“What is the strength of the new armies?” asked Lord Kommoron.
“We have six new armies fully formed,” answered the Grand General. “I am still working on the seventh.”
“And have the men I specifically asked for been given the promotions?”
“They have,” frowned the Grand General, “but if you don’t mind me asking, why those men? None of them are very distinguished. I certainly would have chosen others to receive the promotions to general.”
“I reward those who are loyal to me,” answered the noble, “and those men are known to be loyal. They will do fine as generals. Remember, Kyrga, there were some who thought you would be unfit for the position of Grand General. Look how wrong they were.”
Kyrga smiled and frowned at the same time. He wasn’t entirely sure if the noble was making fun of him or not. He wisely decided not to ask.
“What are we to do with these new armies?” Kyrga asked.
“Send Hedstorus to Giza, Larus to Farmin, and Kartacus to Valdo. Make sure that each of them understands that he reports only to you or the emperor. I do not want them taking orders from the local monarchs.”
“The monarchs will not stand for that,” warned Kyrga.
“The monarchs have no say in the matter,” retorted Lord Kommoron. “Must I spell everything out for you, Grand General? These new armies are mine. They are to be put into place to balance anything the local monarchs can do to interfere with my destiny.”
“I understand,” Kyrga replied, still unsure of what the armies were meant to do. “What of the other armies?”
“General Brennus will remain here in Despair. The other three armies are meant for the countries west of the Barrier, but I fear that getting them in place in time will prove to be difficult.”
“Blood Highway is closed,” Kyrga pointed out. “The armies going to Alcea are all moving along it. It will not open up again until the last of the armies has gone through the portals.”
“That will be too late,” frowned the noble. “It hardly matters. Those three countries together aren’t worth a mention in the scheme of things. Keep the fifth and sixth armies here in Despair. We will use them wherever we need them, but the others are moving out today. You can send the army going to Valdo by land, but use ships for those going to Farmin and Giza. I want all of the troops deployed in a matter of days.”
“By ship?” balked the Grand General. “Do you know how many ships that will take?”
“No,” scowled the noble, “and I do not care to know. That is not my problem, Kyrga. It is your problem. Do not bother me with minutiae. Get those troops in place before news of the battles in Alcea start arriving back here.”
Chapter 9
Day One
Colonel Ednor of the 9th Corps woke with a start, an unclear sound lingering momentarily in his consciousness before fleeing. He felt as if he had just gone to sleep, but he quickly brushed the feeling aside. It was the eve of war and sleep would be a luxury for the next two weeks. The colonel rose to his feet to figure out what had woken him. He gazed around at the thousands of sleeping forms littering the floor of the valley known as Camp Destiny. He frowned when he saw no one stirring. Suddenly, he heard the sound again and whirled towards the corral. Although the horses were kept fairly distant from the troops, the colonel could see movement in that direction. He pulled his sheath over his head and moved off into the night. As he drew closer to the corrals, he saw soldiers leading the horses away. Racing towards the thieves, the colonel drew his sword and shouted loudly, waking the entire camp. As the colonel got closer, his brow creased with confusion. General Kolling, Commander of the 9th Corps, stood staring at the approaching colonel. Colonel Ednor sheathed his sword and slowed to a walk as he wondered what the general was doing with their horses. The general turned away from the approaching colonel and urged the soldiers leading the horses to continue with their task.
“What is going on?” Colonel Ednor asked the general.
“The 1st Corps are taking the horses for use by Team Cordonia,” the general answered calmly. “Fresh horses are waiting for us in Lanoir. We discussed this possibility months ago, Colonel.”
“I understand,” frowned the colonel, “but I thought it was just a possibility. Why are they doing this in the dark of night?”
“I requested it,” answered General Kolling as he watched hundreds of his men racing towards the corrals with their swords drawn. “Order your men back to camp before someone gets hurt here.”
The colonel turned towards the charging horde and flushed with embarrassment. He waved his hands wildly over his head to get the men focused on him. “I will send them back to their beds.”
“No,” countermanded the general. “Instruct them to get the rest of the camp up and ready to move out. The morning meal should be simple but nourishing. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Colonel Ednor moved towards the approaching men and shouted orders to them. The soldiers sheathed their swords and turned around, and the colonel returned to the general’s side. He glanced up at the night sky and frowned deeply.
“When I woke moments ago, I had the feeling that I had not slept very long. I quickly dismissed the feeling, but the sky tells me that the feeling was accurate. Why are we leaving at such an early hour?”
“A number of reasons,” answered General Kolling, “not the least of which is that I am a cautious man. We are stepping into hostile territory this morning, and such a step should never be taken lightly. There is also a time difference between Zara and Alcea. It is closer to morning there, and I want to time our entrance to occur before dawn.”
“I understand,” the colonel replied, but the general was not finished talking.
“We are also the first unit to be deployed to Alcea,” the general continued. “I promised that we would report to General Tauman on the experience. He is particularly interested in finding out how close his estimates were regarding the timing of getting completely oriented once we arrive in Alcea. Our results will be used to make corrections in the estimates for the units that follow us. Gather the other colonels, and I will address all of you over the morning meal.“
Colonel Ednor saluted and dashed off. General Kolling turned back to watch the corrals being emptied, but his thoughts were not on the actions of the soldiers leading the horses away. His thoughts were focused on the monumental step his army would be taking in a very short while. Within the hour, the first men of the 9th Corps would make history as they launched the invasion of Alcea. Beaming with pride, General Kolling smiled inwardly, knowing that he would be remembered for leading the vanguard in the greatest war the world had ever seen. The general pivoted and marched towards the camp to address his colonels.
General Kolling found the group of colonels sitting outside his tent. The men were eating bread and dried fruit, but the general declined an offer from the men to join in. He was not hungry. He sat quietly for a while letting the men eat and then he addressed them. He spoke about the great significance of their next move and the part that it would play in history. He encouraged the colonels to share the spirit of pride with their regiments and then he got down to specifics.
“The cavalry will be carrying their saddles through the portals,” he began. “There are four-thousand horses waiting for us at the farm we are going to. That will be two-thousand for the 9th Corps and two-thousand for General Gertz’s 25th Corps. It will be a full league before we meet up with General Gertz, so it is up to us to lead the additional horses to the rendezvous point. Two of the infantry regiments will be assigned to that task.”