Guardian of Heaven and Earth
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New Yogo
Part 3 - Heaven and Earth
Chapter 5 - A General's Choices
Talsh General Shubal sank into a chair near the fire, watching the drizzling rain out the window of the fortress. “I’ m glad we got here before it started to rain,” he said.
An Ormese lieutenant passed him a mug of mulled wine called baran. He accepted the cup, but didn’ t turn away from the window. The lieutenant poured himself more mulled wine. When General Shubal had that expression, it meant that he was thinking deeply about a critical decision. As soon as he made his decision, the army would know exactly what to do.
Shubal was a veteran of many battles and many invasions. His lieutenant felt no anxiety as General Shubal considered his choices.
After the Talsh victory at the Tarano Plains, Shubal instructed his eldest son Rashuban to bring his army up from the Sangal peninsula as reinforcements. As soon as those reinforcements arrived, Shubal could leave behind enough men to keep the army ’s supply train moving and attack New Yogo’s capital from the east.
There was a betrayer inside the Imperial Palace, Karyou, whom General Shubal believed to be trustworthy. They passed messages back and forth about the war situation using hawks. Akado Fortress had not been reinforced after its initial destruction, so Rashuban should be able to march his army to meet his father ’s without meeting any resistance along the way.
Settling down in this fortress for a short stay made Shubal and his men feel like they were shedding a second skin. It was a time to rest before their final charge. They would march on the capital when Karyou gave them the signal.
Other news came from the capital that surprised Shubal. A large army was moving in from the west, in the direction of Rota. They were mostly cavalry forces, and the army certainly wasn ’t Talsh.
“Twenty thousand, you said?” Shubal asked. “So many...where did they come from?”
He’d thought the fighting strength of New Yogo to be thirty thousand, all told. An army this large appearing out of nowhere didn’ t make sense. The Talsh army had wiped out at least fifteen thousand men at the Tarano Plains. Talsh had also conquered the fortresses along the coast, which accounted for another three thousand men. Shubal had expected the capital to be defended with something like seven thousand men.
“It’s not a Yogoese army,” Shubal’s lieutenant said. “ By their armor, it seems like they came from Rota and Kanbal.”
Shubal frowned. If only that blasted army had arrived just a little later...
If Rota and Kanbal had sent armies, that meant they must have formed an alliance with New Yogo. Just when the nation seemed to be in his grasp, this army appeared to snatch away his victory. Shubal called together the Yogoese magic weavers that he employed as spies and asked them why they hadn ’t told him about this army sooner.
The magic weavers all appeared grim. “You should have received this news some weeks ago, but none of the hawks we use as messengers ever flew back. ”
“Why not? Don’t tell me they all got lost.”
“No. These weren’ t regular hawks. We can use our magic weaving to direct their movements and see things through their eyes. We would be able to help guide them back to familiar territory if they became lost.
“I suspect the enemy is also capable of using this kind of magic weaving, which they used to attack or misdirect our hawks.”
“I thought you told me that the Mikado of New Yogo despised magic weaving and never made use of it,” Shubal snapped.
The magic weavers all nodded. “That’s true. The Mikado didn’ t make use of magic weaving; we know that for certain. The armies of Rota and Kanbal do make use of it, though.”
“I’m aware of a group of people in Rota called the River People,” one of the magic weavers said. “ They are said to be able to connect their souls to beasts and birds, much as we can.”
Shubal rubbed his chin. So this all has to do with Rota...
The problem now was the deployment of Talsh troops. Current battle plans had the second, third and fourth army units arriving later, after the capital was already conquered.
Shubal did mental math on army numbers. Kanbal’s army was not large, but its warriors were renowned on the continent. Rota’ s was larger, but they’d split their forces to protect the Sangal peninsula. Even so, the combined armies of New Yogo, Rota and Kanbal were a considerable threat.
Shubal smiled coldly. New Yogo was a strange nation in that it was not warlike at all. When Talsh first declared war, New Yogo had sealed off its borders and rejected all help from its neighbors. By all accounts, New Yogo had never fought a war. Nearly all of its soldiers were raw recruits.
If the new army had arrived at Kosenkyo even five days later, the Mikado would be dead and Talsh victory would be assured. He hadn’ t expected Rota to mobilize in New Yogo’s defense, either, since Rota was in the middle of a civil war. With the wealthy southern clan lords supporting the Talsh, Shubal didn’ t consider Rota to be a problem. He’d assumed that Rota was as good as conquered.
Rota being conquered was the key to Prince Raul’ s strategy. With Rota fallen and New Yogo attacked from two sides, the northern continent would fall swiftly under Talsh dominion.
That was the original plan, anyway.
A chill went up Shubal’ s spine. The advantage no longer belonged to the Talsh. He was reminded of playing the board game tul, which involved protecting a carefully fortified position. Just like in real life, one simple move could cause the opponent ’s defenses to crumble. Shubal looked down at his bloodlessly pale hands and thought of his son.
The Rotan and Kanbalese armies must have come through the Nabal Pass or the Samal Pass; no other ways through the mountains were passable for such a large force. Which way had they gone? Nabal Pass was closer to the capital, but going through Samal Pass would allow the army to support Akado Fortress and Yazuno Fortress.
If the army had come from Samal Pass, it would run into his son’ s forces, marching in from the west. There was no time now to warn him of the danger. Shubal thought of his son’s face and looked at the rain.
He might have lost, but I ’m sure he’s alive. He ’ll come back to the Tarano Plains soon. He’ ll have the supply lines all set up when I arrive.
If the supply lines weren’ t created, the Talsh army would soon face a shortage of critical goods like food and medicine. He wondered if the Yogoese would burn the capital as they had Shirogai, to prevent its resources from falling into Talsh hands. That might be the only way the Yogoese could wage war effectively: destroy their own land and let the Talsh army starve to death.
Shubal had received no word by hawk from the Tarano Plains recently, so he had no idea if the supply lines had been established or not. If Rota had already cut them off at the Tarano Plains, then the Talsh army was already in trouble.
What should I do?
March on the Tarano Plains himself? But that would leave the Sangal peninsula undefended, and he ran the risk of being separated from Talsh reinforcements sailing in behind him. He would be sandwiched between Rotan and New Yogo armies if he did that.
Shubal thunked his wine glass on the table. “Prepare a feast for the men tonight, with wine. Let them all eat their fill.”
“Yes, sir,” his lieutenant said. “Is this to celebrate that we’ ll be taking the capital soon?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what it is,” he said. “Make sure everyone’ s happy and ready to fight.”
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