34- The True Enemy
It was a night of mourning and horror for the Southern Isles Army, an hour after another of stupefaction, denial and absolute despair… it was the night when they finally understood, and accepted, that the invasion of Arendelle had been the worst idea in the long history of their Kingdom.
The shock as everyone realized that thirteen thousand of their friends had been annihilated like grass in the fire was almost too hard to endure, mitigated only by the religious rituals and homage ceremonies celebrated that day…
Arendelle had Crackers, those guns were the most advanced weapon in the world and there would be no way to cross their defenses!
There was no reason to fight anymore, no reason to move forward…
The sudden loss of their entire Cavalry forces broke the spirits and the morale of the army, and very soon something that would have been unthinkable a few days ago started to happen at every campsite of the invaders:
The soldiers and artillery men began to abandon their duties everywhere, they were joined by most of the Captains and even a few of the surviving Generals proceeded to forsake the Army as well.
It was incredible to see the medical staff evacuating the injured men with the assistance of the soldiers, they took the few horses that remained alive and after that everyone abandoned the valley and began marching on their way back to Tannya…
The Army wanted nothing but to see the coast again, board the ships, forget all the nightmare and sail the long travel back home.
It proved impossible even for the King himself to convince the demoralized troops to return, thousands disappeared into the snowy forests and Hans was left only with a handful of his most trusted Generals, no horses at all and a few Infantry divisions that remained loyal to him.
"Your Majesty, the war is over!" said one of the few Generals that remained alive, a short and stubby man of long hair- "They have Crackers, hundreds of Crackers… Why don't you understand? We are no match for them!"
Hans and his four remaining Generals were gathered behind the now abandoned trenches and campsites of the Southern Isles lines, where they had made a last attempt to stop the rest of the army from vanishing into the forest nearby.
They were shivering in cold, nothing to protect them from the wind apart from their cloaks...
"We cannot abandon the war now!" Hans replied, screaming to the sky and the wind- "This is not over, Anna and Elsa shall pay for what they did to us!"
The night was dark and freezing, though perhaps not as cold as many other nights had been, and the defeated King Hans tried to remain proud and defiant as he carried a sword in his hand and the golden crown on top of his head…
"Thirty thousand men are dead!" the small General cried out, staring at the King and losing control of himself- "The enemy is equipped with the most deadly weapon that the world has ever seen, our army has abandoned us because they are starving and freezing, we have no more horses… and you still want to fight?!"
The other three Generals remained in silence as their friend tried to convince the King to abandon the invasion once and for all, not sure what to say since a part of them really wanted to leave while the other part desired to stay.
After all, not all of the soldiers had abandoned them and they still had a weapon of last resource to display against Anna and her army…
"We still have three divisions, General Cornellian" Hans said, wrapped in his long and elegant cloak- "Five thousand men! Also, may I remind you that we have brought a secret weapon of our own? You know what it is, and our enemy at the other side of this damn valley has no idea about its existence!"
There was a long and awkward silence after those words.
All of them knew what the King was talking about, because they had heard the rumors about the weapon and they had seen the metal canisters aboard the ships during their travel from the Southern Isles…
The Generals had not been expecting to use the secret weapon, but after all they had it and this seemed to be the perfect moment to display it.
"Your Majesty, we cannot…" Cornellian said, his eyes full of fear.
"The Green Death" Hans said, walking on the snow all around the others- "The rumors are true, gentlemen, we have the Green Death and I am willing to use it! You can be sure that it was not my intention, but Anna has given me no choice…"
"No!" Cornellian gasped, advancing one step towards Hans- "Your Majesty, if we do that every Kingdom in the world will hate the Southern Isles! We'll be treated as monsters, nobody will want to trade with us!"
The other Generals seemed to be alarmed as well at the idea of using the Green Death, but the effect that the idea had on their delirious King was precisely the opposite:
"Just imagine, my friends!" Hans exclaimed, raising the sword high above his head- "Arendelle's army destroyed by our legendary weapon! The Southern Isles triumphant! The Snow Queen surrendering at our feet!"
"I cannot believe it" Cornellian said, looking around at all the others- "This war has ruined our country for generations to come, and now you are talking about this imaginary success of yours… We have followed a madman right into a calamity!"
Hans turned around to face Cornellian, the others remained in silence and for a few seconds both men stared intensely into each other's eyes…
"I dare you to say that to me again…"
"We have a true enemy, but it's not Arendelle… It's you!"
Cornellian drew out his saber and charged at Hans with great fury, but the King had been expecting this to happen and the cooler head gave him a decisive advantage:
Hans evaded the slashing attack, he turned on the stop delivering a terrible cut at Cornellian's leg, the General fell to the snowy ground and the others just watched while the King landed an accurate and fatal stab to the heart…
It was over, the last voice of reason was gone and now nothing would stop Hans of the Southern Isles from carrying on with the maddest adventure that the world had ever seen.
"Now, prepare the Green Death!"