"Everything's collected!" Lysapo stood at attention and reported. "Shovels, pickaxes, even the farmers' hoes and rakes—just like you ordered!"
"As for timber, the men are already cutting it. The hills behind Cliff Fort don't have much else, but trees? Plenty!"
"And torches?"
"Pine trees everywhere up there. Making torches is easy."
"Perfect." Tiberius nodded. "Tell every crossbowman to carry three thick wooden stakes. Everyone else carries one. Tonight we're doing something big!"
"Hey, Tiberius—you sure we're going out at this hour?" Vito asked, crossbow in one hand, small axe in the other, clearly uneasy as the gate hinges creaked open. "It's pitch black…"
"That's exactly why we're going now!" Tiberius shouldered three stakes and gripped his own axe, voice low. "If it weren't dark we'd never get the earthworks done. Their cavalry would ride us down and wash our blood off the stones with river water!"
"Besides…" Tiberius glanced behind him.
"We're buying Uncle Jules and the shock riders time to reach their position outside the walls without being spotted!"
Behind the crossbowmen and the Lightning Company, Jules and Galvin were letting auxiliaries help them into full plate, swords and battle-axes already belted on.
Jules seemed to sense something. He turned and looked at Vito and Tiberius walking out the gate.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it, lowered his visor, and gave the order.
"Auxiliaries—wrap the horses' hooves in silk and linen! Riders, stay quiet as ghosts reporting to the Stranger. Not a sound!"
His shock riders answered without words—fists thumping against gleaming breastplates.
"Excellent. Move out!"
---
"Captain, report from Cliff Fort!" A soldier in armor and a battle cloak burst into the tent. "Summer Storm sentries spotted movement—enemy troops are coming out!"
"Coming out?" The Crownless Princes captain sat up bleary-eyed from his silk sheets. A naked slave girl helped him into a robe; he didn't even bother with shoes as he rushed outside.
"Yes, sir! Mostly infantry. Summer Storm scouts tried to get closer but were driven back by crossbow fire!"
"Infantry?" The captain frowned, puzzled.
Normally, if they were running, it would be cavalry leading the way. If they were building an outer camp, cavalry again.
Infantry marching out at night? That was just asking to be trampled into red paste.
Infantry only stood a chance behind walls or on favorable ground with proper training.
"What the hell are they doing? Trying to escape?" the captain asked.
"Doesn't look like it," the soldier shook his head. "Summer Storm scouts say they're… digging? They're not trying to break out or attack—they're using crossbows to keep our scouts away so they can work undisturbed."
"Digging…" The captain's eyes suddenly lit up. "They're coming out to fight in the open!"
"But why, sir?" the soldier asked, confused.
"Simple—they're out of food! And they have no reinforcements!" The captain spread the map and gave his officers a quick lesson.
"Look, according to the latest reports, the glorious, ever-victorious, eternally healthy Lord Marcus has swallowed all of Rhaesh."
"Now he's trying to swallow the Flank Corridor too. The Three Daughters have thrown their last decent troops into that meat grinder."
"Once the corridor falls, the rest of their colonies in the Disputed Lands are next. And those colonies can't possibly stop our legions…"
"This force—wherever it came from—has no support. Every Three Daughters soldier worth a damn is already committed to the corridor. They're alone."
"And the reason I say they're out of food is distance. How much could they carry? Hah! Ten days at most if they were well supplied. As for Cliff Fort's stores…" He caught himself and changed tack.
"Cough—due to certain unavoidable circumstances, their grain situation is also poor. Which works in our favor!"
"So, Captain, your orders are…?"
"No waiting for the supply train!" The captain slammed the table, excited. "At first light—full assault!"
"But sir, we…" The soldier started to object, then saw his captain's eager face and closed his mouth.
When the captain gives an order, you obey. Don't question.
---
"We fight them in the swamp north of Cliff Fort!" Tiberius planted the Lightning Company marker on the marshy ground and spoke firmly.
"The enemy will be thrilled when they see us march out. After all, both siege and encirclement are slow and ugly. A field battle can end in one afternoon—let the gods decide who wins."
"Besides the Lightning Company, Uncle, I'll need Old Tom's spear company and Vito's crossbow company." Tiberius looked up, eyes bright.
"Uncle, as long as we beat back their first wave, your shock cavalry can smash into their formation while they're still reeling. They'll break."
"Tiberius… Captain!" Habro couldn't stay quiet. "But they have way more knights than we do!"
"First, the Volantene hammer: the Death Conclave super-heavy cavalry—walking iron cans. Once they charge, they'll shatter any infantry line!"
"Then the Crownless Princes—those rich boys dress like peacocks and look down their noses at everyone, but they never skimp on equipment for their troops. In Volantis, armed slaves and farmland are what make a 'proper' noble. They can probably field three hundred armored shock riders and the same number of mounted retainers."
"Plus, while the Summer Storm riders aren't true shock cavalry, they can still lower lances and charge if they want!"
"That's nearly twelve hundred knights! And everyone knows one knight can beat three—or even five—infantrymen!"
"Not to mention they have far more foot soldiers than we do! And those damned elephants—when those war beasts appear, our boys' morale will drop like a stone!"
"If their elephants charge and our spear blocks and crossbowmen can't stop them, all our fancy tactics are useless!"
Jules started to explain something, but Tiberius cleared his throat. Jules closed his mouth and let his nephew handle it.
"Habro, your question is fair. This battle is indeed heavily stacked against us."
"The enemy has more cavalry, more infantry, plus elephants and super-heavy cavalry—the ultimate killers—while we have only a few shock riders and whatever spears and crossbows our infantry carry."
"But we also have advantages!" Tiberius said sharply.
"Look here!" He pointed at the swamp north of Cliff Fort on the map.
"This swamp is our battlefield! See—the river is behind it, Cliff Fort is on one flank, and inside the swamp there are two streams feeding into the Disputed River plus countless ponds and mud pits. The whole area is basically an island!"
"In terrain like this, Volantene cavalry lose most of their power!"
"Second, if I'm not mistaken…" Tiberius narrowed his eyes and looked out the fortress window at the Volantene banners snapping in the wind.
"They're even more desperate to fight than we are!"
"But before that…" Tiberius took a deep breath and turned to Lysapo.
"Did you gather everything I asked for?"