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John Ringo: Against the Tide

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John Ringo Against the Tide

Against the Tide: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

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In the distant future, the world was a paradise — and then, in a moment, it was ended by the first war in centuries. People who had known godlike power, to whom hunger and pain were completely unknown, desperately scrabbled to survive. As the United Free States, the bastion of freedom and center of opposition to the tyrants of New Destiny, prepared for the long-feared invasion by the Changed legions of Ropasa, Edmund Talbot realized that bureaucratic ineptitude and overconfidence was setting the USF naval forces of ships and dragons up for a disastrous defeat at sea. His fears came true, and the destruction of the fleet seemingly left the UFS open for a full scale invasion. But Talbot had new concepts and strategies ready to put into effect, along with new technical innovations from his brilliant engineer. He survived an assassination attempt and quickly assembled a formidable land force combining cavalry, longbowmen, Roman style legions, and dragons for airborne assault. The fascist forces of New Destiny thought that their war was all but concluded, and world domination within their grasp. Edmund Talbot was ready to show them just how wrong they were…

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“Herzer, too,” she said.

“Herzer, too,” the duke answered.

“We’ve got to board, boss,” Herzer said, stepping up and getting a hug from Daneh as well. “I’ll take care of him,” he said.

“Like you did the last time?” Daneh chuckled.

“He didn’t get a scratch,” Herzer replied, defiantly, then smiled. “Really, we’re going to be in Newfell Base. I won’t say ‘what can happen?’ but we’re not planning on going on an island vacation so how bad can it be?” He tousled the hair of the boy at her side and grinned. “Seeya brat.”

“Seeya, Herzer,” the boy replied. “Kill some bad guys.”

“I’ll try,” the captain replied, trying not to wince. “Gotta run.”

The five of them boarded the coach, which had barely room for six, and took their seats, the three ensigns squeezing in the forward, and therefore less comfortable, seats, with the captain and the general in the rear bench. As soon as they were on board the coachman called to his horses and with a wave from Daneh they were off.

“Okay,” Edmund said, looking across at the three ensigns, “let me get a few things straight. I’d tell you to call me Edmund, but that would just worry you and you’d probably slip up around the Navy, which has gotten really protocol ridden in a very short period of time. So it’s ‘Duke Edmund’ or ‘General Talbot.’ I brought you along for two reasons. The first is that I’m going to need messengers. The Navy has a good communications center but the nearest Army commo center is up at Gemtown Barracks. There’s going to be messages that I don’t want the Navy seeing, so you’re going to be carrying them to Gemtown, which is one hell of a ride. The other thing I want is eyes and ears. I want you to watch what the Navy’s doing and how they are doing it and, drawing upon your vast experience, finding things that you like or don’t like about what they do. I’ll probably ask for input from time to time but if something really springs out at you, bring it to me. Especially if you run across things that you think the Navy doesn’t want me to know. But what I don’t want is mouths. The admirals are some starchy sons of bitches. Herzer I’ll cover if he puts his foot in his mouth and I’ve got a reputation to maintain as an aggressive SOB. But you guys stand around with your eyes and ears open and your mouths shut. If you have anything for me, wait until we’re alone. Is all of that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the three responded.

“Questions?”

“No, sir,” Van Krief responded after a moment. “I don’t know what to ask, sir.”

“Knowing that there are questions, but not what they are, is the beginning of wisdom, young lady,” Edmund said, aware that he was being pompous. “And in any case, we’re both in the same boat. I know that there are questions to be asked, but until I get the information I need to evaluate the situation, I don’t know what they are. And, yes, that bothers me as much as it does you. More.”

“Sir,” Destrang said. “We have standard intelligence briefings, just like everyone else. According to them, we have five dragon-carriers to the enemy’s five. And our dragons have trained in bombing techniques, whereas the enemy has not. I’m not sure that there is any question that we can take out the enemy fleet. But you seem concerned.” He paused, and frowned. “Is there any intelligence that you have that suggests the enemy may be more formidable than he appears?”

“I can’t answer that question, Ensign,” the general sighed. “But… do you think that you should depend upon the enemy’s stupidity? They have known about our capability for nearly a year and a half. They have built dragon-carriers in that time. I find it unlikely that they have not developed the capacity for bombing, whether there is intel or not. And if they have, I think that moving to intercept them when they are clearly courting battle is unwise. Does that answer the question?”

“Yes, sir,” Destrang nodded. “Can I ask what you would do, sir?”

Edmund frowned and shrugged. “I tend to keep my plans close to my vest, Ensign, but in this case, since it’s hypothetical… I would probably retreat the main fleet and break off a small task force. Use the mer and delphinos to keep the position of their main fleet fixed and move for sea-room. At some point, they are going to need fleet replenishment. The Briton Isles are still a basket caseÑthere are still elements holding out in the northern and western hillsÑso they are going to have to replenish at some point and get that replenishment from Ropasa. When they move to replenish, have the task force, task forces if there are enough detachable light units, attack the convoys. At some point, they are going to have to head back to base. When they have turned, moreover, it’s likely that they are on low rations. Unfed wyvern are dangerous wyvern. They cannot fly as far, are harder to handle in the air, and if it goes on long enough they start attacking the crew. It is when they turn for home that I’d pounce. Especially since I had light units at their back. It might even make sense to have a carrier out there, lying doggo and hopefully unnoticed by their orca scouts. It would be demoralizing in the extreme to be hit by a full dragon-strike just as they thought they were safe.”

“Indirect approach, sir,” Van Krief said, nodding. Then she looked at the captain quizzically.

“But, sir, we have the steam hammer,” she pointed out. “Why not crush them while we can?”

“No,” Herzer replied, “we think we have the steam hammer. There is a whole world of difference between the two, Ensign. Piling on when you think you’re grabbing a house cat and finding out you’ve got your hands on a house lion, is a recipe for hurt.”


* * *

Herzer was uncomfortably aware of the ensign sitting opposite him. The countryside outside the coach was boring in the extreme, a patchwork of plowed fields and uncleared timber with very occasional small towns. And the coach lurched as it moved down the Via Apallia. The pre-Fall road had been constructed and maintained by reenactors and in keeping with the continued social distaste for “real” roads was constructed in the Roman manner with paving stones. It was incredibly smooth compared to most of the burgeoning post-Fall road network. And the coach was well sprung, on good metal leaf springs, with the new vulcanized rubber tires. But it still rocked and occasionally lurched uncomfortably. Looking sideways in it was painful after a time. And the landscape across from him was a hell of a lot better than the landscape outside. The ensign had the tip of her tongue sticking out ever so slightly as she reread Slim’s autobiography of the Myanmar campaign. And she set off her undress blues quite fetchingly. Herzer had just started to fantasize about uses that the tongue could be put to when he realized he needed to think about something else and closed his eyes.

Unfortunately the future held too many uncertainties to think about clearly. With the New Destiny combat fleet at sea, the invasion fleet it was meant to protect could not be far behind. Paul Bowman, the leader of New Destiny, the man who had planned the coup against the Council of Key-holders that had started the civil war, considered himself to be the good guy. Since it was clear that the Freedom Alliance resistance to his plans was evil, any action taken by him was clearly on the side of the angels. Which was why he had announced that if the UFS could not see the light, it would be forced to by a reign of terror.

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