187 Course Correction (1/2)
Whenever Pacha advanced, Corco retreated. Whenever Pacha retreated, Corco advanced. Back and forth, left and right, he had been playing this game with his uncle for weeks now. With their disadvantages in scouting and speed, Pacha's massive army was just too clunky to catch them, while the central king's warriors kept looting their own countryside to feed themselves. After all this time, it almost seemed as if Corco could keep Pacha at bay with his tricks for an eternity. Yet they didn't need nearly that much. Half an eternity would be plenty.
If everything had gone just remotely to plan, Fadelio should be on his way out of Nasica's territory this very moment. It would be another week or so until him and the craftsmen would safely make it back across the southern border. Maybe ten days, to give them even more leeway. Everything was going to plan.
If only the constant running wasn't such a colossal pain. As he realized that him and his warrior guards had gotten ahead of the pack again, Corco breathed out a heavy puff of steam and looked down to his snow shoes, then back to the long trek of people that followed his every step.
”Considering the circumstances, the men are remarkably calm.” Even through Tamaya's out-of-breath voice, Corco could still hear her worry.
”Why wouldn't they be?” he asked as he turned to his current attendant. Even though she was wrapped head to tow in furs and banners of cloth, she somehow still managed to appear elegant. ”So long as we don't screw up along the way, our position is pretty much unassailable.”
”However, we have done nothing but run from the enemy so far. I would expect our avoidance to be considered dishonorable by the men, and thus bad for morale.”
”Those are the old rules. They only apply to a classic Medalan army. Don't forget, we don't have that many proper warriors here. Of course the brave warrior armies would want an honorable fight and make up stories about me upsetting the heavens with my cowardice or whatever, but half the people behind us are just commoners or foreign mercenaries. So long as they get paid and feel safe, they really don't care about honor or tradition.”
”Yet the other half are still warriors under the southern lords, all of whom could make a lot of trouble for us.” Tama still sounded unconvinced.
”Sure they could, but only if they were to unite. About half or so... well, more like sixty percent of our army are classic warriors. But you forget that they're not unified, and likely won't be throughout the war. Unlike the people from Saniya, they are from all over the place, private troops collected from almost twenty different lords. Not one of my vassals brought more than a thousand warriors with them. Divided as they are, they're not really much of a threat to the stability of our army. Plus, their lords aren't here either after that half our fleet was blocked out in the Narrow Sea. These leaderless soldiers might not like my 'cowardice', but so long as we don't overdo it, no ordinary warrior would dare criticize a king. They're far too used to our social order for that and will put up with a lot before they show any negative reaction. How much time we have before this constant march really starts to hurt our morale, that's a question for you to answer.”
In response to Corco's wink and playful tone, his spymaster lowered her head.
”I will do my best. As soon as there is any discontent within the troops, the king's men will be the first to know.”
”I don't expect us to be on the run for much longer anyways. It can't be long now.”
As he spoke his cryptic words, Corco looked over to the rest of his troops, where one of their scouts forced his way through the loose marching formation.
”King Corco! Big movements in the east,” he shouted before he had even reached the king's front. Only once he stood still and saw Corco's raised eyebrow did the young man realize that he was not in a secure location, and spoke about issues that were better discussed in private. With shrunk shoulders, he looked around Corco's guard made up of ghost warriors and wolf mercenaries.
”You may speak freely,” the king said magnanimously. Although the runner had made a mistake, Corco could tell from Tama's look that he would suffer more than enough for his mistake later on. Since he was still unaware of his miserable fate, he nodded in relief and took a deep breath.
”King Corco, the enemy has begun to move. King Pacha has split his troops into three equal parts and moves to encircle us.”
”Perfect!”
”Perfect?”
When everyone started to look a bit worried, Corco clapped his hands and grinned at the opportunity.
”Tell the people in front of the formation to rest up for a bit until everyone has caught up,” he said as he turned to Tama. ”Once we're organized, we'll march straight east. Don't look at me like that. You've never heard of 'divide and conquer'? This is our chance to go on the offensive and clean up a third of my uncle's army.”
As soon as the order was given, the king's army moved like a singe body. They had turned east without a question, even though it would lead them closer towards their enemies. Although some of his officers, mostly the mercenaries, voiced their concerns, Corco wasn't overly worried about a trap. If Pacha had attempted to lay one, it was far too obvious.
The army around his uncle would fake a split-up and pull back together as soon as Corco's troops had changed course towards them. That way, they would encircle them, which would prevent them from running away again and would also give them a crucial tactical advantage before the first engagement.