Richard Tuttle - 13 Day War

“Which also makes him a threat to any action we take in the eastern countries,” stated Alex. “Tauman and the 1st Corps have to be neutralized. Can you accomplish that, Clint?”

Clint frowned heavily. “I am proud of what I have made the A Corps into, but they are not Alcean Rangers. 1st Corps outnumbers us five-to-one, and they are far better trained from what I have heard.”

“Can you do it?” pressed Alex.

“We will do it,” Clint promised, “but I don’t know how just yet.”

“Station the A Corps close to Camp Destiny,” instructed Alex. “I will let you know when all of the Doors have been neutralized.”

“You two can work out those details later,” interrupted King Arik. “We have a room full of people waiting on us. Let’s get that meeting over with so they can all return home and prepare for this war.”

The discussion ended and King Arik led the group out of his study and into the meeting room. General Gregor was addressing the group and King Arik nodded for him to continue as the smaller group filed into the room.

“The holding pens need to be dispersed,” instructed the general. “It is dangerous for them all to be located in the same place, and it is not wise to have them near the capital cities. The maximum number of prisoners in any one pen is to be one-thousand men, and that should be broken up into smaller segments if possible. Remember, the purpose of these pens is to keep the enemy from regrouping and causing havoc after they are captured, so keep the locations of pens secret. If any one pen is compromised, it will be easier to handle if they cannot help others to escape.”

“Transporting large numbers of prisoners will not be easy,” complained Governor Mobami of Sordoa, “especially if we are still engaged with other prongs of the attack.”

“Each prong should have its own cadre of citizen militia for this task,” offered Bin-lu. “That way we do not take valuable resources away from the army. The militia need not be made up of warriors. They only need to be proficient enough with bows to keep the prisoners under guard. The prisoners will already have been relieved of their weapons, so the greatest threat is escape. In Lanoir, we have already created these militia and the holding pens. I can share with you the problems we encountered if you are interested.”

“Mention the transportation problems, Bin-lu,” suggested Colonel Gregor. “If anyone needs to hear more, he can get with you after the meeting.”

The Knight of Alcea nodded. “Transportation will be a major problem because the pens should be located well away from the city. It is safest to move the prisoners in a contained fashion rather than have them march to the pens. In Lanoir we are using wagons and ships. This means that we need to have the wagons and ships available for use without their importance becoming noticed by any spies in the area. Governor Za-chan has accomplished this by requiring every cargo ship in Lanoir to be inspected before the first day of spring. The harbor of Ongchi is already crowded with ships, but the inspections have been delayed for some strange reason, so none of them have left yet.”

Many in the room laughed at the wily methods of the Lanoirian governor.

Bin-lu smiled and continued, “A side effect of this slow inspection process is that the streets of Ongchi are overcrowded with wagons. Most of the wagons arrived in the city with cargoes for the ships, but the ships are not ready to leave because they have not been inspected. So we have the wagons and ships ready for the transportation of prisoners without letting any spies know their true purpose.”

“Clever,” commented General Gregor. “I think that is enough about handling the prisoners. I will turn the meeting over to King Arik.”

“Thank you all for coming,” opened the king. “I have just received news that the Zarans have started to move their armies towards the portals. While we do not have an exact date for the start of the war, it is estimated that we have two weeks before the first Zaran troops arrive. That is a little bit sooner than we had planned on, but the timing is not under our control. General Fernandez, I think this affects Cordonia far greater than the others. You need to start moving the Cordonian army to Targa immediately.”

“We are still badly snowed in,” frowned the Governor of Cordonia. “My armies will never reach Targa in time to be of any help.”

“I can help with that,” offered Prince Oscar. “I can have my ships transport your soldiers to Dalek. It will still take a fair amount of time, but I think it will at least get the bulk of your troops here in time.”

“We can’t afford for spies to see the soldiers boarding the ships,” warned Alex.

“And they won’t,” promised Governor Fernandez. “My men will not be wearing uniforms, and we can load Prince Oscar’s ships at night from several different cities. I have also prepared a disinformation campaign to keep the spies from noticing the lack of soldiers in the cities. False reports of army activity will spread through the cities so that anyone wondering where all the soldiers went will be satisfied with what they hear.”

The king waited to be sure that the conversation was ended before taking back control of the meeting.

“Anyone else who needs to move armies to be prepared for the invasion will need to start thinking about doing that very soon. The first Federation armies destined for Alcea will be coming through Doors in the city of Barouk in Lanoir. From the time they step through those Doors, they have allotted themselves thirteen days for all of their armies to rally at our major cities. The last armies to arrive on our soil will appear in Danver Shores on day nine of those thirteen days, giving Tagaret only four days to halt their march. All of the other armies will be somewhere in between those mentioned. General Gregor has created maps for each of you. The maps detail each of the Federation armies and where they are supposed to be on each of those thirteen days. Do not take these maps as a certainty. The locations are what the Federation plans, not necessarily where they will actually be. In some cases, our forces will be trying to slow down some of those armies.”

The king paused to gaze around the room. He saw a lot of nervousness among the group, but he thought little of it. He was also nervous. No matter how much they planned, King Arik knew that things would change the moment the fighting started.

“All right then,” continued the king. “I think it is time to break up into groups and finalize your plans. I want a report of those plans before you leave Tagaret. If there is any need for assistance from the crown, make sure you get it before you leave here. This will be our last meeting before the war begins.”

The assembly broke up into provincial groups and spread out to different areas of the large room. Alexander Tork, figuring that this would be his last chance to speak to the leaders before hostilities broke out, decided to touch base with each group. He started with Lanoir where General Za-hong, Bin-lu, and Rut-ki were talking quietly in the corner.

“Lanoir will be first to receive the Federation,” Alex said in way of a greeting. “How do you feel about your preparations?”

“Good for the most part,” answered General Za-hong. “Bin-lu seems to have considered everything.”

“Not everything,” frowned Bin-lu. “We have significant surprises in store for the enemy, but I am still anxious. Perhaps it is because I have traveled with the likes of Jenneva and Tanya, but our mages do not appear capable of much in the way of offensive magic.”

“The Lanoirian army has never depended upon magicians,” retorted General Za-hong. “The strength of our army has always been in numbers. The strategy was to overwhelm your opponent.”