>>11107417Just as the officer turns to call his men to drill, a series of blasts rips through the battery in quick succession, bowling vehicles over and toppling him from his horse. Dazed from the fall and the shocks of the explosions the major struggles to his feet, leaning on a nearby pipe for support as his horse trots nervously away, equally shaken despite its wartime conditioning.
The officer takes stock of the situation: the trailer and transport vehicles for the guns and their munitions destroyed or badly damaged; a few crates of supplies smashed; several men killed or wounded. As he assesses the damage he realizes that despite the apparent seriousness of the sudden destruction, his battery is still near-fully combat effective. Though the crews have taken casualties there are still enough men to work the guns, and while the largest piece was knocked forward by the blasts, it is otherwise intact and easily restored to firing order. On top of this, the munition stockpiles remain intact, just outside the radius of whatever just happened.
From the rank and file working to get the battery ready again comes a loud exclamation, tinged with more than a little bitterness:
>try blaming this one on us, ARR EEE EMM EFFS!The major wisely overlooks the insubordination as he barks orders and mentally prepares a report on the incident.
