Operation Cardinaux

[Evangeline Anovilis]

As the days passed by, the area around Cherbourg, more exactly between Grandcamp-Maisy and Quettehou, slowly got a bit more busy than usual. Army trucks transported supplies in great quantity to the town of Cherbourg. But that could hardly be seen, if one was not in France already and counting military vehicles among the many other cars and trucks on French streets. Bernadette le Tigre de la Rivière slowly looked over the inventory report in her hands, checking items on the list with a pen, before looking out the window. "Well, seems we are still a few ten thousand rounds short, but I guess it'll work out if they get delivered during the operation." She shoved the report into her briefcase and walked to the front door of the old warehouse that had been converted for military usage. Her long black uniform coat guarding her from the rain. "This horrible weather at the moment is worse, really. Like this, I fear for the artillery to hit a single thing, other than our own people when the shell goes off course." But well, maybe this could be a chance to prove some all-weather capability, that was necessary in mdern militaries after all. And some rain should not keep a soldier from fulfilling their duty. At least not the Petite Tigre. In front of the warehouse stood two members of the FFA, clothed in black with their white cross straps, Adrian helmet and FAMAS, the entrance lit by a gas light, as the sun was blocked out by the heavy dark clouds. The women inside the warehouse, military engineers and also a few of the Officiers that would participate busily checked the hardware, briefed each other on the last changes in the timetable, chatted on their private lives and in general, the Maréchal could feel an aura of general excitement in the room, as Bernadette passed the rows of ammunition crates, piled up artillery shells, barrels of fuel, weapon stacks and also a handful of Durandal systems, though, most of those would be heading to the field outside town, if they had not already taken position in the first encampmants.

Not all troops that were dedicated to the operation had yet arrived, some even where still in Paris, due to the Quadorze Julliet parade. But those were expected to arrive within the next day, afterwards the Operation could finally start. With a bit of satisfaction the Maréchal thought the exactly same as what one of her subordinates spoke out. "Hope this'll be also some fun. Not as if we'd get to drag all this stuff out into the open just any day of the week."

[Evangeline Anovilis]

Bernadette looked over the assembly of Officiers in front of her. Finally, the sun had come out for today and her presentation could start. Operation Cardinaux, a large scale military exercise, would not only be used to keep the FFA ready, but also to introduce what new arms France was planning to adapt and to instruct the Officiers on their roles. As a Général herself member of the Staff, she had worked on the reforms and was now the person to introduce the one part she herself had developed and introduced. The AdC CT.

It was maybe not the most influential change in the arsenal, also not one that enhanced combat performance to a great deal, but it was a change nevertheless. "Madames Officiers, if you'd please now pay attention. I welcome you to the first day of this Exercise, I hope you all are doing well, the sun is greeting us today, though, I fear it is only temporary. Anyway, today is our first day, where we discuss our first new weapon that will be introduced into service." Proudly she stretched out her chest, as the Officiers got all excited, until one of the weapon technicians poked her and whispered a word in the wind. Immediatly Bernadette turned around. "Silence. I know it's not too great, but let me..." Facing her subordinates again, this time she looked a bit more down to earth. "Sadly, it's not as great as it sounds. For those expecting a tank, artillery piece or even just an anti-tank rocket, please don't be too disappointed. It's just a new rifle. Madame Annette!" The weapons engineer handed the Général her rifle. It wasn't really anything special. A long, old-style rifle, even with wooden pieces instead of modern plastics.

"This, Madames, is the new Carabine de Tigre of the Arsenal Nationale de France. While it is not to replace the service rifle of the Fusiliers, it still is to become a rifle in military service, used mostly by garrisons and Chasseurs. It is a semi-automatic rifle, making it useful for the Chasseurs that till now relied on bolt-action. It is fed by an 8-round magazine of a unique quality cartridge. Instead of the old 7x57 mm cartridges, the Carabine a Tigre uses a 7x64 mm cartridge, which gives it a rather good stopping power and is known for a good ballistic performance, even at greater ranges. Range-wise, the Carabine a Tigre can be said to have an effective range exceeding that of a normal assault rifle, with natural sacrifices at close range. Anette!" The weapons engineer handed the Général a small box this time. Quickly Bernadette opened it and took out the optics. "All Chasseurs shall be issued these high-grade optics, which should help at ranges exceeding 600 meters, allowing for accurate shots up to 900 meters for our Chasseurs. Even without optics though, there still are these basic sights almost at the end of the barrel. Now, what is this here?" She pointed to the end of the barrel. "This is a basic muzzle flash surpressor. Nothing all too awesome, I'd guess. Well, before I'm depressed from just presenting you a rifle that isnt even a standard issue, let me present you this. Anette!" For a last time the weapons engineer handed her something, this time it was a lengthier thing, though nowhere as long as the rifle. "This, Madames is the Baïonnette-12, created to be attached here. Look. Voila... this easy. As you can see, it adds a good 40 cm to the rifle, so... please don't attach it if not needed. It won't really help anyone in combat, but is unwieldy. If the enemy really surprises you, just take it out and use it as short sword. At least Officiers should have learned some fencing skills, else we wouldn't issue these things " she tapped against the hilt of her own sword at her side. "to you people. So, any questions? Else, I'll present to you its marvelous action."

[img]http://images.wikia.com/valkyria/images/a/a9/ZM_SG_4%28g%29.png[/img]
[b]AdC Carabine a Tigre[/b]

Weight: 3780 g
Length: 1260 mm
Barrel length: 797 mm
Cartridge: 7x64 mm
Action: Semi-automatic
Muzzle velocity: 880 m/s
Effective range: 400-600 m without optics, 800+ with optics
Feed system: 8 round detachable magazine

[Evangeline Anovilis]

It was the second day of the Exercise. Today, the security was set a good bit higher. The group of Officiers still stood around though, chatting casually, while the engineers prepared something in a shed that was before them. The weather was still cloudy, the General Staff had even demanded todays tests to be done on the second day, instead of the fourth, due to the weather forecast. as long as the weather was cloudy enough, it was fine. Bernadette today only acted as a guide to the test range, not as the one presenting todays hardware. That would be left today to Anette, the Engineer.

"Madames, bonjour and welcome to Quettehou Temporary Test Site Nr. 4. My name is Anette Lavassier, Ingenieur of the deuxieme, so responsible for the maintainence of the trucks and the Durandals and you may have seen me already yesterday, when I helped out your superior. Now, I mentioned trucks and Durandals, right? That brings me straight to our topic today, please follow me." Opening the door to the shed she winked through every single member of the group, as last one Bernadette, before following and closing the door. Inside the shed, which was surely a good 20 meters high, was a true colossus, the Officiers were full of awe, Anette full of pride and Bernadette full of boredom. The Engineer couldn't express how happy she was to show this newest toy to the army. "This, my dear children, is the CAESAR II, which is short for camion equipé d'un systeme d'artillerie, which of course doesn't sound as awesome, but well..." One hand was raised in the crowd. "If it is about why we didn't name it Asterix, we found no words to shorten." The hand was lowered again and Anette continued. "Alright, the CAESAR II, as you see it, is the next step up from the Durandal. The Durandal, as a self-propelled dual-barrel howitzer already employed our cutting-edge artillery technology to fire 155 mm shells a few dozen kilometers far. But well, the state really poured its money into artillery, this here's just another example... Pétain would surely be proud... Anyway, let's begin by the most fundamental change, which is literally so, the chassis. The Durandal was mounted on a tracked chassis, the size of a normal tank, what you see here, is more like the wheeled chassis you find with ICBM erector-launchers, comparable to maybe Vostokslav Topols. It's able to drive in terrain, as well as on streets, though, I'd expect you to take note of those signs saying something like 'maximum 7 tons here', you know, before you go over bridges this is a must. These things are expensive as they are heavy." anette then went on to the back of the vehicle. "What we see here is the anchor, that can be used to fix the gun in the ground, rather important, because the recoil isn't to be laughed at. We had quite some problems with the recoil, but thanks to our French ingenuity, we overcame them. Cursed be the one that thought France couldn't produce fine new stuff again. Well, the infantry systems s.. eh well, they may be a bit lacking. " A bit concerned she looked over to the glaring Général. "But our artillery will iron out such faults anyway. Now, why does this gun create such a recoil. One reason is surely it being dual-barrel again, though, as it shouldn't ever use both at once, the bigger reason is the caliber. some may have guessed already the caliber, but to clarify, it is 280 mm, which makes it comparable to the naval guns of our former battleships. Though, those worked differently and where quite a good bit heavier. anyway, yes, this may seem like madness, but the CAESAR II is operating 2 barrels a 280 mm, of course, this'll need an auto-loader, if we don't want firing rates of the old railway guns. It won't reach the rates of the Durandal, but it sure as hell is impressive for its size. It shall complement the Durandal well. And this, Madames, brings me to my last point that is in this presentation, before we fire a shot, which is the way we shall operate them. While it is the evolution from the Durandal, the CAESAR II will for obvious reasons not replace the Durandal, given the compact size and high firing rate make the Durandal a goo enough artillery, with decent range and a good caliber. The CAESAR II will be used for heavy artillery purposes, to fire at heavy bunker systems, or maybe even larger ships before the coast. After all, its range, at remarkable 45 km for the HE shell is impressive. Now, let's fire a test shot. We already checked the terrain and will now fire at an area to our south, which is under camera surveillance. It's an empty field, all should be good. I know, some of you would rather gun at the sea to our north, but you know...political implications. Paris hopes for the Brits are nicer in the future after Mademoiselle Janes disaster of a reign. So... we fire at our own fields. and now, please come with me to this secure place, as the blast is rather harsh."

As Anette pressed on a remote control, that was just for this presentation, suddenly the barrels were heaved up into firing position, the whole system on a suspension to counter the recoil. The roof of the building opened and the guns were quite visible against the grey sky, as it stopped at around 45° and a bell began to ring. "8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1..." Anette counted, till suddenly the bell stopped and the whole system roared, as the heavy projectile passed the mighty muzzle break. Leaving behind the case, which was also not to be underestimated and got ejected at the back. Anette shook her head. Clearly someone needed to point out the hazards of blast and the case, which had been thrown a few meters back, in the report...