“What are you suggesting?” asked General Smythe. “Are you saying that we should attempt to make him believe he will have trouble sailing here, although we do not really plan any attacks at sea?”
“I want Vand to have as little knowledge about our plans as possible,” shrugged General Didyk. “We do not have a navy, and it is clear from Marak’s response that he does not plan to use what he has. Therefore, we should make Vand think that he will face a sea battle getting here.”
“And how do you propose that we do that?” asked General Smythe. “You just got finished telling us that we have no navy. Should we send our fishing boats out to sea until Vand’s ships give chase? How do we make Vand think he will suffer a sea battle?”
Lyra held up her hand for quiet as she turned and gazed at General Didyk. “Are you of the opinion that the Khadorans will offer no resistance at sea when the invasion comes?” she asked.
“Judging by Emperor Marak’s response, yes,” nodded General Didyk. “I suspect that when Marak decided to execute a fake response to fool the Khadoran spies, he never even thought about a naval response. If I was one of Vand’s spies, that is what I would have learned from the Khadoran response.”
“And what would you have believed if you knew for a fact that Emperor Marak did consider a naval response?” asked Lyra.
General Didyk frowned and stared at the map for a moment. “If I knew that as fact,” mused the general, “I would detail spies to keep a very close watch on his ships. It could be possible that Marak was intentionally trying to deceive me, or that his ships were not in a position to respond. If the second option is closer to the truth, I would want to know where his ships had been, and what they had been doing at the time.”
“Interesting,” mused Lyra as she wondered how close Didyk’s thinking was to the Motangan generals’ thoughts. She knew that Marak did indeed plan a naval response, but she was not going to share that information with anyone. It was one of Marak’s most closely guarded secrets.
“I have the feeling that there is something that you are not sharing with us,” frowned General Papper. “Will there be a naval response to the invasion?”
“As it has already been said,” shrugged the Star of Sakova, “we have no navy. If there is to be any naval response, Emperor Marak will have to initiate it. I am just curious how a trained military mind deciphers the clues of the enemy. You have made me rather curious where Marak’s ships were at the time that he marched his armies across Khadora.”
“They were on the western coast,” answered StarWind. “They were used to ferry the armies back to Khadoratung after their long march southward.”
“And as that was a covert operation,” nodded General Didyk, “I suspect that Vand’s spies did not know that. So Marak did think of the naval option, but was unable to use his ships in two places at the same time. That information should not leave this room. Let us keep Vand guessing.”
“Marak can not hide his ships from the spies,” interjected StarWind. “They may not know the comings and goings of the ships, but which coast of the country they are on is fairly obvious to anyone watching.”
“He could take them over the horizon,” suggested General Smythe. “Unless a spy took a boat out of port, he would not be certain of their location.”
“True,” nodded StarWind, “but what I meant is that those ships had to enter the port of Khadoratung to unload the armies. Even if it was done under the cover of darkness, they were seen. I could well imagine that Khadoratung is crawling with spies. Anyone who knows the extent of Marak’s fleet could easily ascertain that all of his ships were on the western coast at the time.”
“Ah,” nodded General Smythe. “I see what you are saying. It is a long way around the landmass, especially from the Khadoran capital.”
“Where is Vand likely to strike next?” asked Lyra as she wished to move the conversation away from the naval response.
“The two cities at the greatest danger are Zaramilden and Alamar,” declared General Didyk. “Alamar, if he decides to concentrate his forces on us, and Zaramilden, if he is aiming at Khadora.”
“Why bother with Zaramilden if he is going to land in Khadora?” asked General Papper. “His men would have to cross the Kalatung Mountains. That makes no sense.”
“I don’t think he would unload his forces at Zaramilden,” explained General Didyk, “but he would destroy the city so that there was no force on his flank when he attacked Raven’s Point. He might even make another prewar run to take Zaramilden off the map before the real invasion. It is not a city that he needs to conquer as it leads to nowhere, but he cannot afford to spare it either. As Papper pointed out earlier, his forces are vulnerable at sea. He cannot bypass Zaramilden without destroying it, at least not if he is attacking Khadora. If he attacks us, Zaramilden could be spared. It is much too far from Alamar to matter to him.”
“And if we evacuated Zaramilden before the invasion?” asked Lyra. “What would that tell Vand?”
“Evacuate the whole city?” balked General Didyk. “What would you do with the people?”
“What would it tell Vand?” repeated Lyra.
“I am not sure,” shrugged General Didyk. “It might tell him that we expect him to strike at Khadora, or it might tell him that we are not interested in defending it. I can’t be sure.”
“Anyone?” asked Lyra as her head turned to gaze upon the generals in the room.
“If Vand knows anything about you,” offered General Manitow, “it would tell him that you are concerned for the people’s lives. Nothing more.”
“Good,” Lyra nodded and smiled at the general from Alamar. “That is what I was hoping to hear. Zaramilden will be evacuated immediately. Half of the people will be relocated to Gatong, and the other half will go to Fortung. Any problems with that?”
“We will make room for them in Gatong,” answered General Papper.
“Fortung will be ready for them also,” agreed General Smythe. “Will it be done by ship or overland through the Sakova?”
“Those that can travel the distance will be moved overland,” declared Lyra. “The old and infirm will be taken by ship. General Manitow, I would like you to organize those going by ship. Alamar is the closest port.”
General Manitow nodded.
“People from StarCity will organize the overland portion of the trip,” Lyra continued.
“I can send people out to meet them halfway,” offered General Papper. “I know that your people are busy with the harvest. The less time they spend away from StarCity, the better.”
“Thank you, Papper,” smiled Lyra. “That is quite acceptable.”
“What about Alamar?” asked General Didyk. “If Vand’s armies plan on coming to the Sakova, Alamar must be attacked. He has no option on that. How do we plan a defense?”
“That is the crucial question, isn’t it?” frowned Lyra. “I agree that Alamar will be attacked first. In fact, I fully expect Vand’s armies to start at Alamar and work their way around the coast all the way to Gatong.”
“Why around the coast?” asked General Kapla. “He does not know the superstitions of the Sakova. Isn’t he likely to blaze a path across the center of the country?”
“I don’t think so,” answered Lyra. “The Omungans certainly did not when they attacked a thousand years ago, and they were coming from the same island.”
“How could you possibly know that?” frowned General Didyk. “This is not the time for making assumptions.”
“I agree, General Didyk,” smiled Lyra. “I saw the Omungans attack the Sakovans.”
Murmurs spread through the room as the assembled generals looked at the Star of Sakova in disbelief. She laughed softly and shook her head before responding.
“My relationship with Kaltara is rather unique,” Lyra stated. “When I became the Star of Sakova, I was a young Omungan student. I knew nothing of the Sakovan people. I asked Kaltara for guidance, and he gave it. I had a series of visions that showed me the complete history of the Sakovan people. The images flashed by quicker than I could comprehend them, but they became memories to me. I actually witnessed the attacks and the subsequent slaughters. The Omungan invaders started near Alamar and worked their way around the coast in a circle. When the coast was secured, they turned inland. Fortunately, they never completed their task.”