Chapter 463
Tricks and Countermeasures
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"How did they get ashore?!" Eiblont shouted, absolutely fuming .
Claude's expression paled .
"We've fallen for their trick . They attacked the eastern border to draw us away from the coast . . . "
He finally understood from where his sense of dread had come . The enemy's odd behaviour had stumped him completely . He'd tried to find any straw's shadow at which the enemy could have been grasping to try and break through their defences in the east, but he couldn't find anything . Their defences were solid, no push could have gotten through and it should have been blindingly obvious to the enemy as well .
Clearly, they had known that as well, but they'd not been planning to fight in the east at all . They'd made themselves as threatening a sight as possible to draw as much of Claude's side's forces to them as possible before striking along the weakened coast . They were now marching on Anfiston, to cut the head off the snake . Anfiston was the capital of the theatre in all but name . Taking it would be just as devastating to the colony as taking the royal capital would be to the kingdom back on Freia .
Birkin was not done yet, however .
"Where did they get the troops? Aren't all seven corps in Cape Loducus? Port Vebator only reported warships, no transports . "
Claude sighed .
"You're forgetting their marines . "
Shiksan navies all had marines, about a line per flotilla on average, though the number could vary greatly depending on the nature of the deployment . They rarely did anything so they were easily forgotten .
The days-old letter in question had said Shiks' Seaking and the Alliance's navy had sailed directly into their waters and fired a cannonade at the city . Everyone assumed this was yet another skirmish, so they'd reported it as such and forgotten about it .
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Birkin sighed and consoled Eiblont .
"Don't panic . They have just two lines of marines . It's no big deal even if they take the town . Lanu has a line's men from Monolith . The veteran garrisoneers are still there as well . They won't get much from this even if it all goes their way . "
"I'm afraid you're wrong, Eiblont," Claude said as he searched for one of the reports, "Look at the reports on the missing Royal Cavalry . "
"You suspect the corps' gone south?" Birkin asked .
He immediately understood the implication .
"But where did they get the ships?"
"Here . "
Claude pointed at another letter that stated the transport ships stopped by the cape to transport food and other supplies . Many captains complained about their slow work . Every package had to be triple checked . If they didn't have to do that, they could easily sail directly to the western coast after paying the taxes .
"They intentionally delayed the ships and picked out suitable vessels . When Royal Cavalry arrived that night, they boarded without us noticing .
"Since Seaking and the Alliance's navy didn't bring any transport ships, they didn't draw our attention . That's why they could suddenly get ashore and take the town . They just need to hold on for about ten days for the corps to arrive . We aren't facing two lines, but a whole corps, more if other reinforcements are on their way . "
The two's faces had gone pale as weak wax . Eiblont slammed the table with his fist .
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"The waters near the town are shallow! No large transport ship can get close to shore . How did they do it?"
"I'm not too sure, but I think they probably did something similar to what Prince Hansbach did with Bluefeather in Ibnist . They probably had agents or turncoats in the town that assembled a makeshift pier . "
Claude's guess wasn't without basis . While the waters near the fishing town were riddled with reefs, they didn't go out that far, a couple hundred metres at the most severe . Most importantly, there was a sheer drop right after the last reef . The ships could sail right up to the edge of the reef without any problems . The rest of the coastline was well guarded, but they'd left that stretch of water vacant because they'd thought the reefs to be ample protection . It had now proven a dangerous mistake .
"Report! Headquarters sent an urgent message," the first-lieutenant staff officer from communications shouted as he dashed into the room .
He held out another dispatch . It had been sent out on the same day as the request for reinforcements .
Skri had sent it and it detailed, in as much as a dispatch by eagle could, the town's occupation . A merchant owner of a shipyard in the town had been identified as a spy . He'd assembled a fleet of coastal boats under the guise of a new business venture, and built a sturdier version of the river pontoon bridge . On the night of the enemy's arrival, he'd assembled the pontoon pier and sent the boats out to ferry the enemy to shore . The marines had quietly taken out the local forces and government . The town's inhabitants woke up to Shiksan occupation the following morning .
The people had risen up against them once they realised what had happened, but the uprising was put down most violently . The town had been put on lockdown, but a couple managed to slip out and headed for Lanu to report what had happened . Those that made it had reported they'd seen the Shiksans forcing the townsfolk to build fortifications around the town .
It took a day to get to Lanu from the town, but luckily a couple of the escapees ran into a small merchant caravan which rushed them to the city when it heard what had happened .
Bolonik had been shocked nearly out of his mind and had sent out several light-cavalry tents to verify the reports immediately . He had confirmation the following day . The letter said that, at the time of writing, they were making preparations to take back the town .
They were mobilising the town's two-line garrison as well as Port Patres and Dorinibla River's forces . In all, it'd give them a folk and they believed it would be enough .
"No! Don't do that!" Birkin yelled despite the futility of the gesture at a piece of paper, his face pale .
Bolonik was clearly unaware that by the time they moved on the town it would have a corps of occupiers rather than just two lines . They'd be throwing their folk to the wolves if they got there after the reinforcements had landed .
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Even worse than the numbers was the terrain surrounding the town . The open, flat plains around the little fishing town were perfect for light cavalry . On top of that, those four lines were the main defensive force for the entire colony . If they were lost, nothing could stop the invaders from taking the two colonies and perhaps a lot more by the time the main force could be moved back from the east .
"Send an eagle message to headquarters immediately . Notify them of the light-cavalry corps and tell the general to hold his position . Under no circumstances is he to march on the town . Thundercrash will set out for Lanu immediately . We expect to be there within the fortnight . He is to keep to the city's fortifications . The only other place I want him fighting the enemy for is the bridge across Dorinibla River," Claude decided immediately .
Thundercrash needed time, but Royal Cavalry had begun south three days earlier . It would take 15 days to get to the town from Cape Loducus . In other words, the corps would land in ten to twelve more days .
Thundercrash was in the mountains . It would take at least ten days to get back Moknad . The sea route was sealed off however, so they'd have to march . It would take at least 16 days to reach Anfiston, and that was at a forced march . Claude wasn't too hopeful of the city still being in friendly hands when they arrived .
He made a couple nervous calculations .
"Requisition the six garrison lines from Vebator's Moknad, Cromwell, Balingana, Anfiston, Mormaly and Aduras . The theatre should still have twelve garrison lines . Apart from our two corps, they're the only reliable forces we have .
"The garrison lines in Port Vebator and Port Patres can't be moved . Cromwell, Balingana, Anfiston, Mormaly, and Aduras each have a line . Dorinibla River's defences also have a line . The remaining three lines are on the coasts, but since the enemy is ashore already, holding the coasts is pointless . Move them back to Tyrrsim . At the very least, we need to keep Port Cobius .
"The theatre's reserves are all centred around Vebator, Cromwell, and Balingana . The coasts have two lines and Wickhamsburg has a folk of reserves . While they are the remainders of the reorganisation, they still have a certain degree of fighting capability . They have, after all, been trained for more than half a year .
"Our situation makes deployment a huge problem . There's still Dorinibla River . If the Shiksans take Anfiston and Robisto and stop us at the river, it'd be over . All our wealth and supplies are focused in the five colonies beyond the southern bank .
"If they get in our way, there'll be not even a sliver of hope to reclaim the colonies . Other things aside, Shiks has two fleets . All they need is a light-class ship flotilla and the colonies might as well be back on Freia .
"We have to hold the river . We can give up Lanu and move the supplies into the mountains, in fact . I recall we have some fortifications between Anfiston and Robisto named after me .
"Major Masonhughes, record what I said and send it to headquarters . Advise them to reinforce Dorinibla River, give up on Lanu, and retreat to the defence lines in the mountains . Tell General Bolonik I suspect there will be two more standing corps sailing down south apart from Royal Cavalry . Ask him to be careful and hold on until our reinforcements . "
"Understood, General . " Masonhughes saluted before dashing out with his notebook .
"Why don't we send the reserve troops in Wickhamsburg to reinforce them first? Having a folk there can buy us a few more days," Birkin suggested .
Claude shook his head . "I had the two garrison lines defending the coastal area go south because they're veterans that have strong fighting capability . Cromwell and Balingana's lines were also sent south . I'll need the reserve folk to take over the defences those four lines left empty .
"The reserve troops are a folk of infantry . It will take even more time for them to reach Dorinibla River than our light-cavalry troops . Not to mention, we have to prevent letting the two colonies be taken by the Shiksans after they're emptied out . With the reserve folk there, I believe they can stop smaller Shiksan surprise-attack parties .
"Eilon, set out immediately . Our Thundercrash 2nd Folk is still stationed at Port Vebator . I'll need you to immediately take them back to headquarters . If Lanu has fallen, at least keep the defence line at Dorinibla River and wait for my reinforcements . I will send 1st Folk over once I gather them . "
"Understood . " Eiblont saluted before leaving .
Claude turned to Birkin . "I'll need to take one of your lines here too to defend Blackstone Arms Factory . If my worries that they'll take the five colonies become real, the factory will be our only source of fresh supplies . "
Birkin nodded . "It's fine . I'll still have five garrison lines after you leave, one folk from Monolith and a line of direct units . It's not wrong to call it the strongest force in the corps . We can definitely stop their attacks here . Go ambush the Shiksans that attacked us without warning . I'll await your triumphant return . "
Two days later, Claude gathered the Thundercrash units stationed at the borders of the mountain areas and was about to march them back to headquarters . What relieved Claude tremendously was how Bolonik decided against attacking the fishing town after receiving the letter . As they evacuated the citizens and supplies in Lanu, he decided to lead two lines of troops to stop the Shiksans at Lake Lanu to prevent a cruel ending for the city .
Bolonik justified by saying that if they gave up on Lanu, the Shiksans could easily march to Dorinibla River unopposed . The defence line there also targeted the river, not what lay beyond, so Bolonik needed more time to refit the fortifications .
But when Claude departed, he received another report from the informants . The Shiksans didn't bother to hide this time around and retreated the two standing corps from the frontlines rather brazenly . They didn't even bother to reorganise properly in camp and reached the cape in broad daylight to board the transport ships waiting near the docks and sailed south .