One of the colonels raised his hand and the general nodded to him to speak.
“My regiment can handle half of the horses,” volunteered the colonel.
The general nodded in agreement, and another colonel volunteered his regiment to handle the other half of the horses. The general agreed.
“I know we have discussed this before,” the general continued, “but I will go over it one last time. Colonel Ednor, your regiment will be the first to go through the portal. Your men are tasked to secure the area so the rest of 9th Corps can get through the portal safely. The cavalry regiments will go next. That will give your riders time to choose horses and get saddled up while the rest of the army is forming. Be quick about your task because the army will not be standing around on the farm to wait for your men. As soon as the army is formed, we are moving out, and I need your riders on the road before that happens. I want a full company to secure the rendezvous site where we will meet up with General Gertz, and I want a squad sent forward to verify the supplies cache at the end of today’s march.”
“What about civilians?” asked one of the colonels. “How are they to be treated?”
“The civilians present on the farm are agents of the Federation,” answered General Kolling. “They are not to be harmed. Other than those few Alceans, all others are to be killed. None will be spared.” There were several surprised looks and the general sighed. “Remember this. The attack on Alcea is supposed to be a surprise, but the enemy knows that we are coming. They just do not know when and where we will arrive. They think we will come on ships, but we will be using portals instead. That should allow us complete surprise, but we also have a march of thirteen days before we reach Ongchi, the longest march of any of the Federation armies. We cannot afford for word of our approach to reach the city before we do. Kill them all.”
The general expected weakness and sympathy for the natives from some of the soldiers under his command, but he would not accept such attitudes from his officers. He remained silent for a moment as he studied each colonel in turn, looking for any sign of weakness. He saw none.
“All right,” stated the general. “We only have two hours before the dawn in Alcea. Colonel Ednor, assemble your regiment near the portal and prepare to enter the world of the enemy. The rest of you gather your men and keep them ready to move out at any time. I want this entire army through that portal in under an hour. Do not disappoint me.”
The colonels rose and quickly dispersed. Colonel Ednor shouted orders to his men, and they ran to get into formation. He led them to the portal and explained what he expected of them. When he was finished he noticed Colonel Dorfan of the 1st Corps standing beside him. He was holding a key.
“Are you ready, Colonel Ednor?” asked Colonel Dorfan.
Ednor turned and glanced towards General Kolling who was standing nearby. The general nodded authorization to move out.
“The 9th Corps is ready to go into battle,” he declared.
Colonel Dorfan smiled and nodded approvingly. He walked to the portal and unlocked the Door, sliding the key into his pouch.
“Should you need to come back, the portal will not be locked. The key has served its purpose. Good luck, Colonel Ednor.”
Colonel Ednor waved to the squad chosen to go through first, and they quickly moved to stand in front of the portal. The rest of the regiment stood ten abreast with each company in a tightly packed line. Colonel Ednor gave the order to go.
The squad leader opened the Door and rushed through it, closely followed by the rest of the squad. As the last man of the squad went through the Door, Colonel Ednor moved to the portal and waited. The first company column queued up behind him. The wait was only a minute, but it seemed much longer to the colonel. Eventually, the squad leader stuck his head out of the portal and announced that the barn was secure. With a wave of his hand for the regiment to follow him, Colonel Ednor stepped into Alcea.
The other side of the portal opened into a large barn on a farm northwest of the Lanoirian city of Barouk. The initial squad quickly secured the barn and checked outside to see if anyone was around. They signaled that there was no one nearby. Colonel Ednor stood near the portal as his men filed through. He assigned each company to a specific area of the farm as they came through. A few minutes later, the last of his men came through the portal and the next regiment immediately followed. Colonel Ednor gave up his post at the portal and moved out of the barn to check on his men. Unseen by any of the soldiers flowing through the portal, two pairs of tiny eyes watched everything from the rafters of the barn.
“Get word of this to Bin-lu immediately,” whispered the tiny green man.
“Why me?” scowled the little blue woman. “I can stay and keep an eye on the Zarans just as well as you can. You go tell Bin-lu.”
“Bin-lu said he needed to know right away,” countered the male fairy. “He needs to do something with their supplies before they reach the first day’s cache. You had better hurry or Bin-lu will be very angry. He might even grab you with those sticky hands of his. I bet that glue would never come off your wings. You might never fly again.”
“He would punish you just the same,” retorted the female fairy. “Besides, Bin-lu would never harm a fairy. You are just making that up to scare me. I think you should be the one to go.”
The male fairy merely smiled and looked away. He watched the Federation soldiers file into the barn and out the large barn doors. For several minutes, neither fairy spoke, but as the male had suspected, the female caved in.
“Oh bother,” she scowled. “I do believe that you would refuse to notify Bin-lu just to win this argument. I will go this time, but you owe me one.”
The male fairy grinned with victory as the female leaped from her perch and darted into the predawn darkness.
* * * *
The rendezvous point was where the secondary road met the main road running between the city of Barouk and the capital city, Ongchi. The sun was rising as General Kolling arrived at the intersection, and he saw General Gertz and his 25th Corps halted on the main road, waiting for the 9th Corps to precede him. He rode over to the Aertan general and halted.
“Any problems?” asked General Kolling.
“Not a one,” General Gertz replied. “We did run into a few fishermen a while ago, but they were quickly dispatched. Any problems on your end?”
“Everything is going smoothly,” General Kolling answered with a shake of his head. “Is your cavalry mounted yet?”
“Almost. Judging from the looks of the nags that your men delivered, I can see that you kept the good ones for yourselves.”
General Kolling smiled. He had no doubts that his men would choose the best of the corrals for themselves, but he was sure that Gertz was exaggerating. “You will have to complain to General Tauman about that,” he replied. “His men did the purchasing of the horses. Brighten up. It is not as if we are racing to Ongchi. The horses will not get overworked.”
“I suppose not,” General Gertz grudgingly agreed. “I sure don’t look forward to walking all the way to Ongchi. Did you send men ahead to check the cache?”
“Of course. I expect a report back soon. I will send a runner back to relay the message to you. See you in camp tonight.”
General Kolling did not wait for a response. He turned his horse and rejoined his own column, leaving the 25th Corps to wait their turn. An hour later his advance scouts reported back. The cache was intact and undisturbed.
“Excellent,” smiled General Kolling. “Have one of your men report that to General Gertz. I also want another rider sent back to the portal. He is to report to General Tauman and tell him that everything is going smoothly. He is expecting a report of our progress so make sure that the man you send can describe our location and approximate hour.”