Katin nodded.
“Sir, you cannot win this fight by yourselves,” said Sheridan. “You don’t have enough men, nor do you any have modern weapons you could use to defeat your enemy. Do you have allies you can call upon to help you in your hour of need?”
Sheridan waited for his message to be translated.
“He says there are four towns nearby with men who can fight,” said Katin. “Since the death of his father, these warriors are now part of his fiefdom.”
“That’s good news. How many men does he think he can assemble to fight?”
“Between three and four thousand,” explained Katin.
“That’s not enough,” said Cole. “We need at least three times that number.”
“Perhaps not,” said Sheridan, noticing Cole was tapping his leg on the ground. Sheridan knew his friend was desperate to help Wendy, but that would have to wait. He faced Katin. “Ask Kyrran if he knows of a sloping piece of open ground with jungle on either side of it. If there’s a hill on the far end, that would be perfect.”
Kyrran and his warriors spoke among themselves for some time before he replied.
“He says there’s a spot just like that about a half day’s march from here,” explained Katin.
“That’s great, but they’ll never make it there,” said Cole. “By now Kordus’ lead troops are probably less than fifteen minutes from here. Kyrran has to delay the enemy here and now if he wants to get his people to safety and gather his forces.”
Sheridan grinned, “I was thinking precisely the same thing. Care to volunteer for a suicide mission?”
“I’ll do anything if it’ll get me closer to Wendy.”
Sheridan looked at Kyrran. “Sir, you need to send your fastest runners to tell the soldiers from the other cities to meet you on the battlefield you have chosen. Ensure they travel dispersed, or they will draw fire from the sky far worse than what happened at the arena earlier today. They should time their arrival just before noon tomorrow so you can pass along your battle plan. It would be beneficial for them if they could bring some of their larger animals with them. The more, the better.”
Katin passed along the message.
Kyrran hesitated before pointing at himself. “I not a general.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be there by your side from the beginning to the end telling you what to do,” said Sheridan. “By the end of the day tomorrow, you will be a general.”
“Thank you,” replied Kyrran.
“One last thing,” said Sheridan. “Can you detach thirty of your best warriors under Captain Cole’s command?”
Kyrran nodded.
“Tell him that I want a kid who’s an expert bushman and understands hand signals,” said Cole. “And I want them all armed with blow darts and swords.”
The never-ending jungle grated on Lieutenant Kestten’s nerves. Ever since landing on the moon, he and his platoon had been on the move. It was now just after midnight, and all they had come across were a couple of dead native Kurgans and an injured man they summarily dispatched. He had missed the war with the Terrans, and because of family connections, he had also been kept from the brutal fighting against the Kurgan rebel forces. All he wanted was to see some action so he could hold his head up high the next time he met his father, a long-serving officer in the Imperial Guard.
“Sir, company headquarters wants an update,” said Kestten’s radio operator.
“Tell them the same thing as last time. We have nothing to report.”
“Yes, sir,” said the Chosen soldier.
Kestten stopped and pulled his canteen from his belt. He unscrewed the cap and took a long swing of water. There’s no glory in what we’re doing, he thought to himself as he slid his canteen back into its pouch.
“Sir, help me,” pleaded Kestten’s radioman.
Kestten turned about. His eyes widened the second he saw a feathered dart sticking out of the soldier’s neck. The radio operator dropped to the ground on all fours, gasping for air. Kestten made a move to help the soldier but stopped and dove for cover when another man fell over with a dart protruding from his neck.
“Sergeant Kodar, have the men take cover!” yelled Kestten.
“Kodar’s dead,” reported one of his men, hiding behind a tree.
Kestten’s mind and body were paralyzed with fear. He never heard a sound while his soldiers died all around him. He saw a soldier laying on the ground nearby behind a tall fern. “Private, get the radio and bring it to me.”
The soldier raised his head slightly and shook it.
Kestten drew his pistol and aimed it at the soldier. “That’s an order.”
With his body shaking uncontrollably, the soldier crawled out from behind cover and crawled, like a snake slithering through the mud, toward the radio. When he was less than an arm’s reach away, his body was struck three times. He convulsed for a few seconds before dying, his dead eyes wide open, staring accusingly at Kestten.
That was all Kestten could take. He jumped up, ripped off his belt, and tossed his rifle to the ground. He dug in his feet and charged back through his terrified platoon, trying to get away from whatever was killing them.
Cole watched the Kurgan lieutenant flee and smiled. By the time he got to his headquarters, his mind would be filled with stories of hundreds of native warriors overrunning his valiant platoon. He tapped the young Kurgan woodsman by his side and pointed off to the west.
The warrior held up his blow gun, eager to engage more targets.
Cole shook his head. “I know you won’t understand a word I’m saying but trust me, there’ll be plenty more of these buggers for you to kill before the sun comes up.”
Cole once again pointed to the west.
The warrior brought up his hand to his mouth and made a sound like a bird. The call repeated down the line.
Cole, accompanied by the young woodsman, stepped out from behind the tree they were using for cover and began to jog. Cole tried to calculate how long it would take for the Chosen forces to react and bring fire down on their old position. He concluded they’d be lucky to escape the fire zone before the first round landed.
The two other platoons in the Chosen company stopped, went to ground, and opened fire for a minute at the jungle around them. Cole knew they wouldn’t have hit a thing as all his warriors were with him running away from enemy fire.
The all too familiar whistle of incoming mortar bombs sent a shiver down Cole’s back. He looked over his shoulder and waved his arm in the air, trying to urge his men to pick up the pace before the first round struck. The mortar barrage fell short, hitting the ground near Kestten’s platoon, adding to their casualties and their misery. The next volley to land came from a missile frigate in orbit above the moon. The rockets struck the ground tearing trees apart and sending tall plumes of dirt and rocks flying skyward. The forest behind Cole looked like it was on fire as the missiles blasted the old forest to pieces. The deafening roar of the explosions filled Cole’s ears. Several of the warriors with him, unfamiliar to such destruction, threw their blow guns down and fled back into the jungle, trying to outrun the flames. Cole grabbed his young counterpart by the arm and kept running. The only thing keeping them alive were their feet. Cole had no intention of stopping now.
Chapter 31
Colonel Keel handed the duty officer’s report back to him before walking out of the command post. He found Kordus sitting down with his feet resting on an ammunition crate. In his hands was a tablet showing live feed from one of the drones of the missile strikes on the jungle. Kordus chuckled every time a rocket exploded. Keel could imagine his superior officer fantasizing about the death and destruction raining down on the natives.
“Sir, I have just read a couple of reports regarding activity in the cities to the north and west of our position,” said Keel.
“What of it?” asked Kordus.
“They could be moving to join with the savages we are fighting.”
Kordus shrugged. “So what? It
just means there’ll be more natives for my men to kill.”
Keel could see that Kordus hadn’t understood the implication of thousands of native warriors moving toward them. He cleared his throat. “Sir, with all due respect, we need to cut back on the rate of fire we are currently bringing down on the jungle from our missile frigates in orbit. If we don’t, we’ll expend all of our rockets within the next hour.”
Kordus snorted loudly at the news. “What about our mortar platoon; surely it has sufficient ammunition to support our advance?”
Keel silently cursed Kordus’ political appointment as a general. The man knew nothing about his job, and it showed. “Sir, they have enough high explosive ammunition to support the battle group for a couple of engagements but it, like the missiles, won’t last forever. We need to husband our ammunition and use it only when we have positively identified a target to engage.”
Kordus climbed out of his chair. “It shouldn’t be like this, Colonel. If your drone operator hadn’t missed Prince Kobak, this would have been over hours ago.”
Keel bowed his head. “You are right, sir.”
“Colonel, frankly your men’s incompetence astounds me. I thought you had trained a crack battle group of Chosen warriors for me to use. Instead, I find them to be worthless and even worse, they are proving to be cowards in the face of the enemy. I suppose I’m going to have to move forward and lead the battle from there. Someone around here needs to show a modicum of tactical acumen.”
“Yes, of course, sir,” replied Keel, positive that Kordus had no idea what he was talking about.
“Fetch me a transport vehicle and a security detail. I’m moving to the front.”
“I’ll see to it right away, sir,” said Keel, happy to be rid of Kordus. “Sir, before you leave, what do you want to do about the rate of expenditure of our two frigates’ missiles?”
“Bloody hell, do I have to do all the thinking around here?” snapped Kordus. “Have them stop, but be prepared to fire at a moment’s notice.”
“Very good, sir, I will pass the order.”
“You do that, Colonel. It seems that’s all you’re good for.”
Keel ground his teeth and nodded. He imagined a native’s arrow sticking out of Kordus’ neck. Keel closed his eyes and cleared such thoughts. He was a professional soldier and was good at what he did. It wasn’t the first time in Kurgan history that an incompetent political appointee exercised command over good troops, and Keel knew it wouldn’t be the last. He waited until Kordus departed inside a six-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle before stepping back inside the TOC.
“Sir, reconnaissance platoon reports more movement from the cities under observation,” said a duty officer. “They’re asking for orders.”
“Tell them to observe, but not to engage,” said Keel. “Also, I want to be told immediately if these natives move toward our forces.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the officer.
Keel took a seat and looked over at the fire control officer. “Lieutenant, pass to the missile frigates that I want them to cease their bombardment of the jungle, immediately. They are to track the forward progress of our forces and be prepared to fire on order.”
The lieutenant nodded and typed the order into his laptop.
“Sir, what shall we do about the Terran female and the native prisoners?” asked a captain. “Shall we continue with the executions and transmit those images via the drones, as order by General Kordus?”
Keel let out a tired sigh and drummed his hand on his knee for a few seconds. “Have the natives rounded up and broken down into groups for execution but don’t kill any of them without my expressed permission.”
“Sir?”
“You heard me, Captain. No one is to kill another hostage until I give the order. Got it?”
The junior officer bowed his head. “And the woman, sir?”
“For now, keep her alive as well. We may need her as a bargaining chip if the Terrans come here looking for their people.”
“Sir, they wouldn’t dare penetrate this deep into our space. It would be an act of war.”
Keel shook his head. “Why would you believe it to be an act of war?”
“This star system is out of bounds to Kurgans. Surely non-believers are forbidden too?”
“And yet here we are killing the very people the Lord Kurgan gave his word to protect.”
The captain stared at Keel. The expression on his face was a mixture of confusion and distrust.
Keel stood up; he towered over the speechless junior officer. “See to my orders regarding the prisoners, Captain.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.” The captain turned on his heel and dashed out of the TOC.
With the tactical situation under control, Keel sat back in his chair and stared up at the monitor. The forward progress of the infantry companies had come to a crawl. After first contact with the enemy, they had refused to move unless under the support of the frigates’ rockets. With Kordus arriving at battalion headquarters in the next thirty minutes, Keel expected the advance to begin in earnest again.
Chapter 32
The noise from the bombardment behind them came to an abrupt stop, plunging the jungle into silence. The insects came back to life buzzing through the air closely followed by the animals calling out to one another, making it seem as if nothing had been happening only seconds before.
Sheridan hefted up a sleeping child in his arms and tried to make her as comfortable as he could. He, Tarina, and Katin all carried children too tired to take another step. Kobak walked along slowing every now and then, holding the hands of two children while their mother trudged along behind them. Being under Kyrran’s protection made it easy for the fatigued parents to hand off their exhausted children to the strangers.
“I hope Cole’s all right,” said Tarina to Sheridan.
“He’s probably the reason the Kurgs went berserk with their missiles,” replied Sheridan. “I doubt they’ve got much left onboard their ships in orbit. Which is a good thing for us; the less they have, the less they can fire at us when the battle begins.”
“What did you say to Kyrran to convince him to fight?” asked Katin.
“I didn’t tell him anything,” said Sheridan. “After he watched the images of his people being shot in the back of the head, he was ready to rush back to the capital and fight Kordus’ men singlehanded.”
“Okay then, what is your plan to defeat Kordus?”
“I took a page from Earth’s history.”
“Which one?”
“I told him about the Zulus and how they fought.”
“I’ve never heard of them. Were they great warriors?”
Sheridan nodded. “Very much so. Their preferred tactic was to fight like a bull. The trick is to lure one’s enemy into a position where they can be attacked from all sides and overwhelmed.”
“And how do you propose to do that?”
“If Kyrran’s battlefield is as good as he says it is, I’ll have him station some men at the far end on a hill. They will be known as the body. These warriors will stand their ground and draw Kordus’ forces toward them.”
“Won’t it be costly to the men in the body?” asked Tarina. “After all, what good are spears and swords against modern firearms and artillery?”
“The losses among those men will be crippling, but it can’t be helped. Once Kordus is sufficiently committed to the battle, the surviving warriors in the body will fall back drawing Kordus’ men with them. It’s at this time the horns of the bull, hidden in the jungle will emerge, and surround the overstretched enemy and finish them off. At least, that’s how it should work.”
“Did it work for the Zulus?” asked Katin.
“Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. It all depends on timing. If we commit our forces too early, they’ll be ground to mincemeat; however, if we launch our assault at just the right time, we should be able to close with the enemy and destroy them in hand-to-hand combat before they can escape.”
&nbs
p; “What can I do to help?” asked Kobak.
“You, my good man, will be the bait to lure Kordus into attacking Kyrran’s forces,” said Sheridan.
“Major, I cannot have my brother risk his life in battle,” said Katin. “You heard Kordus—our parents are dead. My brother is the rightful heir to the Kurgan throne. If he dies, this will all have been for naught.”
“Don’t worry; he’ll be nowhere near the fighting when it begins.”
“But you just said that he was to act as bait.”
Sheridan winked at Katin. “I know what I said. Trust me, it’ll all become clear when I help Kyrran arrange his forces for battle.”
“And what will we be doing during this epic struggle?” asked Tarina.
“I want you to guard Kobak with your life,” said Sheridan. “As for Katin and me, we’ll have to be by Kyrran’s side throughout the battle.”
“Just promise me to keep your head down,” said Tarina.
“I’ll do my best.”
A murmur ran through the long line of people trudging through the forest. The villagers stopped in their tracks and took shelter beneath the nearest trees.
“What’s wrong?” whispered Tarina.
“There’s a drone hovering in the air,” explained Katin. “The villagers at the front of the column are afraid to step out from under the cover of the trees.”
“A smart move,” said Sheridan, laying the child he was carrying on the ground by Katin’s feet. “I’ll be back in a minute. Tell everyone to get ready to run for their lives.”
Sheridan unslung his rifle and wormed his way to the front of the column. He found Kyrran hiding behind the stump of a dead tree. Sheridan got onto his stomach and crawled forward until he could see the disc-like drone, hovering in the air less than one hundred meters away. It seemed to be observing the tree line, looking for targets of opportunity to engage. The sound of missiles being fired broke the silence. The rockets struck the ground behind Sheridan, killing a handful of guards. He brought up his rifle and laid his sights on the drone. With his thumb, he moved the selector to grenade launcher and pulled back on the trigger. A second later, a 40mm high explosive grenade shot forth and struck the UAV, blasting it pieces.
Crimson Fire (The Kurgan War Book 8) Page 14
