230 Beasts of War (1/2)
Although Dedrick hadn't expected much at first, the sight before him was incredible. Several thousand cultivators from various sects, clans and factions had come together to face their nominal ruler, all of them desperate to hang on to the meager power they could exert in their little part of the world.
Their 'army' was an abstract collection of colors and clothes, with no organization or cohesion that Dedrick could discern. They walked in small groups, anywhere from ten to a hundred people strong. Of course, none of this was what had impressed the general. Rather, his telescope was trained past the army, onto the eight giant, gray beasts the enemies had brought with them.
”Are these the so-called elephants?”
”They are. What do you think, General?” Wacoca answered in a smug tone that made the general's eye twitch.
”Okay, these might be a problem,” he admitted.
The creatures were enormous, at least three times the height of a man and maybe twice as long. Their legs were as thick as tree trunks and their skin looked hard as bark. Worst of all, their tusks looked like they had been designed as weapons of war, long enough to skewer several men at once. At this point, even the prideful knight understood that no man could stand up to these beasts by himself.
”While it is fun to see you in disarray, General, I have to mention that the elephants should be the least of our problems,” Wacoca replied. ”After all, your people set up he battlefield like this specifically to deal with them. These beasts may be powerful, but they are also heavy enough to match their size. In the deep mud, they will struggle even more than the soldiers. Not to mention their gentle nature, to spite their looks. While I have never seen an elephant react to a firearm, the noise and smoke produced by your volleys should create a good bit of trouble for their riders.”
”In that case, I'm relieved.”
”How does our enemy look?” a voice came from behind them and interrupted their conversation.
”Disorganized,” Dedrick answered. When he turned, he saw the commander of the army move up to join them on the rampart's crest. Paec looked a bit pale, but he appeared to have recovered from the attempted assassination otherwise. ”How're you doing?”
Despite what had happened the previous night, they really couldn't afford a jittery leader. Dedrick had to make sure Paec wasn't affected any more, or he would have to take back control of the army.
”I'm fine,” the young officer said. ”Thank you for your concern. In the end, the assassins failed, despite their best efforts. On that note, I need to thank you, General. Without your quick action, they would have killed me in my sleep.”
”You got that part right,” Dedrick snorted. He conveniently brushed over the role his own 'assassin' had played in the events. ”Everyone ready?” he asked instead.
”Yes, the soldiers are already in formation, much unlike our foes.” Paec looked down onto the disorganized heap of martial artists. ”They have no common heart, and thus no cohesion. We have the defensive advantage, and we are much better equipped. The battle should be easy enough, at least if everything goes the way we expect.”
”What about our organization? Didn't we struggle with the language barrier?”
Paec nodded. ”At first, there were some problems with the relay of orders. The local soldiers were also unwilling to work under foreign troops. But by now we have found a compromise Chatra Huemac's soldiers were willing to agree with. As a result, we have reorganized the armies and mixed our troops with theirs. Every unit will contain about one fifth of our Saniya soldiers, with about a third of them fresh recruits. They're organized into platoons of one hundred, all of them led by a single ensign. All of these officers are our people, and they all speak Yakua. We have come up with several non-verbal signs to pass more simple commands down the chain. The locals should be able to follow our orders well enough. Huemac's elites insisted that they were too important to work under us, and they argued that their power would be diminished if we broke apart their established formation. That's why we've retained the structure they were using since before our arrival. For now, we have put them into the center of our front line.”
”The center would have to withstand the harshest attack, so it makes sense to place the elites there,” Dedrick commented.
”True. There is also less of a reason to move them around, so we can guarantee our tactical initiative once something surprising happens and we need to get fancy with the flanks. Also, they will be forced to fight with their all even if they dislike us. They will be surrounded by allies and enemies on all sides, so there is no way for them to take the easy way out.”
”You really don't like cultivators, do you?” Dedrick asked in a sour tone.
”Can you blame me after what happened last night, General?”
”Eyes up front, the cultivators are coming for a chat.”
While they had been talking, a small delegation of five people detached from the enemy army and marched towards their position. Now that Wacoca had made the officers aware of their presence, the men atop the hill calmed down and watched the arrivals.
Around the maximum distance of an average arrow's flight, the five martial artists took root. Only their leader made one additional step and called out to their position atop the rampart.
As soon as he did, Dedrick looked over to Wacoca for help. As an Arcavian, the knight didn't know a single word of the Chutwa language, so he would have to rely on the captain's translation.
”His name is Ectnara,” Wacoca said, though he sounded somewhat unsure. ”He says he is the master of the Flowing Water Sect, and the leader of their alliance. The others behind him are the other leaders of the big sects and clans in the region, and they are... co-leaders, I believe.”
While Wacoca tried his hardest to keep up with the fast-talking cultivator, the Flowing Water Sect's master continued to drone on like a waterfall.
”Is that why they call them flowing water?” he wondered, but no one picked up on his joke.
”He asks if there is any honorable man atop our rampart. He says there is no reason for the two sides to fight and cause blood to flow. They are willing to let go of the differences. Instead of war, they want to resolve the issue with a duel.”
”That right?” Dedrick's eyes narrowed as he stared at the sect master at the bottom of the rampart.
”General, you don't plan to agree, do you?” Paec asked with concern. ”There is no need to go so far for some elusive honor, not when we have every advantage here.”