Proxy War (2)

- - Yusen POV - -

I've been in service of the lord since that first war against Visigoth when he saved all our lives.

Who would think that less than a year later and I would be a commander, not that I didn't lead men before but I am now a captain of my own ship, and more so than that an Admiral, we are a series of 5 ships captained by my comrades our mission is to pirate the Ramie kingdom and plunder it's wealth.

When the call first went out there was questions raised as the lord was a master of land warfare so why bother with the sea, but after hearing that the Ramie kingdom slighted our lord and demanded the return of our allies and their ships.

The people rose up to the challenge, and I a lifelong soldier changed my career to become one with the navy instead.

Our piracy has been raising havok among the Ramie kingdom, as our ships pass by the coasts, all the coastal villages have either already been raided or were abandoned for fear of our invasion.

Our journey this time is not to raid the Ramie kingdom, but instead the former Carthage kingdom.

Julius promised to free Queen Serena's people and we are only happy to obey his orders.

Our simple 5 ships could not raid a major port city like the former capital, but we can make landings and control a portion of the territory, sending runners via captured horses to rouse the populace and trigger and evacuation towards our ships.

By emptying out these lands Ramie will lose even more, for the greatest thing they gained from their conquest was the labour force, and with it the resources within the territory but without that populace Ramie could not exploit those resources.

The outpouring of the populace that fell into slavery, followed then by those killed in attempted uprising against their new overlords, and lastly was those liberated by our raiding forces.

As the days rolled on, Ramie had all but abandoned their coasts to our superiority.

The five ships with us this time, are prepared to meet a defending fleet but at the same time our primary objective is to defend the 10 transport ships with us, these ships are captured vessels, formerly owned by the Ramie kingdom, but now the lords possessions, the navy now was not responsible for further raiding actions, the transport ships held within them a few cohorts of the army, it was their job to go on land and sow as much destruction as they could, bring back what could be found and then have us continue to escort them home.

The chosen location for our landing site was on the Carthage cape, the transport ships quickly made landfall at low-tide while our own military ships anchored further out at sea in a defensive formation.

The land forces began setting up a simple camp before scouting parties took off into the interior.

Ah the salt air breeze, compared to life in the army this is heaven, even when a fight occurs their is no mud mixed with blood, water is always around even if it is salt water.

While we awaited the return of the land forces, me and my men conducted further naval training, even launching mock combat against our own ships.

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- - Givens POV - -

Well this is a first in my life...

I'm a life long soldier, but here I am in another nation who were not at war with raiding like I was a bandit.

The lord called our force corsairs, and our job is to raid and pillage our way down the Ramie kingdoms western coast, collecting supplies, liberating the carthaginian peoples, and if present enslave the Ramie Kingdoms subjects.

This is not work for a solider...

But their nation insulted our lord!

That alone should mean an act of war, but our lord is kind and just!

Rather than cause the deaths of tens of thousands he instead is merciful and is instead taking the cost for their sleight out of their lands without their resistance.

Thanks to Admiral Yusen we safely got to Ramie's lands and I can trust my back to the Admiral just like we all used to trust our lives to his commands in the army.

Our raiding force of corsairs is 2,500 men five separate cohorts against the whole of the Ramie kingdom we cannot possibly win, but if we send our forces our in five separate directions using the maps provided by the Queen we can attack a significant area of Carthage before retreating and thanks to the lords training except for cavalry by the time the enemy arrives to combat us we'll have already left with everything.

Our camp was being assembled while scout were sent out.

These were our most light of foot and fastest runners, their job was to locate nearby villages and acquire horses, once those are gained the following cohort will attack, resources sent back to the camp, along with all the people, any Carthaginians will be given the choice to leave or stay, if they choose to stay we will leave then with a portion of the raided food and leave them their own things, while those who come will be provided for upon reaching our ports.

Ramie has yet to respond to our repeated incursions into their lands, they may have gained power by absorbing the Carthage kingdom, but it actually reduced their overall power, the armed forces of Carthage were devastated due to the Civil war and then invasion defence while Ramie sent pretty much their entire army into Carthage, and barely had the force required to maintain control over the land.

* * *

It was also due to this that Julius had chosen not to invade while a takeover would be simple, his own forces would not be enough to maintain his own defence after sending garrisons to Carthage and Ramie, not to mention the growing threat from the Principality as their faith's spread was rapidly gaining momentum.

Also Julius's attentions were not focused on the south at this time as turmoil was brewing closer to home, in the Roserun Kingdom where the situation was reaching a breaking point.