Yozef nodded, outwardly accepting the Farkesh hetman’s reprimand, but he silently continued to chastise himself because he hadn’t account for all possibilities, even though he knew that was impossible.
Gullar’s force had destroyed semaphore stations as the Narthani pushed into Caedellium. However, lines from Moreland City to the northwest into Stent Province and southeast into Keelan Province were functional twenty to thirty miles off Gullar’s line of march. Swavebroke had sent riders to the first functioning station on both semaphore routes with the alert of a new Narthani force following Gullar. After being relayed through several provinces and numerous semaphore stations, the two identical messages had reached Orosz City within minutes of each other.
“More details should start arriving via riders tomorrow,” said Yozef, “but this possibility was one of our contingencies. The main question now is their objectives. Are they only moving to Hanslow, where the Narthani already set up a supply base, or will this new force try to move farther inland, perhaps even link up the two forces?”
“Another question is whether the two Narthani groups know what the other is doing and their intentions,” stated Culich. “The timing of the Narthani invading Keelan closely follows their navy’s attempt to force the Normot Cut and get into Normot Bay. A reasonable conclusion is this new force in Moreland is the same one that attacked Keelan. They could have gotten word their navy couldn’t deliver supplies to Adris City and are now trying to resupply, or even reinforce the main army.”
“The last thing we want is for this new force to come up behind our blocking fortifications at Orosz City while we’re engaged with those trying to get back to Preddi,” said Denes Vegga, commander of the Orosz City islander troops and defenses. “It’ll be hard enough stopping their army’s retreat when they get to Orosz City without having to deal with being attacked from the west.”
“There’s nothing we can do to help Swavebroke,” said Yozef. “All our other troops are needed here. It falls to him. Harmon already had orders to stop all supplies and be prepared to stop reinforcements. We’ll have to confirm that his men must prevent this new Narthani force from reaching Orosz City.”
“Is that reasonable?” asked Bakalacs. “They’re the least trained regiments and only have 6-pounder cannon. The Narthani infantry will almost certainly have 12-pounders, and from everything we’ve experienced and what you tell us, Swavebroke can’t fight straight-up battles against Narthani infantry formations.”
“Not on open terrain,” agreed Denes.
“Right,” said Yozef. “Harmon will need to pick places to help negate Narthani experience and discipline. He’s also got better mobility. However, we need to tell Harmon his first objective is to make the roads as unusable as possible. Then, if necessary, he must be prepared for major engagements. If it comes to that, he needs to ready his men to delay this new force at all costs .”
Swavebroke Gathers Regiments
Balwis Preddi reined in his lathered horse twenty yards from the farmhouse Harmon Swavebroke was using as a temporary command post. He handed the reins to a waiting man without comment and staggered momentarily after making his first contact with the ground in four hours. His bladder pleaded for release, but not badly enough that he couldn’t hold it.
He slapped dust from his clothing before entering to find Swavebroke and the other three regimental commanders hovering over a map.
“Good,” said Swavebroke on seeing Balwis, “we’re all here now. Balwis, I’ve already briefed the others, but we’ve gotten orders to do everything possible to delay this new Narthani force from getting to Orosz City.”
“How firm is the ‘everything possible’?” asked Balwis. “It could be interpreted many ways.”
“The orders explicitly said to slow them down, and, if necessary, do everything possible to stop them from getting to Orosz City. I interpret it to mean that if we can’t keep them from getting to Orosz City before what happens there is over, then they are to get there only over our dead bodies.”
Balwis nodded, not surprised at Swavebroke’s statement. Like the other three colonels, he accepted what might be necessary.
“Of course, we hope it doesn’t come to that, so we’ll do as much damage as we can to the most direct routes. I don’t think we’ll be organized enough to keep them from Moreland City, but we can at least slow them down.”
“What about the Selfcellese?” asked the colonel of a mixed regiment. “You previously said they might join us.”
“I’ve semaphored an encoded message to Roblyn Langor, their hetman. Fortunately, he’s still in semaphore contact, using the new line running to Stent Province. It’s unclear how much he feels he falls under the War Council’s orders, so I’ve ‘asked’ him to move as many men as he can in the direction of Moreland City.”
“How good an idea is it to merge them with us?” asked Balwis. “As little maneuver training as we’ve had, they’ve had none. It could just cause confusion to operate in conjunction with them.”
“If it comes to a ‘stand and fight to the last man’ situation, it won’t make that much difference,” said Swavebroke. “Before that happens, I envision asking the Selfcellese to stay on the Narthani northern flank and rear to get their attention. That way, they can’t completely concentrate on us.”
For the next four hours, Swavebroke and the four regiment commanders discussed and argued their best options, stopping only twice: once for Balwis and anyone else needing to pee, and once for a meal. Balwis’s regiment was the closest to the new Narthani force and would step up harassing attacks without engaging in a serious battle. The other three regiments would gather near Moreland City and begin preparations for inhibiting use of the major road and useable alternatives between Moreland City and Orosz City.
“The men will finally appreciate why they brought shovels, axes, and posthole diggers,” said the Stent commander.
Swavebroke’s units needed to use the roads themselves on the way to Orosz City, meaning they would only implement blockages as they withdrew. Wherever trees would be felled to form an abatis, the troops would make cuts in the trunks shallow enough to leave the trees standing, but deep enough that they could complete the finishing cut quickly. Similarly, they would prepare bridges for burning or explosive charges; dig holes into narrow sections of roads to collapse them into gullies or adjacent water; drill holes into slopes and pack charges inside, ready for detonation, to bring overhanging rock and dirt onto the road; and, as time allowed, begin digging defensive positions at a few locations, in case they needed to make a stand.
Istranik at Hanslow
Dursun Istranik surveyed his senior staff, not hiding his concern about the situation or the orders he was about to give.
“That’s it, then. Riders got to us an hour ago from Preddi City. The bad news is that Marshal Gullar is on short rations and is on his way back to Preddi by the same route he took in crossing this damn island. The good news is that our decision to abort the Keelan campaign, return to Preddi City, and then start toward Hanslow with supplies for Gullar has turned out to be the right decision and got us moving many days earlier than otherwise.”
After Istranik’s last words, an infantry commander cleared his throat to get attention. “How is it that all four riders sent got through to us? The islanders have stopped all individual riders and small groups the last sixday. Now, suddenly four out of four made it without seeing any islanders. Makes my back itch.”
“As it does mine, Colonel. It could be sheer luck, but a worrisome possibility is that the islanders have pulled back and are up to something unpleasant that we may only discover the deeper we get into the island.
“The marshal’s orders specified getting to at least here at Hanslow and preferably Moreland City, leaving it to my discretion how far to move toward Orosz City. Tomorrow at first light, we’ll leave Hanslow and push hard to Moreland City. Once there, I’ll make further evaluations about what’s possible.
“I’ve also order
ed the garrison Gullar left at Hanslow to join us. We’ve brought with us enough supplies for Gullar and ourselves to get back to Preddi, and if the islanders try to stop us, we can use every man. I’ve also sent riders back to Preddi City notifying Akuyun of my decisions and stopping all further attempts to send supplies to Hanslow.
“Gentlemen, you have your orders. I expect the lead infantry regiment’s feet to hit the road a mile north of here tomorrow morning at first light. I want our positions as before, with the Hanslow garrison following the last wagons we brought with us.”
Increased Harassing Attacks
Balwis snarled at Swavebroke. “Damnation! I’d have thought what we did to the road through those four miles of forest would have slowed them for two days, maybe even three. As we pulled back, we burned three bridges over that stream that meanders alongside the road, must have felled a thousand trees onto the roadbed, cratered a dozen places where we dropped the roadbed into the stream, and twice dropped big sections of a cliff onto the road. Here it is almost dark, and they’ve nearly gotten through all of it.”
“I think we all judged what it would take by comparing it to what we thought we could do, not what a professional army with what Yozef calls engineers could do,” said Swavebroke. “I’ll also confess I thought we could harass them more than we’ve been able. The forest canceled our mobility advantage, and we’re too inexperienced to match the discipline of their infantry. They easily pushed us far enough away to let thousands of their men work on the road.
“Our inexperience also showed when we tried to attack their wagon train, thinking to force them to use more men for protection and not road clearing. The Hewell battalion in Nycroft’s regiment suffered two-thirds casualties when the Narthani outflanked them. We’re lucky so many escaped. We just aren’t good enough at communicating and keeping units intact in terrain where they aren’t all within line of sight.”
“It would have made all the difference if we’d had a few of the land mines Yozef described,” said Balwis. “That would have slowed them down. They’d take four or five times as long to clear the road after watching a few of their men get blown to pieces.”
Swavebroke shook his head. “We have to accept that all the mines are needed at Orosz City. The mines might be useful here, but we know they’re needed at Orosz City, especially since I heard they won’t have enough for the entire fortification line.
“As for now, Balwis,” said Swavebroke, “we must deal with what is, not what we want it to be. Your men are exhausted. Pull them back to the village of Nystil and get some sleep. Another regiment will take over slowing the Narthani down tomorrow morning. It’s open ground the next ten miles, with several side roads, and then closes in again to a single road through another patch of forest. The other two regiments are preparing a defensive line at the edge of the woods. The Narthani will have to come at us over open land. We’ll try to hold them there for at least a day.”
“What about the Selfcellese?” asked Balwis. “Aren’t they supposed to be coming?”
“Word from Roblyn Langor is he’ll make contact with us late tomorrow or the next morning with two thousand men. I don’t want them mixing with the other regiments. It’d likely be too chaotic. It’s bad enough with the regiments who’ve trained and been together. His men will essentially be a large, unorganized mob. However, bodies are bodies, so I’ll have him operate independently and harass the Narthani northern flank as much as he can.”
Stand and Fight
Swavebroke, accompanied by the four dragoon regiment commanders, made a final inspection of the mile-and-a-half dirt-and-log emplacements within the edge of the forest that the road to Moreland City passed through. Two regiments manned the positions, with the other two regiments in reserve, including Balwis’s men, who had kept in active contact with the Narthani column. Following standard dragoon protocol, one man held four horses three hundred yards to the rear. That left three thousand men facing the Narthani, whose lead elements were only two miles away. Having men from reserve units hold the horses was considered but discounted, for fear of confusion if a speedy retreat became necessary.
At the northern end of the line, they paused while Swavebroke gave his final words.
“Okay, get to your units. The Narthani will be within sight in another fifteen to twenty minutes. Then they’ll have to deploy, which will take upwards of an hour or more before they try anything. If they send infantry directly at us, they’ll be crossing a mile of open ground. If they try to flank us, we’ll see them move, and the reserve regiments will slow them. In that case, we might have to withdraw because once they get within the forest, we’ll be at a disadvantage with having to manage the horses and keep organized. Whatever they do, it will still cost them at least a whole day before they can advance farther toward Moreland City.”
“Hell of a lot of work by the men for a one-day delay,” groused Colonel Nycroft.
“It is what it is,” said Swavebroke. “The flanking terrain is rough, so maybe they’ll sit as they decide what to do, and then just come straight at us. We might buy two days, in that case. If they do attack directly at us, as soon as it looks like we can’t stop them, we’ll withdraw to the horses and get out of these woods. I don’t want us fighting within the trees, where they’ll have the advantage.”
Three hours later, to Swavebroke’s distress, they knew the answers. The Narthani had deployed an estimated forty 12-pounders in one massive battery and had been hitting the center of the clan’s line for the last hour.
“They’re pounding us to pieces!” yelled an aide, loud enough to be heard over the clans’ cannon and the shouts and screams of men. “We must have close to five hundred casualties. If we keep bringing in men to replace those dead and wounded, it just feeds them into a meat-chopping block!”
“We’re in an impossible situation,” said Swavebroke. “We thought we’d make them attack us over open ground, but for the same reasons, we don’t dare try to do the same. They’d slaughter our men if we attacked. Their 12-pounders are overpowering our 6-pounders. Not that ours were doing all that much good.
“As bad as the artillery exchange is, it never occurred to me what would happen when 12-pounder shots hit the trees. We’ve lost as many men from tree fragments and splinters as from cannonballs. I screwed up mightily by picking this position.”
“Don’t bother blaming yourself, Swavebroke,” said Balwis. He had come forward with one of his battalions to reinforce the clans’ fortification center. “Whatever happens will be the first time any of us have seen it. Maybe Yozef and Kivalian might have chosen different, but that’s irrelevant. Unfortunately, we’re learning as we go, and it’s going to cost men’s lives. The battalion I accompanied must already have thirty casualties, and they’ve only been on the line fifteen minutes.”
“All right. Preddi and Nycroft, get back to your men and start withdrawing. I’ll send runners to the other two regiments. It’ll be regimental withdrawals, each moving separately. There’s no way for us to coordinate this as a unified action. All units to regroup twenty miles northeast of Moreland City.”
Istranik at the Moreland City Site
“General, it’s time to decide whether we’re stopping here or continuing toward Orosz City,” said Istranik’s second-in-command. “The cavalry screen reports large numbers of islanders about six miles farther on.”
“About eighty road miles to Orosz City,” mused Istranik, as he studied a map. “Another patch of woods is ten miles northeast of Moreland City, then clear land the rest of the way. I think we have to make the effort. We don’t know Gullar’s position but given when he was supposed to have left Adris City, he should at least be to Orosz City, possibly closer. If we continue, we might even meet him before we reach Orosz City.
“Still . . . it makes me nervous to be out of contact with both Preddi City and Gullar. Too much like walking in the dark and hoping to stumble upon someone you’re looking for.”
“The islanders have shown a hea
lthy respect for our infantry and cannon,” said the second-in-command. “In the one significant fight, they pulled back as soon as they realized we outgunned them.”
“Yes,” Istranik said dubiously, “but we haven’t encountered their main forces. We must assume those are facing Gullar. Despite what we’ve experienced, if they were to concentrate all their forces on us, we’d be in serious trouble. I think we could fight our way back to Preddi City, but we’d have to leave most of the wagons, and we’d take serious losses.”
“What does your intuition say, General?”
“It’s not saying anything, but the hairs on my arms have been standing up the last sixday. The clans are up to something. It has to be related to Gullar, and I think we’re obliged to continue pushing on to make contact and resupply him.”
Battle
“Persistent bastards, aren’t they?” muttered Swavebroke, as he examined the latest reports on the Narthani advance and marked map positions.
“I think it’s time for us to quit farting around,” said Balwis, a sentiment echoed by the other three regiment commanders. “Yes, we’ve slowed them, but it hasn’t been enough. We can’t let them link up with the Narthani coming back to Orosz City.”
“No, we can’t,” said Swavebroke. “I’d hoped we’d slowed them enough without a major battle, but—say what you will about the bastards—they’re disciplined and tough.”
Swavebroke forestalled an angry rejoinder from Balwis by raising a hand. “Remember one of the many cautions from Yozef: ‘Only a fool doesn’t respect his enemy.’ Respecting and admiring are two different things. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to kill them all.”
“We’ll need to pick where we have some advantages,” said Nycroft. “There’s only one patch of forest between here and Orosz City, and it’s less than a half mile wide where the road passes through. What if, instead of setting up at the wood’s forward edge like we did before, we dig in within the woods? Then it’d be men on foot versus men on foot, and the woods would make the cannon disparity less important.”
Tales of Anyar Page 10