Robert Adams - Bili the Axe

“Therefore, in the light of your severe losses of heavy cavalry last year, I would advise that you and all other Kuhmbuhluhners withdraw into the city or the safe-glens and leave these Skohshuns to tramp at will around a burned, barren countryside until starvation brings them to the suicidal folly of attacking this burk. As for the safe-glens, if they are anywhere near as well fortified as Sandee’s Cot, I see short shrift for the invaders at each of them, as well.

“Your majesty requested my thoughts and advice, and I have dutifully rendered it.”

The king regarded Bili down the length of the polished table for a long, frowning moment, then he finally smiled with his lips and said, “And we thank you for your candor, young cousin. Perhaps what you advise is truly the wisest course, perhaps it is what an eastern monarch or prince would do in like case, perhaps it is even what our honored grandsire might have done, but it is not our way.

“We could not feel our honor served by burning our croplands and squatting behind walls of stone, whilst stopping our ears to the honorable challenges of our foemen. We deem it far better that our mortal flesh be deprived of life than that our souls be bereft of honor.

“No, we will gather all the folk of the plateau into the city, right enough, and the more distant folk will be urged to seek the safety of the fortified glens. But when once the foe comes into view, we shall assemble all our remaining host and ride out to meet him in honorable combat. “Such is our toyal will, gentlemen.”

The brigadier’s fierce mustachios bristled like a hedge of pikes and his eyes sparkled his righteous rage at the earl’s patent stupidity and obstinacy in the light of this new intelligence, but long practice gave him control of his voice.

“Your grace, it was given to me to understand at our late-autumn conference last year that should it become obvious that these Kuhmbuhluhners had somehow made good their losses of heavy-armed horse, we’d not try again to fight them, but first offer to treat with them as equals. Another such ‘victory’ as we squeezed out and squeaked through at that last battle would spell our undoing.”

As the earl remained silent, regarding his senior officer blandly over the tips of his steepled fingers, the old man drew a deep breath and went on. “Now we have heard no less than three experienced and trustworthy scouts attest that a large party—at least two hundred, possibly more—horsemen have ridden up from the south, braved both rain and unseasonal cold in the high mountains, to reach the plateau whereon sits the capital of New Kuhmbuhluhn. They—”

“They were none of them armored,” interrupted the earl mildly. “The scouts saw no more than a helmet or two and a handful of scaleshirts -among them all. We all honor you and your many achievements, brigadier, but I think—and I’d not say this were we two not alone—that that near thing last autumn has gone far to becloud your judgment so that you see fresh Kuhmbuhluhn heavy-armed horse where none exist. Belike, that column was but another train of supplies and remounts.

“No, our costly victory of last year has given us an undeniable edge, and we’d be fools not to use that edge for cutting, for further whittling down these Kuhmbuhluhners to a point at which they will treat on our terms.

“Thanks to that last long, hard freeze that made the river firm and solid enough for even wagons, we now have all of our people over here, and immediately the last regiments are refitted and in order, I mean to advance on the attack. And I’ll hear no more words at variance with that decision, Brigadier… even from you.”

The old man did what he must do, having no option; he bowed his head in submission to his overlord. He still was not in agreement. He knew in his heart that the young earl’s plan was wrong, ill advised, precipitate, but he was servant, not master, and he knew his place.

While ostensibly engaged in playing or watching the play of the game of battles, Bili, Rahksahnah, Captain Fil Tyluh and Lieutenant Kahndoot were actually engaged in a council of their own, a silent one, by mindspeak. The young war leader had first told them of all which had transpired in the king’s council, then had awaited comments; nor were such long in coming.

“Typical male foolishness!” beamed the broad, solid axewoman, Kahndoot. “Your counsel was good, Duke Bili; this fool of a king would have been wise to follow it. What can he hope to accomplish by losing still more of the few fighters he yet has?”

“But foolish as it seems to us,” put in Tyluh, “I am certain that it is anything but foolish to King Mahrtuhn. I have noticed that these Kuhmbuhluhners live by very old-fashioned precepts and principles, many of which have not been carried to such extreme lengths in the Middle Kingdoms in a hundred or two hundred years. To such archaic thinking, an honorable suicide is far preferable to a victory that smacks in any slightest way of cowardice or dishonor.”

“If he wants to kill himself, let him fall on his sword,” commented Rahksahnah coldly. “But why must he try to drag us, our squadron, down to his death with him?”

“He won’t,” Bili attested. “He and his fire-eaters can impale themselves and such of their horses as they can force to it on the Skohshun pike hedge if they must, but this unit will not be beside them.

“Fil, d’you recall the tale of how one of my maternal ancestors, a duke of Zunburki devised a way to deal with the supposedly invincible Klahrksburk pikemen?”

The captain’s face suddenly split in a broad grin. “ That’s it, lord duke! The dim recollection of that tactic has been nibbling at my memory since first we all heard of these Skohshuns and their way of war. Such was always the inherent weakness of overlong polearms—they’re worse than useless in a really close encounter with dismounted opponents, while they weigh so much that your average pikeman simply cannot bear the added weight of decent armor. Few of them will wear more than some kind of helmet, maybe some variety of metal reinforcement on the backs of their leather gauntlets and perhaps a skimpy breastplate.”

“Just so,” agreed the young thoheeks . When he had explained the winning tactic of his ancestor to the two women, Kahndoot asked a question.

“But why our squadron alone, Duke Bili? Why not go to this king we now serve and tell him what you have just told the Brahbehrnuh and me? It makes good sense, if fight he must.”

Bili sighed and beamed back, even while using his knight to bring Rahksahnah’s king into check, “It is as Fil and I have said, Kahndoot—the king and all of his court are very old-fashioned in their outlook. They will allow us to do something new, innovative, but they would not do such themselves. In their blind, senseless pursuit of that which they deem to be honor, only riding out, cap a pie , to try to come breast to breast with this enemy whose leadership is obviously more modern and practical than archaically honorable is all that will apparently suit him and the court.

“My present position considered, I have said all that I can as regards the king’s overall strategy. I like him and his heir—they are bluff, hearty warriors—and I will hot like to watch them die, but I fear me much that that is just what I’ll have to do, unless…”

He paused for a long moment, his mindshield erected as he thought hard. “Unless… ? Unless I can somehow persuade his majesty to allow us to charge first. Perhaps I can convince him that he owes us this “signal honor” as a boon for our service against those poor primitive farmers, last year.

“Can we go first, using the Zunburk attack, mayhap we can sufficiently roil the pike hedge to give the heavy horse an aiming point, a broken spot in the hedge through which they can ride and attack these Skohshuns at such close range that those overgrown pikes will prove a hindrance rather than a defense or a weapon.”