"If there's no river traffic, won't that raise suspicion?" one of the captains asked.
Kalvan shook his head. "Not if we capture the merchant ships and board them with our soldiers. Once they're secured, we'll crew them with our own sailors before we send them off. After we've unloaded the Army of the Saltless Sea, we're going to take the guns off a third of our ships to make up shore batteries on both sides of the River. The ships without guns will be temporarily outfitted as merchant ships, with neutral flags, and sent with the merchant ships to Thagnor City to release their crews, most of whom will be regulars, for liberty. Before the attack, those who speak Urgothi will be responsible for spreading rumors that the government is going to increase taxes, impress civilians, outlaw ale-anything that will foment unrest. The rest will position themselves around the jails."
Kalvan used his pipe bit to point to Tortha. "Colonel Tortha will be in charge of the Thagnor insurrection. Once the attack on the Thagnor Navy has been launched, they can liberate the jails, take over the civil buildings and encourage the idea of an internal uprising, which will tie down a lot of the army and garrison troops."
Everyone nodded.
"Colonel Tortha."
Tortha rose to his feet, and once he had his sea legs, he said, "I've got almost a hundred volunteers who speak passable Urgothi. About half of them will act as interpreters for the eight hundred regular army soldiers. The other half will be busy spreading rumors and generally creating havoc for the civil authorities. I don't think the Thagnori are going to know what hit them!"
He got a rousing cheer of "Down Varrack!" for his words.
When the noise had died down, Kalvan said, "I'd like to capture as many ships as possible. Our reconnaissance tells us there are some eighty ships in port, most of them at the docks. Ten of them are on shore careened or in dry-dock.
"Our guns should take care of any resistance. I doubt many of the Thagnori ships will have more than a skeleton crew. After this meeting, I want all of the captains to meet with Admiral Herad, who will assign ships and transports to their target areas.
"The main division of the Army of the Saltless Seas, under the command of Prince Phrames, will disembark as soon as the village of Prumfyld is occupied. Phrames will gather at Prumfyld with the Mobile Force and nine thousand foot soldiers. They will go inland during the night; the land here is mostly flat and the only inhabitants are peasants. Both the attack on city walls and the Thagnor Navy will be nearly simultaneous, which will add to the fog of war."
Prince Phrames asked, "What about farmers and any other locals who evade capture during our march to the walls? Some of them may reach the city and give away our position."
Kalvan turned to Vinaldos.
"It shouldn't be a problem. First of all, the local peasants will be reluctant to report anything to the guard for fear of involvement. Many of the locals here are smugglers and don't fraternize with the officials. The majority will be more concerned with fleeing with their valuables and families. Prince Varrack is not well-loved outside the city, and not much inside it, either.
"Secondly, the soldiers will be reluctant to report on any troop movements they themselves have not seen for fear of punishment. The Thagnor Army does not reward initiative. At worst, the conflicting reports as the Army moves to the city walls will only add to the confusion Colonel Tortha will be creating inside Thagnor City.
"I want to get the Thagnori troops jumping around, not sure where and in how many places they are being attacked. As far as my agents have been able to reconnoiter, the Thagnori Army musters about six thousand men. Moreover, a thousand of them are out of Thagnor City proper, either as marines or at posts and towers outside the city walls. The city walls, for a city this large, have less than a quarter of the defenders they should have on post. The second wall is even smaller and weaker than the first wall; in some areas they've allowed entire sections to fall without repair. Prince Varrack, except for his own pleasures, is a skinflint on everything, including his soldiers' pay.
"The outer walls are roughly two lances high and between two and three rods thick, while the inner wall is little higher than a lance," Vinaldos finished.
A rod was a little longer than a yard, Kalvan thought to himself, and a lance would be three or four rods, depending on whether you were talking about a Harphaxi rod or an Agrysi rod. Note: Reform and standardize units of measurements.
"The Army of the Saltless Seas will have both flying batteries," Kalvan said, "which should give them enough firepower to breach the walls in several areas within a candle, or maybe two. From the spy reports, the second wall should blow down with the first sneeze. Once the Navy has successfully captured or destroyed the Thagnori Fleet, they will hold the waterfront until we hear from Prince Phrames. Meanwhile, the rest of the Army will be held in reserve. Once word is received that Phrames has breached the wall, the reserve will disembark and hit Thagnor City about here," he said, pointing the tip of his blade at downtown Detroit.
Kalvan nodded to his new spymaster, Vinaldos, granting him permission to speak again.
"According to our sources, many of Varrack's best soldiers were killed two winters ago in Greffa in a battle against the Ros-Zarthani barbarians. Most have been replaced with untested troops. Many of the soldiers have not been paid in two, three moons. Morale is bad. Prince Varrack prefers to spend all his gold on his own comforts. The only time the Prince empties his treasury is when he needs the army to fight a neighbor. He hasn't done that lately, because Morthron to the south is too strong to conquer, while Ragyath to the north is allied with Greffa.
"Finally," Vinaldos finished, "it is our Great King's plan to capture the larger part of the Army of Thagnor."
"Remember to take prisoners whenever possible," Kalvan said. "Prince Varrack is the enemy, not his subjects or soldiers. We will integrate the prisoners into the new Army of Thagnor.
"This attack on Thagnor is only the opening salvo in a long war of survival. We need a new home, a refuge, where we can lick our wounds and rebuild our forces. We still have Styphon's Grand Host on our heels. Hostigos is going to need every soldier and piece of territory we can take!
"This invasion is not a battle we expect to lose. We will win; we outnumber the enemy, we have more guns, more soldiers, more experience. However, since we are planning to live here, we do not want to harm the real estate!"
Kalvan took off his plumed helmet to cheers of: "Down Varrack! Down Thagnor! Down Styphon!"
II
Upon viewing firsthand the blackened ruins that had once been the thriving city of Ulthor Port, Great King Lysandros cursed Kalvan out loud, "By Styphon's Tool, let this demon-spawned bastard, who calls himself King Kalvan, spend all eternity in Regwarns deepest cavern!"
Captain-General Demnos removed his high-combed morion and wiped the moisture off his forehead. "I had expected no less, Your Majesty, not after the barrens we've traveled through for the past moon quarters."
"By the grace of the gods, I had hoped that the Usurper might have left this city undefiled. I was here over eighteen winters ago, on a diplomatic mission. There was talk of war with Hos-Agrys and my brother wanted me to inspect our western princedoms to see how vulnerable they were to invasion. Ulthor Port was a vibrant and impressive city. It saddens me to see it reduced to rubble. Have you noticed, there are no people here at all?"