The Army

Suthrath stood facing the 'army' of the settlement. And behind him stood the councillors. They were curious, apprehensive and anxious wondering what Suthrath was going to say and what their leader was going to do.

The army if it could be called an army totalled to 200 in number. Out of the 400 men that the western settlement originally had, 40 percentage of them had been killed in the previous two skirmishes.

Another 10 percentage had been severely injured and thus they were not capable to fight in another war.

This skewed ratio where the killed numbered more than the injured showed how bad it had been for the western settlement. It could be said that half of their forces had been wiped out in two skirmishes.

Originally, out of these 400 men- a quarter of them had horses. Meaning, for every councillor who 50 men under them, 12 or 13 of them could have horses. And no, it was not a law that limited the number of horses. On the contrary, the law forced the councillors to maintain the minimum of their required quota.

Maintaining a horse was a costly affair. From buying it in the town to keeping it fed and fit, a single horse incurred double the expense of a foot soldier.

Fortunately, the horses had suffered a lower causality. Out of the 100 horses, the western settlement originally had, 75 were still alive and fit for battle. Though the riders of a lot of them had perished, their horses still remained.

Suthrath knew that his army was nothing more than a bunch of untrained, undisciplined and unmotivated men put together. They had no cohesion among themselves as they worked under different councillors.

Suthrath though would be fighting a similar enemy. It was just that the enemy army would be too motivated after their two amazing victories. And also, that it was numerically superior and had better weapons and had been training for months.

"Men," Suthrath's voice boomed loudly.

It seemed that the story of Suthrath's miraculous recovery had spread among these people too. They had a certain awe and respect in their eyes when they looked at their new leader.

"I know that the past 4 days have been tough… disastrous for all us," Suthrath continued in his steel like voice. "And I cannot say that the upcoming day is going to be easy."

"It is certainly not be going to be easy," Suthrath continued. "But what I can promise is honour, respect and valour."

Men throughout history had been known to fight wars for few limited purposes. Money, resources and land was the materialistic side of the purposes.

Honour, respect and valour was the unmaterialistic side of the purposes. And Suthrath had only this unmaterialistic side to offer to his men.

"I have promised the inhabitants of our settlement- victory over the enemy, revenge for our fallen brothers and justice for all of us," he boomed.

"And I intend to keep this promise," he said. "I might die trying to fulfil my promise."

"But I will do it with courage," he continued.

"I might win or I might lose but I will do it with valour."

"When I meet my fallen soldiers in the afterlife, I would be able to look into their eyes," Suthrath said and his words echoed in the silent surrounding.

"I would be able to look into their eyes and say that when I got the last chance, I did not falter out of cowardice," Suthrath boomed. "I would be able to say that I faced them with my full courage."

"Even if I fail, I will have the respect of my fallen brothers," Suthrath said.

"I will have the self esteem to say that I died fighting for my land," he concluded.

His words had caused an adrenaline pump among his men.

"Who is willing to fight for their land, for their fallen brothers, for the members of their family, for their self esteem, for their land?" He asked.

"I," was the unified echo he received in response.

"No," Suthrath contradicted. "We."

"We," the cheer was even louder than the previous time.

Suthrath let the silent flow in for few moments and his words to be digested.

"When you are on the battlefield, I will only demand one thing from you all," Suthrath said. "Obedience."

"What I say is the law on the battlefield," he echoed and the men echoed in acceptance.

"Starting this moment some special arrangements had been made for you and I believe that you will follow the rules without any issue," he echoed. "Discipline is one of the most important factors you all have to follow if you want to achieve victory in the upcoming battle."

"Now councillor Lander has some instructions about the new arrangements," he said. "Please follow them."

After this Lander approached the soldiers and began guiding them to a certain direction.

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