| “ | Horrible things have many friends. Take bad news, for instance: you always get a lot at once.
— Hans von Zettour
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| “ | Modern war measures the obvious gap between developed nations and developing ones──with corpses.
— Hans von Zettour
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Lieutenant General Hans von Zettour is a staff officer in the Imperial army, often praised as a vital pillar of the Imperial Army along with his close friend Kurt von Rudersdorf. He and Tanya von Degurechaff were instrumental in the creation of the experimental Salamander Kampfgruppe, a combined arms battalion that was that Tanya would later came to lead.
Possessing a very academically inclined personality, Zettour is known for his careful and thought out decisions when planning strategies, often weighing the risk against the reward. Having a keen eye for those like him, he was one of Tanya's early supporters after she convinced him of the need of an elite squad of battle mages that would go behind enemy lines to attack the enemy's rear. After putting this measure into action he put Tanya in charge of the squadron, much to her displeasure.
Zettour and Tanya later came up with a strategy to break through the Francois Republic's front lines. Using a combination of experimental rocket technology and Tanya's mage squad, the plan proved successful, breaking the Francois lines and forcing them to capitulate, though much of their government, navy, and army managed to escape to their holdings in Africa.
Battle vs. Irving Morrell (by SPARTAN 119)[]
Morrell: 30 infantry, 3 tanks
Zettour: 30 infantry, 3 tanks
Note: tank crews not counted as individual personnel
General Irving Morrell walked back to his staff car, having just finished an infantry platoon that had distinguished themselves in recent fighting. As he stood about 100 meters from the vehicle, the silence was broken by a thunderous roar. The staff car burst into a ball of flames in front of him. The explosion of the staff car was followed by the chattering of machine gun fire. Two US infantrymen were cut down by a hail of gunfire, as, at the same time, the commander of a Mark 2.5 barrel was shot in the head by a sniper.
Seeing no better defended position, Morrell climbed up into the barrel. Ducking down into the vehicle, he spoke to the gunner, "Tell the driver to move out, we're pushing these bastards back!".
"General?... Shouldn't you be making your way to the rear, Sir", the gunner asked, surprised to see the commander of the entire army corps having just entered his vehicle.
"In an open place like this, there's no safer place than a inside a barrel. Now, you have your orders, Sergeant!"
"Yes, Sir", the gunner replied, "Patterson, you heard the man, move out!"
Morrell: 28 infantry, 3 tanks
Zettour: 30 infantry, 3 tanks
His mind going back to his time in the Barrel Works, where he commanded a prototype of this very same vehicle he know stood inside, Morrell spoke into the radio, "Platoon, hold position at sunken road. Keep your eyes peeled for hostile armor!"
Morrell then switched to the intercom of the barrel, "Driver, get us into a hull down position on the sunken road, as close to the center of the infantry line as possible".
As the barrel inched forward, just enough for the turret to be exposed over the top of the sunken road, Morrell peeked up from the top of the turret. Spotting a group of infantry coming out of the edge of a line of trees about 200 meters beyond the sunken road.
Morell fired a burst from the machine gun on top of the turret. At least three of the attacking infantry collapsed, though there was no way of knowing if it was from round he fired or one of countless others fired by the barrels and infantry.
About 70 meters away, one of the other two barrels of the armored platoon attached to the infantry fired a high explosive shell, blowing away the front a barn that held an enemy machine gun position covering the advance.
Morrell: 28 infantry, 3 tanks
Zettour: 26 infantry, 3 tanks
At the next moment, Morrell spotted a black shape in the distance. Through his binoculars, he spotted the unmistakable outline of an enemy barrel break through the forest and begin advancing across the open field.
"Barrel, 12 degrees left, load AP!", Morrell called out, the memories of his time testing barrels between the war coming flooding back.
The loader on the barrel slammed a 60mm shell into the breech of the gun as the turret turned to face enemy vehicle. With a shout of "On the way!", the gunner pulled the trigger. The gun fired with thunderous roar and a flash of flame. About 200 meters away, the ballistic-capped round collided with the frontal armor of the enemy vehicle with enough force to punch through. The enemy barrel erupted in flames as the ammunition cooked off.
Meanwhile, at the rear area, General Hans von Zettour sat in a command station, listening to the progress of the forward elements of the assault.
"Encountering heavy fire!" the voice of the Lieutenant commanding an infantry platoon yelled, "We are pinned down!"
A second later, a Panzer commander called out, "Hostile armor, vehicle destroyed! All remaining units are to focus fire on enemy tanks!"
At that moment, both of the two Panzer IIIs of the Imperial army opened fire. One of the tanks scored a hit on the rightmost of the three Mark 2.5 Barrels, punching through the turret and setting fire to the vehicle. A couple second later, the tank exploded with enough force to throw the turret into the air.
The second Panzer fired at Morrel's tank, but missed, the round throwing up a fountain of soil from the sunken road in front of the vehicle. All the while, infantry on both sides fell left and right as they were cut down by rifle and machine gun fire. Four men fell on Morrell's side, and six on the Imperial side.
Back at the forward command post, General Hans von Zettour sighed, "So much for 'little resistance'",
Morrell: 25 infantry, 2 tanks
Zettour: 20 infantry, 2 tanks
Having knocked out the Mark 2.5 barrel, the Panzer III on the right flank fired a HE shell at a machine gun nest, the blast killing the gunner and two additional troops. With the way cleared, Imperial army troops began to advance along the line of trees along the right side of the field.
With most of the US troops occupied holding back the Imperial troops advancing from the left and center, the Imperials on the right flank made it within about ten meters of the US lines. Several stick grenades were lobbed into the lines. Most of them fell short, however one landed behind the earth berm that lined the sunken road. Two US troops fled from the imminent explosion, but one did not make it out in time and was killed in the blast. A second was struck in the chest by a stray rifle round as he got up in an attempt to flee the blast radius.
Morrell: 20 infantry, 2 tanks
Zettour: 20 infantry, 2 tanks
Then the Panzer rolled forward, spitting fire at the troops in the sunken road with its co-axial machine gun. About five meters from the sunken road the US troops were using as a trench, the machine gun on the paused for a split second, probably changing a belt.
It was at that moment that a US soldier armed with a captured Confederate "Stovepipe" rocket launcher raised above the edge of the sunken road and fired a single rocket. The shaped-charge warhead collided with the lower front plate of the tank, sending a jet of molten copper burning through the armor. The engine of the tank burst into flames.
A second after the tank was knocked out, the US troops lobbed several stick grenades, practically identical to those used by the Imperials, which exploded in their midst, killing three of Imperial soldiers. The US troops on the right flank them got up and fired on the attacking Imperials. Two more of them were killed before they fled back into the woods.
Morrell: 20 infantry, 2 tanks
Zettour: 25 infantry, 1 tanks
With the right flank in retreat, things weren't going much better for the Imperial Army on the left. The gun of a Mark 2.5 barrel roared to life yet again, its Imperial counterpart burst into a flash of fire as the armor-piercing round punched through the turret. Soon afterwards, two more Imperial infantry were shot down by machine gun fire as they fled from the burning tank, knowing full well that the ammunition could cook off at any moment.
With the enemy barrel neutralized, Morrell ordered the gunner on his vehicle to load HE and fire on a group of retreating Imperial stragglers. One of the Imperial soldiers, who had a large set of tanks on his back, exploded into a ball of fire. The charred, mangled bodies of three Imperials were thrown through the air by the blast.
"Must have had a flamethrower", Morrell thought, "Hell of a way to die". For a moment, Morrell remembered stories from the First Great War about some crazy crazy flamethrower operator who torched a Confederate barrel, wondering what happened to him.
Morrell: 20 infantry, 2 tanks
Zettour: 10 infantry, 0 tanks
With the enemy in full retreat, Morrell did not show them any quarter. He ordered the the troops to fire everything they had at the retreating Imperials. Morrell himself fired a few bursts at the fleeing enemy from the machine gun mounted on top of the barrel.
Three more unfortunate Imperials were hit by stray bullets before the rest made it to the woods and out of sight. As if to punctuate their defeat, one of the burning Imperial panzers chose that moment to explode in a flash of fire, the flames having reached the ammunition.
Morrell: 20 infantry, 2 tanks
Zettour: 7 infantry, 0 tanks
A few minutes later, it was clear that the assault had been repulsed. Morrell exited the barrel, making his way to the rear, where the radio position was. He needed a new staff car... and a new staff officer, for that matter, not the mention the reinforcements needed to hold the line against the second enemy attack that was sure to come.
WINNER: Irving Morrell
Expert's Opinion[]
Morrell won this clash of the alternate generals thank in large part to the slightly superior technology, including the heavier gun on his "barrels" and the "Stovepipe" rocket launcher. Morrell also had more experience than Zettour, having fought in two World Wars.