"What else can we do, High Marshal?"
"I will not accept defeat at the hands of some stepped-up Archpriest. We will leave Balph while we still can, heads up and our glaives held high. We will tell Grand Master Soton that we are leaving in support of his advance into Hos-Agrys. He will not like it, but he cannot refuse our help, nor will Anaxthenes allow him such a liberty. It will please Styphon's Voice to see us leave."
"But isn't that a retreat?" the Grand Commander asked.
"No, it's a strategic withdrawal, while we still have the upper hand. We will establish a new base of operations in the Northern Kingdoms. It is time they learned of Styphon's real fist! After we have rebuilt our forces, we will return to the Holy City."
"What about the Investigator? Won't he be displeased?"
"Roxthar is our tool, not the other way around, Commander! Remember that. I will send him a letter telling him of our efforts to lay the groundwork for the Investigation of the Northern Kingdoms, and request his aid. If I know our man, he will bolt out of the Grand Host like one of Kalvan's rockets?'
NINETEEN
Prince Phrames looked through the farseer at the distant watchtower through the tree and brush cover, then at the horizon. The sun, a glowing red orb, was slowly rising above the distant horizon and he could feel the tension building in the waiting soldiers. It was almost time to initiate the attack. Last night they had subdued the area between the village of Prumfyld and city walls, mostly farms and small villages, and taken over a thousand prisoners. He had taken care to see that the captives were well treated, at least, those who surrendered. For the rest, the King's victory brought a harsh price. Since there was no Thagnor militia, the farmers and fisherman had mostly fought with pitchforks, scythes, half-pikes, farmer's bills and crossbows. The Army had fought back with swords and halberds, not wanting to raise the City Watch with musket fire.
Phrames biggest obstacle had been keeping battle-crazed Hostigi soldiers from raping and looting the Thagnori peasants. After losing the biggest battle of their life and being thrust out of their homes, the Hostigi Army wanted someone on whom to take out their fear, shame and anger on. Phrames' job had been to convince them that it was best held in reserve for the coming battle with the Grand Host, who would deserve every atrocity the men could conjure.
"After fourteen winters of Prince Varrack's rule, these poor churls deserve a chance to prosper under Hostigi rule," he had told them. "And, I mean to give them that opportunity. Any man jack of you who finds that distasteful, can leave now and return to Hostigos!"That had shut up the quibblers.
It's good policy, too, he thought. Rylla and some of the older nobles, like Prince Sarrask, Pheblon and Chartiphon, thought that leniency was equal to weakness. Fortunately, Kalvan believed otherwise; so far events had proven his wisdom. Certainly, the Thagnori villagers, for the most part, had quickly set down their weapons and asked for quarter. Of course, it hadn't hurt that he had nine thousand soldiers at hand. Still, one day these crofters and fishermen would be subjects of Greater Hostigos, as Rylla liked to call it.
Phrames only hoped that the Thagnori soldiers were as sensible as the farmers had proven to be. Kalvan planned to offer all those who surrendered and were willing to swear fealty to Hostigos and join the royal army a five gold crown signing bonus. Plus, pay some of their back wages. Since many of these soldiers hadn't been paid since the beginning of last fall, he suspected there would be a lot of volunteers. In lieu of pay, many of them had become accustomed to stealing victuals and goods from the farmers and villagers; they would have to be taught that practice was at an end. After they hanged the first handful or two, the others would learn that it was best to obey their Great King in all ways.
One of his Beshtans, Captain Jephros, said, "The First Battery's guns are primed and loaded, Captain-General."
"Hold fire until we hear the ship's guns."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Our Great King wants us to coordinate our attack with the naval attack on the Thagnor Fleet. Colonel Tortha of the Militia will be starting an uprising inside the city after our guns open fire. It would be far easier just to destroy the Army of Thagnor, but Kalvan wants us to spare them for the fight against Styphon's House. We are to take as many prisoners as we can. The conquest of Thagnor isn't going to win us any friends in the Upper Middle Kingdoms. The Great King says we'll be lucky if every princedom and kingdom within five hundred marches doesn't declare war on Hostigos."
"Not if we beat them first, sir!"
Phrames laughed. "That was Queen Rylla's advice. It's one thing to conquer them all; it's another to hold their loyalty and risk having them change sides every time we move the army. King Kalvan believes our best strategy is to take a formidable stronghold and use that as our base of operations. Thagnor will give us such a place, a stronghold in which to rebuild our munitions mills, arsenals, foundries, stills and factories, and the University of Hostigos. Thagnor also has the advantage of being the choke point between two major Seas, which will allow us to control local trade and keep our enemies at bay. Any princedom that opposes us, we will conquer and add to our new Kingdom. The others will quickly see the folly of allying against us."
Jephros looked puzzled. "What happens when Styphon's Grand Host enters the mix?"
"It will force everyone in the Middle Kingdoms to take one side or the other. If we have done a good job in Thagnor, that is, if we haven't abused our new subjects and have provided new prosperity and jobs, honored our treaties and kept our shirts clean; then, by Dralm, the other princedoms may decide that we are preferable to Styphon's devils. Especially if Investigator Roxthar travels with the Grand Host."
In the distance there was a sudden brilliance of a signal rocket.
"The battle has begun. Give the order!"
Jephros rode off, shouting "Fire!"
The batteries' guns sounded like rolling thunder and for a few moments Phrames was temporarily deaf. The stone watchtower fell apart, stones and men flying every which way. A couple of Thagnori heads rose above the parapets but quickly went down when the riflemen opened fire. The second volley took down the watchtower base and a good portion of the City Wall with it. There was no mortar between the joints, making the wall especially vulnerable to massed gunfire. Great King Kalvan would change this, put good mortar between the stone, build strong bastions and earthworks and make the walls two to three times their present thickness.
Jephros returned. "Shall I give the order to advance?"
"Not yet, Captain. I want to smash a big enough hole to march twenty men abreast. That will give the Thagnori something to quake in their boots over!"
II
This part of Hostigos is as bare of life as the moon, Sirna thought to herself as the spring-less carriage bounced over the dirt path that passed for a road in eastern Hostigos. Now that the Great King's Highway was behind them she really missed it. Outside the carriage, there was nothing but burned fields, collapsed barns and an occasional sun-bleached skeleton of a man or cow.
So this is what Kalvan means by total war. The small towns and villages were all in ruins, many of the buildings torn to the ground. It would be a long time, without massive outside investment, before this blasted landscape was brought back to life-if ever. Even the forests were mostly burned or destroyed, their blackened limbs stretching skeletally towards the sky. The last living things she'd seen had been a horse party of white-robed Investigators with a squad of Styphon's Own Guard. What are we going to find when we get into Sashta and Beshta?