by Candy Rae
Jim watched the second retreat and nodded. There had been no major breaches in the lines and only four reserve Lindars had been thrown into the battle. His tactic of standing firm on top of the hill appeared to be working.
“When do you think the Larg will attack again?” he asked of Larya. “Check with Afanasei, Mariya and the others. I know Aoalvaldr has committed less than half the forces available to him.”
The reply came.
“Regroup. This is usual. Do not drop guard.”
Jim scanned the battlefield where hundreds of bodies lay. The arrow storms had stopped swathes of attackers further down the hill. He could see many a wounded Larg dragging himself downhill. He felt sick.
Larya was quick to put a stop to this kind of thinking. It was extremely unhealthy from her point of view to feel any sympathy for their foes.
: Do not feel sorry for Larg. Larg will kill and eat you if given the chance :
He looked at her wryly and took a deep breath as he answered. “You are right as usual.” His stomach however, took a while to settle down.
The Larg were reforming at the streambed, a few lengths outside the range of arrow shot. They had learned to fear these wicked and sharp wooden slivers. Arthur Knott’s contraps were well on their way to becoming indispensable on the battlefield. Jim ordered the Lindars protecting them to be on their guard. The Larg must not be allowed to take them out. As there was no sign of another Larg charge beginning in the immediate future Jim ordered the quartermasters to send up both food and water. He was sure that the battle still had a long way to go.
Then Kolyei began to send to Larya an increasing number of reports of movement of the as yet uncommitted kohorts. Some Larg who had been fighting in the centre were also moving south, their places being taken by reserves. The import of this was clear to Jim. Aoalvaldr intended to attack his right wing. If he won there, his kohorts would sweep behind the rest of the allied army and attack it from the rear. That he was also deploying fresh troops to the centre probably meant that he would attack there at the same time. Jim had to decide in a hurry which one would be his opponent’s main attack and which one the feint. It was a split-second decision. If he opted for the wrong one it could be fatal for them all.
He turned to Larya.
“Right,” he said aloud, “tell Kolyei to order three reserve Lindars from the centre to move right. He’ll know which ones. They are to sit in the woods with the right wing reserves and emerge to fight the Larg in any way they see fit.”
“I agree,” she said, “so do Elda and Afanasei.”
Their approval made Jim feel much better.
“The left reserve Lindars are to spread themselves out behind our centre and right wings.”
Larya passed this on. Jim heard noises in the woods behind him as the reserves threaded their way through the trees to reach their new positions.
Below, Jim could see Louis telling Robert about the new troop deployments. The man looked up at Jim and sent him a short wave of acknowledgement.
The allies watched as the enemy force repositioned.
Jim waited. He took a moment to look towards the haze of smoke that was the settlement. He knew from Matvei and Kath that the colonists were in trouble with a capital T but he could not send any help: he had no troops to spare.
* * * * *