Wizard's Blood [Part Two] (46 page)

Plans had not been made to properly handle any wounded resulting from the assaults. Initially, many of those hurt were loaded into the boats and attempts made to carry them back across the river. Boats loaded with wounded were short of the required number of rowers, and usually traveled very far downstream before they could return to the Kimlelm side of the river. The boats that had been used to carry supplies and had small motors were also of little use, the batteries having been depleted by the trip across the water. Once the boats finally landed, the wounded found themselves far from any medical aid and lay in misery for extended periods waiting for help. Once help did reach them, the infections were usually well established and the men died unless they were among the few where a properly trained wizard was available to use magic to cure them. The message was clear to the soldiers; don’t get too brave, don’t get wounded. The fear of sharing the fate of their fellows made them very cautious and greatly slowed the planned advance.

Realizing the problem, many of the wizards that landed with the boats used their magic to flame the grasses along the river. The magical fires were used to reveal any hidden dangers by burning any suspicious area that was encountered. In this way, many of the hidden stakes failed in their job, but the fear had already been placed in the minds of the attacking forces and delays had resulted. The magic greatly lessened the effectiveness of a tried and true method on Earth, but a number of men continued to fall on the following days as the unwary stumbled into yet another hidden area heavily primed with the pungi stakes.

The boats landed in hundreds of locations, usually in groups of three or four. Once the boats reached shore, the men moved in preplanned directions to join up with their fellows. Gradually the army resumed its desired shape, battalions forming up under the control of officers and wizards. Seldom did the groups gather in the areas Jolan and Wylan had selected to hide the tanks of petroleum, not that it mattered. In the one or two cases where the enemy was to be found in sufficient numbers for the potential weapon to be useful, there were no mages nearby to create the explosion.

Over fifteen thousand men crossed the river that afternoon and formed up on the Seret side of the banks of the river. They wasted little time and the first battalions to assemble headed inland searching for the defending forces. They found hundreds of dead from the poisonous gas dropped from the planes, and several miles inland they encountered the first of the replacement troops being sent to repel the invasion. The wizards used waves of
Rolling Fire
on the defending troops, most of whom were unsupported by mages who might have been able to shield them from the worst of the magic. The loss of life was one-sided in these encounters, leaving hundreds more of the defending forces dead and allowing the invading army to advance further into Seretian territory.

The fighting extended over almost seventy miles of the river border. Those locations closest to the portals that had been mapped some weeks before by Ronoron and Asari faired best. Wylan’s snipers were deployed in two man teams along the length of the river using these portals, and more than a few wizards fell to rifle fire at distances where they would have expected to be safe from enemy attack. The invading army and surviving wizards never made the connection between the distant sounds of rifle fire followed by the sudden smack of rifle bullets into wizards and battalion leaders, killing them regardless of whether they had raised shields or not. Once the protection of the wizards was lost, the invading army was far more at risk from the defending forces.

Both sides paid dearly for the day’s fighting. Ale’ald lost a number of wizards, but like the wizard-pilots, they were relatively low level and therefore more expendable than their more talented brothers. The plans had been made with the expectation some would be lost during the crossing and the establishing of a base within Seret. The numbers lost were higher than expected, but that was war.

By the end of the day, Ale’ald had captured two of the targeted areas. They were securely held with sufficient troops to hold the contested areas against the defenders. More troops were being sent across to support those already at the secured locations, and more capable wizards were now crossing the river as well. Already, efforts were starting on the Kimlelm side of the river to start the construction of the first temporary bridge that would span the river, allowing a more conventional means of bringing troops and supplies into Seret. Ale’ald fully expected to have multiple permanent bridges in place by the end of the month. It was only a matter of time before Seret fell just as Kimlelm had.

Rass, the ranking soldier of Sniper Team Alpha Three, lowered his binoculars and leaned slowly toward his partner. He had often wondered about the team naming, but Samm had told them it was something the mage Jolan had come up with based on protocols used on Earth. Rass didn’t care about the name. Jolan had supplied them with incredible equipment. He was happy to take any name the man chose. Jeer felt the motion and responded by slowly moving toward his leader. The two snipers had spent the better part of the day crawling through the spring grasses making their way into this position. They had passed up a number of targets along the way, but were following the orders they had received to make their way to where they would be within sight of the river camp the enemy had established. Samm had radioed them instructions that morning after they had reported back. This was after killing several officers and two wizards that had been with the battalion they’d been assigned to pursue as support for Seret’s ground forces. Their new mission was two-fold. See what was happening at the site and watch for the arrival of a boat with two ranking enemy, a senior officer and a command level wizard that one of the spies inside Kimlelm had somehow learned would be coming to the Seret side late in the day. If they could get a shot, they were to take it.

“
I think this is the boat,” Rass whispered. “The wizard hasn’t learned like his buddies. He’s still wearing the formal uniform they all like so much.”

The wizards on this side of the river had been learning quickly. They were easy to spot in their formal attire, and that had made them ready targets. Most of the surviving wizards in Seret had taken to wearing the standard uniform, usually without rank or sometimes with the insignia of the lower ranks. Most didn’t raise their shields unless absolutely necessary. They had learned that the spotter mages that frequently worked with the sniper teams could identify them by the power draw. While being without shields raised their risk level somewhat, unless an attack was underway, the risk was far less than it seemed to be from the enemy snipers, who were far more difficult to locate than they’d been the previous year. Whatever weapons they were using no longer produced the telltale smoke, and must have a very long reach. The copper projectiles they were firing would penetrate their shields in any event. It was a development that made them very nervous. They were actually at more risk than the common soldiers. It had never been this way before.

“
I’ll take the wizard,” Rass whispered softly. “You take the man with him immediately after I shoot. The men on the bank waiting to meet them have to be senior level of some kind, so we’ll each take one of them as opportunity presents. I’ll chose from the targets on the left side.”

Jeer nodded. He didn’t like talking at all, but Rass had always been a bit chatty, even here in the hide. They were far enough out that no one should be able to hear them, but Jeer figured they could always be surprised. He was okay with the two shots. Any more, however, would greatly increase the chance of someone figuring out where they were. After the shots were taken, they’d simply stay put. They had found a very good hide, and they would wait until the enemy gave up the search before making their way out of the area. Jeer raised his own binoculars and scanned the incoming boat, focusing carefully on his target.

Seven hundred yards, the range finder had told them when they’d taken the reading earlier off the large rock next to where most of the incoming boats had been landing. It was a long shot, but one that shouldn’t be impossible given the winds were almost negligible and the targets would most likely climb out of the boat and stand still while they were greeted.

Rass much preferred missions where only one of them would be required to shoot. That left the other free to spot for the shooter, which was sometimes a necessary aide. At this distance it didn’t take much for a shot to be off target, and a spotter could pick that out and quickly position the sniper for a second shot. This time, however, he’d be on his own.

The lone boat had come to a stop very close to where they had expected, and Rass watched through his scope as the two men stepped off and onto the shore. As expected, they were met by several of the officials waiting on the shore. This was the time. He had already steadied his breathing into a slow regular pattern. Feeling the familiar calm descend on him, he let the pattern take control of his muscles. His technique was now a blend of the memories he’d been given from Jolan augmented by the weeks of practice from his training, plus the numerous shots he’d taken in the field the past few days. The scope had already been adjusted for the distance and a slight correction for wind based on the movement of a small flag the enemy had kindly placed on one of the tents near the river. The picture was steady in the scope and he unconsciously held his breathing and almost imperceptibly added pressure to his finger caressing the trigger. The heavy rifle fired, sending the 168 grain copper jacked bullet on its way. The rifle blast echoed through the low valley, the hills bouncing the sound back and forth. By the time the sound would reach those below, it would be impossible to determine the direction beyond a vague general impression. Rass heard Jeer fire almost immediately after himself.

He had already chambered a second round, and noting his target stumbling and falling, he quickly focused on one of the men standing close by. They’d react quickly now, so this shot had to be made before they had a chance. Confident now of the downrange conditions based on his first shot hitting home, he let the sights settle and fired his second shot. Jeer’s second shot came at almost the same time. Watching through the scope he noted that two men were already down, large pools of blood forming around them. Then he saw the two strikes, almost simultaneously, and two more men crumpled. The rest were scattering for cover, and additional shots would have been wasted and might have given away their position. Now it was time to wait and watch. They might be required to evade, but Rass doubted it. They were too far out and the enemy hadn’t yet figured out the incredible ranges at which they operated. Dark was three hours away. They would probably start the egress a few hours afterwards. Samm would want to know what they had learned.

* * * *

Jolan looked at the pictures of the planes that had been taken on the battlefield. Taken as the plane passed overhead and greatly enlarged by Gene after the photos came back, it was clearly more of a glider than a real airplane. There was no doubt where the design had come from. No one on Gaea would have been able to come up with that classic shape on their own. Not in so short a time frame. Here was a local copy of something that had been developed on Earth.

Jolan was still surprised that even this kind of plane had been possible. It was clearly powered, and from what he could see there were no exhausts for a motor, so that probably meant batteries. How could they pack enough batteries into the plane to get any altitude or distance? He was missing something. He would dearly love to get his chance to examine one. More importantly, they had to decide what to do about them. If the enemy could drop the poisonous gas whenever and wherever they wanted, Jolan’s side was in trouble.

“
We need to find where they are coming from,” Jolan said unnecessarily.

“
I realize that,” Wylan said. “Kavel already has redeployed his people concentrating them in areas on the Kimlelm side of the river where they might be located.”

“
What can you tell us to help?’ Kavel asked from across the table. “What do we look for? Do you have any idea of the range of the planes?”

“
I’d have said they were impossible, but it can’t be too great. They seem to be relying on battery power, and they aren’t very fast, which has to limit the distance. I’d guess they have a maximum range well less than a hundred miles, which would mean fifty miles each way. Since I doubt they have more than one facility, we can probably get a better idea if we mark on a map all of the known attacks and look where they might be coming from.”

“
How can we bring them down? Small arms fire doesn’t seem to work.”

“
They are going to be hard to hit, and I’ll bet there is a wizard on board with shields. Since they are high enough most mages can’t reach them with spells, we can’t do anything that way. Copper bullets would solve the shields probably, but it is a very unreliable means of bringing such a vehicle down. Frankly, at the moment I don’t know. Our best bet is taking them out on the ground. Finding where they have the planes will probably lead us to their supply of the damned gas as well.”

While Kavel went to get a map and the details of all reported sightings, Wylan and Jolan continued their review of events to date.

“
We have taken out a number of their wizards and some of their military chain, but probably not enough to make a significant impact. What we have actually done is made them cautious. The wizards no longer reveal themselves, so it is harder to know whom to target. They are still sending troops over, but have chosen to fortify the two prime locations they have established. We can tell they are replacing the bridges they destroyed and once those are in place they will flood across into Seret. We know where to hit them, but with those planes, it is difficult and risky to bring troops in. They bomb them before they can get close enough.”