Tales of Anyar Page 7

  Mark intended to leave numerous witnesses to his family’s passing through Nurburt and heading east toward the Madyrna border. Once clear of Nurburt, they would circle the town and stop in a place with a view of the road that pursuers would have to use to follow them. Then they’d wait. He held out a small hope that they would see no one, but if the two men from Landylbury and the eight others were on their trail, then the family would reverse course and push hard west, sticking to open country and bypassing the ranch twenty miles south. From that point, they would steer west toward to the sea, then north, looking for passage to Novaryn, the smallest and most mercantile of the Drilmar dominions. If Mark hadn’t been worried the guilds would follow him there, he would have attempted to move to the Novaryn capitol, Baeraton. He didn’t have a specific plan once they were in Novaryn. The language was different from Frangelese, although he’d heard they were similar enough to make oneself understood with effort.

  They needed to lose the men—whatever combination of Frangelese and Narthani they were. If they picked up his family’s trail, he’d first whittle them down with the doomsters. If that failed, and the numbers got low enough, he had other options. Maghen was a good shot, and with their collection of firearms, he would look for an ambush site to trap the remaining men.

  As for what happened next, they might still be in danger if word had spread and agents of the Narthani waited for them elsewhere. They had all the coin they’d saved for land of their own and from the last five destrex hides. It was enough for food and lodging for many months, along with a sea passage, if he decided where to go next. Wherever they went, they needed to keep moving to reach someplace safe before the coin ran out. Whatever happened and however long it took, he would protect his family and a find way, somehow, to get to Caedellium.

  In all great wars, pivotal battles are regaled or lamented in books, poems, and music. In the same wars are battles that played critical roles in victory or defeat but that are overlooked by circumstances. In the final confrontation with the Narthani, the fate of the clans of Caedellium hung precariously on a single day at Orosz City. However, another battle took place over many days and a hundred miles of skirmishes, ambushes, and assaults. Although the battle was given no name, it deserves recognition for its role in victory.

  AN UNSUNG BATTLEFIELD

  Orosz City, Island of Caedellium, Planet Anyar

  Seven men stood on the elevated walkway separating the two large maps in the “Pit,” the hub of the clans’ operations headquarters in Orosz City. The large, flat map they faced depicted provinces, cities, towns, rivers, and other prominent features. Behind them was the relief map of Caedellium showing elevation and terrain. Women taking updated position and status reports of both Narthani and clan forces moved figurines on the flat map. As the men watched, a middle-aged woman used what reminded Yozef Kolsko of a croupier’s stick to edge the figurine representing Narthani marshal Gullar’s army farther into Eywell Province.

  “Remember, we will undertake no major engagements as they attempt to resupply the main force—not until they commit to moving deep into Caedellium,” said Yozef. “Right now, we can assume the Narthani have chosen the strategy of marching into the middle of the island to seek battles. That’s where we want them—where their navy is out of contact, and we can take advantage of our greater mobility. We don’t want to give the Narthani any reason to pull back to Preddi Province and then destroy coastal clans piecemeal with combined army/navy operations.

  “Though we have to occasionally attack their supply trains lest they’ll get suspicious, these have to be limited to platoon- and occasional company-size attacks. Any major action that occurs will be under Brigadier Stent, as he entices the Narthani to pursue him, hopefully to one of the battlefield sites we’ve prepared.”

  The clans had authorized four clan hetmen to make final decisions on conducting the fight against the Narthon Empire. Although Yozef Kolsko was not formally a member of the council, he served as the de facto leader and led this day’s briefing.

  Denes Vegga stood to one side. He would lead the defense of the blocking end of the trap the clans planned for the Narthani. Hetman Stent commanded the mobile force attempting to lure the Narthani into one of the planned battlefields. Both men were temporarily promoted to brigadier to acknowledge the number of men each led.

  The seventh man was Hetman Harmon Swavebroke, breveted as Colonel Swavebroke. Someone had to lead the forces cutting the Narthani supply lines, and having a hetman in command, even if from a different clan, would evoke enough customary respect to minimize the clansmen’s questioning of orders. To distinguish Harmon’s rank from the regimental colonels, Yozef had come up with an ad hoc rank of “Senior Colonel.”

  The council had held the briefing mainly for Swavebroke. He commanded eight thousand men in four regiments and would cut the supply line back to Preddi City when the War Council ordered it. Despite the number of men under his command, the council had held his rank to colonel, not expecting his regiments to fight united against the Narthani—a restriction that Harmon was about to be reminded of.

  “I know you’ve heard it many times, Harmon, but you’re not to try any complex maneuvers with all four regiments. They’re among our least trained troops, and you have no experience in coordinating this many men from different clans.”

  Swavebroke wasn’t offended by the overt statement about his lack of qualifications. Yozef often reiterated that none of them were qualified for what they would attempt, only that the clans had no better options. The council had entrusted Swavebroke with four regiments because of positive reports on how he’d organized men of his own and neighboring clans. The latter had come to the Swavebroke clan’s aid when the Narthani attacked their capital, Shullick.

  A battle hadn’t materialized since the Narthani had withdrawn back aboard their ships. However, the way that Harmon had quickly taken the reins of authority from his father impressed Yozef and the War Council. Harmon’s father had stayed behind and died in Shullick.

  “Be sure to avoid major contact with the Narthani until the right time. We want them to think only Stent’s force is their main opposition. And it’s critical your men don’t get carried away, Harmon,” said Yozef. “I agree with your decision to keep the four regiments separated even now. Besides having them placed along the arc in front of the Narthani’s current line of march, it keeps them from thinking their numbers are great enough to attempt attacking the main Narthani force. People can lose perspective if they think the force they’re in is large enough to seem invincible.

  Harmon added, “It also leaves room for each regiment to continue training in battalion and regiment maneuvering without the distraction of other regiments. I’ve told the four colonels I’ll rate their units’ quality when I see them all separately, just to add a little incentive, something pride can do. As soon as I leave here, I’ll ride hard to Moreland City to meet with all four colonels to drum in their orders. Afterward, I’ll come back here to await the council’s decision about releasing us to sever the Narthani’s supply line.”

  Senior Colonel Swavebroke would not be riding alone. The fourth of his regiments had just increased in size the previous day with the arrival of a Clan Bevens battalion. The two thousand men had left on the main Orosz City/Moreland City road an hour earlier, and Harmon would ride to catch up. A second regiment waited in Moreland City. Two more regiments were encamped thirty miles north-northwest of Moreland City and fifty miles south-southwest. All four regiments sat on semaphore lines.

  “See you back here then, Harmon,” said Yozef and watched the Swavebroke hetman leave the group. Yozef had quietly discussed one more potential mission for the departing commander. Despite the estimated fifty thousand troops in the invading army, thousands more Narthani remained in Preddi Province, those of the original Narthani units and those who came with the massive reinforcement. As events unfolded, and the islanders attempted to maneuver the Narthani army into a trap as it headed into Caedellium’s in
terior, the clans couldn’t allow the two enemy groups to merge. It might fall to Swavebroke’s men to stop any attempt to reinforce or resupply the main Narthani force.

  Harassing Raids

  Synton Ethlore was both thankful and vexed. Though pleased to be away from the necessary organization of larger military units and the need for clear chains of command, he couldn’t suppress his ire at being ordered by none other than Yozef Kolsko to command a platoon nibbling at the Narthani army’s supply trains. His predicament found no sympathy from Balwis Preddi when the two men shared ales in an Orosz City pub before they left for their regiment.

  ***

  “Hah!” Balwis laughed. “Don’t look to me. You’ll only be in charge of about twenty-five to thirty men. I’ve got four hundred to worry about. That’s what you get when you make any assumptions regarding any dealings with the man. He’s liable to connect you to something he wants done, whether you want it or not. Reminds me of when I first met him. We delivered a bunch of Narthani and Eywellese prisoners to him to question. We hated having to keep those fuckers alive and thought we’d just get them to Abersford, where Yozef lived at the time, and then head back to our homes. He made us stay another couple of days to guard and look after the prisoners.

  “However, if you haven’t noticed it already, hanging around Yozef Kolsko can lead where you’d never expect. Although I’m not happy about being a battalion commander, who would have thought that the son of a Preddi rancher living far from major towns would end up a dragoon major and a close associate of a Septarsh who’s also a member of the War Council?

  “And I’m not the only one who wonders about how his life changed, due to the man. It’s not like he intends to change your future, it’s just something that happens. Almost like the wake of a large ship that pulls along anything it passes close to.”

  ***

  Ethlore snorted as he remembered Balwis’s words. At least, he had been given the latitude to pick his men. Some he knew personally, others by recommendation or reputation. None would have fit into the orderly organization Kolsko fostered on clan forces, but all the men were ones he would want by his side in a desperate fight. He only regretted that Balwis, Carnigan Puvey, and Wyfor Kales were not here, too. Well, perhaps not Carnigan. As formidable a force as the big man was, his size precluded the skulking the platoon had been doing.

  The object of their current skulk rolled five hundred yards away, coming from Preddi Province and traveling toward Morthmin in Eywell Province. A tarp covered each of the ten wagon beds, presumably protecting food for the Narthani army that had passed by two days previously. Ten wagons, two drivers per wagon, and twenty cavalry guards.

  “Forty of them,” observed Vandyl Purmerl , who served as Ethlore’s second-in-command, had the platoon bothered with such ranks or distinctions. “The men in the wagons are nothing. We can take care of them at leisure. First, we’ll have to deal with the cavalry.”

  Kolsko had lectured Ethlore and twenty other leaders of platoons forming an early warning arc between the Narthani and the clans. “Remember, if you end up along the Narthani army’s path, it’s not how many supply wagons you burn in any one engagement, but how many you burn over time, until you get other orders. We’re also trusting you not to get yourselves and your men killed too soon. If you do insist on dying, at least have the intelligence and honor to first do as much damage as possible to the Narthani. That can’t happen if you get your asses killed the first time or even the tenth time. You’re to put it off as long as possible.”

  Ethlore kept Kolsko’s words in mind, as he whispered to the man lying beside him in the bushes on a hilltop flanking the Preddi/Morthmin road.

  “We’ll do it as we planned. They’ll pass through that dense patch of forest in another three miles. The rest of our men are waiting there for us. We’ll ride ahead and get everyone into position.”

  Thirty minutes later, the Narthani reached the forward point of the kill box, a term introduced by the Fuomi officer Reimo Kivalian. He had led a month-long cram of basic tactics useful for the fledgling clan forces. The first such session included Balwis, who, like many other attendees, gave similar abbreviated sessions to more men, including Ethlore.

  At the ambush site, Purmerl commanded the forward twenty men. As soon as the lead Narthani’s horse stepped across a line of four pebbles on the road, Purmerl fired his first musket at it. The man next to Purmerl shot the adjacent horse. The two downed horses blocked the road. Nineteen more men fired at the forward Narthani cavalry and the two men on the first wagon. Purmerl and the man beside him immediately picked up their second muskets. They finished one riders who had miraculously escaped the first salvo. Then they fired on the other drivers trying to control their panicking horses or those attempting to flee after leaping off their wagons.

  Ethlore and the rest of the platoon opened fire on the ten Narthani riders to the convoy’s rear. One of the riders escaped, wounded, but Ethlore thought of the admonition to remember their mission. It wasn’t to kill Narthani; it was to slow supplies. More wagons and Narthani cavalry were only a few miles away and must have heard the shots. In the next ten minutes, the platoon finished off the wounded Narthani and horses, cut loose and drove away any horses still alive, then set all the wagons on fire.

  “That’s it, Vandyl,” said Ethlore. “Let’s get our asses out of here and a few miles off the road. Assuming they don’t chase after us, we’ll move and wait a couple of days before we look for another convoy to hit. It won’t be as easy as this first time. They’re bound to start bunching up, with more wagons in a train and many more guards.”

  Narthani Invasion Force, Eywell Province

  Marshal Dursun Gullar’s headquarters carriage could hold a command staff meeting of up to ten men, albeit crowded, but he used it mainly for his own work or smaller meetings. Larger meetings he preferred to hold either outdoors or in a local building appropriated for the purpose. Tonight, he ate evening meal with his staff and leaders of one of the 29th Corps’s regiments, so that those officers would see the corps commander as one of them, instead of as a remote authority.

  “It’s not like we didn’t expect attacks on our supply line,” said Gullar, on hearing the unwelcome news.

  “Yes, but this close to Preddi surprised me,” said Brigadier Balkto, the corps operations chief. “We thought it would start farther toward the center of the island, perhaps not until we crossed into Moreland Province.”

  “Still,” said General Kamil Avan, Gullar’s second-in-command, “it was only the one attack, and the perpetrators disappeared quickly into the surrounding forests. The man who escaped wasn’t sure, but the accounts suggest no more than fifty islanders, maybe fewer. The supply wagons and escorts walked right into an ambush, where more caution might have saved them.”

  “Possibly,” said Gullar, “but we all know you can’t be on maximum alert every second. If the officer in charge had sent men to check every time they reached a confined space, it would have slowed them so much the officer would have come under criticism from higher ranks. We know how that can work—push subordinates until something goes wrong, and then it’s the subordinate’s fault. I think we need to focus on how we adjust.”

  “The obvious action is to stop sending small convoys,” said Avan. “Instead of ten wagons and twenty escorts, I suggest we make them a minimum of thirty wagons and a hundred escorts.”

  “Hmmm . . . ,” murmured Gullar. “Balkto, still no sign of large islander forces?”

  “No, Marshal. Our scouting parties and the two cavalry battalions have swept out thirty miles along the road to Hanslow. They haven’t encountered more than twenty or thirty islander riders, who immediately ride off. As ordered, the battalions don’t send pursuers, in case of ambush. Although they can’t prevent small groups of enemy from operating in the area, we would have seen signs of larger forces.”

  “All right, let’s increase the convoy size, as Kamil suggests. But let’s make it a hundred and fifty escorts,
with orders that riders scour the path ahead of the wagons for ambushes. If the attacks continue but don’t increase in intensity, it’ll only be annoying pinpricks, and it shouldn’t slow us down. I see no reason to change our plans. We intend to set up a supply base en route, depending on clan resistance. Morthmin was the first possible site, then Hanslow and Moreland City, if things go well. We’ll leave the Morthmin vicinity tomorrow, and I believe we can hold off on the supply base and use Hanslow in northern Eywell. Once we arrive, we’ll evaluate whether to establish the supply base there or wait until Moreland City.”

  General Okan Akuyun’s Office, Narthani Headquarters, Preddi City

  “Another supply convoy left at first light, Okan,” said Brigadier Aivacs Zulfa, Akuyun’s second-in-command and direct commander of the troops part of the original Caedellium mission. “This one is twenty-six wagons and a hundred and sixty escorts. They shouldn’t have trouble getting through at least to Morthmin.”

  Akuyun ran a hand over his short-cropped hair. “Gullar has probably decided to bypass Morthmin and advance to Hanslow to set up a supply point, Aivacs. I’ve assumed it should be Hanslow since Morthmin’s too close to Preddi for the location to be all that much of an advantage.”

  “Gullar’s encampment here in Preddi City feels different now that he’s moved fifty-two thousand men into the island’s interior,” said Zulfa. “Before, it was a raucous place with sixty-eight thousand men. At times now, it seems on the way to being deserted.”

  “It will be more so once General Istranik heads to Keelan Province,” said Akuyun.