The Big Ones

by WellBattle6

For years, the United States of America has dominated the skies with SAC's nuclear-armed bombers and fighters since the nuclear annihilation of Germany in WW2 in the event known as The Big One. Now suddenly transported to a New World during the early September of 2001, the United States must contend with various belligerent nations based not in science, but magic.

10. Chapter Ten: Hit and Fade

Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

Centurion Tagaris walked down the trail in the third row of the two-abrest column of his 40-men kentarchia. While much of the trail near outside and within the edges of the Inner Gim Forest was wide enough to accommodate two wagons abreast, or six people side by side, the testimony from travellers and the scouts confirmed that the forest trail had narrowed down to one wagon width near the stream at the middle of the forest.

For a Lourian army on the march, it was absolutely critical to avoid stops due to traffic jams, as that tired out the people waiting for the jam to clear up and resulted in a late arrival to the destination camp. For an army marching under time constraints, a late arrival meant less time to rest, which could compound fatigue if there were further delays and reduce the effectiveness of the soldiers. In addition, the people already ahead of such jams would inadvertently split away from the rest of the army as they continued marching, isolating units from one another and endangering the column to an enemy who could attain superior concentrations of troops against sections of the column.

Thus, the column could only be as wide as the narrowest point of the route minus some space on the sides so that horseriding messengers and officers could quickly travel along the column and maintain communication. Each section was spaced out, with a strict gap in between so that any minor delays wouldn't cause a kentarchia directly behind to march into a kentarchia that briefly pauses.

Nevertheless, a narrow column still had disadvantages. It reduced the natural concentration of sections, and it effectively reduced the marching speed of the army per day. The tail of the army would leave the initial camp later, and thus reach their destination later. As any sensible army not wishing to get lost or suffer accidents would want to only march in daylight and rest behind fortifications, the distances between initial and destination camps would have to be reduced.

With the number of people in the tagma, a merchant caravan's journey of one day through the forest would become at least two as the minimum defensive level of the forts and outposts that had to be erected along the way would take at least four hours by themselves. Further improvements would have to be built by the units following the tagma.

Since they were in enemy territory, Tagaris was fully kitted out in his combat gear along with the rest of his men. The necessity of keeping his hands ready to use his weapons at a moment's notice meant that his personal baggage was loaded onto a wagon trailing behind two other kentarchiai along with the rest of the baggage of four kentarchiai and some artificer-managed artillery. Each marching bandon was split into five sections of four kentarchiai, baggage, four kentarchiai, baggage, etc. so that the non-combatants driving the baggage trains would not have to run far to seek protection in the advent of an attack on them.

Figure 10.1 Lourian Concentric Helmet.

Tagaris's kentarchia was second in the first infantry bandon in the column. A scouting bandon consisting of light infantry and scout cavalry was screening for them. He hoped the lightly armoured men making their way through the trees off the road were widely dispersed enough to encounter any enemies in ambush and not simply move past them. The scout cavalry themselves stuck to the trail, as the trees would hinder their movement and rob them of their advantage of being fast. The cavalry maintained sight and hearing of the light infantry, ready to ride back to the infantry bandon should danger emerge.

Eventually, as Tagaris walked past what was probably the midpoint of the trail between the Inner Gim Forest's entrance and the stream in its centre, the scout cavalry rode out of sight as they turned right around a bend in the trail.

Off the Trail Past the Bend, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

Sir Moizi kneeled from behind a mound of dirt his troops had made. The mound was formed such that it was mostly hidden behind the foliage from the view of the trail. With his squire and sergeant-at-arms, he quietly listened to the sound of marching footsteps and hooves packing in the forest dirt. As he waited, he thought for the safety of his wife and daughter, currently accompanying his lord and his family towards the mountains.

The evacuation of Gim had gone as smoothly as possible for such a sizeable population. His lord, the Count of Gim, had wisely heeded the missive from the Crown to evacuate for the protection of the Duke of Ejey. Luckily, the warning of impending war came several days before the expected start of hostilities. Criers made announcements in every village and urban square. Wagons and carts were filled to the brim, and the entire county took to the roads, save for the local dwarfs who appeared to prefer taking their chances with the Lourians.

Sir Moizi volunteered to lead a rear guard of six lances and assorted foresters in the Inner Gim forest. The Count accepted. Though normally it was unusual for beastmen to lead Qua-Toynian knights into battle, the nature of service on the borderlands of the principality far from the politics of the noble courts meant that Sir Moizi was able to rise to a status of respect among the people of Gim. Through rigorous training and good deeds, he managed to shake off the reputation of catpeople being caravan-travelling scheming traders who pickpocketed more than actually trade from the villages they descended upon. While he did not become the right hand of the Count, the choice of the more well-connected lances to avoid fighting now and reach the mustering fields at Ejey meant he was now the most senior knight of the brave fighters with him now.

He looked to his sides at them. There was Arox, a hulking taurman who rose to fame amongst the smallfolk and learned people of Gim by saving the old head scribe from a bear attack. He was resting his oversized post maul across his brown-furred thighs. Hidden behind some leaves was Thayou, an elven forester who for his own secret reasons, served out in Gim rather than the more prestigious forests east of Fortress Ejey. His face was completely covered in green warpaint that blended into the leaves. Sergeant Yorm and Squire Vruk were of course the other senior members of his lance.

Each lance had a total of nine people, including a non-combatant page. Thus the six lances only had a total of 48 well-equipped troops for battle, augmented by the levied infantry who volunteered to stay behind. Each lance was presently about 30 infantry. The foresters of Gim had arranged themselves into six groups of 30 skilled archers.

Almost 360 fighters against a force of at least 4000. These were the odds that Sir Moizi had to face. Luckily, he did not intend to fight fair. While some of the haughty nobles would proclaim that they would fight chivalrously before cutting down their lessers from the superior military advantage of horseback, Sir Moizi fought to win and hopefully survive. Unlike the First Battle of Inner Gim Forest which saw a large Qua-Toynian army annihilate the Lourian legions in a large ambush occurring over much of the length of the trail, Sir Moizi did not have the numbers or the in-depth intelligence provided by a Lourian traitor. Victory today would not be destroying the enemy, victory was simply disrupting their march and slowing down their progress.

To that end, Sir Moizi directed everyone to prepare the battlefield. Dirt was dug and wood was cut. One last hot meal was delivered from the foresters' lodges before they washed out the cooking fires and set to abandon them for a while. Everyone slept in small groups in the dark, listening as the hooves of the long-range Lourian scout cavalry passed by as they sought to identify mustering armies and closed cities ahead of the main body. Waiting for the gap between them, they then quickly placed the last field fortification into position, an abatis blocking the trail. Arox was of tremendous help by hefting much of the involved tree's weight on his own.

Thayou was silently forming signals with his hands for Moizi. Light cavalry and light infantry on the trail past the bend. Heavy infantry following behind, not yet at the bend.

Timing was everything. Attack too soon, and the scouts would be able to maneuver away from the abatis and form up with the heavy infantry. Attack too late, and the heavy infantry would quickly reinforce the scouts.

He heard the sounds of the hooves stopping after seeming to get very close. He could hear one of the horses snort. There was foreign chatter as he deduced that the scouts must have finally arrived at the abatis. He motioned 'attack' to Thayou, who immediately picked up a thin wooden cylinder and blew into it.

The sound of an owl hoot travelled across the air to everyone in the vicinity.

The foresters stood up from behind cover, drew their strings, and loosed arrows from their bows into the sides of the light infantry.

Figure 10.2 Second Battle of Inner Gim Forest 1.

Behind the Bend on the Trail, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

Tagaris barely processed the hoot of an owl before the man in front of him fell down. Instinctively bending down to check on the man, he heard something whistle as it passed just over his head from his left. He rose his shield towards the threat in automatic response after years of drilling and was greeted by thunks that vibrated through the shield and into his harm as he realized his column was taking arrow fire.

"Ambush! All-sided shield walls around the vexillum!" he commanded. As he backed up to get into formation. An arrow bounced off the top of his helmet, and he ducked his head further as he passed by another soldier who had dropped to the ground. A signal horn was blown behind him, its call taken up by those further behind before it was silenced.

Tagaris passed by the bodies of several of his men, including the horn player before he found himself at the front of the kentarchia rectangle that had formed with oval shields and spears pointed outwards. He forced himself to look away from the first soldier hit, who was gurgling as an arrow stuck through the side of his neck. Looking to his left, he could see enemy archers in green poke out from behind tree trunks and launch arrows as a large amount of yelling echoed through the trees around the bend ahead.

"Arbalists! Respond to their volleys with our own!"

The arbalists raised their weapons and began pulling their levers up and down, launching a hail of bolts into the archers and catching them by surprise as several took hits and fell into the foliage. The rate of arrows flying in the air dropped significantly as the enemy was forced to take cover and choose their moments to engage the arbalists.

Figure 10.3 Second Battle of Inner Gim Forest 2.

There was a squeal from the front of the trail. Tagaris turned his head from the forest to see something brown and huge running towards the shield wall of the kentarchia ahead of him.

Far Behind in the Middle of the Lourian Column, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

Deputy Adem Aspietes heard the signal horns blast one after another down the column to his position. He recognized the sounds as an enemy attack alert. From his saddle, he turned his head and called back to the wagon following behind.

"Spear-Bearer Ducas!"

Albeit's bruised face popped up from behind the front of the wagon. "Yes, Sir!"

"Contact the wyverns. I need them to report where the column is being attacked!"

"Yes, Sir." The manacom operator got to work.

"Bad news, Sir. The wyvern squadrons in our area are all currently engaged with enemy wyverns on the other side of the forest. They're unable to provide aerial reconnaissance at this time."

"Tell them to send a couple of wyverns down over our column and report to you soonest!" Adem quickly turned to the nearest messenger. "Go down the line then report back as soon as you can find out what's happening."

"As you command." The messenger rode out of his position in the column and began urging his steed to travel as fast as possible down the open side of the trail.

Around the Bend, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

After waiting for the first volley of arrows, Moizi slammed down the visor of his full protective sallet down, hefted his poleaxe, and launched over the mound, charging toward the enemy on their rear flank. The Lourian scout cavalry and their supporting light infantry were being enveloped on all sides by a rush of polearms. The riders were attempting to turn around their horses to flee back down the trail.

Figure 10.4 Qua-Toynian Full Protective Sallet.

As he approached the closest rider, he locked eyes with the Lourian and saw theirs widen in surprise. The Lourian, true to his training, quickly reacted and aimed his crossbow toward him from horseback. Moizi dodged to the right and heard the twang and thud of a bolt embedding into the dirt right where he had just been. He stabbed out with the spike of his poleaxe, which the man responded to by bending backward in his seat to narrowly dodge the end. However, the Lourian's maneuver meant the crossbow was no longer pointed toward Moizi.

Seizing the opportunity, Moizi quickly stepped back from his jab, letting the hook of the axehead on his polearm to catch the scout and yank him off his horse. The Lourian yelped as he fell before immediately getting set upon by a levied commoner with a dagger.

Figure 10.5 Qua-Toynian Poleaxe.

Behind the Bend, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

"Disperse to the sides! Disperse! Spears inside! Anti-giant boar formation!" he heard their centurion call. Tagaris repeated his colleague's order and heard the command repeated down the trail.

While the soldiers had drilled for such a scenario, executing the movements in the middle of combat was another matter. As he ran the few footsteps into position and turned his spear inwards towards the center of the trail, he saw two giant boars close the gap to the first kentarchia and smash into the ranks. The creatures that towered over the soldiers at the height of a single-story Lourian house sent men flying into the air and goring one perfectly on their tusks.

The beasts continued running through the unit, trampling and crushing their vexillum bannerman before emerging on the other side and heading directly for Tagaris's men. Luckily, as the drill assumed, the two giant boars chose to run through the now-empty gap in between. As they did so, Tagaris stabbed the closest one with his spear as it passed. His spear was yanked out of his grip as it remained lodged in the charging animal. The two boars passed through three more waiting kentarchiai before finally dropping to the ground from the dozens of spears jutting from their flanks like a pinecone.

In the meantime, they were still taking fire from the archers, who were hitting the backs of the now unprotected arbalists as they reloaded their magazines. Tagaris gave the command to form up fully around the vexillum again, and his kentarchia once again obeyed to continue the deadly exchange of bolts and arrows with the Qua-Toynian archers from behind shields and trees.

Figure 10.6 Second Battle of Inner Gim Forest 3.

Behind the Abatis, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

Moizi heard thundering footsteps of what must have been the giant boars charging out of the woods down the trail behind him. Ignoring the instinct to look back, he kept his eyes forward and appraised the situation. The scout cavalry was being unhorsed one by one, either through the well-applied technique of hooking them off the saddle or by killing the horses beneath them. The light infantry had been corralled into dense formation fighting for which their light equipment offered little protection to the continuing arrow fire of the foresters. Unfortunately, the Qua-Toynian force still suffered losses as Moizi identified the lying form of his sergeant with multiple bolts piercing through his brigandine armour in the chest.

Figure 10.2 Qua-Toynian Munitions Quality Sallet.

Turning away from the body, Moizi focused his mind back on the fight and made a mental observation. The superior reach of the polearm meant that as long as a fighter managed to avoid being hit by a bolt at range, their opponents were as good as skewered.

Moizi saw a nearby enemy infantryman fending off multiple spearmen on his front with a sword and shield. Taking the opportunity, he quickly approached with practiced footwork. The Lourian soldier was being pressured too much by the threat to his front to notice Moizi and paid by being stabbed in the left side of the ribs. The Lourian turned his head to look at his killer and attempted to say something, but only spluttered as fell as Moizi withdrew his blood-soaked spike. The smallfolk that were being held back single-handedly by the dead man looked at Moizi and nodded before moving on.

Moizi found himself breathing heavily as he pointed his poleaxe down and wiped the spike on the Lourian's tunic. His sergeant-at-arms always said it was important to keep the reinforced shaft of a poleaxe free of blood to prevent one's hands from slipping on it.

He felt the edges of his eyes quiver and suppressed the urge to cry. He looked around for the remaining core member of his lance.

"Sir Moizi?"

He turned to an armoured soldier wielding a pole hammer and wearing a blood-stained sallet with grey lumps on it. The lifting of the visor revealed it was Squire Vruk. Moizi lifted his visor in return.

"We've dealt with all the scouts. Should we call for the foresters to retreat now?"

Moizi looked around and confirmed the result of their corner of the ambush. The Lourian light infantry formed two piles around the horses with their bodies, dying to a man. Some of the levies were attempting to take the reigns of the surviving Lourian horses that had stuck around. Others were gathering as many of the weapons of value as they could, including the enemy crossbows.

"Do it."

Squire Vruk turned and motioned to the forest. "Signal the retreat!"

Moizi could not identify the bush Thayou was probably still hiding behind as three owl hoots in quick succession soared over the yelling around the bend. He ran over to Sergeant Yorm's body. There was not enough time for burials or recovering all the equipment. He settled for unbuckling the straps keeping Yorm's sword and scabbard attached to his belt and ran back with the weapon across the trail and into the forest.

If he made it back to Fortress Ejey, he would personally deliver the sword to Yorm's eldest son.

Behind the Bend on the Trail, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

The Qua-Toynians had followed up the charge of the boars with an infantry assault on the remains of the first kentarchia. With their centurion dead and their formation broken, the unit ran away from the onslaught of long-reach weapons. Many were slain by blade and bow before a paltry six men merged into Tagaris's kentarchia.

Only the concentration of the arbalest bolts repulsed the enemy infantry. With their armour proving ineffective at resisting the charge magic-enhanced crossbows, they retreated back into the forest whence they came rather than attempt to engage organized opposition. To Tagaris's rage, they had managed to escape with the kentarchiai level vexillum of the 1st kentarchia in the chaos.

Now, the number of missiles flying in both directions had significantly reduced. The volume and accuracy of the arbalest bolts forced the enemy archers back into cover and only pop up every so often rather than unleashing continuous volleys.

Figure 10.7 Second Battle of Inner Gim Forest 4.

As the ambush had now degraded into a slower, more methodical fight, Tagaris had time to think. The arbalists were running out of magazines to reload, and the shield-bearers were tiring out. If they ran out of bolts before the enemy ran out of arrows, the remains of his kentarchia would be taken out one by one. There was only one way to force a resolution before then.

He checked the statuses of the other visible kentarchiai. They seemed scarred by the initial volleys, but otherwise intact enough for his purpose. He yelled towards the third and fourth kentarchiai. "We need to attack!"

The third centurion responded, "The trees will break up our cohesion."

"There are only archers visible on our direct sides," reasoned Tagaris. "If no melee infantry is with them, we'll have the advantage. If they have protectors, then it'll merely be an even fight. If they had overwhelming numbers they'd have attacked us at the start."

There was a pause as Tagaris's suggestion was relayed down the trail and back.

"Then let's do it. Our kentarchiai shall attack towards alternating fronts. On your move."

"2nd kentarchia! Prepare to charge to the left of the trail!"

Silence descended upon the soldiers. The second most senior member of the kentarchia responded to the order after a couple of seconds. "Ready to charge!"

"Charge!"

The left side of the kentarchia ran into the trees while screaming as the rest followed. Some of the enemy archers ran away from their cover in response, but Tagaris found himself stopping when the front ranks slowed down as some yelped in pain.

"There are stakes in the bushes!" Someone yelled. As Tagaris looked down at the heavily plant-covered ground and spotted many little sharpened sticks poking out of the dirt, a couple of soldiers went down to arrow fire from the archers who were brave enough to stay where they were. The rest of the enemy began to turn around under some foreign shouts and probable curses before being forced to hug tree trunks as the arbalists quickly adapted to the aborted charge and let loose at them.

"Reform shield walls around the vexillum!" ordered Tagaris.

With the failure of the attack, Tagaris thought he was screwed until the archers suddenly began running away after three owl hoots echoed through the forest.

Soon after, he heard the beating of wings in the air and looked up to see two red wyverns fly over the path.

Figure 10.8 Second Battle of Inner Gim Forest 5.

Figure 10.9 Second Battle of Inner Gim Forest 6.

In the Middle of the Lourian Column, Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

"Spear-Bearer Aspietes, our wyverns have routed the enemy and have sent back two wyverns to overshadow our column. They report that it appears our front heavy infantry was engaged by enemy infantry, with their screening scouts all slain. They count one of our kentarchia destroyed. The enemy infantry has already fled back into tree cover and is no longer visible. They await further orders."

"Have them continue to overfly our forces. If they see enemy infantry reappear in the open, they may rain fire upon them. Remind them not to light up the entire forest in the process though."

Adem Aspietes closed his eyes and thought about the situation. The fact that the fighting was localized to the front of the tagma indicated that it was likely an ambush undertaken by a low amount of enemy fighters. Probably up to five kentarchiai-sized units. Disappointedly, this meant this was probably Adem's first defeat in this war. The upside was that with such a small attack along with a lack of contact reports from the far-range scouts, it was unlikely the Qua-Toynians had a full opposing army hidden within the Inner Gim Forest.

He had to wait for the horse messenger to return to get a better confirmation of this initial assessment. A review with the soldiers who had just fought would need to be conducted later.

In the meantime, he would have to arrange for scouts to be redistributed from the other sections of the tagma to the front while the trail ahead was cleared again. The rapidly resolved fighting had forced a delay to his march, and if the enemy did not suffer enough casualties they could be expected to launch similar delaying attacks.

Delays, but no decisive engagement… Beyond the Inner Gim Forest were just open plains leading up to Fortress Ejey. With Lourian wyverns steadily winning free flight over the skies, resistance in the open was suicidal. The Qua-Toynians had to be planning to make a stand near Ejey then, giving up all of Gim.

From his historical analysis of the First Battle of Inner Gim Forest, the Qua-Toynians had chosen to fight in the forest because they had no extensive fortifications beyond it. Now many generations of civilization later, with Fortress Ejey blocking passage through the mountains, the nobility must have decided to fight from battlements rather than camp out in the dirt and leaves.

The Qua-Toynians had given up their best strength at forest warfare and unknowingly helped the Lourians to theirs. Louria's troops were always masters of siege warfare. To fight at Fortress Ejey will be to give Louria a victory.

Adem patiently waited to hear the hooves of the messenger's steed once again.

Deep in the Inner Gim Forest, Principality of Qua-Toyne

As they continued to flee the wrath of the bruised and probably vengeful Lourian army under the cover of the trees, Moizi decided to ask Vruk a question.

"What's all that on your head?"

"The blood?" Moizi's squire pointed at the drying red splotches on his helmet and smiled. "Arox smashed a horse's head with his post maul right next to me. I swear a piece of the horse's skull bounced off my helmet."

Moizi looked out towards the front of the group where the hulking brown figure walked and occasionally ducked to avoid getting his horns caught in branches.

"Thank the four stars he's with us," said Moizi.

Author's Note

I meant to finish this before Christmas 2022. Sadly I finally caught covid from my company's holiday dinner at a restaurant (no serious symptoms, but heavy fatigue that resulted in a lot of lost time). Writing (including battle planning) was pretty much finalized relatively quickly but again map making (maybe lower resolution than I would have liked, will see how they appear on Wattpad) and other images took a while. (Again if you're reading this on . Images are only on the Wattpad version cause they're actually supported there.)

Good news is that my grandfather got off the ventilator at the beginning of this month (still has various invasive tubes that hospital staff have to tie down his wrists to prevent accidental unplugging during sleep). Bad news is that he's still stuck in the hospital ward as antibiotics have slow effect on all the superbugs common in today's modern hospital environment. He's well enough though to complain to my cousin who's taking their turn to fly across the ocean and visit him.

Anyways, belated holidays to those of you reading soon after publication. Probably happy new year as well. Next chapter will finally be back to the Americans and the various tasks they need to complete before their trip towards the Rodenius continent.

If you notice any errors, don't hesitate to leave a comment and point it out, as always. Thanks for waiting patiently.