Chapter 9
Seated on a chair in front of the house, Sid watched the slavers settle their human cargo on one side of the road. Connor was out on the road talking with one of the slavers informing him about the 'arrangements' that had been made for hosting the troop of slavers. The suggestions Connor was making went along with what the freed men and women had told Masterson was common practice.
Everything was planned so as not to raise any concerns among the slavers. The farm looked busy with close to fifty men working in the field around the house. The slavers would not know that they were Sid's men and that their weapons were at their feet. Instead, they gave the appearance of slaves working under the watchful eye of the overseers.
Once the slaves were all seated on the road, the slavers divided into three groups. A third of them remained with the slaves to watch over them. The other two groups separated to walk to the two farm houses where they would be put up for the night. The one group had a fifteen minute walk to get to the other farm house.
Connor walked over to where Sid was seated with one of the slavers. When he reached Sid he turned to watch the one group disappear behind some trees. Satisfied that they wouldn't see what was happening, he turned back to Sid. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Sir, this is Lieutenant Walker. He says that he's in charge here."
"Not for much longer," Sid replied with a grim smile.
The Lieutenant realized that things were not what they seemed and drew his sword. Sid's sword cleared his sheath a fraction of a second after the Lieutenant's sword. Like most men of Chaos, the Lieutenant had drawn the sword back to swing at Sid. Sid, trained in Epee, put the point of his sword through the neck of his opponent. The direct motion was many times faster than the long swing of the sword.
Everywhere around Sid, men joined the fight. The slavers were spread out in little groups of three or four men and disorganized. Sid's men were in close groups and prepared for the battle. When they charged, they outnumbered the enemy four to one.
Olaf, sandwiched between two slavers, cracked their heads together making a horrible sound. Once they were down, he pulled out his sword and stabbed them to make sure that they stayed down. He knew that they were cold-blooded killers and wouldn't have hesitated to kill him. Satisfied that he didn't need to worry about them, he raced towards another slaver giving forth a blood curdling yell.
The initial engagement was over in less than a minute. The slavers that had remained with the slaves reacted in a predictable manner. Individually, each slaver started towards the action, but they were too late to help the first group. It was clear that the majority of the men were overseers since most of them were armed with clubs.
Sid and his men were ready for them when they arrived. The yell of men entering battle echoed through the air. The battle cries of the slavers quickly changed character. Men screamed as metal met meat and men died. The slavers fought furiously, but they were out numbered since they arrived in small groups that were easily overwhelmed. The engagement lasted several minutes.
The third group of slavers, almost five minutes down the road, had recognized that something was wrong when the second group had charged. They turned around to back up their associates. Unbeknownst to them, one of Sid's squads had been waiting for them on horseback further down the road. They swept down on the rear of the slavers and took them out in surprise. By the time the front of the group realized what was happening, the rest of Sid's forces had them surrounded. Out of the original one hundred and fifty slavers, only ten survived as prisoners. Most of them had wounds.
Among Sid's men, three were wounded. The camp women moved in and took care of the wounded men. Minor wounds were covered with honey, sutured, and bandaged. The use of honey as an antiseptic was widespread in Chaos. It was often carried on campaigns for that use rather than as a sweetener. Deeper wounds were carefully tended and covered with honey and bandages, but left open so that they could drain. The resulting scars were often very hideous.
While the wounded were being treated, Sid went to the road to take care of the slaves. Standing ill at ease, and supervised by a handful of his men, were four groups of families. Sid smiled when he realized that the slave owners had not participated in the fight. He told his men, "Take them to the smoker. Masterson will question them in a while."
The men moved out with the families. Sid turned back to look at the slaves. They were looking at him with mixed expressions. Some were afraid that they were being taken by a different group of slavers. Others were hopeful that they were being rescued from a life of slavery. Sid took a moment to examine them. It was clear that they were exhausted from their march. Taking a breath, he said, "We'll have you out of your bindings in a minute. We have food for you. Rest here tonight. Tomorrow, you can get on with your lives. Down the road are empty homesteads and you are free to take one. Just make sure that they are empty. The men and women that we liberated here yesterday have already gone to take up residence in some of them."
One of the men looked at Sid and asked, "Can I join you?"
"Yes. All those who want to join us can come by the house after you've eaten," Sid answered.
"Good," replied the man. He stood straighter and looked around at the other men and women around him. He added, "I will be first in line to join you."
It took an hour for the four hundred slaves to get situated. Used to boiled grains for meals, the freed men and women were excited at the feast put out for them. The camp women had prepared large vats of noodles with slices of beef. The slaves had crowded around the vats for the chance to have real meat. Bushels of dried fruits were set out and quickly disappeared.
Sid watched the freed men and women slowly come to acceptance of their changed circumstance. Close to fifty men and women came to him after eating to volunteer to join his army. It was far more people than he had expected. Once the volunteers had finished gathering in front of the house, Connor asked, "How many have fighting experience?"
Ten of the men raised their hands. Pointing to a group of four veterans, Sid said, "The four men over there are in charge of our four companies. Go over and get assigned to a unit."
Sid pointed to one of the older women and said, "She's in charge of the camp ladies. If the women would join her, she'll make sure that they have work to do."
One of the women raised her hand and said, "I want to kill slavers, not cook food."
Startled, Sid looked at her and took in the torn state of her clothing. It was clear that she had been a camp favorite among the slavers. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "Then we'll put you in a position where you can kill slavers."
"Thank you," the woman replied. She looked around at the other men as if seeking out anyone who would challenge her decision.
Sid asked, "Does anyone have special skills? Blacksmith? Drover? Herder?"
One man raised his hand and said, "I'm a smithy."
Pointing to Peterson, he said, "Join that man over there. He'll get you set up with all you need to work as a smithy."
"I was apprenticed as a tanner. I know how to make boiled leather armor," another man said.
"We can use a man like you," Sid said. He pointed to Peterson and said, "Go with Peterson."
Connor stepped forward and said, "The rest of you will come with me. We'll break you into two groups for training."
Sid watched the men and women go to their assigned places. Masterson remained by Sid and looked over at him. In a soft voice, he said, "Your army is growing. We've gained sixty people in two days. At this rate, you'll have a thousand men in two months."
"We'll have an army of untrained soldiers. That's not good," Sid said.
"Connor will have them trained as spearmen," Masterson said with a satisfied nod of his head. It would be good to have a couple of companies of spearmen who could function in a defensive role.
"We don't need nine hundred spearmen," Sid replied.
Pointing over to where Olaf was taking care of the cattle, Masterson said, "Olaf was very good out there today. He had six kills."
"Olaf was particularly bothered by the destruction in the town," Sid said.
"He's still a good fighter. He has leadership skills as well," Masterson said.
Sid nodded his agreement with Masterson's assessment. Knowing where Masterson wanted to lead the discussion, Sid said, "I don't want him put in charge of a company. He serves a critical role here."
"The herders form a natural company anyway," Masterson said conceding to Sid. He had already learned that trying to argue with Sid was like talking to a rock.
"Yes, they do. They have to keep off raiders, wolves, and other hazards to the herd. They do not need to be on the battlefield to fight."
"You're right," Masterson admitted. He looked over at Olaf and said, "Still, Olaf is special."
"And he's in exactly the right position," Sid said.
Connor returned to the front of the house. Looking back, he said, "I've got our new recruits settled. Tomorrow we'll start training them as spearmen."
"Tomorrow we move out," Sid said.
"I know," Connor said. He grinned and said, "The first lesson is how to move as a unit."
Sid laughed and said, "They'll have plenty of practice at that."
"They've already had plenty of practice at that," Masterson observed. The slaves had to march in lockstep to avoid tripping each other up while being moved.
"Walking in a straight line is different than marching in formation," Connor said.
Peterson came over to the group and nodded his greetings. Sid turned to him and asked, "How are we doing on supplies?"
"The slavers had supplies to last for a couple of days. We've added them to our supplies, so we aren't in too bad of a situation. I've distributed some of the leather armor to the new recruits. I've taken some of the cured lumber from this place to make spears. We have more than enough spearheads left to outfit another two hundred men," Peterson answered.
"What about meat?"
"Olaf and Barson scrounged up a couple head of cattle, a dozen pigs, and some chickens from the places around here," Peterson answered. It wasn't nearly enough, but it would have to do. He had added a wagon on which to carry supplies. Now each wagon would have room to carry a couple of cages for the chickens. The cooks would have fresh eggs.
The fact that they were acquiring animals was good news. An army moved on its stomach and meat was an important part of the diet. If they didn't have meat, the army would weaken. Of course, fresh fruit and vegetables were just as important. Sid asked, "What about fruits and vegetables?"
"We've harvested a little of what is in the field. Couldn't take too much or we'd be leaving starving people behind us. I've made arrangements to purchase crops from the folks we've freed. They were more than happy to have a customer for their produce. Of course, we'll have to wait until the crops are harvested," Peterson answered. It was time for him to start establishing a supply line with one end rooted here. That would require more men, wagons, and oxen.
"Make sure that you teach Barson how to set up a supply line," Sid said.
"Of course," Peterson said. He had been impressed with how Barson had handled distributing the goods left in the abandoned farmsteads. No one was going to starve before the crops came in.
An hour after sunrise the next morning, Sid sat at the head of his forces on horseback. Peterson stood beside the trail looking up at Sid to get any last minute instructions. In a quiet voice, Sid said, "I'll see you in six days?"
"Yes. We'll head out in two days with the wagons and supplies," Peterson answered. He was staying behind with one company of men to move the supplies up the road. The wagons weren't good for traversing the forest.
"Good." Turning to look at the four companies of men waiting behind him, Sid said, "Let's go."
With a soft touch on the reigns, Sid led his forces away from the farm. His forces were cutting through the forest behind the farms so that they could appear without warning at the targeted farms. It was going to be a long difficult march of four days. They'd have to move quietly so as to avoid forewarning the slavers.
The hours passed with the men on horseback leading the company of spearmen who were on foot. The terrain was fairly flat, but the trees and bushes made forward progress difficult. The scouts watched the backs of the farms they passed to assure that their passage had gone unnoticed.
The camp at nights had cold food. There was no reason to advertise their presence with fires that could be seen for miles around. Like soldiers everywhere, the men complained about the cold food, the cold ground, and the other minor discomforts of being on a march. Sid listened to the grumblings with a smile. It was a normal part of the background noise. When it disappeared or turned to shouts, he would have to worry about it.
Settled in camp, the men watched Sid repair his reins. There was something comforting about having a commander who performed the basic activities that marked the time of the common soldier. Nothing was more important than taking care of one's equipment. Seeing that Sid did his own repairs provided an interesting contrast with Masterson who assigned the job to one of the men.
Seated next to Sid, Masterson drank a cup of water with distaste. Picking up a stick, he started to draw a map in the dirt. As he worked, he said, "Tomorrow morning, we'll take the two farms on the other side of the hill. Once we have the situation under control, we'll take the two farms across the road. Hopefully we'll have everything sorted out by midday."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sid said.
"What do you want to do about the neighbors?"
"We'll take them in the afternoon and then pull back to the first set of farms that we took," Sid answered.
"That leaves us with two fronts on which we can be attacked," Masterson said drawing arrows pointing towards the position they would occupy.
"That leaves us with eight hundred just freed slaves who have vested interests in making sure that any attack is not successful," Sid countered. He picked up a stick and drew twice as many arrows pointing away from the position they would occupy.
"Still, they are untrained. They'll also be very difficult to control."
"We'll be quiet. If we leave the freed slaves out in the field during the day, the neighbors might not even realize that anything happened."
Masterson nodded his head and thought about the difficulty of an attack in broad daylight. The slaves would be out in the field being watched by the overseers. The overseers would be covering almost the entire area. All it would take is for one to get away and the alarm would be raised. In hours, the alarm would be spread over the entire area. Slavers feared nothing more than a slave revolt.
He was about to point out the difficulties in the plan when Sid said, "You know, it just might be possible to put some weapons out in those fields. We could maybe sneak one of our men into the line on the way out to the field to let folks know what is going on."
Nodding his head, Masterson said, "We wouldn't even need to sneak them into the line. Just have a man or two lie down in the field. Once the slaves are in place, they stand up and start working."
Looking over at Connor, Sid said, "Find us a dozen volunteers. Let them know they'll have to carry weapons into the field, spend the night out there, and then work most of the day pretending to be slaves."
"Sure thing," Connor said rising from the ground. He liked the way Sid worked with Masterson to develop a plan that worked and risked as few lives as possible. It made dealing with the troops a lot easier. He figured he'd have to turn down volunteers.
Masterson said, "I've been thinking about that fellow who was in charge of the slaves. What kind of name is Lieutenant?"
"It's not a name, it's a rank," Sid answered. He hadn't thought about it at the time. Ranks in the military in Chaos tended to be rather loose. People just knew who was in charge. Sitting up, he asked, "Are there many military organizations here that have well defined ranks?"
"Sure, there's a few. The highest rank is General or Commander, depending on what part of the country you are from. All armies have a General. Some armies call the guy below the General a Commander. Usually though, that is when you have a very large army which has multiple divisions that work independently. Below that is the rank of Captain and then Squad Leader. At the bottom is the soldier."
That was consistent with what Sid had learned in his briefings with Sally Caretaker. Shaking his head, he said, "Where I'm from there are a lot of different ranks. Lieutenant is one of those ranks."
"You don't say," Masterson said eyeing Sid thoughtfully. Gerald used to talk about how different things were where he was from, but Masterson had never quite figured out where that was. He asked, "What kinds of ranks?"
"Well, our military has two different categories of soldier. There's the officer and the enlisted man. Each category has its own set of ranks. We'd be in the officer category. I guess I would still be General. You, Connor, and Peterson would be Colonels. Below Colonels would be Major, then Captain, and then Lieutenant with gradations at each rank. Among the enlisted category, you have Sergeant, Corporal, and Private with gradations at each rank. I'd say that Olaf acts more like a Sergeant while Barson is acting more like a Corporal."
Raising an eyebrow, Masterson said, "Sure sounds complicated."
"Not really. It gives a very strict chain of command so that you know exactly who you are to take orders from. To facilitate that, each rank has a badge that they wear that identifies the rank. If a higher ranking man comes along and orders you to do something, you do it."
"Still sounds complicated."
"It is necessary when you have an army of a hundred thousand men," Sid said. He was going to say a million men, but knew that Masterson would never believe that number.
"If they are using that system of ranks, how big do you think their army is?"
"Probably a hundred thousand men," Sid answered. He thought about the fact that there were four small armies going up against one huge army.
Masterson sat back and stared at Sid. There was no way that he could take a regular sized army and fight a monster army like that. Shaking his head, he said, "I wish you had told me that earlier. I would have stayed home."
"Why?"
"There's no way we can manage an army large enough to defeat that monster," Masterson said.
"This isn't the only force involved in this war. There are three other armies being raised," Sid said with a smile.
Looking at Sid with narrowed eyes, he said, "That makes me feel a little better. Who's in charge of those other armies?"
"Malcolm Chambers, Colonel Lee, and Danny Sun. Malcolm asked me to join this effort."
Masterson recognized each of those names and whistled. There were maybe a dozen men who had reputations that spanned all of Chaos. Gerald Jones had been one of them. The three men Sid had identified were others. The idea that Malcolm would invite Sid to participate in this war raised his opinion of Sid even more. He looked at Sid and realized that Sid was going to be another.
Rising from his seat, Masterson said, "I'm off to my tent. I've got some planning to do."
"See you in the morning," Sid said.
Once Masterson left, Sid was alone. He wished that Olaf and Barson were there. He could use the company of a couple of young men. Light hearted conversation was in short supply around Masterson, Peterson, and Connor.
He took a drink of water and thought about the fact that the slavers
were using Earth-based military ranks. That wasn't good at all. He
wondered how someone from Earth could come here without having a Heroic
character. The portal at Crossroads would prevent someone from coming
here who wasn't willing to act according to the rules.