The White Horse (Hanover AAR) Updated Dec 24

[Alwyn]

Excellent updates! Your depiction of the two wounded souls, Hans and Gustav, returning home is powerful and moving. (I like the detail of the new name for the 1st and 2nd Regiments.) Luise's confrontation with the Swedish ambassador was brilliantly done, the escalation of tension between the characters works very well for me. I love the poetic line "Not as long as the white horse flies..."

[Scottish King]

Excellent updates! Your depiction of the two wounded souls, Hans and Gustav, returning home is powerful and moving. (I like the detail of the new name for the 1st and 2nd Regiments.) Luise's confrontation with the Swedish ambassador was brilliantly done, the escalation of tension between the characters works very well for me. I love the poetic line "Not as long as the white horse flies..."

Thanks Alwyn. Just setting the stage for the next part. I hope to have an update soon. Wont put an exact date as I usually miss them

[IneptCmdr]

Finally caught up with this and I really enjoyed the last few chapters. The exploration of the scars that Gustav and Hans now carry was excellent. I wonder how it will affect them in what I'm guessing will become an open conflict with Sweden. Your writing also well conveyed the tense atmosphere in the room when Queen Luise turned down the demands delivered by the Swedish representative.

[Scottish King]

Finally caught up with this and I really enjoyed the last few chapters. The exploration of the scars that Gustav and Hans now carry was excellent. I wonder how it will affect them in what I'm guessing will become an open conflict with Sweden. Your writing also well conveyed the tense atmosphere in the room when Queen Luise turned down the demands delivered by the Swedish representative.

Thanks IneptCmdr. Next update coming now.

[Scottish King]

Chapter 23: Home


The sun was setting turning the sky shades of pink and purple as Hans walked down the dirt road that led to his home. The King’s Guard, as his regiment, the 2nd, and the 1st were called, had escorted the King’s body back to Hanover and to its final resting place. Luise, the king’s daughter had personally thanked them for their service and sent them home. She was their queen now. Hans had decided to leave the capital before the coronation. Their officers had made it clear they weren’t to stray too far from their homes as they were to report back to the capital in two weeks’ time. They also suggested that war for them was over. They would be spending the rest of their service in defense of the capital. That got a cheer from both regiments. Except for Gustav that is. He hadn’t said a word since leaving Vienna. The Winking Soldier had tried to get him to talk when they were in Hanover but had no success. Hans and the Winking Soldier said their goodbyes wishing each other a safe trip home. It wasn’t until he watched the Winking Soldier slip away that Hans realized that he never knew his name. Hans smiled as he shifted his pack. How had that happened?

The smile didn’t stay long, however, as his thoughts returned to Gustav, his pack now feeling as if it were getting heavier by the moment. They had hitched the same ride with some of the other soldiers back to the town from which they left 3 years ago and Gustav stared at his feet the whole time. Even as the carriage was surrounded by cheering citizens, young boys who wanted to soldiers and pretty girls wanting to give them kisses. Hans wanted to say something but it never seemed to be the right time. What would he have said anyway? The only time he got a reaction out of Gustav was when he wished him goodbye. Gustav had turned and looked at him with eyes that were bereft of life but were pleading for help and opened his mouth to say something. They stood there looking at each other for what felt like eternity to Hans. But then Gustav’s mouth closed, his eyes stopped pleading and he turned and walked away.

Hans looked up from his dirt covered boots. There it was in the distance. Any thoughts of Gustav vanished and his pack suddenly felt lighter. It looked the same as the day he left it. From the chimney, drifted smoke from the fireplace he remembered filling with wood in his younger days. His mother’s cooking. His father’s lecture. His hard, but somehow comfortable bed. Emotions he had forgotten in his time away welled up inside of him and tears began falling down his face. Then came the laughter. Why he was laughing he didn’t know and it didn’t matter. He was home.

Hans began running across the field, his boots kicking up dirt and grass. There was a figure moving on the porch. Was it? Yes! His mother. His hat flew off his head.

“MOM!!!”

The figure straightened in surprised and quickly turned in his direction. He was close enough now that he could see her face. There was an expression of puzzlement then recognition. Her hands came to her face as she started screaming for his father. His father quickly joined his mother outside his with an axe in his hand to see what all the fuss was about. Then he saw Hans. He dropped his axe and started running to his son. The pack, the burden, Hans had carried home slipped off his shoulders and fell to the ground. He ran faster. Next thing he knew he was in his father’s arms standing in the middle of the field laughing, crying. Free.

He was home.

[Alwyn]

The way that you describe Hans' helplessness - he wants to help his friend Gustav but cannot find a way to do that - works brilliantly for me. I like Hans' reunion with his parents, a moment of happiness and freedom after the horrors of war.

[Merchant of Venice]

Caught up with the last couple of chapters, absolutely wonderful stuff, my friend. Luise seems like she will be a strong queen if she can defeat those dishonourable Swedes and the last chapter with Hans returning home was beautifully written.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I've really enjoyed the last couple of chapters. I hope Luise can find a way to defeat the Swedes, and that Hans gets to enjoy some time at home - and that Gustav will find some way to deal with what he's done and seen.

[IneptCmdr]

I wonder if Gustav will be able to break out of the dark place he has ended up in. It's nice to see Hans find happiness again, even if it ends up being only temporary.

[Derbiean]

Finally caught up with this, as others have said the dyamic shift in the relationship between Hans and Gustav is well written and I feel Han's helplessness about his friend. Loved the new Queen telling the Swedish diplomat to do one. Hope there's more (even tho that means dragging Hans from his home).
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[Scottish King]

The way that you describe Hans' helplessness - he wants to help his friend Gustav but cannot find a way to do that - works brilliantly for me. I like Hans' reunion with his parents, a moment of happiness and freedom after the horrors of war.

Caught up with the last couple of chapters, absolutely wonderful stuff, my friend. Luise seems like she will be a strong queen if she can defeat those dishonourable Swedes and the last chapter with Hans returning home was beautifully written.

I've really enjoyed the last couple of chapters. I hope Luise can find a way to defeat the Swedes, and that Hans gets to enjoy some time at home - and that Gustav will find some way to deal with what he's done and seen.

I wonder if Gustav will be able to break out of the dark place he has ended up in. It's nice to see Hans find happiness again, even if it ends up being only temporary.

Finally caught up with this, as others have said the dyamic shift in the relationship between Hans and Gustav is well written and I feel Han's helplessness about his friend. Loved the new Queen telling the Swedish diplomat to do one. Hope there's more (even tho that means dragging Hans from his home).
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Thanks for all your support guys. I hadn't realized it had been so long since I updated. RL has been...interesting. Anyway I found time to finish a chapter I had started a while ago but didn't finish. Hope you like it.

[Scottish King]

Chapter 24: He’s Gone

Hans stepped outside his father’s workshop into the light of the sun. The air was still cold even as signs of the spring appeared in the countryside. But winter still stubbornly held on. Just like the memories from the campaign. Every night he still had dreams of the battles he fought hundreds of miles away against people he had no personal quarrel with. At the same time, being home was healing. With each day, over the past week and a half it got easier to sleep, the dreams were less chaotic and vivid. Just like the winter which was slowly losing its grip on the world around him so were his regrets and pain slowly losing their grip on him.

Hans had stayed up into the wee hours of the morning his first night back telling his parents about his experiences with the Hanoverian Expeditionary Force. It wasn’t until his mother had went to bed that he told his father the more graphic and disturbing experiences. His father understood especially when he spoke of Gustav’s condition. He himself had been a soldier and his experiences had taken a toll on him too. He told Hans to give him space. Gustav’s father perhaps would have a better chance of getting through to him. Perhaps.

Hans turned to go back inside the workshop when he saw a figure galloping towards him on horse. They weren’t expecting anyone today. Hans stepped forward and strained to see if he could recognize their unannounced visitor. It was Gustav’s father. Hans took a deep breath. He could tell from the pained expression on his face that this was not a social visit.

-------

“Slow down,” Hans’ father said as he tried to calm Gustav’s father down. “What do you mean he’s gone?”

Hans had called for his father as Gustav’s father leaped from his horse in front of the workshop. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were that of a desperate man.

“He’s gone! Gustav’s gone! He just ran off!” Tears began to pour down the man’s face. “He hasn’t been the same since he came back from the war. Whatever happened over there changed him and not for the better. He won’t talk to me. Oh God!”

Gustav’s father collapsed onto his knees sobbing. His tears were like a knife to Hans’ heart; his sobs a sharp blow to his kidneys. As Han’s father helped the man to his feet, the man’s pain became Hans’ pain. He began to feel despair. Helplessness. Regret. It was probably the same feelings Gustav had been carrying with him since he left Vienna. The same feelings that know his father felt and in which Hans shared.

“I will go look for him.”

Hans’ father nodded. “Take the horse. You’ll cover more ground a lot faster. I’ll take him inside. ”

Hans removed his workman’s apron and ran to the stable and soon returned astride a horse just as his father stepped back out onto the porch.

“Do you think the boy capable of taking his life?” he asked in whisper.

Hans tried to reply but the words wouldn’t form. He could only stare back into his father’s eyes.

“Then I pray to God you find him first.”

With that Hans’ father slapped the horse on the rear and Hans sped off across the fields. He had an idea where he thought Gustav would be. He only prayed that he wasn’t too late.

[Alwyn]

The return of The White Horse is like a reunion with a much-missed friend. Scottish King, I like it a lot! I hope that Hans is right: may he and Gustav soon be reunited.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Nice chapter.

What a cliffhanger to leave us with! I hope Hans will reach Gustav in time...

[Scottish King]

The return of The White Horse is like a reunion with a much-missed friend. Scottish King, I like it a lot! I hope that Hans is right: may he and Gustav soon be reunited.

Nice chapter.

What a cliffhanger to leave us with! I hope Hans will reach Gustav in time...

Thanks guys. I hope Hans makes it to Gustav in time too.

[Scottish King]

Its been awhile since I've updated this. RL has been really busy over the past 9 months but now I'm back. I have a update ready to go. Just need to edit it a bit more. However, there are some changes that to the story that will need explaining. My last laptop when out in a blaze of glory (not really, it just refused to turn on and the hard drive was fried) so I lost all my screenshots, previous updates and saved games in one fell swoop. According, I considered this AAR dead but decided yesterday to redownload ETW and the Total War Faction mod to see if I could recreate the events of the AAR.

I was partially able to and partially not. With Hanover I wasn't able to invade Austria till 1709, after they declared war on Prussia and gained Prague, Silesia and Vienna in the process. However, my king died in 1703, causing the war with the Swedes to come earlier than expected and making war with Austria impractical. I will deal with these changes in my campaign not in the next update but in the update after and see if I can pull together a convincing reason why things have changed. Thankfully the war with the Swedes still occurs, albeit I'm now with a weaker Hanover but it should make things interesting. Looking forward to continuing this.

[Scottish King]

Chapter 25: The Pit

Hans rode on in silence. There in the distance he could see a horse tied to a tree at the edge of the forest. Hans on till he reached where the horse was standing. He recognized the horse. It was definitely Gustav’s.

“Gustav!” Hans shouted, his voice breaking the cold silence of the winter day. There was no answer. Securing he horse, Hans rushed off into the woods. As kids Hans and Gustav used to come to the same forest and play. The townsfolk avoided it for the most part because of a pit that was found there. The townsfolk spoke about it in whispers and Hans and Gustav’s parents warned them to stay from the forest all together on account it. It was said to lead to the very depths of Hell and that every now and then a demon would emerge and cause trouble in the town. Hans and Gustav had been fascinated with place and even though the place was indeed strange and eerie, the boys used to sit at its edge and talk about all sorts of things. Now Hans hoped that he had come soon enough to talk once again with his friend.

Hans ran through the forest shouting Gustav’s name but receiving no answer. Then suddenly he arrived at the pit and there stood Gustav staring into the abyss.

“Gustav…” Hans said trying to collect his breath. “Your father…is…worried sick…come back…from there…”

“It’s like staring into my own heart. My own soul. Dark. Empty,” Gustav said without looking at Hans.

“Please, Gustav. Come with me.”

“No. There is no hope for me.”

“Gustav-”

“No, Hans!!!” Gustav shouted with such force that Hans jumped a little. “You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand?!” Hans replied incredulous. “Was I not there on the campaign with you?! Do I have less blood on my hands than you do?!”

“This is different! Do you remember the woman…the woman who called me murderer in Vienna?”

“Yes and I’m sure all of Vienna felt the same way-”

“I killed her wounded husband in her arms!”

Hans fell silent.

“I thought you were dead. Rage consumed me. In that moment, I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t human. I…I was demon. Like the ones they say come from this pit. Since then I’ve struggled with myself, warred with my soul to justify my actions but I could not. So I sought peace, to return to a normal life but then she was there accusing me. My conscience given physical form. Finding no peace, I sought forgiveness. That day I disappeared I went to that woman’s house. I begged for her forgiveness, for absolution but she would come to the door. As I turned to leave, the door opened and there she stood and cursed me with words so vile that I dare not repeat them. So finding no forgiveness, then I decided that I would give into the monster, the demon. That I would silence my conscience and continue to kill in the name of my king, my country and my comrades. But I can’t. I simply can’t do it. I can’t go back to the army and continue to blackened and stain my soul. So I stand here. Ready to give into the abyss that already claws at my heart. To be free at last of my pain and my burdens.”

Tears were running down Gustav’s face. Hans opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. They stood for a moment in silence and then Gustav looked up and into Hans eyes.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t go back now. Thank you for everything.” Gustav lifted one foot toward the beckoning pit.”

“Wait! NO!”

-------

Gustav’s father was still at the Hans’ house when he arrived back at his house.

“Did you find him?!” he asked frantically as soon as Hans walked into the house.

“I’m sorry, sir. Gustav…Gustav is gone.”

[Scottish King]

I was going to only upload one update but since its been so long here's 2.

[Scottish King]

Chapter 26: The Queen

It had been months since Luise had been crowned Queen of Hanover and they had been tough ones.

The Swedes not only wanted Bremen-Verden but also to put a candidate of their own on the Hanoverian throne. However, the Swedes had not actually been too keen on going to war with Hanover for fear of Prussian involvement. But recent events had changed that. In a reversal of fortunes, Austrian Emperor actually managed to field another army with the support of the Poles and managed not only to take back Vienna but all the lands that Hanover had captured. Bohemia. Silesia. Vienna. This had been humiliating. With the crushing defeat of the Hanoverian Expeditionary Force, morale at home fell drastically and the nobles and common folk alike were grumbling. Herr Schiller was afraid of a possible coup to replace Luise. The Swedes sensing the weakness of Hanover and the Prussians now busy with the Austrians and the Polish declared war on Hanover.

However, she had caught a break. The Danes to the north had not welcomed their new masters and soon threw off the yoke of the Swedes and pushed them out Copenhagen and back into Sweden. This provided a buffer against the Swedes. However, Luise was not sure how long their good fortune could hold out.

“Your majesty,” Herr Schiller started, “might I suggest we ally with the Danes. Our army is weak with only the 1^st and 2^nd Regiments the only soldiers with experience available. A defensive alliance with the Danes will at least give us the support of Denmark’s soldiers and keep the fighting away from Hanover.”

“An alliance?”

“Yes, your majesty. Actually, I was approached today by the Danish ambassador with a proposal of marriage between you and the recent ascendant to the throne of Denmark, Christian VI. As you know his father, Frederick IV died defending Copenhagen and his young son took the throne.”

“Yes, I remember. But I doubt the Prussians or our people would allow it. It would allow the crown to pass to a Danish king.”

“My thinking exactly. However, I feel a defensive alliance is still a good idea. As long as Denmark is fighting the Swedes the longer we can keep the Swedes out of Hanover.”

“An alliance, yes. But we will not remain on the defensive.”

Herr Schiller was caught by surprise. “Your majesty?”

“We need to be aggressive to show that we will not be pushed around. I want to invade Sweden. Take the fight to them.”

“But your majesty,” Herr Schiller protested, “Sweden has one of the best fighting forces in Europe. You saw what happened to our troops once the Austrians recovered. We went from being respected to the laughing stock of Europe.”

“I know this well Herr Schiller. And success against the Swedes will recover our reputation and pride.”

“You are so certain so of our success but the army we now have is full of fresh recruits. General Feld died fighting the Austrians and General Ketterer is a broken man.”

“I'm aware Herr Sciller. Ketterer is no longer able to inspire confidence in his men. No, we will have Christian Raabe, the man in charge of the capital’s defense lead the army against Sweden.

"I know he has little experience Herr Schiller but I’m assured by those close to him that he is a competent man. Also not all of the army is inexperienced. There is the King’s Guard that accompanied me back to Hanover after my father’s death. Their campaign experience will be invaluable.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea, your majesty. Perhaps we should wait until we see if Prussia is successful against the Poles and Austrians first. Their help would be invaluable.”

“No. We can’t wait. We need to be decisive!” Luise responded slamming her fist down on the table next to her. “They are questioning my authority out there. In the streets, in the houses of the nobles, even within these palace walls. I will not let myself be undermined by the Swedes or by indecisiveness. If the Swedes want war we will give them war!”

[theSilentKiller]

Nice to see this AAR revived again! Hope this time nothing will get it the way this time!