Chapter Four The Attackers and the DefendersThe Month of Ninsum Day 4 Year 675 Of the second holy calendarThe city of Higgsbury was constructed next to a natural harbor. The harbor was protected by a small hill jutting out from the coast and a small isnd. As a result of this, the elements such as winds and rain rarely got into the harbor. The ships that docked there didn't have to be concerned with being smashed by a storm as they could safely repair and unload cargo. This allowed for the rapid expansion of Higgsburys Maritime Commerce as the harbor could dock over 100 ships at one time. Usually, this was enough to house all of the ships gathered there at any one point, but today was different.
Hggsbury was the capital and the military Harbor of Anttur. Today they had gathered both their Fleet and their army which is what had resultd in the overcapacity of the naval facilities. Supply ships and Grain Merchants attempting to make a wartime sale were given the least priority but even then military ships overflowed from the harbor. They gathered a naval presence of 120 War triremes and 30 rger deep-sea ships. The reason for this rge Naval presence was not the coming invasion of the kingdom of bck as that Kingdom was a ndlocked Nation. Instead, they were gathered to warn Anttur’s Oldest foe The kingdom of Triton.
The kingdom of Anttur had gathered one of the rgest armies in its history to take on one of its weakest foes and they had a lot of foes. The kingdom of bck used to be a part of Anttur however they rebelled and became an independent Kingdom. Despite this they were a young and weak Nation which Anttur should have been able to crush easily however they hadn't been. The main reason for this was that Anttur was busy dealing with enemies on all fronts.
This was the reason why bck could continue existing to this day despite the overwhelming disparity in the National Power of the two Nations. They had to fight constantly with their other neighbors however now the two most powerful enemies had either been defeated or were busy elsewhere. Triton had suffered a recent defeat at the hands of King Andrew Michael Antonine Anttur the golden stallion. Meanwhile, the kingdom's other greatest enemy the kingdom of Jax was busy invading their southern neighbor and as a result, had no spare attention to focus on other matters.
There were four other pesky nuisances to deal with the Uscans Union, the kingdom of Redtowers, an army that was forming under a pesky Warlord or Wardy, And the kingdom of Greentowers. All of these nations really should have taken priority, they either posed a more immediate threat, were just easier to invade, or had more valuable nd and resources to steal. The kingdom of bck which was militarily the strongest but materially the weakest on this list not only had the terrain advantage they had also fortified the heck out of their Nation. Moreover, even if they were successfully conquered their territories would hardly be worth the struggle.
The reason Anttur had conquered it in the first pce was to open up a trade route to the kingdom of Cestia to circumnavigate the sea routes and existing nd Roots as they were infested with Bandits. The region also held several valuable iron and copper mines although not enough to justify the expense of trying to Annex them at this point. Having spent the st 50 years of their history doing nothing but fortifying themselves against enemies and building a rge army. Even if everything went perfectly there were still casualties in Victory and expenses in war all for a few iron mines which weren't worth all that much.
It was all a big waste of time and resources if you asked Lena but no one had asked her not her idiot son and certainly not the even more idiotic Council. She actually would have thought less of them if they had asked her as anyone with a brain could tell she would immediately oppose it. But the fact that they managed to grasp that point and go through with it anyway meant that they weren't just idiots they were downright stupid or even insane. They understood the action they were taking was a big waste of time and resources yet took it anyway. Which just meant that they were stupid to attempt to invade a kingdom for the sake of Honor and not for national gain.
She gnced out of the pace balcony which she was currently standing on. her gaze flitted past the city she'd seen so many times before it went to the great Army assembling beyond the city walls. One of the rgest armies they gathered in their history. 120,000 men gathered from their allies and their armies. It was not cheap to assemble nor cheap to gather them, it was expensive in almost every aspect. For their men, they had to pay them additional bonuses and pay while on campaign especially since they were campaigning against the kingdom of bck who were difficult if not downright impossible to plunder. They also had to pay Compensation to the families of the Fallen. As for their allies' men although they didn't have to explicitly pay them doubtless there would be resentment if they didn't reward them somehow which would not be coming from Plunder for the same reason. It also costs political capital to convince the kingdoms that were in a subordinate retionship with them. Add on to that food armor horses and all the additional expenses you had a recipe for bankruptcy if Anttur failed to make any substantial gain in this war and that was ignoring the possibility of failure.
Next Lena looked at her idiot son who was currently trying to make himself small and hide from her gaze even though she wasn't looking at him. “If you knew you were going to get scolded, you could have just not done it,” she said coldly he flinched.
Andrew Anttur was by all means a young and successful man. Having inherited the throne of one of the greatest Nations on the continent at the tender age of 17 with military might and political guile unsuited to his age. He had managed to pull together the fracturing Kingdom, Bring the Allies to heal, and repel foreign invasion. Moreover, he was handsome and tall with a slightly stocky frame. With short copper-blonde hair and emerald eyes, he was practically what most young women dreamed of. Of course, his mother who knew him the best, saw him as the overconfident Honorable, and Valiant fool he was. Of course, getting another decade or two of experience under his belt that overconfidence would Wane and he would learn that honor was just a made-up word to trick simple-minded fools into being convenient puppets. But for now, he was just a fool, but he was her son. Lena wondered where exactly she had gone so wrong in his education.
“it was probably his father's influence.” She thought a bit Darkly
She gave one of her famous sniffs before asking “Do you mind expining why we should invade that kingdom.”
Instantly brightening Andrew started “Well their first division has left the Border and was repced.”
Before he could even finish the first part of his spiel she rubbed her temples and cut him off “I don't need the expnation you gave to the council. I need a compelling motive otherwise I won't let you unch this invasion.”
Andrew paled before exciming “We can't just not unch the Invasion now that we've gathered so many soldiers.”
She cut him off again “If you can't produce one compelling reason why we should invade the kingdom of bck we will invade a country of my choice, not your choice.”
He looked at her with an “I am the king” look however she completely ignored him turning back to gazing at the Army and the city. She had the power even separate from her son to block the Invasion entirely and both of them knew it. Both of them also knew that she was not making an empty threat. As a general rule, Lena didn't make empty threats.
Lena ignored him while thinking about the real reason why he was so desperate to invade the kingdom of bck. She always taught him that National Interest comes before personal feelings or honor and he wasn't such a big fool that he didn't know that. Be the choice in his marriage or his actions to date all of them have been in the interest of the nation and not in pursuit of personal feelings. However, this was different and she knew exactly why his pride had been hurt. Andrew had been undefeated since taking to the field as king, defeating numerous enemies on the battlefield. Yet when he was leading a punitive campaign into the kingdom of bck he suffered defeat at the hands of their bastard Prince Valerius.
The campaign itself had been a small affair just a punitive expedition to burn a few Vilges down. To show the kingdom of bck that Anttur had a new and powerful King and yet he had been defeated. While outnumbering the opponent by a young man of a simir age and position to himself. This had wounded his self-esteem and ignited a desire for a rematch in him. However, Lena wasn't just a mother who would py along with her son's selfish whims especially now that he was the king. If he couldn't produce a compelling reason then she would seriously block the Invasion at all costs.
Predictably he seemed to be unable to come up with a reason just as she was about to force the issue he spoke. “The kingdom of Jax is a growing power they're already the most powerful force in the region and yet they're expanding rapidly. Soon a coalition will likely form against them including us and the Kingdom of Cestia among others. The conquest of bck would not only open up a new trade route but also open roots for Messengers and armies to travel aiding each other. The current Kingdom of bck would likely block our Messengers and armies just to spite us. So how are we supposed to Aid our new allies, by going through Uscan Union a nation of Barbarians. or maybe Redtowers a nation that adopted those very same barbaric principles? Even if you married my sister off to them that does not mean that there are allies even if they're currently aiding Us in this invasion. As you say we can only rely on ourselves we must conquer the kingdom of bck and make more allies to oppose the kingdom of Jax. Don't deny that the kingdom of Jax is ambitious enough to try to conquer the whole continent why else would they burn down the capital of the Towers Empire?
She had thought of all of those reasons herself although she still felt they were a weak argument in comparison to reasons to invade the other kingdoms. But she was proud that he was able to answer so thoroughly maybe he's not as much of a fool as I thought. Although there were a lot of ifs in there. “All right I will give you permission to invade them but you must promise me that you will retreat if your advisors specifically niances tell you to.”
He looked touched “I believe you have an invasion to get started.” she patted his shoulder. “Don't get overconfident as you said the kingdom of Jax is on the rise. The only thing we can do is grow stronger and failure will either destroy us or at least set our expansion back by several years.”
“so you're saying failure is not an option,” he asked.
She replied “Basically.”
She pulled him into a hug before Whispering in his ear “All for the glory of Anttur.” He nodded before strolling out confidently. Watching Andrews retreating form her gaze naturally drifted back outside her mind was swirling with thoughts of the future. None of which looked good for the kingdom surrounded by enemies.
“Why do I get stuck with all the s***** jobs.” Roderick wondered not for the first time in his life but he thought harder about this subject recently the primary reason was.
“Hey, you their old man fetch the Prostitutes.” Roderick felt his eye twitch as he turned around and gnced at the man who had just addressed him. Roderick normally wouldn't respond to the call of “old man” considering he was only in his thirties but it was par for the course for the current brat he was dealing with. The Man Who had addressed him would have been considered handsome if it hadn't been for his sagging skin. With blonde hair and golden eyes on the subject of his appearance his only redeeming quality was his eyes. Even his handsome face was ruined not just by his poor lifestyle habits but seemingly by the air that surrounded him. He was Francis Rook Valentinian Bck the first prince of the bck Kingdom and the sole legitimate successor to the throne.
He had another title as well this one managed to piss Roderick off even more than his title of Prince and that was Major General of the third division. It almost went without saying but Francis was not a qualified General. Unfortunately, Roderick had been assigned the task of babysitting him at first Rodrick had thought that all he would need to do was take command of the military until he got bored and went home.
However, it was proving to be a more difficult task than initially anticipated one of the reasons was that the prince insisted on staffing the army with his men. Once again it almost went without saying that these were the prince's sycophants or as they like to put it, friends. Leaving aside the question of how loyal these people were to the prince or the kingdom they were not qualified for whatever military position Francis happened to give them. Roderick came up with a countermeasure on the pretext of having his friends advise him he gathered them all into one Fortress. Specifically the one farthest away from the front line and thus the least important one and appointed in their Stead maybe not qualified candidates but at least people who could do at least part of their job without screwing up hopefully. The second major countermeasure was staying right next to the prince at all times to prevent him from doing anything else stupid. On paper, this was a brilliant solution but in practice, this meant that Roderick had to witness the prince's debauchery firsthand.
The bck Army had discipline drilled into the core of its existence. Every Soldier and officer before even dawning the cloak of a soldier had discipline drilled into their very soul. The fact that Francis could so easily put on the red cloak of an officer and wear the two stars of a Major General made Roderick want to explode. Roderick who is generally mild-mannered could have put up with it if the prince had just remained a figurehead but instead, he acted like the spoiled brat he was. Normally anyone under Roderick’s command would have been severely whipped for excessive drinking on duty and that punishment would have been only more severe for officers. Francis the Liberator had decreed that officers should lead by example as a result punishments were stricter the higher up the ranks you went. Let alone prostitutes, excessive drinking while on the job from a general should have resulted in immediate execution.
The prince was in the war chamber surrounded by his friends as they drank to their heart's content. “Your Highness.” Rodrick started with a smile that probably looked more like a Grimace of pain. “I have something urgent to report to you I'm afraid there's no time for prostitutes.”
The prince waved his hand telling him to continue Rodrick bowed not out of respect but the hide his face. “Anttur are on the march your Highness.”
There was a moment of silence neither the prince nor his friends seemed to know how to react. Francis had insisted while the Anttur gathered that they intended to attack a different Kingdom. Rodrick admitted the possibility but the fact that they didn't make any preparations for an invasion was stupid. Of course, Rodrick had ignored the prince's words and made preparations anyway. Francis spoke after a long pause “You mean they March to the Uscan Union.”
“No, your highness they march straight here in great numbers.” There was another long pause but before the prince could even finish processing it Roderick made a suggestion. That was the whole reason he came here while the third division was facing a crisis. “Your Highness you are the sole heir to the throne of the Kingdom it's better to preserve your life than risk dying and the bloodline of the Noble House of bck dying out.”
Of course that was total b******* Roderick wasn't particurly involved with the succession battle but he preferred Valerius. A military man who wasn't an incompetent fool. Also, he knew Francis had children so even if one only talked about the legitimate bloodline there were still plenty of successors left. Prince Francis started with the suggestion
“Yes preserving the royal family is important I must leave immediately I will return with reinforcements with all due haste.” The Prince rose to his feet
Roderick made another suggestion “Your Highness although I would like to send you an ample guard to secure your safety on the road back to the Capitol at the moment we are quite pressed for troops. so how about you take all of these fine officers and knights with you.” he gestured around the room.
However, the prince after hesitating for a moment replied “No I need them to command the Army while I'm away.” all of his friends looked stunned at that but none of them dared speak up.
Roderick cursed internally he just wanted the prince to take his Idiot Friends away but he tried again “Your Highness it is not safe on the roads and when I say we cannot spare soldiers I mean we cannot spare any soldiers at most I could provide you an escort of light Infantry. However, your friends are all knights.” well they weren't actually at least by the ws of the kingdom of bck as you had to experience at least one battle to be knighted.
The prince stared at him hard with his golden eyes and for the first time, Roderick felt like the prince was looking at him. Finally, he nodded slowly “All of you get your weapons and armor, and horses we leave as soon as we're able.”
The prince stood up and all his friends scattered he approached Roderick and pced his shoulder. “I'm counting on you Roderick to keep the men loyal and to hold this pce until I can bring reinforcements.”
“I will do my absolute best to defend the kingdom, your Highness.” the prince departed and Roderick bowed to his retreating form.
“Bring reinforcements my ass.” Roderick thought. The only avaible reinforcements were the second division and the council likely wouldn't let them go very easily even if they did Francis would hardly be put in charge of yet another division after running away so easily. Roderick's hopes y in the first division not only were they more experienced the council wouldn't block them from departing fort Francis as soon as they got the word of the invasion. If one assumes the enemies marching speed from Higgsbury to here and the dey of the Irregurs they might have 4-6 days to prepare. That should be enough time for the first or second division to get here with both of them there Roderick was confident in holding off any invasion.
What Roderick didn't know was the size of the enemy Army. 120,000 could easily breakthrough the resistance of the Irregurs and the defenses of his the Bck Valley. He also didn't know that the First Division would be deyed by the Redtowers Army. Roderick picked up one of the goblets of wine and drained it of its contents he would need it.
