Kristoff- The Empire Approaches
Kristoff's eyes had to be lying to him. There was no other explanation. He, Liam, Baldur, and Alan were standing in a small grove on a hilltop a mile from the edge of the Great Plains. The Plains stretched to the horizon before them, nothing but waving grassland as far as they could see, with sparse trees growing with miles to themselves. Behind them was the Black Forest, which would prove useful to them when the rest of the army arrived, for the forest was ominous but accommodating. The forest got it's name from the thick canopy, which not only covered the forest in darkness even under the brightest sun, but also kept the undergrowth sparse, as very little could grow with so little light. This meant that there was plenty of room for them to set up their tents. The Elbe River ran through most of the forest as it meandered its way south, providing cool and clean mountain water for the men and their mounts. In front of them was the vast army of the Empire, stretching almost to the horizon. Kristoff had never seen anything like it. Trying to count them was like trying to count sand on a beach.
"How is that even possible?" asked Baldur.
"Conscription?" said Liam. "The Southern Isles and Weselton together couldn't muster half this force with their standing armies."
"So they won't want to be here?"
"It will make them easier to kill," said Kristoff. Baldur fidgeted, but did not speak.
"What's the plan, then, Kristoff?" asked Alan. Kristoff jerked his thumb at the Black Forest.
"In there will do fine for the camp, quite a ways back from the treeline- at least two miles. We'll set up guards around the perimeter. Hans may be insane, but he's not stupid, he'll have scouts in here. As for the battle… I'm going to propose that Corona attack the Empire head on at dawn. It's a stupid move, an amateur mistake, but just believable enough to assuage any fears of trickery- hopefully- and the Empire will try to press their advantage.
That's where we come in. The army will position themselves here-" he waved his arm in the general direction of the treeline "-and the cavalry will be on the eastern end. Hans will surely have his magicians back from the front line. It's too risky to have them be in too much danger. We'll do what we can with steel, but if the magicians show themselves, we'll just have to hope Elsa is up to the task. When it's time, the infantry will move on the enemy's southern flank, while the cavalry circles around from the east, coming up behind them. If possible, the archers will remain in cover in the forest, but I doubt Hans is stupid enough to be that close to the trees.
With any luck, we can surround them from three sides, south, east, and west, and push them away from the forest, which would give them too much of a defensive advantage. If we can pull that off, we can contain them and keep us from being surrounded by their larger force, which should also serve to cut their numbers advantage. After that, we'll have to play it by ear. Everyone agree?"
Everyone mumbled their agreement. "Good," said Kristoff. "Let's head back."
Author Note: To anyone reading, thank you for sticking with me so far. The past ten chapters have been a slow burn, I admit, but it has a purpose. Tomorrow, though- shit gets real. See you then.