The Chesian Wars (A Griffins & Gunpowder Collection) (6 page)

"Change the five-pounder to large canister shot!" Kasimir ordered, and the artillerymen dropped a canister down the barrel of their cannon. The canister contained a dozen smaller iron balls, meant to cause maximum damage across a wider area.

The Chesians continued to charge forward, even as the Malkalan artillery refined their targeting and began firing heavy canister from all three cannons. They began to ride erratically in an attempt to throw off the artillery's aim, but canister shot had a widespread area of effect and all that they succeeded in doing was slowing their approach.

Kasimir pulled his musket into his shoulder as the attackers crashed through the low wooden fence that had been put up a hundred yards away from the fortress. He flipped up the longer range sight on his weapon and began searching for a target. He was one of the most accurate marksmen in the fortress and wanted to make his first shot count.

He found his target in a garishly dressed officer with a tall black hat accented with golden tassels. The man's uniform was covered in badges and awards.

The cavalry was charging directly at the fortress now. Kasimir steadied his breath and focused the sight on his musket at the center of the man's chest. The man's body rose and fell with each long stride of his horse's gait and he made no attempt at making himself a smaller target. Kasimir inhaled and held his breath for a long moment. He squeezed the trigger.

The officer slumped in his saddle for a moment before falling to the hard packed soil and being ridden over by the cavalry behind him.

Kasimir would have allowed himself a moment of satisfaction, but the men around him had taken his lead and were firing as fast as they could reload their guns. Reloading his own, he pulled the musket to his shoulder once more and began again.

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The Chesians had retreated after nearly an hour of attacks, retreats and feints. They had lost more than a third of their number. The dead strewn across the field had already begun to smell and the cries of the dying could be heard even within the walls of the fortress.

More than one hundred of Kasimir's soldiers had been killed and another fifty were too wounded to fight, but the enemy's shorter ranged carbines had been their downfall. Kasimir said a quick prayer to the Ruler, thanking his god that the attackers had been true cavalry rather than mounted infantry armed with muskets.

"Riders!" a sentry shouted, and Kasimir spun around and brought his looking glass up.

"They're ours," he said when he had confirmed the banners. "Two scouts."

The riders galloped across miles of open fields and reined up at the foot of the fortress walls. The gates swung open and the men rode through the gatehouse to give their report.

"General Hollatz is about to round the hook!" one of the riders reported. "They should be at the walls in an hour, maybe less."

"How many troops?" Kasimir asked.

"Two full regiments of regular infantry and two platoons of skirmishers," the other rider said.

"I want the rest of the cavalry deployed to screen the General's march!" Kasimir shouted to his commanders. The rest of the Dragon's Teeth had retreated to the safety of the forest, but they could emerge at any moment.

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"General!" Kasimir saluted when Niklos Hollatz swung down from his horse.

The commander of Fort Aldris was an inch short than Kasimir, with brown hair and green eyes. He had served in the Malkalan army for as long as Kasimir had been alive and had commanded troops against marauders from half a dozen Chesian warlords. He was also the most arrogant person that Kasimir had ever met.

Niklos Hollatz was a decorated and battle-tested officer in the Malkalan army. His victories carried significant weight in the traditionalist structure of the army. One of his very first commands had seen him repel an attack by a Chesian warlord with a force twice the size of his garrison. He was also a talented logistics officer and many of his plans were religiously followed by the Malkalan army.

"This fortress is a disgrace," Niklos said as he pulled off his gloves. "Where is your artillery complement? And why don't you have any skirmishers out in the field to slow the enemy advance?"

"General, sir, my artillery complement is on the walls. Four ten-pounders and a pair of fives. I have no complement of skirmishers, sir," Kasimir reported.

"Then send some of your damned regulars out there," the general snapped. "Ruler save us, you fresh blood commanders think you know what's going on and you can't find your ass with two hands and a map."

"Sir, we had not yet recovered from an attack by Chesian cavalry, and I was following standard deployment commands," Kasimir said defensively.

The Malkalan army issued very detailed deployment plans for nearly every situation, even a situation as dire as the one that Kasimir found himself in. The orders were revised nearly every year by the Malkalan War College and every officer was required to memorize the five most common scenarios; invasion by Chesian forces was considered the number one most likely event.

Kasimir thought that it said something about the way that his nation's best military minds considered their largest neighbor and trading partner.

"The first thing you need to learn about those deployment plans is that they were written by professors at some war college, not by generals who have been in the field. The other thing you need to learn about them is that they can be modified or broken if need be." The general passed the reins of his horse to a private. "The cavalry attack was just a feint to try to get you to send your troops into the field. They likely had several regiments hiding in the forest.  You'd be wise to have scouts out to make sure you don't run into a trap like that."

"Yes, sir, I'll keep that in mind."

"Well you won't have to keep it there very long," Niklos said as he barreled through the door to the officers’ quarters. "There's more than a hundred thousand Imperials marching this way and they are not here to have a smoke and walk home."

"How far behind you, sir?"

"They'll be here before dark," Niklos said as he poured a glass of Jarin whiskey. He took a sip and spit. "Damned Jarin piss. Why can't you commanders get some Welosi whiskey out here?"

Jarin Whiskey was aged for ten years before it was sold and the brewery only released a few hundred barrels every year. It was considered one of the best alcohols brewed in the southern territories. Welosi whiskey, on the other hand, was aged for fifteen years in some of the best oak barrels and was limited to a few dozen barrels very year.

"Welosi is expensive," Kasimir said.

"Ah, piss," Niklos said and then swallowed the rest of the glass.

"Sir, your two regiments-"

"My two regiments are going to bed down until the Chesians get here," Niklos said. "When the time comes, I will command the defense of this fortress. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir. I wouldn't have expected otherwise," Kasimir said.

The general nodded and then dropped into one of the chairs. He pinched the bridge of his nose and kicked his feet up on the table.

Kasimir had served under Niklos Hollatz directly when he had been a senior officer and Niklos had been a commander. As one of three senior officers under Niklos' command, he had always felt that he took an unusual amount of the criticism. He was now beginning to get this feeling again as he waited for the general to give him orders.

Kasimir wondered, not for the first time, how Niklos had gotten as far in the Malkalan army as he had. Unlike Chesia, the Malkalan army tried to keep nepotism or favoritism out of the military structure – although that didn’t prevent it from occurring. While he was wasn't positive on the connections, Kasimir had learned that Niklos had some well-placed family members in the government. Family members that weren't afraid of pushing promotions that would have been unwarranted otherwise.

"What are your orders, sir?" Kasimir asked.

"Get back on the walls," Niklos ordered. "Deploy a battalion of your regulars as skirmishers."

"Yes, sir." Kasimir saluted sharply and turned on his heel.

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The first elements of the main Chesian army marched into view a few hours after midday. A wave of skirmishers moved ahead of the regular infantry and the crackle of gunfire echoed off the cliffs when the two forces collided in the open fields below Fort Demitas. Kasimir watched the movements of both forces as the Chesians pushed closer to the fortress and his skirmishers tried to hold them back.

The boom of artillery fire soon joined the chaos and Kasimir watched as the rounds slammed into the dirt ahead of the approaching forces. His skirmishers retreated to the safety of the fort's walls and the Chesians spread to encircle the fortress.

The Chesian infantry marched under a gold banner with a red dragon spread across it. Their uniforms were a darker shade of yellow with red accents, and they wore tall black hats with black plumes sprouting from those the officers wore.

"It looks as if this is just their forward element," Kasimir said when he and his junior commanders had gathered on the rampart walls. "I estimate three regiments of regulars, two regiments of skirmishers. No artillery."

"That won't be far behind," Jarak pointed out.

Chesian draft horses were popular throughout the area for their speed and strength. They were not as fast as the horses that the Chesian cavalry used, but the Chesian artillery regiments could use two of them instead of four smaller, faster horses to pull their cannons. They saved feed and were still incredibly mobile.

"I would expect to have a messenger soon," Laslo said as he looked at the enemy forces through his looking glass.

"I can just imagine how that's going to go," Kasimir said, his voice low enough that only the two junior commanders could hear him.

"Is old man Hollatz the same bastard he was a couple of years ago?" Jarak asked. Kasimir smiled. Jarak had been a junior officer the last time that he and Kasimir had served together, and it had been under Niklos Hollatz.

"He's a handful," Kasimir admitted. "I don't see any kind of negotiations going very well if he's involved."

"Maybe we should just not tell him when they send the messenger," Jarak said. His tone indicated he was only half-joking.

"If it were just him, I could see that working," Laslo said. "But not with two regiments of soldiers and officers running around, even if half of them are asleep in the barracks."

"We'll handle this like officers," Kasimir said and the others nodded.

Kasimir didn't want to tell his fellow officers that he had considered not telling their superior when the messenger arrived from the Chesians, or that he had considered sending a messenger out pre-emptively to get a feel for the commanders on the other side of the battlefield. In the end, he had realized that even if he were able to successfully negotiate some sort of surrender, he would have to answer for it before whatever government was left in Malkala after this war.

That the nation of Malkala would not survive this invasion seemed like a forgone conclusion, at least to the officers of the Demitas garrison. They had the good sense not to talk about it amongst themselves, but each knew that the other was thinking it. The only matter that was left to be discussed was just how many Malkalans would have to die before their King realized that he was on the losing end of this war.

Kasimir had even considered abandoning the fort and marching his troops back to Cestmir. He could have marched his two regiments to safety and let the war unwind in its own time. He would have faced charges for abandoning his post, and compelling others to abandon their posts, but he would have been alive. The outlook on staying alive while remaining at his post was growing worse with every hour.

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Dark had fallen before the Chesians sent a messenger to deliver their terms to the garrison at Fort Demitas. Kasimir's forces had been replaced by Niklos' better rested troops but he had remained at the ramparts, waiting for the ultimatum that everyone knew would be coming.