TNL 55 – The Saving of Linh
The next day Morris and his men arrive in Linh. When they arrive at the barracks a little later, the commander is already waiting for them. One of the gatekeepers recognized Morris and immediately sent a message to his commander.
"So, so you dare to return to sow even more unrest? Men, take away the weapons of these gentlemen and put them in one of the barracks. Then bring the commander to my office."
The men of the garrison obey immediately. Menacingly, they approach Morris' men. After a single glance at their commander, the cavalrymen give up their weapons.
Within minutes, Morris is standing in front of the garrison commander's desk.
"Now, explain what you have done with my citizens and while you are doing so, you can also tell me what has become of the warriors who have fled with you."
"Like I told you last time, commander, I belong to the New Legion. The warriors you are talking about have been included in my unit of cavalrymen who support the New Legion. They are currently assigned to the legion's headquarters. The citizens you are talking about have joined the New Legion, as recruits. Just likeI told you."
"You did explain it last time, after which I told you that you had to look for men somewhere else. Then you caused unrest in my city and even ensured that men deserted. Therefore, from this moment on, you can consider yourself a prisoner and then we will see what the generals think about this. As far as I'm concerned, you’ll get whipped and thrown out on the street."
While the commander explains what he thinks will happen to Morris, the alarm is raised. Within moments, the door of the office is thrown open and a warrior enters.
"Commander! The armies of Chakra have broken through the front lines!"
"What!" The commander gets up. "This will have to wait. I have to see what's going on first."
But when the commander rushes away, Morris stops him.
"Commander, I'm here for a reason. The New Legion is on its way to stop the enemy. If we can hold on until they arrive, then we can turn back Chakra's army and retake the front lines."
"I don't have time for stories right now, man! Have this pipsqueak join his men and make sure they are guarded." The commander tears himself loose and rushes out the door. Morris can do nothing but go with the warrior of the garrison who escorts him to the barracks where his men are waiting for him.
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When Raidon and his company are close enough to reach Linh in a day’s march, they see a messenger coming. The horseman is rapidly approaching from the direction of Linh.
The messenger has closed with the column before he realizes it. As soon as he notices the soldiers, he tries to hold back his horse and flee. Unfortunately for him, it's already too late for that. During his crazy ride, he has come so close to the legion that he has almost run into them.
Before anything else can happen, Raidon calls out to the messenger.
"Take it easy, man, we are from the New Legion. On the way to strengthen the front. What news can you tell us?"
The messenger looks rather surprised.
"On the way to the front? We had heard that there were no troops to reinforce the south. The first units have already been withdrawn to the new defensive line. I have orders for Peredur's troops to withdraw as well."
"Damn, what are the generals doing?" says Raidon, then clarifies for the messenger.
"We have been instructed to do what we can to preserve the southern provinces. But that cannot be done without the support of the regular army."
The messenger has even more information. It turns out that the generals are withdrawing their troops because the fortress closest to Linh could fall at any moment, after which the city of Linh will soon follow. The troops of the other forts are getting ready to retreat as soon as that particular fort falls.
Raidon turns to his soldiers and shouts:
"We have come here to protect Linh and the south. Will we let those lunatics from Chakra just take our land? Or are we going to run from here to the rescue of the city?"
The answer is a deafening:
"GO, GO, GO!!!" the soldiers shout, while beating their shields in the same rhythm. Raidon looks at the messenger one more time. "It sounds to me like we're going to save a city. Would you be so kind as to step aside?"
The messenger looks rather amazed at this. Never before has he seen warriors so motivated to put in so much effort.
At a pace almost twice as fast as usual, the soldiers of the New Legion run towards Linh.
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The next morning Morris is escorted to the commander.
"Ah, Morris. We're not exactly friends, but since you're the only other captain currently in town, I thought it was important to discuss the situation."
Morris decides not to tell him that there is a captain from the garrison of Peredur with his men.
"What is the situation now, commander?"
"We are under siege. Fort three, which is closest of the five border forts, has been besieged or captured and the vanguard of the enemy army stands at our gates. This vanguard consists of several thousand warriors, and their commander will probably ask us to surrender this very morning."
"Why surrender? With the help of the civilians, we can easily defend the walls against this attack."
"Citizens, what am I supposed to do with them? War is only for real warriors. Those citizens will only get in the way."
The commander immediately rejects the suggestion. After that, however, he continues in a more reasonable tone.
"My garrison has shrunk. Most of the men have already been moved back to the new border. If the commander of the Chakran army asks for surrender, I will accept it. Maybe I can save our last warriors to fight at the new front lines."
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Morris is starting to get a bad feeling. If this frightened commander gives up the city, the New Legion will never succeed in recapturing it. If that happens, every resident, including members of Morris' family, will be taken away as slaves. And that while the soldiers of the New Legion are at most half a day marching away from the city.
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Three and a half hours after they encounter the messenger, Raidon stops on a hill within sight of the city. A moment ago they passed the hill of Morris' meeting, which was clearly described to Raidon. From that moment on they knew exactly how far it was to the city. With one last effort, the tired soldiers finally reach the city of Linh.
From where they are standing now, they can clearly see the city. In the distance they can even see the fort smoking. It seems as if the fort could fall at any moment and the first enemy troops are already at the gates of the city. On the walls of the city they can see some warriors here and there, but there are not that many. Probably the survivors of the fort, supplemented by the men of the commander of the city.
"Well, guys, it looks like there's work to be done down there for us. Sergeants, forward, we're going to make a plan to solve this mess."
Sergeants Ice, Mateo, Owen, Liam and Mark arrive and a moment later Raidon explains his plan. Nowadays it is much easier for him to command these men who are quite a bit older than him.
These days Raidon is able to see in a glance what the tactical situation is in a fight. The effect that the harnesses have on their wearers is becoming increasingly evident. Many soldiers look like they are heroes from a fairy tale, that's how big and muscular they have become. Others have a graceful grace that would be the envy of many a dancer. And that's without talking about the mental changes in the soldiers. Insights and intuition have already given so many advantages in the previous battles that they may have become the strongest weapon of the legion.
Raidon turns his attention back to the situation in front of him.
"It seems as if there are around three thousand Chakranian warriors in front of the gates. The rest must still be busy plundering the fort. It can’t be that these few troops are all they have left to conquer Linh. Mateo, you have the best eyes. Can you see how the Chakras are equipped?"
"It looks like it's light infantry, with the same equipment as the regular army. I don't think this is a slave army. Maybe they only have those in the north and don't trust them enough to use them here?"
"Fortunately, that means that the numbers of warriors here are much lower than we had feared.
What we are going to do is an attack from the flank with the full weight of our shields. We launch an attack and just before we get there, we form an arrow formation. We are all well practiced and I expect everyone to do their part without any problems. Once we are in the middle, we form a circle and make space. Once we've hit them back, we grab the heavy weapons and chop them into pieces. So far we have only fought bandits and pirates, so be aware that these are experienced warriors. On the other hand, they don't know our tactics, so it should work out without us losing too many. Do you have any further suggestions?"
"No, Captain," the five sergeants reply.
Since Linh is not yet in immediate danger of being captured, Raidon lets his soldiers rest for a while. This gives the sergeants time to inform their men of the plan.
As soon as everyone has caught their breath, the soldiers line up in a wide formation with two men in a row. The two ends are formed by the platoons of Sergeant Ice and Sergeant Mateo, while Raidon occupies the middle position with Sergeant Liam. Slowly, striking their shields with their spears, they walk down the hill, towards the enemy.
At a distance of two hundred and fifty meters, they are noticed by the first enemies. These point to the legion and most laugh at the small number of attackers. Still, some do start to look restless when they hear the thunderous sound of the weapons hitting the shields, and they see the heavy armor of the soldiers.
The fun wears off when the legion is about fifty meters away. Raidon calls his command and suddenly a cloud of crossbow arrows flies over the heads of the foremost Chakras. Because the Chakras are so close together, almost every shot hits a target. At least two hundred Chakras fall dead or injured. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the New Legion do not hesitate for a moment to march on. Within a few steps they have their crossbows attached to their legs again without getting out of step for even a moment.
When they are about thirty meters away, Raidon calls his next order.
"Arrowhead on me!" he shouts, and suddenly the formation turns into a big V with Raidon taking the point. The platoons of Ice and Mateo drop back slightly so that the tip becomes a lot sharper. The soldiers close their shields together and suddenly an arrow-shaped formation arrives. When the distance is halved to about fifteen meters, the order is given by Raidon and the sergeants, and immediately more than a hundred spears fly through the air. A little later, the platoons of Mateo and Ice also follow with their spears.
There is some space between the Chakras, because they are restlessly walking back and forth, so that only about a hundred go down. During the throwing of the spears, the formation is barely slowed down and shortly after it even begins to accelerate! It's as if the soldiers are running a few steps to throw their spears, and never stop running afterward.
Suddenly the charging soldiers of the legion arrive and their formation strikes a deep wound into the army of Chakra. The first rows of enemies are broken up and the army of Chakra is split in two. Only when the New Legion has penetrated almost halfway through the enemy army does the attack begin to slow down due to the large numbers of bodies of the enemy.
Even then, the Chakras can't do much. The formation is so strong and heavy due to the wall of shields and heavy armor, that their blows are almost of no use. Most strokes are absorbed by the rectangular shields, and the blows and stabs that pass by the shields do little more than scratch the armor. Even the Chakras that end up behind the V-shape can't do much. A few manage to knock down a soldier of the New Legion. As soon as a soldier falls, however, his place is immediately taken by a soldier from the second row.
Only when Raidon and his soldiers are in the middle of the enemies do they stop. Raidon calls new orders, and within moments the soldiers strike and push out with their shields to change their formation. Suddenly there is a big circle in the middle of Chakra's army!
The commander of the Chakran army sees his chance and calls on his warriors to attack and chop this small army into pieces.
But just as the Chakras come rushing and start to apply pressure, the shields of the soldiers are suddenly thrown away. And right in the faces of the approaching warriors! More than one warrior hits the ground after receiving a shield to the head.
In the space that opens up, the heavy weapons are taken out. As in the battle with the tax collectors of Aran, this is a battle where the soldiers of the New Legion can use their large weapons. These heavy weapons are different for each soldier, but all of them are so large and heavy that they must be held with two hands.
Raidon himself grabs a large war axe. Just as he learned so long ago, he keeps himself balanced. An enemy doesn't have to be completely cut in half to be eliminated. It soon becomes clear that not all soldiers have fully mastered this. Most of them have only recently been promoted and this is their first fight. Around Raidon, several soldiers cut their opponent in half, and then let their weapon pass through into the muddy ground.
The Chakras can do little to counter this sudden development. Since the new legion came into view, they have had to deal with one shock after another. This latest one is the biggest. Because their weapons have so much less power, they are knocked out of the way like flies. Lifting a normal sword to stop a two handed sword is of little use. Even the light round shields of the Chakras have hardly any effect against the heavy war hammers and other weapons. The circle in the middle of their army gets bigger and bigger and after the first Chakras are cut down, the soldiers look like creatures from the underworld. Every soldier is covered with blood that splatters around with every cut. Here and there, even body parts remain attached to the weapons of the soldiers.
The fight doesn’t even last ten minutes before the enemy flees. The remaining enemies run as if the hellhounds are hot on their heels. Raidon stops his troops and slowly gathers them on a piece where there are only a few bodies. Carefully, the soldiers hang their weapons back on their backs and try to catch their breath. Not everyone survived. Here and there between the fallen Chakras lies a legionary soldier. The five sergeants have all survived, although Mark's armor seems to hang loose in various places. After brief consultation, the sergeants report their findings.
"First platoon, five wounded."
"Second platoon, three wounded, one dead."
"Third platoon, one wounded."
"Fourth platoon, seven wounded, four dead."
"Fifth platoon, one wounded, two dead."
All in all, seven soldiers were killed and seventeen wounded in the field.
"Well done men!" shouts Raidon. "We survived our first battle!"
When the soldiers have gathered with their sergeants, Raidon leads them to the gate of Linh. The New Legion offers a terrible sight. The once shiny harnesses have turned red and brown from all the blood and other filth. When the soldiers arrive at the city gates a little later, Raidon announces their unit.
"Open up for the soldiers of the New Legion!"