by David Weber
“What else can he do?” Harriet demanded hotly.
“He can come out after us,” Sean answered. “He knows as well as we do that it’s our rifles that give us the edge. You think he wouldn’t take his chances on hitting us in the open if the rain knocks them out of the equation?”
Sandy started to snap back, then stopped and bit her lip. She hugged herself and turned her back on Sean for a long, taut moment, then sighed.
“No,” she said finally, her voice low. “That’s exactly what he’ll do if he figures out what’s happening.”
“You got it,” Sean said, equally quietly, and kicked his toe into the mud beside the raised roadbed. “Any way you cut it, we’ve got to carry through with my marvelous plan.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“All right, boys—you heard Lord Sean. Now let’s go kick the bastards’ asses!”
The officers of the First Brigade growled in agreement, and Folmak Folmakson grinned fiercely. He was a long, long way from Cragsend and anxious days waiting for the Church to condemn him for error just for searching for ways to make his mill a bit more efficient, and he was passionately grateful for it. Folmak loved God as much as the next man, but Malagor had been a captive province for twenty generations, and like many Malagorans, he’d harbored a festering resentment against the Inner Circle and their absentee bishops. Father Stomald, now. He was what a priest was supposed to be, and if the rest of the Temple had been like him…
But it wasn’t. Folmak settled into the saddle and checked all four pistols before he tucked them away in his boots and under his captured Guard cloak. The rain was falling harder, as Lord Sean had warned, and he’d ordered his sergeants to check each individual pan to be sure it was securely shut until it was needed. They were still going to have an appalling number of misfires, but he’d done all he could to minimize them.
He put away the last pistol and looked over his shoulder for the signal to advance. Lord Sean stood surrounded by aides, speaking quietly and urgently to Tibold, hands moving in quick, incisive gestures, and Folmak remembered his look of surprise when the men had cheered his orders.
Folmak hadn’t been surprised, but Lord Sean had actually apologized to them, as if it were his fault they couldn’t just stand around and wait till the rain stopped. That sort of concern made the army love Lord Sean, but it knew what it was about. Especially Folmak’s men. His was the First Brigade, already called “the Old Brigade,” composed of men who’d followed Father Stomald from the very beginning. They regarded themselves as the elite of Lord Sean’s army, though the Second and Third Brigades were every bit as old—and, Folmak admitted grudgingly, as good—and they understood what was forcing Lord Sean’s hand. Every man in the column knew they’d taken far longer than expected getting to Erastor, yet they also knew only Lord Sean and the Angel Sandy could have gotten them here at all. And the angels’ message—that men should be free to shape their own lives and their own understanding of God’s will—had ignited a furnace in the Malagorans’ stubborn hearts. If Lord Sean needed them now, they were proud to be here, and if he decided to fix bayonets and charge a hurricane, they’d follow with a cheer.
The regimental pipers formed in the intervals in the brigade’s column, and Lord Sean nodded to his aides. They spurred up and down the entire length of the corps, and Folmak waved to his unit commanders.
“Move out!” he barked, and the Angels’ Army slogged through blowing sheets of rain towards Erastor.
* * *
Sean watched his men move forward and tried to look confident. Every man in Folmak’s brigade had been issued a Guard cloak, and his vanguard looked as much like Terrahk’s relief force as he could make them, but the rest of his men wore Malagoran ponchos. One look at them would tell the dullest picket what they were. The rain wasn’t falling as hard as he’d feared—yet—but it was getting worse, and only First Brigade marched with slung weapons. The rest of his men carried their bayoneted rifles under their arms like hunters to shield the priming with their bodies and ponchos and keep rain from running down the muzzles. It was awkward and it looked like hell, but it was the best he could do to insure their ability to fire.
He and Tibold had reorganized the army into six-hundred-man regiments, three to the brigade, and despite the rain and the slaughter to which he’d led them, each regiment cheered as it passed him. He slapped his streaming breastplate in answering salute, and his emotions were a welter of confusion. Shame for the mistakes which sent them into battle under such a hideous handicap. Pride in how they’d responded. Dread of the butcher’s bill they were going to pay, a sense of awe that they were willing to pay it for him, and a strange, shivering eagerness. He’d seen battle and its aftermath now. He knew how horrible it was, how ugly and vile and brutal, yet part of him was actually eager to begin. Not glad, but … impatient. Anticipating.
He shook his head, angry with himself. He couldn’t think of the word, and he was ashamed of feeling whatever it was, but that didn’t change it. He spurred ahead to overtake Folmak’s brigade, and as he splashed along the road, he wished he could ride away from his own complex feelings as easily.
* * *
Under-Captain Mathan stood under the lean-to and gazed out into the rain. It was barely midafternoon, yet it looked like late evening as charcoal clouds billowed overhead. His dragoons were glad to be spared the lot of the men manning the half-flooded entrenchments facing the heretics, but that didn’t make their own duty pleasant. Like most of the Host, they’d lost all their baggage at Yortown, and they’d had to cobble up whatever they could to replace their Guard-issue tents. Mathan doubted the foraging parties had left an intact roof for miles around Erastor, but the valley’s frequent rains soaked them to the skin anyway, whatever they did, and he was heartily sick of it.
He spoke to himself sternly. He should be down on his knees thanking God for sparing him the slaughter the demon-worshipers had wreaked on the rest of the Host, not complaining because of a little rain! He’d certainly told his troopers that often enough!
He turned to pace briskly. He could only go a few strides in either direction and stay under the roof, but the rain had chilled the mountain air, and the activity warmed his blood.
Perhaps he’d feel happier if his present assignment had some point. With the heretics blocked west of the Erastor Spur, the pickets east of the main position were little more than an afterthought. They were out here getting soaked simply because the field manuals said all approaches, however unlikely, should be covered, and like most soldiers, they resented being made miserable just because some headquarters type wanted to be neat and tidy.
A branahlk splashed up to the shelter, and Sergeant Kithar saluted.
“We’ve sighted the head of the column, Sir. Should reach the pickets in about another twenty minutes.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. That’s good news.” Mathan returned Kithar’s salute, then pointed at the smoky fire crackling under another crude awning. “Warm yourself and dry off a bit before you head back.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
The sergeant hurried towards the fire, and Mathan folded his hands behind him with a sigh of relief. High-Captain Ortak had sworn the Temple would reinforce them, but after Yortown it had been hard for many of his men—including, Mathan admitted, himself—to believe it would happen in time. Now it had, and he breathed a silent prayer of thanks.
* * *
Captain Folmak trotted at the head of his brigade, and his belly was a hard, singing knot. He could see the first dragoons now, and they looked as miserable as Lord Sean had predicted. They were waving, and he heard a few cheers, but they also weren’t budging out from under the crude lean-tos they’d erected in a vain effort to stay dry.
“You know what to do, boys,” he told his grim-faced riflemen. “No shooting if you can help it, but be damned sure none of them get away!”
“Sight for sore eyes, aren’t they?” Shaldan Morahkson demanded. “I told you Lord Marshal Surak would rei
nforce us!”
“Sure you did,” one of his companions jeered. “Between pissing and moaning about the rain, your saddle sores, and how fucked up the whole war’s been, you told us all about your personal friend the Lord Marshal!”
The others laughed, and Shaldan made a rude gesture as the lead ranks of the relief column squelched past. The incoming Guardsmen looked almost as shabby and sodden as Shaldan and his fellows after their hard march, and he turned his back on the others to wave and shout at the newcomers, then paused.
“That’s funny.”
“What?” his critic demanded. “Your buddy Lord Marshal Surak screw up somehow?”
“They’re all musketeers,” Shaldan said. “Look.” He pointed as far down the column as they could see in the blowing rain. “There must be a thousand, fifteen hundred of them, and not a pike among ’em!”
“What?” The other dragoon turned to peer in the direction of Shaldan’s pointing finger.
“And another thing. I’ve never seen bayonets like those. Have you?”
“I—”
Shaldan never found out what his fellow meant to say, for even as they stared at the column, it suddenly broke apart.
* * *
“Take them!” Under-Captain Lerhak shouted, and his men swarmed out across the picket. There were cries of alarm from the watching dragoons, and two or three turned to race for tethered branahlks, but surprise was total. Musket butts and bayonets did their lethal work, and within ten minutes, every man of High Captain Ortak’s easternmost picket was dead or a prisoner.
Under-Captain Mathan stretched and called for his mount. He’d already sent a messenger ahead to Erastor, and if Sergeant Kithar was right, the column should have reached his forward position by now. Little though a ride in the rain appealed to him, he’d best go up to greet them like a properly industrious junior officer, and he trotted away from the lean-to with regret. He was riding directly into the wind, and the water running into his eyes made it hard to see where he was going. His branahlk tossed its head and jibed under him, whistling mournfully to voice its own verdict on the weather, and he tightened his knees to remind it who was in charge.
He looked back up and blinked on rain as mounted men in the soaked crimson cloaks of the Guard loomed out of the dimness. One of them waved, and Mathan started to wave back, then paused.
He stared at them, watching them ride closer, unable to believe his eyes. Their saddles and tack were mismatched, not standard Guard issue, and aside from their cloaks, they weren’t even in uniform. Two of them actually wore what looked like farmer’s boots, not jackboots. But that was impossible. They had to be Guardsmen! No one else could get at Erastor from the east! Not unless the demons had—
He jerked out of his shock and wheeled his mount. The branahlk squealed in protest as his spurs went home, then bounded forward with a teeth-rattling jerk. He had to warn High-Captain Ortak! He—
Something cracked behind him, and he didn’t even have time to scream as the rifled pistol bullet smashed him from the saddle.
* * *
“Sir, the relief column’s been sighted.”
High-Captain Ortak looked up and smiled at his aide’s report.
“Well, thank God for that! Call for my branahlk. High-Captain Terrahk deserves to be met in person.”
* * *
“Did you hear something?” Sergeant Kithar raised his head, ears cocked, and glanced at the man beside him.
“In this rain?” The trooper gestured at the water drumming from the eaves of their rough roof.
“It sounded like a shot…”
“You’re joking, Sarge! It’d take a special miracle to get a joharn to fire in this stuff!”
“I know, but—”
Kithar was still gazing out into the rain when Folmak’s lead company stormed into the picket’s rear area.
* * *
“Folmak’s taken out the picket.”
Sean nodded as his com implant carried him Sandy’s voice.
“Anyone get away?” he subvocalized back.
“I don’t think so. It’s hard to be sure with so many people moving around in the rain, but I don’t see anyone headed away from the picket.”
“What’s Folmak doing?”
“Rounding up POWs and shifting into assault column to hit the bridge. Don’t worry, Sean. He knows what he’s doing.”
* * *
“So far, so good,” Folmak murmured, then raised his voice. “This is what we came for, boys! Follow me, and from here on out, make all the racket you can. Let’s make these bastards think the ‘Cragsend Demons’ are here to eat ’em all! First Brigade, are you with me?“
“Aye!” The roar almost blew him from the saddle.
* * *
High-Captain Ortak dismounted, handed his reins to an orderly, and tried not to scurry as he hurried for the shelter of the bridge tollhouse. The under-captain commanding the bridge traffic control detachment jumped up and saluted, but Ortak waved him back into his chair.
“Sit down, sit down!”
“Thank you, Sir, but I prefer to stand.” The bridge commander was a very junior officer, but he knew better than to sit in the presence of a high-captain, whatever the high-captain in question said.
“Suit yourself, Captain.” Ortak stood in the doorway, peering into the gloomy afternoon. He could just make out the head of Terrahk’s column at the far end of the bridge, and he wondered why they’d stopped in the rain. Were they dressing ranks for some sort of parade?
He frowned. The rain and the rush of river water around the bridge pilings filled his ears, but that didn’t keep him from hearing the cheer. What in the world—? Were they that happy to be here?
And then, suddenly, the relief column lunged forward onto the bridge, and High-Captain Ortak stared in horror as it swept over the half-dozen men watching the far end of the span. Bayonets flashed in the rain, musket butts struck viciously, and the high-captain went white, for he could hear the voices clearly, now.
“Malagor and Lord Sean!” they howled, and twenty-five thousand men stormed into the Guard’s undefended rear behind their screaming war pipes.
* * *
“That’s it!” Tamman snapped to High-Captain Ithun. “They’re hitting the bridges now. Get the columns formed!”
“At once, Lord Tamman!”
Ithun dashed off, and Tamman’s enhanced eyes swept the entrenchments facing his position. There was no movement over there yet, but there would be soon. Now if only they’d pull enough off the parapets to give him an opening!
* * *
For the Yortown survivors, it was a hideous, recurring nightmare. They’d seen their formations smashed at Yortown, watched that wall of fire and smoke grinding down from the north behind the terrifying Malagoran yell, and known—not thought; known—they’d faced demons, but somehow they’d escaped. They’d fallen back, dug in, waited for the demon-worshipers to sweep over them, and as the weeks passed, they’d come, slowly, first to hope and finally to believe it wouldn’t happen after all. They’d stopped the heretics, held them, and at least their rear was secure if they were forced to retreat again.
But now their rear wasn’t secure. They’d spent days preparing bivouac areas for High-Captain Terrahk’s column, chattered in their relief, swapped lies and rumors about what would happen next, only to see the forces of Hell do it to them again. Some evil sorcery had transformed their reinforcements into rampaging demons that stormed into their positions in a solid, deadly mass of bristling bayonets and the terrible, shrieking war pipes of Malagor.
Surprise was total, High-Captain Ortak was nowhere to be found, and officers floundered in shock as the first, incredible intimations of disaster reached them. Folmak’s brigade slammed over the bridges and butchered its way across the closest encampment. Guardsmen looked up from routine camp tasks to see eighteen hundred screaming maniacs scythe into their position, and panic was a deadlier weapon than any bayonet. Cooks and drovers scattered, half-naked m
en erupted from tents and lean-tos and fled into the rain, officers shouted in vain for their men to rally, and Folmak’s riflemen swarmed forward like some dark, unstoppable tide.
Here and there a handful did rally around an officer or a noncom, but there were too few of them, and they were too stunned to be effective. The tiny knots of resistance vanished into the oncoming First Brigade’s bayonet-fanged maw, and Folmak slammed a full kilometer forward before his initial charge even slowed. Behind him, more men thundered across the Erastor, fanning out to secure the bridgehead, and behind them the weight of Sean’s entire corps swept forward in double time.
* * *
“They’re hitting us in the rear, I tell you! My God, there’re thousands of them!”
High-Captain Marhn stared at the gasping, half-coherent officer. Impossible! It was impossible! Poison-raw terror quivered deep inside, yet he’d been a soldier for over thirty Terran years. He didn’t know what had happened to High-Captain Ortak, and he couldn’t even begin to guess how the heretics could be behind Erastor in strength or what had happened to High-Captain Terrahk, but he knew what would happen if this attack wasn’t crushed.
“They’ve already got the bridges!” The officer was still babbling his terrified message. “We’re trapped, Sir! They’re going to—”
“They’re going to die, Captain!” Marhn barked so sharply the officer’s mouth snapped shut in pure reflex. “We’ve got eighty thousand men in this position, so stop howling like an old woman and use them, curse you!”
“But—”
Marhn whirled away with a snarl of disgust just as Captain Urthank, his own second-in-command charged up, still buckling his armor.