CWE Book II Part 14

X1V

Prime Leader Romus

The men looked good in their training and I am happy at the progress made here. But I need men who can win battles. So I looked at Ream; ‘can you win battle?’ I got was a nod of his head; a mute which normally means only knows two words, yes and no. Today his nod is not an acknowledge but a bow to said ‘I don’t know’. That is the third word he know.

I liked Ream as not only is he silent at all times, but he tells the truth from his heart. That makes him a good leader and soldier. ‘We will win them soon. Your men showed me good moves and new tactics. I like that. We will fight soon with your men. Fear not losing, for the next option is to win.’

I got my message from Lord Camlash. Its a tempting offer, but I am not keen on it. So was the one which I got from Conal. They both need my favor, but I am not giving any for now.

‘Get the men more ready; send in more to be trained. We will change the mode of battle.’

Ex-Prime Leader Raihan death was sad, but we were told it was done by the Army lancers. One of them managed to pierce his lance into old man and he died as a result. The Praetorian Guards who escorted him told this information. I have asked Lord Conal for his reply and he ignored me now I ignore his. But the death of a Prime Leader cannot be ignored. Since then, his position as Prime Leader for the Punishment Division remains vacant. I called for a meeting with the rest of the Prime Leader to discuss this soon, to discuss this.

Lord Conal

Its been nearly a season over and I have no reply. I cannot wait for the old fools reply. And none of the other Lords have replied to my messages too. Are we living in the world where cowards are living as Lords. But I will forgive them when they come to see me when I am victorious. Even Lord Giantus will praise me for my strategy.

I have with me now first column of sixty thousand of my army, forty thousands marchmen, ten thousand archers and five thousand lancers, plus a new division called the specialist of five thousand men. I learned all the battles with the Outsiders. I will not be tempted to fight on your ground. You will fight in mine. I have send another column of thirty five thousand to the west of the empire. They been away for over three moons now with my special advisers that I secured from the west, who with the amount of gold can bring me another ten thousand of their warriors.

I depleted the treasury and starve my.people, but these are the sacrifices I must make to secure the needed victory. I got my messages and I send out the order to march; the biggest army ever seen yet.

Braven

He is mad to fight this war with no regards for his people. This is a madman and I must stopped him. I prayed for the Gods help in holding back the other Lords’ and also the Praetorian. And my answer was given; they will not join in his madness as also seen by them. This is war between the Outsiders and Lord Conal army. The spies and scouts told me of the second column in the west; they are traveling the rivers to the mouth to reach the sea and thus coming on the settlements including the Main Settlement. The enemies also includes some western land mercenaries which joined them from the west, and they brought their own fighting methods.

Lord Conal was very clever to conceal his intentions and armies over the last few moons. He send overtures of peace to me a few times which I have rejected. He build his army by using different outpost as training and those he trained he moved them south and west away from my spies. As we did not see the need to send so far down of his land, the buildup was intense there, and young men was forced to serve the army. And all this time, he was also sending threats of war with Granus to get involved with his sister, but the sensible Lord Giantus just ignored his rantings. Lord Giantus even locked away Granus in the chambers to avoid him crating any more embarrassment.

I have with me thirty thousand men; twenty thousand marchmen, five thousand lancers, and five thousand archers. I also have ten thousand more coming from the east to help me, mostly marchmen. I send ten thousand with General Damai back to our land, where another twenty thousand are in the rear already, but they need leaders. And he needs to protect my son, Darius.

If there was ever a time, I needed the help of Gods, this was it.

Damai

I rode on ahead while the men were frantically running on my horse heels. Everyone of them rushed back not to saved their own family but also of their friends who fights at the border with Braven. I prayed hard too as I rode, with the words that none of my family are harmed en-route with me. They traveled with the wives and children of the men who came to the border to stay, Now they are traveling back to the settlement on order of Braven. The column of ladies and children are slower so I assigned a thousand men to protect them. Those are the most I can spare to take care of the five over thousands innocent lives.

I been getting messages from my scouts on the progress of the western column. They are almost half way there, as I am, but a third of them travel swift by the boats provided by the westerns land river settlements. Their men will be full rested while mine is tired by then. I need to move fast to counter their progress. The twenty thousand men we planned at the rear should be grouping up soon at the settlement. They are spread out in the land as peace was there, but they should be about five thousand of them in the main settlement. They have their officers but they have no leaders to lead them in a war, except the old men in the council.

Darius

It was chaos here in the settlement when the news of the invading armies are arriving soon. The men starts to prepare themselves but they are not organized as a whole. I went up to see the elders but the council is in progress. They themselves are experienced in fighting battles with the Frontier Army but never a full invading army of this size. Someone has to lead them, and I know who is that person. I took up the hunting horn by the side of the Hall entrance, and blew on it. It stopped the chaos and they all came forward to the Hall. I soon find Lydia at my side with her full amour and sword. Even the elders came out to see the commotion and was asked by me to sit at the side.

Lord Conal

The hares’ runs for the forest, but I have more than one hound to catch them. I got words of the progress of my western column and also my main column. I will ride now to join the main column to lead them to victory. But there is one column which I held back in reserve; ten thousand lancers to be released now. Their objective is the slower column of Damai’s army; the wives and children guarded by one thousand men.

If one needs to kill the fruits, you must find the tree and to uproot it. Then the tree will die by itself.

Braven

I must catch them before they can group under their Lord. I send an advanced column of five thousand marchmen; three thousand lancers and two thousand archers to reinforce the five thousand marchmen who are grouping at the rendezvous point; the Great Plains. We hold the eastern hill again and they are under a good man; General Servius, previously of the Lord Giantus, who defected some time ago.

I moved my men to set up the second defence line at this place called the ‘Widow’s Lover’ as many war was fought in this great stretch with a river that runs from north to south. Its a flat land with no cover and wars fought here are bitter, which is why they called it name, as many widows are created here. But there is a small farm in the middle of the battlefield which is long abandoned. But the place is well planted with flowers by travelers and passerby, as a sign of respect for the dead. During this wet season, now surrounding garden will be blooming with flowers of all kind.

Soon I got my news on the Great Plains.

General Servius

I arrived with the reinforcement just in time to meet the enemies massing up at the opposite hills. The order was given to form the attacking line, with the marchmen in the middle and the lancers on both sides, while the archers take their place behind the marchmen. My scouts tell me that only twenty thousand marchmen arrived,and their supply wagons. But there was also reports of the ‘specialist army’. I asked of these specialist, the reply I got was they did not get to see them near. But they looked like lancers as they ride horses, but their horsed are all covered with scales of metal wrapped over their back. I seen these before; they are called ‘heavy riders’ or ‘armored men’. The men that mount them are also clad in these scales or mails of heavy tunic to protect them from arrows and pikes. Its the design of the amour that will defect these thrusts unless it direct and very forceful. The riders will also wear head protection made from metal and protect them well. Despite the heavy amour, these specialist fight well on foot too, as they were trained long with it.

I sounded the withdrawal for my men as Braven need to be advised and this is not the battle to fight without strategy. But I was fooled by the enemy, as they had their lancers and marchmen on our flank and are approaching us. With no options, I ordered the way forward to fight but I send a detachment off to warn the Leader. I consulted the officers and decided that the only way to fight was to draw the ‘specialist’ into our trap of squares, while the lancers take on the archers. And our archers on their marchmen. I know its a badly planned strategy , but I need to buy time for Braven to form the second line.

They came, the specialist in the fore. And as foreseen, they looked like a wall of steel armed with long spikes. My marchmen was to take the blunt but was soon organized into squares. As the specialist take them on, the other marchmen of the enemies has arrived to meet mine. So it was open to close combat which I knew I would lose for sure. My lancers tried to ride down the archers, but was met by the enemies own lancers, which was in hiding behind the hills. So another battle was drawn to the enemies, and I signaled the withdrawal of my archers. They retreated but we lost a number of them to the flank attack. I was caught in an ambush by some lancers and decided to surrender to fight another day. But the lance was thrusted in my back ended my career to continue.

Braven

I lost eight thousand men that fight, with one good general who died but he gave me time and information. The surviving; mostly archers was absorb into my units. I have with me twenty five thousand men including the ten thousand who just joined me ; two thousand lancers, and about four thousand archers. I have against me is column of sixty thousand; forty thousands marchmen, ten thousand archers and five thousand lancers, plus specialist of five thousand men. Maybe the place is right to be called Widow’s Lover, as they will be more to joined in soon. Some officers asked me if we can prepare the ‘heavy lancers’, but I told him the supply wagons went back with the third column of ladies and children. We can only pray for miracles as I see the vast army across the field.

Maybe the Gods are with me. It started to rain with heavy pelts on the fields. Soon  many of my men was removing their armors to shed their wet tunics, as it was laden with water on it. The naked men soon find themselves more easier to move, and even some danced in the rain. Soon I got my answer, and I asked the men to remove their wet clothes and heavy armors. Then we marched out, naked men with only our swords or pikes and shields. I moved the lancers to the harder grounds and got them to stay there for their horses may not get wet clogged in. I got the archers to follow in the rear but we modified the arrows. As my men marched forward I got them to stomped their feet hard on the ground.

The enemies did march forward too, as expected the specialist came fore first, followed by the marchmen and then the archers. The lancers took the rear as unexpected. Soon we find the distance getting nearer and the enemies archers releasing their arrows. My naked men covered their bodies with the shields over their head. Without a reason, on my signal, the naked men started running back in withdrawal. This prompted the enemies to give chase with the specialist ever willing to be the main force.

They came forth like the wall of steel, and like steel; the weight of their amour pulled them down into the soggy mud. So were the heavy and wet marchmen, whose numbers are large that they cannot see the front who has stopped due to the mud, but assumed it was the enemies holding the advance. They fought to push ahead, and officers was running helter skelter to issue orders in the heavy torrent rain. My archers lent their weight in by shooting strands of cloth tore into strips tied by the ends. The strands of clothes line was dipped in the paste form the bark of the dark tree; when touched by the unprotected skin burns into the flesh and its very painful. I was shown this by the men when they marched here so I asked  them to collect the juice as it may be used to torture prisoners for information. But they were over zealous to collect more than they need to exert revenge on those who chased them away from their new homes.

The antidote to the poison are the leaves of the tree itself which offers a soothing touch on the wound. When the long strands of cloth burden by the wet rain falls onto the enemies, they tried to removed it with their hands and that cause them to howl in pain. Some of the soon realized the problem, but there are too many of these these strands around and over them. Some tried to cut the strands of cloth with their swords, but its sharpness is not designed for this. It soon a became a nuisance to march as more of the back starts to pushed forth causing more chaos among the marchmen.

Meanwhile my lancers without their heavy amours charged the enemies archers at the rear. As they were skirting the main battlefield area, their horses were not stuck in the mud.

Meanwhile the specialist finds themselves attacked by naked men as they ride on their heavy cladded horses. When they do dismount to fight, they find themselves sunk into the mud and was not able to move fast or at all. The marchmen came at them with their long pikes and soon their thrust will find the exposed gaps to penetrate the flesh. Some of the men actually jumped onto the armored man, and fought with knives.

We fought them until the call for withdrawal was given. My men retreated back to our lines and we count our survivors. I lost two third of my marchmen, half my lancers and one third of my archers. I see on the battlefield are all sort of wounded and dead men and even horses..

Lord Conal

Damn this war and the Gods. Why they pour their grievances on this field when I am about to wage battle on it.

I lost over almost half my men, and all my specialist are gone. Twenty five thousand men gone in a battle the size of a medium farmland. I want to attack again, but the generals said no; the men need to rest. Its crazy that the generals actually denied me of my victory. I would had executed them there if not for the men they command. I was told they will fight tomorrow when the rain stopped.

I stood there at entrance of the tent holding to the flap of my tent. Cursed you, Braven. We shall meet again tomorrow.

Damai

I reached the settlement in time but to see that Lydia was in charge of the defence line. She has got five thousand men in the hills to take on any advance detachment or scouts. Two thousand others are building trenches and deep ditches to slow advancing lancers. The others are building the perimeter and reinforcing old ones. But I counted ten thousand of them including the ones on the hills.

‘Where are the rest? I thought we had fifteen or twenty thousand here.’

‘Some are arriving soon, but two thousand men has sailed down towards the river, in the war boats, and another thousand is with Darius meeting them at the edge of the Black range. The Black range is the main range that separates the Outsiders land from the western lands. The only way to clear the range given the numbers here, was to cross it at the end of the range as its called the ‘edge’. Those are thick forest areas due to the fertile land and abundant water. But its also dangerous grounds for any ambush.

‘Who leads the boatmen?’ I asked of Lydia.

‘Its Daniel, the yellow beard man who teaches us how to sail the big sea.’ I know Daniel and he is a good seamen. And leader too, for those who lived by the boats.

‘Daniel taken the long pikes with him. He will lead them well, like you did before.’ The long pikes was our weapon designed when we fought the Yellow Beards. So we now used that to fight off invading boatmen besides the usual swords. ‘And I have armed the women. They will fight with their men against the invaders.’

I turned to see a large number of women with long pikes and swords going about the settlement. I think we can win this fight here. I wondered how are the wives and children.