“That was in the briefing I submitted to General Cadifem, Mam. However, three assaults are approaching stronger holding points that we have established. One point is twelve miles east of Novi Sad in some foothills. There will be strong resistance there, with Krall advance forces strung out, operating almost entirely at octet levels, with isolated Dragons that no longer are fighting in coordinated units.
“They have devolved into a pattern of every Krall warrior for themselves. They have no aerial defenses nearby, and because we held back air attacks, their single ships are not flying yet. The Shadow fighters will come in low, right in the middle of a heavy artillery barrage. Ladybugs will be designating Krall targets for them where the octets took shelter. The incoming shells will recognize the fighters, either delaying detonation or deviating away. The same as they do when a ladybug accidentally happens to fall in their target zone.”
“How will the fighters do more damage to them than the smart artillery?” she wanted to know.
“Krall spread out when moving in the open, so a single shell or booby trap doesn’t hit many at once. When they go to ground, they tend to close ranks to wait out the barrage in shelter, and perhaps receive the octet leader’s directions for the next series of movements. We aren’t entirely sure why they do this, but we know they do it often. The ladybugs have left spy bots behind to watch where they hide, and they can laser designate a good target for the space planes, or the tri-barrels can snipe at them if the fighters flush them out of hiding. We have held back some of our new armor penetrating shells for the Dragons. If they pull out of sight, the ladybugs can point out their hiding place to the inbound shells.
“If you suddenly stop their advance, what do you think will be their reaction?”
Clearly, the admiral had not read his action plans in detail. Not surprising he decided. The Space Navy found ground warfare unpleasant and grimy. Their preference was to kill the enemy at a thousand miles with a nice sanitary salvo of missiles, and avoid the debris field after that.
This was a career ground pounder’s own short sightedness of space warfare. Nabarone had not studied the action reports of the two desperate space battles over K1, and the follow up attack when the Krall Eight Balls traced the fleet back to Rhama. Those thousands that died with their ships had not found the experience all so sanitary.
“Admiral,” He didn’t feel comfortable calling her Mil. “I’m certain they will launch single ships, and move their defense systems forward more quickly. We can’t actually stop them; we can only hold them for a time. I’m told the Shadow fighters will be largely undetectable by those Krall defense systems unless they get within a mile or two. The fighters will see where the plasma and laser beams originate, and I expect them to target those from as far away as practical.
“They’re here to experience atmospheric dogfights with single ships, and some of that fighting may leak into near space above the planet. I have already alerted Planetary Defense Command, PDC, to keep railguns off line unless they have clanship targets. From prior sensor testing, my people can’t see the Shadow’s any better than they can see Krall single ships, which is to say not at all, so friendlies are unlikely to be targeted by our ground batteries, and are resistant to the beams if accidentally struck.
“In atmosphere, as you know, space planes generate a different turbulence vortex as they fly than does a clanship, single ship, or Krall shuttle. Our Turb detection system has missiles that already have programing to ignore space plane turbulence trails, and are free to fire and track any enemy at any time.”
“Henry, I wasn’t so much asking about the routine response you expected from the Krall. I’m fully confident you will have allowed for all of that. However, they have shown surprising variability recently, and this apparent assault to cover for a partial withdrawal is the most significant example. At the least you’re risking losing a great deal of territory, based on the assumption they will eventually slow their attack. I do agree that it looks probable. What if the Krall war commander does something you didn’t expect? Tor Gatrol Kanpardi has proven to be a very good strategist. He has to be involved in planning this withdrawal if it happens. He’s less predictable.”
Nabarone acknowledged their comments. “Excellent point. Observe and adjust is all I can offer. I expect the unexpected, but of course, I don't know what it will be. I do have one piece of information to ease some of the fear of Kanpardi’s direct involvement. The Tor Gatrol is on K1. He sent Til Gatrol Telour to meet with Gatlek Pendor in his bunker, and then Telour left Poldark. We had well positioned spy resources that confirmed that for us. The less flexible mind of Pendor is what I’m confronted with, as has been the case for two years, and he’s not near brilliant.” Naturally, Nabarone left out some details, knowing Bledso and Cadifem would think he meant spy bots when he said spy resources near Pendor’s bunker.
Rather than spy bots, a squad of Kobani spec ops had caught a Krall sub leader that had recently been inside the Gatlek’s bunker. While he was drugged into immobilization, and questioned by Mind Tapping methods, the presence of the Til Gatrol was confirmed, and that the Gatlek was suddenly issuing oddly conflicting orders that the low ranking sub leader did not understand. He didn’t understand, because a planned partial withdrawal during a simultaneous major assault wasn’t found in any Krall history of wars with previous species. This was a first, caused by unparalleled successes of the human attacks on Krall worlds.
The Krall did manage to do the unexpected however, despite Pendor’s lack of brilliance.
****
Gatlek Pendor was frustrated. His last week to be spent on Poldark was not ending with the huge number of status kills he had expected the continent-wide punitive assaults to produce. The humans were uncharacteristically avoiding hard frontal combat. They were always too willing to retreat in the face of heavy losses, and they always used trickery and deceit, but they had also strongly resisted significant loss of territory in the past. Now, they were fighting in a manner that yielded ground quicker, and provided his warriors with lower kill ratios than in the past.
The small clans leading the attacks were complaining that cities and territory are worthless to them, and there was too little fighting and status kills to increase their breeding rights. The humans were backing away from pitched battles, giving up land they had fought dearly to keep over the last two years.
This didn’t seem very much like the worthy enemy they had confronted here for two years. Pendor was now faced with a logistics problem on the surface of Poldark, similar to the one Tor Gatrol Kanpardi had in space. The advance forces had outpaced the supplies and rear support systems that were expected to sustain them against stiff resistance as they entered the cities, and forced the enemy slowly out the other side.
The initial supplies had been placed at the forefront of their attacks, to provide quick support for the lead elements so they wouldn’t have to slow their advance as they waited for resupply. They had expected this tactic to fool the humans, because they had never done this in the past on smaller scale attacks. Instead, because of human traps and deception, many of their supply vehicles were lost before the warriors could take possession of the weapons and ammunition they carried.
Pendor had thought up this supply part of the plan himself. To help the small clans in pushing the humans steadily back, even as he prepared to depart with the material and major clan warriors he’d need for the next invasion force. He hadn’t consulted with anyone on the wisdom of this tactic, in order to prevent word of the partial withdrawal from reaching the ears of the small clans, who were being left behind. Therefore, he had put vital supplies they would need first, right where they were most at risk. Leading the assaults. Definitely, he was not at Kanpardi or Telour’s level of competence
The finger clans had advanced three times faster than expected due to obviously pre-planned human retreats, and would soon reach the geographical limits that had previously been placed on the advances of the clans. Now they had passed be
yond most of the laser defenses against artillery, there were no single ships overhead, and hundreds of octets were reporting low stocks of replacement arms and ammunition. The latter because they were so far from the vast stockpiles in the rear, and they had lost a high percentage of those they carried at the start.
Many of the same transports filled with arms that lead the assaults, which was Pendor’s not-so-clever idea, were expected to return for additional weapons and power packs. Those supplies should have been streaming to the front now, to aid the hard charging warriors. However, particularly at Novi Sad, they had been risked and lost at the front of the advances, due to human trickery on the bridges, and on seemingly open roadways into the eight cities. They were frequently destroyed with all of their supplies still loaded.
Replacement transports, which could have promptly sent additional supplies forward, were currently loaded with the equipment and arms that were being prepared for a quick charge back to the cluster of clanships parked around Pendor’s bunker. They knew human surveillance would see that movement when it started, so they intended to hold what they thought was an element of surprise to the last moment.
Then came a communication from the Pishtok clan’s bunker that they had learned the humans had been expecting this wide attack, and were deliberately drawing the Krall forces ahead too fast for proper support.
His aide, Grigmot, pulled back defensively as the Gatlek slashed the air with his talons. “This cloaca of a true Great clan presumes to inform me of what?” He demanded as much as asked.
The aid repeated what had been received. “My Gatlek, one of the Pishtok octet leaders captured and extracted this information from a human operator of one of the fast small plasma gun transports. The ones called ladybugs by humans.”
Instead of accepting the information, he first blasted the unnamed octet leader for his actions, contrary to his orders. “I instructed all clans to kill every human encountered, that I did not want to be slowed by unneeded information extraction for this rapid, but limited advance. Why did he disobey that instruction?”
Grigmot shook a left shoulder, equivalent to a human shrug. “The Pishtok clan leader says the manner of death was not prescribed to be instant. This human and his clan mate were responsible for the deaths of at least five warriors, based on status marks for kills on their gun cart. One of those warriors killed was from the capturing octet, which wanted not only revenge, they also sought the additional status points you award warriors for such kills. That octet captured three additional gun cart crews, which were killed instantly.”
Grigmot wasn’t pleased to have to remind Pendor of that status incentive, which he’d offered all warriors, to spur them to end the breeding line of any enemy that claimed status from Krall kills. The Gatlek wasn’t noted for his gratitude for such reminders. In a human army, an irritating underling might be sent to the front to face the risk of death. It was far worse in a Krall clan. The offender was sent home to guard nests, guaranteed that none of the nests would ever have eggs from a mating by the dishonored Krall in question. Grigmot was the third aide to Pendor, and definitely wanted to participate in the new invasion.
“Yet he interrogated some of the prisoners?” Pendor wasn’t yet ready to listen to the important detail. One that Grigmot believed he needed to hear.
“Yes Gatlek. The Pishtok clan leader is a warrior of high status, which allowed him to establish a finger clan from Dorbo. He considered this information of enough importance to pass directly to you.”
With an impatient snarl he asked, “What did the humans tell them?”
“He says even these low ranking human fighters knew of the coming assault, and had prepared and planned for a month. They are pulling back because…” He was cut off by his superior.
“Impossible. I only learned of Kanpardi’s plan from Telour within that time span, and started gathering forces for the assault only in the last two weeks. Have Pishtok ask the prisoners how the humans could know this, before I started to prepare.”
A hesitation by a Krall is measured in hundredths of a second, and Grigmot exceeded that by nearly a half second. He obviously didn’t want to pass along another unpleasant reminder.
“Per your initial orders, Gatlek, the humans were terminated before the information was passed to the Pishtok bunker. Their clan leader admonished his octet leader for not recognizing the importance of additional questions, but could not reprimand him for that.”
Pendor stood there glaring at nothing in particular, his red pits set in ebony, blazing with his frustrated anger. Finally, grasping that beating a dead human wasn’t going to give him more information, he asked, “What was learned of the reason for the rapid human retreat?”
“They have stronger points of resistance established, miles from of each of the original eight major assault points. They intend to use the extended and ragged lines of the thousands of isolated octets facing them to their advantage. They know the warriors in their eagerness have moved far ahead of their defensive laser and plasma batteries, with a slender, if not broken supply line. They will counter attack.”
It was fortunate that those that briefed the human troops had had the foresight not to mention anything about an expected Krall pull back and partial evacuation. Information that troops such as poor tortured Stanislav didn’t know, they couldn’t reveal. Otherwise, Pendor might have made a different unexpected move.
****
“Not all of them? How many clanships were launched?” Asked Major Caldwell.
The lieutenant repeated. “The spec ops observers say only eight lifted off, and are moving in the direction of Novi Sad at tree top level, and not at max thrust. They say this isn’t part of the expected withdrawal, even though they saw those eight loading up with warriors. That’s why they didn’t destroy the plasma cannons or call for the missile launches. This isn’t part of the withdrawal.”
“Support for the warriors pushing east from the city, you think?” Caldwell looked to Greeves and Reynolds, who were not in his command but who had offered insights on Krall intentions in the past, under situations considerably different than seen on Poldark for the last two years.
“That’s perhaps sixteen thousand warriors,” Greeves said. “There are at least three times that many Krall already on the roads out of Novi Sad, headed for your first fixed bastion of resistance in the foothills. You have roughly a half million men facing them, and I doubt the enemy thinks they are enough to stop them. A ten, even fifteen to one kill ratio in an all-out fight is fair odds to them. I don’t think they would feel the need for reinforcements for the clans at the front even before you commit the Shadow fighters. They must feel like they are making tremendous headway.”
Reynolds, who had faced the Krall on the ground here for several years, and had done his share of retreating, had another idea. “A blocking force!”
“What do you mean?” Caldwell asked.
“You’ve pulled back steadily all day, stretching them out just like you and Henry planned. The foothills are the first holding point for a longer fixed fight. However, you have several more fall back positions prepared in the mountains, to keep bleeding them as you make this fighting retreat. What if they don’t let you retreat out of the mountains?”
“That could be it.” Greeves agreed, cautiously. “Fighting troops that retreat before they close with them has to be frustrating. A smaller Krall force in the narrow passes could block the way out, or certainly slow the First Army considerably.”
“Why now? They have let us make orderly retreats before.”
Reynolds shook his head. “I was in some of those retreats, Sir, and they were closer to routs. We made it out only because the Krall held back, saving us for another fight. I was always afraid they’d put a force of warriors where we’d be trapped between them. It was something they could do with clanships, but never did. They were pacing the fight for their purposes. This time they intend to punish as well as withdraw some of their larger clans. You keep dodging ba
ck from the blows, avoiding severe punishment.”
“They didn’t launch clanships towards the other seven fronts. Just the Novi Sad push.” Caldwell noted.
Greeves shrugged. “The botched river crossings cost them more supplies there, and the better roads out of the largest city allowed your fall back, and their advance to go farther and in less time than elsewhere. They are more extended and exposed east of Novi Sad than anywhere else. Now you have the mountainous terrain of the Malen'kiy Urals to help you, to make it harder for them to come to grips with the First Army. What would happen if you couldn’t get those half million men out through the passes on the other side of that range of mountains? You don’t know exactly what day the Krall will start their pull out and these eight clanships full of warriors could stay behind anyway, to hold the First Army trapped in that old mountain range, and help dig them out.”
“We have dozens of infiltration tunnels through the Urals and its ridges, just like we had prepared in the Sredna Gora mountain range, west of Novi Sad where you and Mirikami first landed. We can eventually move most of our men out that way if these clanships block the passes, assuming we get the time. However, I’m contacting Turb control to send seekers after those clanships. They’ll expose themselves if they climb to get up over the peaks to the other side. I’ll also advise Henry of the situation.”
Caldwell moved to a com panel to call for seeker missile launches, and to inform Nabarone on the changes in Krall movement.
Greeves, looking at the plots and force dispositions on the screens devoted to the Novi Sad battle, saw a way he and Reynolds could become more than remote observers.
“Sarge, why don’t we test our armor against the Krall’s newer stuff? I see where we can get into the mountains from some feeder tunnels, similar to what was dug around that abandoned spec ops base where we first landed on Poldark. I see a black ops hub indicated in the mountains, and the tunnels radiate from that on all sides.”
Koban 4: Shattered Worlds Page 22
