13 Day War (12 page)

“Each prong should have its own cadre of citizen militia for this task,” offered Bin-lu. “That way we do not take valuable resources away from the army. The militia need not be made up of warriors. They only need to be proficient enough with bows to keep the prisoners under guard. The prisoners will already have been relieved of their weapons, so the greatest threat is escape. In Lanoir, we have already created these militia and the holding pens. I can share with you the problems we encountered if you are interested.”

“Mention the transportation problems, Bin-lu,” suggested Colonel Gregor. “If anyone needs to hear more, he can get with you after the meeting.”

The Knight of Alcea nodded. “Transportation will be a major problem because the pens should be located well away from the city. It is safest to move the prisoners in a contained fashion rather than have them march to the pens. In Lanoir we are using wagons and ships. This means that we need to have the wagons and ships available for use without their importance becoming noticed by any spies in the area. Governor Za-chan has accomplished this by requiring every cargo ship in Lanoir to be inspected before the first day of spring. The harbor of Ongchi is already crowded with ships, but the inspections have been delayed for some strange reason, so none of them have left yet.”

Many in the room laughed at the wily methods of the Lanoirian governor.

Bin-lu smiled and continued, “A side effect of this slow inspection process is that the streets of Ongchi are overcrowded with wagons. Most of the wagons arrived in the city with cargoes for the ships, but the ships are not ready to leave because they have not been inspected. So we have the wagons and ships ready for the transportation of prisoners without letting any spies know their true purpose.”

“Clever,” commented General Gregor. “I think that is enough about handling the prisoners. I will turn the meeting over to King Arik.”

“Thank you all for coming,” opened the king. “I have just received news that the Zarans have started to move their armies towards the portals. While we do not have an exact date for the start of the war, it is estimated that we have two weeks before the first Zaran troops arrive. That is a little bit sooner than we had planned on, but the timing is not under our control. General Fernandez, I think this affects Cordonia far greater than the others. You need to start moving the Cordonian army to Targa immediately.”

“We are still badly snowed in,” frowned the Governor of Cordonia. “My armies will never reach Targa in time to be of any help.”

“I can help with that,” offered Prince Oscar. “I can have my ships transport your soldiers to Dalek. It will still take a fair amount of time, but I think it will at least get the bulk of your troops here in time.”

“We can’t afford for spies to see the soldiers boarding the ships,” warned Alex.

“And they won’t,” promised Governor Fernandez. “My men will not be wearing uniforms, and we can load Prince Oscar’s ships at night from several different cities. I have also prepared a disinformation campaign to keep the spies from noticing the lack of soldiers in the cities. False reports of army activity will spread through the cities so that anyone wondering where all the soldiers went will be satisfied with what they hear.”

The king waited to be sure that the conversation was ended before taking back control of the meeting.

“Anyone else who needs to move armies to be prepared for the invasion will need to start thinking about doing that very soon. The first Federation armies destined for Alcea will be coming through Doors in the city of Barouk in Lanoir. From the time they step through those Doors, they have allotted themselves thirteen days for all of their armies to rally at our major cities. The last armies to arrive on our soil will appear in Danver Shores on day nine of those thirteen days, giving Tagaret only four days to halt their march. All of the other armies will be somewhere in between those mentioned. General Gregor has created maps for each of you. The maps detail each of the Federation armies and where they are supposed to be on each of those thirteen days. Do not take these maps as a certainty. The locations are what the Federation plans, not necessarily where they will actually be. In some cases, our forces will be trying to slow down some of those armies.”

The king paused to gaze around the room. He saw a lot of nervousness among the group, but he thought little of it. He was also nervous. No matter how much they planned, King Arik knew that things would change the moment the fighting started.

“All right then,” continued the king. “I think it is time to break up into groups and finalize your plans. I want a report of those plans before you leave Tagaret. If there is any need for assistance from the crown, make sure you get it before you leave here. This will be our last meeting before the war begins.”

The assembly broke up into provincial groups and spread out to different areas of the large room. Alexander Tork, figuring that this would be his last chance to speak to the leaders before hostilities broke out, decided to touch base with each group. He started with Lanoir where General Za-hong, Bin-lu, and Rut-ki were talking quietly in the corner.

“Lanoir will be first to receive the Federation,” Alex said in way of a greeting. “How do you feel about your preparations?”

“Good for the most part,” answered General Za-hong. “Bin-lu seems to have considered everything.”

“Not everything,” frowned Bin-lu. “We have significant surprises in store for the enemy, but I am still anxious. Perhaps it is because I have traveled with the likes of Jenneva and Tanya, but our mages do not appear capable of much in the way of offensive magic.”

“The Lanoirian army has never depended upon magicians,” retorted General Za-hong. “The strength of our army has always been in numbers. The strategy was to overwhelm your opponent.”

“The numbers are not on our side this time,” countered Rut-ki. “We must learn to be more clever than our opponents if we hope to survive.”

Alex turned and glanced at the Tyronian mage. Theos stood quietly behind the king, watching everyone, but remaining silent. He turned back to the three Lanoirians.

“I cannot speak for King Arik on this matter,” Alex said softly, “but perhaps you could borrow Theos, the new mage. I understand that his offensive magic is quite impressive.”

“I will discuss that with King Arik,” replied Bin-lu, “but I suspect that Theos is a replacement for Fredrik. There was much talk at the previous meeting about the last remaining Claw of Alutar. Prince Oscar wants a mage to constantly shield the king. I would be surprised if Theos was not holding a shield over the king right now.”

“Does King Arik expect an assassin among his advisors?” asked General Za-hong.

“That is not the right question,” retorted Rut-ki. “I am sure that King Arik trusts everyone in this room. It is Theos holding the shields and his decision to do so. He does not know any of us, and I think that is an advantage. He will not let his guard down because the threat seems familiar. I know that feeling. When I was accepted into the Knights of Alcea, I did not know the rest of you, so I could not be lulled into complacency.”

Alex nodded with understanding. “I do think you need a battle mage in Lanoir. If Theos is not available, speak to Jenneva. She might know someone you can use. Remember that each Federation army has four black-cloaks assigned to it. That is twenty-four battle mages you will have to deal with.”

Alex turned and walked away. When he reached the corner of the room where the Sordoan contingent was meeting, he saw a map spread out over the table. He stopped near the table and studied the map while the others seemed engrossed in their discussion.

“We will only have at best two-thousand mercenaries,” complained Captain Azule of the Sarga Mercenaries. “You can’t possibly expect us to survive for even a day against twenty-thousand men.”

“We will have the dwarves and elves, too,” countered Captain Orteka of the Kadin Claws. “And the valley is quite enclosed. I think we can hold them there for several days.”

“The dwarves will be exhausted,” Captain Grecho of the Cidal Mercenaries interjected. “They do not ride as we do. They will have to run all the way from the coast just to get into position. No one should expect them to immediately dive into battle.”

“My people will fight,” proclaimed Prince Darok, a dwarven prince and Knight of Alcea.

“Providing everything goes well at Pontek,” frowned Governor Mobami. “I will not lie to you, men. I am not happy with the assignment given to you, but there is no better strategy for defeating the Federation. General Omirro’s Federation troops out of Caldar are the biggest threat against Sordoa. The terrain between Caldar and the capital is fairly open, and it will be almost impossible to stop his drive to Trekum. We must put the majority of our forces against him. You will just have to do the best you can against the forces coming from Gortha. Find a way to slow them down until we have eliminated Omirro’s army and then we will come to your aid.”

“If I might make a suggestion,” Alex said softly as he moved from the map to join the group. “Zack has been spreading ghastly tales about the dwarves in Zara, particularly to the armies that will be coming from Gortha.”

“Why?” asked Prince Darok.

“Zack and I have discussed the problem you will be facing in Sordoa,” explained Alex. “You will be badly outnumbered, and Captain Grecho is correct. Your people will be exhausted, Prince Darok. That is, they will be exhausted if they have to immediately jump into battle, but there is another way. If Zack can create enough fear in the hearts of the Federation soldiers, the mere sight of dwarves might buy you some time. If a representative group were to meet the enemy under a flag of truce, you just might gain a day’s delay, and that day will give the dwarves a chance to refresh their strength.”

“What kind of stories has Zack been spreading?” asked the dwarven prince.

Alex grinned mischievously. “Only that the dwarves wear invincible armor, and that King Arik considers a dwarf warrior worth one-hundred humans. It has been said that you dwarves can stride into the enemy army with your huge battleaxes and slay a legion without getting a scratch in return.”

Prince Darok’s loud laugh caught the attention of the entire room, and conversation halted for a moment. “Well then,” guffawed the dwarven prince, “we will have to dress accordingly for the part. I will have our smiths work up something very impressive for the Federation lads.”

The mercenary captains felt their spirits lift as their chances of survival rose just a bit. Alex turned and headed for the Targa delegation, which was actually a combination of the Cordonia and Targa teams as the Cordonian army would be joining the fighting to save Tagaret. Baron Timor of Southland was speaking.

“The timing is the critical part of this. General Fortella’s Federation armies only have an eight-day march to Tagaret from Mya. If the Cordonian army and the Army of the West are to come up behind him in time to be of any use, we cannot assemble in Southland. It is too far away. We need to be much closer, and if we are closer, we risk alerting the enemy that we are onto their plan. I do not see an easy solution to this problem.”

“Fortella’s army just has to be slowed down,” offered Lieutenant Montbalm from Tor. “Fell trees across the path of his army.”

“Merely felling trees across his path will not be sufficient,” interjected Clint who was mingling with the group. “Fortella is a respectable opponent. In fact, the Federation has put some of their best generals in Force Targa. Capturing Tagaret is a high priority for them. Both Fortella and Bledsoe are known for driving their men beyond reason. General Pryblick is not so highly regarded, but his force is merely for support. It will take cleverness to slow down either Fortella or Bledsoe.”

“Abatis,” commented Alex. “Do not merely fell trees for the enemy, but fell them properly.”

Lieutenant Montbalm stared at Alex in confusion. “Explain.”

“If you can find appropriate spots along Fortella’s path,” explained Alex, “fell giant trees, not across his path, but rather with the tops facing the enemy. The maze of branches will act as further impediments to clearing the road. It will also give your archers an excellent chance to pick off those men sent ahead to clear the road. If properly done, it can waste a tremendous amount of the enemy’s time.”

“And what is a proper place?” asked Baron Timor.

“You must not block just the road,” answered Alex, “but the forest as well. You must choose a spot where a river or cliff limits the enemy’s options. In that narrowed area, create a wall of abatis and hide your archers behind it.”

“Harassing General Fortella’s men will fall to my people,” frowned Prince Garong, a prince of the elves and a Knight of Alcea. “The elves will be hesitant to cause such a massive destruction of trees.”

“I understand.” Alex nodded sympathetically. “King Arik will supply lumbermen who are skilled in that area, but you will need to protect those men, and do not let your people’s objections halt the lumbermen from their duties. If Tagaret falls, all of Alcea falls with it.“

“There is truth in Alex’s words,” added Clint. “These thirteen days will be the most trying in all our lives. If the Federation loses all of the other battles, they will still win the war by capturing Tagaret and King Arik. We must not let that happen.”

Alex nodded in agreement and turned to seek out Jenneva. He had only taken a few steps when he felt a hand upon his shoulder. He turned to find Governor Fernandez, and his old friend held a grim expression on his face.

“I have sad news from Cordonia,” the governor said softly. “Lyda has died. Can you get word to Karl?”

Sadness filled Alex’s heart, but he did not nod in agreement. “How did it happen?”

“We have had the most severe winter ever recorded,” answered Governor Fernandez. “The weight of the snow collapsed the roof where she was staying. There was nothing that could be done for her.”

Alex nodded in understanding. “I do not think the time is right to tell Karl that his wife has died. The news will devastate him, and he is about to enter an extremely trying time. The next four weeks will determine if Karl survives the coming ordeal himself. I think the news can wait until that is over.”