Chapter 18

We had returned to our camp and it was the next morning before anything happened and it wasn't at the bridge. The other group of Sin Loos had found their way to The Oaks and attacked. Fortunately, Jonathon's other brigades were there and ready but they were only just able to hold them off. Jonathon asked me if my cavalry could join him via the ford and go on the attack to relieve the people at The Oaks. We mounted and cantered to and through the ford. We met Jonathon and his cavalry and proceeded to The Oaks. On the way, he described The Oaks layout for us and where his troops thought the Sin Loos main body was located. When we got close, our point scouts made contact with Sin Loos and verified the location of the Sin Loos main body and its size. We couldn't take them on but could make a considerable dent in their ability to fight with our mobility and superior weapons. As we were preparing our attack, we heard that the bridge was under attack again with Mandor's force closing in on the Sin Loos to finish them.

We charged through the Sin Loos line from the side surprising them and shooting and cutting them down. Those in The Oaks began to fire their large rifles. I was later told they are called cannons. The shells those rifles fired exploded upon contact. Jonathon had us pivot to attack again. I stopped him warning him that they would be ready for our return. I suggested that we dismount and begin to take them out from the side and rear as the people in The Oaks took care of the front. We did that and Jonathon noticed that they had been ready for another mounted attack cutting back across. Had we done that, we would have lost many men and women because, this time, the Sin Loos were ready. With our main force to one side, I set about encircling the Sin Loos contingent. We shot our rifles and arrows into their position. The Oaks defenders shot their rifles and cannons into their line and slowly advanced. The Sin Loos had lost over a third of their men when a white flag was waved. One of my squad leaders advanced with a white scarf tied about his sword. The Sin Loos offered us a chance to surrender.

My squad leader laughed and said, "I think we will continue to fight." He turned away to return to our people. He was shot with an arrow in his back. The shooter and the one who had met him were themselves immediately shot and killed. With our rifles, we could take out the soldiers from a longer distance. Firing began and continued rapidly downing the Sin Loos soldiers one after another. The explosions were particularly damaging because those cannon shots came in an arc landing behind cover and killing more than one frequently. After two hours, we had whittled the numbers down by almost half. Twice in the last ten minutes, one of the Sin Loos had raised a white flag but I had one of my sharpshooters shoot it from their hands. Another half hour went by.

Finally, the arrows stopped, the Sin Loos began to stand with their hands raised in surrender. I shouted out, "Those of you who truly want to surrender should walk toward the sound of my voice. Because you shot my squad leader under a flag of truce, we will only accept an absolute, unconditional surrender. You have shown yourselves without honor and will not be treated with honor for that reason."

They began to walk forward with their hands raised. I warned, "If you have a weapon of any kind even a pocketknife, stop now and drop it. Anyone with weapons will be killed." Two or three stopped and removed knives from their sheaths or pockets. There were a lot of them. I had two men go out and pat each one down to verify that none had a weapon. They found only one exception and he died immediately. As they were checked out, they were told to strip and walk forward. When they reached our line, they were tied down. Naked, they were easy to identify and naked men don't make good warriors. There were still men left after the surrender. The Oaks used their cannon for a few minutes and the rest began to stand and raise their hands in surrender. When they reached the dead man who hadn't removed all his weapons, I shouted for them to stop and strip completely naked before coming further forward. They didn't like that but these were the holdouts. One turned around and ran back. He was shot after five steps. I had one come forward to me. I asked, "Are there any left?"

He looked angry and nodded. I said, "You can talk to me or die. It really doesn't matter to me though it might to you."

He looked stunned. He said, "You are Handor. You are a Sin Loos. Why do you fight against us?"

"I am Handor but I am no longer a Sin Loos. I am a Virginian. I fight against you because you attacked allies of mine. Now, answer my question."

"There are a few still back there. They say they won't surrender to a traitor who denies Sin Loos values."

"How many?"

"Ten or twelve is all."

"Okay. Lay down. You will be tied up and placed with the rest of the prisoners." He did as he was told. The rest of the prisoners were tied. I told my sharpshooters to find the remaining Sin Loos and take them out. The cannon had stopped for lack of targets. We remained back as my men took their shots. I told two squads that we would mount shields and head in to finish clearing any remaining Sin Loos. We started in using shields that would protect against arrows. We slowly walked forward spread out across the open area and into their camp. An arrow came out and hit a shield. Sharpshooters filled the area with bullets and a body fell. We continued to move forward looking for remaining fighters. The seven of them died to a man trying to kill one or more of us. We went through the entire camp and verified that no one was there or hiding anywhere. I went over to the line that The Oaks defenders had used and waved to them shouting that it was all clear.

My radio operator told me that The Oaks operator had informed our people at the bridge of our success. I had the prisoners gathered and taken into The Oaks. I was asked why some were naked and I said that those prisoners didn't surrender at first and their disposition might be different. The people there would remain watchful and my men and I would remount and return to the bridge. It was dark when we arrived. After being identified by Mandor's men, we went to camp planning to rest until the morrow.

Jonathon told us by radio that he wanted to finish this attack without further delay. With my men present, we could block any retreat. Early in the morning, the cannon began to boom and the loads began to explode in the Sin Loos camp. We had the camp surrounded and shooters were ready to kill any who tried to escape. Surrendering by the Sin Loos would be acceptable. I knew that some would but that many wouldn't from misplaced pride or pride in their nation.

The cannon shells were exploding in the camp and all across the river were out of range for their weapons. They turned toward us as possible targets. We began to shoot and they quickly realized that they were surrounded and out gunned. Slowly, in ones and twos, we received surrenders. A few were shot in the back as they raised their hands and dropped their weapons. For a while, the fighting was internal as those who wanted to surrender fought those who refused. The cannon never ceased to bombard the camp and we tried to pick off the hardcore individuals we could see. Two hours after the fighting started, the first group rose to come forward and surrender as a group. We allowed them to approach wary for tricks. The ones at the back had retained their weapons and were sending arrows back into camp. Once they were close to us and out of arrow range, they dropped their weapons, too. Mandor sent four men to pat them down and send them further into our camp to be held.

Our shooting had diminished for lack of targets. The cannon shells began to land closer to our lines eliminating more targets and cover. Two hours later, Jonathon stopped the cannon fire. Mandor had his men move forward with shields to look for survivors. There weren't many. Some of the dead weren't recognizable as men any more. Their bodies were so mangled from the cannon shells and missing parts. It was a horrific scene. Finally, the all-clear signal was given and Mandor and I met up with Jonathon and Mickey.

I said, "We are all together but not quite the way we had planned. We have been successful against a large force and defeated them utterly. We have to deal with prisoners before we go on. We will have to have some scouts out as soon as we can. I can have my horsed brigades on the road within an hour. My plan would be to have two squads out front to mutually support each other with the rest of the brigades behind them. If that suits, Jonathon, I will see to that now."