49. Vengeance
Radases had marshalled more men under his command than some entire countries had people. Eastern Lir was annexed by 200,000 troops marching through their land. 100,000 men marched through Jira taking the seat of light. Rajun was now undisputed the ruler of all the Church of Light. King Hasan of Amoreb had surreptitiously fled through what was Lir toward the Zhong Empire, and perhaps past the Chenep to other nomadic populations.
“Hasan sir, if Rajun now rules everything, why are you afraid of them?”
“They have absolute authority to do whatever they want,” Hasan said, “they could kill me and say it’s for stability. I am a dead man walking if I stay there. No doubt the King of Lir and Jira will be mere puppets from now on, or dead.”
The great holy site 'the Seat of Light’ was under Rajun’s control, Radases now bordered both Mendek and Yerek. Armies trespassed the border, thousands of Church of Light priests ready to blow up any army.
Mendek was not in a great position to retaliate but did so. Robert confronted a much larger Rajun army of 100,000 by himself. Clearchus was replaced by a new evangel by the name of Antiochus, an equally blonde and blue eyed man who was quite tall. Proxenus’s army was replaced and another evangel by the name of Demetrius who had short black hair, and was a medium height. Demetrius could only muster 5000 troops, while Antiochus went to confront the horde of Rajun troops. Rajun forces besieged Yasir and Wahatan at the same time. Mercurius decided to stay at Wahatan helping the forces there resist the Rajun invasion. Salutius went to assist Yasir, a new evangel to the God of Trade ‘Xeniades’ a dark haired gentleman with dark eyes and a short stature also assisted the defence of the city, hopping between Yasir and Wahatan to supply and hamper the supplies of the Rajun. The Church of Light forces had the Republic pinned down.
Meanwhile Rajun forces confronted Robert on a small desert valley. There 100,000 stared down a mere 15,000 mercenaries. The Lir city of Lirun had fallen and the fate of Hitara hanged in the balance. General Khalid of Rajun marched his troops in a massive concave formation, intending to completely surround the Mendek forces and put them to rout. Instead Robert did the standard Mendek practice of surging forward and killing the leadership, which he promptly did. Khalid of Rajun lay dead, and his officers likewise were being butchered by the man who fought so quickly they could not even see him. The Church of Light priests were next, being slaughtered by quick strokes and quick movements, Robert absolutely bathed in blood. They nonetheless shot enough fireballs to kill 5000 of Robert’s troops without breaking a sweat. Despite the horrific casualties, Robert’s men charged into the superior force devoid of leadership and it soon began routing. Fireballs hitting their own men in the confusion of the sand being kicked up. Mendek’s 5000 cavalry was mostly intact, and ran after confused and disorientated men. Another 100,000 troops had been marching nearby ready to assist Khalid’s beleaguered army, only to be met with another Mendek army. General Antiochus met the other army and fought in the same manner, his cavalry assisting in the destruction of this first army. By any estimation 200,000 was a large number of men, not so easily thrown away, in the confusion of the desert sand, and the boiling sun, the heavy cavalry of Rajun’s became hot and agitated wondering what was taking so long. What should have been an easy victory, became a bloody bog. Antiochus and Robert slaughtered the commanders and then proceeded to run down the survivors. Flag carriers were assassinated, officers were murdered, and with each destruction of the chain, the whole structure fell apart. The Church of Light was supposed to have their vengeance was instead run down for all to see. Local villagers stared at the horrific spectacle, clasping their heads and faces in terror. Mendek suffered losses, nearly 20,000 troops dead to kill 200,000. Antiochus and Robert ran them all the way to Lirun, there Antiochus and Robert replenished their forces and went deeper into Lir, hoping to catch the Rajun forces off guard. Demetrius acted as the home guard, staving off any subversion.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Because of the sudden defeats and the attritional style of warfare that the Yerek evangels were employing Rajun forces soon decided to withdraw out of Amoreb in fear of too many losses. Symachus decided to go out from Smyra and focus on undermining the original Lir city of Pars, Rajun control of Pars was undermined in the typical Republic way. The slaves were freed, the lower classes were given grown food and water and the various peasantry around the city were also given assistance; in this way masses of people developed sympathies to the Republic at the expense of the Rajun occupiers. Once again Yerek and Mendek divided Lir for themselves, Mendek forces surging deeper in order to occupy and profit from the region, while Yerek intended to bribe the locals into siding with them. The onset of winter made things slow down slowly for Mendek and for the Rajun, who did not intend to freeze their troops in the winter cold. Yerek however continuously undermined both Mendek and Rajun possessions in only a way they knew how. Mercurius targeted the city of Van. A city full of terror at the Mendek occupiers, but slowly over the course of a week built a massive following in the city. Maurice had besieged Hatun, intending to stop the proliferation of the Republic in Uruq, but now hearing of rebellion creeping up on him. Salutius took to disturbing the peace of Silica, he bought and freed slaves and encouraged freemen to rebel against Mendek. The death of Mardonius to some may have weakened the Republic but instead it strengthened their resolve, and their willingness to fight and to punish Mendek for having killed such a figure. Despite the evangels resolve, not everything was as it seemed in the Republic.