Someone whistled while others groaned.
"By Galzar's stones, he'll pay for that insult!" Sarrask bellowed.
The look in Queen Rylla's eyes would have frozen Theovacar to the floor had he been in the chamber.
"Does Lysandros or Styphon's House plan to stay in the Middle Kingdoms?" Phrames asked.
"None of my intelligencers heard anything regarding this issue. All we know for sure is that Theovacar and the Grand Host will be attacking Thagnor City in the spring."
"Thank you, Kostran, for verifying Theovacar's plans," Kalvan said. "We have our own surprise planned, but more about that later. First, a word from Grand Constable Leukestros regarding the melding of the Royal Army with that of Thagnor's and Gytha's."
Colonel Leukestros was one of Kalvan's Bright Young Men; one of half-a-dozen younger officers with potential that he had groomed shortly after his arrival in Hostigos. The Colonel was a tall man with a wiry frame and a bushy brown beard. He was now in his early thirties and had been a crackerjack artillery officer. Later Leukestros had taught at the University and had been responsible for training the new generation of Hostigi officers. Short of good staff officers, Kalvan had put him in charge of raising and training the new Army of Thagnor.
"Your Majesty," Leukestros said, rising to his feet. "Our attempts to integrate our former enemies into the Army of Nos-Hostigos have met with great success. The old Army of Thagnor was behind in its pay and morale was low. With the Great King's gracious offer to pay their back wages, we have been able to recruit over three thousand men from the old army who are ready to fight for their new Great King under the command of Captain-General Errock. We have also recruited another five thousand men, many of them former mercenaries or ex-soldiers who left the army previous to our invasion due to Varrack's policy of paying their wages only upon the wholesale threat of desertion."
There were snorts of derision from Sarrask and Captain-General Errock.
"In addition, we've added three thousand Urgothi irregulars from the captives that Captain-General Hestophes and Prince Phrames brought back from the Sea of Grass. Another thousand were of such quality that they were added to the King's regulars in the Royal Army."
"Aye, aye!" several cried.
"Most of the former Thagnori crossbowmen are taking well to musket practice and we've got more than enough pikemen. In Captain-General Errock we have a tested commander who has the loyalty of his troops. With more training, I believe the Army of Thagnor will be able to anchor any end of the battle with the Grand Host."
There was a collective nodding of heads and a chorus of "Praise Dralm!"
Kalvan still was dubious over the value of pike versus shot; however, the Hostigi pikemen had performed valiantly and, in several battles, had saved his bacon, so he was resigned to the fact that it would take at least another generation or two before they were obsolete. He doubted the Middle Kingdoms' crossbowmen would last anywhere near that long. Certainly, there would be none in the Army of Nos-Hostigos.
"Thank you, Grand Constable. Next, General Alkides is going to give us a report on the current state of the Hostigos Artillery."
Alkides, a former mercenary captain from Agrys City who had joined Kalvan after the Battle of Fitra, was a tall, thin man with an incongruous pot belly that squeezed out of the bottom of his breastplate like a spare tire. He spoke in a deep voice like that of a radio announcer. "Losing the Royal Foundry team was a serious loss to our artillery-making abilities, but, Dralm be praised, the Nostor artillery team was evacuated safely and they have been working day and night at the new Royal Thagnor Foundry. They have proofed over forty four- and six-pounders, twenty-three eighteen-pounders, including eight rifled cannon, and forty-eight thirty-two-pound ship guns. The new rifled cannons have been fired and tested accurate at eight marches."
Even Kalvan whistled. That means we fire shells at the Grand Host from over four miles away! We're going to drop one in your pipe, Lysandros, and let you choke on it.
Alkides continued with projected figures for new castings and number of shells that could be produced until Kalvan found himself starting to nod off. He quickly cut Alkides, who thought everyone shared his passion for artillery, off. "Thank you for that illuminating briefing. Now, to the next stage: Rylla, would you please lay out the first phase of Our strategy for the upcoming campaign season?"
Rylla rose up, with her thick blonde hair cascading over her silver breastplate, all ablaze in the reflected firelight. She drew her sword blade and used the point to draw their eyes to Nythros City. "Gentlemen, this is where the main force of the Styphoni blackguards holed up. The Grand Host's first step, once the rains cease, will be to take out our neighbors along the Sea of Aesklos."
She raised her sword point to the drawing of Baltor and then Morthron Town on the deerskin map. "The Baltori are ruled by a puppet council called the Council of Seven financed and governed by Nythros. They have a small army, consisting of a few hundred professionals and some fifteen hundred poorly trained Citizen militia, who will offer little or no resistance to the Grand Host. They probably will be coerced to join with them. The Morthroni have a standing army of some three to four thousand and can probably add another ten thousand levy, of indifferent quality, to their numbers before the Styphoni arrive. Previously, their Prince was aware of the Styphoni threat, but was wary of any entanglement or alliance with Nos-Hostigos. Now that King Theovacar has allied himself with Styphon's House, the Morthroni will most likely allow the Grand Host free passage over their territory. If coerced, they may even provide stores and troops."
Several of the generals nodded.
"However, a number of Morthroni nobles and merchants have moved their assets, and in some cases families, to Thagnor City. Their movement was inspired by the tales their exiled Nythrosi brethren brought from Nythros City. It's just as well that Morthron has refused our offer of an alliance. Their town walls are in need of repair and their army has not been tested in the field for several decades. It's doubtful, even with Hostigi help, that the Morthroni could delay the Grand Host for even a quarter moon. An alliance with Morthron would have forced us to fight at the Grand Host's time and place of convenience.
"It is our plan to harass the Grand Host with skirmishers and Trygathi raiders, as they make their way from Nythros to Thagnor. King Chartiphon has pledged to send five thousand light horseman to harry the Styphoni forces and disrupt their supply trains. We will make them pay in blood for every march of territory they cover!" Rylla finished, with a flourish of her blade.
There was a moment of silence, then the banging of goblets on the wooden tabletop, accompanied with shouts of "Hear, hear!" and "Down Styphon!"
After Rylla took her seat, Kalvan rose and pulled out his sword. "The moment the roads dry, I will take the Mobile Force and five thousand cavalry across the lower peninsula here." He paused to draw his sword from Thagnor to Greffa City on the map. "We will skirt Theovacar's Army and hit Greffa City itself! Instead of waiting for Theovacar's Army, we'll kick him right in the breadbasket, where he least expects it."
There were several gasps.
"We are most fortunate that Galzar and Dralm have returned Verkan just when he is needed the most. I am appointing Verkan to be Captain-General of the Mobile Force and second-in-command of the Army of Greffa."
There was a round of applause and shouts of "Long live Captain-General Verkan!"