Chapter 17 : Beginning of the battle

"It's over, boss." Says a young man with a smile.

"Thank you Jawal, you can go." Said James looking at the tattoo in the palm of his hands.

The young man packed his equipment in a bag and left the office.

*Tock* *Tock*

"Yes, come in."

Kanwal, Ravi and Maha rushed into the office under James' surprised eyes.

"Boss, trouble begins." Said Kanwal as Maha unrolled a card which he opened and placed in front of James.

"Amestris?"

"Yes."

"How far are they from the city?"

"Seventy-seven miles, boss."

James thought for a moment as he looked at the map, there was the position of Amestris' soldiers in red, the topographical data of the area as well as the location of the town and the practicable roads.

"Ravi and Maha will cooperate together to create the best defense strategy, Ravi is preparing your men for battle, Maha is sending out a scouting party, we must know their numbers and equipment as soon as possible, also prepare your assassination team, they must be able to intervene at any time, give priority to senior officers, Kanwal is supplying Ravi and Maha's men with the necessary weapons, get the anti-tank weapons to the entrances and exits of the city, prepare the hospitals to receive as many wounded as possible."

"Yes Boss!!"

The three left the room, James got up from his chair, opened the drawer of his desk, took out an object and put it in his pocket and left his office.

. . . . . .

12 hours later, about 30 military transport vehicles filled with soldiers, accompanied by eight-tanks, arrived 1km from the town of Teb.

The soldiers inside the vehicles descended in an orderly manner from the vehicles and divided perfectly into several groups who were all standing in front of a tall man with a shaved head and decorations on his clothing, he cleared his throat and said aloud.

"State alchemists, Solf J. Kimblee, Jack Crowley and Basque Grand please step forward."

Three men came out of the ranks and advanced towards the man.

The first one named Crowley wore his hair closely cut and wore a army shirt outfit with dark trousers, Grand is a rather large and muscular man easily towering over most average sized humans, he is bald, and sports a large black pointy handlebar mustache and the last, Kimblee, had black hair with a sloppy hairstyle on top and a ponytail almost entirely wrapped in a pale yellow ribbon.

The man who called them, General Daniel S. Fritz handed them each a scarlet stone before saying.

"You have permission to cause as much damage as you wish."

Hearing this, the Grand and Crowley remained silent, but Kimblee, on the other hand, laughed with joy.

"Well, let all battalions prepare. The objective is simple: to storm the place..." Said General Fritz, but before he finished his words, several shots rang out before he fell to the ground.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

"Watch out for snipers!"

"The general is hit!"

A hundred yards away, hidden in the sand were three men with rifles in their hands.

"We had kill an officer!"

"Notify headquarters!" Said one of the men, but suddenly dozens of cannonballs came and hit them, killing them instantly!

Then Grand suddenly appeared and after checking that the snipers were dead ran towards the town followed by Crowley and kimblee.

"Grand, you could have left me some!" Kimblee said jokingly, but Grand ignored him.

Further on the officers calmed down their troop before sending General Fritz to the medical team and then made their way to the town.

At the entrance of the city several militiamen nervously watched the 400 men and the Tanks heading towards them.

Ravi, who was standing on the observation tower of a former outpost with her binoculars, cried out with all her might.

"For a better future and the hope of a future, take up your weapons and show his Amestris dogs what the Ishval can do!"

"Load the mortars, on my command!"

The hearts of the militiamen hidden behind sacks and concrete barriers and loading the mortars were beating fast.

A nervous silence then set in and when Amestris' army arrived at a distance of 300 m from the city, Ravi shouted with all his strength.

"FIRE!"

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam*

The mortars fired followed by a silence that lasted a few seconds before several explosions resounded.

*Booom* *Booom* *Booom* *Booom*

The battle had just begun.