I said, ‘All right, since you ask, I’ll tell you. Firstly, we’re age mates and comrades. Do you think that you live only for yourself? Do you think that you’re Sharma the lone agent, making your way in splendid isolation?’
‘What I do in private –‘
‘Let me finish, damn it! I’m saying that what you do affects me whether you like it or not. Do you understand that? Good! Secondly, Sharma, you have the ability to climb to the high places. You've already had your first command even if it was only temporary. Where could you be in five or ten years' time? Stop and think, man! You have the ability to go places where a lot of people can’t. Consider other people and consider your future!’ Sharma put up a hand to stop me but I brushed him aside, saying, ‘Oh, sure, what does it matter what your age mate and comrade, good old Jina, thinks about you, eh? But have a care for Keirine and for what you can do for the nation. I don’t want to see that wasted.’
Sharma bit his lip. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, ‘I’ll think about it.’
I said, ‘Yes, you do that.’
Vaxili honoured his promise to reward us for our services. Within a week, Sharma and I were promoted to deputy commanders. However, typically, while Vaxili gave with one hand he took away with the other. Our unit was ordered to an isolated spot on the eastern escarpment near to where the battle of Gandonda took place. In future, Deputy Commander Sharma and Princess Mecolo would not be able to meet each other so easily, if at all.
The move didn’t matter to me. With Dana gone, there was a chasm in my soul and a hard resolve in my mind. I loved my family and, yes, I loved Sharma. They were the only personal relationships that claimed my affections and that was because they already had places there when Dana was destroyed. For the rest, I would live and die for the cause of Keirine.
CHAPTER TEN: A WORTHY INSTRUMENT
Gandonda occupied a strategic position on Keirine’s south-eastern flank, sited as it was on the last range of hills before the escarpment sloped away to the coastal plane. Traffic from the coast had to funnel through the pass at Gandonda to reach the highland plains that lay beyond, stretching westwards towards the Great River and northwards towards Koraina. More importantly, from Gandonda the roads fanned out towards the rich wheat fields, mines, and forests of the distant countries to the south-west of Keirine.
Our unit was based to the north of Gandonda in a position from which we overlooked both the coastal plain and the approach to the pass. From our vantage point, the walls and buildings of the Dornite city of Asjolorm were clearly visible, glinting on the plain about a half-day’s journey away. Three of the Dornite coastal cities were visible as well, appearing as light-coloured smudges against the green of the plain, backed up by the turquoise, white-flecked expanse of the Endless Ocean.
One afternoon, about a week after our arrival at the base, Sharma and I walked to a rocky promontory that thrust out above the plain like the prow of a ship. One of the things that we shared was a fondness for high places. I think that we were both seduced by the almost disembodied experience of looking out from a high place. There you seemed to be floating while at the same time the features around you – the hills and crags to left and right, the plain spreading below, the clouds above and all around – were clean and sharply defined in the fine air. Yes, I think that we were both as seduced by high places as we were by the dream of the kingdom – but, then, the kingdom is a high place, too, and even more seductive than ridges, crags, and elevated views over hills and plains.
Sharma wrapped his arms around his legs and, with his chin on his knees, said reflectively, ‘Do you remember a place like this when we were boys?’ I nodded. I knew what he meant. Sharma gave a slow smile and pointed to the plain below. ‘You said that our flocks had as much chance of grazing down there as they had of grazing on the moon.’
I nodded again. ‘It’s still the same. Nothing has changed.’
‘Nothing at all?’
‘Not that I can see. The Dornites are still down there and we’re still up here. The Dornites are still harassing us, treating Keirine like their private possession, and we’re still struggling to defend ourselves.’
Sharma grunted thoughtfully. ‘There’s something else that hasn’t changed as well.’
‘What’s that?’
‘The prophecy.’
‘The one about Keirine being free when land and people reach the sea? You mean that one?’
Sharma laid back, hands behind his head, sucking on a stalk of grass. I did the same. After a while, Sharma said, ‘It’s either them or us. Since Gandonda, I see it more clearly than ever before. I don’t just know it in my head – now I know it in my bones. There can’t be any compromise. The weaker the Dornites are, the stronger we’ll be. It’s a matter of them or us, plain and simple.’
I grunted my agreement. More than ever, I felt as if there was a current running underneath my daily existence -- a current that ran ever stronger and straighter towards the goal of subduing the Dornites and exalting the Kingdom of Keirine. It was a current to which I willingly submitted, seeking to perfect myself as an instrument that was worthy of the task.
Sharma rubbed his chin and said, ‘We shouldn’t wait for the Dornites to come at us; attack is the best form of defence.’
‘Is it?’
Sharma frowned at me. ‘Man, Jina, do you have to question everything?’
‘I question whether we’ve got the resources to attack anybody, no matter who it might be.’
Sharma leaned forward and pointed across the plain. He said thoughtfully, ‘We could attack Asjolorm.’
‘Asjolorm! Are you crazy?’
Sharma said easily, ‘Exactly!’
‘Exactly what?’
‘You think it’s crazy to attack Asjolorm. Everyone in our unit probably thinks it’s crazy. In fact, our whole army, including Vaxili, probably thinks it’s crazy.’
‘So --?’
Sharma asked easily, ‘What do you think the Dornites down there in Asjolorm think about us attacking them?’
‘They probably don’t think about it at all.’
‘Why not?’
‘Damn it, Sharma, don’t ask stupid questions. You know the answer. Firstly, they’ve got control of the whole coastal plain. Nobody threatens them down there. Secondly, down on the plain they can fight in the best possible conditions for their forces. Thirdly, they know that we hardly have enough men to defend our own boundaries. How can we commit forces to fighting in their territory as well?’
‘Yes, all that is true enough. So you reckon that the Dornites wouldn’t give a thought to the possibility of us attacking them?’ Sharma gave me a look that was almost self-satisfied, as if he was going to produce a trump.
‘If they did think about it, it would seem so crazy that they would roll about laughing at the idea.’
Sharma lay back, pulled out a stalk of grass, and sucked at the juice. With his eyes closed and his face to the sun, he said, ‘Exactly!’
I thought that I was beginning to see what Sharma was getting at. I said, ‘So if everyone thinks it’s crazy …?’
‘Exactly!’
I rolled over and straddled Sharma’s chest, pinning his arms to the ground. ‘I swear if you say “exactly” again, I’ll throw you over the ridge, right into Dornite territory.’
Sharma lay there grinning easily. He asked, ‘You think you’ve got me, eh?’
I grinned back at him, bore my weight down against his chest, and said, ‘For sure.’ I leaned forward, pinning his arms more firmly against the ground. Sharma just sucked at the stalk of grass and chuckled. I said, ‘No more “exactly” – all right?’
Suddenly, Sharma lifted his body at the waist and moved it sideways. Trapping one of my legs under his body, he rolled over. In an instant, our positions were reversed. Sharma chuckled and said, ‘All right, no more “exactly”. You’ve convinced me.’ He rolled off me and lay on his back with his arms under his head. Then he said quietly, ‘I got you when
you weren’t expecting it, didn’t I? Do you still think I’m crazy?’
I said, ‘Everyone thinks it’s crazy so that’s why it might work – is that what you mean?’
Sharma said, ‘You’ve got the picture.’
While it was easy enough to talk about a surprise attack, it was another thing entirely to plan and execute one. When I asked Sharma if he had thought of a strategy, he looked smug and began to draw a rough plan of the city on the ground.
Surprised, I asked, ‘How do you know so much about Asjolorm?’
Sharma gave me a knowing smile and replied, ‘I got the details from Anagina.’
‘Anagina? What does he know about Asjolorm?’ Anagina was one of our comrades in the unit. He was a dreamy young man who played the flute, kept his own counsel, and had a permanently surprised look on his face as if he had landed in military life entirely by accident. I couldn't imagine that Anagina would bother his head with military strategy.
Sharma said, ‘Anagina lived in Asjolorm until about seven years ago. His father had a business there, importing goods for sale in Keirine.’
‘Does he still live there?’
‘No. Anagina says that some of his father’s commercial rivals in Asjolorm ganged up against him. They accused him of being a spy.’
‘What happened to him?’
Sharma grunted and shrugged. ‘They hanged him. What else can you expect from Dornites?’
‘That being the case, I guess that Anagina isn’t well disposed towards Dornites in general and towards Asjolorm in particular.’
Sharma grunted again. ‘You’ve got the picture. Anagina says he'll be first up when they ask for volunteers for an attack on Asjolorm.’
Sharma’s plan was simple. Tracing a stick over the rough outline on the ground, he said, ‘This is the eastern side of the city. It’s the poorest and most crowded sector. That means it has the highest concentration of thatched roofs and the fewest tiled roofs.’
‘Fire? Is that what you’re thinking?’
‘Right! Remember when they attacked Osicedi? We can do the same, only more thoroughly.' Sharma ran his stick around the edge of the outline and said grimly, 'Osicedi doesn't have walls so people could escape in any direction. Asjolorm is fully walled so as the fire spreads, they'll only be able to escape through the gates – here, here, and here.’ He pointed to the outline. ‘We can pick them off as they come through the gates. That would cause further confusion inside the walls and would hamper attempts to contain the fire.’
Sharma was making sense. I said, ‘It could work, if we could get close enough to the city.’
Sharma’s mouth tightened. ‘You remember what happened that night in Osicedi?’
‘I remember.’
‘How many Dornites were involved?’
‘About ten, I guess.’
Sharma took a few steps forward and stood on the edge of the ledge with arms folded looking towards Asjolorm. He said, ‘Imagine what we could do with about fifty men.’
I joined Sharma. On the plain below us, Asjolorm rested in remote peacefulness. However, it no longer looked so secure – not in my imagination, anyway. Sharma's plan was simple and convincing but I still had reservations. I asked, ‘Suppose we succeed -- what effect will it have on the Dornites?’
Sharma grinned sardonically. ‘They won’t be happy.’
‘True enough. And then --?’
‘They’ll launch a counter-attack in retaliation.’
‘The question is, are we ready for that?’
Sharma sat down with his legs dangling over the ledge, his hands palm-down on the rock and his shoulders hunched. He said, ‘Maybe the question is, Are they ready to attack us?’
‘Why shouldn’t they be?’
‘As far as we know, they haven’t elected a new supreme commander yet. They might not be as ready as we think they are.’
‘But what if they do attack? We aren’t much better prepared than we were last time.’
‘Not if we use the same tactics.’
‘You have something else in mind?’
Sharma grunted. 'I’ve been thinking about it. Who hasn't? Everyone knows we can’t suffer another defeat like the last one. It will be the end of the army’s confidence, if not the end of the army, period, and most likely the end of the kingdom.’
‘So --?’
Sharma looked at me keenly. He asked, ‘How would you go about facing up to the Dornites?’
I had been thinking about the matter, just like Sharma. I said, ‘Well, they destroyed us at Gandonda because they had cavalry and chariots and we didn’t have them. We need to get on equal terms with them.’
Sharma chuckled sardonically. ‘Fight fire with fire, eh?’
‘Yes, something like that.’
Sharma pulled at an ear and said slowly, ‘How about if we fight them with something that puts out their fire?’
‘Like what?’
‘Something like a wall, maybe.’
‘Oh, you mean we carry a wall onto the battle field, put it in place, and then say, Come on Dornites, throw yourself against our wall? And the Dornites say, All right, just let us know when the wall is ready so that we can throw ourselves against it. Oh, yes, that should work just fine!’
Sharma grinned slowly and said, ‘Yes, something like that.’
‘Oh, man, that's a great plan! It'll work perfectly – as long as the Dornites co-operate.’
Still grinning knowingly, Sharma replied, ‘Well, in the first place, we carry the wall onto the battlefield. You’ve got that part right. But the wall isn’t like anything that has been seen before.’
‘What, then?’
Sketching in the dust, Sharma explained his idea. The more I listened the more it made sense. After half an hour, I was convinced. I said, ‘It might work. But it'll take discipline and training.’
Sharma clicked his tongue impatiently and asked sardonically, ‘What are we – soldiers or shepherds?’
We discussed an attack on Asjolorm with our unit commander, who liked the idea and passed it on to headquarters where we thought that it would be turned down because of the risk and because of what Sharma called ‘close-minded conservatism.’ However, to our surprise, the plan was approved. Later, we heard that although Vaxili disapproved of the idea at first, Jainar persuaded him that it was viable.
Jainar arrived at our base to take personal charge of the attack on Asjolorm. It was the first time that I was able to get a close look at him and it confirmed my impression that he had the squarest face I ever saw. It was square from his jaw, which looked as if it had been planed on a brick, to his jowls, forehead, and flat-lying ears. Even his nose, asymmetrically off-centre, had been partially squared off. It looked as if it had been flattened in a fight. However, even if he hadn’t have been a general you wouldn’t have asked someone with Jainar’s solid build and stolid countenance about how his nose got to be that shape.
Jainar got his fighting experience in skirmishes against Usserdite raiders on the south-western border where he gained a reputation as a tough and innovative leader. He had no other military experience, in the formal sense. But, then, nor did anyone else. We were all learning on the job. When I sat back and thought about the matter, it scared me to realise that no one in the whole Keirineian army, generals included, had any experience of managing an army. Usually it scared me so much that I tried to put the thought out of my mind as quickly as possible.
Jainar might not have had a lot of formal military experience but he did know how to devise and execute a plan. Within a day of his arrival, he had finalised the strategy for the attack. The first objective was to cut communications between the city and the Dornite garrison that was based halfway between Gandonda pass and Asjolorm by silencing two guard posts on the highway between the two. If that move succeeded then the garrison wouldn’t know about the attack until long after the attacking party had finished its business and made its escape.
Besides the unit that would attack the guard
posts, there were two other parties. One would set fire to the houses while the other would handle the fugitives at the gates. The plan was to kill as many people as possible until the detachment began to meet resistance. At that point the men would withdraw, retreating along the same paths as they used on the approach.
When Jainar finished his presentation, there was a grumble of dissent. Someone said, ‘General, your plan means that we will be attacking civilians.’
‘Yes, that is so. Do you have an objection?’
‘General, we are soldiers, not bandits. We should be attacking enemy soldiers, not –‘
Jainar straightened and silenced the man with a gesture. He barked, ‘Soldiers, eh? Well, if you’re soldiers, you’ll know that the first thing you’re trained to do is obey orders. Not so?’
‘But general –‘
‘But -- nothing! Listen, soldier, you can leave now if you don’t want to be part of the attacking force. There are plenty of men who will take your place. Well, what do you say?’
The speaker dropped his eyes and shook his head. Jainar put his jaw forward, looked around the squad, and barked, ‘Any other objections?’
Sharma was brave enough – or foolish enough – to get to his feet. Jainar turned his attention to him: ‘You have an objection?’
‘No, general, not an objection, but –‘
‘What, then?’
‘General, you must understand that we haven’t made war on civilians before. It’s a new thing for us.’
‘I understand that. But you’re soldiers and you'd better get used to it. The Dornites don’t make distinctions between soldiers and civilians, do they?’ Jainar jabbed his finger at Sharma. ‘What’s your name, soldier? Don’t I know you?’
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