forum The Sound of War (oxo closed)

Started October 03, 2022 by @ElderGod-yellowqueen

tune

Thaddeus watched as each and every person filed into the room. He noted their expressions and their body language. He noted which ones would follow him, which ones were wary, and the ones that looked at him in outright defiance. He didn't care if they didn't like him. He was there to be loved by everyone. He was there for military support to win back his kingdom and his crown. He would be king. He would kill for it. He would die for it. No matter the outcome, it would be him sitting on the throne. And if he died, he would place one of his siblings there, one that he knew would rule fair and wise. One that would survive. But he had every intention of surviving this war. Every intention of winning this war.
"Let's begin."
He waited until everyone was seated before continuing. "I took it upon myself to update your map. You've clearly underestimated my father. He has about twice the camps that you've scouted. His troops are here," he pointed at the map, "here and here. It's likely that at least one of these camps has changed position as my father is well aware that I possess this knowledge. But there are only so many people you can move in such an amount of time." He grabbed the figurines that represented them. "So far, you have been on the defense, countering their attacks. They're testing you. Teasing you. They want to see how well you guard your borders and how easy it is to cross. It's time to stop playing defense. We need to be on the offense. He won't see it coming."
He placed the figurines at one of his father's camps. "This is their largest camp. This is where messages go in and out of, to my father and the other military camps. We hit here and we hit them hard. It will interrupt their messaging and wipe out the biggest threat pertaining to us. We'll set up better scouts and guards along the border. Anyone that is not a citizen is arrested and brought to the palace for questioning. Anyone dressed as a soldier is killed on sight." He would not risk his own people being murdered for fleeing the country, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He would interrogate them all personally if he had to. He knew how to talk to his people. He had done it many times.

The war room was quiet, except for maybe the occasional cough. As the attendees listened, a few exchanged uncertain glances, while others studied the map with interest.
Someone murmured, “If only we could use the armadas.” There was some half-hearted laughter that followed. The Ensian forces were quite adept at marine warfare and were known for it, but that became their biggest problem here. Ensian shared a land border with Vallasaria, and although they had been able to utilize the wetlands on the northwest side of the border to their advantage, the southern side was dry and flat, and thus made it difficult for the Ensians to navigate. It had forced them to take a defensive position up to this point.
One of the officers raised a hand. “Prince Thaddeus, this is a good strategy,” she said. “I am only worried about the execution. Our troops are still getting used to the land, and we may not be strong enough to initiate an attack and make it successful. The only advantage I see is that this large camp is near the Keshnam Swamp, which is where we are stronger.” She pointed to an area on the map to the west of the figurines.

Thaddeus regarded the woman as he would any warrior, because she was just that, a warrior. "And they know that as well. It's what they'll be expecting and they're reinforced their camp. They have more soldiers, more magic, more strength, and a dragon. This camp in Azmarin while large and building, is our best opportunity to show our strength. It's where they will least expect us to hit. We go in the dead of night. We'll hit them in three days time. The sooner the better. They'll have less time to mobilize themselves.
"And you're forgetting one thing. I have a dragon. Azmarin does not. They won't stand a chance."
He only hoped none of his siblings were waiting for them with their own dragons.

Some attendees began whispering to each other, their worries or their own private plans. They seemed to be divided between skeptical and convinced.
“So you’re saying, an ambush?” One of the mages asked.
“How do you suggest we prepare ourselves?” The officer from before tilted her head.

“Theo.”
He looked down at his lap. They found it difficult to look at her.
“How do you like your husband?”
“He’s… he’s good. I’m… I’m not surprised by him.”
“Oh? Does that make you happy?”
What was she getting at? Theo knew this wasn’t really what she wanted to talk about. Wouldn’t she just get to the point. “… I suppose we shall see.”
“Look at me.”
He looked at her. Queen Aditya had an unreadable look on her face. If Theo had to guess, perhaps stern. They shared the same dark hair, though the queen’s flowed in an inky braid over her shoulder. Theo’s skin tone was only a shade darker than hers, and Aditya had that little mole just above her jaw. They were each soft combined with sharp, yet organized the two in opposite ways.
“Then why didn’t you make love to him last night?” She asked.

"They have the numbers, they have the strength, they have the dragons. If we're going to win this war, it will be through strategy alone. It can be done but we have to be smart. If they see us coming, we'll be marching into a battle we cannot win. We ambush them in the dead of night. We do it quickly and quietly. Take out as many officers as we can before the bell gets rung." Thaddeus moved pieces around the board. "We'll go in three different units. Units one and two are responsible for taking out all of the scouts and guards on duty. Unit three will go here," he pointed to a spot on the map, "This is where the commanding officers' tents lie. We cut off the head of the snake first. The rest of the soldiers will fight carelessly without a leader to guide them. They're trained to take orders. When there are no orders to be had, they won't know what to do.
"We take no prisoners," he let his words sink into the commanders around the table. "We wipe them out. As soon as the other camps figure out what happened, they'll be scrambling. Azmarin is only the first. We hit there then we move to the next as quickly as possible. We won't have the element of surprise this time. They'll be expecting us to hit them again, they just won't know which one. We'll have to make it advantageous to us. Lead them somewhere we have the high ground. We'll have to be smart about it."
He couldn't just fly in on his dragon and burn it all to the ground, as wonderful as that sounded. There were protections set in place, weapons that could harm or kill his dragon. He wouldn't risk her for the sake of blazing the camps. He valued his dragon more than his own life. So to use his dragon, he would have to be smart about it. They would need to knock out the wards, take down their weapons and most powerful mages. His dragon would come into play but just not yet.

Theo couldn’t speak. How the hell did she know? He just blinked, not knowing how to respond and frankly disgusted by the bluntness of the question. Yet at the same time, there was an old sense of shame. “Mother, I…”
Queen Aditya raised an eyebrow. “My son, you need to understand that this alliance must be strong, stronger than most alliances.”
But I do. We are already married. And isn’t that what they say about every alliance? Their gaze hardened. He wanted to lie and say he and Prince Thaddeus had consummated, but knew she would see right through it. “Mother, did you invade my privacy last night?”
“Never, child. Only a servant of mine.” She said evenly, as though it were natural that she should be informed of his activities with his husband. Or anyone, really.
A rare storm of anger battled with the self loathing that still settled in their belly. Now there were many things he could say to her. So many things, yet he wanted to say them all at once.
“Do you want me to tell Prince Thaddeus that you did this? That your servant was watching us while we sleep?” They were still, eyes locked on Aditya.
“Perhaps you should. Prince Thaddeus of all people should know the importance of this alliance. This must be perfect.”
Theo was somewhere between appalled and ashamed. Perfect. That’s how she always preferred things, for as long as Theo could remember.

Prince Thaddeus soon caught everyone’s attention as he spoke. There were nods here and there, some exchanging of glances. There was still an atmosphere of doubt, but there was nothing to be done about that. This was the best strategy they had. They could actually do something this way, and turn things around.
Some studied the map, following where Thaddeus pointed and considered where there next target after Azmarin should be.
“The Keshnam Swamp is where we have the highest advantage, though that might be a bit predictable…” the officer considered. A small badge that read Commander Nashi was placed on her chest. “There is another camp near there, but perhaps it is too far.”
“Perhaps we could split up,” one of the commanding witches chimed in. “Once Azmarin is taken, the magic users could gather strength in the swamp, while the weapon users could go on ahead to the next camp.”

Thaddeus nodded. "We cannot allow them time to regroup. They will strike if we give them the time too. It is imperative, not only for our survival, but for the whole of this war to attack as soon as possible. After we disable Azmarin, we will branch off the army to attack the closest camps. They will know we're coming fir them, so the element of surprise will be gone. We must be swift and brutal. No survivors, no prisoners. We cannot take that chance. We will leave just enough of the army to protect the palace but everyone else will be needed on the front.start recruiting, drafting. Any man over the age of sixteen and under the age of forty-five must serve unless they be the only male son, are in schooling, or have an injury that prevents them from it. Encourage the women to join, but do not draft. Anyone with even a hint of magic will need to be taken under a mentor. We need everyone we can get."
And so, the prince began planning their expedition. After they hit Azmarin, their element of surprise will be gone. They need to hit them as quick as possible. Their enemies will be expecting ror them to take time to recover from their losses and injured. They would not. Those who could not fight would be sent home to recover while the rest moved on.

There was some mumble of agreement, but it was dry. The prince was repeating himself, and no one really cared for that. The words concerning recruitment and drafting confused them; the king had already set that into motion months ago. The system of recruitment in place was already well established, and what was normally done was different than the rules Thaddeus put forth. It soon became understood among those in the room that the cultural differences between them and the prince would be a hindrance to this meeting. More whispers rose among them.
“Yes, prince, we are aware,” Commander Nashi spoke. Her brow was raised, but she kept her voice even. “And the recruitment process has already begun. Let us just get to the point, hm?”
The matters that brought up the most concern were how the army would organize itself throughout each stage of the first ambush, and where they would go from there. The split into three units was a good starting point, but the army had its own subdivisions that had their own strengths and weaknesses. A good portion of the Ensian army were sailors, ship captains, maritime magicians, or otherwise part of the navy, and so they knew they couldn’t be apart of this. This reduced the amount of soldiers at their disposal, which also was a concern. Recently however, both newly drafted and seasoned soldiers were put through a training program that would hopefully allow them to become familiar with terrain of the Ensian/Vallasarian border. This meant that more soldiers in the army would have less experience with being in combat, which was another concern, one that had been debated before in this room. Aside from that, how would each unit be composed? Many ideas were proposed, they all had their merit. It was mostly agreed that the commanding officers in Azmarin just need a good slit in the throat, so unit three would be mostly made of weapon users. The other units could have a bit more variety, but another popular idea was that archers and witches could be best utilized there.

Thaddeus leveled his gaze at the commander. "The point is, you're going to be obliterated if you don't take my help. Your men will be tortured to death and your women will be raped before their throats slit open. You do not have a significant army. You're strength is in the water, not land. While we can always hold out hope we can bring this to the water, don't hold your breath. And ships will have no effect against dragons, which they have. I will draw up maps of the terrain, you should do your best to memorize it along with the rest of your soldiers. I will meet with you all individually to discuss who you believe will be best for this mission and who best to organize in the rest of our waves. You know your soldiers best. You know who's best fit for these missions and who isn't. Over the next few days, I'll work with you all to nail down the details. In the meantime, send your scouts to Azmarin, as well as these surrounding camps," he moved his fingers over the board, "If you can place any spies in any of these camps, if the palace, now is the time to do it. We need to know everything possible that they could be planning."
Yes he had been there. Yes, he had sat on the war councils, plotted and memorized their plans. But he had left. He had been gone for a week. There had plenty time for then to alter or otherwise concoct a new plan. He knew his family, knew the generals. He knew how they thought. But someone had to fill his now empty seat. Someone had to fill in the seats of those he brought with him. And it was those knew voices being brought to the table that worried him. His father was easily swayed if the right voice whispered in his ear.
"I want this job to be silent and quick. Whoever you chose to be apart of this team must file into that. No one knows outside of this room. The soldiers you chose won't even know what they're being chosen for until we're about to leave. I want this locked up. If you don't believe for one second that my father does not have spies in thei court, you're a fool. If they catch wind of this, we're fucked.
"Now, if we could wrap this up, I would like to be with my husband for breakfast."

Commander Nashi’s brow furrowed. “Your Highness, we gladly accept your help. That was the deal, after all. What I meant was—“
“His Highness thinks we’re stupid.”
Commander Nashi’s head snapped toward the voice. One of the witches was staring at them with a faint smirk and glint in his eye. The room went quiet, then more whispering erupted. Commander Nashi gave a disapproving glare, but it didn’t faze the witch.
“Well? It’s true, isn’t it? That’s why you’re telling us all of these things that we already know, why you’re repeating yourself. Don’t worry Your Highness, we are well aware of how desperately we need your help, that we need to be as swift and silent as possible on this mission, and how much more advantage Azmarin has over us. We get it. We can move on; we don’t need to be told these things a thousand times like we are mere children.”
“Aksha.” The commander’s voice was pleading.
“Nashi,” the witch said, without skipping a beat. “By the way, Your Highness, I appreciate you drawing up maps. How about I send out spies? It’s something of a specialty of mine.”

Thaddeus crossed his arms, his demeanor relaxed. His lips were turned up, amused. He watched the two of them converse for a moment before speaking himself. "Having recently been on the opposite side of this war and seeing your pathetic attempts, it would be a hard conclusion to draw. Your army is mediocre at best, pathetic at worst. If you think if my father had decided it, we could have wiped you out in a fortnight. We have numbers, we have dragons. What do you have? A few witches and some farm boys that can hardly hold a sword?" He sat down in the seat behind him, draping himself on it. "I'll need time to assess your army, your units. I'll likely adjust the training if I find it insufficient. Unfortunately, time is against us. My father knows I'm here. My father knows that I have brought my dragon and some of my men, and likely, more of the men that were under my command will desert him and end up here. He will act quickly. We must act before that."
He crossed his leg over the other, placing his hand on his knee. He knew it was only a matter of time. Beneath his skin, his anxiety was running high. He knew that he was risking abandoning his father and his cause. He knew he was risking his own death, his throne, and his people by doing this. But he was doing this for his people. They were suffering from endless war. They were losing their fathers and sons and husbands every day for a war they did not want. All because his father wanted more power, more land, and more money.
Thaddeus nodded at the witch. "I would appreciate that. We need any information we can get on my father and his movements. However, I think it would be important to send them out in the other neighboring kingdoms as well. Will they stand with or against us? Are they going to bow to my father because they're to much of a coward to fight back? It would be good to know where our allies lie."