His officer saluted and cried out orders to the signalman on the rear of the bridge. There were only four cargo ships and three Man O Wars in harbor. His twelve ships should have no trouble with them. Out here in the ocean Eunades scanned the horizon. The rest of the Kingdom ships were probably waiting for the entire fleet to enter the bay and be trapped. He wasn’t going to play that game. He just had to see how long it would take before the other six ships showed themselves.
In the harbor Raz stood on the bridge of one of the converted cargo ships. Since the last raid they had sent out daily scouts around the clock north of Volarus to watch for any more enemy activity. Sure enough this fleet had been spotted. Unfortunately Raz didn’t have the resources to take on such a large fleet and had sent word to Captain Koberg a few days before but to date he had not appeared.
He just hoped the port could hold out until Koberg arrived, everything hinged on him now. Raz had sent out the six other ships to just over the horizon. The idea being they could join up with Koberg and hit as a unified force on this enemy fleet. Right now he could only focus on the job at hand. Twelve enemy vessels had entered the harbor and were making a beeline for his three Man O Wars. This time he couldn’t use the fishing vessels to sneak up, not in broad daylight. He did have one surprise though. They obviously still didn’t know his cargo ships were converted for combat and while they were slow and ponderous that really didn’t matter here. In the harbor this was going to be a slugfest.
As he watched, two of the enemy vessels peeled off and made their way towards the town. Raz figured they would have to take care of themselves for now. He decided it was time to get into it.
“
Make full sail and signal the other ships! Converge on the other Man O Wars!”
They were under way, very soon it would be a full battle. Raz’s Man O Wars were the first to open fire and managed to get some hits and even sent one attacking ship out of control. But when the enemy ships opened fire it was devastating. Over thirty flaming pots descended on Raz’s ships erupting on all three Man O Wars and setting them well alight. Two of his Man O Wars managed to get another salvo away and hit the enemy ships again. This time two more opposing ships were put out of action, but after that Raz’s ships fell silent. They were raging hulks of fire being hit repeatedly by the enemy squadron. Five of the enemy ships turned to meet Raz’s incoming cargo ships. They were going to get a nasty surprise and as they drew near Raz gave the word.
“
Open fire!!”
Eight catapults on each of the four cargo ships let loose their deadly missiles. Half of them found their targets and set three of the enemy ships on fire, but not before they too managed to fire back. Now the three cargo ships had fires on them and men were running about dousing what they could. All the ships were trading arrows and bolts causing casualties on both sides.
Raz could see two more enemy warships, having dispatched his Man O Wars coming across to join the battle. Another salvo from his own ships and again half found their mark. The first three burning ships were hit again and this time they were reduced to funeral pyres for their crew. Minor fires were started on the fourth and fifth ships before the last two arrived.
This was getting close but Raz was getting the upper hand. His cargo ships took more hits but they managed another salvo again. A little more ragged aim now and less clay pots managed to hit, but with less targets it worked out the same. The enemy was down to two ships. They had been fighting for ten minutes, arrows flying, pots crashing and exploding in flames. It hadn’t taken long to send a dozen ships in total to the bottom. The fires were under control on all the cargo ships except one, it was well ablaze with men jumping overboard and longboats lowering into the water.
After five more minutes, the last two enemy ships were dispatched, a second cargo ship was burning badly. He could see it would soon sink. Looking across the bay he looked for the two warships attacking the shore and saw many fires raging in the town. Those bastards were firing indiscriminately.
Did they have time to get over there and take on the last two? Looking back over his shoulder Raz slumped a little, another eight of the enemy ships had broken away from their main force and were in the bay coming towards him. He knew the cause was lost, eight against two, it was just a matter of time.
Ordering his ships around he took them full on. All catapults were firing away as the enemy ships closed, some hits were managed and it looked like three of them were taking a hiding but even as he watched, his own two ships were getting hit by more and more pots exploding on his deck and rigging, within a few minutes they would have to abandon ship.
“
Keep firing! Don’t stop! Every shot counts!”
He stood on the bridge of his burning ship imploring his men to fight on and fight on they did. Some catapults were already on fire when they managed to get another shot off and it all proved to be for good worth, another two of the enemy ships were set on fire before the order rang out.
“
Abandon ship!”
Raz looked out at the horizon, wondering if Koberg would even show up today. Were there sails on the horizon?
Underlord Eunades had a looking glass to his eye, fourteen ships he counted, where had they all come from? There was supposed to be only six ships in total. He had just lost almost two thirds of his fleet and after seeing the cargo ships take his first squadrons apart he was sure the twelve he had out here could still deal with the six somewhere out here. But now it was fourteen on his fourteen and two were still in the bay. He thought quickly, he had never intended to take such losses, he couldn’t afford any more. No, he had to pull back.
“
Give the orders for the ships to retreat.” He growled through gritted teeth.
“
But sir,” Eunades looked at him sternly.
“
Do it now.”
He turned on his heel and left the bridge. He had underestimated how costly it would be to take on the Kingdom’s fleet. Whoever it was in charge there had proved himself to be resourceful and tricky too. He had no idea that the cargo ships had been converted into warships. These people here were nothing like the conquered of their land up north.
The men in Raz’s longboat cheered as they saw the enemy ships withdrawing. They had managed to pull it off, it had been costly but they always knew it was going to be an uphill battle. Raz wasn’t looking so happy. He knew if the Isogorreans sent one more fleet that size they were done and those bastards had time to do it too. There was only the ships of Koberg’s flotilla and his own five remaining boats, less than a dozen to last them who knows how long. They needed ships and they needed men. He would have to sit down with Koberg to see what options they had and work out new tactics. They simply could not afford for the Isogorrean fleet to attack them again.
As Raz’s boat came alongside the jetty he looked at the destruction in town. Many fires were burning and one of the warehouses built closer to shore was well ablaze. He could see men running about with buckets of water and trying to pull things out but he could see it was an almost total loss. Other fires were burning too, one saving grace was they had built many of the places well apart, they had the room being a new port and the fires did not spread.
“
I want a full report this afternoon on casualties and losses from all areas.”
His adjutant saluted and ran off to enact his order. Turning to the officer of the watch on the jetty, he left instructions for Captain Koberg to see him immediately upon his arrival.
In the hall Raz walked over to his chair and slumped in it. He wasn’t feeling good at all with what was happening. A week ago they were all in high spirits and working feverishly to establish this new town becoming a city. Raz could sense they were on the verge of losing it all but he could not tell anyone of his fears. He felt very tired all of a sudden. Being a leader wasn’t all meat and gravy.
Captain Koberg entered about an hour later and stood by the conference table at attention. Raz slowly looked up, waved his hand to sit and roused himself to sit upright in his chair.
“
How goes it Captain?”
“
My Lord we have returned with quite a lot of booty, I have three more cargo ships fully loaded with supplies. One has food, the other has a load of catapults and ballistas while the third has a mix of weapons, tools and clothing. Oh and I crammed whatever else I could onto my own ships. I expect we will have to return to the islands with one of the cargo ships to bring back what we had to bury on our base island.”
Raz perked up a bit at that.
“
That all sounds good Captain, how did you go with the troop transports of theirs?”
“
We managed to sink a few but not nearly as many I would have liked. Simple truth is out there in the large convoys we are well outnumbered. As it is I think it is safe to say there are about two and a half thousand troops of theirs that won’t be adding to Port Cholandra.”
It was all good news but it didn’t help Raz or his town, the people here were short on protection.
“
You will have noticed the mess when coming into port,” Raz let out a deep sigh, “The thing is we are now in desperate straits Captain.”
“
You made a good account from what I can see if I may say so sir. Sixteen of their ships for the loss of only seven of ours, that’s a good ratio in anyone’s book.”
Raz could see he was going to have to give him some cold hard facts.
“
Maybe so, but it doesn’t hide the fact that we can’t afford any real losses. One more raid by another thirty ships by them and we lose all of our defenses. We have had no word from the Kingdom regarding relief and I cannot simply sit here and hope. People’s lives depend on us, a lot of people’s lives. Right now our only defense is our Navy. We have no sea defenses in place and to build them would take years.”
Koberg thought about this and understood the ramifications of the situation. Looking at it from the larger perspective he could appreciate the Lord’s view.
“
May I suggest we send a fast boat to Oceania as soon as possible to tell of our situation? Also we should send a boat back to Port Valderus and station it there to give us plenty of warning if we need to evacuate the town in the event they send another large flotilla.”
Raz was starting to feel positive again.
“
Yes, all very good ideas. Let’s hope the mauling this fleet got today will keep them away for more than two weeks, surely the Kingdom will have responded by then. Also since Valderus was burnt whatever boat we send there should take some engineers to put on shore. Build something amongst the ruins to house the men and supplies for them.” Raz thought some more, “I think also for now we are going to have to curtail our raids from the islands, I think it would be better if we station you north at sea to act as a raider on any enemy fleet sailing down to us. You have many ships superior in speed to theirs so I think they shouldn’t be able to endanger you too much, what is your take on that?”
“
I agree entirely with your conclusions my Lord and I believe this to be the best possible plan to carry out in the short term.”
“
Very good Captain, we shall start enacting some of….”
There was a commotion outside and a runner entered the hall breathing heavily,
“
Sails sighted, another fleet of ships!”
Raz and Koberg looked at each other.
“
Get your ships out of here, there’s no point in defending this place and losing them all, you can serve the greater good of the Kingdom if you run now. Take care and Godspeed Captain.”
The Captain saluted.
“
May the gods be with you and your people Lord Raz.”
Raz turned to the runner.
“
Find out as soon as you can how many ships are in this fleet and get back to me, now go.”
The runner saluted and ran off the way he came. Raz walked to the door and surveyed all that he presided over, soon it would all be lost and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.
It was only fifteen minutes later and the same runner had returned, he was panting too heavily to talk.
“
Catch your breath before speaking.”
Raz was patient enough to wait. The runner gasped out,
“
There are…50.”
Fifty ships! Raz slumped onto the steps of the hall, there was no way they could combat such a large force.
“
Wait,” The runner panted, “There is more.”
Raz looked up, more?
“
They are Kingdom ships my Lord.”
Raz’s eyes went wide, by the gods they had come! Now Raz bounded down the steps and moved quickly to the jetty. As he walked along it watching out to sea he saw the skyline filled with white billowing sails, they definitely weren’t Isogorreans. He immediately started thinking practically, they wouldn’t all be warships, he turned and started barking orders,
“
Get every fishing boat away from the jetties and moored out in the harbor! Also I want wagons and horses here on the double!”