“Of course,” Bahram assured him.
Darius went to the head of the table, dragging the chair back in a slight scrape against tiles before settling into it. As he sat, he truly looked at both men. He’d only met Bahram briefly before now but he’d exchanged several letters with him over the past few months. Before Darius, Bahram had held the dubious privilege of being the youngest general on the council. At the age of forty, he had been promoted to his current rank by Queen Tresea for his excellent service. Sego told him that Bahram was one of the few that had gained his rank by merit alone instead of connections. Even Mihr had practically married into this career.
Bahram certainly didn’t look like a brilliant strategist. Actually, he had the small and wiry build of a horseman. In fact, if Darius hadn’t known better, he’d have almost pegged the man as Baijian because of his dark, leathery skin, bushy black hair and that hooked nose.
Sego passed both men the reports before quietly blending into the shadows behind Darius. Payam just as quietly took up the same position, waiting for Darius’s orders.
Generals Ormad and Delshad came in almost at the same time. Delshad was still tucking his sash into itself around his waist, and he looked as if he had dressed on the run—literally. His hair, uncommonly long for a military man, tangled around his face and kept falling into his eyes. He kept reaching up to brush it away, only to have it spring back. For such a tall man, his voice came out in an unusually high pitch as he greeted, “General Bresalier. General Mihr. General Bahram.”
No one had a chance to respond as Ormad boomed out, “Bresalier, what’s going on?”
“Take a seat,” Darius invited calmly. “I’ll tell you.” He watched Ormad yank back a chair and drop into it. The man had the size of a small bear, and the temperament to match. He was always bellowing something, it seemed, but under that tough exterior lay a man with common sense. He didn’t have the instincts of a good strategist but he knew how to obey orders and how to work with what he was given.
With everyone seated, Darius nodded to them. “Thank you for coming so quickly. Niotan’s future depends on it. Not an hour ago, Ashtad came to me and reported that Brindisi has gathered together an army and is marching them here.”
“Already?” Delshad objected, eyes wide. “It can’t be much of a force, surely.”
“Thirty-five thousand,” Darius corrected grimly.
Bahram let out a low whistle. “Now how did they pull that off?”
“They ended the campaign against Serrati.” Darius gave them a rueful shrug when they all groaned in understanding. “That won them back considerable manpower and resources alone. But I think they’ve also gained some troops in a few other places. Serrati’s war alone didn’t consume that many men.”
The four men exchanged glances between themselves.
“Bresalier, correct me if I’m wrong, but those barriers of yours won’t handle thirty-five thousand,” Mihr said in a steady, calm tone that belied the worry in his eyes.
Darius nodded confirmation. “Not even close. They might be able to handle twenty thousand, if we had more layers to them and more troops, but we don’t have the ability to meet that large of an army head-on and win. We need to whittle down those numbers before they even reach Niotan’s borders.”
Omar’s eyes were narrowed. “You have an idea?”
“Several. But it would require me to be in about three places at once, hence why I need your help.” He flashed them a smile. “Gentlemen, I realize that it’s your policy in this country to rotate the generals so that one serves every three months. But for this to work, I need
all
of you deployed at once. So I hereby propose that during the duration of this war, we abolish the rotational system.”
“Agreed,” Mihr said without hesitation. “To me, it never made sense to begin with.”
Omar slapped the table with a loud bang, startling everyone and announced happily, “If it means getting in the field faster, I’m all for it! What about you two?”
For a moment more, Bahram considered this before finally shrugging. “As long as the chain of command remains clear and intact, I don’t see a problem. Agreed.”
“We’ll go by seniority,” Darius assured him. “I won’t let there be any confusion. But most of the time, you’ll actually be doing separate duties. Other than conferring with each other and keeping the others abreast of your progress, you won’t be crossing paths much. Delshad?”
The man looked around, eyes darting nervously from face to face, clearly uneasy. “W-well, this is highly untraditional.”
Really, Darius had a majority vote. He didn’t need Delshad’s but he also didn’t want the man to just go along with the flow. That usually created problems later. “It’s alright if you don’t agree. But I still need you to be willing to work.”
His nervousness faded and he straightened in his chair to give Darius a level look. “I will always be willing to do that.”
“Good enough. Then here’s my idea.” He stepped away from his chair so that he could lean over the table and trace the route with his finger. “The Tran Highway is the only way for them to approach Niotan. If we ambush them from both sides, using the Elburz Forest for cover, then we can whittle down their numbers that way. If we play our cards right, we can also make the whole army paranoid about sleeping, or eating, or doing anything else that lowers their guard.”
Omar bared his teeth in a feral smile. “A sleep-deprived army makes a lot of mistakes. I like it. How many do you think you can get this way?”
Darius splayed his hands to either side in an open shrug. “I hope five thousand or so. With that large of an army, it will move very slowly, so we should have plenty of opportunities. I also plan on taking out their siege equipment at this stage.”
Reaching out with one finger, Bahram tapped the map himself. “And when they reach the mouth of Dakan Pass?”
“Then it gets more interesting. Here is where I need one of you to take over. I’m sure you all know about the armaments and fortifications I’ve had built up there?” He looked around the table, double-checking that they actually
had
heard about that. Army Intelligence didn’t always update people as they should and generals had a nasty habit of ‘losing’ recent reports before actually reading them. But he got a consensus around the table, so he continued, “They’re ready, but not armed. I need someone to go up there with the troops and run them through the drills until they’re all sure of what to do.”
Mihr tapped the table in a quick drum of fingers. “I should probably do that. I have a little experience with such fortifications.”
He did? “From where?”
“Hamms.” Mihr flashed him a rare smile, showing crooked teeth. “Product of a misspent youth.”
Ohhh? Is that where Mihr’s sometimes unorthodox strategies came from? That certainly explained a few things. “Then you’re in charge there. Speak with Commander Kaveh. He’s the one that oversaw their construction.”
“I will. What do you have set up there exactly?”
“The fortifications are overlapped so that every angle is covered. You will, of course, have most of the archers. But there’s also several sizes of ballistas up there, and caltraps ready to be dropped into the pass below. Kaveh has several rockslides rigged as well.” Darius went back to the map, tracing the route through the pass with his forefinger. “I believe that we can take down another ten thousand or so in here. But I need someone else to be in charge of the eastern lines. Our men on the mountain and in the forests will be badly out of position to protect the eastern lines. Really, I need all three of you there.” Darius tapped each section as he spoke. “North section, middle section, south section. The line is too long for any one commander to keep track of it, as I discovered personally. But you saw for yourself how the barriers can be used the most effectively. Can I leave it to you?”
“I’ll take the northern section,” Bahram volunteered quietly. “I’m from that area and know it well. In fact, my estate is nearby. We can use it to store supplies if needed.”
Darius gave him a grateful look. “I leave the details up to you, but we can use all the help we can get at this point. Thank you. Omar? Delshad?”
“I’ll take the middle,” Omar said as he leaned back in his chair, making the chair creak. “Delshad, that leaves south section to you.”
With a nod, Delshad agreed, “I’ll take it. General Bresalier, who was your commander over that section previously? I want his input before I plan anything.”
“Commander Ramin.”
“Bresalier, I hate to be the one to point this out, but that still leaves about twenty thousand for us to take care of and I don’t think these barriers of yours can do that much in one push.” Omar scratched at his chin. “Unless there’s some other part to your plan?”
“Well, the troops from the forest and the mountain will come down and do a flanking maneuver to harry their back lines,” Darius assured him. “Of course, I won’t leave the last stage of the battle just to you. But you’re right, it’s a bit much to face. There’s just one thing I’m betting on.” He sank back into his chair with a wry smile. “You see, eight thousand of those Brindisi troops are actually Baiji horsemen.”
Delshad went three shades of pale at this information. “On that flat, open area the horsemen will be deadly.”
“
If
they choose to fight,” Darius lifted a finger in a correctional fashion. “I plan on having a little one-on-one talk with their commander and negotiating. The Baiji have always been very unwilling allies and if they can find a way to get out of fighting, they’ll take it. If we offer them a free surrender and a safe passage home, I think they’ll agree.” Although his first proposal would be something radically different. But this was the one he’d fall back to and accept if it came to that.
“Surely not,” Omar objected.
“Trust me,” Darius assured him with a sour grimace. “I learned this from personal experience as well. I once had four thousand Baijians in my command that worked out a separate agreement with the opposite force and walked away without lifting a single blade.”
For the first time since entering the room, Sego asked, “So what did you do?”
Darius turned enough to answer, “Not much I
could
do at that moment. I had my hands full of some very upset barbarians. I cursed Darr for his interference, vowed to strangle their commander later, and went back to fighting.” Although he never did manage to get his hands on that commander. “The point being, if you approach a Baijian in the right way, with the right offer, he will abandon Brindisi in a heartbeat. They’ve never taken being ruled by the Sovran well. If it works, it evens the odds considerably in our favor. If not, I tried.”
“If not, we’ll add another layer to the barriers just in case,” Bahram corrected. “We have time to do that, I think.”
“You do,” Darius approved, relieved they were thinking ahead.
“So how should we divide up the troops?” Omar asked. He tapped the map with a blunt finger. “Parts of this will take a lot of manpower, I think. How many do you need for your ambushing, Bresalier?”
“A thousand should do it, I think.” Darius sat back and started counting things off on his fingers. “There are, technically, eight thousand able bodied soldiers that we can call upon. But one thousand of that are in vital guard positions and I do not dare leave the capital completely unprotected.” He had nightmares of doing that after what happened in Brindisi. “And five hundred of them are still dealing with the captured armada.”
“So really we have sixty-five hundred to deploy,” Mihr finished with a frown. “We’ll definitely have to fight smart, otherwise they’ll just flatten us. You said a thousand, Bresalier?”
“Yes, but they’ll serve a dual purpose,” Darius assured him. “After I’m done within the Elburz Forest, I’ll retreat into the mountains and at that point, the men I have with me will be at your command.”
“Hmmm.” Mihr leaned forward and stared at the Dakan Pass for a long moment, the wheels clearly turning in his head. “So all I really need is enough men to get comfortable with the routine up there and to finish up anything left undone. In that case, I’ll take five hundred with me. I think that fifteen hundred can handle the pass with all of the fortifications that are in place.”
Darius had to agree. That was roughly the number he’d figured as well. “So the front lines have five thousand at your disposal.”
Delshad dragged his hair away from his face with both hands. “I think the bulk of the troops should go to the northern section. They’ll be hit the hardest.”
“That is a point.” Omar looked up at Bahram. “How many do you think you’ll need?”
“How many do you think you can spare?” Bahram countered. “I’ll take as many you as you can give me.”
“Let’s divide it up this way,” Delshad suggested with an uncertain look between the two men. “I’ll take a thousand. Omar, you have fifteen hundred and Bahram, you take twenty-five hundred. Will that do?”
Bahram took a moment to think about it before nodding slowly. “Actually, it might be perfect. I won’t give a final agreement to that until I can look at the land myself, though, and see how those barriers are laid out. If we need to shift some men around, I’ll let you know then.”
“Fair enough,” Omar agreed. “In fact, let’s go together so we can talk about it more on-site.”
“That might be for the best,” Delshad agreed, clearly relieved that his suggestion had been taken so well.
Darius blew out a secret breath of relief himself. He hadn’t been sure if these three could cooperate considering their very opposite personalities, but they were all professional enough that their different views wouldn’t cause problems. Thank Shaa for small favors. “Good. Is there anything else that we need to discuss?”
Mihr cleared his throat slightly before saying, “You
are
aware that while you were at your estate, Feroze and Angra started an active campaign to have you removed from your position?”
He couldn’t quite bite back a groan. The two generals had been sneakily maneuvering behind his back for quite some time, practically since his instatement. But the most open thing they’d tried had been that dinner with their friend dueling Darius between the tables. They’d had a drastic setback at that moment and hadn’t been as outspoken since then. Darius had mistakenly assumed that he could safely ignore them for a while longer.