"From far Crucis they come sae braw, sae braw, "Brave soldiers all marching to war, to war, "To answer the Davion's ca', the ca', "Of a hundred pipers and a', and a'. "The Prince and his bride are awa', awa', "On Earth for their wedding and a', and a', 'While the soldiers to battle they go, they go, "With a hundred pipers and a', and a'." CHORUS "Dumbfounded, Liaos all saw, they saw, "Tanks, BattleMechs, fighters, and a', and a', "And dumbfounded they heard the blaw, the blaw, "Of a hundred pipers and a', and a'. "Upon the high ridge crest they saw, they saw, "The big Long Tom cannon's great maw, its maw, "And knew their planet would fa', would fa', "To those hundred pipers and a', and a'." CHORUS "The 'Mechs stood together saw tall, saw tall, "As they strode into battle, and all, and all, "Their bodies a great metal wall, a wall, "To screen all the pipers and all, and all. "The men raised a shout of Hurrah! Hurrah! "Storming into the battlefield's maw, the maw, "And over the sounds of the combat saw raw, "Played the hundred pipers and a', and a'." CHORUS "We'll take on Kurita, Liao, and a', "For glory and honor, Hurrah! Hurrah! "We'll follow our Prince into Hell's black maw! "With a hundred pipers and a', and a'. "So loud sound the clarion ca', the ca', "For peace and order and law, and law, "For Freedom from the Dragon's claw, the claw, "With a hundred pipers and a', and a'." CHORUS Davion's Hundred Pipers During the offensive into Liao territory, a pivotal part of the fighting hinged on the invasion of Algol by the 31d Davion Guards RCT, supported by the White Horse Regiment of the Eridani Light Horse. In this campaign, the Liao forces were repeatedly outmaneuvered by the superior tactics employed by their Davion opponents. At the height of the conflict, outside the city of Schan, the 3rd Guards faced a battalion of Ariana Fusiliers in a key engagement. The commanderof the Davion contingent, Marshal Hobaugh, made a flamboyant gesture early in the battle by ordering the massed pipe band of the RCT, a hundred men strong, to play a string of marches and reels over an improvised PA system. In the early morning fog, the effect was utterly demoralizing. The battle which followed saw the total defeat of the Fusiliers, largely due to the artillery bombardment of well-sited Long Toms overlooking the Liao position. After the battle Sir Robert Kincaid, a staff officer attached to the Marshal's command, penned these verses to commemorate the battle. Set to the tune of a much older song with the same title, it rapidly became a favorite marching tune among Davion troops on the Liao front. It is notable in that its references to "the Dragon's claw" show the echoes of long-time Davion propaganda efforts; in this Fourth Succession War, the Federated Suns has made it clear that House Kurita is regarded as the main enemy, the puppetmaster behind Maximilian Liao. Even as fighting goes on against the Capellan Confederation, strategists and soldiers alike are already looking towards the ultimate showdown with the forces of Takashi Kurita. Back to BattleTechnology 6 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com