Chapter 17: The Battle of Horkustk Ris

The Grand Duke and his entourage left the capitol and crossed the Rika Chorna river in a fleet of ferries. He commented to his commanders that, if he survived the upcoming war, he’d have to build a bridge to span the river closer to the capitol. It was ridiculous to have to cross like this, in boats like common cargo.

The Danubian Royal Army already was encamped on the south bank, opposite the city. As soon as the sovereign showed up, the men began their trek southwards. There were 9,000 fighting men, plus another 2,000 wagon drivers, cooks, medics, and scouts. All of the men wore colorful ceremonial tunics with embroidered griffins as they departed the capitol. The scouts rode ahead, followed by the light cavalry and archers. The musketeers marched in the center, with the cannon crews and supply trains bringing up the rear. As they marched out of the capitol in their colorful new tunics, they made an impressive sight. Thousands of women, children, older people, and refugees watched as they left, heartened by seeing the uniforms and the soldier’s new muskets.

Silvitya and her companions rode with the other medics, dressed in the traditional gray dresses of regular female servants of the Crown. The concubines wore their traditional red scarves, but underneath the scarves their hair was braided. It was very nice to be “decent” by Danubian standards, after spending nearly a year with her hair freakishly and indecently loose. The handful of medical women contrasted with a formation that otherwise was all male. They did not ride with their sovereign, who instead was riding with his commanders, but he kept them within his sight at all times.

Silvitya and her companions knew that their ruler had brought them for two reasons. Yes, they would be needed as medics, but the Grand Duke also needed to have women for sex. He could have ordered his troops to bring him peasant girls captured from nearby villages, but he did not want to waste his soldiers’ time on such matters, nor do anything to anger or demoralize local citizens. It was just easier to bring some concubines from the castle, in spite of the personal risk he was forcing them to assume by taking them into a war zone.

In spite of his army’s new muskets and careful planning, Silvitya could tell that the Grand Duke was extremely worried. The sovereign did not expect to be attacked in the woods, but his force would have been ready had that happened. The archers immediately would vanish into the forest to cover the light cavalry or the musketeers, who would either charge or pull back and lead the enemy into a trap, depending on how the attack played out. However, because the Danubians were such skilled forest fighters and deadly archers, it would have been extremely foolish for any enemy, even the army of the Kingdom of the Moon, to challenge them in the forest.

The Danubians’ disadvantage would begin the moment they stepped out into the cleared lands of surrounding Horkustk Ris. 9,000 men may have seemed like a lot for handling any problem to a Danubian inexperienced with the outside world, but a 9,000-man army was a paltry force for Europe at that time. The Danubian Grand Duke knew that there was not a chance his army could survive a pitched battle against an enemy capable of fielding four times the number of troops and guns that his army possessed.

Silvitya knew that the Grand Duke planned to lead Lord Blood-Moon’s soldiers into a trap that would involve explosives created from the recipes she had divulged to him a few weeks before. The strategy was risky, because the enemy would have to be lured into a small area that had previously been prepared. If the enemy ended up anywhere other than the precise location where the explosives had been laid, the plan would not work. Yes, if monarch was able to successfully carry out his plans, the Danubians had a good chance of winning the crucial initial battle. However, to win that first fight, and the rest of the war for that matter, everything had to go right. How often in life does everything go right?

As soon as the troops were only a half-day’s march south of Danubkt Moskt, the ruler ordered them to stop. He ordered all of his men to take off their colorful ceremonial tunics and passed out ones that were dull brown. The Danubian griffin was embroidered on the new tunics, but with brown thread that was only a shade darker than the background. The soldiers suddenly became very drab, but also much less visible from a distance. There was another set of uniforms to be passed out: clothing that was colored like the uniforms of the Army of the Red Moon. The men muttered among themselves. They were Danubians. Why were they assuming the dishonor of dressing like the enemy?

The Grand Duke knew the men would object and was ready. He climbed onto a wagon and addressed those who could hear him. He explained the purpose of the clothing; that it was part of a carefully laid-out plan to defeat an enemy boasting a much larger force. He challenged their notion of “honor”. In war the only “honor” was doing what was necessary to safeguard the country. He concluded:

“Today, we march to defend Danubia! If we succeed in re-taking our lands, that will be our honor! If we die and our families are killed, that is our dishonor! The great King Vladik understood that! I understand that! I also understand that, as your ruler, what will honor me is not just saving our land, but also keeping as many of you alive as possible! You are not marching to die for Danubia! You are marching to kill for Danubia! You will obey me, you will kill, and you will return to your wives before the first snow! For me, that is the only honor! The rest is dishonor!”

Reluctantly at first, but then with more enthusiasm, the troops cheered their leader. The disguises were only the beginning. They did not yet know to what extent the Grand Duke was willing to force them to do “dishonorable” things in the name of defending Horkustk Ris.

The march through the woods was alarmingly short. The large stretches of forest that had defended the Duchy for centuries had been greatly reduced over the past 200 years. When they emerged into the southern province, it was obvious the time the Danubians could hide among the trees and wear down enemies with guerrilla warfare had ended. The forest was no longer large enough for hidden archers to hold back a determined enemy. Now the country would have to be defended in a more traditional manner.

As soon as they were in the open, Silvitya could see that Horkustk Ris province was not at all like the rest of Danubia. The area was mostly treeless, the architecture was different, and, more importantly, as the army moved further south, the people became different. The Danubian Royal Army passed through one village in which the majority of the inhabitants were not even Danubian. The foreigners stared at the Duke’s army with fear and hostility.

The Grand Duke got a much warmer reception when his army reached Horkustk Ris. The city was still under Danubian control, but the place was chaotic and crowded with refugees. Not wanting to risk having disease wipe out his men before they even got a chance to fight, the Grand Duke ordered the majority of the army to set up camp away from the city until he had a chance to dispose of the refugees.

The Duke, accompanied by the three concubines and his generals, entered the city. They were met by the mayor of Horkustk Ris and the captain of the city’s guard. Under escort, the group made their way to the old castle, where they would be hosted until further notice. Silvitya could tell that not long before the city had been attractive, but now was very run down.

Silvitya and the other concubines were ordered to strip, bathe, dress in their lavender concubine gowns, and await the return of the Duke. While the military wives were treated to a more traditional dinner, the three concubines were forced to nervously wait in a study for their master to return. The castle women crowded around, staring at the newcomers and talking about them as though they were three strange animals.

Protector Bulashckt showed up to take charge of the Duke’s women, ordering them to set up their medical supplies. The military wives and other concubines went to sleep, but Silvitya decided to stay with the Royal Guard while he prepared his military equipment. He had one of the new muskets, but looked at the cumbersome weapon with total disdain. Yes, it made a terrifying sound and put out an impressive cloud of smoke when fired, but it took too long to re-load and was not accurate at all. He showed the concubine how it worked and allowed her to take a couple of practice shots. The Guard let the concubine try out his other weapons and was impressed that a woman could handle them so well. Silvitya talked about her training in Sebernekt Ris. He was curious about the Duchy’s northern defenses, never having seen them in real life.

The Guard and his ward talked at length about military strategy, weapons, the Duchy’s military history, and the training given to the Royal Guards. Protector Bulashckt was impressed with Silvitya’s broad knowledge. Eventually their conversation returned to assessing the forces loyal to Lord Blood-Moon and the upcoming battle. He detailed the Grand Duke’s plan of drawing the Kingdom’s army into the city and battling them in the streets. If the enemy could actually be lured into the city, the strategy could work.

“From what I know about the Red Moons, once they think their enemies have been weakened, they charge straight ahead and don’t ask any questions until they’re done. There’s a good chance they won’t stop and worry about the explosives before it’s too late, because I don’t think anyone has ever tried luring them over such a trap in the past. I just hope they all come through the wall at once. If they’re smart enough to station, say, half of their army outside and hold them back, His Majesty’s plan won’t succeed.”

Silvitya wondered about the city itself. What would happen to Horkustk Ris?

“I don’t know. Most of it will be destroyed. His Majesty will order many of the buildings to be broken into or filled with explosives. The people will all be gone before the Red Moons arrive: His Majesty wants them away from the fighting. I suspect, if they ever come back, they will find only ashes.”

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke held a conference with the town’s mayor, a squad of Royal scouts, and one of his most trusted spies. Already Lord Blood-Moon was aware that the Grand Duke had brought his entire army to defend Horkustk Ris and seemed eager to defeat the Danubians once and for all. Lord Blood-Moon relished the chance to battle the Grand Duke, because once the he was defeated, there would be no one to defend Danubikt Moskt and the entire Duchy could be annexed.

As soon as the Duke received his briefings, he issued a series of orders. The first order he gave was for all civilians to leave the city immediately. The mayor was not surprised, given that King Vladik had ordered the same for Sumy Ris two centuries before when he decided to abandon it to the Ottomans. However, unlike his predecessor, the Grand Duke did not have the option of simply abandoning Horkustk Ris. The city was the most northern spot from where he could make his stand; abandoning it would leave open the road to the capitol and the entire Rika Chorna valley.

The Grand Duke wanted to get the civilians out of the way for their own safety, but he also wanted to use them as part of his plan to deceive the Army of the Red Moon. The next day, the Grand Duke’s generals rounded up all of the civilian men and organized them into platoons, each under the direction of an old or sick soldier from his army. Then he passed out the colorful tunics his army had worn while marching out of Danube City. The men, disguised as Danubian soldiers, would march their families out of the city and northward into what remained of the forest.

Throughout the day, refugees poured out of the city. A total of 60,000 people left. From a distance, with the men carrying fake weapons and dressed in fake tunics, it did appear as though the Danubian Army had arrived to do nothing except evacuate the town and hide in the woods.

When the enemy commander heard about the evacuation, he broke out laughing. Typical of the Danubians, those cowards can’t deal with a real fight. They’re just a rabble of scared animals that can’t stand being away from their trees. I guess we’ll have to organize a hunt.

What Lord Blood-Moon’s commanders did not know was that now, without the distraction of the civilians, the Grand Duke was ready to confront his enemies inside the walls of Horkustk Ris with his entire army. The Grand Duke ordered most of his men and equipment into Horkustk Ris the night after the civilians had left. Among the supplies entering the city were large wagons full of the explosives that would be the focus of the ruler’s plan to defeat the Kingdom of the Moon’s hoard of fighters.

The next day, the mayor and the city councilmen noted with increasing alarm how their ruler was setting up for the town’s defense. It was very obvious that the Grand Duke planned to fight his opponents inside the city walls, not outside. The Duke’s cannon crews deployed their weapons in the streets throughout the city. Even many of the cannons on the city wall were turned around and faced inwards. The men built new firing positions on the platform running along the inside of the city wall, but those also faced inwards. The men went into the houses and smashed holes through the walls to plant traps and to allow themselves to move about without having to go outside and expose themselves to fire.

Wherever there was open space in the streets, the Duchy’s soldiers dug holes and filled them with large pots of loaded with explosives. The men then covered the pots with cobblestones, while demolition crews strung fathoms of fuse line to connect them. More traps were created by packing explosives into buckets and setting them up in residences. Throughout the city, the buildings were marked with red or white splashes of paint. Red meant the building contained explosives, while white meant the building was sturdier and would be used for protection. His strategy became evident: he was not planning a battle to save the city, but instead use it to create a trap and a massacre.

The ruler ordered the cavalry units to quietly leave during the second night after the Danubian Royal Army had occupied the settlement. The Grand Duke was forced to separate his forces in a move that was extremely risky. The cavalry would hide in nearby hills and wait for a special signal from the city’s cathedral bells. To ensure the signal still could be passed if anything happened to the cathedral tower, the Duke ordered two of the church bells brought down and re-mounted at the castle.

The Grand Duke ordered his men to gather all civilian clothing remaining in the houses, especially women’s clothing. His men wondered what on earth he was planning. Women’s clothing? Yes indeed, civilian clothes would be part of the trap the Duke planned for the Red Moon Army. He explained that no Danubian Army uniforms would be worn by anyone defending the city. The soldiers would dress to make it appear as though the Duke had completely abandoned the area and that the only people left to defend it would be local citizens and city guards. To make the deception even more convincing, some of the youngest troops, boys still in their teens, would be ordered to shave and put on women’s clothing. To finish converting the younger men into “women”, they would be ordered to wrap brown cloths around their heads to emulate long braided hair. The soldiers reacted with angry murmurs, but the Duke shouted.

“This plan must work and you must obey! I know what I’m doing! As I told you before, the only dishonor is allowing those foreigners to take our land and hang us on hooks and rape your sisters and wives! Is that what you want? Or do you want to listen to me and do what I tell you?”

The men stared silently at their Duke, unsure how to react. The idea of a man dressing as a woman, for any reason, completely went against what was considered honorable for a Danubian. The Grand Duke knew that, and understood that ordering some of his troops to dress up as women would be the hardest part of his plan to implement. However, he pushed forward.

“Listen to me, and listen carefully! We will either die here or we will win! There is no other option! We cannot retreat and we cannot negotiate our way out of this city! And if we lose, I will die along with the rest of you! It’s not just Danubia’s fate at stake here, but my own! Do you think I want my life to end here? Do you think I want to be captured and hung on a hook? Our fates, whether we win or lose, will be shared, mine along with yours! So I want to win! I want us to emerge from this city victorious! I want to reclaim our land! I want the enemy to never again set foot here! And I want this land to prosper! So, where is the dishonor?”

Once again, the Duke’s cold reasoning convinced his troops to set aside their reservations about their leader’s orders. The crisis of the moment passed. The ruler would get his way and his men would obey his wishes.

As she stood at the castle window watching him implement his plans and rally his troops, Silvitya momentarily admired the Grand Duke. He was a cruel and flawed man, but he had other qualities that made him the leader the Danubians needed during the crisis. At least he was no coward. By traveling south with his army he had placed his own life in jeopardy, demonstrating that he did not value his existence any more than he valued the existence of his men. If they died, he would die. He knew it had to be that way if he expected them to follow him and his increasingly strange orders.

He made decisions and plans based on carefully assessing what resources and options were available to him. He didn’t care about tradition or protocol: his only interest was doing what he thought was needed to win the upcoming battle. In spite of his inward fear, the ruler managed to show himself as completely confident in his abilities and his decisions when talking to his troops. Silvitya knew his behavior was totally deceptive. His show of public confidence was as much a ruse as the trap he was laying for the enemy. He knew how easily his entire battle plan could go wrong. He was frightened, both for his own safety and for that of the country. If events did not work out exactly the way he anticipated, he and everyone with him would be dead in a few days. History would judge him harshly, blaming him for the fall of the Duchy.

The army of Lord Blood-Moon showed up the morning after the Danubian cavalry departed the city. They first appeared as a black mass moving under a thick cloud of dust on the southern horizon. For what seemed to be an eternity, both the dark mass and the dust cloud got bigger and bigger. As they got closer, the enemy’s individual companies and platoons could be seen. The Danubians watched as a seemingly endless horde of men moved in their direction. Hundreds ... thousands ... tens of thousands of men. Multitudes of siege cannons with their crews. Columns of horsemen. The flashing of tens of thousands of bayonets. Hundreds of black banners with the infamous red moon. This was not an army that was planning to take over a single partially abandoned city. This was the army that was going to conquer and exterminate the entire Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia.

The city’s defenders watched as several squads of enemy scouts rode close to the city, just out of range of the cannons, to see what the defenders looked like. The enemy’s observers had told their leaders that most of the Danubians had evacuated a few days before, but the city guards and some civilians remained, foolishly thinking they would hold the place for more than a few hours. Sure enough, as the scouts looked through their spy glasses, they could see the pathetic group of defenders they would be facing. It looked like the Danubians were so desperate that they actually had women on the walls with crossbows and a combination of guards and civilians manning the cannons.

The commander of the Red Moon Army decided not to even bother with attempting to negotiate surrender. If those people were stupid enough to stay behind while their leader abandoned them, then they deserved to die. And die they would. As soon as they broke through the walls, the Red Moon Army would kill everyone in the city. Any survivors would be impaled and hung on the walls. They would be the first Danubians to die ... the first out of an entire country.

Disguised as a city guard commander, the Grand Duke watched the enemy surround the city. The enemy artillery crews quickly set up their siege cannons. The Danubian ruler ordered the city’s cannons to be fired and anyone on the wall with a crossbow to try to hit enemy soldiers. The Duchy’s resistance was ineffective, as it was meant to be. As soon as the Red Moon Army had its cannons deployed, they began firing simultaneously to clear the walls. Most of the Danubians on the ramparts sought cover and the city’s resistance became even more pathetic.

Silvitya and Protector Bulashckt stood at the window watching, while the other concubines, military wives, and serving wenches cowered and trembled from the noise. The guard and the concubine observed one of the towers on the wall come crashing down from a cannon blast, then watched as two more cannonballs demolished a portion of the cathedral’s roof. Silvitya started to wonder if the Duke’s plan really would work. If it didn’t, the passageway to the keep would soon be swarming with soldiers of the Kingdom of the Moon. Protector Bulashckt looked through all of the windows and noted that no other guards were in sight. No, this was not good. Yes, he had his musket, but so what? It fired a single shot and took a minute to reload. Against a platoon of enemies it would be about as useful as a club. Muttering under his breath, he cursed the Grand Duke and his fancy new weapons.

The guard grabbed a ceremonial sword off the wall and handed it to Silvitya.

“Go down there and get yourself a guard helmet and some boots. Get me a crossbow or better yet, two if you can find them. A longbow will work, if there’s no crossbow. Also, I want as many arrows and bolts as you can bring up.”

He kicked two of the serving wenches. “Go with her. Take her to wherever your master keeps the archery supplies. She’s in charge and you will obey what she tells you.”

He turned back to Silvitya. “Remember, if you can’t find a crossbow, get me a longbow. And all the arrows you can carry. If you have to steal them, I don’t care. And don’t forget the helmet and boots for yourself.”

Holding her sword, Silvitya unbolted the heavy door to the keep. Three frightened women slipped out. One of the wenches led her companions along a secret passageway that passed the mayor’s office and led directly to the armory. A nervous-looking old city guard blocked their entrance. Silvitya was not surprised when he denied the women their request.

“Listen to me and listen carefully, old man! I come on the orders of Protector Bulashckt, who is a representative of the Grand Duke. In other words, I am acting on the Duke’s orders. If you choose to send me away empty-handed, Protector Bulashckt will have to come down and deal with you. You don’t want Protector Bulashckt coming down here and dealing with you.”

The concubine looked totally different now that she was giving orders and had a sword in her hand. The old guard said nothing more, but he opened the door to the armory. Silvitya put on a helmet and grabbed a guard tunic and pair of boots. She grabbed two crossbows that looked to be in good shape and slung them over her shoulder. She grabbed a longbow and loaded her companions down with satchels of crossbow bolts and arrows. She tossed aside the ceremonial sword and got a real one.

Lord-Creator, I hope this is enough.

A few minutes later they returned. Protector Bulashckt nodded with approval as he took the two crossbows and tested them. Meanwhile, Silvitya pulled off her dress and replaced it with a guard’s tunic. She put on the boots and the helmet, looking very strange in her new outfit. As the guard studied the course of the battle and prepared his weapons, Silvitya ordered the smartest-looking wench to serve as a lookout for the other side of the room. Then she took up a position next to Protector Bulashckt at the window that overlooked the passageway leading into the tower.

“You remember everything I taught you about the crossbow?”

“Most of it, Protector Bulashckt.”

“Good. If that passageway fills up with Red Moons, it will be our part in the war. I’ll fire, you’ll assist.” The guard looked at Silvitya. “I’ll be very pleased to have you at my side during this fight.”

“Thank you, Protector Bulashckt.”

“It’s our Path in Life, I believe, to face the enemy together. Anyhow, go calm the others and get some rest. There won’t be any rest when the Red Moons show up. I’ll call you when it’s time.”

Protector Bulashckt took off his civilian disguise and put on his colorful Danubian tunic. “I’m not hiding for this. I’m fighting as a Danubian.”

After an hour of being blasted by the Red Moon cannons, the city walls were in bad shape. The enemy commander studied the crumbling defenses, trying to figure out which spot would be the best place for his troops to force their way into the city. Finally, he settled on the city’s east gate, which seemed to be a few cannon shots from completely collapsing. It was at that point the Red Moon Army made their first serious mistake. To avoid wasting any more cannonballs, the attacking commanders ordered the cannon crews firing at other parts of the wall to cease and to prepare for the final assault on the city. Meanwhile, all the Red Moon cannons on the east side concentrated on the rapidly crumbling east gate as the ground troops massed and prepared to charge the opening.

The Danubian Grand Duke was elated. Now he knew exactly where the enemy was going to enter. The Danubians desperately rolled cannons into position in the plaza to fire at Red Moon cavalry as they stormed through the wall. Every window overlooking the east gate and the streets leading up to it was occupied by musketeers and archers, and more platoons of musketeers hid along the alleyways.

There was even time to better prepare and position additional gunpowder traps for the streets. The Danubians hurriedly moved pot-bombs and made sure the fuses would work. When the gate and the two towers overlooking it came crashing down, the Danubian Royal Army was ready.

The Army of the Red Moon sent 20,000 screaming soldiers into the city. There were 7,500 Danubian troops opposing them. As they scrambled over the wreckage of the east gate, they charged straight into the Grand Duke’s row of explosives. Precisely because Lord Blood-Moon’s soldiers were so over-confident, discipline broke down during the mad dash to get past the walls. The invaders had nothing on their minds except slaughtering Danubians. The men in the back of the formation worried that the leading platoons would do all the killing and not leave any of glory of slaughtering the city’s inhabitants for the men in the rear. Everyone was desperate to get in, so the hoard stampeded swiftly and recklessly.

The Duke had ordered a few dozen “civilians” and “women” to be near the gate when it fell. The moment the leading invading platoons saw them, the decoys retreated along the streets to lure the enemy into the city as quickly as possible. The elated invaders fired at the fleeing “civilians”, killing most of them. In spite of the loss of those troops, the ruse worked to trick the enemy into continuing recklessly towards the cathedral.

For several minutes the only noise that could be heard was the victory screams of the Red Moon Army. Thousands of Red Moon troops crammed the streets as the Danubians stayed hidden and held their fire. The invaders began setting fire to the houses closest to the entry point, adding to the chaos and confusion. The Duke smiled to his commanders. This couldn’t possibly be any better.

“Ring the bells! Doc-Doc Danube!”

“DOC-DOC DANUBE! DOC-DOC DANUBE!”

The church bells and the bells on the castle roof rang, signaling two orders at once. It was the call for the Danubian cavalry to leave its hiding place, and it was a call for the troops guarding the streets to fire their muskets and cannons and light the fuses for the street bombs.

When the cathedral bells rang, small strange sparkling fires surrounded the Red Moon army, and then there was a roar unlike anything Silvitya had ever heard before in her life. As the bells continued to clang, dozens of street bombs and cannons mixed with the shooting of thousands of muskets. Silvitya watched smoke and dust billow in the streets and dismembered bodies and body parts fly over the burning rooftops. The first roar of gunpowder died down. The women’s hearing recovered from the explosion, but the noise of the blast gave way to the agonized screaming of thousands of wounded men. For the rest of her life, Silvitya would never be able to forget the din of all those dying voices.

“DOC-DOC DANUBE! - DOC-DOC DANUBE! - DOC-DOC DANUBE! - DOC-DOC DANUBE!”