Chapter 10

Distant clashes cast their clamour over wind whistling up through the valley’s scrubland.

Distant was the key word, and what Joachim had noted about the predicament of the Baroness’ bodyguard was quickly becoming apparent to each of its members.

Lady Zahradnik stayed close to General Ray, who, as a matter of course, positioned himself in places that offered broad battlefield awareness while staying reasonably secure. This meant that the front lines – or at least what passed as the front lines – were hundreds of metres, if not kilometres away.

While the tides of war could shift and turn such distances uncomfortably close, General Ray was an ‘attacker’, meaning that he was usually the one doing the pushing and not the one being pushed. The tribes they encountered still appeared unaware of what was going on, so rather than ‘pushing’ it was more that the General's forces were trampling everything in their path.

This characteristic also extended to General Ray’s behaviour beyond the battlefield. He was not passionate and open in his aggression like General Belibad but remained calm and collected while aggressively pursuing his goals. General Ray was an existence that determined facts, dictated events and decided what could and couldn’t happen in his life as long as it was within his power to do so. Perhaps this, too, led to his apparent misreading of Baroness Zahradnik.

That part didn’t matter to the men of the Baroness’ bodyguard, however. Gains were being made for the Empire and all they could do was watch others collect achievements. Lady Zahradnik remained mostly silent in the way characteristic of Frontier Nobles, only speaking when she had a question for the General or one of his officers. General Ray, however, was more than happy to fill the silence.

“As you can see,” he said, “our operations are both far more mobile and flexible than the conservative approach of the Second Legion. Without rotating the companies, they wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace.”

“It’s still quite demanding even with the measures that you’ve taken,” Lady Zahradnik replied. “When will you be relieving these men, Your Excellency?”

“We’ll be exchanging them for fresh ones around midday, my lady,” the General nodded. “Between the men, their mounts, and our mana reserves, I’ve calculated the optimal average deployment based on our sorties from the border. Adjustments will need to be made as the situation demands, of course.”

Ray’s tactics were characteristic of his highly aggressive style, which was fairly well-known to the generally defensive Imperial Army. Despite cavalry being classically associated with the power delivered through their mounted offence, opportunities to employ that offence, in reality, were few and far between. More utility was found in the ability of their mounts to carry men and supplies as the army maintained its endless vigil over the vast plains of the Empire.

The General also took advantage of this quality, using it to create a sort of ‘mobile headquarters’ that would usually only see deployment when an entire army group performed combined operations. Not only was it a place from which he could observe the battlefield and issue broad commands, but it was also a supply depot where teams of spare horses were led by the General’s bodyguard. These horses carried extra lances, spears, bows, arrows and bolts, as well as any specialised tools and supplies should they encounter opponents that required them.

Plays of power and influence were also strategically incorporated into General Ray’s operations. His hand could be felt everywhere, from his direct command over the battalion’s main actions to being seen as the man who supplied them, provided them with opportunities and dictated their overall success. It was an aggressive push in all arenas and his men revelled in that aggression as they achieved their objectives.

“So in this broad strategy that you’ve been employing,” Lady Zahradnik said. “I see that you’re more focused on breaking the tribes you come across than destroying them. This utilises the endurance of your forces efficiently in terms of objectives achieved and minimises casualties, but what of the Demihumans who escape?”

Joachim glanced at the Baroness out of the corner of his eye. After her time spent with the Fifth Legion, she should be well aware of the reason why General Ray was doing what he was. He wasn’t sure whether she was being impartial and giving the General a chance to explain his actions or letting him dig his own grave…though the two were not mutually exclusive.

General Ray similarly should have been well aware that martial Nobles often let the fact that they were individuals of few words mislead others into thinking that nothing was going on. In embracing her heritage, Lady Zahradnik was the polar opposite of General Ray, who had forsaken his heritage for the values of the civilian aristocracy.

“If they decide to linger,” the General said, “they’ll be picked off by the companies on cleanup duties. Ideally, they’ll be driven further into the wilderness and cause problems for the tribes ahead of our advance.”

“So you’re weaponising refugees.”

“That’s a good way to put it, my lady.”

Joachim frowned at the exchange. They discussed the topic as if it were no different than discussing the weather. As a follower of the Six Great Gods, he supposed that Lady Zahradnik had no qualms over what was happening to non-Humans so long as what was going on did not put Humans at risk.

Aside from the Undead, the Faith of The Four held nothing against other races despite being a Human religion. It shared a sort of character with the Imperial Army in its mandate to see to the well-being of humanity and defend its faithful. His knowledge was fuzzy when it came to what he knew of the Theocracy’s belligerent religion, but it seemed fitting that someone who worshipped a god of death readily worked with the Undead and showed no aversion at all to the death being sown around her.

Their next advance took them to the base of the western mountain range, where a tribe of Goblins was fleeing into its wooded slopes. The Captain of the company in pursuit stopped his men before their horses entered the trees, wheeling them around to head towards their next objective. Lady Zahradnik’s gaze did not leave the mountainside.

“There will be hundreds of displaced Demihumans by the time you advance to establish your next outpost, Your Excellency,” she said. “Are the other Commanders aware of what may be awaiting them?”

“They have far more men than we do,” General Ray replied. “Even if they didn’t know, these scattered Demihumans would be crushed even harder than they are right now. The Fourth and Fifth Division’s scouts and the flights assigned to them will spot and identify any threats well before fighting breaks out, much like how the reconnaissance elements of my battalion do.”

“What happens if these Demihumans begin to rally under a Lord?”

“That would be a development we’d have to monitor, but the numbers so far haven’t been enough to present a substantial threat to us. It also wouldn’t be so simple as the Demihumans banding together because they were driven out of their homes. There would be different tribes; different races; different Lord-class Demihumans – they’d take a while to sort themselves out if they ever do.”

“The Fifth Legion intercepted several raids led by Hobgoblins,” Lady Zahradnik noted. “Are you not concerned by that development?”

“The presence of Hobgoblins is something to keep in mind, yes,” the General said, “but at the same time we haven’t yet encountered any in this valley. Our supply lines will be defended by the outposts that we raise, which should be enough to fend off anything short of an army. If a Goblin army forms, our flights will note them well in advance and we will act accordingly. Becoming paralysed by possibilities as the other Generals and Commanders might is something that I deem unsuited to the nature of our work as an expeditionary force – we will be constantly exposed to the unknown and being frozen in place gets us nowhere.”

The General led them south along the base of the mountain, shadowing the companies clearing the way ahead. They continued their attacks, methodically going through all of the Demihuman settlements identified and mapped out well before their sortie.

Joachim wrinkled his nose as General Ray took his horse through the remains of a large Demihuman camp. The place had been thoroughly ransacked by the company ahead of them and the bodies of Goblins, Ogres and Dire Wolves littered the area. They stopped and dismounted at a pile of satchels left for them near the centre of the camp.

“Get these Dire Wolves skinned,” the General said. “Pack these bags up, as well.”

Lady Zahradnik walked over with her mount, eyeing the debris littering the clearing in the brush.

“Do you stop for every camp like this, Your Excellency?” She asked.

“We do, my lady,” General Ray answered. “With how much work needs to be done, I’m debating the formation of dedicated squads that specialise in salvage operations. Our Rogues make for poor scouts in this wilderness relative to our Rangers, so it would give them something to do. The reports from the Second Legion say that they had quite the haul on their campaign, so my men are dreaming big dreams nowadays. Things aren’t as extravagant here so far, but it does add up.”

Joachim tried to measure the Baroness’ reaction to his reply. As usual, he could discern nothing. While he understood that looting enemy camps was a matter of practicality and practised regularly across the Imperial Army, it still didn’t sit well with him. Additionally, raids on Demihuman settlements in the other Legions were preventative or retaliatory in nature, meant to curtail risks presented by savage wilderness drives against the citizens of the Empire.

What they were doing now was unprovoked aggression. The vast majority of the men, however, appeared to have become accustomed to it. That the vast majority hadn’t had the chance to have the values of the Imperial Army instilled into them was likely a key factor in this, and General Ray’s purposeful selection of his companies made his battalion the most aggressive of the lot.

“General Kabein and his command are still sorting through what they found in The Blister,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Their campaign was short and they didn’t have the luxury of completely counting out their spoils, though. Are the Sixth Legion’s procedures in this regard any different from imperial standard?”

“Broadly speaking, no. We do things the same way: a portion of the spoils stay in the division – or battalion in our case – that found them, another portion will go towards ‘equalising’ things in the army group and the remaining portion goes into a pool for honours that are awarded periodically. For my part, I try to be prompt with distribution: we have contacts in Orenstead and Kurze who will purchase most of what we find.”

It was another product of General Ray’s aggression that drove his entire campaign strategy. Army morale was propped up in a way that encouraged similarly aggressive behaviour. Spoils from raids were turned into coin and the General made sure that his men were allowed to spend their leave in Orenstead and Kurze. Whether it was because they developed a taste for drinking and whoring or were more prudent with their earnings, the men started to consider their activities in terms of profitability.

Every Demihuman settlement destroyed was a drink waiting for them; the warm embrace of their favourite prostitute or a step towards a larger purchase, such as goods to impress women in the city, better equipment that might help them stand above the other soldiers or a capital to invest in what they considered promising ventures at home. By the time General Ray initiated his southern advance, his soldiers were not only blooded but highly motivated by the prospect of even greater gains.

The Sixth Legion’s new mandate gave rise to an entirely different breed of soldier. As much as he would have liked to lay the blame entirely on General Ray and other like-minded individuals, Joachim suspected that it would have happened eventually.

Historically, the Imperial Army was primarily focused on domestic security. Even their ‘war’ with Re-Estize was done so in a highly conservative, methodical fashion that preserved the army’s strength. The annexation of their rival state’s territory would not be heralded by violent conquest, but by the occupation of lands buckling under overwhelming economic pressure and civil unrest. They would be welcomed as those who brought order and prosperity, freeing them from a dysfunctional government whose actions had only delivered oppression, famine and death.

Since the Empire’s plan was to only take what they could digest, they would be able to deliver on those hopes every single time. It was a slow takeover that would require decades, if not generations to complete. This was assuming that members of Re-Estize’s nobility did not outright rebel against their old liege in favour of the Empire as the situation worsened for the Kingdom.

But what about after? Once the Empire consolidated its new territories and firmly entrenched its regime, restoring the broken halves of the original nation of Re-Estize, they would likely look outwards. Their resources would be more than enough to create an ‘expeditionary army’ whose goal was to expand even further.

They could consolidate internal frontiers and conquer the southern wilderness like they were now, claim the Azerlisia Mountains or expand to the borders of the City State Alliance. The Abelion Wilderness was a vast expanse of unclaimed territory ripe for the taking. Vast fleets could be launched and new territories accessed through naval exploration and conquest.

The Empire did not need the Sorcerous Kingdom to do this, nor did it require General Ray. All it needed was sufficient resources, political will and ambition.

Joachim looked from General Ray to Baroness Zahradnik. She represented a nation with the power to easily conquer vast swathes of the world in very short periods of time, yet that nation was seemingly content to exist as a single duchy while achieving hegemony in its sphere of influence. Like many powerful creatures that might be found throughout the world, it did not immediately go on an unlimited, one-sided rampage just because it could.

The ‘salvage’ unit completed its task, packing away everything of value and loading them onto the horses whose supplies had been spent. A distant clash sounded to the south.

“Let’s keep going,” General Ray said as he trotted his warhorse off, “a long day awaits us.”