Danev

"Intelligence tells us General How is leading the defense now."

"Shit."

"Yeah. Shit."

And so it was another one on one strategy session with Lu Ten. 3 days ago, during the 'Battle of the Camp of Two Failures', the name given to the pathetic attempt of a defense put on by Sung and Sodhru, Lu Ten had tried something new. And it had worked to perfection. He had joined the battle along with my platoon. And with his insight into the battle as a whole and our combined efforts at leading our men, my platoon cleaned house, racking a total of 163 kills with only 14 casualties, 3 of them deaths. Tough to replace, but we'd manage.

Since then, Lu Ten had decided to correspond with me more regarding upcoming strategies in the hopes I'd see something he didn't. I guess you could call it a promotion. Of sorts.

"He'll be fortifying." Lu Ten said. "He'll want to draw us into a trap. I don't doubt he's mining no man's land as we speak."

"And we don't have enough artillery to disperse them."

"We have enough to scare them, but we're running low on ammunition for them."

"So a head on approach wouldn't be wise."

"Probably not. We could try detonating them with our tanks again, but I'd be surprised if he hadn't rigged the mines for anti-tank capabilities."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah. Directional blasts. Send them straight up through our armor. It'll blast through steel like soft butter."

"So where does that leave us?"

"Unconventiality. That's why you're here. So tell me. See anything we can use?"

I looked at the map. His camp was backed against the wall, ruling out any chances of a rear attack. And coming from the sides wouldn't work. It would be more fortified than ever, covering a smaller area. We could just barrage him. Come at him with everything we had. We'd lose hundreds. No. We'd lose thousands. Lu Ten, Iroh, neither of them would ever go through with that. I looked through the map, scanning for any unseen detail, saying "Sorry. I really can't see any-"

I paused.

"What?"

What if we can go around?

"Danev. What is it?"

"What if we go around?"

"Hard to do with the wall."

"Or is it? Look at this town here, 'Stone's edge.' They're right against the wall and on the far East of the city. I doubt the Earth Kingdom has men there. We could never get a sizeable portion of our army there unseen. They'd have men on the walls to shoot us down the second we got within a mile, but a small group could get to that town."

"And go through there? I wouldn't be surprised if it was still occupied. You saw the villages and farmsteads here. That town is definitely inhabited. They'll spot us coming from leagues away. We couldn't get through."

"Unless it was in their best interest to let us through."

He was thinking now. Thinking beyond countering what I had to say, but building off of it instead.

"If we get through, they still have sentries on the walls here ad there. They'd see us if we were inside. Not to mention the civilians."

"Who are all rioting at the inner district. It'll be a ghost town in there."

"They'll have men at the gate leading to the camp. We'd never get through. It'll be manned at all times."

"Unless those soldiers are busy fending off a real attack."

"So you're saying we'd have the Crimson Army attack their camp, distract them long enough for us to get into the inner district, open a gate behind them, and lead a small force to break their lines and open the way for the army to finish the job?"

"Exactly."

And there was silence. And understandable silence that went beyond considering an idea to working it out in the head. Because it was by no means a small decision to make. And on his face, I saw the moment when he went from convincing himself to knowing it was time to convince others.

He stood up with a speed that startled even me. He was beginning to smile.

"I'll tell my father what you told me. If it gets approved, we leave tomorrow to scout it out. If it's clear like you say, we get our men ready. Then it's getting the inhabitants to side with us and we'll work it out from there."

I stood up now, shocked by the speed at which he was working here. He really believed in this. "And you're sure about this?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Don't start doubting yourself now, Danev. It's too late for that. I'm sold. Get a list of men together. No more than 100. We need to stay small.

I was still agape as he left the camp. I followed him out and said, "So we're really going through with this?" He turned around, continuing to walk in reverse as he said "Oh. That we are. Be ready to leave by tomorrow night! I have a feeling the old man's going to love your plan!"

And with that, he turned around and continued towards his old man's tent. And so, just like that, over a late-night conversation, the course for the end of the war was determined.

And all of that without a single insult from a division commander. Yeah. Definitely a promotion.