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Copyright © 2006 – 2008
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- I am a soldier,
- I fight where I am told,
- and I win where I fight.
-George S. Patton, Jr.
Containment
Two months had gone by since the armies of darkness had been decisively swept from the plains surrounding the city of Caemlann. The city itself was a hive of activity, alive with the sound of saws, hammers, and the loudly shouted comments of the construction and demolition teams who were working to restore the damage caused within the walled city, as well as the buildings in the foulburgh that had been burned by the forces of Farwalker Redbush. The city residents had returned, anxious to get on with rebuilding and replanting those things destroyed by the rapacious orcs and goblins.
The baron and the king had made grants available to speed the rebuilding process, and the baron was taking the opportunity to improve the lives of the residents in the foulburgh by improving and extending the city’s fresh water and sewer systems to every home and business outside the wall of the fortress. Further, work was begun on a new system of fortification to provide an improved defense of the residents of the foulburgh. As a result of the kingdom’s largess, things were rapidly returning to normal, with business and commerce booming throughout the area.
In the chaos following the victory over the forces of the dark at Caemlann, Marshall Hellstrom ordered several teams of the royal wilderness scouts to trail the departing orc and goblin forces to ascertain where the balance of their forces were encamped, and to get an idea of the numbers remaining in the forces of the dark. It had taken the scouts nearly a month to find the location of the dark creatures, scout out their likely numbers, and return with the information. The picture painted with the intelligence they carried back to their commanders in Caemlann was anything but encouraging. It became obvious that Farwalker had committed only a small percentage of the forces that had rallied to his banner to the siege of Caemlann. The scouts reported that, while an exact count was impossible, Redbush clearly still had in excess of a hundred thousand orcs and goblins encamped in and around the caves clustered to the west of Antler Lake to the northeast.
This information led to great consternation in the kingdom’s command staff, as Kronar could barely raise a hundred thousand troops at full muster, and the troops from the surrounding kingdoms were already on their way home. While urgent dispatches were sent to the king on the subject of increasing the size of the army yet again, the leaders in Caemlann quickly agreed on a strategy to harass, harry, and, to the extent possible, contain Farwalker Redbush and his forces to a known area. This strategy was agreed given the tactical advantage a force had when entrenched in a cave system against an attacking force.
Once the strategy was agreed, Kadin and his father used the transfer portal in Caemlann to engage in a rapid bit of diplomatic activity with Kadin’s grandfather, the Alvar King, which resulted in their obtaining for the forces of Kronar permission to stage from, and base out of, the newly reinforced Alvar stronghold in the ruins of the city of Byamae. Given that Baron Kovak had resumed leadership over the barony, Marshalls Hellstrom and Caradog, in consultation with Kadin and his father, decided that the proposed expeditionary force would be dispatched to the northeast, under the command of Captain Evan ab Eloron, who would be promoted to the rank of General, and Kadin’s former right hand, Sergeant Major Tom McIlvain, to begin a strategy of hit and run, using the tactics the orc and goblin forces had used against the kingdom so successfully for the previous two years. Evan’s plan was to coordinate his activities with the Alvar forces in the Greenwood, under the command of Kadin’s brother, Captain Aric of Aradan.
It was a brilliant spring day, with colorful banners fluttering and snapping in the morning breeze, as the city and its residents gave a rousing send off to the kingdom’s forces as they rode out through the heavily fortified walls of the old city and through the foulburgh. The city walls and the high road to Wildon were packed with the residents of the city who loudly cheered the warlike force of thirty thousand scouts, cavalry, combat engineers, and light infantry as they departed in sharp parade ground formations for the area around Byamae. At the head of the formation, Kadin and Alaric rode with their banners, accompanying Evan and his force as far as the path leading to their forest home. At the junction, Kadin and Alaric took their leave of Evan, and reined their mounts to the side of the high road, giving salute to the passing soldiers as they streamed north.
Evan dispatched his scout forces into the surrounding forest as soon as they passed the safe surrounds of Caemlann to keep a sharp eye out for potential ambushes and any groups of dark creatures in the area of his army. Following the high road to Wildon, it took the large force a bit over a week to reach Penrhyn Crossing, where the force turned east onto the disused and overgrown road to Byamae. Given the condition of the road, the force was slowed as its extensive supply train of wagons required the force to clear and repair the road as it went. Still, Evan was pleased when his force reached Byamae in good order two weeks later. There had been a few minor skirmishes with parties of orc and goblin scouts on their route of advance, but nothing of any serious concern to a force of their size.
As the force reached the outskirts of the ruins of Byamae, Evan raised his right hand, giving silent command for the force to halt as he drew rein on his mount while still on the Kronar side of the border. Behind him, thousands of men and horses gradually stopped like a caterpillar, as the signal was relayed along the line of march. Turning to his executive officer, the newly minted general ordered, “Captain Hawes, have the force hold here while we make the acquaintance of the Alvar commander and find out what plans they may have for accommodating our forces.”
Getting a nod in acknowledgement, Evan turned to his Sergeant Major, “Tom, would you accompany me please, and have my standard brought forward? We wouldn’t want to be mistaken for brigands, even though we might look the part after this much time on the road.”
In his customarily economical fashion, Sergeant McIlvain barked out a couple of quick orders while kneeing his mount to his commander’s right, where he hefted Evan’s personal standard up and into his stirrup. Once the standard was in place and Captain Hawes had joined them, he turned to Evan, “Looks to me as if we’re ready, sir.”
Evan nodded his understanding before putting the spurs to his mount, urging it into a trot, and his companions joined him as they rode towards the gatehouse of the citadel on the other side of the border. Evan spotted the reflection of a looking glass from the battlements over the gatehouse and knew that their approach had been noted. As the three soldiers passed a well tended trading post and public house and approached the gatehouse proper, they took note of the colors flying over the city, the banner of the Greenwood, shimmering white silk overlaid with the symbol of the kingdom, the linden tree, shown proper. Below the banner of the kingdom was a banner they were very familiar with as they were the same royal arms Kadin had flown at Caemlann, only this time cadenced with an upward facing crescent moon, indicating the presence of the second in line to the throne of the Greenwood, Kadin’s brother, Aric.
While Evan was observing the banners, the drawbridge began to lower with a loud clanking of chain, followed by a dull boom as the bridge impacted its foundation stone on their side of the moat. Once the bridge was safely down, four Alvar began striding across the bridge towards Evan. Seeing the garrison command team approaching, Evan signaled for his companions to dismount to avoid giving any impression of discourtesy.
Aric strode forward and, after eyeing the banner and glancing at Evan’s rank insignia, saluted the senior officer. Evan quickly returned the courtesy, as he addressed Aric, “I thank your highness for meeting with us.”
Aric smiled as he dropped his salute, “I thought it prudent to see if you were, indeed, the man my brother told me about, your highness. He made no mention, however, of your recent promotion, general. Congratulations are in order it would seem.”
A broad grin spread across Evan’s face in response. “Someone talked my father into it, I don’t doubt. Still, captains seldom command a force of thirty thousand, so I guess it was in order. May I introduce my command team? To my left is my executive officer, Captain Garrett Hawes of Caemlann, and to my right is Sergeant Major Tom McIlvain from Cobham.”
Handshakes were exchanged with each introduction before Aric began his own introductions, “For the benefit of your companions, general, I am Captain Aric of Aradan, prince of the kingdom. To my right is my executive officer and Squire, Lieutenant Riordan of Altheas, to my left are my senior non-commissioned officers, Sergeant Major Numair, and Sergeant Dilynn.”
With the courtesies exchanged, the group walked across the drawbridge into the fortress, where they found refreshments laid out in the command conference room. After everyone had a bite to eat, the group settled around the conference table and a large map of the area laid upon it. Evan opened with, “Captain, might I enquire about your thoughts concerning quartering my forces in the area?”
“Certainly, general. As you’ve no doubt noticed, the border is just beyond the trading post and pub we’ve built on the high road heading south. We’ve discussed it extensively since Kadin advised you were coming, and Sergeant Major Numair has some good ideas. Sergeant Major?”
“Well, sir, the force you’ve brought outnumbers us about thirty to one. Our fortress is nowhere near large enough for a force such as yours. What we’ve discussed, pending your approval, is that you and your command staff, take up quarters here in the citadel, and we track down some combat engineers to take on two major projects.” Sergeant Major Numair indicated his ideas on the map as he explained, “First, we would repair the original curtain wall that once protected the south part of the city, while tying the east and west sides into the fortified walls around the citadel here, thereby enclosing the area needing protection. Secondly, we need another team of engineers to rework some of the ruins within the curtain wall to provide quarters, warehousing, and stables for your force. You wouldn’t believe the winters here, sir. If we move forward on the assumption that your team is going to be here into this winter, which seems logical, then we must provide safe and warm quarters for your men and horses. What do you think, sir?”
Evan studied the detailed map for several moments before replying, “That seems to be the best plan given the situation, sergeant major. I agree we need to plan on the assumption we’ll be here awhile.” Turning to his host, Evan continued, “Aric, do you think it possible we could put the men in this cleared area inside the old walls while we work on more permanent accommodations?”
Aric smiled, “Great minds think alike, sir. That’s exactly what we had discussed. This just leaves the problem of tracking down enough combat engineers. I can probably get Grandfather to bully General Ieuan into getting me a team given the situation, but they’ll not be enough to cover all this work before winter is with us again.”
Evan chuckled a moment before replying, “Aric, please call me Evan. I find it more comfortable if the command team is on a first name basis, would you agree?”
“I do, indeed, Evan. We’ve operated that way here for some time, although it took the good sergeant major a bit of time to get used to the idea, didn’t it Numair?” Aric grinned at his senior NCO slyly.
“Aye, sir, that it did. Still takes a bit of getting used to, it does.”
Seeing the group gelling nicely, Evan advised, “Aric, any additional combat engineers will be appreciated. Still, we knew we’d be facing some construction work, so we brought 1500 combat engineers with us, and we can pull extra manpower from the soldiers as they are available.” Addressing his executive officer, Evan continued, “Garrett, could you head back to the troops and give orders to start making camp? Also, once that’s underway, bring the chief engineer and his staff with you when you come back, would you?”
While they were waiting for Captain Hawes to return, the group examined the map of the region, and began plotting known orc and goblin concentrations, and began preliminary discussion on how best to harass and keep them off balance. A force that is reacting to attacks and is concentrating on defense is a force unable to take the initiative and go onto the offense easily. In very short order, it was decided that some of Aric’s scouts who were familiar with the local terrain and conditions would accompany Evan’s scout forces to begin passing along their hard won local knowledge to the human forces who would now take up the overall burden for defending the area around Byamae.
The chief engineer, a grizzled veteran by name of Tahir Narim, whose wrinkled leathery face spoke volumes of too much time in the sun, and his team entered the conference room accompanying Captain Hawes and were briefed on the overall plan for the garrison’s needs. They agreed the plan to be a good one overall, but advised they would need to examine the affected structures closely to see how best to implement the plan. When asked about what they would need for building materials the chief engineer just laughed and said there was a city full of rubble, and a forest for the timbers. He advised that his engineers had already found a kiln that was once used to make cement, and advised they would have it in operation within a few days, meaning they would have concrete and mortar available within a week.
At this point, Aric chimed in and told the engineers of the sawing yard that had been built by the Alvar engineers the previous year just north of the citadel. The chief engineer thought that over for a minute before pointing out it would be better if the yard was inside the wall, so that any potential besieging force couldn’t use it against the city. With a long list of things to do, the chief engineer left with his staff trailing along behind to get on with his survey’s.
The final bit of business on this first day was to make arrangements for guard postings, and a guard rotation. Orders were written and distributed to the sub unit commanders before the command staff meeting broke up for the day. Evan and his staff were shown to their quarters, and Evan took a few minutes to unpack his things. He had just about finished organizing things when there was a short knock on the doorframe. Turning, he found Sergeant Major McIlvain and Sergeant Major Numair standing outside.
“Excuse me, sir, but Numair offered to show me around the place so I could get a feel for its strong and weak points. Thought you might like to come along, sir.”
“After three weeks in the saddle, Tom, that sounds an excellent idea.” Pulling on his overtunic, he gestured out the door saying, “After you, Sergeant Numair.”
The group picked up Captain Hawes and a couple of sentries as they exited the citadel and began hiking the curtain wall round the south part of the city, carefully examining the inside and outside of the wall, which they found to be amazingly sound, given the decades of neglect. As they neared the south gate on their second pass, along the outside this time, they caught up with the engineers. Evan asked Tahir his opinion of the structure and the work they were being asked to undertake. The grizzled old engineer barked out a laugh and replied, “Well, sir, we have too much to do, and not enough time to do it in. So, basically, nothing new from our perspective. If the weather cooperates, we can finish by fall, but we’re going to need a lot of your troopers to help with this to get done on time.”
“I assumed as much, do you have a rough plan in mind yet?”
“Aye, sir, I do. The priority has to be providing an ability to enclose the encampment first, so that means a whacking great load of demolition and excavation to get the curtain wall extended and built on solid foundations. While that’s going on, we’ve got to build new bridges out of the gate towers to the dock area to the west, and to the great road to the south. We’ve got to restore the winch mechanisms in both gatehouses, and dig out the moat areas and re-flood them, tying them into the moats around the citadel. Once we can secure the environs of the city, then we can get on with building barracks, and restoring the docks so we can be get supplies from the Great Silver Lake. There’s plenty of work to do, sir.”
Evan pondered what he’d heard for a moment before asking, “What about the general condition of the walls? They seem to be pretty sound overall from our inspection.”
“We agree, sir. There’s a few places where the forest has tried to take over, but if you examined these walls, you noticed that the stones are very carefully fitted, and we think that we can simply uncover the wall in most of those areas with little additional work.”
“Very well then, Tarim, how many men will you need starting tomorrow?”
The engineer pondered the question for a moment, before replying, “Well sir, we’re going to need a couple of days to get the plans lined out clearly before the demolition and excavation can begin, and that’s where we’re going to need the majority of the strong backs for the foreseeable future. Still we could detail a few teams to begin clearing the forest from the wall, and pushing the forest back so that we’ve got an open killing field outside the wall. Give me a couple thousand strong men tomorrow and we’ll get started. I suspect we’re going to need upwards of a third of your force once things are running full steam.”
Evan turned to Captain Hawes, “Garrett, we’re going to need to rotate the men in and out of construction duty so they don’t forget how to be soldiers. Work with the staff to give Tarim his two thousand men in the morning. Also, I want the scouts on their way with Captain Aric’s men at first light. See to it please.”
Garrett saluted his commander, responding with a quiet “Yes sir,” before striding off to arrange a staff meeting to work out the upcoming work schedules.
Turning back to the engineer, Evan requested, “Tarim, once you get your plan together, please contact Captain Hawes to get a briefing scheduled. We’re going to need to coordinate very closely if we’re to turn this wreck of a city into a livable stronghold while meeting our other responsibilities.”
Getting an acknowledging nod, Evan began striding back to the citadel, deep in thought. As they reached the drawbridge, Sergeant McIlvain returned their escorts to sentry duty while the general waited, considering all he had heard. When the sergeant major rejoined Evan, the pair turned into the citadel and found their way up to the conference room again. As they entered, Evan asked, “Well, Tom, what do you think given all we’ve seen?”
The sergeant major tapped two mugs of ale, and passed one to his commander before responding. “Well, sir, we’ve got one hell of a lot of work to do, and complaining about it isn’t going to get it done any faster. I reckon we’ll just have to take it a step at a time and allocate the men the best we can.” Tom paused a moment to take a large drink of his ale, wiping his foam moustache on his sleeve before continuing, “I’m thinking we’ve got a week till the scouts return with any useable information, and thirty thousand idle troopers is a bad thing. I recommend we get them busy tomorrow.”
“Tell me, sergeant major, what do you have in mind?”
With an evil glint in his eyes, Sergeant McIlvain replied, “Well sir, I’m thinking of having a little competition starting tomorrow. Let’s break the men into teams, each responsible for clearing an equal sized area of trees and such. The winning teams from each regiment will get a three day pass, with all expenses paid at that pub outside the citadel. It costs us a bit of gold, it’s true, but we get a reputation for fairness, while the men kill themselves getting the clearing done.”
Evan started laughing so hard he nearly spilled his ale. After he calmed down a bit, he looked at Tom before telling him, “Kadin told me you had a knack for getting things done quickly. I now see what he meant. Let me write this up as an order and we can have one of the sentries run it out to Captain Hawes. I think he’s going to be busy tonight.”
A fortnight came and went while the command team awaited information from their scouts, but the time was well spent. Even when accounting for the scouts who were gone and the men on sentry duty at any given time, that still left some 28,000 men who could work on projects at any given time. In the week it took Tarim Narim to put his plans together, the forest had been pushed back two hundred yards from the walls, the trees de-limbed and stacked, and the stumps removed, leaving a pockmarked and uneven terrain unsuited to a mass infantry attack.
Tarim briefed the command staff on his plans and received approval to proceed, and the engineers spun into action. The next day, nearly thirty thousand men, divided into 250 teams of roughly one hundred men, were put to work demolishing buildings, carting rubble, and excavating moats. It was an awesome thing to watch as the ruins of the old city began to resemble an ants’ nest for all the activity underway. The demolition work was nearing completion when the scout teams returned at last, bearing the critical information Evan and his command staff needed to plan out their strategy.
It took the best part of another week for the command staff to put together what they felt to be a workable plan that would maximize the use of the men under their command. The scouts had identified twenty-eight major cavern entrances in regular use by the goblins and orcs comprising the core of Farwalker Redbush’s army, and scores of smaller tunnels that could provide ingress and egress for raiding parties who might want to cause a bit of havoc with the enemy. Captain Hawes asked to lead the first groups into the area, and was accordingly given command over a mixed force of archers and infantry with instructions to hit, fade, and hit again from a different direction. After much back and forth discussion, Garrett won Evan over to his position that initially at least, they should move into the area with a smaller, faster force since the mission was to stage hit and run attacks, not attempt to take the entire cavern system by force.
After an intensive training program in hit and run tactics, Captain Hawes and the three thousand troopers in his team slipped into the forests of the Splitrock Knolls a month after arriving at Byamae, their mission to cause as much havoc and confusion in the ranks of the enemy as possible. The initial attacks the three thousand carried out were fast and ruthless in their intensity. The bodies of the enemy were left for carrion eaters, the heads of any clan chiefs were removed and impaled on the spears of the enemy, facing outward in warning to other dark beings, that vengeance was at hand.
In the constant battle of action and reaction, the initial success of the three thousand drove the forces of darkness underground and into the safety of their caverns, leaving little for Captain Hawes and his men to attack, so they, in turn, changed tactics again. Hawes and his teams would enter the cavern systems from the scores of small tunnels that lead into the deeper caverns the orcs and goblins were infesting. Entering during the day, they would cautiously steal their way to supply dumps at night, raiding the enemies’ supplies for the means of their own destruction. Explosives were stolen and placed at strategic places in the caverns where they caused explosive death to the despised enemy, and trapped others to die in the aftermath of the resulting cave-ins. Water supplies and food were liberally sprinkled with poison, and arrows would rain down on groups of working orcs and goblins at seemingly random times and places.
All in all, the month Captain Hawes was in command of the three thousand proved to be a bad one for the forces of the dark. For the forces of Kronar, he proved to be a creative, dangerous, and decisive leader who established a pattern of original thinking that made it a highly successful month with thousands of the enemy dying to very minor casualties, and no deaths, amongst his men in return. It was a proud and battle hardened force that marched back into the emerging fortress of Byamae six weeks after it had left, standards waving, and heads held high in pride.