Fourth Vector Ch. 41

"Can we blockade them in this bay you were telling me about?" asked Jack. "I know from firsthand experience that you can blockade a bay and hold an entire fleet from being used. If the mouth of the bay is small enough, you might not need that many ships."

"I'll have to get back to you on that," said Russ. "But it's still risky either way. And we might not want to break away forces until we know what the Swabians are going to do. We've just trapped them now. Perhaps we should wait to confirm they aren't going to try to fight before we break off forces."

"Either way, just let me know a plan within forty-eight hours," said Jack. "Get with Colin if you have to since he's the admiral with the fleet. I think it's critically important that we have a full naval bombardment of Dagobern for this next attack. Such devastating firepower is likely to be the only thing that can make the Swabians surrender.

That ended the conversation at that moment. Russ promised he would talk to Colin about the fleet and soon excused himself, leaving Jack and Kat alone once again.

Once he was gone, Jack let out a heavy sigh and slumped into his chair.

"What's wrong, Jack?" asked Kat.

"I feel like all I'm doing is disappointing my commanders lately," he replied. "All my generals want to assault Dagobern right away, and Russ doesn't want to split the fleet. I feel like we're right on the cusp of victory but it could still be snatched away from us at any time. The stress is starting to get to me."

Kat leaned in closer and put her head against his shoulder. "We're almost there, love. It won't be too much longer until this war is over and then we can go home. I'm most looking forward to seeing John again. I miss him terribly."

Jack grunted in acknowledgment. "He'll be walking by the time we get back, especially at this rate. Soon he'll be talking if we don't hurry."

Kat giggled. "It won't bethat long. Maybe it seems that way to you but this will be over before you know it."

Jack let out a deep sigh. "I sure hope so."

*****

"Just a little further. We can make it. I need you men to hold on."

It was the same set of encouraging words that Trevor had gotten used to saying on this campaign. He'd lost count of how many groups of men he'd said it to since leaving Worchester and the worst part of it was that he'd long lost faith in the meaning of the words.

The men he told them to were little more than wraiths in body and spirit. They trudged along only because they had to, because stopping would mean instant death. Somehow, that was preferable to the long, lingering death they were suffering right now as they surely ran out of space and food.

The situation with the food supply was well-known but now they had a new threat.

A threat called the Wilds.

It was a desolate area of the Javan continent and it was now the land they were marching through as they retreated from Worchester. It was so desolate that it was land that was claimed by neither Tyrol nor Thessaly, being on the periphery of both.

It wasn't hard to see why. There was nothing about the Wilds that any party wanted to claim.

The soil was devoid of any kind of nutrients for farming. The weather was arid and dry, the result of the mountains of Tyrol sucking up all the rainfall that came off the Javan east coast. With the poor soil, there was a lack of just about any tree cover as well as grass, and without any natural objects to block the elements, the wind in the region was always whipping about.

In short, it was the last kind of territory that any army wanted to move across. The craziest part of the journey was that Trevor led the Tyrolean Army here on purpose.

"It's the quickest path back to Tyrol," he explained to Gavin and Nina not long after they left the area around Worchester. "We can make it through the Wilds in three days before we can cross over into the mountainous eastern area of Tyrol. Doing so would cut off a lot of time getting back to Tyrol the way we came."

Gavin studied the map and looked at Trevor. "How many days would you say this saves us? Three to four?"

"At least," replied Trevor. "Perhaps more. Every day counts right now. The army is still alive but barely. If we take the long northern road back into Tyrol, we might not have an army by the time we're back on home soil."

"But going into the Wilds though?" asked Nina, giving a little shudder. "There's a reason it's only the home of bandits and other miscreants. There's nothing to offer there, Trevor. Maybe it's wiser to take the long road back home."

"It might be the safer route but we don't have the luxury of time on our hands," said Trevor, shaking his head. "We need to get back to Tyrol as quickly as we can. Otherwise, we won't have much of an army left."

That seemed to silence all dissent even if none of them were too thrilled with the plan to enter the Wilds.

Neither were the men.

At the first indication that the army was turning south to enter the Wilds, a collective groan went out from those Tyrolean soldiers in the vanguard.

"This is where we must go," explained Trevor as the increased level of wind whipped at their faces. "If we want to get home quickly, we must go into the Wilds."

The men were too exhausted to argue. They trudged their way south as their feet left a wide path through the dusty and barren soil. Yet what was only meant to be a temporary detour through the Wilds soon became deadly when the Javan Army made a reappearance on their northern flanks.

Trevor was near the rear of the formation when he heard the first sounds of fighting. It was only a day into the Wilds but already the Javans had found them, maintaining a pursuit that began not long after they left Worchester.

Because of the lack of tree cover, it wasn't hard to tell the Javans position simply by the cloud of dust they put up just from marching alone. The well-fed Javans were now moving directly behind and slightly to the west of the Tyrolean Army, and judging by their speed, they seemed to be on an intercept course.

The only problem was that Trevor's army couldn't march any faster and by midmorning the next day, the Javans were once again putting pressure on their flanks.

"The way I see it, we have to try to fight them off," explained Gavin once he and Trevor started looking at the tactical situation. "If we don't keep a corridor between ourselves and them, they can block our access back to Tyrol."

"And if they do that, we're as good as dead anyway," replied Trevor. "We can't move any faster so we're going to have to rely on force of arms to keep the passage open. Ready the men."

By afternoon, the first brigades were moving against the Javan force, using what terrain they could to conceal themselves from the enemy. At least here the ground they fought over wasn't terrible. Rolling hills of arid, dry terrain made the job of the attackers easier even if the attacking conditions were less than ideal.

Once again though, the Tyroleans were faced with the same problem--they were attacking a superior force that was well-supplied and well-fed. Trevor's men fought gallantly to try to get around the Javans' flanks on three different attacks that lasted until nightfall. Casualties were horrendous on both sides, and Trevor hadn't seen such carnage since that last battle against Roland Smart.

Unfortunately, by the time night fell, they were no closer to completing their objective. In the morning, the Javans quickly set out to move along the western edges of the Wilds, soon planting themselves firmly across the route that led back into Tyrol.

Trevor and his army were trapped.

"Can we turn back north?" asked Nina as they talked about their options. "If the Javans are now positioned in our path, surely we could double back and make for Thessaly now, right?"

"We'd never make it," said Trevor as he shook his head. "It would take several more days to get to Thessaly and we'd be out of food completely. Not to mention, the Javans can move quicker than us. I would expect that they'd figure out where we were going quickly and move to intercept us from reaching the city once again."

"So we're trapped then," said Gavin quietly. He looked up at Trevor and Nina. "We can't go north or west because of the Javans. We can't go south or further east because of the ocean. There's nowhere left for us to go, and we don't have supplies or any food. We're trapped here."

Neither Trevor nor Nina responded to that but Gavin seemed to understand the heart of the matter. With no place to go, the army was either going to fight or starve.

It couldn't run away from its issues any longer.

The Javans seemed to figure that out as well. In the next day, they unleashed several feinting attacks on the Tyrolean flanks. None of the attacks were meant to achieve a breakthrough of any kind but they were simply meant to keep the pressure on the army and push it back until they could take no more.

Not yet willing to risk another battle, Trevor continued to pull the army back through the Wilds. He only stopped when he found a small stream that led a meandering course all the way to the ocean, allowing the men to fill up on fresh water.

The stream was actually set up on excellent terrain for fighting. The course of the stream created a bulge that was cut off from the rest of the land because it was higher in elevation. It was the perfect place to make a last stand, and if that was what this war was going to come to, Trevor could at least hope to fight on ground of his choosing.

As the Javans began to close in on their position, they showed every sign of wanting to fight it out in the morning. Trevor instructed his forces to dig into the hillside behind the stream where they would await the next fight in the morning.

That night, Trevor made his rounds to see the men and to talk to them before the last battle. The wind was still strong and many of them were shivering as they just tried to get through the night.

A visit to one group stayed with Trevor though. He found them all eerily still as he arrived. At first, Trevor thought they'd all fallen asleep instead of having just one soldier remain on guard but a quick shake of their shoulders revealed that all the men had perished not long before.

They were the same men he'd encouraged right before they'd entered the Wilds. They could hold on longer.

The army had reached the end of its rope. All that Trevor hoped for tomorrow was that they would account well for themselves in the last battle of the war.

The rebellion had come to an end.

*****

About a week after the first attack on Dagobern, Jack was outside his command tent with Greg doing what the two men used to do best--target practice.

"Oh, you're all over the target," said Greg as he shook his head. "Just because you're a king now doesn't mean you can forget how to shoot."

Jack pursed his lips and fired off another round. He missed the center by about three inches.

"You know, I was just teasing you initially," said Greg. "But now it really does look like you can't hit anything."

Long ago, before the war with the Swabians and all the business with the Galicians, the two men used to shoot off the back of theDestiny in an effort to stay fighting fit. That had largely been lost in the past two years and so when Greg brought up the idea to do it again, Jack leapt at the chance.

"Good thing I have all of you to keep me from harm then," said Jack as he reloaded. "It's been a while since I've fired a rifle."

Greg snorted. "And it shows too!"

The Galician general soon opened up on his target, getting the majority of his shots within the kill zone.

"Haven't lost a thing, have I?" he asked proudly once he was done shooting.

Jack mumbled a few choice words, making the other man laugh. They were still having a good time when they were joined by two visitors--Russ and Dustin.

Ever since that first meeting regarding the siege of the city, the two men had become fast friends. Of course, it was hard not to like Dustin with his easygoing and rambunctious nature but Dustin seemed to appreciate Russ' hardworking nature as well. They'd been nearly inseparable for a while and it didn't surprise Jack to see them approaching him now.

"Here comes trouble," said Jack as the two new arrivals stopped just behind them. "What can I do for you two men?"

"Jack, do you have a moment?" asked Russ. "We have an idea. It's a damned good one and we want to run it by you."

"Of course it's a good one," said Dustin indignantly. "It came from me!"

Russ rolled his eyes playfully. "Yes, but it's my ship so it's nowour idea."

"Are you two going to tell me what you're talking about or what?" asked Jack as he chuckled.

"Go on," said Russ to Dustin. "You came up with it so you start."

Dustin nodded his head and then took a deep breath. "Jack, what is the slowest ship that we have?"

Jack gave him a funny look, not expecting to have him start off that way. "The slowest? That's in our fleet?"

"Yeah, what's one ship that we've had for a long while now that is always dead last anytime we go somewhere," said Dustin. "It's the one that always slows down the cruisers."

"Well, most battleships are slower than the lighter ships but it sounds like you're referring to theCenturion," said Jack.

TheCenturion was the oldest ship of Jack's original Javan task force. She'd been attached to Jack's command ever since he left Java after the Battle of Aberdeen. Though Jack had requested a battleship to give him more firepower, his efforts were hampered when Bancroft gave him the old and slowCenturion instead.

"Right, theCenturion," confirmed Dustin. "Now, call me crazy but I have an idea that might make more sense than keeping the battleship around with us."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "What is it? What's the alternative?"

"Jack, have you ever thought there might be a different way to have naval air power without using seaplanes?" asked Dustin after a tense moment. "What if we could get all the benefits of having an actual airfield but at sea instead?"

Jack blinked. "I'm not following. Can you explain a bit more? How does this relate to theCenturion?"

Dustin elbowed Russ who soon pulled out a blueprint that was hidden in his coat. He unwrapped it to show off the design of theCenturion in its current battleship organization.

"We know that we don't need a lot of space for our aircraft to take off," said Dustin. "Only a couple hundred yards at most before we can get airborne, right?"

"Right," replied Jack as he looked at theCenturion's blueprint.

"TheCenturion is approximately three hundred yards long," said Russ. "It would be more than enough space to have an airplane take off."

Jack stared at Russ. "But how? There's not enough deck space to allow an airplane to take off? How would you get around the superstructure and the guns?"

Russ and Dustin shared a look before they came out with it. "We would remove the superstructure ideally and place it to one side. The guns would have to go as well. We would replace the main deck with flat wooden planks to simulate a landing strip. Then we could launch planes from the deck of a newly redesignedCenturion that's no longer a battleship."

"Correct," added Dustin. "We could call them aircraft carriers or something like that. All the benefits of land-based aircraft but at sea. Think about what it could add to our naval battles, Jack. Launching seaplanes is timely and you can only do one at a time. Recovery is awful because it's timely as well. What if we could launch an entire squadron in just under a couple minutes? And recover them just as quickly?"

Jack's head was spinning. He couldn't stop looking at Russ and Dustin before his gaze flickered back to the battleship's blueprint.

"Just so I get this right, you want to take one of my oldest battleships and remove all her guns and do major work on her superstructure just so we can launch and recover airplanes on her instead? Do I have that right?" asked Jack.

Russ nodded vehemently. "Jack, think about the advantage this would give us. Galicia is one of the world's preeminent naval powers. If we could add a few squadrons of aircraft to our fleet to serve in reconnaissance roles or naval bombing roles or even as fighters, we could add a significant advantage to our side in the next war."

"You say next war because there's no way theCenturion would be ready before we take Dagobern," said Jack. "The siege is going slow but it won't be that slow."

"It will take some time to do the required work and to train the crews," said Russ. "But think about what it would give us. This could be a turning point in any future conflict."

"Especially if Bancroft continues his aggressive posturing," added Dustin quietly.

Dustin brought up the best point so far. Anything new they created now could very possibly be used against Bancroft. It was a terrible thing to discuss but it was an all too realistic scenario.

"And what's the worst thing that could happen if this doesn't work out?" asked Russ. "So we lose theCenturion. It's one of the oldest and slowest ships we have. If anything, she'll be due for scrapping in a few years anyway. We might be able to extend her life with a new purpose and test out whether my suspicion is correct that air power will be greatly more significant in the next war."

"It's a bold plan," said Jack after mulling the idea over for a few moments. "And I can't find fault with your arguments. TheCenturion is old enough that her loss with the fleet wouldn't be a terrible thing." Jack looked at each man for several moments. "Are you both committed to this idea? Is it something that we can't afford not to do?"

Dustin and Russ shared a brief look before both confirming their support verbally.

"I think it only makes sense with the way the world is going," said Dustin. "Look at how much air power has changed this war. It's only going to keep becoming a more critical factor on the battlefield as we move forward. This is making our armed forces more deadly for the future. I think we can't afford not to look into this."

Russ nodded his head in agreement. "I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm all in with this plan."

Jack regarded each man for a moment. "Fine, then you have my blessing for this project. We can send theCenturion back to Kalmar when the rest of the fleet arrives here in Dagobern. But I want you two to own this project, understood? This is your baby. Make it happen according to your plan."

Beaming grins developed on the faces of both men. "We won't let you down, Jack."

*****

It wasn't long after Russ and Dustin departed that Jack and Greg finished their target practice. Jack's shooting hadn't gotten much better and he was tired of listening to Greg rub it in. Jack soon returned to his tent to grab dinner with his wives but he noticed something was clearly up when he saw the looks on both of their faces.

Neither Kat nor Abigail allowed him to say a word before they both came crashing into his side, hugging him with all their strength.

"Wow, what's this about?" Jack asked with some curiosity. "What's going on?"

"Jack, it's wonderful news!" said Kat with a triumphant smile. "We just received this dispatch from Evelyn back in Kalmar!"

Jack's grandmother, Evelyn, had only recently moved to Kalmar from her old island home outside of Picardy. Her presence in Galicia was a convenient way for them to leave John in her possession, especially while John's parents attended to the war effort.

"What did the dispatch say?" asked Jack. "Was it about John?"

"Can you believe he's crawling now?" said Abigail with happy tears in her eyes. "He's crawling, Jack! How amazing is that?"