Chapter IV
"The Battle"
The muzzles of the cannons spurt forth jets of flame and produced a thick wall of smoke as the first battery opened fire. The deafening report shook Crumm to the core as he surveyed the siege from behind the field guns. The second battery followed up with a thunderous cannonade of its own and he had to fight to control his charger when the beast reared on its hind legs. He patted the mare on the neck to soothe her and the animal regained its composure. His spyglass swept across the horizon and he spat upon the ground in disdain. The rapid offensive envisioned by the General Staff had bogged down with an unacceptably high casualty rate. And he was in the thick of things, a readily available scapegoat for the higher ups back home to sacrifice to the political leadership if everything ended in failure.
The 10th Division and its supporting units had launched a full thrust northward from Arni after the fishing village surrendered without opposition. With Guldove and Arni as forward command posts whence his forces could easily be re-supplied and augmented, Crumm had little reason to believe that subsequent attacks would be anything less than a string of brilliant and swift victories.
"That damned backwater militia!" he snarled fiercely. "That damned pack of worthless, antiquated toy soldiers!" He hurled his telescope toward the enemy with all his might and the small cylindrical object sailed through the air.
He had vastly misjudged the staying qualities of El Nido forces, their numbers and the weapons they fought with. Instead of encountering poorly led sword wielding troopers, Porre soldiers met stiff resistance in the form of an enemy commanded by fairly competent leaders and equipped with relatively modern implements of war. While the 10th Division had weapons that possessed greater range and accuracy, the Acacians had more hardware and the added advantage of the rugged terrain. The thought of a grueling campaign in rough territory greatly disturbed him, and enraged him further especially after the almost bloodless affair at Guldove.
An adjutant ran up and handed Crumm another spyglass. He extended it and scanned the darkening landscape. For an instant he could see in the fading daylight the black outline of cannon barrels trained on his forces from the Acacian redoubts. Then came the brilliant orange flashes, followed by the report of eighteen guns, and the view of the enemy position was obscured by smoke. The rounds fired by the El Nido batteries screamed overhead and plunged into the earth around him and his troops. His horse panicked and again he battled to control the beast. The columns of dirt caused by the sheer force of the impacting cannonballs rained down on Crumm and covered him in filth. The adjutant that had stood beside him received a ball through the stomach and his bowels were spread out on the ground in a grotesque collage of blood and tissue. He calmly wiped bits the man's remains from his boots and trousers and galloped off to his field headquarters.
* * * *
An Acacian infantryman slowly raised his head above the wooden palisade. No sooner had the crown of his helm emerged from the top of the makeshift redoubt than a shot rang out. The soldier jerked back as the expanding bullet fired by the Porre invaders struck him in the eye and left an exit wound in the back of his head the size of a saucer. His lifeless body crumpled to the ground alongside his musket as his comrades looked on in horror.
The orange and red hues of the setting sun had given way to creeping shadows of late evening, but there still enough light out for the Porre sharpshooters to pick off stray soldiers. The thunderous artillery duel between the invaders and the defending El Nido forces had slowly melted away as the gun crews on both sides gradually lost sight of their respective targets. The Acacian redoubts had withstood the shelling by the Porre guns and the garrisons had even managed to bloody the noses of the attackers on several occasions. The enemy had sent two waves of infantry assaults and both had been driven back with devastating loses to the aggressors. The El Nido guns were smoothbore, but at close range even the light artillery had succeeded in cutting bloody swathes through the ranks of the advancing Porre infantry.
General Viper slammed his fists on the desk and the three Devas gave a brief start. Dario, Karsh, and Zoah eyed each other apprehensively. The Lord of El Nido ran his fingers through his beard and heaved a sigh. He again looked at the maps on the table and instinctively jabbed an index finger on Fossil Valley.
"We'll make our next stand here," he declared as a matter of factly. "The valley is well protected and Porre's forces will have to negotiate their way through the pass." He looked at his Field Marshals. "What are your thoughts on this? Dario? Karsh? Zoah?"
"We can slow them down significantly, General. Fortifying the valley will force the Porre commander to attempt to shell his way across, much like he attempted to do so today on the field," Dario said.
Zoah grunted in agreement. "My brigade can reconstruct the redoubts that Karsh's men have produced and pack them with artillery. With higher ground we'll have a better field of view and a better trajectory for our solid shot," the Deva continued.
"And my troops and I will continue to hold our ground for as long as we can," Karsh finished.
General Viper nodded at Karsh. "Once Zoah's brigade is finished with the construction, you'll execute an orderly withdrawal to the rear for refitting. From there you'll cover our left flank just in case the enemy attempts to envelop us." He turned to Dario. "And your brigade will cover our right. Marcy's reserves will remain in the center to provide support if necessary."
"With luck we'll be able to wear the invaders down and perhaps even destroy them before reinforcements arrive," Dario chimed in.
"With luck," Viper replied sullenly, "with luck."