Harry Turtledove: Sentry Peak

“Of course, sir,” Hesmucet said-what else could he possibly say?

“No one could be reckoned more reliable than General Bart,” George said. He was no particular friend of Bart’s, but he didn’t seem jealous that Bart had ascended to this peak of soldierly distinction. That took considerable character.

“When I become marshal,” Bart went on, “I expect I’m going to have to stay in the west. If the king in his wisdom decides we need a marshal, he’ll want that man to concentrate on trying to whip Duke Edward of Arlington and going after Nonesuch. If you’re in Georgetown, if you’re living in the Black Palace, that will seem the most important thing in the world.”

Both Hesmucet and Doubting George soberly nodded. Ever since the war began, the cry in Georgetown had always been, “Forward to Nonesuch!” As Hesmucet knew, it was a cry that had produced some impressive disasters: the first battle at Cow Jog sprang to mind. False King Geoffrey’s men might have gone on and captured Georgetown and split Detina forever if they hadn’t been almost as disrupted in victory as Avram’s army was in defeat.

Bart said, “That leads me to the arrangements I’m going to make for the armies here in the east. The fight here won’t get the fame of the battles over in Parthenia. We all know that. I’m sorry about it, but I can’t change it, and nobody else can, either.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” George said. “King Geoffrey could have changed it if he’d sent Duke Edward out this way instead of Joseph the Gamecock. Joseph’s a formidable fighter, but the bards and the chroniclers cluster round Edward like ravens and vultures round a dead steer.”

“Pleasant turn of phrase,” Bart said with a smile.

“Sir…” Hesmucet’s driving ambition wouldn’t let him sit around and wait for Bart to get to things by easy stages. He had to know . “Sir, what arrangements have you made for the armies here in the east?”

“Well, I was coming to that,” Bart replied.

Hesmucet forced himself just to nod and not to bark more questions. He’d thought he had the inside track on higher command till his men banged their heads in vain against the strong northern position on Funnel Hill while George’s, against all odds, stormed the slopes of Proselytizers’ Rise. Of course, Count Thraxton’s botched magecraft had had a good deal to do with George’s success, but would Bart remember it?

The commanding general was looking at him. “One of the things I have recommended to King Avram, Lieutenant General Hesmucet, and one of the things he has said he will do”-he might not have intended to, but he was stringing it out, making Hesmucet wait, threatening to drive him mad-“is to promote you to full general, to leave no doubt who will and should be in command here in the east.”

A long breath sighed out of Hesmucet. “Thank you very much, sir.”

“General Bart-Marshal Bart-already told me what he had in mind along those lines,” George said. “Congratulations, General.”

“Thank you, too,” Hesmucet said. “I expect we’ll be working together closely to defeat the common foe.”

“I expect you’re right, sir,” Doubting George replied. “Give me my orders, and I will carry them out as best I can.”

“I’m sure you will, your Excellency.” Hesmucet was also sure George had desperately wanted the command he’d just received himself. Some officers, in that situation, would try to undercut their superiors. Fighting Joseph would, in a heartbeat. Hesmucet didn’t think Doubting George was a man of that sort. He hoped George wasn’t. But if he is, I’ll deal with it-and with him .

Bart said, “You will have charge of everything between the Green Ridge Mountains and the Great River. Take your station where you will, though I intend that you concentrate on Joseph the Gamecock’s army, as I will concentrate on Duke Edward’s.”

“Yes, sir !” Hesmucet said enthusiastically. “That’s just what I aim to do. If we can smash those two armies, King Geoffrey hasn’t got anything left.” He saluted again. “Thank you for giving me the chance to do this.”

“Well, you won’t do it all by your lonesome,” Bart remarked.

Ah. Now we come down to it , Hesmucet thought. He asked the question the new marshal was surely waiting for: “What sort of arrangement for the armies under my command-under your command-have you got in mind?”

“First and foremost, I think you’d be wise to leave Doubting George here in command of the army that used to belong to General Guildenstern,” Bart answered. “Since that’ll be far and away the biggest army here in the east, he’ll be your second-in-command. Does that suit you?”

“Yes, sir. It suits me fine.” Hesmucet turned to George. “Does it suit you, Lieutenant General?”

“I tell you frankly, sir, there is one other arrangement that would have suited me better,” Lieutenant General George replied. “But I’ll do everything I can to whip the traitors, and that includes following your orders. From what I’ve seen, I think you’ll give pretty good ones.”

“Thank you.” Hesmucet stuck out his hand. If Doubting George hesitated for even a moment before clasping it, Hesmucet didn’t notice.

“Good. That’s settled.” Bart sounded relieved. What would the new marshal have done for a second-in-command here if George hadn’t cared to serve under me? Hesmucet wondered. Fighting Joseph? Gods forbid!

“My next question, sir, is, when do you want me to get moving against Joseph the Gamecock and whatever’s left of the Army of Franklin?” Hesmucet said.

For one of the rare times Hesmucet could recall, Bart looked faintly embarrassed. “It won’t be quite so soon as you’d like,” he replied.

“What? Why not?” Hesmucet demanded.

“Because I’m going to want your campaign against Joseph and mine against Duke Edward to start more or less at the same time,” Bart said. “That way, neither one of them will be able to reinforce the other, the way Edward sent James of Broadpath here to the east. I’m going to need a while to get a grip on things there in the west, so we may well have to wait till spring.”

“I want to move sooner,” Hesmucet grumbled.

Doubting George inclined his head to his new superior. “Do you know, sir, if King Avram had had himself half a dozen generals who wouldn’t be satisfied with waiting just a little while, with being almost on time, he’d have put paid to the northerners’ revolt a long time ago.”

“You may be right,” Hesmucet said. Then he shook his head. “No, gods damn it, you are right. But I’ll tell you something else. The king has got himself two of that kind of general now.” He pointed to Marshal Bart, then jabbed a thumb at his own chest. After a moment, he said, “Make that three,” and pointed to Lieutenant General George, too.

“I do thank you very much for the kind inclusion,” George said. “But you two are the ones who count, and you two are also in the spots that count. Grand Duke Geoffrey won’t have such a happy time of it from here on in, unless I’m wronger than usual, and” -his eyes twinkled- “I doubt I am.”

“I know that I’m leaving the east in good hands,” Bart said. “What sort of a mess I’ll find when I get to the west-that’s liable to be a different question. People back there have let Duke Edward cow them for too long. He can be beaten, I do believe, and I aim to try to do it.”

“From what I’ve seen and from what I’ve heard, the soldiers there in the west go into a fight with Duke Edward wondering what he’s going to do do them,” Hesmucet said. “They don’t think so much about what they can do to him. If you worry about what the other fellow is going to do, you’ll wind up in trouble.”