Ch. 36: Battle Plans

Eventually I got back on my own horse and we continued travelling. My ankle had almost completely healed up by this point, without Richie being aware of any sort of accident.

A week passed when we finally decided to make camp. Oh sure we had been making small breaks here and there, but for the most part we had been traveling non-stop. This time though we needed to assess our next step and allow the troops to gain some adequate rest. The area surrounding us was dreary and a little cold. Everything was covered in dense shrubbery and dirt and I could see mountains in the distance.

The next territory we would need to claim was called Bargona which resided within the mountains. This was one territory we would be unable to do anything but full-on war. They were revered to be a war-crazed society like the Bodach Empire and would only submit to lands that could prove their prowess in battle. Not many lands were able to do that though since the Bargonians enjoyed drawn out battles that lasted for months causing the enemy to run out of food supplies. Their signature move was to strike hard, analyze the competition then either defeat the enemy or retreat into the mountains. If they retreated it would spell almost certain failure for the enemy.

However, the Bodach Empire had a few advantages up it's sleeve - for one we were coming from the Silvantia side which they weren't used to and could provide an element of surprise. Secondly, we could have resources sent through Silvantia being as we were now on friendly terms - this would allow us to have plenty of food if the battle were to drag out longer than our current supply. I had been reading a few strategy books as we were traveling in order to try and get a feel of this whole war thing. Even though I had been in a war amidst the ruins of my own society, it didn't mean I knew a thing of how to conduct one.

Seeing that the camp was adequately set up, I sought counsel immediately. Since I was the Champion I got to decide who was in my counsel, therefore I had Kovin, Toval, Rodair, Richie, our informant Lendale and . . . Viktor the messenger. I only had Viktor in case I needed him to run errands quickly - sometimes he could be useful.

"Alright guys, Bargona is a difficult territory with mountains on either side. Lendale, I need you to go in and gather some information from the locals - see if they have any prominent weaknesses." I was gradually getting used to giving orders since Kovin wasn't very helpful. He really took it to heart when the demon prince had said I would be making all the tactical decisions - Kovin couldn't even be bothered with coming up with any ideas. Instead, he would point out when my idea was stupid and get enraged when my ideas seemed fatal. There was no other feedback though, just contempt or slight appreciation when my plans seemed to contradict his foreseen outcome.

"We should be able to catch them off guard coming from the Silvantia border, however I don't want to risk it. Therefore, Viktor I want you to go back across Silvantia and alert Gorvant to obtain an adequate food supply line in case we need it. Once you have overseen preparations, make your way back here to await orders."

Both Lendale and Viktor bowed their heads in respect while firmly accepting, "Understood Champion!" They both left the tent leaving the rest of us to think out our next step.

"It will probably take them a few weeks to gather the information, so we should have sufficient time to rest up. We just need to make sure that our plans don't get exposed." I stated.

The rest of the party agreed and Rodair asked, "What about the Bargona mountains? Once the army makes it into the heart of the land, won't the army be instantly spotted?"

I nodded my head, acknowledging that I had taken this into consideration. "Kovin, how large is our forces right now compared to Bargona?"

Kovin gave me a dull look like I should already know this, "Our forces range at six thousand soldiers. The Bargona forces should range between two to three thousand military forces. Keep in mind that they know this territory inside and out and will use that to their advantage."

I was a little surprised to find him so forth-right with the last tidbit of information. I mulled over what he said and looked at the map in front of us showing the Bargona territory. "If we split the army into four, couldn't we hit them from all sides? If we smother them we would stand a better chance of least resistance and could potentially cut down on the number of lives lost."

Toval looked at the map and shrugged, "That's a pretty good idea, but what about their city? It's located slap-dab in the middle of the mountains - if we go from all sides that would trap their women and children as well."

I grimaced from the sudden flashback of that fateful day when my own home was being torn apart. Trying to ignore the past, I shook my head while saying, "Okay, maybe that's not a wise decision then. Unless . . . once they're surrounded, we alert them of our impending attack - this would allow them to have the locals seek shelter within the city walls as the army could come up to meet us."

Kovin gave me a smirk, "You want to do a surprise attack and then let them know that we're there?"

"Do you have a better idea?" I asked exasperatedly. I was tired and really not that great at being a tactician. I wasn't like Kovin's horrible demonic prince who was bred for scheming war plans - I was used to stealth attacks and fighting one-on-one, not leading an army and having every life dependent on my shoulders. I may have delved into the art of war, but it wasn't as a leader. Even though I was determined to make this work it just seemed like I was inadequate for such a task.

Richie finally spoke up from manicuring his nails in the corner, "You know if this society is as battle crazy as they say, they might just come looking for a fight. Why don't you have half our army waiting near the mountains and when their army comes rushing out to test our strength, we surround them then? Bing bang boom - they're entire army defeated in one go!"

We all look back at Richie who was still steadily cleaning out from under his nails, oblivious to the effect his words had. I looked around the table with a pleased expression, my prior insecurities momentarily forgotten, "You know, that might just work."