[b]The Lady of War - Philippines' Ally[/b]

[b][i]Vietnam[/i][/b]

Lady Trung had been moving from bunker to bunker, rendezvous point to rendezvous point, escorted by a small band of riders mounted on white horses. She herself had her own steed, named Aglipay after her 'mother-in-spirit', which she now rode south as she and her people prepared to gather their forces in a surprise offensive. From Lang Son in the north, where wary watch was kept upon Houist China, to the disputed city of Vinh - her destination - her supporters had consolidated a position from where revenge can be taken against Diem's traitorous forces; with the moonsoon rains hitting the country, a tiny window of opportunity had opened up to roll back the reactionary tide. And she planned to take it.

The forces of Diem's so-called 'Republic of Vietnam' had paused to rest after the roads were made muddy by the rains, but the army of the 'Vietnam Restoration League', her faction, were better-able to cope with the weather from a defensive position, and their own fatigue had been slept and nursed away from said defensive position. As Lady Trung, clad in military fatigues and wearing a light brown robe to cover her figure, entered the side of Vinh city taken by the revolutionaries, she rode slightly faster and found passion in the cheers given by the green-and-red-clad women and men who greeted her arrival. They were ready, she knew it. Lifting her curved sword, she spoke to the nearest sergant, "Raise the flag."

Five red stars forming a pentagon against a yellow background; that was the flag her father, Phan Bội Châu, had lifted up in his failed attempt at revolt against the French. She had used other flags in the years preceeding Diem's betrayal, among them a generic Anarchist 'A' Flag. But now was the time to declare herself openly; to proclaim her father's legacy once more. And so the flag of the [i]Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội[/i] was raised once more; the same will be done all across her holdings.

Lady Trung then dismounted and went towards an armored pickup truck that boasted a machine gun. Sheathing her sword as the rest of her riders dismounted and switched to similar vehicles, she smiled as, after a slight pause, her army would march towards the lower half of Vinh, ready to evict the reactionaries from the side of town they held. She hoped that similar scenes would play out all across Vietnam, as sleeper cells, flanking battalions sent through tunnels and trails, mutineers and rebels would stage attacks against the weary and half-starving Diemist forces.

Gunfire sounded around her, and some of her men and women fell. Diemist troops were staging a counterattack, but as Lady Trung took up her pickup truck's machine gun - someone else drove the vehicle - and began to fire back, it was clear that their morale was flagging quickly while her people were merely roused into renewed fury.

At the first few roars of her artillery; mostly mortars but there were a few heavier pieces, the counterattack collapsed as the officers of Diem's army zoomed off like cowards in their own vehicles and left their men behind. For a moment, Lady Trung was tempted to continue the slaugther, but instead decided to lift up her curved sword once more to signal a cease-fire to allow the enemy to surrender -

Then the whirring of propeller-driven craft sounded from the south.

"They plan to do a Denver!" shouted Lady Trung as her forces, trained for such an occassion, began to swing every flak gun they had to greet the bombers with a wall of fire. "To think they would bomb their own armies..."

She then shouted to the driver: "Drive us to the nearest air-raid shelter, [i]now[/i]!" Said driver didn't need to be told twice, and began zooming off to the middle of the revolutionary-held side of the city, where a cellar door lay open, waiting for Lady Trung to get off; already, the flak guns were firing even as bombs were falling on the reactionary and revolutionary sides of the city alike.

When the driver got off, she would shove said driver into the bunker first, missing valuable time as an explosion sounded behind her. Then she would dive into the shelter and close the cellar door behind her.

Hopefully, Lady Trung thought as she was closely packed with her men and women in the bunker, her forces would have learned from the Western Americans in Denver and downed as many bombers as they can. For now, though, she had to wait...wait to see if the shelter would hold. If it did not, defeat would be snatched from the jaws of victory.

And they cannot have that.