Group Writing: Orders of Knighthood and How they Affect Us

 

A Knight

Knights have gotten into our heads and into our hearts and they move us on a level so deep that most of us don’t even examine why do we care about knights so much? It is a hard question to answer but I think some responsibility has to go to the Orders of Knighthood that spread all over Europe with their heroics, villainy, and romanticism embedding themselves deep into our imaginations.

A very remarkable thing happened in 1096: a mismatched international group of Nobles, their knights and many thousands of hangers-on, prostitutes, servants, and soldiers headed east to go on Crusade in order to free Jerusalem from Muslim rule and perhaps find salvation. Most of the people on the Crusade traveled more than 1,000 miles with no central organization and only a vague outline of a plan. Arriving in Constantinople the disparate groups of knights banded together and started their campaign. In a world where wars usually lasted no more than a couple of months the First Crusaders campaigned from April 1097 until August 12, 1099 it what had to be one of the most remarkable military feats in world history. From the wilderness of the Anatolian plains, to the mountains of Cilicia to the bloody forge of Antioch the Crusaders became what was probably the fiercest, deadliest and most effective army since the glory days of Roman Legions eight centuries before them.

Again, the Crusaders provided spectacular displays of manhood, martial valor and incredible fighting spirit. From the incredible cavalry charges that smashed massive Muslim armies, to the unbelievable hand to hand ability of the knights on the walls of Antioch, the Crusaders earned a lasting legend.

At Antioch the Muslim ruler Kerbogha of Mosul attacked with a massive army from outside the walls, which the Crusaders famously faced down. A lesser known part of that battle was that just a few hundred knights and men at arms were left inside to hold back the garrison of Antioch still firmly established in the citadel of that city. The soldiers left to hold back the garrison were pretty sure they were going to die, many of them hid in the houses and streets of Antioch to try and avoid the inevitable. The commander of this force went down into the city and lit the buildings on fire to drive them out and out they came once again to the walls. There they stood against thousands of Turks and Arabs and did not give an inch. They held, and against all odds their brothers outside the walls smashed Kerbogha’s mighty army a victory so stunning, so unexpected that it rose in the minds of most to the level of a miracle.

The memory of the First Crusade lived long in the minds of the Europeans and the incredible accomplishment of that First Crusade fired the imaginations of everyone. After the Crusade was over the legacy of that epic event was preserved in the idea of knightly orders. Knights not given over to greed, conquest and glory but to a worthy cause. A warrior, motivated by a righteous cause. How poor our fiction, our imaginations, and our history would be without this figure; and because of this, there is no more iconic image of this heroic warrior than the knight. The first of the Orders was the Knight of the Hospital who were to fight Muslims longer than anyone on and land-sea for 500 years. Then of course come the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher key to that glorious and all too short-lived Kingdom of Jerusalem and then the most famous of them all the Knights Templar. Just saying their name aloud makes one think of epic adventure, noble causes, bloody wars, dark conspiracies, and ancient evil.

The Knights Templar evoke so much from us because they have been in the background of our culture and stories for centuries. Known for reckless courage, epic last stands and incredible castles the Knights Templar inform our image of knights, even when we think of Castles we often think the castles that Templars built. From their humble beginnings to the ultimate heights of wealth and glory the Knights Templar had everything going for them until the evil King of France betrayed them and suppressed them. That epic fall gave us the ill-omened Friday the 13th and a swirl of rumor, legend, titillation that would keep some of our best and worst writers and creators busy for centuries.

Knights have always been fodder for fiction from the tales of Roland, Oliver, and Charlemagne, to King Arthur and his Roundtable, early creators projected Knights into our past and modern-day creators have pushed them into our future. Jedi Knights and high-tech knights can the heroes of stories such as Robotech, Warhammer, Gundam, and even Voltron. We bring the sensibility of knights not just to our fiction but into our reality as well. Where do we train highly specialized warriors, that are given special emblems to bear, unit history to live up to, a code of honor to guide them and the very best weapons to employ against our enemies? We may call them by names such as Delta Force, Seal Teams, Force Recon and Special Operation Squadrons but a knight of the past would recognize much of himself in the units of our special operators.

In an important sense Knights are no longer part of lives culture, tradition, technology, and countries have passed them by but in another very important sense they are still with us today. When we feel there is a righteous cause worth dying for, when we train and work to be the best we can be, when a Cowboy and his pistol is all that stands between justice and chaos, when a Jedi confronts a great evil with his laser sword, when our brave men of Special Operations take to horseback in the mountains of Afghanistan to bring payback for our fallen towers and dead innocents, the idea of the knight is still with us.

Imagine with me for a moment the best of what a knight can be: there across the field is the enemy, evil, ruthless and relentless. They want nothing more than to see you and all you hold dear destroyed. Then the men come, they have trained and prepared for this their whole lives. They have often drawn their swords for greed, ambition or mere glory and perhaps they in their time have even done evil. But not this day. This day they draw their sword in honor, for a righteous cause worthy of their efforts and even of their lives. They have lived and trained for this moment and now they stand tall in the face of their fear. You see a flash of light from their bright armor, hear that deeply moving scrap metal on leather as swords are unsheathed and then the movement of the horses as their hooves slam into the ground from a walk, to trot and

Finally to a full charge….

What can you do but shout…. Excelsior!

Published in Group Writing
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  1. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    Huzzah! Great essay!

    • #1
  2. OmegaPaladin Moderator
    OmegaPaladin
    @OmegaPaladin

    Amazing writing.

    • #2
  3. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo

    Outstanding.  Thank you.

    • #3
  4. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe is imbued with the aura of knighthood, especially in his first novel, The Big Sleep, when he finds the beautiful daughter of his client naked in his bed. He contemplates a chessboard as he tries to figure out how to get her dressed and out of there.

    I looked down at the chessboard. The move with the knight was wrong. I put it back where I had moved it from. Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn’t a game for knights.

    But, in the end, it was.

     

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Quite a pæan raised for the boys in leather and mail.


    This conversation is an entry in our Group Writing Series under September’s theme of Order. If you have something to say about order, come order up a date. We have thirteen left.

    • #5
  6. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Brian Wolf:

    Imagine with me for a moment the best of what a knight can be. There across the field is the enemy, evil, ruthless and relentless. They want nothing more than to see you and all you hold dear destroyed. Then the men come, they have trained and prepared for this their whole lives. They have often drawn their swords for greed, ambition or mere glory and perhaps they in their time have even done evil. But not this day. This day they draw their sword in honor, for a righteous cause worthy of their efforts and even of their lives. They have lived and trained for this moment and now they stand tall in the face of their fear. You see a flash of light from their bright armor, hear that deeply moving scrap of metal on leather as swords are unsheathed and then the movement of the horses as their hooves slam into the ground from a walk, to trot and

    finally to a full charge….

    What can you do but shout…. Excelsior!

    I would add this theme song.

     

    • #6
  7. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    Don’t forget the horses. No knight is a knight without his warhorse.

    Good Lord those animals are beautiful.

    • #7
  8. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    The last hurrah of the mounted armored knight came much later than you would expect.   1683. The Siege of Vienna.  Already squarely in the age of gunpowder.  Both sides had cannon, over 400 in total.  An Ottoman army was about to kick in the back door to Europe.     The Ottoman army had besieged Vienna for two months.    Things were coming to an end.    The walls of the city had been undermined and the stage was set for the invaders to pour into the breeches and overwhelm the city.

    Then a relief army arrived under Polish Commander John Sobieski.    The iron fist of Sobieski’s army were already an anachronism.   The Polish heavy cavalry.   Mounted armored knights.    The Winged Hussars.  Their armour featured two wooden appendages, festooned with feathers, that started at their lower back and came up over their shoulders / hence ‘Winged’

    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.  They were armed with both a curved saber and a long straight backsword.   Many also carried additional weapons like battle axes or war hammers.    However their primary weapon was  a 16 foot long lance/pike.     Like the heavy artillery of later days, they were expensive, slow, and had limited utility.    They were really only good at one job.    But at that job they were unrivaled.    The Winged Hussars job was to break infantry.

    Sobieski’s army arrived in the nick of time for Vienna.   Sobieski’s infantry engaged the Ottoman army in the morning of 12 September 1683 outside the walls of Vienna.    They fight went on all day without advantage to either side.   Then, in the late afternoon, the Winged Hussars came up.   It may have been the largest charge of armored knights in history.    It was certainly the last.    The day long battle and two month siege was over in 15 minutes.   They hit the Ottoman infantry like a brick hitting a pane of glass.    They broke the Ottoman army and swept the it from under the walls of Vienna, sending the survivors to flight.    Vienna and Europe were saved.   They captured the Ottomans’ tents and baggage and supplies – including coffee.    It was the first time Europeans in large numbers were introduced to coffee.     The gleeful bakers of Vienna crafted celebratory pastries from the captured flour and shaped them into crescents like the crescent moons on the Moslem Ottomans’ flags – what we know today as croissants.

    So next week, on the 12th, have a coffee and some croissants and say thanks to the last of the mounted armored knights.

    • #8
  9. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    CB Toder aka Mama Toad (View Comment):

    Don’t forget the horses. No knight is a knight without his warhorse.

    Good Lord those animals are beautiful.

    You’ve been watching Sir Jason’s series? It is pretty good.

    • #9
  10. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    By the way, a fantastic book about Don Juan of Austria, Emperor Charles V’s illegitimate son, is The Last Crusade by Louis de Wohl. 

    I read it at the end of the spring. Really enjoyable (anything by de Wohl is fun reading, I’ve found).

    • #10
  11. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    Percival (View Comment):

    You’ve been watching Sir Jason’s series? It is pretty good.

    Only since this morning! So beautiful…

    My kids did a riding camp last week and their boots still stink of the stables, but we are still high on borses. My friend’s camp is the Tom Sawyer model… she has parents pay her to send her their kids to muck out her stables and ride a bit. So beautiful…

    • #11
  12. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    CB Toder aka Mama Toad (View Comment):
    …but we are still high on borses.

    Heh, must be a new drug. Don’t know about you kids these days.

    • #12
  13. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.

    The earliest hussars were Hungarian, and were light cavalry.

    The Polish version was definitely heavy cavalry by the time of Vienna. Eventually most of the armies in Europe adopted the unit type, and those hussars were all light cavalry.

    • #13
  14. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    CB Toder aka Mama Toad (View Comment):

    By the way, a fantastic book about Don Juan of Austria, Emperor Charles V’s illegitimate son, is The Last Crusade by Louis de Wohl.

    I read it at the end of the spring. Really enjoyable (anything by de Wohl is fun reading, I’ve found).

    There’s a poem too. :)

    • #14
  15. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Brian Wolf:

    Imagine with me for a moment the best of what a knight can be. There across the field is the enemy, evil, ruthless and relentless. They want nothing more than to see you and all you hold dear destroyed. Then the men come, they have trained and prepared for this their whole lives. They have often drawn their swords for greed, ambition or mere glory and perhaps they in their time have even done evil. But not this day. This day they draw their sword in honor, for a righteous cause worthy of their efforts and even of their lives. They have lived and trained for this moment and now they stand tall in the face of their fear. You see a flash of light from their bright armor, hear that deeply moving scrap of metal on leather as swords are unsheathed and then the movement of the horses as their hooves slam into the ground from a walk, to trot and

    finally to a full charge….

    What can you do but shout…. Excelsior!

    Very good I did not know this series 

    • #15
  16. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.

    The earliest hussars were Hungarian, and were light cavalry.

    The Polish version was definitely heavy cavalry by the time of Vienna. Eventually most of the armies in Europe adopted the unit type, and those hussars were all light cavalry.

    My poor phrasing.   I meant to reference the wings.   I don’t think anyone is sure what purpose the feathered wings served.    Were they defensive?    Did the whirring noise made by the feathers when riding at speed frighten opponents’ horses?    Were they just decorative?    

    • #16
  17. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Ekosj (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.

    The earliest hussars were Hungarian, and were light cavalry.

    The Polish version was definitely heavy cavalry by the time of Vienna. Eventually most of the armies in Europe adopted the unit type, and those hussars were all light cavalry.

    My poor phrasing. I meant to reference the wings. I don’t think anyone is sure what purpose the feathered wings served. Were they defensive? Did the whirring noise made by the feathers when riding at speed frighten opponents’ horses? Were they just decorative?

    They were there to scare the bejabbers out of people. “Aw, nuts … it’s them again!”

    • #17
  18. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.

    The earliest hussars were Hungarian, and were light cavalry.

    The Polish version was definitely heavy cavalry by the time of Vienna. Eventually most of the armies in Europe adopted the unit type, and those hussars were all light cavalry.

    My poor phrasing. I meant to reference the wings. I don’t think anyone is sure what purpose the feathered wings served. Were they defensive? Did the whirring noise made by the feathers when riding at speed frighten opponents’ horses? Were they just decorative?

    They were there to scare the bejabbers out of people. “Aw, nuts … it’s them again!”

    Are you saying they’re wingnuts?

    • #18
  19. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.

    The earliest hussars were Hungarian, and were light cavalry.

    The Polish version was definitely heavy cavalry by the time of Vienna. Eventually most of the armies in Europe adopted the unit type, and those hussars were all light cavalry.

    My poor phrasing. I meant to reference the wings. I don’t think anyone is sure what purpose the feathered wings served. Were they defensive? Did the whirring noise made by the feathers when riding at speed frighten opponents’ horses? Were they just decorative?

    They were there to scare the bejabbers out of people. “Aw, nuts … it’s them again!”

    In Russia they are considered a picture of evil and the Polish Hussars are considered a real source of evil and even a stand in for fascism in some writing.  This was to do with the Polish’s Commonwealth’s great influence in Belarussia and Lithuania at the time when the Russia was in chaos for lack of a king in the 17th century.   All of which was put right by the coming of the Romanovs.  

    As for me whenever I see a picture of them all I can think about is Vienna and how the Poles saved Europe.

    • #19
  20. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    @omegapaladin and <span class="atwho-inserted" contenteditable="false" data-atwho-at-query="@bossmongo“>@bossmongo  Thank you both so much I take your comments as high praise indeed.

    • #20
  21. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    CB Toder aka Mama Toad (View Comment):

    Huzzah! Great essay!

    Huzzah is a word I thought to use at the end of my essay instead of Excelsior but I could not resist the marvel comics reference.

    Thank you so much Mama Toad.

    • #21
  22. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Brian Wolf (View Comment):
    As for me whenever I see a picture of them all I can think about is Vienna and how the Poles saved Europe.

    Indeed.  And that it infuriates Muslims enough that their militants commemorated the anniversary with the biggest terrorist attack ever on American soil.  A teachable moment, for both the honor of the Poles and the perfidy of Islam.

    • #22
  23. Locke On Member
    Locke On
    @LockeOn

    Brian Wolf (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    I don’t think anybody, now, is certain what function they served … but it’s certainly a look.

    The earliest hussars were Hungarian, and were light cavalry.

    The Polish version was definitely heavy cavalry by the time of Vienna. Eventually most of the armies in Europe adopted the unit type, and those hussars were all light cavalry.

    My poor phrasing. I meant to reference the wings. I don’t think anyone is sure what purpose the feathered wings served. Were they defensive? Did the whirring noise made by the feathers when riding at speed frighten opponents’ horses? Were they just decorative?

    They were there to scare the bejabbers out of people. “Aw, nuts … it’s them again!”

    In Russia they are considered a picture of evil and the Polish Hussars are considered a real source of evil and even a stand in for fascism in some writing. This was to do with the Polish’s Commonwealth’s great influence in Belarussia and Lithuania at the time when the Russia was in chaos for lack of a king in the 17th century. All of which was put right by the coming of the Romanovs.

    As for me whenever I see a picture of them all I can think about is Vienna and how the Poles saved Europe.

    Maybe not everyone’s cut of tea, but I like this…

    https://youtu.be/9mGPnud_IjE

    • #23
  24. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    Locke On (View Comment):
    Maybe not everyone’s cut of tea, but I like this…

    I liked it.  Gave me chills.  There is just something about them that speaks to me of legendary heroism. 

    For balance however here a piece of Russian movie making from the movie 1612.  No movie goes to greater lengths to think of elaborate ways to kill Polish Hussars…

    https://youtu.be/zh_yTV8r-W0

     

    • #24
  25. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Thank you for a very nice post.  I like the reminder that we face a foe that we have faced before.  

    Although Western Civilization had initial and occasional successes against the muslims, in the end the muslims won.  They still hold Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul and until very recently they also held Jerusalem.  

    Why did they succeed?  I suspect a big part of the reason is that western civilization passed on fighting and left the fighting for the orders of knights.  The war was not waged as an institutional all out total war against islam, but was passed off to these quasi-religious mercenaries.  Brave as they were, they were no substitute for all out national efforts.

    And that same mindset is reflected anew in your comparison to special forces:

    Brian Wolf: We may call them by names such as Delta Force, Seal Teams, Force Recon and Special Operation Squadrons but a knight of the past would recognize much of himself in the units of our special operators.

    I have nothing but the greatest respect for special forces (although I think the Marines should have continued to resist adding them to their ranks).  Cheney and Rumsfeld did a great disservice to this country and to the war effort by convincing G W Bush that we could win the war using special forces.  They erred, badly.

    What are special forces good for?  They are great at small raids, reconnaissance, and deep, limited strikes, support roles, etc.  They are not good for waging war, as we have seen in the unending efforts we’ve had in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

    There are many reasons those wars continue on, among them the unit rotations, the unwillingness to send in a large enough force (two battalions to start the war in Afghanistan!), an unwillingness to recognize that the cause of the war of the crusades has resurfaced, and many, many others.  But a big part is the mindset that all we need to do is send in a very few elite forces, assassinate a few key leaders and the enemy’s will to fight will crumble.

    We face the same problem against the muslims that our forefathers faced before.  A religious-political enemy driven by holy command and united around their dogmatic and murderous ideology cannot be defeated without a united and total effort by western civilization.  If we cannot learn this then we are doomed to lose again eventually.  It is not trivial that Europe has imported fanatical muslim populations, and the US seems inclined to do so as well.  

    Special forces are indeed great men, who should impress us individually and as military units. But we should not make the mistake again that they should or can win wars.  

    • #25
  26. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Thank you for a very nice post. I like the reminder that we face a foe that we have faced before.

    Although Western Civilization had initial and occasional successes against the muslims, in the end the muslims won. They still hold Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul and until very recently they also held Jerusalem.

    Why did they succeed? I suspect a big part of the reason is that western civilization passed on fighting and left the fighting for the orders of knights. The war was not waged as an institutional all out total war against islam, but was passed off to these quasi-religious mercenaries. Brave as they were, they were no substitute for all out national efforts.

    And that same mindset is reflected anew in your comparison to special forces:

    Brian Wolf: We may call them by names such as Delta Force, Seal Teams, Force Recon and Special Operation Squadrons but a knight of the past would recognize much of himself in the units of our special operators.

    I have nothing but the greatest respect for special forces (although I think the Marines should have continued to resist adding them to their ranks). Cheney and Rumsfeld did a great disservice to this country and to the war effort by convincing G W Bush that we could win the war using special forces. They erred, badly.

    What a great question!  I disagree a bit with the premise.  Europe put forth a huge amount of treasure, time and manpower into the Crusades and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.  After the first crusade tens of thousands maybe more than a hundred thousand people tired to reach Jerusalem and live in the Kingdom of Jerusalem but the Turks stopped nearly all of them.  The military orders were probably the best way available for Europe to project force into the Middle East but it simply was not enough.  The manpower difference, the distance and existing technology all worked to the Muslim advantage. The fact the Muslim found it so difficult to win and ultimately failed is itself remarkable.

    As to the modern day, yes winning the war on the cheap dragged things out.  A Special Forces can do a lot but they don’t win wars on their own.  But we won in Iraq, we didn’t lose the war we lost the peace.  It was no different really than if we had beat Nazi Germany and then immediately left Western Europe to face the Soviet Union alone.  The result of that withdraw would have made us regret World War II greatly, but it would have been wrong to say we didn’t beat Nazi Germany.

    • #26
  27. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Locke On (View Comment):
    Maybe not everyone’s cut of tea, but I like this…

    I like it.

    • #27
  28. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo

    Skyler (View Comment):
    What are special forces good for? They are great at small raids, reconnaissance, and deep, limited strikes, support roles, etc.tactical level operations that generate strategic effects.

    They are not good for waging war, as we have seen in the unending efforts we’ve had in Iraq and Afghanistan, unless used appropriately in an economy of force role.

    <span class="atwho-inserted" contenteditable="false" data-atwho-at-query="@skyler“>@skyler: FIFY.

    And I would humbly submit that the reason for the pivot to SOF as the main effort is the lack of imagination, competence and selfless service within General Purpose Forces.

    I agree with you, here.  I’m just saying that picking SOF as the force-of-choice was not done without due consideration.

    I would also submit that the reason that two of the most important Knights in the current administration/chain of command are Kelly and Mattis is because Devil Dog leadership comprises the only senior leaders that hewed to the warrior code through previous administrations.

    • #28
  29. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Some of the poem:

    Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
    Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
    Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
    The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall

    Man I love that part.

    • #29
  30. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Boss Mongo (View Comment):
    I agree with you, here. I’m just saying that picking SOF as the force-of-choice was not done without due consideration.

    Perhaps, but those doing the “due consideration” were also repeatedly telling the commander in chief that they needed fewer and fewer forces to fight the war, that it was all but over right before the massacre of those mercenaries in Fallujah were killed and hung from a bridge, that we didn’t need to worry about keeping Iran afraid, and that we should turn over control of Iraq and Afghanistan to the host nation before the bullets and air strikes and artillery barrages were even close to being silenced.  

    • #30
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