Paul and I arrived at Alsace 3 days before the summit, having left the carriage yesterday at Rear in favor of the train. Still, our carriage carries most of our baggage so it’s important that it will be arriving by the time of the summit.
In the meantime, however, there are things that I must attend to.
Upon arrival, I immediately departed for Camp Markt to check in on the soldiers. There, I was greeted by a peculiar gentleman - whilst he wore civilian clothes as one would expect, he carried himself with an aura of a person who’s lived their whole life on the battlefield. Moreover, the scars of their long years of service are displayed in plain sight - through his mechanical left arm and the multitude of bandages on his right foot. His cane-clock ticked away at every step he took as he approached me.
“Who are you supposed to be?” he asked.
“Lord Alec, of the Janus Army.”
“I see… and this fella with you?”
“My second.”
“I see… in that case I welcome you fine gents here to Camp Markt. I’m Commander Heidenburg and as you can see, I manage this place. You say you’re in the Janus Army? Rank and designation?”
“Commander, of the Alec Special Unit.”
“Ah, so you’re the lucky man. Well, the Governor has asked for a rather peculiar regimen for your soldiers. Do you think you can handle them?”
What did Janus ask for? “I’d love nothing more than to try.”
“That’s the spirit, boy!”
Our little walk and talk came to an end as we arrived at a hill overlooking a small forest. I’ve been to this place before - the Little Jungle as they call it.
“This is them,” he said.
Before us stood… no one. Not a single person was standing before us at this very moment.
“Take a walk, will you?”
I’ve been here before, and I know exactly what waits within. “No, I decline.”
“Good, at least you know your strengths.” Heidenburg smiled, then he took a step forward and shouted at the top of his lungs. “ALEC SPECIAL UNIT!” he said. “BREAK AND ASSEMBLE!”
It took mere minutes for every soldier to come out of the forested area, all 500 of them. Whilst they carried the demeanor of a soldier, one can clearly tell that they’re still naive - their eyes have yet to reflect the realities of war. Even Paul’s have, in his years as a Town Guard.
Still, that does not diminish the training that they are undertaking at the moment, and the results of it will be as important to their first battle as their experience will be for the battles after.
However…
“May I ask, my lord… Do you have plans for them for the next few days?”
“Naturally.”
“I request that you cancel it.”
“And for what reason?”
“I’d be holding it myself.”
Heidenburg smiled, then faced the soldiers. “You heard your Commander! Starting tomorrow, you will take orders from him.” He then turned to me with a smirk. “I look forward to your successes, Lord Alec.”
The soldiers shouted their acknowledgement in unison.
The next day went smoothly. I began by giving them some simple instructions - getting into formation, some shooting practice, marching, etc. After that, I had them playing some war games within the jungle. Capture the flag, in particular, was a helpful exercise for them. When the afternoon came, I had them attacking and defending a rune-trapped fort to simulate actual combat. I’d guess that this is probably nothing compared to what Heidenburg puts them through, but at least now they know to take my word.
***
On the next day, I began by coordinating with Lord Heidenburg to prepare a second unit to train with. The battle was between him and me.
It would be held in a forested area within the Camp. Lord Heidenburg has taken defensive positions along the riverbank in the center of the field. Meanwhile, I am to assault this position from the opposite side of the bank. The numbers were equal, and the victory condition was to either rout the enemy or to directly threaten their commander for our side, and to hold their position until sundown for them.
The battle begins at sunrise.
I had divided my unit into 5 subunits, each headed by someone I had handpicked. Further, each of these 5 subunits were further divided by 5, again led by a handpicked individual. This meant that I have a total of 25 20-man units in my command. 5 of these subunits - 100 soldiers - I kept to myself. The rest I would be sending out into the battlefield.
“How would you approach this?” I asked Paul as we stared at a map of the area.
“Well, the opponent has a clear advantage of being on the defensive…” he began. “They would have the time to set some rune-traps by now, and it will be difficult to cross the river by foot to get to them.”
“And so what should we do?”
“Well…”
One of the 5 soldiers I picked out to command 100 raised their hand.
“My men can climb the trees and cross that way,” he said.
True enough, these soldiers have been drilled in the art of jungle warfare. Climbing trees and such would be a simple matter for them. However…
“No, that would be impossible…” Paul said. “By this point Lord Heidenburg would have probably cut off the branches of the trees that would allow our troops to cross. Worse, they could have trapped it with ‘Weaken’ runes to have it collapse under your weight.”
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“Exactly,” I chimed in. “It’s a good plan in theory, but it will be difficult to put into practice. However, it is a good starting point… your name?”
“Maverick.”
“It’s an excellent plan, Maverick. Do you believe your unit can do it?”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Then we shall see if they would have the opportunity. For now, let’s go back to the drawing board.
“So, to win this battle, we’d need to either cross the river to get to our enemies. However, they have full control of the narrow point of the river so crossing it by dusk is nearly impossible. How should we approach this?”
I watched each of the soldiers around me, Paul included, spend their time tinkering on a solution. Each of them wore a grim look on their face, as if they cannot find any possible means of attack. As for me, however, I know all too well how this would go. And so does Heidenburg.
After what seemed to me as forever has passed, another of the soldiers I picked raised their hand.
“Your name?”
“Anais, my Lord.” I’ll give her this, she was confident.
“And your plan?”
“The opponent has control of the river, right?”
“Yes, they do.”
“Then crossing it would be impossible.”
I grinned at her response. “Are you saying that this would be a fool’s errand?”
“No, my lord. Quite the opposite.” She looked at the map, her eyes carefully watching the river. “Well, attacking them would be. We could spend all our time and effort trying to cross the river, but it’ll be in vain. However, what about letting them attack us instead?”
I grinned at her response.
“And pray tell, how should we do that?”
“There are two conditions to victory, aren't there? The first is to hold their position until dusk. The second, much like ours, is to capture the enemy commander.”
The other soldiers were shocked at what she’s implying.
I, on the other hand, was smiling ear to ear. “You’re saying we should draw them out using me as bait?”
“Yes, my Lord. I know it sounds…”
“Excellent plan, Anais. Let’s go with it.”
“Thank you, My Lord…”
Lord Heidenburg
When I agreed with him to conduct this exercise, I never thought that this would be what that kid had in mind.
I have lived my life in the conduct of war for as long as I can remember. I grew up on the battlefield, and the battlefield is where I thought I would have died. However, in all my time in this world, I have never seen anyone be so soundly outmaneuvered by the enemy, each of their steps falling into someone else’s master plan, and yet coming out on top.
The Battle of Hezzen.
That was a battle whose name resonates all across the lands of Lorraine and Naval as well as even into the academies of Kyther and Interio.
These are the very same conditions faced by the Naval army on that very day, the only difference being that I currently command 500 soldiers - equal to that of the enemy - when those that fought that day had only a hundred.
That kid… he’s insane. However, I’ve also read of this battle with fascination. I know every step that he’s taken and I know how he came out victorious. Thus there’s no way that he wins this one.
Or so I thought.
As daybreak came, I gave the order to my troops to line up and, no matter what happened, to hold their position and fire from a safe spot. This is an action in defiance of history, and I already knew that it was the winning one. After all, not doing so was the blunder that he made in the actual battle.
However, noon came and went and nothing happened. No attack has occurred, no shot was fired. No enemy was in sight. The clock on my cane went on, counting every second in anticipation of the battle to come. But it never did.
There was no attack.
No matter, I win the battle once the night falls anyways, as that would have been the time that reinforcements arrived at Hezzen.
However, the same cannot be said for my soldiers. I’ve told them that they will be fighting in a simulated battle early in the morning, and I’ve had them hold position all day long. They’ve been anticipating action all this time, their eyes twitching and searching for every little rustling of the leaves both on the ground and on the canopies above.
“Lord Alec! It’s Lord Alec!” said one of the soldiers in the front. He was the leader of his unit. “Men, give chase! We win by capturing the enemy leader!”
“NO! HALT!” I screamed. But it was too late. Their unit had already begun crossing the river, and those behind them quickly followed. I tried to stop them as much as I could, but to no avail. My screams cannot reach the ears of the soldiers blinded by victory.
As I gave up in defeat, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a soldier from Alec’s unit.
I don’t know how they got here, but I know what it meant. The battle was over as soon as it had begun.
That man… Lord Alec Handler… He’s a monster. This battle was his masterpiece then, and it still is now.
BONUS: The Battle of Hezzen
Belligerents:
Duchy of Naval | Duchy of Lorraine
Commanders:
Lord Nile Ofejip (D) | Lord Alec Handler
Strength:
500 soldiers | 100 soldiers
Casualties:
300 | 70
Summary:
During the much larger Battle of Alsace, soldier Alec Handler and his company of 100 men found themselves face to face against a Navalese detachment led by Lord Nile Ofejip in the small town of Hezzen.
Realizing that the detachment was meant to attack Lorraine's flank, Alec ordered his company to take position along the Hezzen river, intending to stop them there as he requested for aid.
As the battle began, both sides stood face to face in the river, the Navalese detachment attempting to cross it by boat and by tree. However, it soon became apparent that a crossing would be impossible - the branches of the trees cracked under the soldiers’ weight, later confirmed to be due to a ‘Weaken’ rune being drawn on them. This caused heavy casualties for the Navalese detachment, leaving the two armies at an impasse.
Nile, however, had an idea.
He realized that Alec wasn’t a proper officer - that he’s just a rank-and-file soldier unlike him - lacking in discipline. Thus he decided to risk his life in a massive gamble - he appeared in the middle of the battle.
Chaos ensued as Nile and his unit ran back to safety as fast as possible while Alec’s soldiers hastily crossed the river to chase after the enemy commander. The resulting battle was a slaughter, except for one thing - Alec, all on his own, managed to cross the river just fast enough to put a bullet on Nile’s head.
With their commander dead, the Navalese army descended into chaos and became easy pickings for the remaining Lorrainean soldiers, leading to a decisive victory that cemented Alec’s name in history.