“We could push two regiments on past Neath into Preddi north of Ponth and try to block the Hanslow Narthani,” said Denes. “If Stent’s numbers are close, we would outnumber them four or five to one. Stent must only be a few hours behind them, and we could catch them between us.”
Yozef was ambivalent. “It will divide our force, which is not recommended—unless it works.” He remembered Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville dividing against a larger Union army in the U.S. Civil War. But that was Lee and Jackson, not Yozef Kolsko and Denes Vegga. “On the other hand, you’ve enough men that you should be able to keep the Narthani within Preddi worried while you also deal with those coming from Hanslow. I don’t know what the Narthani mind-set is when faced with a much larger enemy force. Will they fight to the death or surrender if they see it’s hopeless? Sorry, Denes, too many unknowns and too little experience.”
“I’m inclined to at least block them and hold them in place until Stent catches up,” said Denes.
“In that case,” said Yozef, “a single regiment might be sufficient, as long as they only try to block or slow them down and not get into a major fight.”
“All right,” said Denes, “here’s what we’ll do. Sixwith’s regiment is responsible for having companies screen our left flank. I’ll detach his regiment to ride hard to cut the Hanslow-Preddi road. We don’t have maps detailed enough to know if he can find a place where the Narthani can’t bypass him, but I’ll tell him to do the best they can.”
“He’ll have to leave his feed wagons. They’d slow him down too much,” cautioned Yozef. Each regiment had grain wagons, because the force had to move too fast to allow grazing.
“He’ll have to push the horses,” said Denes. “They can rest once in position. I’ll have the wagons, along with guards, follow him. They should catch up within two hours.”
Yozef didn’t like separating a regiment from the rest of their force, nor did he like the idea of wagons and guards being exposed to attack without support nearby, but he reminded himself they couldn’t avoid risks.
“I agree, Denes,” Yozef said. “Get them moving. Sixwith will take the same route to Neath already planned for the entire force. He’ll just bypass it, and we’ll be a couple of hours behind. It gives Neath more warning than we wanted. That’s a trade-off we’ll have to accept. However, while we don’t expect a Narthani force to still be in Neath, if Sixwith gets there and finds out different, he should give up going to block the Hanslow-Preddi road and wait for the rest of us to catch up.”
Metan’s Command Position Outside Sellmor
Three buildings in the Narthani Selfcell enclave still smoldered two hours after the clansmen attacked. Smoke continued to billow and cloak the ground for hundreds of yards around where the buildings once stood. A forty-foot gap in the six-foot stone wall surrounding the enclave gave a view to the main part of Sellmor and its fifteen-foot main wall. Selfcellese and Narthani bodies littered the ground from the gap to the remains of the Narthani armory, a storage building, and a barracks.
Colonel Metan choked on the smoke and blew his nose on a cloth. Twin wads of soot on the cloth matched his mood.
“No, Major, I don’t think attacking is our best option. I’m sure Langor has more men on the way, and we don’t yet have naval support. I had already sent riders to Wynmor for the garrison there to move to a coastal village and wait for news communicated by ship. Even without that, it would take the garrison two days to get here to reinforce an effort to retake Selfcell, and then what? Our purpose was never to be an occupying or conquering force, but only to remind the Selfcellese who was in charge and keep them from cozying back with the other clans. Obviously, that purpose has failed, and based on the orders from General Akuyun, the other clans are moving strongly to take Eywell and threaten Preddi. This Selfcell act might even be part of that action.
“At this point, our purpose is to get back to Preddi to concentrate our forces. The Wynmor garrison is on its own. Hopefully, the main clan attacks are in the direction of Preddi, and our men in Wynmor will be evacuated by ship. Our decision has to be whether to follow the main roads and the semaphore line east back to Preddi or hug the coast southwest. If we follow the semaphore line, we could maintain contact with headquarters, as long as the semaphore is operational. However, if we run into major clan forces, we could find ourselves isolated. If we hug the coast, the navy can support us and embark us if we run into trouble or if Akuyun wants us back at Preddi City sooner.”
“Do you honestly think we could be cut off from Preddi City by the clans, Colonel?”
“Since the original orders were to move into Sellmor’s main defenses, then we have to assume Akuyun thought that was a possibility. Even if he thought it unlikely, he considered it possible enough to take extreme precautions—and that’s what it would be, because it signaled clearly to the Selfcellese that our control of the situation was shaky.”
Metan motioned to the rest of his staff for their attention. “We will move as quickly as we can to take the coast route. Send a semaphore message to Preddi City, telling Akuyun our intention and request naval support. We should see ships offshore of us within five hours.”
“What about our people inside Sellmor?” asked an aide.
“I’m afraid anyone inside the city is beyond our help.” Metan had gotten an estimate of seventy-six Narthani soldiers at the province headquarters. They were certainly dead or prisoners. Neither could anything be done for Narthani traders or civilian administrators caught by the rebellion. Fortunately, Akuyun had mandated months earlier that any families stay in Preddi City.
“Men, we take only weapons, water, food, and what can be carried without slowing us down. I want the men moving on the road southwest within an hour.”
CHAPTER 27: CHANGING OBJECTIVES
Outskirts of Neath, Southwest Eywell Province
Denes, Yozef, aides, and guards trotted their horses in front of the three regiments once forward scouts brought word of Sixwith’s regiment blocking the Hanslow/Preddi road south of Neath. Two dragoon companies followed, while the rest of the three regiments took a break and fed and watered their horses at a stream. The scouts led the way and came to Sixwith’s pickets only four miles farther on. They passed the first company forming a defensive line, then came within sight of several more companies with horses staked and men sitting or sleeping on the ground.
“Our men and horses are tired enough,” said Yozef. “These must be near collapse. We’ve covered nearly sixty miles since we left the launch camp.”
“It’s more the horses than the men,” said Denes. “Even though there are several hours of light left, we’ll have to camp for the night and continue at first light tomorrow. It’ll give the Narthani a chance to respond, but we don’t want the horses exhausted if we run into a fight.”
Yozef didn’t voice his worry about giving the Narthani reaction time. He knew Denes was right, and he suppressed his own urge to forge ahead. They continued and found the regiment’s flags a hundred yards from the Hanslow/Preddi road and Colonel Sixwith waiting.
“Good to see you, Brigadier. Is the rest of the force following you?”
“I’m letting them rest and care for the horses. I see you’ve already done the same for yours.”
“Yes,” said Sixwith. “I pushed them hard to get here, though maybe it wasn’t necessary. We didn’t run into any opposition—only an occasional sighting of single or small clusters of Narthani riders.”
“What about Neath?” asked Yozef. “Any information if the town is defended?”
“We don’t think there are any Narthani soldiers left,” Sixwith replied. “We met with the town’s mayor half an hour ago. He blustered that there are hundreds of Narthani and more hundreds of Eywellese ready to fight to the death if we try to take the city, but none of us saw any Narthani soldiers. The town’s defensive positions are nothing we couldn’t overwhelm quickly. The question is whether it’s worth the time and cost. I’d say no.”
; “I agree,” said Denes, who glanced over to see Yozef nodding.
“One other thing,” said Sixwith. “Although the mayor wasn’t interested in giving any information, not every Eywellese is the same. Several farmers’ families we questioned said that hundreds of Narthani passed through here about three hours ago. They didn’t stop at Neath and were in a hurry.”
“Morthmin,” said Yozef. “I bet it was the Morthmin garrison. I doubt they would have waited for the Hanslow Narthani to reach Morthmin and then all of them risk being cut off.”
Denes looked in both directions on the Hanslow/Preddi road. “If true, that means the Hanslow garrison is caught between us and Stent. I know our objective is isolating both Eywell and Selfcell, but the Eywell part is already accomplished. It’s tempting to capture or kill the Hanslow Narthani.”
It is tempting, thought Yozef. Stent estimated around seven hundred Narthani and upwards of two hundred Eywellese fighting men heading this way. We talked about this before. We’d greatly outnumber them, but who knows if the Narthani are prone to surrender in hopeless situations or would fight to the death? We just don’t know that many details or their culture and psyche. Still, is this an opportunity to reduce the numbers of existing Narthani or a temptation to lose more than we’d gain? He didn’t know the answer but saw a way to give the Hanslow Narthani a chance to get into an untenable position.
“Although we’d like to stop them,” said Yozef, “we have to keep to the objective of isolating Selfcell. Unfortunately, we don’t know what’s happening there. If the Narthani commander ordered the Eywell garrisons to retreat to Preddi, did he do the same with Selfcell? I suspect he’d tell those at Sellmor to stay inside the city’s defenses, because their navy could support them and potentially evacuate them by sea. For Wynmor, they could be doing the same, heading to Sellmor or even moving to the coast, where ships could support them. However, from what we know, Wynmor doesn’t have a semaphore line, so they might not know what’s happening farther south. I don’t think the Wynmor garrison should be a factor in our decisions.”
Denes stroked his short beard. “If we’re going to try to stop the Hanslow garrison, then Stent will have to stay on their tail. That diverts him from his objective of isolating Selfcell. What we could do is leave one regiment here to continue blocking the road to Preddi and wait for Stent to catch them from behind. Our other three regiments would continue to the sea south of Sellmor.”
“That’s a complete change in our original plan for the Southern Force,” said Major Kildorn. “We were to block the Preddi Narthani from action, and it was our Northern Force that would push on to the sea.”
Denes didn’t look pleased to have to make a major decision. “Yozef’s On War says no plan is inviolate, depending on developing circumstances. The original plan envisioned both the Northern and Southern forces getting to the Preddi border about the same time, but clearly Stent has been delayed.”
“I suspect we didn’t factor in enough time spent having to deal with both Hanslow and Morthmin,” said Yozef. “Neath is the first major pause we’ve had since leaving Keelan. However, Denes is right about a commander having to use judgment, no matter what the original plan. The problem is you never have complete information, like in this case. I’m sorry, Denes, but I can’t advise what’s best in this specific situation.”
“I was afraid of that,” said Denes. “No offense, Yozef, but we’ve gotten so accustomed to you pulling a solution out of the air that it’s disconcerting when it doesn’t happen. I wish falling back on my own judgment gave me more confidence. Oh well, if it’s up to me, I have to do the best I can and hope for God’s guidance.”
None of the other men had any more advice to give than did Yozef, who worried about that lack. Jesus, as much as I appreciate Denes being willing to make a hard decision, I’d have wanted the other leaders to chip in something. I’m afraid Denes is right. They’ve gotten too used to looking to me. In this case, I wonder how many of them thought, “If Yozef Kolsko has no advice, who am I to give any?”
Denes might not have wanted to make a decision, but neither was he indecisive.
“All right, here’s what we’ll do. I’d already sent a scout party north to make contact with Stent to find out where they are and how close they are to the Hanslow Narthani. I’ll send another party north with the message that we will leave one regiment here to attempt to stop or slow those Stent is chasing. That will be you, Colonel Sixwith. Our other three regiments will push on to cut off Selfcell.”
Denes called to an aide. “Pull out the campaign map.” Seconds later, Denes squatted and used a finger to point. “We’ll aim for a point halfway between Sellmor and the Selfcell/Preddi border. If the Narthani Selfcell garrison stayed in the city, we’ll block them from retreating by land back to Preddi, although their ships could take them on. On the other hand, if they are pulling back into Preddi, they might already be south of where we’ll reach the sea. Either way, we’ll have achieved the objective of cutting off Selfcell.
“Major Sixwith,” said Denes, addressing the Keelan major, “continue blocking this road and wait to see what comes to you. I suggest scouts north along the road to find out exactly where the Hanslow Narthani are. Send riders after me with any news. With even minimal defenses, I doubt the Narthani will try to go straight through you but will attempt to bypass. I leave it to your discretion how to respond, except for the same caution. Don’t try a direct attack on deployed Narthani formations.
“Luwis, Kildorn, Hewell,” Denes continued, addressing the other three regiment commanders. “We’ll continue at a slower pace for another two hours and then dry camp someplace with some natural defenses. A third of the men will take turns staying alert, and we’ll be on the move again at first light.”
“What if Hetman Stent sticks to the original plan?” asked Mulron Luwis, commander of the fourth Southern Force regiment. “He would end up following us to the sea. Would he leave Sixwith’s regiment here, and what about the part of the plan to threaten Preddi to the south?”
“I think Hetman Stent is smart enough to recognize Denes’s reasoning and be willing to change his objectives,” said Yozef. “However, I’ll send along a message that I supported Denes’s decision, and I’ll suggest Stent move on to Ponth inside Preddi. That would serve the original plan of the Southern Force in focusing the attention on the main Narthani position at Preddi City.”
Yozef’s statement seemed to mollify any remaining reservations. He was unaware that his two-sentence statement subtly implied he was in overall command of the two independently operating forces. He supported Denes’s decision as if he were in the position of a commander supporting a subordinate, and his suggestion to Stent could be taken as an order.
Metan
The sun sank behind the eastern hills, and the brightest stars had just made their appearance when a rider found Metan in the gathering darkness. “Colonel, forward scouts report that Swythton is only three miles farther.”
Metan’s shoulders released their tension at the news. He felt thankful for the dim light so his men couldn’t see how worried he had been. “Get to the company commanders to pick up the pace,” he said to the aides behind him. “I know everyone’s tired, but if we hurry, we’ll be inside the Swythton defenses before total darkness.”
The original Preddi town now had five thousand inhabitants—mainly Narthani citizens and slaves, with perhaps a thousand Preddi who had not been killed or enslaved and shipped off Caedellium. The normal population of thirty-five hundred had increased from surrounding villages sending women and children into the town’s defenses. Two hundred Narthani soldiers were stationed at the town, and Metan knew that, with the addition of his men, they could hold out against any clan attack until relieved by land or sea.
Roblyn Langor, Sellmor
“I suppose it could have been worse,” Hetman Roblyn Langor said to Karvan Sewell. His tone of voice betrayed the words.
“The final count seems to be fifty-eight
dead,” said Sewell. “The Narthani either took their dead with them or buried them where we haven’t found them yet. Our wounded are being cared for by medicants in the city, while theirs are traveling south. If they weren’t Narthani, I’d pray for God’s mercy.”
“Roblyn,” said Sewell, eyeing his hetman and friend’s bleary, shadowed eyes, “I don’t think you’ve slept the last thirty-six hours. You don’t do us any good to get too exhausted.”
“Just a few more minutes and then I’ll sleep a few hours. However long I sleep, wake me as soon as there’s any news. We’re blind. All we know is that the Narthani in Selfcell have fled back to Preddi, and the clans are doing something, but what!?”
“Maybe by the time you rest, the men you sent east will have found out more and have sent back reports.” Langor had ordered two hundred men to ride hard east to make contact with anyone—Narthani or clans—and gather information on what was happening.
Denes
The men banked the last campfires. Yozef estimated they had only made another five miles before Denes decided the road west wasn’t good enough to continue in darkness. Using the remaining light, they camped inside the bend of a stream, providing water and minimal protection on three sides. Carnigan tapped him on the shoulder, and he jumped.
“Get some sleep,” growled Carnigan. “What the damnation good are you to us if you can’t think straight?”
“Is that any way to show respect to a Septarsh?” Yozef quipped. He had given up trying to quash the rumors and had begun to worry he was using the rumors too often that God whispered to him. Carnigan had taken on the task of saving Yozef from himself.
“I answer to someone higher than a Septarsh,” Carnigan growled, then spoiled the effect by laughing. “I have strict instructions from Maera to see that you don’t do anything stupid—like think you’re too important to sleep.”
Forged in Fire (Destiny's Crucible Book 4) Page 38