Infinite Blue Heaven - A King and A Queen (20 page)

Our first task is to fully assess Korim’s defenses and his, and our, resources. For this purpose, I intend to set off with a few of you tomorrow and twenty of our men in a small expeditionary force up and down the length of this bit of annexed land. Who knows what Korim has hidden from us? The thing that most worries me, is that he may have other forces elsewhere. We will be gone perhaps three days so Geb, Abdil’khan, Kazangap and Yedigei, you must choose your deputies before we leave. We will also take a few scouts and engineers.

We will go west first and then east and finally we will go as close to the gates as we can. This will enrage Korim and we will test his firepower. Of course, any of us may be killed, myself included. Hear me now. If I am killed at any time during this campaign, Abdil’khan will assume command and if he is killed, then Zhuan’zhuan will assume command and so on in order of age, except Geb-Gaban who will be last.

“Geb, if you find yourself in command, you will have the thankless task of getting word to the Palace so that they can evacuate. Of course, if there is any chance of Victory, you must carry on fighting but I entrust you with the task of getting word to the Palace, somehow.”

Geb nodded, solemnly.

“That’s the solemn stuff taken care of! Now the good news! I must tell you all, that we have a secret weapon. Yes! There is something, a little surprise that I have arranged for Korim, from a quarter he will least expect. I cannot tell you the details but don’t be surprised if, at some stage in the battle, it takes a strange turn for the better.”

Geb and I exchanged a quick glance.

“And I am not talking about Lord Bulya either.”

“Do you think he will make it?” asked Yedigei.

“Well.” I thought carefully what to say. “We have not heard anything bad. If there had been a battle at any of the Oases, of if Korim had discovered him, you can be sure the Enemy would have let us know.”

“He is a tough old toad.” said Abdil’khan. “Don’t worry about him. He will make it.” ‘If he wants to,’ was the silent addenda, I saw in Abdil’s eyes, as he glanced at me. Yes. Abdil’khan knew of Bulya’s wayward nature and it bothered me too.

“But what if Korim sends a force against this camp?” said Geb. “In fact, I keep wondering why he doesn’t. If I were him, that is exactly what I would do.”
“Yes. You will notice he has been testing us. Keeping us alert. A small skirmish here, another there. But as long as we keep him away, he will not want to waste troops on this. No, I think in a few days, these little skirmishes will stop altogether and we will have control of the land outside the Fortress. In fact we will have taken the initiative from him.”

“He will, in effect, be cornered. Whether he is fully aware of this or not, yet, I am not sure. It depends on whether he knows about Lord Bulya or not. He is probably content to let this happen, believing he has an escape route northwards and that he can be supplied this way. He may even think he can wait for the onset of winter and that we will have to go home.”

Five days to go.

“We have five days left Gentlemen. In five days’ time, at noon, we must attack. Our target will be the walls, the wooden walls. We will burn them and this way, get into the Fortress. Once we are at the walls. It should be easy. This is Korim’s weakness. It is getting to the walls which will be hard. He has burned all the ground for a distance of perhaps 200 sachine in front of the walls. There is no cover and the ground slopes steeply. On the right, it is even steeper and only horses will be able to fight there effectively.”

“What we need is another surprise. When I was studying Military tactics at Mockba, I learned that most battles hinge on one tiny element, usually unexpected by both sides. Something unpredictable, that seems almost insignificant at the time. A small bank, concealing some men, or making it hard to approach, sudden rain or a change in the weather, or even a change in the light. It is not always unpredictable, however. A good General is one who creates this surprise element, for himself. We must find what this element is. That is what will get us to the wall.”

“Zhuan’zhuan, if we do not return by noon on the third day from tomorrow, you will assume command. You will find the best way to attack. You will look for a surprise of some kind and you will attack at the correct hour and you will reach the wall. If Geb is not here and in the last resort, you will appoint a small force to reach the Palace.”

“That is all. Dismissed.”

Something had occurred to me while I had been speaking and after they had all left, I called in one of the Guards.

I quickly wrote down a simple sentence. ‘In Korim’s camp are forty spies, Nomad friends of mine and they will try to take control from within, at the appointed hour. Look out for them on the walls. Their leader is called Meth-Medir.’ I folded the parchment and sealed it with melted wax from a candle and the Royal Seal, from my pocket. I handed it to the Guard.

“If we do not return in three days from tomorrow, at noon, Zhuan’Zhuan will take command. You are to give him this. It will be here, underneath my personal papers.” I slid the folded sheet under the rest of my papers, as I spoke. “Until then, nobody is to know of its existence.”
“I understand, Sire.”

As darkness fell, I went walking around the camp. I found Abdil’khan, again drunk and he swung his tankard in a wide, careless ark, at the sight of me.

“Ahh! The King! We are going on another of his little trips, tomorrow, aren’t we Sire?” It was said with jollity but there was a hint of bitterness in his voice too. Abdil’khan was apt to change moods like this.

“Missing Natalya, Abdil’khan?”

Natalya was his wife and he would consider it almost an insult, that I would think him weak enough to be missing his wife. He grumbled and scowled but this quietened him.

I went back to my tent late and lay on the bed, thinking. The sides were up and the cool autumn air blew across my face. Somehow, I could not lay still. I turned over several times and thoughts of Lord Bulya kept creeping in. Would he attack, as planned? Could I trust him? “Well.” I laughed. “No, I cannot trust him.” But Ahmed’s words kept coming back to me. ‘To know the minds of men, to understand their roads. To discern water from mirrors.’

Had I judged him correctly? My thinking had been that Bulya must attack, because,even if he were in league with Korim, I did not think their plans were ready and I knew Bulya well enough to know he would not burn his bridges. He was a cautious man. But that was before I got the strong impression that Korim had help from those in high places, the King of Uran.

Now I had actually sent Bulya to within a day’s ride of the Kings borders. I turned over and shook my head at the difficulty of discerning Bulyas direction. I knew that ultimately, what he wanted was to sit on the Throne himself. Nothing else would do for him. After all, he was already the most powerful Lord in my Kingdom. For this reason, he would not want to take on Uran, or even Korim himself, especially since he would have no Army. No. What he really wanted was to see Korim fight it out with me. If we were both weakened enough, he could step in and take control. Of course, Uran may then take the Kingdom from him. But I did not think so. All my allies in the countries around might well let one of my own countrymen take the Throne if I were already dead but they would not let Uran take it. This would be an affront and would disturb the balance in the Region. They would then attack Uran.

Of course, Bulya may decide to arrive late, or not at all, or even ride north into Uran. But what would this gain him. Korim would then be more likely to win, since his was a stronger force than ours. I doubted if Korim would give up the thrown to Bulya. He was young and proud and would be even more intransigent.

No. On the whole, I was sure Bulya would stay on my side, as long as it suited his purpose, which was until the battle was almost over. This was not a good situation but it was one I would have to put up with. I needed his strength, while I could have it.

I felt calm enough to sleep,

The following morning, at sunrise, after a large breakfast, we left. I had told each General to send with us two of his finest men on horseback, which made twelve men and then there was Geb and myself, Abdil, Kaszangap and Yedigei, four scouts and two engineers.

At the last moment, I asked Ahmed if he would come with us. I would be taking the opportunity, during the expedition, to think about my plans for attack, and it would be good to have him with me. He agreed to come.

Just as we were about to leave, the cook came running up, out of breath

“Sire. Sire we need more food. What are we to do? There is no more mutton, even for stew. And we need potatoes, or something.”

“Hmm. We cannot let the men starve!” I was jesting with him.

“No. Indeed Sire!”

“Very well. Fetch Zhuan’Zhuan somebody.”

He was fetched and I told him to organise some hunting trips, and some foraging trips. We had the horses captured during the Battle of the Watery Knoll and, unlike our own horses, we would feel no compunction in eating them but they would not feed my men for the next four days.

“Round up as many sheep and any other livestock as you can find. Send the men out in groups of no less than ten, and gather in as many herbs and root vegetables and fruit as possible too.”

Four days left.

As we left camp, I scanned the high sides of the mountains for any signs of the Scouts who had left in the night. I saw nothing

I was not riding Arstan but a grey. Geb had told me he thought the Enemy would be more likely to attack the camp if they thought I had gone and since Arstan was the most distinctive thing about me, I had lent him to one of my Guards, telling him to exercise him around the camp, at least once per day.

We rode first south and then west, along the vast dried river-bed in the bottom of the wide valley. This was the river-bed that formed the edge of the little patch of green in the vast desert. Eventually, I knew, about 600 verst northwest, it would curve north into the mountains. That was where we would turn round.

It took us a few hours to reach the edge of cultivation and then we turned west. To our left the soil became sandier and the ground dropped away, treeless, and grass-less, into the valley and beyond it, the ground rose to the desert beyond. As we rode, the valley to our left became wider and more parched. We could see the outline of the old river bed, winding through the valley. Occasionally we saw the Enemy, on horses on our side of the River. Once, Geb said he saw some on the other side. They were moving in small groups, probably foraging, but also there to keep us on our toes. Korim would have told them to bring him news if they saw anything unusual. It was difficult for me to see how we could mount any sort of surprise attack, while we were being watched all the time.

As the morning wore on, I considered the options. One idea was to get my bowmen to fire arrows, set alight, at the walls. If only one caught, it could save thousands of lives. But the method had been tried many times. It rarely worked. Perhaps only one in five arrows stayed lit until it hit the walls. Then, of those, most would burn through before the wall caught and of those that set fire to the wall, in most cases it would not burn for long before the enemy put it out with water, from above.

Also, one had to get enough bowmen, close enough to the walls to do this. They would suffer heavy losses, as there was no cover. Of course I could send spears-men, or swordsmen, with the high shields, to protect them but there was a danger the enemy would send out a few horsemen to cut them off and then they would be finished.

I had even thought of a sort of combined attack. Have a few bowmen, with lit arrows and then place some men next to the gates. The enemy would not dare open the gates to send out horsemen because the men at the gates might get in and so the bowmen might succeed. But the men at the gates may have to wait there for some time and they would be slaughtered. Just getting into position they would suffer heavy losses. The gates were the most heavily defended part of the walls and the firepower from above would be tremendous. And then I dreaded the enemy pouring hot oil or fire on them.

I had thought that we might simply rush the walls. If it was quick, we may all get there

Before Korim knew what was happening. But whichever combination of men and timing I tried, it still looked grim.

If I sent just a few men, to pin themselves against the wall, who would defend them? The enemy would just pick them off.

If I sent a whole Battalion, the enemy would open the gates and release perhaps a Battalion of his own horsemen and they would cut our men off. They could just ride through any lines of men we had there.

No, the only way was to burn the walls.

Suddenly, Geb called to me. Look way up there, on the mountains. Do you see it? I shielded my eyes from the blazing Sun, still behind us, as I looked north, to where his finger was pointing. For a few moments I could see nothing out of the ordinary, then I saw a sudden flash of light. Moments later, there was another one, perhaps a verst further along the flanks of the mountain.

“Signals. Do you think they can see us?”

“Unlikely Sire but they may see our dust.”

As we plodded west and slightly north, the land became less cultivated. We occasionally saw small flocks of sheep or a few goats and once, some chickens and geese, running wild now their owner had left. Occasionally we saw ploughed fields with the first shoots of some vegetable showing through. Soon though, it was nearly all scrub. We stopped for a meal. I let all the men know I was looking for their ideas.