Chapter 15
Sucking on her index finger, Laura watched Sid working with the men. They were practicing a new tactic for dealing with men marching four abreast. She thought he cut such a dashing figure riding his horse with a lance leveled at the targets. Watching him made her wet between the legs. When he would pause and wave to her, she thought her heart would explode.
Although Sid had been busy leading the army, he had given Laura more of his time than she had expected under the circumstances. When he was in camp, they shared three meals a day and an hour after dark without exception. He even allowed her to attend his meetings with the other leaders. Each minute together was an exquisite mixture of ecstasy and agony. She wanted him so much that it almost hurt. She didn't know it, but he felt the same way towards her.
Taking a breath, she returned to the building in which she shared sleeping quarters with some of the camp women. When Sid was away from camp, she spent her time helping in the kitchens or in the infirmary when there were wounded men who needed treatment. The work helped pass the time until he returned.
Satisfied that the men understood the basic sortie maneuver, Sid returned to his quarters. It would soon be time for lunch and he wanted to have a chance to clean up a little before sitting down to eat with Laura. He enjoyed the meals, but they were driving him a little crazy. She'd eat food in such a sexy manner that he had difficulty standing up after finishing his meal.
Olaf, Barson, and Albert were seated at one of the few tables outside the kitchen area. While waiting for Sid, Olaf was flirting with one of the women who worked in the kitchen. The kitchen wasn't in a building, but was under several canvases stretched among the trees. It helped keep the area cool even with the heat from the cooking fires. It also made it easy to flirt with the women while they were cooking. Olaf made frequent use of that aspect of the kitchen and his attentions did not go unappreciated.
Laura and Sid arrived at the table and took a seat across from the trio of young men. Olaf was too involved to notice their arrival, but Barson nudged his friend to get his attention. Turning, Olaf asked, "What? Oh, you're here finally."
"Yes, we're here," Sid said shaking his head. Gesturing to the tent with an amused expression on his face, he asked, "Who will it be today, Alice or Mary?"
"June," Olaf answered with a grin and a wink.
Laura nodded her head in approval and said, "June is a lusty woman. I think you'll have fun with her this evening."
Noticing Olaf's frown, Sid said, "She means it as a compliment."
To say that Laura confused Olaf would be an understatement. He knew many women who enjoyed relations with men, but none of them was so open in approving other women who were enthusiastic. He couldn't count the number of times she had steered him away from one woman to a woman of greater appetite for sex. It was obvious to every man in camp that she wanted Sid, but the pair of them never seemed to act on that desire. Nodding his head, he said, "I know."
Albert, another of the young men who had been recruited at the Jones Citadel, asked, "Would you like some boiled eggs with lunch?"
Surprised by the offer, Sid answered. "We had eggs for breakfast and now you say we can have eggs for lunch. What's up with the eggs?"
"Ah, we've had some rather productive chickens of late. The flock has grown and they are laying eggs at a fantastic rate," Barson said.
"How many eggs a day?" Sid asked.
"Well, each hen is laying the normal number of eggs. The problem is that we have a lot of hens. We're getting about two hundred eggs a day," Olaf said with a grin at Barson.
"Oh, we've only got fifty people in camp at the moment," Sid said.
"That's right. Four eggs a person every day," Albert said.
"I suggest that you kill some chickens," Sid said looking at Olaf and noticing the mischievous smile on his face. Wondering what was up, he asked, "What's so funny about that suggestion?"
"We already did that, General. We'll have a roasted chicken per man tonight for dinner," Olaf said.
The chance to eat chicken while on a campaign was a real treat. Sitting forward, Sid said, "That sounds great."
"We've also sent about five hundred chickens to some of the other camps," Barson said looking over at Sid.
"What?"
"Well, for the past six months we've been letting the chickens sit on their eggs. It kind of got away from us and we ended up with about a thousand chickens," Albert said.
"What have you been feeding them?" Sid asked afraid to hear the answer.
"Oh, a little of our excess grain," Barson answered looking down at the table.
"We had excess grain?" Sid asked.
"Well, we've been pretty successful in gathering supplies," Barson answered.
"Just how successful have you been?" Sid asked looking from the one man to the other.
"Very," Barson answered. He set a substantial leather bag on the table and said, "We've been trading for supplies across a pretty wide area. We get more of one thing than we need and swap the excess for another thing that we need. How can I say this? We've gotten some pretty good deals here and there."
Nodding his head, Olaf asked, "You remember all of those freed men and women you sent to provide support services?"
"Yes," Sid answered.
"Well, we put them to work making weapons, wagons, furniture, pottery, and other items using that approach you suggested," Barson said. Looking at Albert, he said, "They've been very productive. In just four months, we've got all of the weapons, wagons, and pottery that we'll need for the next year. Since we were paying them, we started to export the items to other parts of Chaos."
Resting his head in his hands, Sid said, "Let me guess. We're making money."
"That's right. We're covering the payroll, expanding operations, and making a profit," Barson said.
"You did that in six months?" Sid asked shaking his head in wonder.
"Yes, General. We're making a profit and it has just begun," Barson said. Looking at Sid, he added, "Peterson didn't tell me what to do with the profits, so Olaf and I figured that it was about time to come ask you what we're supposed to do with them."
"Just how large of an operation have you built?" Sid asked looking at the trio.
"Pretty large. We've got a couple of places that are manufacturing wagons, siege weapons, spears, bows, arrows, shields, saddles, lances, and just about every other weapon that's made of wood. We've got one that is turning out furniture. Then one of the men found a good supply of clay so we started making pottery. We're producing jars and pots from there. Olaf found a source of bog iron. We've got eight smiths working full time making swords, arrow heads, spear tips, and parts for the siege weapons," Olaf answered.
"Wait a minute. You've mentioned siege weapons a couple of times. Normally siege weapons are build on-site," Sid said.
"Well, we scaled some of them down and mounted them on wagons so that they can be moved. We made a trebuchet that was about a quarter of the normal size. It launches a ten pound load about a hundred paces. They just devastate a wooden structure. You line up fifty of them and a fort will be gone in a couple of hours," Albert said. He was one of the specialists that had joined the army. He was a siege engineer. Shrugging his shoulders, he added, "Fill it with small rocks and you can devastate an army. Fill it with jars of oil and you can burn down a forest around the army."
"Fifty of them, huh?"
"We've got about two hundred of them built already," Olaf said.
"Don't forget the ballistae. We've got fifty of them," Barson said. A ballista was a torsion bow that fired wooden bolts. A bolt was a pace and a half long with a diameter of a man's wrist. One bolt could travel through a half dozen men.
Laura asked, "How did you ever manage to put such a large operation together in such a short time?"
"It's his fault, really," Albert said pointing at Sid. Seeing the shocked expression on Sid's face, he explained, "There for a while, the General was sending back a hundred to two hundred men a day to provide supporting services. That was over a thousand men a week who needed to be doing something. All of them were freed slaves who had nothing better to do than volunteer to help fight the slavers. Somehow they ended up being my responsibility. That was okay with me since I didn't have much to do until we were actually attacking a fort or a city."
Olaf nodded his head and said, "None of us is all that smart. Poor Barson, here, is a little slow upstairs, but he claims to have had an idea or two in his lifetime. He says that he's still waiting for me to have an idea, but I seem to recall having one when I was a little kid. So you can imagine our confusion when Albert came to us for advice about what to do with so many folks. Our poor little heads just about over heated trying to figure out why he came to the two of us."
Sid chuckled at the direction Olaf was taking the story. Laura was trying hard not to laugh, but was not entirely successful. Sid said, "I'm well aware of how the two of you seem to have a penchant for slightly twisted thoughts that are almost ideas. I can imagine what happens when the three of you get together."
"So you can understand that when the three of us put our heads together we kept getting these slightly twisted thoughts on how to use all of those men. Well, we talked the matter over with Peterson and he told us to try out some of our almost ideas. We did and things got a little out of control," Albert said.
"How out of control?" Sid asked.
"I and the folks under my command have been starting two shops a day. When we ran out of things to make for the army, we started making other things in the hope of trading them to get other items for the army."
"In terms of area covered by these shops, just how big are we talking about?" Sid asked.
"Every place that you've liberated going all the way back to your Citadel," Albert answered with a shrug.
Sid was staggered by the information. Logistics was the key to the success of an army and these three young men had exceeded every standard that could have been set. Their logistics solution was not only feeding and equipping the entire army, but making money for it as well. Looking over at Albert, Sid said, "We don't have any men trained to use the siege weapons you've been building and we're going to need them soon."
Albert scratched the side of his face with his thumb while looking up at the sky. He said, "I sent half of them to Masterson. The other half will be here tomorrow complete with crews."
"You've already got crews for them?"
"Connor said it was okay," Albert said defensively.
"I'm not upset, just a little surprised," Sid said staring at Albert. His army had just increased in size by another six hundred trained troops. Even better, they were specialists in siege work.
A week later, Sid had a thousand troops facing a fort. He was waiting for his men to get organized on the edge of the field. Two hundred paces across the field from his men was a wooden fort manned by almost eight hundred of the enemy. For the past week, Sid's troops had been engaging the enemy in small skirmishes. The fifteen hundred men stationed in the area had been whittled down to eight hundred. The enemy had retreated to the safety of this fort.
The fort itself was an impressive sight. It had walls that stood fifteen feet tall and a hundred yards to a side. The walls, made of shaped timber, were a foot wide and a hand thick. The timber ran vertically. A guard platform ran around the top that allowed archers to fire upon attackers who were foolish enough to rush the structure. The corners had towers that rose twenty feet above the ground. A large gate at the front provided sufficient room for a cavalry charge from within while the smaller gate at the back of the fort was just wide enough to provide room for an infantry charge.
It was a solid structure designed as a staging area for patrols and raiders. It was not constructed to resist an extended siege by a well organized army. The wood burned too easily and did not have the strength that stone would have provided. Despite that, it was a daunting task to attack it.
Sid watched the siege specialists setting up the trebuchets and the ballistae. The ballistae were mounted on wagons and were rolled into place. The trebuchets required much more work. It was an amazing process and took almost an hour. Sid turned to Albert and asked, "Why did it take so long to set up the trebuchet?"
Shocked by the question, Albert said, "I'd say this is fast. A full size trebuchet takes almost a whole day to set up."
"I didn't realize that," Sid said.
"We can get off a shot about every five minutes with these. It takes about twenty minutes for a full sized trebuchet," Albert said. Before cocking the trebuchet, it was necessary to inspect it for damage. The process of cocking the massive arm back required a lot of work. After the arm was in launch position, it was necessary to inspect the entire trebuchet. There was no disaster greater than having one of the big trebuchets break in mid-launch. It would be the same as swinging a baseball bat the size of a telephone pole. Filling the sling was hard work for the big trebuchets since the load was usually pretty heavy and required two men to wrestle it into place. These little ones could be handled by a single loader.
Sid looked down the row of thirty trebuchets. He asked, "How will you fire them? All at once, in groups of six, or one at a time?"
"One at a time. You can't imagine the effect on the men of having rocks constantly hitting the wall of the fort," Albert answered. He pointed to a pile of rocks and said, "We'll start out using those rocks concentrating on a twenty pace length of the wall. I figure about ten rounds of continuous fire will take out the walls. Then we'll switch to the pebbles."
"They'll charge at some point," Sid said.
"They have to charge. Staying in the fort would be suicide," Albert said.
"So you're telling me that you'll breech that fort in one hour?" Sid asked. He didn't believe it for a single minute.
"That's right," Albert replied looking Sid in the eye. They had practiced against structures that were even better built than they were facing now. The rocks would slam against the wall like a hammer weakening the wood until it cracked and splintered.
Sid pulled out four conch coins and held them in his hand. Looking at Albert, he said, "These are yours if you're right."
"I'll be looking for you an hour after you tell me to start," Albert said. He hoped that his estimates were correct.
"I'll go parley and see if they'll surrender," Sid said looking over at the fort.
He picked up the spear with the flag of truce on it. It was his hope that they would honor the flag, but that wasn't always the case. He walked over to his horse and mounted. Riding over to Albert, he said, "If I don't make it back, make sure that none of them survive."
"Right, General," Albert replied.
Sid nudged his horse to an easy walk and headed towards the front gate. He rode sitting tall in the saddle with the spear flying a flag of truce. He was well within range of a bow when a flight of arrows were launched in his direction. The arrows flew in a high arc. Kicking his horse, he sped ahead to ride under the arrows and circled back to his army at a fast gallop.
"Level that damned fort," Sid shouted upon reaching Albert. He was furious at the treachery of the enemy. Any chance of giving quarter had been destroyed. He dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to Fred.
It was time to prepare the rest of the men for the expected charge. He turned and walked to where seven hundred spearmen waited for him. At the far end of the field were a hundred men mounted on horseback. On the other side of the fort, another two hundred spearmen waited in case the enemy chose to break out the rear of the fort.
He had just reached the troops when he heard the unmistakable sound of the trebuchet being fired. He turned and watched the wall of the fort. The crack made when the rock hit the wall was sharp and drowned out the sound of the second trebuchet firing. Although the noise made by rock striking wall was impressive, there was nothing impressive about the damage. It looked like the rock hit the wall and then fell to the ground. He jingled his coin purse and figured his four conches were safe.
He turned to the men and shouted, "This enemy does not follow the rules of honorable combat. No quarter shall be given!"
His announcement was greeted with a rousing cheer from the men. To a man, they had wanted to charge forward when the arrows had been fired at Sid. Only the discipline of the squad leaders had held them back. Hoping that Albert was correct in his estimates, he shouted, "Watch the walls of the fort come tumbling down!"
Thirty minutes later, Sid looked at the wall of the fort and could barely believe his eyes. The center section of the fort had been hammered by a hundred and eighty rocks. Although each rock weighed only five pounds, the momentum transferred was incredible. Major sections of the wall displayed major damage. Even as he watched, he noticed a group of men who had been standing on a walkway along the top of the wall disappear when the walkway collapsed from beneath them.
Turning to the men, Sid shouted, "They'll be coming out of there soon. Be ready for their charge."
The troops had been watching the battering the fort was taking. They cheered and raised their bows in the air in response to Sid's words. They would each fire one arrow when the enemy charged and then pick up their spear and shield. The charging men would be vulnerable to the arrows. Convinced that the troops were ready, Sid turned to watch the continued assault upon the fort walls.
Forty five minutes into the battle, the stones started penetrating the fort wall. The constant thunk of rock hitting wall was now interspersed with shouts of men screaming when wounded. Although passing through the wall slowed the stones down, the fact that they were dropping from ten feet or so still caused damage from anyone in their way.
At an hour into the siege, the section of the fortress wall that had been hammered by the flying rocks was lying in ruins. Albert had targeted a section of the wall that included the supports for the gate. The gate had come crashing down. The fallen wall and gate left an opening that was close to twenty five paces across.
Sid looked at the opening and saw the enemy soldiers lined up to repel an attack. The line broke up almost immediately when Albert changed to throwing pebbles instead of rocks. A two ounce stone thrown across that distance struck with a force sufficient to kill.
This was also when Albert brought the ballistae into play. Massive bolts were thrown across the distance, barreling through the opening made by the trebuchets. The troops inside the fort huddled against the standing walls where they would be safe from the rocks. They weren't safe from the bolts fired through the wooden walls.
Albert waved a signal flag. Two minutes later, flaming bolts were smashing into the sections of the walls that had not been battered by the trebuchet. He had been soaking the bolts in a viscous black liquid that was found in pools in some parts of Chaos. Sid had recognized it as a thick crude oil and had suggested that soaking the bolts would make flaming arrows that would be devastating in an attack. Albert had been well aware of the uses of what he called ground fat. It was called that because most oil on Chaos came from rendered animal fat.
The bolts burned with a thick black choking smoke. The men inside the fort were now faced with a choice of hugging against a burning wall or standing in front of a deadly barrage of flying stone. There was only a single choice that made sense. They charged.
The battle did not last long. The enemy army had lost discipline and turned into a mob of terrified men. Sid's troops were well organized units that moved into place with practiced ease. The oversized shields prevented the enemy from striking with much effectiveness. The spears poking out from behind the shields found unprotected flesh. The mounted men rode into the fort and took out anyone who had remained behind.
Albert walked over to where Sid was directing the battle and watched the fighting. The fort was well on its way to being a smoking ruin. Noticing Albert, Sid handed over the four conches he had promised and said, "You did good."
"Thanks General."