The New World
Copyright© 2024 by Dark Apostle
Chapter 48: Tactical planning
Fan Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 48: Tactical planning - The story follows James Smith, a man who dies and finds himself in a surreal afterlife courtroom, where his life is judged as "zero sum"—neither good nor evil, just utterly average. Dissatisfied with being consigned to eternal mediocrity, he manipulates the cosmic bureaucracy into granting him a second chance in a new world, where he is reincarnated as a child with his memories intact and perks... - edited by my lovely Steven.
Caution: This Fan Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Ma/ft Mult Coercion NonConsensual Reluctant Slavery Lesbian BiSexual Heterosexual Fan Fiction Farming High Fantasy Rags To Riches Restart Alternate History DoOver Extra Sensory Perception Body Swap Furry Magic Incest Mother Sister Politics Royalty Violence
“Come again,” James said.
“Dragons.”
“Dragons,” James repeated.
“Yes, you know—big winged beasts that can fly and breathe fire.”
James twitched and sighed.
“Dragons?” James asked.
“Yes. Kael has seen them and filed a report. This is why we sent him,” Aaron said.
“I have never seen a dragon and only thought they were legends—stories made up for entertainment.” James mused.
“When you face them on the battlefield, let me know how entertained you are. This is the next part of your training. Once you have mastered it, we can move on to the last section—working with the mundane soldiers. But you are correct, dragons are so rare that they have faded into legend. I searched the records, and there have been no confirmed sightings for over five hundred years—until now.”
“Is there any information on how to defeat them?” James asked.
“No. I have found fragments describing their abilities, but it is speculation at best, not hard facts we can use to plan. All we know with certainty is that they can fly and breathe fire.”
James turned the information over quietly. He knew what dragons would represent on a battlefield—the equivalent of an air force, surgical and devastating in ways that ground forces had no natural answer to. He had seen enough documentaries and footage to understand the cascading impact of an air attack on an unprepared army. But how to communicate this to Aaron without sounding like a lunatic. “Well, quite a lot can be determined from just those two facts.”
“What do you mean?”
“The tactics a flying dragon would use are easy to predict. It will target the rear areas, which are less defended. Destroying supplies limits our ability to fight the war at all. We could partially counter this with fireproof barriers or covered storage pits to protect the supplies. Add ground tarps weighted with dirt and positioned cisterns for firefighting, and the damage from even a sustained attack can be significantly reduced.”
“These are things I never considered. I focused on the threat itself rather than the specific damage it could inflict. How do you arrive at solutions so quickly?”
James laughed. “Hardly solutions. We either destroy or drive off the dragon before it attacks, or we protect our people well enough that the attacks are survivable. Neither option is comfortable.”
Aaron caught the eye of a waiting servant. “Bring us a pitcher of beer and two glasses. We will be here for a while.”
He turned back. “Now, Battlemage James—please continue.”
“Since we have no firm information about the dragons, we need contingency plans across several scenarios. If we break the problem into smaller pieces and address each one, the dragon threat becomes less paralyzing.” James leaned forward over the map. “The first piece is detection—identifying the dragon as early as possible so our soldiers have time to seek shelter. The second piece is determining how high and how fast it can fly, which gives us a time margin to work with. The third is the range of its fire. If the range is short, we can close with offensive spells. If it is long, we prepare for the worst accordingly.”
He paused while Aaron poured. “The final piece is recharge time—how long between fire attacks. We need dedicated observers in the field trying to establish that interval. It could be the most valuable information we collect.”
Aaron sipped his beer and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Then he looked back at James. “Yes. We may not like the answers, but having them is better than not. I will ask Willem, the head of the Council of Churches, to provide the observers. Several of the churches have telescopes, which may give us the early warning we need.”
“I am afraid most of the information will only be useful after the first attack,” James said. “The watchers may not see the dragon in time, or may not be able to communicate the sighting quickly enough. Preparations to protect the supplies and men need to start immediately, regardless of what we learn. It may not be enough, but doing nothing ends in disaster.”
He picked up his beer. “We should also test every offensive spell we have against fireproof surfaces to see what penetrates. And consider non-magical options as well.”
“What non-magical weapons are you thinking of?” Aaron asked.
“We can use Lift to throw sharpened stone projectiles rather than directing spells at the beast directly. A large siege bow built to throw spears or heavy arrows. A well-placed rock may prove more effective than a spell, and we have no way of knowing yet whether the dragon carries any magical protection against direct attack.”
“So you are building multiple approaches as fallback options?”
“Yes. What else can we do?” James stopped. “Wait—could we attack their troops to force the dragon to respond defensively? Draw it back rather than letting it dictate the engagement?”
Aaron set his glass down. “You have been a battlemage for only a short time, so understand—in a major battle where both sides have battlemages, the mages tend to cancel each other. Unless one makes a significant error, the engagement ends with neither killed or seriously injured. And locked into that kind of struggle, there is simply no capacity to attack the mundane soldiers.”
“That’s insane. What a waste. The mages fight to a standstill while the soldiers hack each other apart?”
“Exactly. The only way to break it is to have more battlemages on the field, or to get lucky. Once the opposing battlemages are defeated, their soldiers typically flee.”
“What if my presence was concealed and I attacked their soldiers directly? They may not know about me—I was not trained through normal channels. If I start killing their men, it will distract their mages and potentially give you an opening.”
“The moment you use magic, every battlemage in range will know exactly where you are. They may all turn on you at once to eliminate the unknown variable.”
“But if I can hold my defense while they focus on me, you can exploit the distraction and break through.” James paused. “It is worth considering.”
“Perhaps. I will need to think on it carefully. Can you use your magic effectively against formed soldiers?”
“Kael trained me with exactly that in mind. And I defeated Moratan in single combat. His lessons were built on my experience as a pit fighter—direct, practical, and adaptable.”
“That is impressive.”
“My inexperience with conventional magical combat might actually produce approaches their mages won’t anticipate. Or they might be worthless. But I have a different enough background that I feel obligated to offer what I can. If we had more time, I would spend it listening and learning. We do not.”
“Kael mentioned that you are naturally impatient. Almost driven.”
“He is not wrong. My experiences have shaped me, and my deepest fear is being placed in a situation where I am helpless and have nothing left to try.”
“You must be careful. That same drive could cause you to lash out in panic rather than execute a carefully developed plan.”
“Kael was very clear on that point. But this is more complex than anything I have faced before, and I genuinely worry about being a liability in this battle.”
“You have considerably more experience than an apprentice at their first engagement. You have earned Kael’s trust and will be given a sector to protect. That is a significant honor for a first-time battlemage.” Aaron held his gaze. “The lives of hundreds of men will depend on you.”
Buron appeared in the doorway. “Lunch is ready.”
“Let us eat,” Aaron said, standing. “Then I will introduce you to the commander of the men you will be protecting. After that, we can work through the spell options for the dragon.”
James followed Aaron to a small dining room where a man in armor rose when they entered. He stood a solid six feet, wearing fitted plate that had clearly seen years of hard use rather than ceremonial display—dented and repaired in places, every mark earned.
“I am Gadwin, commander of the 5th Brigade.”
Aaron turned to James. “I have worked with Gadwin many times. He is a good man.” He looked back at the soldier. “Gadwin, this is the battlemage James.”
“It will be a pleasure to serve under you,” Gadwin said.
“I am glad we are meeting. There is much to do and little time to do it,” James replied.
After the meal was served, James started with his questions. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I started as a squad leader and fought in several small engagements. My squad achieved its assignments with few casualties and my success was noticed. Promotions followed, and now I command a battalion of five hundred men.”
“How many men in a squad?”
“Ten. Four archers, a swordsman, and the rest carry axes or spears. The archers are the heart of the squad—they provide the offense. The others protect them. The archers have the advantage of shooting from covered, fixed positions with the high ground when we can arrange it,” Gadwin answered.
Aaron added, “Our army is fundamentally defensive. We are organized and trained to wait for the attack to come to us. This requires fewer men overall and allows us to concentrate our forces at the points of pressure.”
“Your map showed a great many permanent fortifications reinforcing the natural chokepoints,” James said. “They reduce the need for large standing troop deployments and cut the logistical burden significantly. What happens if there is a breakthrough and the enemy gets in behind the fortifications?”
“The men will probably break and run for safety.” Gadwin said it without self-deception, and without pleasure. “But it has not happened in many years. There has always been a stalemate along the river—little movement in either direction.”
“That may change,” Aaron said. “There is a report that the enemy may have a dragon.”
Gadwin’s hand came down flat on the table. “That would be a catastrophe. We would have no chance.”
“That is precisely why we are here,” Aaron said. “To plan a response.”
“There are two separate lines of effort,” James said. “Attacking the dragon, and protecting the men from it in the meantime. The battlemages will take responsibility for the dragon. But we cannot guarantee how long that engagement will take, and there will likely be significant damage inflicted during the fight.”
“Thank the gods,” Gadwin said, exhaling.
“In the meantime, I strongly recommend several changes to your supply arrangement as soon as possible. Currently, everything for the battalion is stored together behind a single wooden stockade. If the dragon targets it, one attack ends your ability to sustain the fight. Disperse the supplies—dig covered pits, seal them with tarps packed with mud or dirt for fire protection and concealment. If time permits, expand the cisterns for firefighting water, but that is a secondary project. The dispersion comes first.”
“Excellent suggestions. I can see the value even without a dragon in the picture,” Gadwin said. “What else?”
James looked at Aaron, then back at Gadwin. “Once this engagement is over, you need to build fallback rally points behind your main line. If troops are overwhelmed and break, they need a destination—a fortified position with weapons, food, and water waiting for them. Right now, if there is a breakthrough, the men scatter, drop their weapons, and it takes precious time to regroup and re-equip them for reengagement. Pre-assigned rally points with trained procedures change that entirely. A light guard is all you need to maintain them between uses.” He paused. “The mage Bartholomew has constructed long-term food preservation devices. You could use those at the rally points to keep the provisions viable indefinitely.”