than five minutes but they were noisy and usually ran off some of the horses or other livestock. Tents would be set on fire and a few dozen men would be killed. Within a week the noble's army was getting desperate. Extra horses were killed just so the soldiers would have something to eat. Vincent and the brothers finally had to admit to themselves that they were just foolish to have even tried attacking Marion's lands and they were planning on turning around and getting the hell out of Marion's lands. Then one day the attacks stopped. There was still enemy cavalry in the distance but all they did was watch the noble's army stumble on. This went on for a day or so until the army came to a wide-open clearing. The army had been marching since yesterday morning and they were all exhausted. They hadn't even stopped for the night. It wouldn't have done them any good anyway for they had no food left and almost all the horses had been killed. This field looked like a good spot to set up camp for the day. At least they wouldn't be ambushed when they were out in the open like this for the nearest forest was at least five hundred paces away. After the army had rested, they would return to their own territory. It wasn't long before the army knew that it was in serious trouble. It started when a strange object was seen rising over the trees. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before. It slowly rose above the trees and then Vincent saw a flash of light from below the object. This was the flash of light being reflected off a shiny object. Then movement along the tree line caught his attention. Whatever was going on, they were in very serious trouble. “Form Up!” he yelled as he rode his horse through the army. “Form Up For Marion's Bastards Are Upon Us!” Every soldier in the army started rushing around. Some were fighting to get their equipment on, but most of them were looking for their officers. The night march had really caused confusion in the ranks and they hadn't had time to straighten themselves out yet. Things turned really chaotic when the enemy artillery opened up. Worse still the fire was deadly accurate and they were firing some kind of exploding shell. Within minutes the army was reduced to a mob. At least Vincent and the older brother had managed to get it going the right direction. Right toward the enemy. The plan, if one could call it that; was to simply rush the enemy and then let the soldier's anger finish things up. At first things seemed to be working for the heavy guns stopped firing and Vincent could see them being hooked up to horses and withdrawn. This only caused the soldiers to rush forward faster for they all thought rightly so that the enemy was retreating and they wanted to repay some of their causalities that they had been suffering for the last week. Luke watched calmly as the enemy formation had been shredded by his guns. The gunner's accuracy was now such that they would only miss once in a while. The other gunners in fact would constantly harass the any crew that missed twice in a row. They had been firing as fast as they could and they truly loved their new guns. Before they could only fire many once every two minutes, now they could fire once every thirty seconds or so. Their fire was much more accurate as well. When the enemy had closed half the distance, Luke ordered the artillery back. They would retreat back into the woods, set back up, and load with canister shot in case things went really bad. As the artillery got out of the way, the infantry came into position. Unlike the enemy soldiers, Luke's troops were well rested and well fed. They had even managed to get a hardy breakfast in their bellies that morning. The lookout in the balloon reported that no other enemy troops were in sight and indeed there was no signs of enemy cavalry trying to get behind them. Luke still kept his best dragoons in reserve, just in case. He watched as his soldiers got into formation and they stood quietly as they waited. Vincent and his army were now closing rapidly on the enemy's position. The older noble brother was proving to be a very good commander and he was in the thick of things as he worked on getting the army organized. The younger one had been killed when an artillery round exploded right next to him. The older brother would make sure that the enemy paid dearly for that if it was the last thing he ever did. By the time they had closed to within only three hundred paces of the enemy position, the army was becoming increasingly organized as the officers got the men under control. Vincent rode up to the older brother: “Everything going well?” “Aye. As well as can be expected. By the way younger brother was killed in that; whatever that was.” “I am truly sorry for he was an honorable man and quite intelligent. I think that it is about time to make these bastards pay.” “Aye” Vincent rode in front of the army waving his sword and encouraging his men forward. As the army crossed the three hundred pace mark, new smoke appeared from the woods. This smoke went in a more upwardly direction and everyone was puzzled by this. With seconds though they had their answer when exploding shells came raining down from heaven. When the smoke started, Vincent looked ahead and his blood ran cold for he was staring at a large army that was in very good formation. Strange thing was that they appeared to be only two ranks deep. Then flags appeared up and down the enemy line. White flags with a red cross through the center of them. The flag of St. George as Luke was heard to call it. Vincent ordered a full charge for they had to close faster than those blasted things could drop more death on them. His army responded and charged. As the enemy crossed the three hundred meter mark, Luke ordered the motors to start firing and to take their firing directions from the balloon observer. He knew that in a minute or two nobody on the ground was going to be able to see a damn thing. As the mortars started firing, Luke ordered Marion's colors uncased. Soon her flags were waving gently in the morning breeze. The enemy army actually began to pick up the pace which surprised Luke a bit, but as he thought about it, the enemy commander really didn't have any other choice. For them it was either die slowly from ambushes and starvation or death on the battlefield. At least on the field, they had a slim chance of victory. Luke gave his mortars a few minutes to soften up the enemy some more. Finally, he turned to his bugler: “Send the order to the infantry that they are to open fire.” The bugler sounded the signal and within seconds the infantry started firing. The battlefield was covered in a thick blanket of smoke as the troops were firing as fast as they could. Luke still knew what was going on due to the observer in the balloon. Within a minute all organization had broken down in the enemy ranks and they returned to being a mob. Problems arose when the lead elements got into the smoke cloud. Now the observer was blinded as well. At least there was no other enemy troops in the area though. Luke was now relying on his sense of hearing and his previous battlefield experience to gage how the battle was going. At places along his line the sound suddenly dropped off. This meant that enemy troops had made it through and his troops had to resort to hand-to-hand combat. Luke rode up and down the lines encouraging his troops as he went. Luke then ordered his dragoons to make a fast ride around the end of the line and hit the enemy from behind while the infantry made a bayonet charge. He gave his dragoons a couple of minutes to get into position and when he heard their signal, he called for a charge all across the line. He also ordered the mortars to cease firing for he didn't want causalities from friendly fire. All up and down the line, Luke's infantry advanced into the smoke with bayonets at the ready. His dragoons were riding in behind with sabers drawn. What came next was a blood bath. Vincent's army had now been mauled badly. The older brother had been killed as had many of his officers. Most of Vincent's officers were also dead for that matter. But through all this smelly smoke a ray of light appeared for some of his infantry and men-at-arms were now coming into contact with Marion's troops. Marion's troops were proving to be extremely tough but at least they were now taking casualties as well. Suddenly he heard a trumpet sound from somewhere behind him. In front of him all the shooting stopped and another trumpet sounded. Vincent then realized that they were now dead for the enemy now had men in front and behind them. To prove his point, he soon heard the unmistakable sounds of cavalry charging them in the rear and soon he saw troops emerge in front of him all dressed in green and charging forward with some kind of short spear. He then realized that he was actually looking at these so-called firearms. This was his last thought as one of Luke's female soldiers appeared in front of him and before he could react, she drove her bayonet through Vincent's throat and bashed him in his face with her gun butt as she went by. The bayonet thrust had severed his cardioid artery and his blood was spraying out everywhere. The gun butt to the face had broken his nose and shattered his teeth. Within minutes, Vincent Duke of Sheffield was dead. Chapter 54. Luke walked the battlefield as soon as the smoke had cleared. All of his soldiers were ranging over the battlefield, looking for survivors. Luke had always been amazed at how many came through truly murderous battles without a scratch. This one however wasn't going to be one of them. Every enemy soldier he found was dead or almost dead. The ground was so covered with bodies that one couldn't take a single step without stepping on at least one body. Once in a while Luke found one of his own, if they were alive, he rendered aid and stayed with them until a stretcher could get there. Usually though they were also dead. In those cases, Luke would say a short prayer for them and if their eyes were still open, he would close them and move on. Fortunately, one of the things that he had always insisted on was an efficient casualty evacuation system. It was truly making itself felt on this battlefield for there was casualties everywhere. After going over the battlefield for over an hour, all the still living had been evacuated back to the field hospital. Now it was time to bury the dead. The enemy troops were simply stripped of anything useful and thrown into a mass grave. All of their dead were given a full military funeral and messages were sent out to the next of kin to inform them of their loss. Along with the message was the departed personal effects and the loot that they were entitled to from the battle. Luke had given orders that all his loot was to be divided up and sent to the families of the dead. After all he didn't need it for, he was extremely wealthy already. All things considered though; Luke's casualties were very light. He had suffered only eighty dead or wounded while his opponents had been annulated. Luke's dragoons had captured the remains of the baggage train and they spent a couple of days rounding up the small fragments of enemy army that had escaped. Luke spent three days resting his army and resupplying them. He was also waiting on his medical staff to finish up before he continued his advance. Also, his dragoons had to finish clearing the area so he was in no real hurry. When he was finally ready, he started the march to Sheffield. As they went, they rebuilt destroyed bridges and repaired other infrastructure. It took Luke a solid week of rebuilding until they came to the limits of Marion's land. By this time the villagers here coming back to rebuild as well. The villagers had all been paid by Marion's agents for most of their losses. This was something that she had put into place when she was still on the run to help get the villagers to cooperate. After she had gained power, she kept the policy in place. After Luke had crossed the border, he stopped rebuilding and only improved the infrastructure enough to keep the supplies coming. This allowed him to speed up drastically. He did leave detachments behind to continue to improve the infrastructure. Along the way several dumb nobles tried to make an issue of Luke's army crossing their lands and they soon learned that Luke and his army were not people that you wanted to cross for every noble who did, had his castle destroyed and his lands seized. If the noble didn't try to cross Luke then they would be left alone. Most of them even saw a massive jump in business for Luke's army paid for everything. If one of his soldiers tried to steal, they would be flogged. Rape and murder both carried death sentences. Just the method of execution was different. It only took Luke four days to reach Sheffield and when he got there all the possessions of the nobles who had attacked Marion's lands were seized and their families thrown out. Luke would usually let them keep one place of dwelling but it was never one of their nicer ones. Usually, it was just a simpler home that he let them keep. The land was sold to the peasants and town folk in the same way that the land in the lake district had been divided up. When church officials crossed him, they got the same treatment for he had no sympathy for a bunch of corrupt religious officials. They would always be dealt with in the same way. All of their commercial interest would be seized and they were forbidden to acquire more. At one small church Luke was met by an old padre. Luke jumped off his horse to talk: “Well good afternoon padre.” “Good afternoon, sir.” “Please, there is no need to be formal. Luke will do fine.” “Well, are you going steal my church too?” “I do not steal churches. Those churches that were seized were led by corrupt people that had no right to be called “Men of God” and you know that. Plus, those men attacked me not the other way around.” “It is still a sin to destroy sacred land.” “Father. I am only going to tell you this one time. I care not what you consider a sin. I sleep with two women and one for those is Marion of York. The other is her chief bodyguard and lover Gabriel. As for destroying sacred land goes, I have never done any such thing. I have never destroyed a church or cemetery for that is the practice of barbarians while I believe that every man and woman have the God given right to believe what they want and therefore are free to interpret the word of god how they want. If this offends you; too bad.” The pastor was taken back by everything that Luke had said. The pastor was going to protest when he looked at the faces of the troops surrounding Luke. Almost a third of them were woman and some of them wore officer markings and they were all watching him like a cat watching a mouse. He quickly came to the conclusion that it might be best for him not to argue with the new law in town and retreated back into his church. As promised Luke didn't harm the church. He had been impressed enough with the father to step into the church and looked around for a while. He even apologized for him losing his temper a bit earlier. At first the father was cautious but as some time passed in Luke's company, the he grew to actually like Luke the person. This was after Luke had explained that Luke the person and Luke the general were two different people. After sending a couple of hours with the father, Luke had to go back to war. Luke spent almost a month in the Sheffield area while his army worked to pacify the area and to improve the infrastructure. The improvements were paid for using the loot from nobles and churches that tried to interfere with Luke's army. Stone bridges were built over rivers and streams. Paved roads were built to link the towns of the area together. Luke also built schools for the area's people to learn how to read and write. Some hospitals would be built, but Luke held off on that for what good was it to build hospitals when there wasn't enough doctors and nurses to staff them. The labor for all this building was provided by the locals and they were paid well for it. Within weeks of arriving in the area, Luke had to put down a noble's rebellion because he rejected Luke's freeing of his serfs. It goes without saying that he didn't survive his attempts to get rid of Luke's army. By July the area had calmed down and Luke started to send the army back home. Chapter 55. Marion had sent the rest of the day after Luke left feeling sorry for herself. It was partially her fault that her husband was off to war again. She knew that Luke still had nightmares from his time in the marine corps and even he said that he would probably be having them for the rest of his life. These nightmares were always at their worst just after battles and on these nights, it was everything Marion could do to keep him calm and help him get any sleep at all. Now she wasn't with him and this weighed on her. As she and Gabriel were settling down that night, they were just beginning to talk about Marion's feelings when they got an urgent message. Alice wanted to see them on the double. This could only mean one thing; Pollyanna was going into labor. Both ladies rushed putting their clothes back on and rushed to infirmary. This was where Alice's message said to find them. When they got there, they found Pollyanna on an examination table and she was already in a gown. Matt wasn't there because he was off with Luke. Marion and Gabriel would be Pollyanna's emotional support. Every once in a while, Alice would step in and check on Pollyanna. Pollyanna wanted to try to have a regular birth for getting cut open made her nervous even though Alice had already done a large number of C-sections and had never ran into complications. Alice had the tools set up nearby; just in case. Through the night, either Marion or Gabriel would be up with Pollyanna and would help her by getting her cool water or changing out the damp rags that they were using to keep Pollyanna as comfortable as possible. The sun was just coming up the next morning when things started to pick up of Pollyanna and within a couple of hours, she had given birth to twin girls that weighed about three and a half kilograms apiece and were as beautiful as their mother. Pollyanna was so exhausted that she soon fell asleep. This told Gabriel and Marion that it was time to go. They were both happy, tired, sore, and had piles of work to do. That day drug by as it seemed to Marion that every form was getting longer. Finally, it was time for dinner and the end of the workday. After dinner they stopped by to check on Pollyanna and learned that she would be released in the morning. She was excited to be able to get back to work for she had some ideas regarding the hot water system that Luke had been tinkering with. During her extended stay in the infirmary, Pollyanna had seen how hard of a time the staff was having with heating water over a fire whenever they needed hot water and they needed a lot of hot water. Her first goal was to fix this for them and get hot water for everyone in the building. It would take her almost a solid week of going over all of Luke's designs to make her first prototype. Building this, she learned a lot which she incorporated into the next prototype. This one was capable of heating almost a thousand litters to almost boiling after only two hours in the sun. The first area to get hot water from the heater was the infirmary where it was a godsend for them. Now they suddenly had a lot of extra time that could be spent on taking care of patients instead of warming up water. The rest of the building followed over the next week with Marion and Gabriel the last ones to get running hot water. Their first evening with running hot water turned out to be a very memorable one indeed. Usually, the ladies would bath together; but at first, they were going to take their showers separate for they didn't know if they would have enough room. Gabriel got in first and took some time to shave. This was something that they did every couple of days so that they would stay smooth. Marion sat on their bed and watched. She could see that there would be enough room for both of them but Marion wanted to wait until after Gabriel had finished shaving. When she had finished shaving, she turned her back to Marion and that was the chance that Marion was waiting for. She quickly stripped off her clothes and silently entered the shower behind Gabriel. Gabriel yipped when Marion slid her hands over Gabriel's solid ass. As Gabriel turned her head, Marion's lips were right there and they quickly started kissing. It took them all of five seconds to figure out that taking showers together was so much more fun than bathing. Gabriel had the soap so she ran it over Marion's toned body making sure to get everything a couple of times. One of the things that Gabriel noticed was that the soap was really slippery and that gave her an idea. When she got her fingers in between Marion's ass checks; Gabriel went for it. She slipped one of her fingers into Marion's puckered star. The look in Marion's eyes simply could not be duplicated so Gabriel started sawing her finger in and out. After getting over her shock, Marion started pushing back into Gabriel's hand and groaning softly. Those groans got louder when Gabriel inserted a second finger; and louder still with the third. By that time Gabriel had one hand working Marion's ass hole and the other one working her clit and cunt. This way it didn't matter what way Marion went; she was fucking herself. Gabriel working Marion to heights never before seen, for if Marion got too close then Gabriel would stop and wait for Marion to calm down a bit before continuing. Finally, Marion hit her limit and her eyes rolled back into her head as she squirted all over and fainted. The only thing that kept Marion from crashing into the floor was Gabriel still had her fingers in Marion's ass and cunt. She gently laid Marion on the floor and made sure that Marion was clean. As Gabriel was finishing up, the water started to turn cold. Gabriel stepped out and dried herself off before she turned her attention to Marion who was still passed out. Gabriel smiled to herself as she gently picked Marion up and took her to the bed. She dried Marion off before she pulled the covers up over her. Gabriel read for a while before she too climbed into bed and cradled her lover before falling to sleep. The next day was a busy one for Marion and Gabriel for the city was bustling with all the refugees flooding into town. One of the city ordinances was that no livestock other than horses were allowed in town, so Marion had a corral set up just beyond the city limits on some land that she owned. The peasants would keep their livestock there and for a very small fee they would be taken care of so that the peasants could spend some time in town. She was also on the lookout for merchants trying to take advantage of the rural folks. Any merchant caught price gouging would be fined heavily. After a couple had been caught, the rest decided that making a little bit of extra money off the peasants just wasn't worth the risk of Marion's wrath. At least everyone in the castle had running hot water and they were taking full advantage of it. Everyone was showered and the kitchen personal were finding that having hot water made cleaning dishes much easier. In the hospital though it was a life saver for the running hot water made cleaning the medical gear so much easier. All the peasants had a hard time learning about the sanitary practices of York because they were so different from anywhere else in the world. That evening both Marion and Gabriel were exhausted when they drug themselves into their chambers. This time Marion went to take a shower first. She had her own private water heater so that she would have hot water. Just as she had finished shaving and Gabriel was about to get in with her, someone knocked at the door. At this time of evening, this had to be important news. Gabriel answered the door without even bothering to put anything on after all almost all the staff had seen her naked at some point and if someone did try and touch her, she was known to break the bastard's hands. The messenger gave Gabriel the message, saluted, and left. Gabriel shut the door and read the message. “Marion, honey, you might want to read this for yourself.” Marion shut the water off and got out. After she dried herself off; Marion took the message from Gabriel and saw that it was from Luke. “Vincent Duke of Sheffield and both brothers K I A. Duke's army crushed. Casualties eighty killed and wounded. Will be spending a week in current positions to allow army to rest and refit before proceeding on to Sheffield. Luke MacDougall; Commanding General” After Marion read the message, she just spent some time looking at it. She missed Luke terribly and if it hadn't been for Gabriel then she would have gone crazy by now. Speaking of Gabriel; she had climbed into the shower. Marion went over and climbed back into the shower. They began to soap each other down. When Gabriel was going to put her fingers in Marion's ass, she slapped Gabriel's hands away. This time it was Marion's turn to finger Gabriel's ass. She made sure that her fingers were really soapy and she pinned Gabriel against the wall for Gabriel was being funny and fighting back. Both girls were giggling as Marion's fingers found their target. She slipped one of her fingers into Gabriel's ass and she moaned. As Marion started sawing her finger in and out, Gabriel closed her eyes and was enjoying the feeling. Marion then turned up the heat as she slipped another finger into Gabriel's super tight ass. Gabriel started to thrust back into Marion's hand. She was practically begging Marion to put the third finger in and Marion certainly wasn't going to deny her lover, Marion pushed the third finger in and used her other hand to finger Gabriel's clit and finger bang her at the same time. Marion could actually feel her fingers that she had in Gabriel's ass with the fingers that she had in Gabriel's cunt. Gabriel sawed back and forth, and going in circles fucking herself with Marion's fingers. Marion timed her finger movements to push in as Gabriel was moving toward that hand and in this way, Gabriel would get maximum penetration. It only took a couple of minutes for Gabriel to start yelling at the top of her lungs. By this time, she was having continuous orgasms. Her pussy and ass muscles were squeezing Marion's fingers so hard that she wondered if Gabriel might actually break her fingers off. Finally, Gabriel cam so hard that she fainted. Marion's ears were ringing from Gabriel's yelling so she was distracted enough to allow Gabriel to fall to the floor. The floor hitting Gabriel in the face woke her up a bit. Marion still had to rinse her off then dry both of them off. Marion half carried Gabriel to the bed where she laid Gabriel down and covered her up. Marion cleaned up the bathroom a bit and then went to bed as well. The next month went much of the same way except the refugees started filtering back home to rebuild their homes. At least much of their crops hadn't been damaged because it wasn't even close to maturity. Over the month more and more homes got solar hot water heaters and Marion made sure that they had the water to heat up. She ordered the construction of several giant water towers near the town to keep the water pressure even. They would use steam engines to pump the water up and then gravity would make the water flow through the town. For water pipes they used re-enforced cast concrete. This made for very strong pipes that wouldn't be toxic like the lead pipes of ancient Rome. Marion had even had fire hydrants put in to help the new fire department fight any fires that happened to start. The fire department used a steam powered water pump to boost the pressure to useable firefighting levels. Luke insisted on separate sewer and storm drains when he designed to sewer system. When Marion had asked him about this, he told her that by doing it this way the untreated sewage wouldn't get into the environment. After all many people and animals relied on the river for their water. He was always careful about pollution and after he explained it to Marion, she was as well. After all, God might have given humans the Earth to rule as they see fit; but why would you want to destroy God's handy work. He also went on about making sure that his children had clean air to breath and clean water to drink. She could definitely see the merits of his arguments and as long as their survival wasn't in jeopardy, she was in full support of Luke's environmental goals. He of course understood that if they didn't win then his goals didn't matter one bit so that's why he took shortcuts that made him cringe. It was the end of June when Marion got another message from Luke saying that the Sheffield area had been pacified and that he and most of the army was on their way back home. To be continued in part 12, Based on a post by somethin fishy, for Sex Stories.

We leap to new heights in our Dragoon career and end up attracting a following. The student becomes the master in this continuation of the Dragoon job quest in Heavensward!   https://discord.gg/SUHTBVMVxj  podreturnffxiv@gmail  https://www.patreon.com/Podreturnffxiv  Shirts! https://tee.pub/lic/cBoKhUlgkrw  https://bsky.app/profile/podreturnffxiv.bsky.social    FINAL FANTASY is a registered trademark of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. © SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/fernweh-goldfish/skippy-mr-sunshine  License code: 91CJGK73DTQIXILK https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/fairytales License code: PQ1IMSLKP0XTU1IC

In 1833, Congress authorized a new regiment in the Army that would combine the skills of Regular Army soldiers with the frontier savvy of the Rangers. The First Dragoon Regiment was tasked with being the first U.S. envoy to make contact with the Plains Indian tribes to negotiate for peace. The 500-person strong Dragoon unit set out in June 1834 to fulfill their mission, but their journey was fraught with lack of water, sickness, and death. In this episode, Trait Thompson and Dr. Bob Blackburn discuss the hardships the Dragoons endured to establish relations with the Comanches, Wichitas, and Kiowas. Their guest is Correy Twilley, director of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Training Support Facility at Fort Sill.

This week's lore is Diablo, covering Lilith and Inarius and the creation of Sanctuary!To support the show, head to our Patreon or Kofi for exclusive content, or check out our Merch Store to grab some Lore Boys branded merch.Here's a survey that can help us grow, please fill it out: http://bit.ly/loreboys-surveyWe have more Battletech lore for those hungry to listen:BattleTech 1 - The Inner Sphere BattleTech 2 - Clans and the Deep PeripheryBattleTech 3 - The Fedcom Civil WarBattleTech 4 - The Blake JihadBattleTech 5 - Republic of the Spheres and the Dark AgeBattleTech - The Bounty HunterBattleTech 6 - The Battle of Tukayyid part 1BattleTech 6 - The Battle of Tukayyid Part 2Check out James's stream on Twitch!To join the discussion and suggest a topic, check out our Discord.As always, we super appreciate you listening, and hope that if you enjoy the show you'll tell your friends and leave us a review on iTunes and the rest our social media. We wanna hear from you guys, so shoot us an email at contact@loreboys.com .Special thanks as always to Eric Skiff for the use of his song A Night of Dizzy Spells. Get ad-free content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Khan, the Mask Bastard himself, joins the Anime Boomers Podcast to talk about the life and legacy of Akira Toriyama after his passing. We also talk about Sega's dirty past, the rise of Dokibird, and more! If you like this episode, you can keep up with us on social media at ⁠https://x.com/AnimeBoomers⁠! Hosts and Guests: Gator: ⁠https://youtube.com/TheGatorGamer⁠ Spooky: ⁠https://youtube.com/SpookyWeebtrash⁠ Cody: ⁠https://x.com/LordShmeckie/⁠ Charles Khan: https://x.com/mask_bastard

Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. This is Episode 46 – Frontier Forts 1850 - 1856Frontier Forts 1850 - 1856 -  I'm your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information. Following the death of Maj. Gen. George Mercer Brooke in 1851, his successor, Brevet Maj. Gen. Persifor F. Smith, added Forts Ewell and Merrill in South Texas. Pushing the military line further west, Smith authorized construction of Forts Clark, Terrett, Mason July 6, 1851, McKavett March 1852, Chadbourne, Phantom Hill November 14, 1851, and Belknap June 24, 1851. To help plug gaps in the northwest, Camp Cooper was erected in 1856. A double line of forts now protected Texas' southern and western frontiers. Let's take a look at four of these forts, and I'm going to start with Fort Belknap. Fort McKavett - Quarters Fort Belknap was established at the site of what is now Newcastle in Young County Texas. Newcastle is located in what is known as North Central Texas and is very near the headwaters of the Brazos River. In June of 1851, Brigadier General William Belknap established the fort in the area because there was adequate water. The fort was what is known as a four-company post, there were members of the 2nd  unit of the U.S. Dragoons, the 7th U.S. Infantry, the 2nd U.S. Calvary, and the 6th U.S. Calvary. Fort Belknap was the northern anchor of the central Texas chain of forts which had been established to protect the Texas frontier from the Red River to the Rio Grande. It had no defensive walls or works and the troops that inhabited it were used to pursue raiding bands from the various tribes that inhabited the area. At times, troops from the fort trailed into Kansas to do battle with their enemies. One of the results of the fort's presence, was the creation  of a centralized hub of roads that made travel throughout the region easier, including the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis to San Francisco. At the start of the civil war, troops were moved and union troops finally returned in April of 1867. It was finally abandoned for good in September of 1867. In the 1970s the citizens restored and rebuilt some of the buildings and today it is open to visitors.  One other frontier fort that was opened in 1851and did not receive the same care and consideration from latter generations, was Fort Mason. Fort Mason was established in July of 1851 in Mason Texas. Mason is one of the most picturesque towns in perhaps the most picturesque regions of the  State. It's about 60 miles from where I currently live and while the town itself is well worth a visit, the remains of the fort, not so much. There's only one  building left and it's very disappointing if you're interested in Texas history. Fort Martin Scott in Fredericksburg or Fort Croghan in Burnet are both much more informative and easier to visit. Anyway, Fort Mason was established in 1851 atop a hill that offered the soldiers an expansive view of the land around. Maj. Hamilton W. Merrill and companies A and B of the Second Dragoons were the first solders to occupy the fort. There is no clear record of who the  post was named after, and it appears that it most likely was named either for Lt. George T. Mason, who was killed at Brownsville during the Mexican War, or for Gen. Richard Barnes Mason, who died only a year before the fort was established. The fort was occupied on and off until 1861 at which time it was taken over by secessionist forces of Texas. A couple of notable officers who served at Fort Mason when it was in Union hands was Robert E. Lee and John Bell Hood. After the civil war the union took  control of the fort and was finally abandoned in 1869.  One fort that was never officially a fort is known locally as  Phantom Hill which was established on November 14,

The Eye has been kidnapped by Estiniens. Are you a bad enough Dragoon to rescue the Eye of Nidhogg?   You can reach us at: https://discord.gg/SUHTBVMVxj  podreturnffxiv@gmail https://www.patreon.com/Podreturnffxiv   FINAL FANTASY is a registered trademark of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. © SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/fernweh-goldfish/skippy-mr-sunshine License code: 91CJGK73DTQIXILK https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/fairytales License code: PQ1IMSLKP0XTU1IC

We all know tanks are great, but they don't do it alone. The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps uses firepower, speed, and protection to defend and take terrain in coordination with the infantry. Colonel Fraser Auld is the Director of the Armoured Corps, and he gives the rundown on how armoured fighting vehicles fit into the bigger picture on the battlefield.Feel free to contact Captain Adam Orton with any comments or questions:armyconnect-connectionarmee@forces.gc.caConnect with the Canadian Army on social media:Facebook  | X (Twitter) | Instagram | YouTubeVisit Forces.ca if you are considering a career in the Army.Copyright Information© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2024

This is episode 165 — and the atmosphere in Xhosaland was ablaze with indignation. A Mr Holliday had complained in Fort Beaufort that an imaDange man called Tsili had stolen his axe, and if you recall last episode, Tsili had been arrested then freed while under military escort by Tola a headman who lived nearby. Tola had hacked off a prisoners hand to free Tsili from his shackles, the prisoner was thrown into a nearby river and died. The British demanded Tstili and Tola be handed over but imiDange chief Nkosi Bhotomane refused. Rharhabe chief Sandile was approached but he'd had enough of the English authorities, and refused to hand over the two. This was ostensibly what set off the War of the Axe, or the War of the Bounday as the amaXhosa called it. Maitland declared war on April 1st 1846 and lieutenant Governor John Hare launched their preemptive strike into Xhosaland. It took almost two weeks to assemble the troops while the Governor issued orders for all missionaries to leave emaXhoseni. Many white traders had already been killed by this time, the rest scattered from Xhosa territory. On the 11th April Colonel Somerset led three columns across the Great Fish River, then the Keiskamma. He was heading towards Sandile's Great Place alongside Burnshill — the abandoned Glasgow missionary society's station on the slopes of the Amathola mountains. That's east of where the town of Alice is today. The British were advancing in classic British style, 125 wagons each drawn by 24 oxen, a five kilometer long column of men. The Dragoons were mounted on their heavy chargers, dressed in red tunics and their blue forage caps, the Cape Mounted Rifles on their smaller Boer ponies, dressed in green tunics and brown breeches, blending into the countryside. The infantry marched behind, dressed in scarlet jackets with white cross belts and white trousers and their cylindrical hats, called Albert Shakos that tapered to protect against the sun. You can imagine the scene, hundreds of troops on horseback and marching, the dust lifted off the trail, and very soon, the infantry began to discard their thick red coats. These soldiers began this war dressed like they dressed for a European battle, by the end, they would all look very different. They replaced these Albert Shakos with forage caps, or large Boer hats, they ditched their heavy backpacks for much lighter knapsacks, and they put away their leather collars. Somerset was pleasantly surprised to find no amaXhosa warrior in his way as his force arrived at Burnshill. After setting up camp there and leaving the wagons under Major John Gibson, he marched off into the Amathole valley on the 16th April, leading 500 men. Watching him were thousands of amaNGqika warriors, many armed with muskets. They began peppering the British with heavy albeit inaccurate fire. Maqoma was a highly experienced commander and recognized the British had a major weakness. Their baggage train. It was under his prompting that the other Xhosa commanders agreed to strike the wagons rather than aiming at the infantry. IN the late afternoon of the 16th as Somerset was toiling in the Amathola valley the Xhosa made their move.

This is episode 165 — and the atmosphere in Xhosaland was ablaze with indignation. A Mr Holliday had complained in Fort Beaufort that an imaDange man called Tsili had stolen his axe, and if you recall last episode, Tsili had been arrested then freed while under military escort by Tola a headman who lived nearby. Tola had hacked off a prisoners hand to free Tsili from his shackles, the prisoner was thrown into a nearby river and died. The British demanded Tstili and Tola be handed over but imiDange chief Nkosi Bhotomane refused. Rharhabe chief Sandile was approached but he'd had enough of the English authorities, and refused to hand over the two. This was ostensibly what set off the War of the Axe, or the War of the Bounday as the amaXhosa called it. Maitland declared war on April 1st 1846 and lieutenant Governor John Hare launched their preemptive strike into Xhosaland. It took almost two weeks to assemble the troops while the Governor issued orders for all missionaries to leave emaXhoseni. Many white traders had already been killed by this time, the rest scattered from Xhosa territory. On the 11th April Colonel Somerset led three columns across the Great Fish River, then the Keiskamma. He was heading towards Sandile's Great Place alongside Burnshill — the abandoned Glasgow missionary society's station on the slopes of the Amathola mountains. That's east of where the town of Alice is today. The British were advancing in classic British style, 125 wagons each drawn by 24 oxen, a five kilometer long column of men. The Dragoons were mounted on their heavy chargers, dressed in red tunics and their blue forage caps, the Cape Mounted Rifles on their smaller Boer ponies, dressed in green tunics and brown breeches, blending into the countryside. The infantry marched behind, dressed in scarlet jackets with white cross belts and white trousers and their cylindrical hats, called Albert Shakos that tapered to protect against the sun. You can imagine the scene, hundreds of troops on horseback and marching, the dust lifted off the trail, and very soon, the infantry began to discard their thick red coats. These soldiers began this war dressed like they dressed for a European battle, by the end, they would all look very different. They replaced these Albert Shakos with forage caps, or large Boer hats, they ditched their heavy backpacks for much lighter knapsacks, and they put away their leather collars. Somerset was pleasantly surprised to find no amaXhosa warrior in his way as his force arrived at Burnshill. After setting up camp there and leaving the wagons under Major John Gibson, he marched off into the Amathole valley on the 16th April, leading 500 men. Watching him were thousands of amaNGqika warriors, many armed with muskets. They began peppering the British with heavy albeit inaccurate fire. Maqoma was a highly experienced commander and recognized the British had a major weakness. Their baggage train. It was under his prompting that the other Xhosa commanders agreed to strike the wagons rather than aiming at the infantry. IN the late afternoon of the 16th as Somerset was toiling in the Amathola valley the Xhosa made their move.

Galen, Virdon and Burke befriend a chimpanzee named Fauna, the blind daughter of a human friendly ape who was killed by a band of vigilante apes known as the Dragoons. Unaware that Burke is human, Fauna falls in love with him, as Galen and Virdon hunt down the Dragoons, only to discover that Fauna's uncle is one of them.

Part 2 of our 16-ish-month-long series is here! There's no shortage of people who claim II is The Worst One so the Dropouts are here to tell you why they're wrong. Victor is joined by special guest Christa Lee to discuss Dragoons, Dark Knights, Despots, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Does Final Fantasy II get enough credit for the major influences it had on Final Fantasy XIV and the Final Fantasy series going forward? You can probably guess that it does not! So let's give it some! Also let's go on tangents about FFXI and early Japanese PC adventure games! Music In This Episode: Rebel Army - [Final Fantasy II] Battle Theme 1.x - [Final Fantasy XIV]

Last time we spoke about Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall islands. The allies brought overwhelming power against the Marshalls, unleashing the simultaneous invasions of numerous islands in an attempt to strike at the heart of the island chain at Kwajalein. The horror of the Gilbert Island campaign plagued the minds of the commanders who hoped to thwart such carnage. Airstrikes, naval bombardments and massive amounts of land based artillery smashed the Japanese defenders into submission before amphibious assaults were made. Countless islands such as Roi-Namur fell one by one as the Americans secured places to deploy further artillery to forces the ultimate submission of the defenses on Kwajalein. The casualties were light, but the fight for Kwajalein would soon descend into a bitter struggle, for the Japanese were not going to give up their stronghold without a good fight. This episode is The Fall of Kwajalein Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Operation Flintlock went off with a bang, and was initially a grand success. Aerial bombing, followed by naval bombardment and then land based artillery was smashing the Japanese defenders into submission. One by one the islands were falling into the Americans hands. On the second day of the battle, Roi-Namur, the northern objective was seized. Yet the stronghold of Kwajalein would provide much more of a fight. Back on the morning of January 28th Admiral Frederick Sherman's Task Force 58.3 landed a knockout blow against Kwajalein's airfield. Dawn saw a Hellcat fighter sweep ensure the airfield would not be tossing any further action before the amphibious assault occurred. The next day Sherman's force hit Eniwetok with the same kind of treatment. Sherman's carriers would remain off Eniwetok for 3 days while his aircraft smashed its airfields and ground installations. On the third say not much was left, just heaps of rubble and a few scattered palm trees stripped of their foliage. Sherman's airmen reported “they could not find any targets on the ground or in the lagoon that seemed worth bombing, and the island looked like a desert waste.” The warships came in on the 31st just off Roi and at 6:51am, Admiral Conolly maneuvered Maryland 2000 yards away from the northern beaches before unleashing 16 inch guns. As Holland Smith put it “So close that his guns almost poked their muzzles into Japanese positions.” By 7:15am the naval guns went silent as carrier planes came swooping in. Then 127mm artillery from Roi began firing, alongside cruisers and destroyers. Return fire occurred, but for a very short amount of time as they were snuffed out. Admiral Truman Hedding recalled “We learned a lot about softening up these islands before we sent the Marines in. We really worked that place over. They developed a tactic called the ‘Spruance haircut.' We just knocked everything down; there wasn't even a palm tree left.”  The Kwajalein atoll islands were hit with 15,000 tons of bombs and naval shells in 72hrs. Admiral Turner would make a Churchillian statement about the event “Never in the history of human conflict has so much been thrown by so many at so few.” Then transports carrying nearly 64,000 men of the 4th marine division and the 7th army division were launched at Ivan, Jacob, Allen, Andrew, Albert and Abraham islands. Once they were secured, the marines set up artillery batteries. The 7th infantry division was assigned the task of taking the banana shaped Kwajalein island as their colleagues set up 105mm and 155mm howitzers on nearby Roi-Namur. The 32nd and 184th regiments landed on the lagoon side at 9:30am on February 1st, first encountered only feeble and intermittent resistance. The eastern half of the island was secured in quick time, as the bombardments had certainly inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy. The army moved slowly and methodically, advancing cautiously against the Japanese fixed positions. Soon they reached Carl Road, where they were met with an impressive defense system consisting of an anti-tank ditch on the south and a long rifle trench on the north. As February 2nd came on, so did another wide scale smashing of the Japanese. Artillery fire on Carlson Island and from the 32nd Regiments Cannon Company in the Wart Area coordinated with the tank and infantry movements. While the new assault units were moving up, the enemy in Corn Strong Point were kept under heavy artillery bombardment and were isolated from possible reinforcements by naval gunfire. Enemy guns that were still active in the northeastern end of the island were struck by dive bombers. The jump-off was ordered for 12:45. A series of delays deferred this crucial attack over an hour. To assemble the staff and coordinate the plans for employing tanks, artillery, and infantry while the 3d Battalion made its approach march, proved difficult to arrange. The time for the assault had passed before the planning difficulties were resolved. Then came notice of an air strike to be made at 1:15pm later postponed, on Admiral Turner's order, to 1:30, thus necessitating the suspension of all artillery fire. Since the attack on Corn Strong Point was to be immediately preceded by a heavy artillery barrage, the whole operation was postponed to 2:00. For the initial assault on the tank trap and Corn Strong Point, Colonel Logie's 32d Infantry's 3d Battalion was ordered to pass through its 2nd Battalion at Carl Road and to lead the attack. These fresh troops were to be supported by the tanks of A and D comapnies, 767th Tank Battalion and, from the left flank, by the tanks of B company, which would be temporarily detached from the 184th. The tanks of A company, 767th Tank Battalion, lined up along Carl Road to fire against the strong point, while those from B company took up positions almost at right angles to that road and prepared to strike the enemy from the left flank during the first stage of the attack. One of the batteries on Carlson continued to fire during the air strike, and the Cannon Company's howitzers also laid a preparation on the target area before the advance commenced at 2pm. Then, while the artillery lifted fire to ground northeast of the target, the tanks and infantry approached the tank trap in a 225-yard advance across open ground. The tanks poured machine gun fire into the area. Thirty yards behind them the troops came forward to the shelter of the tank ditch without receiving an enemy shot. The Japanese were pinned down. The assault initially saw the Americans pin down the Japanese. While the left wing of infantry troops started to push across the wide tank barrier, the tanks on their left momentarily broke off fire from the flank. A few tanks from A company, 767th Tank Battalion, moved toward the ocean to bypass the deep ditch, and the others after a brief hesitation laid a base of fire to cover the infantry's advance. The tanks hesitated to poke out along the flimsy wooden bridge by which Wallace Road cut through the angle of the tank trap. At this stage, a concentration of white phosphorus shells commenced to fall into the area in which I company, 32nd Infantry, was moving, and countless men were burned. After hesitating briefly the infantry moved steadily to the tank ditch. There the troops remained for some time because the medium tanks pulled back claiming they could not get over the ditch. The tanks finally broke through and began to make their way to the beach smashing pillboxes in the Corn strongpoint. An estimated 100 Japanese were killed in the area, the majority by demolition charges carried forward by engineer details while rifle and BAR men covered them. Little or no defense was put up against these tactics. The Japanese remained huddled in their shelters in spite of efforts made to coax them out to surrender. Only a single prisoner was taken in the whole area. Grenades were thrown into the shelters, and those who survived were then destroyed by demolition charges. Altogether, it took about 35 minutes to reduce Corn Strong Point once the American infantry got beyond the tank trap. Contact between the forward battalion of the 32nd Infantry and that of the 184th was temporarily lost during this fray, and K company, 32nd Infantry, moved through the left platoon of I company to establish contact firmly as soon as Corn Strong Point was taken. Advance to the Nora Road line seemed practicable within the time remaining before taking defensive positions for the night. To escape spending the night in an area too heavily wooded for security, the 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry, planned to advance northeast of the junction of Nora Road and Wallace Road, even though that would place its perimeter slightly forward of the 184th's front-line elements, which were resting just short of Nora Road itself. To the north, Colonel O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion began advancing at 12:45 without tank support. F Company was on the right while E Company on the left along the lagoon. For the first 45 minutes no serious resistance was met. There were no tank obstacles in the area and the enemy's positions along the lagoon shore were less formidable than had been expected. At 1:30, however, the 184th had to lend its medium tanks to the 32nd Infantry as the latter moved against Corn Strong Point. This left the infantry unprotected at a time when they began to meet their first serious resistance. Without the tank support the infantry became stalled. The 184th suffered over 60 casualties by the end of the day, including the loss of F Company's commanding officer. O'Sullivan was forced to organize night defenses just 100 yards northeast of Carl Road, which also forced Logie to pull back to the abandoned trenches of Corn for the night. Heavy casualties were suffered that day, with 11 dead and 241 wounded. Japanese prisoners reported only 200 to 300 defenders remained, so the Americans expected a banzai charge to occur during the night. General Corlett's headquarters warned, "Be alert for counterattack at anytime day or night, it's bound to come. The Jap makes his suicide counterattack at dawn on the day after his cause becomes hopeless. Watch out tomorrow morning.” Yet there was no attach, so General Corlett prepared his men for a new assault at 07:15am. For the next day's operations, General Corlett ordered the two assault regiments: "Organize vigorous attack 0715 tomorrow… Finish the job not later than 1500 3 February. The Northern Force [at Roi-Namur] has finished the job…". At this point the Americans on Kwajalein faced a narrow 2000 yards of island. After artillery rained down at 7am, O'Sullivans 1st battalion advanced. In the first 150 yard B Company, along the lagoon, and Company A, at the right, advanced through rubble and broken trees west of Nora Road without more than scattered rifle fire from Japanese riflemen and occasional light machine gun fire from pillboxes. Their momentum carried them on for another 75 yards with such rapidity that the prospects for swift advance seemed excellent. B Company cleaned out an air raid shelter with grenades and shot down fleeing Japanese wearing arm bands like those of the American troops. Both companies were advancing over ground that had been under American mortar fire just before the jumpoff. At 8:06 enemy opposition was reported to be weak. After 250 yards the Americans reached the Admiralty area, finding a group of shattered buildings along the lagoon shore where it was believed the Japanese HQ was. Among the ruins were several underground shelters, with great earthen mounds above them. There were also concrete blockhouses.  Against strong resistance, B Company would not be able to advance further; A Company, meanwhile, pushed farther north and attempted to attack from the flank through the Admiralty area, but became quickly bogged down. At the same time, Logie sent forward his 3rd Battalion, with I Company rapidly advancing along the coast while K Company stopped to subdue a large concrete pillbox on the corner of the Admiralty area. By midday, I Company reached Noel Road and K Company successfully bypassed the Admiralty area. Yet behind them, there was a vertical gap including most of the Admiralty area between the two regiments. Thus, Corlett sent Logie's 1st Battalion to cover the gap and O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion to swing right and continue the advance north while his 1st Battalion contained and neutralized the Admiralty area. At 3:30, the new attack was launched, with Logie's 3rd Battalion rapidly smashing into the Nap strongpoint while O'Sullivan's 1st Battalion concentrated on the Admiralty area and his 2nd Battalion attacked north towards Nob Pier. E Company started its attack before those of either G Company or the 1st Battalion. At 2:40 E Company began moving northwest. Somewhat more than half an hour later E Company  crossed Noel Road, with G Company on their right. 2 medium and 2 light tanks, taken over from the 1st Battalion, moved forward with each of the companies, and each had one squad of engineer troops with demolitions. Enemy rifle fire was heavy. The men broke up into small groups, proceeding unevenly in the general direction of Nob Pier. Between 6:30 and 7:00, Captain Peter Blaettler, commander of E Company was seriously wounded. Control from the battalion command post was lost seeing the men hugging the ground to avoid sharp fire from enemy riflemen. Colonel Aulich became separated from the main part of his battalion and was to remain so until the next morning, for all intensive purposes he lost command of his unit. The 2nd Battalion's attack was pushed along the eastern side of Will Road toward Nathan Road, but as sunset approached it became evident not only that Company E would not reach Nob Pier but also that across Will Road on the left flank there was an area with many strong enemy defense positions too powerful to be occupied in the 45 minutes before dark. Meanwhile, at 3:45 A Company 1st battalion was joined by 2 medium tanks and C Company  by 2 mediums and 2 M10 tank destroyers. At 4:05 they assaulted the western edge of the built-up Admiralty area along a 300 yard front, with A Company's right wing somewhat south of Noel Road. 10 minutes later they advanced towards the lagoon. Will Road was crossed shortly after 4:30. The enemy was much more firmly established between the highway and the beach, in pillboxes, blockhouses, and strong shelters. Mortar fire kept the enemy down until the tanks and infantry approached. The coordinated effort of tanks, infantry, and demolition teams ran very smoothly, gradually destroying the pillboxes and blockhouses of the Admiralty area, successfully reaching the lagoon by 6pm.  To the east, Logie's I Company rapidly reduced the weakly-defended Nap strongpoint and then pushed forward to the objective Nathan Road with haste while the other companies made slower progress against stronger defenses and would not be able to reach their objectives before nightfall. The Japanese in the areas south of the front line, were in greater numbers than on either of the preceding nights of the Kwajalein Island operation. They prowled in the forward area all night. Some incidents occurred as far to the rear as Corn Strong Point, more than a 1000 yards from the 32nd Infantry's advanced position. Japanese came out of shelters, screaming and yelling, throwing grenades, and charging at the men in their foxholes. They fired rifles and threw grenades from buildings that offered places of advantage. In a pocket northeast of the Admiralty area, they greatly harassed the companies near them. Attacks from the north and from the lagoon shore were also attempted by enemy troops at various times during the night. Just after sunset, a bugle could be heard sounding among the enemy shelters near the base of Nob Pier, and shortly afterward a headlong counterattack by screaming Japanese was made toward E and G Companies, 184th Regiment. As the Japanese tried to cross Will Road, they were cut down to the last man. 5 more attacks were broken up before they were actually in progress by barrages along the entire front from mortars and from the supporting batteries of artillery on Carlson Island; and more attacks followed after midnight. From various positions beyond Nathan Road, enemy machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire was directed into the forward area at irregular intervals during the night, sometimes coinciding so closely with the fire from Carlson Island that Japanese monitoring of the artillery radio was suspected. Nonetheless, over 1000 yards had been gained, by February 3. The Americans estimated they had killed around 1300 Japanese, more than were expected to still be in the island, at the cost of 54 dead and 255 wounded.  After sunset, several Japanese counterattacks and infiltration attempts were carried out against the steadfast Americans, all ending disastrously. Corlett expected to end the enemy resistance by February 4; but far too many small pockets remained in the rear and the reserve battalions were experiencing difficulties rooting them out. Corlett's final plan was for Logie's 1st Battalion to clear the remainder of the island, allowing  Companies C, B and A to attack through O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion and Logie's 3rd Battalion. Unbeknownst to him, O'Sullivan also directed his 2nd Battalion to attack towards Nob Pier in order to complete the unfinished task of the previous day.  At 7:15, Corlett unleashed his final attack, supported by tanks. On the east, Logie's Companies A and B ran into a full-scale battle with the Japanese who had been bypassed the day before and who now poured heavy fire on the companies as they advanced toward the line of departure. It was not until 10:00 that the 2 1st Battalion companies reached the lines held by the 3rd Battalion. Then, the Americans successfully managed to advance 200 yards past Nathan Road, where the advance was stopped pending relief. Meanwhile, to the west, the attack of O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion, supported by B Company , prevented the advance of Logie's C Company until 11:00. The Americans managed to push towards Nob Pier by 1:00, where they found no enemy resistance. Behind them, the lagoon shore continued to be mopped up, showcasing a surprising number of Japanese and Koreans surrendering.  All forward movement of the 1st Battalion had stopped, its line consisting of a series of small, exhausted groups in a dense confusion of debris. The ground was interlaced with innumerable trenches and foul with bodies of the enemy, many of them long dead. Some of the corpses had been mangled by maneuvering tanks, adding greatly to the nauseating stench that blighted the area. Finally, at 3:45, Logie's 2nd Battalion passed through the 1st to complete the assault along Kwajalein. These troops would successfully push to the island's northern tip, blasting through the remaining Japanese camouflaged dugouts and ruined concrete blockhouses.  As in every other island battle, Japanese stragglers had infiltrated the American lines through tunnels and overlooked bunkers, and the assault troops quickly learned to watch their backs. Nisei interpreters broadcast surrender appeals through loudspeakers, but there were only a few dozen takers, and most of the men who gave themselves up were Korean laborers. At long last, G Company reached Nero Point at 3:15. At 4:10 Corlett radioed to Admiral Turner: "All organized resistance… has ceased. The troops have been organized for mopping up operations." yet F Company, would still have to methodically destroy the enemy positions until they finally secured Kwajalein's northern end at 7:20. Ken Dodson went ashore the next morning. Writing to his wife, he described a desolate landscape of “shell craters and hillocks of upturned coral. Some of the Japanese had been dead from the first bombardment, the day before we landed. Their bodies were seared and bloated, and the stench was sickening. I saw one half buried in a pillbox. You could not tell whether he had on any clothes or not. The skin was burned off his back and his head lay a few feet from his body. Another looked like a bronze statue in Golden Gate Park. He lay forward in a crouch, helmet still on, both hands holding on to a coconut log of his pillbox. There were many, many others. I lie in bed at night remembering how they looked, and that awful sweetish sickening stench of powder, and kerosene and decaying human flesh, and I wonder, after all, what war is all about. I feel sorry for those Japs in a way. They died courageously after a stubborn, last-ditch, hopeless fight. They fought for the things they had been taught to believe in, with their poor little bundles with pictures of their wives and kiddies tied to their belts. . . . They can't tell me war is a fine and noble thing.' Losses during the last day were 252 wounded, with 65 Japanese killed and over 100 captured. Thus, for the Battle of Kwajalein Island, the Americans suffered a total of 142 killed, 845 wounded and 2 missing, killing around 4300 Japanese and capturing another 166. During the week after Operation Flintlock, numerous high ranking visitors descended on the battle-scarred islands of Kwajalein Atoll. Admiral Nimitz flew out from Pearl Harbor with an entourage of officers. On February 5, when fires were still burning on Kwajalein Island, he toured the blackened wastes alongside Spruance, Turner, Smith, and several other major commanders of the fleet and Amphibious Corps. Three weeks earlier Nimitz had been the guest of honor at a huge “Texas Picnic” in a Honolulu park. Walking among 40,000 sailors, soldiers, and civilians. He had pitched horseshoes, posed for photographs, and signed autographs. Afterward, the park looked as if it had been hit by a hurricane—clean-up crews had to cart away more than 50 truckloads of garbage and debris. An estimated 120,000 beer bottles had been left strewn across the grass. Now, upon setting foot on the lagoon beach at Kwajalein, Nimitz was waylaid by a mob of correspondents. “What do you think of the island?” one asked. The admiral drew a cheerful laugh by replying, “Gentlemen, it's the worst scene of devastation I have ever witnessed—except for the Texas picnic.” The operation had been a model one in almost every respect. The attacking force had achieved strategic surprise; artillery preparation, naval gunfire, and aerial bombardment had successfully softened up the target in a fashion unexcelled at any other time in the Pacific War; the ship-to-shore movement had been conducted expeditiously and without too many hiccups; supplies flowed ashore and to the front lines relatively smoothly and without interruption; the infantry-engineer teams assisted by tanks moved steadily clearing the enemy from shelters and pillboxes; and American casualties had been fairly light. Altogether, the battle for Kwajalein represented the ideal for all military operations. To complete the conquest of the southern Kwajalein islands, detachments of amphibian tanks had been landed on Buster and Byron back on February 3. Troops of the 2nd Battalion, 17th Regiment landed on Burnet and Blakenship on February 4; the chain between Ashberry and Bennett was secured by February 5. On that same day, Clement, Clarence, and Clifford Islands were also secured, although on Clifton a force of 101 Japanese fought to the death. Beverly, Benson and Berlin were also secured on February 5, seeing 119 Japanese dead on the latter. Bennett fell against the 7th Reconnaissance Troop and O'Sullivan's 3rd Battalion with 94 Japanese killed. Most importantly, Colonel Zimmerman's 1st and 3rd Battalions landed on Burton's Beach Orange 4. The fortifications on Burton were much lighter than those on Kwajalein, mostly machine gun positions and rifle pits. These were organized at the beaches with a concentration of dual-purpose machine guns grouped around the seaplane base in the lagoon. At the base of the south seaplane ramp was a 20-mm. antiaircraft machine gun. Near it, and between the two seaplane ramps, were two 13-mm. single-mount machine guns, three 7.7-mm. machine guns, and a concrete pillbox. Two 8-cm. dual-purpose guns were located on the ocean shore. The large number of empty machine gun emplacements would seem to indicate that the defenses of the island had not been completed at the time of the invasion. The few pillboxes found in the vicinity of the seaplane base were small, reinforced concrete shelters, each with two firing ports facing seaward. Most of the fire trenches and rifle pits were on the ocean side at the center of the island and at the north and south ends of the island. On the morning of February 3 after a heavy artillery, air and naval bombardment, the 1st Battalion traversed the southern end of the island against weak resistance and began pushing north supported by tanks, ultimately getting stopped by strong enemy resistance at Bailey Pier.  The following morning, the assault was resumed at 0730, the main enemy resistance had shifted to the eastern side of the island. The Japanese had reoccupied four pillboxes close to the American front line on the ocean side, and were able to hold up A Company, but with the aid of self-propelled mounts, the company took the positions. During the morning, a flight of five Navy bombers made two runs over targets that had been spotted with the aid of information from a prisoner. The planes dropped a total of two and three quarters tons on an ammunition dump, a shelter, and a heavy machine gun that had an excellent field of fire across the hangar apron. Direct hits on these targets apparently disheartened the enemy. Not a single shot was fired by them at any later time during the operation. They remained buried in their dugouts until forced out or until they killed themselves. By 1130, when the 3d Battalion passed through and took up the assault, B Company  had moved about 350 yards to the southern edge of the concrete apron, and on the right A Company  was fifty to 75 yards farther back. The 3rd Battalion continued the advance north against meager resistance, ultimately reaching Burton's northern tip by 12:10. After this, the last of the enemy were readily mopped up; and by 3:37, the island was fully secured. During this battle, the 17th Regiment suffered 7 killed and 82 wounded while reporting 450 Japanese dead. Meanwhile, to the north, the 25th Marines led by Colonel Samuel C. Cumming occupied some 55 islands in the northern part of the atoll between February 2-7, finding absolutely no enemy resistance. With Kwajalein Atoll finally secured, the next objective in the Marshalls for Admirals Nimitz and Spruance would be Eniwetok, where Major-General Nishida Yoshimi was preparing his men to fight to the last. Yet that's it for the Marshall islands today, as now we are traveling over to the CBI theater, where Generals Christison and Stilwell's offensives continued.  Now last time we left off with the gang in Burma General Liao's 22nd division, Colonel Rothwell Brown's 1st provisional tank group, General Merrill's Galahad Unit alongside Chinese and American engineers were busy building the Ledo Road through the Hukawng valley. Location parties up ahead cleared a trace the width of a bulldozer and put in the center-line stakes. The final clearing averaged 150 feet. The route of the Ledo Road in some cases followed existing roads, a circumstance that did not greatly diminish the amount of clearing needed. Most clearing was by bulldozer. Combat trails and access roads were cleared to the necessary minimum that would permit heavy equipment to use them. In the valleys, the road was generally built on embankments in order to lift it above flood level. In mountainous regions, side-hill cuts were used. The road itself had about seven culverts to the mile in the mountains and five to the mile in the lowlands. These culverts were most necessary as the road was a barrier to the normal runoff of water. Surfacing was with stream-bed gravel in the valley sections and, so far as hauling permitted, natural gravel in the mountainous sections. Surfacing was about ten inches thick on the average, and from twenty to twenty-eight feet wide. Compaction was by the normal road traffic. Two regiments of Chinese engineers did pioneer construction work. There was also a combat road, a hasty improvement of the existing Kamaing Road plus the Kachin and Naga trails, that ran through Shingbwiyang, Yupbang Ga, and Taihpa Ga, then went south. The trace of the Ledo Road was moved to higher ground on the north. Forward construction units were rationed from combat supply points. Meanwhile Vinegar Joe sought to end the campaign with a single decisive victory. He planned to deploy the 1st Tank Battalion as an armored spearhead against Maingkwan, the 1st battalion, 66th regiment, the 113th was to follow down the road to take over successive positions, while the 114th would assemble at Taihpa in reserve and the 112th was to protect the flank east of the Tanai, advancing on Mashi Daru. He expected his men to hit the enemy across their rear areas. Now January had been a very rainy month, armored warfare does not do well in mud, so it was important the terrain was dry for the offensive. Stilwell would end up on February 4th decided to shift the bulk of the 22nd division to seize Yawngbang-Lakyen line while General Sun's 38th Division cleaned up the area south and east of the Tanai.  Once this first phase was done, then General Liao's 2 regiments could support an armored advance south towards Walawbum. The bad weather, however, had also delayed road work and hampered their supply lines. Stilwell biding his time, building up a reserve at Shingbwiyang and Ningam, while the men progressed their work on the Ledo Road, and built an airfield at Taihpa before launching his second phase. This unfortunately also gave enough time for General Tanaka to prepare an orderly withdrawal towards Maingkwan. During early february, General Sun's 32nd division successfully accomplished their part of the mission, but to the southwest, the enveloping hook from the Taro Plain did not go as planned. By February 14th, the 66th regiment were beginning to arrive on the Taro Plain through heavy rain, but only the 3rd battalion of the 65th regiment managed to join them. The 66th regiment was forced to continue without the proper support until they diverted to Yawngbang Ga which they seized on the 16th. By the 18th, Stilwell and Liao personally went over to check on their regiment's location and found the entire force was within the neighborhood of the 66th command post. It seems the utter confusion during these movements saved the Japanese, as quoted by General Tanaka: "If the Chinese 65th and 66th Infantry Regiments operating in the vicinity of Yawngbang had been prompt in closing in on our left rear flank on the 15th or 16th, as predicted, the main force of the 18th Division would have faced a grave crisis." After sorting out the confusion,  the Chinese advanced from Yawngbang Ga to Lakyen Ga. There they captured a Japanese document indicating they were withdrawing. Thus another chance to envelop the enemy had thus been lost.    Meanwhile, to support Stilwell's offensive, the two Allied long-range penetration units, the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, were preparing to embark on a new mission, codenamed Operation Thursday. It was to be the second Chindit expedition with the objective of mounting a long range penetration behind the Japanese who were opposing Stilwells forces in the Northern front. It was hoping the action would prevent the arrival of any reinforcements from the two Japanese divisions on the Central Front. General Hap Arnold wanted his airmen to take the Chindits behind Japanese lines, carry their supplies, evacuate their wounded and eventually fly them off, so he decided to create the 1st Air Commando Unit, under Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Cochram. The unit consisted of a squadron of P-51s; one of B-25s; 100 C4A Waco gliders; and a squadron of C-47s. Arnold spelled out the mission to Cochram and Lieutenant-Colonel John Alison, his deputy. "This man [Wingate] has really done some remarkable things. He has walked through the jungles. He has carried his supplies on mules. It takes him about six weeks to get his men through the jungle, across the rivers, and in behind the Japanese lines. The next time he goes in, I don't want him to walk. I want him to go by air. I want to make this an air operation completely independent of land transport. I want to demonstrate that you can use the air just like the navy uses the sea. You can land and maintain a force and support it in battle. I want you to go in there and take out General Wingate's wounded. We will make available the resources that you need. 'I not only want you to do that... but I want the USAAF to spearhead General Wingate's operations.' We gathered he wouldn't mind if we turned it into an air show." The mad onion lad Wingate also wanted to created strongholds within the Japanese controlled areas that could serve as bases to receive aircrafts of all types, store  supplies, hold wounded until they could be extracted, and act as centers for locals resisting the enemy. The motto for the Stronghold, as he called it, was “No Surrender”. Meanwhile Stilwell ordered Merril to close in on Ledo by February 7th, and the last American unit would arrive to Margherita on February 9th. Merrill's Marauders were to assemble at Ningbyen by February 21st whereupon they would envelop the 18th divisions east flank and block the Kamaing road near Shaduzap with the support of Sun's 113th Regiment. Simultaneously Stilwell's other troops were preparing for their attack on Maingkwan. Further in the south General Christison's 15th Corps was in a lot of trouble. The Japanese had been bringing in a lot of reinforcements for their forthcoming Arakan counteroffensive from both within and outside the Burma theater throughout December and January. By early February, General Hanaya had assembled his men and was ready to launch the first phase of Operation Ha-Go. General Hanaya planned to destroy the 7th Indian Division in the region east of Mayu Range using a pincer movement launched simultaneously from the north and south. After that, he would shift the main weight of his 55th Division near Ngangyaung against the 5th Indian Division in the Maungdaw region west of the Mayu Range. From there, he hoped to advance along the Kaladan valley to perform the phase of Ha-Go, named the Kaladan Operation. For this the men would advance towards Chittagong to distract attention from around Imphal and to draw the British reserves into Arakan.  On the night of February 3, Hanaya unleashed his offensive, with several columns, under the command of Major-General Sakurai Tokutaro, commander of the 55th Infantry Group. His force secretly infiltrated through the jungle under the cover of darkness, on the left bank of the Kalapanzin river near Buthidaung, through gaps between the 7th Division's widely separated brigades. The element of terrain and weather was paramount. Throughout the dry season a morning mist with heavy dew formed daily in the small hours and, unless cleared by rain and wind, normally persisted till well after sunrise; the noise made by the dew falling from the trees on to the dry undergrowth was loud enough to drown the sound of footsteps so that, in the jungle, movement in the early morning could be unheard as well as unseen. The tides were an important factor in planning, for at high tide many of the chaungs were unfordable. The knife-edge ridges into which the Japanese so often dug their defenses presented an unusual artillery problem. If guns were to bring effective fire to bear, they had to be sited on the line of the axis of a ridge, which was always difficult and sometimes impossible. Fire from any other angle meant that reverse slope defenses were untouched and accurate ranging was extremely difficult. The dense jungle covering the hilltops greatly restricted their use as observation points. Using the early morning mists, Hanaya's men shrouded their columns advance cutting deeply into the British defenses. At about 9 am the Gwalior Lancers reported to 7th Division by wireless that a column of Japanese about a hundred strong followed by another about eight hundred strong were approaching Taung Bazar. Major-General Frank Messervy immediately ordered his reserve brigade, the 89th to advance north to locate and destroy them and asked 15th Corps to speed up the arrival of the tanks. Christison ordered the 25th Dragoons to send a squadron to Sinzweya and 5th Division to send an infantry detachment to prevent infiltration over Goppe Pass. The 89th Brigade advanced north in two columns: the right column encountered the Japanese at about 4 pm near Ingyaung resulting in hand to hand fighting, and the left reached the bend of the Prein Chaung east of Preingyaung. The right column  dug in at Ingyaung and Lin babi and the left over the Prein Chaung. Although the main force of the 1st Echelon was delayed by some confusion, the advance guard surprised the Taung Bazar garrison at 7am. Without delay, the Battalion crossed the Kalapanzin River south of Taung Bazar, using captured boats, and was followed closely by the 2nd Echelon and the 3rd Battalion of the 112th Infantry Regiment. The main body of the 1st Echelon crossed the river northwest of Taung Bazar on the morning of the 5th. By 9am Taung Bazar was overwhelmed as the Japanese forces crossed the Kalapanzin River to cut the Ngakyedauk Pass in order to isolate the 7th Division. Meanwhile the 1st Battalion, 213th Regiment headed towards Ngangyaung. The battalion advanced parallel to the Sakurai Column before moving towards Goppe Bazaar. It was held up short of its objective, however, by the leading elements of 26th Indian Division committed from army reserve on 5th February to bolster 15th Corps. Despite this local setback, the Japanese hauled their mountain guns and equipment over the Mayu Range, midway between Goppe and Ngakyedauk, before attacking administrative troops, bridges, dumps, ambushing convoys and building a roadblock on the main line of communications along the Bawli-Maungdaw road. It failed to prevent supplies reaching 5th Indian Division, however, whose ammunition, equipment and food was transported by sea to Maungdaw. Overnight the rear areas of 15th Corps were transformed into the front line with administrative troops bearing much of the burden of dealing with advancing Japanese troops. To the surprise of many officers, they displayed a determination and fighting spirit unknown a year before and took a heavy toll of the Japanese attackers bearing out Slim's direction that every man in the army should be a soldier first and a tradesman or specialist second. The bulk of the 112th regiment led by Colonel Tanahashi Shinsaku marched towards the pass as the 2nd battalion 143rd regiment and Sakurai's HQ advanced south. The quickly found enemy resistance near Ingyaung which delayed their advance for over 2 days. Failing to make contact with General Sakurai, the Battalion continued its advance southward, bypassing Awlanbyin. Major Gen. Sakurai and his headquarters also got involved in fighting off enemy counterattacks near Ingyaung on the 5th and 6th and due to failure of his communications, was unable to keep in touch with his units. To further support the offensive, Japanese fighters and bombers from the 5th Air Division's 7th Air Brigade launched a heavy offensive to gian air superiority over the battlefield, using 34 fighters and 10 bombers. Between the 4th and 14th their fighters flew 350 sorties, and bombers attacked the Bawli and Briasco bridges and Sinzweya. Spitfires intercepted them but had less success than before. Japanese losses were believed to be some 14 aircraft destroyed and a number damaged, while RAF losses during the same period were around 11 fighters. On february 5th, having made such quick progress, Hanaya ordered the 143rd regiment to advance north. The 3rd battalion, 143rd managed to infiltrate through the Indian brigades en route and joined Sakurai's men to hit the pass. Seeing the danger, General Slim decided to reinforce Christison with the 26th Indian division led by Under General Lomax. Christison in turn ordered Lomax to move it forward to Bawli Bazar as quickly as possible. Upon their arrival at Bawli North, the 71st Brigade was then ordered to relieve the detachment from 5th Division on Goppe Pass and then attack the Japanese operating in rear of 7th Division. Likewise the 36th Indian division of Major-General F. W. Festing sped up their advance towards Chittagong while C-46 Commandos and C-47 Dakotas air dropped ammunition, food and other supplies to the front units. On the morning of the 6th, the 112th Regiment reached the sector north of Sinzweya and overran the headquarters of the British-Indian 7th Division while the 1st Battalion cut the Ngakyedauk Pass. In a perfect position to envelop the enemy in Sinzweya, Colonel Tanahashi disregarded the vital necessity for speed and delayed for 24 hours, giving the British time to establish a perimeter defense in the Sinzweya Basin. East of the range at about 5:00am, an enemy force, estimated at battalion strength, penetrated the widely separated posts held by the company of 24th Engineer Battalion defending 7th Division Headquarters, established machine-gun posts on tracks throughout the headquarters area and broke into the signal center. In hand-to-hand fighting the attackers were driven out, but not before all communications had been cut and ciphers compromised. Tanks from Sinzweya moved to the sound of the fighting as soon as it was light but the ground prevented them from reaching the headquarters area; rain which set in about 8:30 further hampered them and they had to withdraw. At about 10:00am, the signal center was finally overrun. Messervy, unable to exercise command any longer, sent orders to all branches of his headquarters to destroy papers and equipment of value and make their way in small parties to Sinzweya. Most of them succeeded in doing so during the following 24 hours. Major-General Frank Messervy and his staff would manage to successfully escape towards Sinzweya. Consequently, instead of ordering a general withdrawal like the Japanese expected, Christison directed the 9th Brigade to organize a defense of Sinzweya, which was the weakest link of the four isolated, self-contained all-round defensive boxes held by each brigade of the 7th Division. By the 7th, the defense of Sinzweya, also known as the Admin Box had been consolidated. The perimeter consisted of a series of small defended posts held, in the main, by administrative units, except at the south east and southwest corners where the roads entered the area. These were held by 4/8th Gurkhas and a company of 2nd West Yorkshire. There were insufficient troops to hold the whole of the Point 315 feature, and thus there was a deep reentrant between the southeast and northeast corners of the perimeter extending back to the southern end of Ammunition Hill. Most of the artillery was disposed on the southern face with attachments holding perimeter posts. The 25th Dragoons were in mobile reserve in two harbors held by a company of 3/4th Bombay Grenadiers, one each side of Ammunition Hill. The 2nd West Yorkshire constituted the infantry reserve and was located with divisional and garrison headquarters on the western side of Ammunition Hill. The main dressing station in the southwest corner was being moved to a more secure area. During the night, the Japanese launched an assault against Sinzweya, yet the tenacious defenders managed to hold on against the fierce enemy pressure. That night, the 33rd Brigade also managed to repulse an attack against Sinohbyin, though the arrival of these reinforcements would allow Sakurai to extricate himself from Ingyaung and head to Sinzweya to take command over the assault. On February 8, all British troops east of the Mayu range were receiving supplies by air, yet the strong presence of enemy fighters disrupted the first few attempts. Eventually, British air superiority would be restored. The No. 31 Squadron and 62 Squadron were reinforced on the 10th by 194 Squadron and on the 25th by 117 Squadron, recently arrived from the Middle East. Not only were 7th and 81st Divisions kept supplied with food and ammunition, but such amenities as cigarettes, rum, mail, razor blades and newspapers were delivered by air to the troops in increasing quantities as time went on, certainly a morale booster. Throughout the battle the Strategic Air Force and 224 Group gave constant close support to 15th Corps. In addition to providing escorts for transport squadrons, Hurricanes harried road, river and coastal transport on the Japanese lines of communication to Arakan that movement by day into the area virtually ceased. Tactical bombing of enemy positions was undertaken by two Vengeance squadrons which flew no less than 269 sorties in just over a week. The transports flew a total of 714 sorties in 5 weeks, successfully delivering nearly 2300 tons of supplies. From the night of February 8 onwards, the Admin and other boxes would also hold firm against repeated ferocious Japanese infantry night assaults, occasional air attacks and limited artillery bombardment from a handful of mountain and battalion guns by day and a medium gun firing from the nearby tunnels, thus showcasing the new spirit of the British-Indian troops. As quoted by Lieutenant-General Pownall: “We've learned how to fight where we stand and NOT to be frightened of the bogey of infiltration.” I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kwajalein has finally fallen, leaving the rest of the Marshalls at the mercy of the colossal allied air, land and sea forces. Within Burma, the Chinese, British, Indian and Americans were ferociously meeting the Japanese, showcasing their dominance in the theater was no longer as sure thing, now the Japanese faced a much stronger enemy.   

Dragoon, one of the most powerful and iconic jobs in the Final Fantasy series. We breakdown what this job is and its appearances in the series, as well as what are favorite Dragoons are. Make sure to follow us on Twitter at @FFLorecast. Want to suggest a future topic for us on the show? Email us at fflorecast@gmail.com Live every Wednesday at 8pm est/5pm pst on twitch.tv/benoftemeria New episodes Every Friday! Robot Radio Network Discord: https://discord.gg/AW5Wc4kgZb Ben and Friends Podcasting Discord: https://discord.gg/DmPZ2NHhFx Patreon: patreon.com/FinalFantasyLorecast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a big one, and it's happening now. The Canadian Army is significantly increasing its footprint in Latvia as part of Operation REASSURANCE. This mission is shaking up the Army's training and deployment cycles, and will bring new kit into the hands of the troops. Lieutenant-Colonel Marc Kieley talks about transitioning the current battle group in Latvia to a brigade and the impact it will have on both Regular and Reserve soldiers.Feel free to contact Captain Adam Orton with any comments or questions:armyconnect-connectionarmee@forces.gc.caConnect with the Canadian Army on social media:Facebook  | X (Twitter) | Instagram | YouTubeVisit Forces.ca if you are considering a career in the Army.Copyright Information© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2023

C'en est une bonne, et ça se passe maintenant. L'Armée accroît considérablement sa présence en Lettonie dans le cadre de l'opération REASSURANCE. Cette mission bouleverse les cycles d'entraînement et de déploiement de l'Armée, et dotera les soldats avec de l'équipement neuf. Le groupe de combat qui se trouve actuellement en Lettonie deviendra une brigade. Le major Marc-André Pelland discute de cette transition et de son incidence sur les membres de la Force régulière et de la réserve.Pour toute question ou tout commentaire, n'hésitez pas à communiquer avec le capitaine Adam Orton :armyconnect-connectionarmee@forces.gc.caMédias sociaux de l'Armée canadienne :Facebook | X (Twitter) |  Instagram | YouTubeConsultez le site Forces.ca si vous envisagez une carrière dans l'Armée.Renseignements sur les droits d'auteur© Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par la ministre de la Défense nationale, 2023

Love tanks? So do we! Hear all about how the heavy metal of the battlefield helps the Canadian Army support the fight on the ground, how the crews make it all work, and the role they're playing in modern day warfare. Lieutenant-Colonel Darryn Gray, Commanding Officer of the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), gives us his take on why tanks are awesome.This episode was recorded during the summer of 2023.Feel free to contact Captain Adam Orton with any comments or questions:armyconnect-connectionarmee@forces.gc.caConnect with the Canadian Army on social media:Facebook  | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeVisit Forces.ca if you are considering a career in the Army.Copyright Information© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2023

This week we catch up on the fun event happening in the Gaza Strip

Spider-man 2: Spider-man 2 has dropped for the PS5! We got some early reacts and discussion. Lets talk gaming! Our Algorithms: Jim and Mike get into what our algorithms have been serving us from VR Football to Sea World mimes. My Man: Why would Drake release this video for his son Adonis's freestyle "My Man"? This is abuse. LET'S JUST TALK!, BOOGIE NIGHTS!, DON CHEADLE!, SPIDER-MAN 2!, PS5!, VIDEO GAMES!, PSPOOR!, JIM NORTON!, MARRIED!, CONGRATULATIONS!, SUSAN BOYLE!, BOOPAC!, PATREON!, FREE TIER!, MEMORIES!, COLLECTOR'S EDITION!, STATUE!, NITPICKS!, SANDMAN!, NORMAN OSBORN!, VENOM!, KRAVEN!, HODGE PODGE!, GADGETS!, FLYING!, UNIVERSE!, WINGS!, DIFFICULTY!, COMBAT!, PERFORMANCE!, 120HZ!, HICCUPS!, MJ!, BALDUR'S GATE!, DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS!, STARFIELD!, DRAGOONS!, MOVIES!, TV SHOWS!, TIME MANAGEMENT!, PRIORITY!, HOGWARTS LEGACY!, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!, CASUAL!, JEDI SURVIVOR!, STREAMING GAMES!, IRL!, VR FOOTBALL!, TURBOTEK_TD!, SEA WORLD!, MIME!, SPECTRUM!, DISNEY!, FACE CHARACTERS!, TOM!, PRE SHOW!, BITS!, MESSING WITH THE CROWD!, JEFF!, MUSCLE MOMMIES!, LEAN BEEF PATTY!, SOPHIE BRUSSAUX!, ROSEE DIVINE!, DRAKE!, SON!, ADONIS!, PUSHA!, 6 YEAR OLD!, MODERN HIP HOP!, SUBTEXT!, YEAT!, BUILD UP!, THE OFFICE!, ZACH GALIFIANAKIS!, BOBBI ALTHOFF!, DRY HUMOR!, BETWEEN TWO FERNS!, ERIC ANDRE!  You can find the videos from this episode at our Discord RIGHT HERE!

A Battletech podcast highlighting the storied mercenary units of the Inner Sphere that are highlighted in the 2023 Mercenaries Kickstarter and exploring the news and products surrounding it. In episode 07 we are looking at the Wolf's Dragoons!!!Special thanks to Andrew & Aaron Krull, co-hosts on the WolfNet Radio Podcast and creators of the Alpha Strike 350 Tournament rules! Be sure to check out their show wherever you listen! You can find their 350 Tournament rules at WolfsDragoons.com! Check out our sponsor: Fortress Miniatures & Games! https://www.fortressminiaturesandgames.com Follow the Mercenary Star Podcast on Twitter: @MercStarPodcast Follow the Mercenary Star Podcast on Instagram: Mercenary Star Podcast Follow Seth on twitter: @WhiteFoxSG Check out the awesome WolfNet Community! Their Facebook page has links to their discord and their site! https://www.facebook.com/WolfNetRadioPodcast Email us at mercenarystarpodcast@gmail.com Wolf's Dragon's Fiction List: •The Spider and the Wolf(Comic & Scenario), Gideon Scott Oehler, 1986 •Wolves on the Border, Robert N. Charrette, 1989 •Blood Legacy, Michael A. Stackpole, December 1990 •Wolf Pack, Robert N. Charrette, April 1992 •Tales of the (Blake Era): the Last Day of Zeta, BattleCorp, Jason Schmetzer, 2006 •Feral, BattleCorp, Jason Schmetzer, 2008• Hector, BattleCorp, Jason Schmetzer, 2008 •Making a Name, BattleCorp Anthology 3, Jason Schmetzer, 2012 •Redemption Rift, Jason Schmetzer, 2013(BattleCorp in 4 parts) •Divided We Fall, Blaine Lee Pardoe, May 2020 •Hour of the Wolf, Blaine Lee Pardoe, January 2021 •Redemption Rites, Jason Schmetzer, May 2022

Welcome to the Valhalla Club!On this episode we talk with Aaron and Andrew from WNRP on community building! The S2 Intel Brief for this month is on the Wolf's Dragoons! The BattleTech Drink of the Month is the “Alpha Strike”.Hosts:Mike “The Viking”Dave “Cerberus”Matt "The Northman"BourBen "Master of Spirits"John “Caveman”Guests:Aaron “Coach” KrullAndrew KrullJoin us on The Valhalla Club Podcast Discord Server and Facebook GroupEmail us at: thevalhallaclub@outlook.comColorado BattleTech PatreonColorado BattleTech Facebook GroupThis Episode is proudly sponsored by Aries Games and Miniatures where you can find everything you need for your Battletech addiction.

It's pretty hard to go wrong no matter which way you head into the borderlands of southeastern Arizona. On the day that we turned west instead of east onto the blacktop near our home and headed towards the Dragoon Mountains the adventure began. The photos are mine of flowering Ceanothus greggii (desert buckbrush) and taken in the Dragoons where biotic communities clash.

We are BACK biotches! After a quiet summer, the girls are at it once again this week researching a family line that showed up in dna matches on a maternal line. Families going back to a Bartlett Hawkins Fitzgerald of Nelson County Virginia. Maybe you can be of help? We apologize in advance for our awkward silliness. 

In The Pits Paintball Podcast is focused on telling the stories of members of the Texas paintball scene. Each week will feature a new guest, ranging from pro and divisional players, coaches, field owners, photographers, videographers, and Texas based brands. This week we feature Sasha Zucker, owner of the Dragoons paintball team.

John Hopfield discusses Festas and their relation to Harm. He also talks about the convenance of manducation and hungers, and how they are related.

This episode was not entirely Nadia's idea, we swear. Really, can anyone deny the sheer cool factor of the Final Fantasy series' take on dragon knights? If you're not, maybe this episode will make you a believer. Prima Games' Jesse Vitelli joins Nadia and Eric as they talk about Dragoons past and present, from progenitor Ricard Highwind to the dragon-hating nerd Estinien Wyrmblood. Pull on your overly-elaborate dragoon boots and join the fun. Also in this episode: Miyazaki (not that one) thinks Radahn is the best Elden Ring boss.  Give us more Dragon's Dogma, Capcom. (Please.) The Summer Game Fest creeps ever closer. What will we see? Sony is making bad decisions about its retro games again.

Raph, 9dorf, and special guest JHW3D check in on DFK arena and the tank metagame that's developing. We have a fun hero giveaway planned, sponsored by Sir Worm. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/raph1234/support

  One hundred eight-five years ago, at Camp Monroe, the Seminole nearly scored a second rout of soldiers akin in decisiveness to the Dade Battle of late December 1835. Nearly. But the fierce battle on February 8, 1837, produced a more favorable outcome to the Army.  The Seminoles amassed a huge armed contingent to attack the U.S. encampment on Lake Monroe. It was a close-run battle. Had the troops obeyed their commander to replace their flints with wooden chips for training purposes the next day, had the troops NOT obeyed their commander to construct a breastworks the day before, had the men shown less discipline in their firing, had an Army lieutenant not manned a six-pound gun on a nearby Navy riverboat, the day might have belonged to the Seminole. Instead, the U.S. Army repulsed the Seminole for one of its rare clear-cut victories in the Second Seminole War. The Museum of Seminole County History is commemorating the 185th anniversary of the Battle of Camp Monroe. Bennett Lloyd, museum director described the commemoration for us in a previous podcast. In this podcast, he rejoins to narrate a chronology of the battle and how the Army fought off the Seminole advance.   (Above) The innovative Cochran Repeating Turret Gun kept Seminole at bay in this battle. But design flaws causing an accidental chain-firing from all chambers with one pull of the trigger led the Army to adopt the Colt revolving chamber gun over the repeating turret gun. (Below) Three books and pamphlets cover the battle and forts at Lake Monroe: Camp Monroe, Camp Mellon, Fort Mellon.    Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida.  Subscribe automatically to the Seminole Wars through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart or Stitcher or Spotify, DoubleTwist, or Pandora or Google podcasts or iTunes, or ... Check it out so you always get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it. Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube!  

In this episode of Lawful Evil, the monsters cook a more impressive meal for Captain Calloway and catch a ride deeper into the islands of Enceladus on his ship.  At the first stop, Vidar gets a chance to reconnect with his Ursan roots.  Catch new Lawful Evil episodes every Monday, and follow us on Instagram and TikTok at @LawfulEvilPodcast and on Twitter @LawfulEvilPod.Our theme song, Neighborhood Kids, is by the incomparable Slater the Genius.  Stream the full album, Yensy's Son, here!Special thanks to Antonio Demico for creating Dragon Stew and Hexbound, two DND 5e home brew supplements that we heavily utilize in this campaign.  This is where we get the cooking mechanics used first in this episode. Go check out his amazing work! Our episode features the following music, and we thank and appreciate the artists for sharing their work: Wolves by 84 faces Winter Movement 1 Allegeo non Molto by John Harrison and the Wichita State University Chamber PlayersIce and Stone by Rafael Krux Neptunian Princess by Bryan teoh The Vikings by Alexander Nakarada Neighborhood Kids by Slater the Genius 

Join our intrepid crew as they face off against Captain Vane and the Dragoons of Flotilla. Can the adventures find a way to make friends with a hostile force or are they doomed to put an end to this madman. The battle that ensues will keep you on the edge of your seat as the party make hard choices and faces the madness of Captain Vane. Music: The Buccaneer's Haul by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Pirates and Dragons download: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1UFk-jFMm-H_DeWQDR2DN2b_yOrfd5yk

This is episode 50 and the British have mobilized the dragoons to end a trekboer uprising in Graaff-Reinet. That will spark what is known as the Third Frontier War. But first we'll have a quick look at a powerful party that arrived in 1799 that was going to change everything on the frontier. The Missionaries. The idea started earlier, on November 4th 1794, when a small group gathered in Baker's Coffee House, Change Alley, London. The outcome of this gathering was the London Missionary Society which was formed to “attend the funeral of bigotry and propagate the gospel among the heathen…” It was to be of no particular religious denomination and launched as an umbrella organization which would be left to “the minds of the Persons whom God may call .. to assume for themselves such form of Church government as to them shall appear most agreeable to the word of God…” These people would be hated by the colonists eventually as you're going to hear. Then the trekboers in the Zuurveld – the eastern Cape - rebelled once more in 1799 – with the elderly Adriaan van Jaarsveld freed from British captivity by the rebels as he was dragged back to Cape town to face a trial for fraud. But the British did manage to cobble together a detachment of Dragoons as you know which was shipped to Algoa Bay and ordered to crush this uprising of around 200 trekboers. The grandly named Brigadier-General Thomas Packenham Vandeleur landed on the scenic shores of Algoa Bay along with his blue-jacketed dragoons and fifty "Hottentot" Corps soldiers dressed in the finest British military tunics.

This is episode 50 and the British have mobilized the dragoons to end a trekboer uprising in Graaff-Reinet. That will spark what is known as the Third Frontier War. But first we'll have a quick look at a powerful party that arrived in 1799 that was going to change everything on the frontier. The Missionaries. The idea started earlier, on November 4th 1794, when a small group gathered in Baker's Coffee House, Change Alley, London. The outcome of this gathering was the London Missionary Society which was formed to “attend the funeral of bigotry and propagate the gospel among the heathen…” It was to be of no particular religious denomination and launched as an umbrella organization which would be left to “the minds of the Persons whom God may call .. to assume for themselves such form of Church government as to them shall appear most agreeable to the word of God…” These people would be hated by the colonists eventually as you're going to hear. Then the trekboers in the Zuurveld – the eastern Cape - rebelled once more in 1799 – with the elderly Adriaan van Jaarsveld freed from British captivity by the rebels as he was dragged back to Cape town to face a trial for fraud. But the British did manage to cobble together a detachment of Dragoons as you know which was shipped to Algoa Bay and ordered to crush this uprising of around 200 trekboers. The grandly named Brigadier-General Thomas Packenham Vandeleur landed on the scenic shores of Algoa Bay along with his blue-jacketed dragoons and fifty "Hottentot" Corps soldiers dressed in the finest British military tunics.

This is episode 43 and we're dealing with the arrival of the English at the Cape. As you know, the Peninsular had become more important in the eyes of the English as they fought a lengthy war against France at the end of the 18th Century – a war that was to continue through until Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815. The British would occupy the Cape twice of course and when they arrived in 1795 the region was convulsed by disorder on the frontiers. The Khoekhoe rose up twice in conjunction with the amaXhosa as we're going to hear, while the frontier settlers were already in revolt by the time the British arrived. Lady Anne Barnard had accompanied her husband – Macartney's colonial secretary Andrew Barnard to the Cape. Also present on behalf of George Third was John Barrow – a man who was to have a significant effect on the South Africa and world affairs. He was described as extremely intelligent, an amateur scientist, naturalist, geographer, a man of the enlightenment if there ever was one. He'd already revealed great gifts of intelligence gathering during his time in China and would now be called on to collect more intelligence on the frontier of South Africa.

This is episode 43 and we're dealing with the arrival of the English at the Cape. As you know, the Peninsular had become more important in the eyes of the English as they fought a lengthy war against France at the end of the 18th Century – a war that was to continue through until Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815. The British would occupy the Cape twice of course and when they arrived in 1795 the region was convulsed by disorder on the frontiers. The Khoekhoe rose up twice in conjunction with the amaXhosa as we're going to hear, while the frontier settlers were already in revolt by the time the British arrived. Lady Anne Barnard had accompanied her husband – Macartney's colonial secretary Andrew Barnard to the Cape. Also present on behalf of George Third was John Barrow – a man who was to have a significant effect on the South Africa and world affairs. He was described as extremely intelligent, an amateur scientist, naturalist, geographer, a man of the enlightenment if there ever was one. He'd already revealed great gifts of intelligence gathering during his time in China and would now be called on to collect more intelligence on the frontier of South Africa.

In this week's episode,  Britt takes Peter on a journey back in time to France in the 1760s for a chilling tale of an unsolved mystery, that we claim to solve. This is the story of the Beast of Gévaudan, la Bête du Gévaudan, a terrifying beast that ravaged France. We co over the fashionable hunting techniques, propose a new version of the Goonies but with a wolf monster, as well as butcher the French language like loup-garou butchers fair maidens.Visit us on our website www.CreepyPizza.comFind us on Instagram @CreepyPizzaPodcastAnd on Twitter @CreepyPizza1Be a Pizza Pal: https://www.patreon.com/creepypizzapodcastHave an idea for the podcast or want to send in your creepy stories? Email us at CreepyPizzaPodcast@gmail.comSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/creepypizzapod)  Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/creepypizzapod)

You can now listen to the eighth episode of “The Untold History”, the podcast of The Hispanic Council, in collaboration with the Secretaría General de Política de Defensa. In this new episode we talk about Gaspar de Portolá.  Whoever visits the Parador de Arties, in the Valle de Arán, will be able to contemplate a statue and a painting of a hardened officer and chief of the Dragoons. He is Don Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira, an aristocrat born in 1717 and former owner of the place where the tourist complex stands today. More than that, Portolá was a veteran of the Italian and Portuguese campaigns. And while he performed with efficiency and honor on the battlefields of Europe, his place in history was guaranteed by his adventure in the New World. To be exact: the expansion of the empires borders along the coasts of the North Pacific.

Hey y'all, this week we have another episode in our 'Based on a True Story' series! In this episode we cover the legend of the werewolf and the Mason Murders, so grab your seltzer and listen up because this week is full of Spooky stories!

Two extracts relating different perspectives of the experience of one unit, the British 12 Light Dragoons at Waterloo

ready for some random facts from history? apparently traveling a couple thousand miles on horseback was difficult... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Merry Christmas humons! John Gemberling, Charlie Sanders, and Colton Dunn join Matt Besser for a LIVE improv4humans from the UCBs Sunset theater in Hollywood California! Theyll hear from Grames Taylor, a musician who parodies James Taylor songs, explore what it's like being around someone who brings up their love of Eggnog in casual conversation, and cut to Gemberling heckling a live Mickey Mouse show. Plus, We Need to Talk About Kevin arrives with a Holiday edition of Man On The Street Interviews in which we find out what are some of the worst gifts humons have ever given and received. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual ,Matt Bessers new comedy album at mattbesser.com , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Playwright and poet Dan O'Brien joins Jessica St. Clair, Danielle Schneider, Lennon Parham, and Jason Mantzoukas for a special poetry filled edition of improv4humans with Matt Besser! Dan reads some poems from his Scarsdale and War Reporter collections to inspire scenes about the "hmmming" phenomenon in the poetry world, the prophecy of having to marry your improv scene partner after doing a proposal scene, and buying stolen items from raccoons. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's a two-team spectacle as Lauren Lapkus, Erin Whitehead, and Stephanie Allynne of Wild Horses and Dan Lippert, Ryan Rosenberg, Drew Tarver, and Jon Mackey of Big Grande join Matt Besser for a LIVE improv4humans from the UCBs Sunset theater in Hollywood California! They'll explore what it would be like if home invaders entered a home of an old college buddy, being finalists at the Laundry Olympics, and Halloween was every day in October as they Crap on YouTube. Plus, musical guest Ivan Ives performs "California" which inspires a scene about adjusting to the chill California lifestyle. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual ,Matt Bessers new comedy album at mattbesser.com , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

D'Arcy Carden, Craig Rowin, Neil Campbell, and Danielle Schneider discover the sexual double-meaning of pet adoption on this weeks improv4humans with Matt Besser! They'll also follow the career of an actor whose prime gig is pretending to be a monster in a child's closet, Wee-Man on his new prank show Cat Nuts, and a dramatic actor who regards himself as a Dramatic Tornado. Plus, humon Sarah Schultz stops by to interview Matt about becoming undeniably funny, honing your act, and being inspired by the work of other comedians in The Interview Challenge. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Echo Kellum, Mike Still, and Jon Gabrus get political for an improv4humans with Matt Besser recorded LIVE from Politicon 2015 in Los Angeles! They'll show us what a debate between three Donald Trump like politicians would be like, recreate an episode of Scandal, and become a group of hunters who hunt drones for "Drone Season." Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wayne Federman, Betsy Sodaro, Brian Huskey, and Ben Siemon join Matt Besser for a sobering moment in sports science wherein they teach adults how to play professional football, in an attempt to avoid childhood death. Then, the gang explores the risks that our kids are exposed to each time they visit Google, an amusement park ride that's made entirely of our phone's apps, and the hardship of doing an opening act for a comedian that won't let you use any jokes. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh join Matt Besser for an improv4humans recorded LIVE from the Hollywood Improv in Los Angeles! Theyll explore how apocalypse survivors believe that Ian's elementary school ability to make crystals will save them, the effects of getting a low star rating from other humans, and the night the two biggest Tom Stoppard fans finally meet him. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded LIVE from the 2015 San Francisco Improv Festival, improv legends Susan Messing and Bob Dassie join Matt Besser on this weeks improv4humans! Theyll explore meeting with a genius surgeon who likes to be addressed as a cat, an airline that allows sitting in the cockpit as an alternative seat, and wearing very revealing clothes to a wedding. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chad Carter is one of the original improv4humans all-stars and this week he joins Matt Besser for a historic improv2humans! Listen as they Crap On YouTube and create scenes about keeping the largest Garfield collection non-visible by any means, offering a hundred dollars in order to make someone be quiet, and Morrissey pitching ideas for protest signs. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alex Berg, Alex Fernie, and Todd Fasen together are known as the infamous fast-paced three-person improv group Convoy. This week they join Matt Besser for an improv4humans that will keep you informed about what the f*ck is going on in the world. Theyll create scenes about monkeys & falcons being used to ward off birds from the Macys Thanksgiving Parade, being a real anarchist, and the hidden easter egg Star Wars scenes that will be discovered in the future when DVDs become rare. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

DArcy Carden, Jill Donnelly, and Craig Rowin explore a new toothless gummy language society, follow the life of Marcy the Interrupter, and take us to the beginning of the Metal and Social wars on this weeks improv4humans with Matt Besser! Plus, Matt explains how his experience at the Outside Lands Festival ended up with him running from security. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual , and Dragoons new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com !See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.