Chapter 11

We had a nice meal and I made sure my new employees got a chance to do the same. Their food had previously been taken from the wagons and was being doled out for a communal meal.

When dusk arrived, the Habstner decided to call it a day. This is what we were waiting for. I called Lauren on the radio. The King, Mantoya and Artlam heard her reply. I said, "Fire at will, Corporal."

A missile flew from the launcher in front of Artlam's home and flew over the city. It arched and then came back towards the ground. Again it turned and then went past the command tent. It made another turn then returned only to gain altitude then plunge down into the tent. The tent was obliterated in flame from the high explosives and the unburnt fuel.

This was the third missile shot and the first in anger. The first two were just for practice near our home months ago.

I was in awe too and managed to say, "A very good shot, Honey."

The rest of us watched the fire quickly burn out even when there were only embers, we still stared. The Habstner seemed to be just as shocked at what had happened.

It must have been a half hour later that King Willas said, "You told me the missile would climb then go down. You said it would fly past the tent then come back to strike it. I didn't believe even a portion of that. I do now."

"Let's get rested. Tomorrow the remaining officers will get the men to attack in mass, hoping to overwhelm the defences."

"How do you know this?"

"I have had these weapons for a while now. I have thought about this fact alone. It wasn't just protecting the city but destroying the leadership of a warlike race. They see the power used and it frightens them very much. They cannot face their fear so they will attack and try to overwhelm us."

We went back to Artlam's home. Artlam needed a stiff drink before he said, "The missile did what you said it would do. What are its capabilities?"

"There's a camera in the missile. The pictures are sent to us, like the radio sends your words. A machine much like the calculator you saw can control the flight. Basically we planned this out and gave the commands to the calculator. Lauren was the one who put the commands in and then made sure they were followed. If something unexpected happened she would have taken over the control of the machine.

"This particular missile is not intended to hit other countries. It's much too small. We can program in a distance up to a maximum and this unit can avoid obstacles or hug the ground so that it can't be shot down from the air."

"It travels so fast. What can possibly hit it?"

"Another missile or a light beam."

Artlam gave me a wondering look and I said, "Like that laser I gave you, only many times stronger. Strong enough to be used as a weapon.

Again I slept in the truck. We would need to get the truck to the gates tomorrow before somebody got the Habstner fired up and ready to kill or die trying.

I think we all went to sleep early, that is except Jonna. I loved the woman. She was a dynamic force that got what was needed done. She also had to share me with a lot of girls. This may still be the case but now she had a chance to move up the social ladder and perhaps be more than a wife to a macho man.

When my clock alarm went off, it felt like I had only slept an hour. I hurried to get to the can before the girls. Through a slit we used for a window, I knew that the other truck was active too.

The stove was turned on to start a large breakfast but coffee had to come first. The girls staggered around until they had some java. When we were awake enough, Galdem and the girls from the other truck visited. Jonna was still missing but I knew she wouldn't be late for what I figured was going to happen.

There were four gates to the city. The one at the harbour was further protected by walls that led down to the river. This could be attacked but there would be more obstacles for the Habstner to pass. The northern gate was smaller though just as vital to our defences. It had not been attacked yet because of the low lying area before it and the one elevated road used to reach the it.

This left two gates that would be attacked. I was no military strategist but it made sense that more of the men would be used to take one gate while the other group was used to split our defences.

Looking at this from the Habstner viewpoint, I knew that the south gate was slightly weaker and thus received more of our sharpshooters. The logical and perhaps simplistic thing to do would be to try to draw troops to the east gate.

The Habstner could use scaling ladders or use a lot of kamikaze sappers to blow up the gate. They could also hook up the cannons and drag them very close to the gates and blast away at close range. If they had the time and the resources, they could put up a movable barrier to allow the crews to get close. The Habstner didn't know it, but we had armour piercing shells.

With the correct objective still not finalised, I figured that our real objective was to remove the maximum amount of Habstner forces from Mendab. I had heard enough talk to know that Mendab was in poor shape. Most of the major cities had fallen in a surprising new thrust. Apparently, the majority of the forces were now concentrating on Shreff. To destroy the army we were facing would mean that it would be easy to clean up the rest of the country. Allowing the forces to withdraw was not a viable solution. Killing everybody wasn't good either.

The fact that the Habstner had attacked the country so strongly suggested that other forces were at work. Other countries as well as one religious institution that would want our weapons.

All three trucks were soon in motion. The horn worked very well and people fled to get out of the way. We still moved slowly to give people a chance to survive.

Tiffany headed to the east gate while the other trucks went to the south. I found that this area was swarming with men ready to fight and Tiffany reported the same where she was. With a few kind words, we got a lot of help to remove the XM307 from the truck. Galdem then drove the vehicle away. It could do little to assist us now.

The autocannon was not heavy and we easily got it to the top of the parapet. It didn't need sandbags normally, but we were on wood and stone. Some men ran out a personnel door to use our shovels to fill seven bags with dirt. The Habstner weren't starting yet so this was a safe activity. I didn't want holes inside the walls to trip us. One of the stone blocks had to be removed to allow the barrel to transverse. We ended up needing to use the block we removed to give us the height we needed.

The roof machine gun we had removed to get into the city was now mounted nearby and then all the ammunition for it was brought up.

Tiffany was doing the same thing where she was and had Fislu and Kuenta to assist and provide security.

Artlam came to the wall an hour later and looked at what we had set up. "These look deadly, especially that thing there."

"Your people throw grenades but this can throw them two klicks."

Artlam must have done the conversion in his head and said, You could have killed everybody yesterday."

"There isn't enough ammunition and they would have run." I pulled Artlam to one side and said, "The new truck has a sawmill in it and a lot of parts to start building a ship. When my ship is done the tools can be used for you to build."

I got a smile and said, "That would make me very happy."

"And very rich. I'm pointing this out because I have given you and this city what nobody else could. If I die, this flow of goods will stop."

"Are you going out to fight?"

"Yes, but that isn't my point. Our weapons are extremely valuable. Something like tonnes and tonnes of copper. A smart man will recognise that without the ammunition all of this is worthless."

"I understand this."

"Others don't. We are going to be busy killing untold thousands today. When we are busy doing this, one or two people with knifes could kill all of my team."

"Who would do that? You are protecting our city."

"The Church, the King, even Mantoya. It's possible that even you may do this but I think that you're the least likely."

Artlam stared at me with anger then it eventually softened to the realisation that I hadn't stretched the truth. "I can see this from your viewpoint. If you are telling me this, you must have some trust in me."

"I have a lot of trust but when people see a mountain of copper they have problems seeing the other things they should see. What I want is your men to guard the backs of my people. There are a lot of rifles in this city and they work much quicker than a knife."

"You are more of a realist than I had thought. I will do this for you. If you die, how can I make a mountain of copper by selling you gold or juffa?"

Artlam went about his business now. A lot of men were called to his side and he directed them where to go. I told the others mentally though the radio would be quicker.

My trucks were aimed at the gate with the forward facing machine gun still in place. The one inch cannon was low enough to have not needed to be removed. Kuenta had her vehicle put the same way so the gates could be opened. Her missile launcher would hopefully not be needed but the mortars would be used soon. With drones in the sky, we didn't need to move this weapon from the trucks.

The Habstner were beginning to stir so both of our teams launched the drones. Everybody including the enemy stared at us wondering what was happening. When the drones took to the air then there was the usual quiet as they thought with their minds instead of their mouths.

Tiffany reported that she had some reinforcements now and they were looking for threats inside the walls. I could feel that she felt better about this.

I got an old soldier that could not see very well to assist in helping with the autocannon. This was only after finding out that he could not see in the distance. We had a lot of time for dry runs so that the procedure was understood.

Caiti and Ronnas were short handed. They would use the visuals from the drones and then adjust and load the mortar. This was a lot of responsibility on the two. They may have played with the drones a lot but they only fired a few rounds with the mortar. Adjusting it by feel was something that had to be learned with a lot of use. The same thing applied to Andis and Selna who would be doing this from their vehicle.

The Habstner came back to their cannons and we harassed them so much that they had to pull them back. This made the cannon useless. Some of the cannon crews died when their devices could not take the additional pressure of the added powder.

There were always troop movements but something special was happening now. The horses were being readied for a charge. Others saw what we saw and there was a call to man the walls. Though the Habstner wore armour, there were still people using bows. Mantoya was using the Lee-Enfields even at this range.

I hurried to Mantoya and I saw the king arrive with a glowing Jonna. I got there first and said, "We have to let the Habstner think that they found a weak spot. I want them clustered here."

Mantoya said with large incredulous eyes, "Are you crazy? They will swamp us."

"Did I tell you what the machine gun will do? The XM307 will turn their bodies to small pieces. If they don't come I cannot kill them efficiently."

"Efficiently! We are talking about the lives of all of us."

King Willas said, "What's the problem?"

"This — man wants me to let them get close."

Willas looked at me and said, "Why do you want this?"

"My weapons are very powerful. It is like using a barrel of gunpowder to kill a man. If the men are closer together, one barrel will kill many. I need to kill a lot of the Habstner or you will not be able to rid your country of them. On the other hand, we cannot kill too many or their country will fall and soon we will have a stronger opponent facing you."

"I have never heard of somebody that wanted to not kill all his enemy. I do see your idea, though. What did you intend to do?"

"The sappers will come and try to destroy the gate when they have enough powder here. An open gate will draw the majority of the infantry. I have the range to kill lots of the enemy now but if I tried, they would scatter and be difficult to kill. They need to be close so that I have enough time to work the weapons over them."

"What can your weapons do?"

"The same as what the missile did but in smaller packages. One package will kill many."

"As powerful as the missile?"

"Much more powerful. Like a thousand muskets instead of one cannon."

"What happens when the gate is allowed to open?"

"We have automatic shotguns. With smaller shot we may get more than one man each time. If the gate opens freely when the Habstner draw near the gate could be closed. I won't use my heavy weapons until they are too close to flee."

I could almost see the wheels going around in his head. My ideas were radical but my weapons were powerful. He was also at a disadvantage because he couldn't kill us and use the weapons efficiently. Yesterday's session with the sniper rifle was a good example.

He said, "What if we made a small sortie to remove the powder and the gates were left open?"

"It does the same thing for me and you have control of fully functional gates."

"Then we will do it."

It was Mantoya that asked, "Open the gates to the enemy?"

Willas said, "It was only recently that we stayed behind walls to fight. I, for one, want to meet my enemy. Especially if this will mean his defeat."

It was now Mantoya that looked defeated. Willas took the opportunity to get his men near the gates so it could be opened if and when the time came.

I said to Willas and Mantoya, "We'll kill thousands of Habstner today. What are we going to do about the few that remain? I mentioned that killing them may just bring about more troubles later."

Willas said, "What do you want this time?"

"Gather them in as slaves. Treat them as an honourable enemies and then as employees. Soon it may be you that uses them to go back to their country to straighten it out."

This stuck a resounding chord in the king. He said, "We usually try to capture an enemy for slaves. We can try a bit harder."

I thought of the aftermath and of the noncombatants. There would be a lot more killing, looting and rape. "If we kill the majority of the Habstner, the baggage train is mine. I will search it with you and all the copper, jewels, silver and gold will go to your rebuilding. Any art we will split with me getting half. You get all the weapons, the powder and the war horses. I get the rest."

Willas said, "Slaves are valuable."

"You have thousands of people not employed. Why do you want more slaves unless they are educated?"

There was more thought and then he said, "We have a deal then."

Thinking of the men of the city I said, "I will protect the baggage train with my weapons and take all actions if the enemy flees there. Tell your men about this so they fight the men and leave the women alone. I want order even in war."

"That sounds reasonable."

While the word was passed we didn't do anything but wait. It was an hour later that we saw the beginnings of a mass calvary charge forming up. Plans had already been made. Tiffany would keep the calvary away with the AK's and/or the machine gun. I didn't want her gate breached. If worse came to worse, the mortars could be used sooner.