290 AL

Judeaux IV

The scorching summer sun burnt in Judeaux's neck, he and his fellow Hawks had been marching for weeks now. And the road from Yunkai to Astapor wasn't particularly well maintained either, making their march even less comfortable. Restoring the various roads between the major cities of this area would probably be something Griffith will want to work on in the near future.

Judeaux looked behind him. 'It's only thanks to our logistics that we're still moving at the speed we are.' He duly noted to no one in particular. We've been harassed by some Astapori outriders, but most of the towns and villages we have come across aren't hostile towards us. You could even say that they were friendly!

Guts, who had been listening to Judeaux's remark scowled and said. 'If Griffith didn't have us haul these cannons along with us this entire time I could have already been there.' Guts would have preferred to storm the city on his own, and probably die in the process.

'A stupid plan Guts... Even for you.' Judeaux remarked, earning him a deadly stare from Guts.

'So you think I can't take them?' He said, challenging Judeaux to accept his invitation to bicker.

Judeaux his eyes narrowed, 'Even your sword can't cut through city walls Gutts, neither can you defeat a whole army.' That last part had Judeaux worried, Guts had once taken down a 100 men on his own. And not just any ragtag bandits either, but real Chudar soldiers. He was half dead by the time they found him, but he did kill most of them.

Guts was about to reply when Judeaux quickly jabbed, 'Or should we call you thousand-man slayer next week?' Guts smiled at the friendly jab, 'One day Judeaux, one day.'

-

'Boom!' The first salvo of the Hawks' cannons blasted into the walls of Astapor. It's deafening sound resonating through the battlefield. The Hawks had half surrounded the great city of Astapor. Shallow trenches had been dug out in the sparse sand lands and rich silt banks of the Worm river. Yet in order to get into Astapor proper the Hawks' engineers had begun the construction of a second bridge over the Worm river. The other one being in Astapor itself. Its construction would allow the Hawks to gain a strategic edge over the Astaporian defenders.

And Judeaux had to admit that the 8.000 Unsullied manning Astapor its walls and towers were quite the formidable soldiers. They did not break in the face of the cannon fire, and initial assaults on the walls had little effect. As the Unsullied repelled the Hawks' probing attacks. And in the hinterlands of Astapor two mounted mercenary bands known as 'Sellswords' were attempting to harass and hinder the Hawks' supply lines. Luckily Guts and his raiders were send to deal with the Sellswords, it shouldn't be a nuisance for much longer.

The Hawks' cannoneers were busy loading up their large and bulky cannons for a second volley. Or at least that's what Judeaux assumed, he had a different task. Griffith had assigned his unit of light cavalry to guard the Hawks' engineers. Already he had sent out scouts to check for shallow parts in the river, which would be the most likely areas for an enemy counter to destroy the bridge.

He mused about the sudden capability these Essosi showed, the 'Good Masters' of Astapor had heard how the Hawks overwhelmed their sister cities. And their preparation showed it, though Judeaux wondered why they did not sally fort and tried to meet them in open battle. Were they scared? If so what were they scared about? Surely the Hawks had not had the time to build up the reputation they enjoyed in Midland just yet?

-

The Hawks' encampment was an organized mess, the 3.000 Hawks and 1.000 Meereenese and Yunkish volunteers had set up their tents in square blocks. Allowing for a cross section in the center of the encampment. There Griffiths tent stood, acting as the central command for the Hawks and their new recruits. Casca had taken it upon herself to train the new recruits. And on the edges of the encampment he could hear the rigorous drills continuing as the new recruits were being taught how to handle the long pikes and crossbows of the Hawks.

'Ah Judeaux, how good of you to join me so soon.' Griffith said, having noticed Judeaux walking into his tent. 'Hey Griffith, ehm I mean. Greetings! Lord Griffith!' Judeaux said jokingly, earning him a polite chuckle from Griffith.

'I wouldn't call myself Lord, at this point I'm more like a Duke. And after I conquer Astapor. A king.' Griffith said, prophesying his victory to Judeaux.

Judeaux smirked, 'If you can conquer Astapor, they're proving tougher than we expected.' his tone becoming more serious at the end of his sentence.

Griffith nodded in agreement. 'It seems that the Slavers have recovered from the shock our arrival presented.' Griffith looked at a crude map of Slavers Bay, 'We've given Astapor too much time to prepare to simply surprise and overrun them.'

Judeaux glanced at the map for a few seconds, then redirected his gaze back to Griffith. 'How do you want to take Astapor? We can't waste too much time here, who knows how the surrounding Kings would react.'

Griffith smiled at Judeaux' lack of knowledge. 'Not Kings Judeaux, they're mostly City States with various forms of government, but none of them could be qualified in the category we call Kingdom.'

Griffith looked at a smaller map that also lay on the table and pointed at it. 'That's the map you drew after scouting the area, I've been studying it for a few hours now.' He said, the seriousness on his face ever increasing.

Judeaux carefully examined Griffiths demeanor before saying. 'You have a plan don't you?' At that both Judeaux and Griffith smirked.

-

'No! I'm against it! There is no way the recruits can hold their own yet!' Casca had only been this furious with Guts before. She turned out to be rather protective of her new recruits. Judeaux figured that it had something to do with Casca's past. Perhaps she saw a mirror of her own potential faith in these former slaves. Had Griffith not saved her, Judeaux, Griffith and Guts were some of the few people who knew how Casca had joined the Hawks... He could understand her feelings on the matter.

Griffith spoke kindly, but with a commanding tone. 'Casca they need to taste battle, or they will never become true soldiers.' Casca, not one to defy Griffith for too long on these things stubbornly nodded in agreement following up with, 'Don't come crying to me when half of them die.'

Griffith smiled, Judeaux had no doubt that deep down Griffith cared little for the lives of these recruits. Not until they had proven themselves worthy of his love. He did care about his men, especially those who were useful.

Guts grunted, annoyed that the actual plan was not being discussed. 'Could you get on it with it Griffith, those outriders were just small fry.' Grinning evilly Guts continued, 'I want some real competition.' No doubt he meant the Unsullied.

Griffith let out a hearty laugh, 'Haha, always so eager to fight Guts. Very well let me explain the plan.'
As if on cue Judeaux laid out the map of Astapor and its surroundings, straightening it with a few small pieces of rock. After which he brought the box with army tokens.

Griffith carefully placed their current positions on the map, stopping after all but the bridge were present. 'The Astapori will surely try to strangle any efforts we make too cross the river and fully envelop the city on the land side.' He pointed at the pieces representing the Unsullied and moved two blocks each representing a thousand to the bridge.

Griffith continued, 'According to our reconnaissance there is a crossable shallow in the river a few miles inland. Casca, you and the recruits will be tasked with holding the bridge against the enemy assault.'
Casca's defiance had lessened but she obviously thought that it was not a good idea to send in the recruits.

'Guts and Judeaux, your Raiders and light cavalry will cross the river at night. Dismount and hide among the shrubbery over here.' Griffith pointed at a small patch that marked an area of trees and shrubbery.

'Then when the enemy tries to take the bridge and flank our own forces, we will counter-flank them with our very own Guts and Judeaux. Allowing us to hopefully rout the enemy force and take up position for a full envelopment.' Griffith explained, pausing to allow his commanders a moment to interpret the plan.

Casca was the first to give her opinion, 'Would our light cavalry be enough to take on these Unsullied? You've seen them fight in Yunkai, they were the only enemies to hold their ground against us.'
Pippin and Judeaux briefly nodded in agreement.

After which Casca continued, 'Why don't we place Pippins medium cavalry on the other side and our more experienced men at the bridge!' Guts was about to protest, as that plan would deny him the opportunity to do battle.

Griffith was faster though and countered, 'The new recruits need to see first blood, and what better way to endorse their moral then have them defeat the so called finest Slave Soldiers on the continent?' Casca sighed, giving up on her complaints and was about to completely give in.
'Then what about Pippin's cavalry? Surely his heavier cavalry will wield more force and have an easier time relieving the recruits.' Casca said, once again confident in her position. She did not deny any direct orders from Griffith on the battlefield. But she would have her voice heard in the strategy meetings, as Griffiths plans were sometimes too risky and ambitious in her opinion.

Now it was Griffith who sighed, 'Do you have to defy me in everything today Casca? Anyway Pippin will be kept in reserve for when things turn bad or the enemy decides to sally from the city. The shock value from his cavalry will be greater in such a situation. While the surprise ambush from our lighter cavalry has more effect there, then it would have if the roles were turned around.'

Griffith made it clear that no more defiance was to be expected from Casca as his glare fixated on her for a brief moment. Judeaux was always impressed by Griffiths ability to switch roles so quickly. One moment he was a cheery, friendly man who joked with his men. While within a moment's notice he was one cold and calculating bastard.

'Right, enough talk! Let's go!' Guts' gruff voice rumbled across the tent as he stood up and left the meeting, getting ready preparing his Raiders for the battle.

-

The Astapori and their Unsullied had proven to have more balls then what was to be expected from ball-less soldiers. They had led a double sally with two larger than expected hosts. 2.000 Unsullied and a thousand Astapori militia's had assaulted the Hawks position near the bridge. While another 3.000 Unsullied had charged at the Hawks' positions on the half-encirclement.

Judeaux saw that the recruits, even with Casca and a few of her officers amongst them, were struggling to keep the tide of battle in the Hawks' favor. The two well disciplined walls of pikemen clashed into eachother in the middle of the bridge.

Both supported by ranged troops, respectively archers for the Astapori and crossbowmen for the Hawks. Casca always favored crossbows over normal bows, and that influence was obvious among her recruits.

Judeaux signaled Guts and the two cavalry groups emerged out of the trees, charging into the Astapori archers. Guts was the beast he always was, with his giant blade he cut through the archers as if they were twigs. Heads flew around and entrails covered the muddy edges of the river.

While the Hawks blasted through the archers half of the enemy Unsullied had already reorganized themselves to face the Hawks' cavalry. Guts having noticed the new challenge rallied his Raiders.

'Regroup and prepare to smash their ball-less crothes!' He shouted angrily as the rage of battle was overcoming him.

Not waiting on his Raiders to head into the fray with him he charged the Unsullied on his own. Slashing his enormous sword at the dense formations of not-men he broke through the first line of Unsullied with mere scratches. Then he charged into the second line and had to give up his horse, which was impaled upon the Unsullied' spears.

Guts was now surrounded by the not-men, yet he smiled maniacally. 'Come on you pieces of shit, fight me!' Guts shouted, almost screamed as the Unsullied closed in on him. Their dense shieldwall not allowing Guts to escape unscathed, if that was ever his intention.

The unreasonably large sword, or rather slab of sharpened iron that Guts called a sword, smashed the Unsullied shields apart. Yet they did not break, Guts struck down a dozen spears with another swing.

But they did not back down. Rather they took their short swords and continued to close in. Guts continued to slash away in the midst of the Unsullied ranks, but the Unsullied held their lines.

By now his Raiders and Judeaux's cavalry had caught up. Judeaux himself had already located the enemy commander, a plump man in silk robes which were in turn covered with heavy steel armor plates. Yet he wore and open helmet, more suited as ordinance rather than protection.

He saw a clear opportunity and threw one of his many knives into the man's face, he hit him right in his left eye. Leaving the commander screaming in pain as his guards looked around surprised.

Judeaux smirked at his target accuracy, without their commander the Unsullied would not dare to retreat. Allowing them to completely obliterate this sallied force, rather than have them be scared off and retreat. It was risky, but they had to destroy the Unsullied' reputation. Which would surely break the city's will.

As the Raiders and Judeaux' cavalry charged into the flanks of the Unsullied hundreds of men and not-men died. Guts' raiders had met up with him quick enough and had punched a huge hole in the Unsullied line, while Judeaux' cavalry picked off the stragglers and newly formed weak points in the enemy line.

Slowly but surely the Unsullied formation started to break. Yet they would not retreat, even though their front was also being overwhelmed by the recruits under Casca. As more and more Unsullied lines had to be called back to defend against their flankers.

It took an hour after the initial charge for the Unsullied to be in such low numbers that Guts ordered his forces to back off and let him face the remaining 50 or so Unsullied.

The rest of them had either drowned in the Worm river, killed or sneakily retreated in the chaos of battle under their officers orders.

Guts' butcher smile would have scared any normal man, but the remaining Unsullied held their positions still. There was a short moment of total silence, which was abruptly broken by the Hawks' cannons firing off another salvo at the walls.

Guts only looked at the Unsullied and said, 'Now' before swinging his humongous blade into their last rank.

-

Judeaux sat down upon a small wooden stool near his tent. The battle had been harsh, but the Hawks had managed to not only defend the bridge but wipe out the Astapori attempt to stop them. The Hawks' engineers were already building up basic siege lines at the other side of the Worm River. Luckily Judeaux didn't have to do so either.

Pippin had joined him, along with Rickert. The youngest of the Hawks and a boy merely 12 years old had talked about how Griffith had defended their siege lines. By allowing the Astapori to break through for a brief moment, only to have them caught by successive crossbow fire and a cavalry charge. All in all Griffith, Pippin and Rickert had not experienced a very different battle.

It was only the cowardice of the enemy commanders that made it a less of a bloodbath then the Battle of the Worm Bridge. But the most important thing was that they all survived another battle. And victory was within grasp, they knew since Griffith lead them. And he would always be victorious.