The Cerberus Rebellion (A Griffins & Gunpowder Novel) (32 page)

Roland, like his father, believed that their independence could be still be won. If he could defeat Eadric Garrard before the second Ansgari force arrived at Agilard, he had a chance to rest his soldiers and protect against the second strike.

***

The heat of the day was finally starting to dissipate as twenty-two thousand Kerberosi soldiers marched along the bottom of a steep valley in the dwindling daylight. They marched with light packs, only the necessities for battle. Roland was at the head of the column, watching and waiting for the first sign of Ansgari patrols. The valley — really it was a narrow ravine more than a valley — twisted away from the city of Agilard through the rolling hills until it emptied into the much larger Gerich Valley.

If Roland were on the other side, the Gerich is where he would camp his army. It ran northeast to southwest, almost three hundred miles from end to end, and was the most fertile territory in Kerberos. Fruit orchards, wheat and corn fields, and grazing pastures for half of a dozen different animals filled the valley from end to end and made it one of the most productive regions on the continent.

Roland had chosen their path in order to move into the Gerich south of any likely encampments, away from the only village in the valley. If he was right, most of their attention would be on their eastern side, toward the fortresses protecting Agilard City, not as much on their southern flank.

A long, high-pitched whistle echoed through the valley ahead of the column. In the silence of the evening, the sound was piercing. In the waning light, Roland could barely make out the riders galloping toward them on the rocky ravine floor. There were five of them, he saw at last, and they wore the black uniform of his father’s guard.

The lead rider vaulted from his horse before the beast even came to a halt.

“What is your report?” Roland asked as the man bowed.

“They’re set up in the Gerich,” the scout reported. “I counted near a hundred banners, my lord. There’s at least forty thousand of them camped out right on top of the town. Right where you said they’d be.”

“The Ansgari nobles are vain,” Roland said. “They needs their comforts.”

“Indeed, Sir. They’ve got pickets set out all ‘round town and on the hills,” the scout continued. “Light artillery too, not just infantry. And there’s calvary riding about.”

Roland grimaced. He hadn’t expected their light artillery to be in place yet. “Very well, Private. You are dismissed.” The scout saluted and led his horse away. Roland turned to his commanders. “We’ve got a problem.”

“The light artillery by itself won’t be a problem,” General Tayte Ander said. It was his division that Roland was leading into battle. “But combined with the cavalry, we’re going to have to strike more quickly than we had expected, and from closer than planned.”

“This ravine forks ahead,” Roland said. “The main branch leads into the Gerich, but the spur cuts to the north. It ends abruptly, about three miles away from the valley and five miles from the town. The climb at the end won’t be easy, but it isn’t impossible.”

“I think we should consider sending some of our troops up the main branch. They can wait until the main force is in place and then act as a distraction. It will take the light artillery some time to reposition, so if we draw their fire to the south, the east should be clear.”

“We can’t afford to split our forces,” Roland countered. “We’re already outnumbered nearly two-to-one. Even if we catch them half asleep, they’ll have five thousand men on guard and another ten thousand ready to muster. They’ll be halfway to dug-in by now.”

“This was your idea,” Tayte whispered low enough that the other officers couldn’t hear.

“I’m well aware of that,” Roland whispered back. “We’ll move on through the main branch, but when we come on the valley, we’ll march up close to the hills.”

“We’ll stretch out for miles if we do it that way,” Tayte said. “Those Ansgari scouts won’t miss that.”

“They will,” Roland said. “By the time we make the Gerich, we’ll be shadows in the night. We’ll march north along the lower parts of the valley wall. Then we hit their pickets and sentries first, then turn that light artillery on the town.”

“I’ll pass word,” Tayte said as he turned back toward the column.

“Order another regiment forward,” Roland said. “One of the regular infantry. They’ll march north in the spur, make sure there’s nothing waiting for us there.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The column advanced slowly through the ravine, marching in as much silence as twenty thousand men could. The moon climbed up from the eastern horizon, casting a pale light into the ravine. Roland continued to lead his troops forward, watching the hills above for movement.

The Kerberosi arrived at the opening to the Gerich Valley with the moon fully overhead. Even two miles away from the town, they could hear the noise and see the light of thousands of camp fires. Roland received a final report from the regiment of light infantry that had screened their advance. The skirmishers had taken up positions surrounding the southern sentries and were poised to attack the artillery positions.

Roland led his men along the base of the valley wall, using brush and high grass for cover. The line spread back as far as the eye could see, two men wide.

“We’ll need to reform before we attack,” Roland said as his men marched north. “When the first regiment reaches the eastern valley entrance, order the men to reform into ranks.”

The moon was starting its descent into the western sky when the Kerberosi soldiers finally reformed into their ranks. Roland waited impatiently, watching in the pale moonlight as each regiment reported their readiness. Their target was alive with activity. They were well within the range of the light artillery positioned at the edge of the town and they could hear music drifting up from half a dozen different places.

Roland checked his cartridges and percussion caps, then inspected the valley one last time. “Order the advance,” he said. “No one is to fire until we’re fired on.”

A regiment began the climb toward the valley’s edge, moving among the brush and small trees. The rest of the division started toward the village in silence.

The boom of cannon fire echoed across the valley. Explosions shook the earth and clouds of dirt exploded from the hillsides. Trumpets sounded and drums rattled. The thunder of a cavalry charge rumbled toward the Kerberosi lines.

“Hold firm!” Roland called. “At the ready!”

The panicked ranks raised their muskets as thousands of mounted shadows rode toward them through the pale light. More cannons thundered, and flares rocketed into the sky, casting bright light on the valley floor. Roland could see Ansgari soldiers advancing from the village in tightly packed ranks and more cavalry riding out from behind them.

Muskets crackled along the valley’s edge and Roland spared a glance upward. In the bright lights from the flares, he could see his three battalions swarming over the enemy outpost. The brief, brilliant flashes of muskets firing along the hilltops showed that his men were winning.

The Ansgari cavalry continued to charge through the darkness and Roland wondered how long they had known the he and his men were in the valley. His scouts had claimed that no enemy patrols had been seen in the southern valley or in the ravines that led into it, but there were experienced hillmen in the Ansgari army, same as there were on the Kerberosi side.

The charging horses were close enough, now, that Roland could see the glint of moonlight and flares on the riders’ sabers. “Fire!” he shouted, and his men unleashed a fearsome volley.

Horses screamed and fell, men shouted as their mounts crashed beneath them and bullets ripped through their bodies. The riders who survived reined up short, backing away from the ordered lines of infantry. Roland quickly reloaded, ripping open a fresh cartridge and jamming its contents down the barrel of his rifled musket. The cavalry charge was broken, for the moment, but there was infantry close behind the and they would not be dissuaded by a single volley.

“Make for the valley entrance!” Roland shouted. “Sound ‘Ordered Withdrawl!’”

The trumpeter sounded the command and the Kerberosi began their retreat toward the wide mouth of the valley. Artillery thundered again, behind them this time. The rounds sailed well over their heads and shells exploded among the already confused cavalry.

Roland stopped, pulled his rifle to his shoulder, and picked a target out of the milling crowd of riders. They were nearly out of range, but there were enough of them that even if he missed his mark, he was sure to hit something. He inhaled deeply, held it for a moment, and then released. As the last breath left his lungs, Roland squeezed the trigger.

The Ansgari cavalry finally managed to collect themselves and charged after the Kerberosi, swinging wide around to harass the collapsing flanks rather than face the full force of the infantry. Carbines and rifles cracked in the dark, flashes of light and puffs of smoke marking the thickest of the fighting. The artillery continued as well, thunderous booms followed by the ear-splitting scream of falling projectiles and the shudder of the earth as the shells exploded.

Roland and his men reached the valley’s opening and fell into tight formation. The narrow ravine that acted as the main entrance to the valley was steep and barely wider than the smaller defile that had hidden their approach from the east. The rear regiment turned, facing another charge by the pursuing cavalry. But the Ansgari commanders were not foolish enough to make the same mistake twice; they halted their charge far short of the Kerberosi rifle range.

Chapter 26 - Eadric

“Our guns will be in place by sunrise,” Alden Hanley reported as he and his king watched gun crews pushing their artillery into the trenches.

“It’s about time,” Eadric said, his eyes focused below.

It had taken the engineers nearly ten days to dig out the trenches and gun pits that would protect those cannons from the guns of Fort William. They had cut trenches one way and then the other, avoiding direct lines toward the fort. The rebels had shelled the dig teams, but the trenches were cut deep, wicker baskets full of dirt had lined their edges, and wooden mantlets protected them from raining shrapnel. Losses had occurred, but they had been far lighter than expected.

Once the guns were in place, they would begin shelling Fort William. The western walls had been undamaged when the Kerberosi had captured the fortress, but the heavy field guns would make short work of them nonetheless. Eadric had been hesitant to agree to attacking the fortress, but it was the first step in bringing Agilard City to heel. Other forts surrounding the city would be attacked as well, but Fort William was a symbol of his ancestor’s victory and bringing it to the ground was almost a sacrilege.

“I want the guns firing at minimum intervals,” Eadric said, turning away from the trenches. “I want continuous fire until their defenses break.”

“We’ll need to alternate the guns,” Alden said. “Split the batteries into two groups. Six hour rotations.”

“Split the guns into three assignments. Twelve hour rotations,” Eadric said quickly. “Six hours of overlap for each battery.”

“We’ll overheat the guns if they’re on a twelve hour rotation,” Alden said. “We can’t afford to have a gun explode in these trenches, Eadric.”

“Just do it, Alden,” Eadric said. He turned back toward his hilltop command post and the setting sun. In the distance behind him, cannons thundered.

The command post was a makeshift structure, partially dug out from the hillside and surrounded by dirt filled gabions. Wood walls and a roof had been erected over the pit as protection against sun, wind, and rain. A pair of telegraph lines had been strung: one connected the command post to the village in the Gerich Valley and the other passed messages to the northern command post. Generals huddled around tables strewn with maps and runners flowed through the command post’s open doorways, carrying messages and orders.

“What are our dispositions?” Eadric demanded as he approached the nearest table. The highest ranking Ansgari generals and nobles were gathered around the map of the local area, moving markers into position.

“General Abragio is in place to assault the northern fortresses with his three corps. Our troops are still encamped in the the Gerich Valley, but they are ready to move once Fort William is pacified,” Robert Calvin said.

Eadric noted the absence of fleet markers in Hellhound Harbor. “Has there been any word from Admiral Tallert?” he asked.

“We received a messenger earlier this afternoon, but it was not promising news,” Robert reported. “The admiral reports that while he was able to drive off or destroy many of the Kerberosi ship, he suffered heavy losses in the process. He anticipates his arrival at Hellhound Harbor in three days, with no more than half of his original strength.”

“Half?” Eadric was incredulous.

“He doesn’t anticipate pressing through what’s left of the Kerberosi ships, and the fortresses around the Harbor, for at least two days additional.”

The ships that Tallert had taken into battle had been the newest, best armed, and most experienced ships in the Ansgari fleet, even accounting for the ships that had turned traitor. Where his infantry had suffered setbacks, the Kerberosi had held the high ground; on the open waters, the field was level. Eadric had intended for those ships to take part in the bombardment of the fortresses protecting Agilard City; without them, he would only have his field guns.