Richard Tuttle - 13 Day War

“What if we burned the abatis?” he asked. “Wouldn’t that stop the Zarans from overrunning us?”

Rut-ki shook her head. “The fire would consume us before it hurt the enemy. Besides, I have only one jar of fire glue left, and it would be needed to start such green wood burning. All we would accomplish is giving the Federation a doorway to walk through the abatis when the flames died out. Do not despair, Ly-fung. The Battle of Lizard Hill is not yet over. Until the enemy finds a way through the abatis, they have not won.”

“But you said that there were not enough of us left to stop them,” frowned Ly-fung. “How can it not be over then?”

Rut-ki smiled. “The sun is fading quickly. While the Federation might be tempted to continue hacking well into the night, I think they can be spooked into retreating until morning.”

“How?” asked the Lanoirian archer.

“While I have flown over the enemy before,” answered Rut-ki, “most of the Zarans have never seen a unicorn. The canopy was too thick yesterday when I dropped fire glue among them, but that is not the case here on Lizard Hill. With most of their officers dead, I think they might break ranks and run back to the safety of their column, but I must wait for it to be closer to sunset. The combination of the coming darkness and the strangeness of the unicorn must coincide.”

Ly-fung brightened and sat straight up. “Then I must replenish my arrows,” he said enthusiastically. “I must do my part to make them feel unwelcome up here.”

* * * *

“Ednor!” shouted General Kolling. “Get in here!”

The Baroukan colonel grimaced as the words reached his ears. He had been avoiding the general, but his luck had just run out. He turned and nodded in acknowledgement, but General Kolling had already turned to reenter the large command tent. Colonel Ednor turned back to watch the men of the 9 thCorps straggle towards the camp. He sighed with resignation and marched towards the tent. He entered the tent and hesitantly approached the table set up in the middle of it.

“Why are you just standing out there watching our men return from the battlefield?” scowled the general. “You should be sending them back into battle until the Lanoirians are wiped out.”

“The Lanoirians aren’t going anywhere,” the colonel said cautiously. “They will still be there in the morning, and our men need some rest.”

“Rest?” shouted General Kolling. “They are not paid to rest. They are paid to fight. Turn them around and send them back to the front.”

“They will not fight tonight,” retorted the colonel. “They might have stayed if it wasn’t for that unicorn flying over them, but they will not return to the battle now until the sun returns.”

“They don’t have a choice, Colonel,” snapped the general. “They are to follow orders just like everyone else. Gather the regiment commanders and tell them that I will hang the first one of them who refuses to lead his men back into battle.”

“That would leave you hanging me, General,” frowned Colonel Ednor. “I am the only regimental commander left alive. You don’t even have enough company commanders left to fill the ranks if you were to offer promotions. General, I do not mean to be argumentative, but your army is crippled. If you insist on having the Lanoirians attacked this night, I suggest you order the Aertans to do it. The 9 thCorps is in tatters.”

The scowl faded from the general’s face as the colonel’s words registered. He had heard reports of heavy losses, but he had not imagined that his officers had been decimated.

“How many men have we lost?” he asked softly.

“I am not sure yet,” answered the colonel, “but it will not be a number that pleases you. The trench was a ruse to get us to attack rather than bypass the Lanoirians. Their true defense was a ring of abatis atop Lizard Hill, and they are prepared to defend it to the very last man.”

“To stop us from reaching Ongchi,” scowled the general.

“Yes,” the colonel replied with a nod, “and they have succeeded in delaying us. Even if we managed to break through their defenses tonight, we would not be marching towards Ongchi before morning. My suggestion is to rest the men tonight and reform the army in the morning. I would then suggest that we bypass Lizard Hill completely. There can’t be more than a couple of hundred Lanoirians left behind their fortifications, and victory over them would be worthless. We should have bypassed them this afternoon.”

“Now you are teaching me strategy?” snapped the general.

“That is not my intent,” the colonel replied quickly. “Things are always clearer looking back on them. I am not judging the decisions made, but rather trying to put things into perspective at this point. If you force me to send the men back to Lizard Hill tonight, they will desert, and I do not have the officers needed to stop them from doing that.”

General Kolling rose from his chair and bellowed, ”Desert? You and the rest of the cowards in Team Barouk sicken me. Get out of my sight!”

The colonel did not hesitate to take his leave. He saluted the general and immediately exited the tent. The guards posted outside the tent gave sympathetic nods to the colonel as he exited, but Ednor did not notice. He returned to the edge of the camp and directed the returning soldiers to make camp for the night. For several hours, he watched the stragglers filing into the camp. There were far less of them than he had hoped for, and he noticed that the men made their camp as far from the large command tent as they could. When an hour had passed with no returning soldiers, the colonel sighed and made his way to one of the fire rings to talk with the returning men to find out what had happened. As he walked across the wide expanse of emptiness around the large command tent, he became aware of how great their losses were. The 9 thCorps of the Empire of Barouk was but a shell of its former glory.

General Mobami, the Governor of Sordoa, sighed with frustration as he watched the Federation column march through the valley. He had been hoping to speak once again to General Barbone, but the Spinoan general had not even glanced in his direction, and the governor did not want to call too much attention to himself. The governor turned his horse and rode away from the column. A few minutes later, he rejoined his own men.

“Any luck?” asked Tedi.

“None,” sighed the governor. “General Barbone did not even glance in my direction. I fear that I will not get a chance to talk to him before the attack.”

“How far is it to the next valley?” asked Natia.

“A few minutes hard ride,” answered the governor. “Why do you ask?”

“I think we can draw enough attention to ensure that General Barbone notices you,” answered Natia.

“What are you planning?” Tedi asked, suspicion heavy in his voice.

“Nothing devious,” answered the gypsy princess. “I think our unicorns would catch the attention of the Federation column. If we merely flew overhead and landed in the next valley, General Barbone would be sure to notice.”

“That just might work,” brightened the governor. “It will take the Federation column about half an hour to cover the distance, but I can be in place much quicker. Give me time to get situated and then fly over the Spinoan general. Land near me so that he cannot possibly miss seeing me.”

“I am going with you,” Tedi asserted as he stared at his wife.

“Afraid that I might run off with a Zaran officer?” quipped Natia.

“Afraid that you might poison the entire column,” laughed Tedi. The gypsy prince grew serious and continued, “You might attract more attention than you want, Natia. My staff can even the odds a great deal if we find some overanxious Zarans coming towards us.”