At the Battle of Westerfield in the late spring of 3201, Lieutenant-General Yi Gǒu and the Army of Playground engaged a sizable demonic horde encroaching upon the capitol province of Maeria. The Maerians numbered around 60,000, whilst the demonic horde brought around nearly three times that amount. For the Cub Guard however, the ground was good, the weather was perfect, and the horde was strung out over more than 8 kilometers of ground, spread wide to raid the countryside for unprotected civilians, of which there were few. Normally, a defensive posture would be taken by the Guard, but with the horde disorganized, General Yi decided that a swift and decisive strike would be in order. The Shih Tzu was known for never resting comfortably in his training pants.
After a particularly nasty battle a month ago, the Sunnyside Fusiliers (Playground's 23rd Regiment of Foot) was eager to prove their prowess against the enemy. Widely regarded as an elite infantry regiment, recent events had called that sentiment into question. Attached to the 3rd Brigade under a brevetted Brigadier-General Lupine (of the 48th Foot), they were given the opportunity to reaffirm their renown. Deployed on the right of the army's formation, the Sunnyside was given the general order to advance. All along the line, regiments of cubs were moving forward. The demons began organizing and using their artillery forms to attempt to slow the attack.
Although the line infantry appeared to advance slowly, they also advanced methodically. Under scattered artillery fire, the 23rd remained unfazed. Major Gauss leading the regiment from the front as well as a number of company commanders kept morale steady. For the past month, the entire regiment had trained incessantly. Each cub internalized the doctrine of "little boots, big hearts" knowing full well that demons break in the face of bravery, teamwork, and determination. Even if several dozen of their number were incapacitated by the ranged attacks of the demons, If the 23rd attacked quickly and decisively, it was possible that no permanent causalities would be suffered on this attack. The Sunnyside advanced, weathering the incapacitating energy blasts of the demonic light artillery forms. One could almost measure when the operation was decided to the second.
When demons are flustered, they will launch a warning fusillade of barbs. The earlier this occurs, the more Cub Guard Officers know that they have them on the back foot. The first wave of paralyzing barbs were mostly ineffective. A few fusiliers dropped to the ground, unable to continue. The regiment continued to advance until the second storm of barbs. This attack probably incapacitated around 30 or so cubs. After a little more forward momentum, utilizing perfect discipline, showcasing how brave our gentle people could be when trained for it, the regiment halted. The remaining officers folded into the line, and the two tightly packed lines of cubs took aim. The first rank fired. At a range where they could hardly miss, dozens of demons fell, stunned. As the horde tried to decide whether to advance or retreat, the second rank took aim and unleashed another volley over the shoulders of the cubs in the first line. The demons were even more scattered. While the second rank was firing, the first rank reloaded. There was perhaps 7 or 8 seconds between the volleys when the first rank discharged their paciguns once more. And so it repeated for a few more times before even these well trained troops become too uncoordinated and began firing at will.
Even this passive observer, untrained in military matters could see a rippling in the demonic lines. Their barbed return volleys were the droplets of a dying rainstorm. The back part of their blob began scattering away from the advance. This rout started on their left, prosecuted by the right of our our army and spearheaded by these fine soldiers. Curiously, rather than allowing them to retreat, the bayonets of the 23rd were lowered and pointed at the enemy. The drummers behind the line beat a rhythm and the Sunnyside Fusiliers charged deep into the horde. The actual assualt probably lasted only 20 or 30 seconds. Only then did the fusiliers allow the demons to withdraw.
Afterwards, their light company detached and created a skirmish line to dissuade the routed part of the horde from reforming. The other part of the regiment wheeled left and began rolling up the flank of the other engaged demonic elements. At this point, the battle was won and incapacitating as many demons as possible before they scattered was the order of the day. The other strung out elements of the horde were pounded for the next hour by our artillery regiments. Try as they might, they could not form a solid enough mass to even advance within range of our small arms. To this day, the Battle of Westerfield (3201) would be remembered as a textbook blueprint for a decisive victory, and would no doubt be studied by fledgling officers for years to come.
The Sunnyside Fusiliers (23rd Regiment of Foot) entered the battle with a strength of 610 soldiers. 104 were struck by ranged attacks of the demons, 43 of them were incapacitated by either these attacks or during the close quarters combat that followed, 0 soldiers went missing-in-action, 11 were essence drained but all 11 cubs had their essence returned to their bodies before too much time had passed. All casualties were recovered within three days following the battle.
There are quite a bit of cameos. Characters up to the standard bearers are someone else's. There are too many to list, but hopefully you guys can spot yourselves in the line. I know Brian is all the way in the back there behind the purple explosion. Anyway, thank you all for checking this pic out. It took me about a week to get it done. I actually better get back to drawing more pages of my story before I run out!
Visual description A long line of Sunnyside Fusiliers in two ranks advances from the right of the pic towards the left, bayonets and other shiny pieces glinting in the sun. Tacki leads a group of cubs from the front. Hartford Jay leads another group a little further behind. In the distance, Major Gauss rides a grey dappled white robot horse. Gauss is waving his hat in the air to spur on his troops. Sirius (with corporal's stripes is closest to the viewer in the front rank, looking well... serious, as he advances. In the second rank, Tato, in his hyena form, takes a swift swig of chocolate milk from his bottle while keeping an eye on where he's headed. The line of cubs stretches to the horizon away from the viewer. One cub has been struck by a barb and is falling over. A blast of purple energy is knocking over two other cubs close to the standard bearers.
About halfway down from the visible cubs are two ensigns with the regimental and national flags. The national flag is the Mother Flag (a brown deer head on a baby blue field). The regimental flag is a dark blue field with a pup and a kitten in just a diaper wearing knight's helmets and holding halberds pointing up. In between them is a shield divided into pink and blue quarters. There are four emblems on the shield from left to right and top to bottom. A sun, a tree, a heart and a teddy bear. A parchment design is above it with the words "23rd Regiment of Foot" written on it. Yellow text at the bottom of the flag is obscured by bayonets and shakoes but is supposed to read: "SUNNYSIDE FUSILIERS." In the corner of the regimental flag is a smaller square with the national flag.
The scene is a nice green field with rolling hills that are sparsely covered in trees. You can see the barest glimpse of the demonic horde in front of them, red eyes sparkling and horns a bone white.
