Ontogeny

Chapter 15a

     “We believe it can be done,” said Field Marshall Amberley.

     They were back in the War Room. On the back wall someone had hung a map of the border territories marked with roads, troop positions and telegraph cables. Dyrell and the four garrison cities in eastern Carrow had pieces of paper pinned beside them on which various statistics had been written, the paper grey where the pencilmarks had been erased and rewritten many times as new information came in. Guards stood beside the map, ready to arrest any unauthorised person who entered the room and got a glimpse of it.

     “The risks would be great, of course,” added General Pavok. “The timetable of events we've worked out assumes that everything goes correctly, that there are no unpleasant surprises. A single Carrow carrier pigeon carrying news of what we're doing to the next army camp could spell disaster.”

     The King nodded. “The most dangerous thing we can do is leave the Carrowmen to take the initiative,” he said. “Our only chance of survival is to do the unexpected. To knock them out of their carefully laid invasion plans.”

     “This certainly has the merit of being unexpected,” said General Glowen. “If I were King Nilon, I would never expect us to do this. It's insane! To gamble the bulk of our army to this mad scheme, risking its total loss with every move...”

     “We cannot win a war with Carrow unless we even the numbers,” said Amberley. “If we don't, we might as well surrender now. Is that what you suggest?”

     “Of course not.” He turned to the King. “How are our relations with the Empire? Will they come to our aid if Carrow invades?”

     “As matters stand at this moment, they are still committed by treaty to help us, but that is likely to change any day now. The sabotage of Kelvon production facilities continues. Carrow is still selling counterfeit machine parts to Kelvon’s customers and passing them off as ours. My advisors say that the Empire is days away from publicly denouncing us and withdrawing their offer of support. That's the only thing Carrow is waiting for. They will almost certainly launch a full scale invasion the very next day.” He turned to Amberley. “How soon can we carry out this plan?”

     “Two days,” replied the Field Marshall. “We're lucky. Our army is already right where we need it to be, on the border with Carrow. We just need time to reorganize it. Scout out the countryside on their side of the border to make sure there are no nasty surprises waiting for us there. Fortunately, their army is almost entirely in their garrison cities. They can't position them along the border or throughout the countryside without tipping the Empire off on what they’re planning.”

     He crossed the room to stand before the map and used his swagger stick to point to the red lines denoting telegraph cables. “We can send the engineers in at any time, but once they go we have no way to communicate with them. We have to tell them before they leave exactly when they’re to cut the telegraph cables, and once we do that we're committed to that timetable. We can't delay. We can’t reschedule if something unexpected happens. I recommend we leave dispatching them for as long as possible, to reduce the possibility of discovery.”

     The King nodded again. “We'll have no way of knowing whether they've been successful,” he said.

     “That's right, Majesty. We could attack Fastyke, destroy it with total success and then have our army totally destroyed at Salford because they had warning. And even if the line to Salford was cut successfully, that wouldn’t mean that the other lines were cut. Every army base we attack will be a leap into darkness.”

     “Even if the telegraph lines are cut successfully, there are other ways to send messages fast,” pointed out Glowen. “Riders on horses, carrier pigeons...”

     “Each base will be surrounded before we attack,” said Amberley. “We will have a ring of archers to take out any bird or rider that tries to leave. We’ll take all civilians we encounter in the surrounding countryside into custody, then use explosives to blow holes in the wall in multiple places. We go in fast, take the city before they know what's happening. Hopefully, we’ll be in complete control before they’re able to even think about getting a message out. By the time King Nilon knows what's going on we'll have a hundred thousand Carrow soldiers either dead or prisoner. If he still wants a war with us, we’ll have a nice, level playing field. I suspect he'll look for a diplomatic settlement.”

     “Suppose he does,” said Minister Daerden thoughtfully. “What do we do? Give him his men back? We'll be right back where we started.”

     “Right,” agreed Pavok. “Dead is definitely preferable to taken prisoner.”

     “We let them surrender if they want to,” said Leothan firmly. “We're not barbarians. We kill only to defend ourselves. Any prisoners we take, we keep. Forever. I'm sure we can find a use for them. Work camps and so on.”

     “It’ll take a lot of men to guard that many prisoners,” pointed out Minister Larren. “Then we’ll have to organise their removal to Helberion. It could be several days before we're ready to march on the next city.”

     “We march on the next city the very next day,” replied Amberley. “Every minute we delay increases the risk of word getting out of what we're doing. Disposition of prisoners will be the responsibility of the Auxiliary Brigades.”

     “They're not capable of that kind of...”

     “They'll have to be! This will only work if everyone steps up and does their part. The Auxes will take the prisoners back across the border, where their first job will be to build prison camps for themselves.”

     “Those Above!” said Glowen. “So many things that can go wrong. If we really pull this off, it'll be a miracle.”

     “This will be a battle unlike any we've ever fought before,” said General Lanier. “Unlike any battle since the fall of the Hetin folk, and even they may never have done anything like this. Normally, when you attack a city, you leave the defenders a line of escape. When the enemy sees they’re beaten you let them leave, because it’s the city you want. Territory, resources.”

     Amberley nodded. “This time, it's the men we want, not the city. When the enemy finds there's no line of escape they'll have to decide whether they want to surrender or fight to the last man.” He looked at the map as if he could see thousands of terrified but heavily armed Carrow soldiers trying to decide now brave they were. “Could get messy,” he said.

     “Messy or not, it has to be done,” said the King. “When would you advise we set things in motion?”

     “I advise that we send the scouts in now. The engineers two days after that when the scouts report back. Then we send the army to attack Fastyke three days later.”

     The King nodded again, then looked up at the map as if he could see thousands of men fighting and dying on it. If any of a thousand things went wrong, they could lose the main strength of their army. Carrow would be able to cross the border at leisure, citing their attack as justification, and Helberion would have nothing that could stop them. He felt the tension in the room, as tight as a bow string. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for his decision. He sensed hearts pounding, sweat beading on foreheads. None more so than his own. The decision that had to be made felt as heavy as a block of granite strapped to his back. He forced himself to stand straight. He was King! He enjoyed all the pageantry and ceremony, the banquets and the cheering crowds, but this was what it really meant to be King. This moment. This decision. Thousands of lives, the fate of the Kingdom, all resting on him.

     He took a deep breath. “Do it,” he said. “And may Those Above have mercy on us.”

     The military men nodded grimly and filed out of the room, all tense with nervous energy. The Ministers followed, theirs eyes wide with fear and muttering under their breaths. Minister Daerden hung back for a moment, until he was alone with the King, then walked over to stand beside him. “I hope that wasn't the last command you give as King,” he said quietly.

     “So do I, Minister,” replied Leothan, staring up at the map again. “So do I.”