Chapter 20

The second citadel fell without much of a fight. Sid's army had surrounded it and knocked the walls into rubble with the large trebuchets. His army grew by another four thousand freed slaves. He was in control of more than half of the slave territory that he was supposed to conquer.

Farms south of the citadel were deserted as the owners fled out of fear. A number of slave owners had left their slaves behind with a handful of overseers. On hearing that Sid's army was approaching, many of the overseers fled leaving behind the slaves. Freed slaves had joined Sid's army in droves. Most of them were willing to fight with as little as a club if it would help to defeat slavery. Sid had given them spears and shields along with sufficient training to be able to hold off a charge. For each hundred men, he used a pair of veterans to train and command them.

As his army marched across the southern territories, they encountered small groups of enemy soldiers. Sid's questioning of captured officers suggested that there were less than ten thousand troops defending the southern half of the country. Freed slaves had confirmed those estimates. Not trusting the information, Sid took his time advancing south.

Sid's army was almost fifteen thousand in size and that didn't include the number of men that he had sent to reinforce Masterson or were stationed across the territory that he had taken. It was true that most of the army hadn't been in battle yet, but the number of troops was impressive. When marching, his army created a column that was almost five miles long. Sid had to employ signalmen to communicate messages up and down the column. The logistics of keeping the army fed and supplied were a nightmare. Fortunately for Sid, Peterson and Olaf were up to the challenge.

Before they had even reached the third citadel, Sid knew he was going to face a real challenge and sent a message to have Masterson return. The slavers had chosen that citadel to make their stand and hold Sid from expanding further south. Rather than wait inside the citadel, the enemy army lined up in formations of five hundred men each outside the walls. Even if he defeated the army on the field, he would still have to take down the walls to get at the citizen defenders.

The enemy army was waiting for him to arrive fully confident they had established a battlefield that favored their forces. Their plan was not to wait for Sid to get his troops arranged for an attack. They would prevent Sid from ever getting his forces aligned against them.

Sid's scouts had informed him of the situation at the citadel. Rather than marching directly to the citadel, Sid chose to camp seven miles from the citadel. It was close enough to pose a threat, but too far for the enemy to venture towards him. It took most of the day for his army to reach the camp site.

Once the camp was set up, Sid called together the fifteen commanders who were directing the fifteen brigades of a thousand men each. Also in attendance were the twenty scouts who had been working the area around the citadel for the previous ten days. Once everyone was present, Sid said, "We have a problem. They have eight thousand men waiting to meet us on the battlefield. We outnumber them at almost two to one, but we can't get more than a thousand men into the battlefield at a time. That gives them an eight to one advantage over us."

"Why can't we get more than a thousand men into the battlefield?" one of the commanders asked.

"The road is only wide enough for us to march five men across. A thousand men create a column that requires almost ten minutes to get into position. In ten minutes, the enemy can destroy those men and wait for the next thousand to arrive," Sid answered.

"So we go through the woods," suggested another commander by the name of Eric.

"The terrain is rough. There's a ridge that runs along here," Sid said pointing to a map of the area, "and that will be a beast to navigate. There is also a small river that makes it almost impossible to move siege equipment into place."

"General, do you mind if I speak my mind," Eric asked fully confident that Sid would give him permission. It was his experience that Sid listened to all suggestions and didn't reject any idea just because he wasn't the one who had come up with it.

"Go ahead."

"You're treating our men a little too kind. I've got a thousand men who were slaves less than a month ago under my command. They are not necessarily good fighters but they are anxious to prove themselves to you and to take part in destroying the enemy," Eric said putting his hands on his hips. He looked at Sid and said, "Turn them loose on the woods. They'll build you a dozen roads to that citadel. You ask and they'll cut down every tree if necessary."

"You don't say," Sid said thinking about what the man had said.

"I guarantee you that you'll be able to put twelve thousand men on that battlefield in ten minutes. The enemy won't be able to deal with that."

Another of the commanders said, "My men will be right there with them. They can't wait to engage the enemy."

"My men will act as guards in case the enemy comes out to prevent them from working. I've got the best archers in the army," another commander said with pride.

One of the two women in command of brigades said, "My ladies will be there too."

"Mine too."

"That would put five thousand troops in those woods. Why build a road?" one of the other commanders asked. He shrugged and said, "You tell my men where you want them and when you want them there and I'll guarantee you that we'll be there."

Sid knew that it was insane to march an army through the woods and expect them to be able to organize and fight. He sat down on one of the stumps and considered what his commanders were telling him. Looking over at the scouts, he asked, "Do you think you can map out fifteen routes through the woods?"

"I'm not sure that we can find fifteen, but we'll find as many as are possible," one of the scouts answered receiving nods from his fellows.

"Do it. You've got four days to map out those woods," Sid said.

"Yes, sir," the scout said. As a group, they left the meeting.

Sid shook his head and said, "I'm insane to even consider it."

The same group of individuals met four days later. Sid looked over at the scouts and asked, "What did you find?"

"We each were able to mark out a different route. Each route would take about a day for a brigade to navigate. Badger even found a woodcutters road through the woods that could be used to bring some of the siege equipment to within two hundred paces of the edge of the woods."

Badger, one of the ugliest men in the entire army, looked up and said, "There was a meadow there. It looked to me like the woodcutters used it as their break area. With slaves, you'd have an overseer watching over five to ten woodcutters. With a couple of crews, they'd need an area to feed and water them."

"Tell me about it," Sid said.

"You could actually put up some of the large siege engines in it. I figure they would be in range to launch some of those rocks at the enemy."

Laying out a map on one of the tables that Barson had brought along, Sid said, "Show me where our troops would be emerging from the woods."

Each scout came over and put a mark on the map. He examined the map and said, "There are over twenty locations marked here."

"Yes, sir. Some of the routes run over the same area, but that's okay. They diverge a little ways into the woods. There are a few of them where you should be able to carry one of the ballistae right up to the edge of the woods," one of the other scouts remarked.

"What are our chances of moving in there without being spotted?" Sid asked.

In a hard voice, Badger answered, "I've been having a little fun in the woods. I doubt they have five scouts left. They won't have any by the time you're ready to get down to business."

Sid looked over at Badger and recalled how he had gotten his nickname. The man was aggressive and once he found an enemy he didn't stop until he had taken him out. Nodding his head, Sid leaned over the map and said, "Commanders, I need some suggestions on how to pull this crazy stunt off without losing my army."

The men gathered around and tried to work out a strategy. Shaking his head, Sid said, "I'd feel better if I was able to put some cavalry to both the north and the west."

A voice from behind Sid said, "That's funny. I happen to have a cavalry."

Sid turned around and exclaimed, "Gregor! You're here."

"That's right, Sid. I'm here and I've brought two thousand of my clan," Gregor said with a smile. The entire clan had been angered when they heard of Gregor's treatment by the slavers. Although Gregor had never discussed with Sid how he had been taken, he had told his clan. They had been outraged that a warrior would be drugged while having a drink in a tavern.

Sid grinned in pleasure at the good news. Trying to look stern, he said, "It took you long enough."

Pulling out a sword, Gregor said, "It took a little time to forge this weapon. It's hungering for slaver blood. So what is your plan?"

Gesturing the man over, Sid pointed out what he was thinking of doing. Gregor listened and nodded at all of the risky points. Once Sid was finished, he looked thoughtful for a minute before he asked, "Are you crazy?"

"Yes," Sid answered in a matter of fact voice.

Gregor burst out laughing and said, "I like it. It's audacious and will be totally unexpected. They won't know what hit them."

At noon three days later, Sid sat astride his horse at the front of his army. Behind him, two hundred men were waiting for the signal to move onto the battlefield. They were the bait for the trap and each man had volunteered for the job. He raised an arm and then dropped it. From behind, a drum started beating. The sound carried over the entire area.

The two hundred men, yelling like banshees, charged down the road passing by Sid. Not one man looked at him in despair or with hopelessness in his eyes. Sid could hardly believe that men would put themselves at risk in such a manner.