A/N: Sorry for the late update readers. Last week was just next to impossible to get enough time to write. Hopefully, we're back on track now. :)
A/N2: Shout outs to my anonymous reviewer and James Birdsong. Glad you liked the last few chapters. Now comes more on our battling soldiers. :)
Chapter 29
Fiyero surveyed the situation through the dark. The archers had downed quite a few Munchkins. There had been those who had quickly surrendered. They had been conscripted and didn't want to be there in the first place. Others looked at the troops massing on the top of the hill and the cannons that started to line the high ground. The Flying Monkeys hovered above the troops, their presence enough to scare those who did not know them better. Some ran back into Munchkinland and others froze, rooted in the place where they stood.
Still there were others who intended to fight. Fiyero did not want to obliterate the Munchkins. They were not prepared for Flying Monkeys and certainly not for the cannons. Lieutenant Zetti didn't even get a chance to open his mouth when the Captain said,
"Fire one cannon. We'll see how serious they are." Zetti nodded and ordered the shot. The cannon boomed, shaking those who were not used to it to their core. The cannonball flew through the air and impacted just in front of a group of tents. Dirt, debris, and bits of cannonball flew through the air along with some of the Munchkins. Some of the Munchkins tried to form battle lines and line up to fire their rifles.
Zetti looked to Fiyero and he only nodded. Zetti ordered all cannons to open fire. The sound would have woken the dead if they could have been stirred from their graves. The cannonballs rip through the semi-formed Munchkin lines.
"Hold!" Fiyero bellows. The cannon fire is silenced, the smoke moved across the valley, and cries and moans of the walking wounded and the living dead filled the air. Chistery moves through the air and gets close to the Munchkin camp, the smoke and dark helping to shield him.
"Munchkins! Surrender! Your loyalty must be to Oz! Your President has used you! Do not let him continue to do so!" The Flying Monkey was giving them a way out. His response was the wounded crying out for help followed by a few bullets aimed in his direction. One grazed his arm and he retreated to the line.
"Mister Chistery! Medic!" Fiyero yelled. The medic reached the Captain and the wounded Flying Monkey.
"But a scratch my Captain. Still, I fear that we know their answer," Chistery said while the medic bandaged the gouge. Fiyero frowned and nodded. Lieutenant Zetti made his way back over to the Captain.
"They haven't fired back at the bulk of the troops. We could finish them, but I don't think this will endear us to the Munchkins," the second in command pointed out. Fiyero looked at his pocket watch.
"There are only two hours until daylight. Let them collect themselves and their wounded and dead. Do not let your guard down. We must remain focused on our goal – retrieving President Jinjuria and not alienating the Munchkin populous," he told them.
"He could fall back to the capital and force us to actually cross the Munchkin border," Zetti pointed out.
"Yes, but he's committed another violation. The blocking of the Yellow Brick Road is a crime. He knows it. He also knows that if he slinks back to the capital, his tail between his legs, it will look like he's not as strong as he told the Munchkin people he is. He fully expected us to crumple when we saw their numbers. He fully expected that he could tell the people that he'd defeated the Gale Force. He thought that we were just as inexperienced as his troops – that I had not had enough time to whip the troops into shape. Once again, I was underestimated," Fiyero took no pleasure in any of this. Still, it was necessary to get the point across.
"I could send a scout team to watch the camp," Zetti suggested.
"Do it. Tell the troops at first light we move up, with cannon fire for cover," Fiyero told him.
To Be Continued…
