Hostilities
Hostilities
Fleet Admiral Prince Excalibur, under orders from Admiral Hestorb, gathered forces from the 2nd Fleet Squadron III and 3rd Fleet Squadrons IV and V to form a counterattack force against Queensferry naval forces off of the eastern coast. The forces would be in three lines and advance on enemy positions offshore. Twenty state of the art fighting vessels will be used in the largest military exercise to date in Schulmania's history. A force this large should most certainly dislodge our persistent and evil foe.
The flagship is the Reliant, the archetype of the new class warship now in production. Fleet Admiral Excalibur uses this Third Squadron ship as his command center.
The Kobiyashi Maru is another Reliant class vessel, led by Captain Kirk.
The Pinto Ford is commanded by Fleet Captain Bigglesworth, shown below.
The Maine Junior is commanded by Captain Havanna Harbour and houses the fleet's medical facilities onboard.
These four ships and over a dozen more are sailing from bases at Cape Eastway and Woods of Wayne to converge on the enemy fleet southeast of the Isle of Scout. In concert with this move, Bureau of Feline Affairs Military Command has intensified defensive fortification construction across the midsection of the island as well as along coastal areas in East Atkinos.
Once the ships assumed their positions on the three lines, the signal was given to advance on the presumed location of the enemy. Of course, it would be helpful to have radar, as does the enemy. Queensferry forces have been monitoring Schulminion naval activity for some time and have prepared to meet the advancing fleet on their own terms. The first direct confrontation between the two opposing navies is about to begin.
Confrontation is at hand.
In its combat debut, the Schulmania National Air Force is also participating in the attack. Attack Balloon Squads 1-3 have deployed 75% of the nations' supply of hot air balloons to monitor the combat zone and to drop heavy objects on enemy ships. Let's hope the training they received at the new Air Force Academy will be successful.
Here's a view of the two front lines right before the battle started. The view is from Balloon Squad 1.They arrived on the scene just in time to see the first shot.
The cannons aboard the QFS From Queensferry With Love fired salvo after salvo of armor piercing shells at the Schulmania fleet. Within a minute or so, all of the front line ships were firing.
Four frontline Schulminion ships were set ablaze. V Squadron withdrew and regrouped on the third line. Only two ships survived the assault. Unfortunately, the Maine Junior, Minnow, Lusitania Junior and Titanic II were lost. Over 200 sailors did not make it to the medical ship in the third line, including Crewman Brick Tamlane. Luckily, he has 8 lives left and will be aboard a new vessel soon.
The Maine Junior was the first to sink. Remember that.
The Titanic II went down with all hands. Captain DiCaprio was very brave, but there will be no reprising his role in a sequel.
The Molly Brown proved to not be as unsinkable as its designers had hoped. Luckily, the fast action of Lt. Commander Korot saved many of the crew. Those who escaped on lifeboats were taken aboard the medical ship for treatment under the care of Captain Schonheit. All who came aboard the medical ship were successfully nursed back to health. It is likely that several commendations will result from this successful rescue operation.
Needless to say, the Queensferry artillery made their ships out of range for our naval catapults and our elite archers. This calls for intervention from above. And, it arrives - in the form of the Schulmania National Air Force. The squadron of balloons overhead is about to deliver a little payback and spill the first Queensferry blood. The weapon to be deployed: heavy boulders. Dropped onto enemy ships, these should crush enemy buggs and, with luck, puncture some hulls.
Huge boulders dropped from the balloons were surprisingly accurate, hitting three of the lead Queensferry ships and crushing the exoskeletons of many of their crew. Several cannon were knocked out by the falling rocks and one ship sustained minor hull damage. Score one for the good guys!
Queensferry ships turned their attention to the air, shooting down several of the balloons. But, favorable wind conditions saved many of them, who depleted their inventory of rocks before floating off to sea.
Ships of the Third Fleet awaited the crews to the northeast, picking them up as the balloons gradually lost altitude and landed on the ocean surface. Squadron 1 did a fine job and suffered only light casualties. No doubt some military citations will be awarded for this heroic effort.
Meanwhile, ships on the second and third line moved forward to confront Queensferry. The limping enemy ships had been replaced with undamaged vessels. Distracted by trying to shoot down balloons, our navy got in close enough to the enemy to use its weapons.
The new formation includes the Reliant, the Stratus, the Penelope, the Charlesina, the Minerva and the Duras. These ships fired all catapults and several companies of archers fired flaming arrows at enemy ships.
Multiple direct hits were scored on the enemy ships before they could train their guns on our intrepid little ships. And, before they could lock their weapons on our heroic wooden vessels, a surprise - Balloon Squadron 2, a secret additional force operated by the Bureau of Feline Affairs Military Command, floated overhead. Armed not just with the boulders used by the first wave of attackers, this unit also dropped flaming debris, in hopes of igniting weapons on the deck. This daring plan, concocted by Field Marshal Chancellor Mooky, proved successful. Two ships had their decks set ablaze by exploding ordnance.
The battle scene, as observed by BFA balloonists
Return fire caused irreparable damage to the Minerva and the Charlesina and the Penelope was severely damaged. But, within minutes, sustained fire from Schulminion ships and from the air caused the Queensferry navy to withdraw and regroup.
Our Schulmania site visitors:
Thanks for coming!
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