Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 25

General, Colonel I began. We have no real terms for you as you have delivered to us. Our response is simple... your army is in our country, and now it is time for your army to leave. Turn your army to the South and return to Na'Tal. Do so without delay and we will not pursue you.

The General and the Colonel gave me a look that suggested that they did not take me seriously. I relayed to Lord Tausin and General Mazz what I had just said, and then General Marzat spoke up.

Our army out numbers yours at least fifteen to one and we have sacked stronger castles than yours. We will give you one full cycle of the sun to consider our terms.

Without consulting with my superiors I spoke directly to the General, my dark brown eyes locked on his as I spoke.

General, your army will not survive this encounter if you choose to lead them across the river. Your troops are tired, they are under fed, and they have no idea what awaits them, and I guarantee you that once they see what we have on the other side of our castle walls they will break and scatter and then we will send out our cavalry to attack.

I could tell that he did not understand the word cavalry, but his Colonel spoke up and explained that I was referring to the horse soldiers that had been harassing their rear and flanks for the past few months. The General considered what his Colonel had explained then responded.

Have it your way he said, tell your Lord that I will personally look for him when our soldiers have breached the castle's walls.

Of course we took that as the threat that it was intended to be and with nothing more to be said my superiors turned and exited the tent followed by the Ishtan General and Colonel. It was a military courtesy that I allow my superiors exit first, and I think Imma either knew why I waited or the Ishtan army followed the same custom. In the few minutes it took our combined superiors to exit the tent she turned to me and said, "You are brave Captain Kitty, I will look for you when the battle starts."

I think she was sincere in her words and I took her words as they were meant as a respectful challenge from one warrior to another. I think in another place and time she would have been a fun person to get to know but as her words echoed in my ears, I looked up into her deep brown eyes and the only thing I could say was, "Do not cross that bridge with your army, and should you cross, may your gods protect you."

She smiled and I smiled back as we left the tent and headed off in our separate directions. I mounted my horse and took my place in line with my superiors then the mounted archers fell in to the side and rear of us as we made our way back into the castle. I had time along the short ride to explain exactly what I had said to the Ishtan and even had to answer questions about the short conversation that I had inside the tent with Imma. Once inside the castle walls the gates were closed and barred then the drawbridge was raised to block the gates we had just entered.

That evening we once again went over our battle plan, and when the meeting broke up with Prince Vortak, Lord Tausin, General Mazz and his officers, I went to join Teela and the cavalry Lieutenants to go over the plans and such that were discussed the meeting with our superiors. I explained the surrender terms that had been presented to us and our reply to them. I challenged the cavalry officers that the enemy had given us a full day to consider their terms but that I believed that they would probably attack at dawn as we had formally rejected said terms. The cavalry officers were dismissed to brief their troops on what we had discussed and as they left Teela suggested that they stable their mounts and get some rest as it looked like a long day was ahead of us in the morning.

As dawn broke over what was to be the battlefield we could see from the castle's battlements that two huge siege towers had been finished and moved to the end of the bridge on the opposite side of the river. The towers were one and a quarter the height of the castle walls. On top of the tower was a series of long planks on a hinge that could be lowered from the tower to the top of our walls, which would bridge the moat and allow the Ishtan soldiers to cross and enter the castle.

Upon seeing the towers at the bridge Lord Tausin gave the order for the catapult crews to man their weapons. As the towers started to move over the bridge the command went out for all archers to man the parapets. Within twenty minutes all two thousand archers had taken up their position on the castle walls and the catapult crews were standing by, ready to load and fire. Seeing that the towers would come across first orders were issued to load specific catapults according to the calculations we had made long ago.

The weapons load was changed on the catapults several times as we watched the Ishtan deploy in formation behind their siege towers. When the bulk of the enemy was formed up behind the towers, the towers began moving forward and that is when Lord Tausin gave the command to fire. On top of the wall there were catapult commanders with numbers and colored flags that told each crew which sort of weapon to load and how many clicks of the ratchet to use to tension the ropes.

The first group of catapults unleashed a torrent of forty-pound boulders upon the towers, and as the projectiles stuck, chunks of wooden timers began flying in all directions and showed down upon the Ishtan foot soldiers below. Though the wounds varied from the flying debris, the Ishtan were a disciplined force and continued their advance. As the towers were slowly reduced to rubble, it became apparent to us and to the Ishtan that their towers would not make it to the castle's walls, and if by chance one of them would make it to the edge of the moat, it would be useless for its intended purpose.

The main force of the Ishtan army stood in their ranks along the edge of the river waiting for the command to charge, but that command was a long time in coming. It had been an hour or so since the towers were destroyed before we observed the second threat to our castle coming toward the bridge. As far as we could see were thousands of Ishtan soldiers with makeshift ladders over their shoulder. The ladders were easily the height of our walls and possibly higher. Each ladder was carried by perhaps one hundred men on each side. We did not count each ladder but a conservative guess put the number at one hundred, but it was probably more than that.

The ladder carriers came across the bridge quickly and passed in front of the amassed troops. There were one or two ladders for each rank of assembled soldiers. Once the ladders were in position the Ishtan army stepped off as one unit and began marching toward our walls with the ladder carriers out in front. The ladders would be used to cross the moat, and then alternating ladders would go up the castle wall for the attackers to climb.

Once the Ishtan formation had moved about halfway between the river and the moat their ladder carriers and foot soldiers began to encounter the caltrops that our civilians had littered the field with. As the foot injuries among the Ishtan began to grow, Lord Tausin issued the command to the catapults to begin firing. This time a combination of projectiles were hurled over the wall. Volley after volley sailed over the wall and pelted the Ishtan with an assortment of small and large stones. As they continued their march, the flying rocks were slowly thinning out their ranks, but their officers and sergeants were still calling out a steady cadence and like the well trained army they were, they kept marching forward.

Once the lead elements of the Ishtan army passed the red marking stones we had placed on the battlefield, the firing order had changed and the catapults repositioned and reloaded. When the order to fire was given, huge pots filled with a kerosene-like liquid was hurled over the wall. Hundreds of these landed on the battlefield and broke open when they hit the ground. The liquid splattered over the ladder carriers and the marching soldiers, then the red pennant with three arrows went up, the archers dipped their arrows with the tips covered with soaked cotton and let them fly towards the enemy.

The first volley of fire arrows either stuck the ground or the oil soaked soldiers and ignited quickly. The screams of the burning soldiers made my stomach turn, but I stood fast on the wall and watched the successive volleys of flaming arrows set fire to even more of the advancing army. The archers and catapults kept firing their deadly barrage and we could see in the distance that the Ishtan commander was bringing up a second wave of foot soldiers and ladder carriers.

As the Ishtan's formation began to fall apart the catapults went back to firing rocks that weighed between ten and twenty pounds at what remained of the huge formation. Most of the Ishtan on the battlefield turned and ran, some were even running toward the bridge while they were on fire. Soldiers tripped over their fallen comrades as they made a mad dash for safety, and many soldiers jumped into the river to attempt to extinguish their burning uniforms. As they reached the bridge they were unable to cross as their reinforcements were using the bridge to try to get set up for a second charge toward the castle.

In all the confusion at the bridge several large fights broke out as the retreating soldiers tried to claim the bridge for their escape. All the while our archers began targeting the fleeing soldiers, dropping many of them with well-aimed arrows. It was then that Lord Tausin sent up the flag for the first and second cavalry units to mount up. Teela and I left our positions on the wall and ran for the stables where we met up with our units. It took us over an hour to get both units saddled up and in position lining the main road leading to the drawbridge. When the gate was opened and the bridge lowered we trotted out smartly and formed into our individual units, readied our bows and charged toward the enemy.

The Ishtan soldiers that were the first to see our formation stopped in their tracks and were almost run over by the advancing formation coming over the bridge behind them. Our formation of about a thousand mounted archers thundered toward the enemy as one large unit, then as we got into firing range we let our arrows fly then separated. Teela's unit rode to the left while my unit turned to the right. We rode along the front of the now stalled army and dropped as many of the enemy as we could in our first pass.

When we got to the ends of their formation we circled around and came back at a full gallop toward the center. The ground was now littered with the dead and dying Ishtan solders. Some had died from arrows, and some were still on fire and were a smoldering reminder to the soldiers still on our side of the river what carnage could befall them.

The Ishtan officers were trying hard to marshal their troops back into formation but as wave after wave of arrows struck their troops the task was hopeless. As we circled back out toward their flanks again launching our arrows, we could see that Lord Tausin had pulled the archers from the wall and mounted them up. The order was given and as Teela and my group attacked the flanks, the third and forth units of mounted archers made a charge toward the center of the enemy. It was at this point that the stampede began as the Ishtan officers and sergeants no longer had control of their troops. Soldiers tried to climb over each other to get to safety over the stone bridge. Many of Ishtan were trampled and the number of dead and wounded began to grow around the area near the bridge. Many Ishtan soldiers elected to jump into the river to escape our combined charge.

We made our final pass then retreated back to the castle as we had run out of arrows. I was tempted to order my group to draw their swords, but even in all of the confusion at the bridge, the Ishtan still greatly out numbered us so I thought we should not take the risk. Once safely inside the castle the drawbridge was raised and the castle gates locked. Teela and I returned to the castle wall near the command area and looked out over the battlefield.

As the sun began to set we could see that the field was littered with the dead and dying soldiers. Numerous fires were still burning and as the darkness came we could see by the light of the fires soldier helping soldier as they staggered, limped, and stumbled their way toward the bridge. It was a terrible sight to take in and I felt sympathy for the wounded Ishtan, but at the same time I took comfort that we held them off and were still safe inside our castle's walls.

As the sun crept above the horizon we were treated to the sight of a band of Ishtan crossing the bridge under a white banner. From the distance we could not tell who they were, but as they got closer we could tell that it was not the General or Colonel that we had met a few days ago. Since there were eight of them we sent out eight of our mounted archers to meet them and I was given the authority by Lord Tausin to address this situation and to speak for him as needed. Teela accompanied me along with six of our troops. We met the Ishtan in the middle of the road that lead from the castle's main gate to the stone bridge. As we got closer I could see that one of the Ishtan soldiers was Imma.

Teela and I dismounted and we walked the last few yards to Imma. We exchange greetings as soldiers and I introduced Teela as the Commander of the Kreetin Second Cavalry Brigade. The two of them touched their mutually bent forearms together which was a military greeting of sorts here, and I followed suit with Imma after she introduced the Major that had accompanied her. I introduced myself as "Kitty, Commander of the Kreetin First Cavalry Brigade", which got his attention in short order

The Major opened the conversation by stating that this was not a meeting to discuss or dictate terms. He expressed his desire to have a brief truce to allow them to recover their wounded and to cremate their dead. Imma spoke up and explained that it is their culture's belief that the dead be taken care of within one cycle of their death.

I told Imma and her Major that I we would honor their request and allow them the time that they had requested. I immediately dispatched one rider to the castle to inform Lord Tausin of this arrangement.

A few minutes later the rider returned and suggested a distant field where Lord Tausin promised that the ashes of the deceased would not be disturbed and that Teela will show us the way to the field.

Teela and I mounted up and I offered my hand to Imma to help her up on to the back of my horse. She was hesitant at first having never been on a horse, but after a few seconds she took my hand and I did my best to help the much larger woman onto the back of my horse. Teela made the same offer to the Major but he declined and sent one of his female Lieutenants to go in his place.

Teela trotted off toward the river and I followed right behind her. We followed the river for about five minutes, staying on our side of course. There was no way we were going to cross over to the Ishtan side.

Along the way Imma and I spoke briefly about the previous day's battle. I told her that I was glad to see that she was alive and well.

She confirmed that she was alive, but not well as she had burns in a place that she would rather not talk about. We both had a laugh over that.

She confided in me that she had not taken my words seriously when I had expressed to her superiors what would happen if they crossed the bridge.

I replied that we could still end this without further loss of life and that if they would withdraw and head south we would not pursue them.

Imma promised that she would convey this to her superiors but could not promise that they would agree.

Teela pointed out the field across the river where the Ishtan ashes would not be disturbed and Imma thanked her.

On our way back Imma explained to me how at our first meeting she did not truly take me seriously as I wore a royal collar as well as wore the rank of a Captain. All this changed she said when she observed me in the lead of the horse unit that had attacked her army. It was at that point she confessed that she had wished she and her commanders had taken my words seriously. Imma stated that her superiors believed that because I wore the collar that I had slept my way into my position as Captain.

I laughed and assured her that this was not the case.

We arrived back at the road and parted company. Once in the castle we stabled our mounts and reported to Prince Vortak and Lord Tausin what was discussed and agreed to. I also gave my opinion that I believed that the battle was probably over but was not 100% sure.

For the rest of the day we watched as the Ishtan soldiers carted off their fallen comrades. Several times as I watched the exhausted men and women caring for their brothers and sisters in arms, I wanted to go out to the field and assist them, though I know that the Prince and Lord Tausin would never allow this to happen.