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Old 02-09-2013, 10:41 AM   #1
zygote
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Default French Dragoon Napoleonic Era.

The Russian cannons fire round-shot to snatch men from our ranks,
Our drummers play on and our men march forwards en masse.
The Sargants shout “Form up!” The ranks thin and reform as men die,
But the French columns march on our Golden Eagle banners held high.

I am Henry Zuran - Major in a unit of 300 French Heavy Dragoons,
We are the elite mounted infantry attached to Colonel Maxwall’s platoon.
I was dismounted and watched the battle from a nearby ridge,
30, 000 French against 50, 000 Russians, the battle was big.
But it was ending, the sounds of volleys grew further and further apart,
Neither side could gain ground and both armies were at an impasse.

A junior officer was running over, “Major Zuran, Colonel Maxwall says he is unwell,
And he is not fit to lead the cavalry force through that hell.”
“My God man, the Colonel must be fit to lead unless he’s dead?”
The officer looked embarrassed “Sir the Colonel is drunk he will not rise from his bed.”
The young man looked up over the hill,
He saw the great white clouds of smoke from the firing drills,
The Russian cannon had taken a heavy toll it was notorious,
The young man spoke “Major Zuran have we won?” I said “Yes of course man, France is always victorious!”
In truth it was indecisive, in a way both sides were defeated,
Heavy losses and death tolls as both main forces retreated.
Only slowly retreating rear-guards were left on the field,
And in that moment - I knew my destiny had been revealed.
I saw a chance for glory and for pride, a chance to snatch victory and claim France a great prize,
A cart full of wounded was dragged past over the rise,
The young officer doubled over and vomited, I saw the fear in his eyes,
I said “Come with me man, into the battle we’ll ride!”

When I studied as a young man, the military academy said I was too aggressive,
They wrote I was too direct and that “In battle you must be deceptive.”
But now for one day I will be in command, I have only one chance,
I will perform such a deed that the Emperor himself will make me a Marshall of France.
My Dragoons will be like the hammer, the enemy will shatter apart,
I will strike through their rear-guard and rip out their heart.

The enemy was retreating in square their bayonets levelled on guard,
It is taught that no horse can break through steel held with levelled arms,
For cavalry to break an infantry square has been called impossibly hard,
But still I will order my men to charge! And I will lead the vanguard!
Because today the Russians have already suffered death and defeat,
Their morale will be low and their resolve will be weak,
It will not take much to turn the enemy to panic,
When one man runs so does another - and then their whole force will be frantic.
My men will fight for me more than that Maxwall drunkard and bore,
I have fought beside these men from the Rhineland, to Spain and now here at Warsaw.
I am not one for words, I gathered my men shouted “Vive Le’Emperor!” and then turned,
Facing the enemy they were 2 hills away, the next moments all blurred,
A slow canter at first, the trumpeter played as our horses began to gallop,
Over the rolling hills we quickened as we neared to our challenge.
The enemy had cannon in their first square! An almighty sound and a great fireball,
We were met with a musketry volley, I saw Dragoons to the left and right of me fall,
I saw a Dragoon being dragged by the stirrup along by his mare,
His horse was shot but the beast slid and crashed into the first square.
It created a gap! I pointed my sword and charged towards it,
I felt a terrible shot in my shoulder but I just had to ignore it,
I was the first inside the square, hacking at the infantry line,
My horse was stabbed in its side as more and more Dragoons arrived.
My horse reared up I held tight the reigns and back its head jerked,
The enemy broke, cavalry had smashed a square, now this was a first!
The second and third squares heard the screaming men, clanging metal and hooves slamming into the earth,
Our curved cavalry sabres were designed for this kind of work.
All three squares broke – Spur on, lean right, slash and spur on again,
Hack downwards, hack upwards and kill the fleeing men,
We killed until our arms grew heavy and tired,
We killed until the sun fell and extinguished its fire,
Three broken enemy squares nothing was left or desired,
A glorious day, I looked around at the events that transpired.
I saw my happy soldiers, the dead enemy, and those that were captured,
My men knew we had done something magic, I knew today was an affirmation of my own skill in tactics,
I knew it would not take much to turn the enemy to panic,
And so 300 French Dragoons had defeated 4000 Russians and captured 3 battle standards.
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Old 02-13-2013, 06:51 AM   #2
Angkor
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Zygote, this is Angkor. This was some epic stuff, man. I'll definitely be back to feed this. good shit.
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Old 02-14-2013, 11:31 AM   #3
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yea, i like this.

I think the most impressive thing about this piece was your detailed understanding of battle formation (or at least you appeared to be lol). The character was very likable. He was drawn with a shade of naivete and ambition that carried him to glory...almost like a war time coming of age thing. It's not often i enjoy a story - with the usual recycled plot line and shit like that, but this was refreshing. Dialogue, imagery, and rhyming were all done very well. Definitely like your brand of writing as i can tell you put a lot of thoughts into you craft, something we can all respect. good shit man.
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