They were eating a cold breakfast standing by saddled mounts when a messenger came galloping in from the north observation post. An army, of perhaps one thousand infantry, had moved in the night and were poised to make the ascent up the western road. It was cleverly done and had almost caught them napping. Don, Colin, Jenkins, and Slim, together with a mount of ten Blades, immediately rode to the western mesa rim. It was so. There was an army assembling below, only five miles down the steep slope. They would have to climb almost a mile in elevation, so they could not come quickly, but they were obviously preparing to advance.
“I can take the crossbowmen and deploy them along the mesa rim,” suggested Jenkins. “We can be a rear guard. We can sting them—delay them. Then we can mount and ride away. They are on foot and could not catch us.”
Don thought about it. Everyone else, he suddenly noticed, were wearing captured enemy breastplates and backplates. It was a good idea to up-armor, now that they knew about the threat from heavy cavalry. I hate to do it, but perhaps I should find a breastplate, myself.
He decided that he did not want to leave the crossbowmen behind. They could not travel as fast as the horse troopers. Their horses were not conditioned for hard riding, and the large square shields that they carried were cumbersome. They could slow the retreat of the entire force. The risk was too great.
“I like your fighting spirit, Jenkins,” said Don. “But they have to cover seven miles to get to our camp, to say nothing of that steep climb. We have at least four hours. That will be plenty. I want you to deploy along the northeast rim. They could still send heavy cavalry up from that direction. They have tried that approach several times already.”
They galloped back to the camp just at sunrise. The pack train had returned, the gear was already loaded, and the pack train was just departing the second time. Don was glad to see them go. The four prisoners were riding double on two captured war horses, shackled to the saddles. Danny glowered at them and Don knew that he felt that they were a needless burden. Two messages from the heliograph station were waiting. One was from Samuel and Robert congratulating him and ordering him to withdraw. The other was from the Diné scouts near the Kolaroo River, reporting a force of at least five hundred heavy horse. This force had travelled up the river about ten miles, turned east on a good road that looped around to the south and were camped about ten miles north of Grand Mesa.
Don realized that this force was a mortal threat. On the road, they could travel the ten miles in little over an hour if they came up at a gallop. Obviously, the enemy were trying to block their escape. Don drafted a message to Robert and Samuel advising them that they were leaving immediately. He asked them to send some scouts and a half-dozen freight wagons south on the road to the old village of Carbondale and continue south until they could link up with the pack train. On advice from Slim, he added that they should go no farther than the top of McClure pass, but wait there.
Don told the heliograph operator to send the message, wait for confirmation, and then pack up his instrument and head for the camp,
“Don’t waste a minute, youngster,” said Slim.
Don, Slim and the Blades then rode to the north observation post. The signal flags showed that a force of cavalry was, yet again, moving up the valley to the northeast of the mesa. Danny was there with his binoculars and gave a quick report.
“It looks like about one hundred heavy horse and perhaps forty Raiders,” said Danny.
Don dismounted and took a look. Sure enough, he could see the enemy advancing. He also got glimpses of Diné scouts preparing to screen and harass the Raiders who were moving in front as a screen. Don turned and could see that the crossbowmen were deploying on the mesa rim. He briefed Danny on the large force of heavy horse to the north. They agreed that they must start pulling back, and he made the signal on the flags to the scouts below. Then they withdrew the observers and galloped for the camp.
The Bows and the Lances were ready to move. When Don reined to a stop, he saw that the entire force had increased their armor. Every horse had a mail throat and breast protector; every man had breast and backplates. The ten remaining trooper scouts had the plates and were all carrying captured war spears, but their horses were not armored. Most of the scouts now had captured broadswords, in addition to their normal shortswords.
Don alighted and motioned for the others to gather around. He briefed the commanders on the situation, with enemy on every side except the southeast. Then Blackie said, “Let us fit you with better armor, Sir Don.” With Colin’s and Blackie’s help, Don was fitted with a beautiful breastplate and matched backplate. The breastplate had a gold rope edge, with silver inlays in geometric designs. In the center was a pure gold inlay in the shape of an eagle striking its prey. A couple of other troopers quickly fitted a mail chest protector to Snap. Don picked up a war spear that they had saved for him. He was ready; the last of non-combatants had departed. A rally point had been set up—the summit of McClure Pass. Time to issue orders.
†
That day was one of the longest of Don’s life. He, Danny, and Colin had ridden shoulder to shoulder north on the highway in the direction of the enemy force. A score of Diné scouts were their pitifully small covering force. Lance troop, in a column of fours, rode ahead of them. The Blades took up the rear. They had no hope of stopping the enemy force, but they would harass and delay them. Don wanted time for the pack train to get safely away. He also wanted the enemy to learn to fear.
The Bows stayed with the crossbowmen to delay the hundred-strong enemy force to the northeast. They had orders to punish them, and then withdraw to the southeast. At the site of the camp they were to turn due east, cross the main highway and then turn north. They would then wait for the Lances and Blades, who would be fighting a delaying action against the main body. They would try to link up about four miles due east of the highway and three or four miles north of Grand Mesa. The terrain there was rolling with groves of heavy spruce-fir timber, mixed with open parks. Some of the ground was marshy. If possible, the crossbowmen would try to set a trap to lure the enemy into another killing ground. If the linkup did not happen by dark, they were to withdraw in the direction of the rally point.
Don knew that splitting his force was not a good thing. It made coordination difficult, and invited piecemeal defeat. At least, the infantry force was no longer a factor. They would make the long climb for nothing.
The Blades certainly had their opportunity for battle that day, even though they used lances far more than blades. Don’s small force quickly learned that single combat with another heavily-armed horseman usually resulted in a draw. The enemy were as well trained as they, and as warlike. The only way to defeat them was to coordinate an attack of two on one, and avoid battle if the situation was reversed. They used that tactic, over and over, with good success. The dense stands of trees at the shoulders of the road had prevented the enemy from taking advantage of their vastly superior numbers.
By evening, the enemy had advanced to the base of the mesa. About half of them had then broken off chasing Don’s force and had continued south to capture the mesa, itself. Don’s force had lost five Lance troopers killed and had killed perhaps thrice that number in return. Most shields were scarred and notched, and many troopers and horses bore wounds. At dusk, Don finally linked up with the Bows and the crossbowmen. They combined force had made a successful stand at that point and the crossbowmen had emptied many enemy saddles. The enemy had withdrawn and regrouped, in some confusion. As darkness fell, Don withdrew to the east, relying on the Diné scouts to lead them along faint elk trails in the direction of McClure Pass. About midnight, they made camp and rested until first light. The battle of Grand Mesa was over.
†
On the morning of the third day after the battle, Don led his exhausted troops through the gate of Fort Baldy. They received a warm welcome from the crowd of horse t
roopers, townspeople and the Ariel levy. Robert embraced Don in a fierce man-hug as he alighted from his horse. The Diné had stopped to inter their honored dead according to their way and did not arrive at Fort Baldy until the afternoon, and then only Danny and a dozen others made their appearance. The rest had resumed their scouting mission.
Don had brought back the five that had fallen and was glad that he had done so. It was a sad duty to turn the lifeless forms over to grieving families. He spoke to a small group of people with tear-streaked faces about the two that were buried on the mesa that they had left behind and had praised them for their valor. Then he busied himself with a hundred final details. The mission was over—for that day!
†
Much had happened while Don was gone. A new horse troop headquarters had been set up fourteen miles south and a bit west of Ariel, and fifteen miles west of the old village of Carbondale. An old road gave access to some half-dozen buildings with walls of fieldstone. The roofs had been repaired and shutters installed, five sheds thrown up, and a smithy built. A decrepit palisade fort had rotten logs replaced. A five-acre field, fortunately, had been surrounded by a five-foot high stone fence. This had been upgraded with posts and logs to form a fortress of sorts. The ballista and crew had been moved from Fort Baldy and was operational. A catapult had also been emplaced near the wall.
There was no parade ground, but the field would serve to hold the horse herd, which now totaled four hundred head. A barn was filled with a hundred tons of hay, with another hundred tons sheltered in the sheds. It was barely adequate, but it would have to do. The road had enabled freight wagons to rapidly transport the food and equipment needed.
Robert had doubled the force of mounted crossbowmen to forty, because of their success in the field. He had also organized the partly-trained recruits and some newly-recruited veterans into a fourth horse troop, to be called the Javelins. The now-experienced mount that had temporarily served with the Bows was to be included. The new troop had four mounts of ten, plus another dozen or so in a fifth mount, the latter including the troop commander, standard bearer, a medic, two message bearers and seven lance troopers. Within each mount there were six troopers armed with war spears and four armed with ten javelins carried in two cases of five. All carried bows and broadswords as did all the other horse troopers. Robert had ordered the javelins to be forged with heads coming to an extremely sharp point instead of the usual leaf-shaped blade. These made less tissue damage, but they were much better at penetrating mail. In fact, the weighted javelins would readily pierce mail whether thrown or used to thrust.
Robert had explained that the javelin troopers would be paired with a teammate armed with a war spear. The spearman, or lancer, would engage an enemy heavy cavalryman with the spear, and the javelin man would then attack the enemy from the flank with javelins. The troopers had been practicing the tactic and it seemed to be effective. The enemy horse armor was no defense against the javelins and their mail-breaking points. Of course, the captured war horses, weapons, and armor would be put to good use.
The area for miles around Glenwood, Ariel and Bethuel had been emptied of food, fodder and animals. All had been taken south, even farther away than the new troop headquarters. Milkmaids, riding captured Raider ponies, were accompanying the dairy herds. So that the milk would not be wasted, a camp of cheese makers had been set up south of the village of Carbondale. A small dairy herd had been retained within the walls of Ariel and Bethuel both of milk cows and milk goats. Sties held a few hundred hogs within each town as well. The House of Healing had also kept a dairy herd because the milk was needed for the sick, but had refused the hogs. They had enough food for several months, even on full rations.
Abel had effectively used the watchmen in Bethuel and Ariel to be on the lookout for anyone acting suspiciously. This had netted five who had proved to be spies for the Prophet. All were being interrogated. This questioning had uncovered the most important catch of all. A laborer living in Glenwood had been arrested, and his house had proved to be the nerve center of the spy ring. He had refused to talk, so far, but a cage of homing pigeons had been found along with message tubes and paper. One partly completed message had been deciphered that showed that someone had revealed secrets from Samuel’s inner councils. Someone close to Samuel was an enemy spy, and he had not yet been caught.
†
Mid-morning the next day was the scheduled time for a grand strategy conference. It was held in the Ariel Fire-Pit. All the commanders were there, as were the elders of Bethuel, and the entire town council of Ariel. Danny and his nephew, Wilson, represented the Diné. It was a large gathering.
Samuel chaired the meeting and called on Robert to report on the latest battle. Robert took the floor only long enough to introduce Don as his commander in the field and asked him to speak first. Don summarized the battle of Grand Mesa, briefly. He had intended to speak only a few words, but with questions, and they were many, it took about an hour. Danny was invited to speak, and he reported on what he had observed.
At that point, after a nod from Robert, Don called his troop leaders forward, and they presented Samuel with the Wolf’s head banner and gilded armor taken on the field. They then presented two beautiful gold-inlayed swords, one to Robert and the other to Samuel. Then, to Don’s surprise, they presented a third to him. He tried to protest, saying his Stonegate blade was perfectly fine, but they brushed his protests aside. There was polite applause.
“There will be time later to present honors to the many that deserve them,” said Samuel in a brief statement of thanks. “Now I think Robert also has a presentation to make.” Robert stood and beckoned, and Colin and Philip entered, each bearing a coat of mail.
“In thanks to the towns of Bethuel and Ariel for their support of our horse troops, I want to present this mail,” said Robert. “We will be giving one hundred mail coats, with helmets, to each of the towns as a token of thanks.”
Applause followed, and this time with more vigor. Del Pembroke accepted the mail coat on behalf of Bethuel, and seemed to be sincerely touched. Timothy accepted on behalf of Ariel, saying. “We appreciate this gift. We know that under the laws of war, you could have kept these and sold them and enriched your purse. We will not forget this generous contribution.”
Then Abel gave a report on the results of the interrogation of the captives, including the captured enemy spies, and the latest reports from his spies, together with what information that the horse troops and Diné had provided. The captives and the spies both confirmed that the stiff defense by the horse troops and Diné had shaken the morale of the invaders, which was a positive result. He estimated the force in the Junction area at about eighteen thousand infantry, the heavy cavalry at between six and seven hundred and perhaps three hundred Raiders. He concluded that the battle of Grand Mesa had probably delayed their advance, but that they could start their move up the river at any time.
He concluded: “They will be at the gates of your towns, possibly within a week. I hope you are ready!”
Chapter 28
†
New Castle Ruse
Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly. Be a rock of refuge for me, a mountain fortress to save me.
Psalm 31: 2 HCSB
The enemy army was not at the gate in seven days. But in six, Don found himself in a stone building, a crumbling guard-post at Battle Ridge, forty miles down the river. This was the spot selected for a parley between the Prophet’s army and the free towns of Ariel and Bethuel.
Introductions had already been made. Across the table sat General Gordon Frasier, Balek Brown, now colonel of horse, and two commanders of thousands, Colonels Lehi and Rivers. On Don’s side were Samuel, Del Pembroke, representing Bethuel, John, commander of the Ariel levy, and Samuel. Robert had chosen not to attend, and so Don took his place. He wore the gold-inlaid breastplate and the war horn captured on the field of
battle.
They poured out eight tankards of good Bethuel ale, and all took a courtesy drink. “You asked for this meeting, sir,” said Samuel. “We would hear what you have to say.”
“I am here on behalf of General Logan who wishes he could attend in person,” began General Frasier, removing his helm and holding it in his lap. “I also am empowered to speak on behalf of our glorious lord, the true prophet. In his wisdom, benevolence and great mercy, he wishes to offer you generous terms to prevent much effusion of blood.”
“What might those terms be, General?” asked Samuel, quietly.
“Our lord is minded to forgive your many offenses against him and his people.” continued Frasier. “He is willing to forgive if you cease your senseless resistance and offer aid to his great cause.”
“What great cause?”
“Our lord has a grand vision of recreating the old empire. He is minded to unite all peoples under one banner to recreate the glorious wonders that have been lost. Surely all right-minded people would gladly support this. Those that do not, we will treat as ungrateful rebels.”
“I see,” said Samuel. “Certainly we would encourage research to recover the good things that have been lost.”
“Of course, of course. So all that we ask is that you cease your futile resistance. We will insist that you furnish five thousand troops to join our banners. In return, we will refrain from sacking your towns and will welcome you as full-fledged members of the New Empire.”
The Stonegate Sword Page 49
