[OOC]Even though DayZ is doing it's best to prevent this update from coming here it is [/OOC]
Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Winnipeg,
Manitoba,
Canada
This plan was not the best one in the world. In fact as far as good plans were concerned this one really didn't fit the criteria. However desperate times called for desperate measures. The Prisoner of War camp was over the hill and the warehouse was here. The plan was to get a fire going here and rush the camp when that was happening, from there let the normal prisoners run for it while they fetched the target out. But well this is what Uncle Sam paid them for and Sgt. Vernon C. Miller was not one to argue with getting paid. He and his seven man squad were part of the 18th Infantry Regiment but had been assigned as part of one of the many "Rough Rider" units that had been born out of an idea by the Secretary of War. They had two armoured cars hidden away and knew exactly how to get to them from the POW camp.
"Ok boys, show time." Vernon said to his men as they threw the milk bottles full of paraffin through a window in the warehouse. The smashing glass would surely get the Canucks attention but not as much as when the last bottle, a lit rag stuffed in the neck, went in after and started a blaze. It wasn't immediate but the fire quickly started to grow around the warehouse, luckily it was not a munitions dump but a dry goods supply depot. At least that's what Army Intelligence had told them.
As the shouts and alarms started to go off Miller and his men took the route they had devised to get to the camp. They didn't carry any rifles instead carrying shotguns and pistols, they were also clad in Canadian uniforms, reproductions made for this mission. One of his men had grown up near the border and so had a Canadian-ish accent so he was doing the talking as they approached the camp.
"Jesus Christ the warehouse is on fire. We need as much help as possible before -" He didn't get to finish the sentence before a titanic BOOM roared through the air knocking people to the ground. Behind them a massive fire-ball was raising towards the sky while small bits of flaming debris could be seen falling towards the ground. The guards at the camp took one look and started running towards town. They weren't proper army they were local militia so that boom could have killed their families.
'There are times I wonder whether Army Intelligence is an oxymoron.' Miller thought while he signalled for his men to get into the camp. Within minutes the gates were open and the prisoners were running every-way except for one. They scrambled back to the cars and were well on there way back to the US border before their target finally spoke up.
"Who the devil are you men?" "Sgt. Vernon C Miller. 18th Infantry "Rough Rider" unit. Lieutenant Patton we were sent by General Pershing himself to get you back."
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The decision by the High Command of all Commonwealth forces to arrange for all Prisoners of War in the Americas to be sent to Canada and from their Winnipeg was one that had been applauded at the time. After all it offered a nice centralised location to keep the prisoners monitored and allow for efficient care for them under the articles of the Zurich Convention of Human Rights [1]. This decision however backfired when during the "Winnipeg Explosion" of April 7th 1916, following a fire in a warehouse that had recently been converted into a munitions storage only four days before, caused a large explosion and several fires throughout the city and saw the gurads of the Camp abandon their posts to check on their families leaving it open to allow escape.
Claims that it had been a mission by forces of the United States have never been proven as any records regarding it were destroyed in Washington in 1932.
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The Skies above Paris,
France
The Bosche could go to hell. The Spad VII seemed to agree as once again it lashed out a gout of flame from the Hotchkiss machine gun at a German aircraft hitting the pilot dead on, for a shameless rip-off on an Irish weapon the Hotchkiss did it's best[2]. René Fonck pulled his aircraft around. The German aircraft were just the flies buzzing around the backside of the cow that was the Zepplin flying over Paris. It was carrying out a bombing run and needed to be stopped. To that end René and the other pilots of Escadrille C47 had been issued experimental "Incendiary Rounds" based off the German ammunition that had been used to down the "Gran Marie" near Strasbourg by that Baron.
So far the results had been less then satisfactory. They had hit the Zepplin with them but they had failed to ignite the gases within and they were running out of ammo fast. It didn't help that the Zepplin came with a fighter escort that had also eaten up most of the ammo. Rene lined up a shot on another German fighter hitting it and causing it to start to manoeuvre strangely. The Mechanic part of his brain, the one every pilot gets quickly, came to the conclusion he must have hit the controls, the rest of his brain as well as his lungs were instead yelling "THAT'S FOR BRUGES" referencing the defeat the French had taken at the Belgian city from the German Army. However one little part of his brain piped up with a simple sentence.
"He's going towards the Zepplin you know."
René watched with horror and intrigue as the aircraft continued to fly head on into the side of the Zepplin, igniting one of the massive gas sacks with it. It was a slow fire starting from the centre and working towards both ends of the ship but it started to lose altitude quickly.
He found out hours later, after his debriefing and consequent celebration of his actions were he was informed the Zepplin only counted as One kill, that part of the tail section had hit the War Ministry. It had only had one casualty miraculously as it had hit an Army Colonel by the name of Louis Chauchat who had been there to present an idea to the requestions board. No-One knew what the idea was as the papers he had with him had caught on fire in contact with the blazing hot metal of the tail section. Whatever it was it was bound not to have been important anyway.
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So an update from the enemies POV while I try and flesh out how I'm going to handle the next two updates.
[1] AKA the Geneva convention TTL
[2]
If any of you think the fate visited upon Colonel Chauchat is cruel and unusual, You would be correct.
Also I realised I need Patton for something later on and decided that busting him out of jail would be fun. And as to who the Secretary of War is? Well he speaks softly and carries a big stick.