Chapter 6: Bck movesThe Month of Ninsum Day 11 Year 675 Of the Second Holy Calendar

  On the 10th day of the month Valerius, the first division and the Red Towers border regiment departed from Fort Frances. They crossed the Rubily River which served as the Border between Red Towers and the kingdom of Bck. Valerius's forces totaled 20,000 men but they left behind 3,000 men to guard Fort Frances. He had 12,000 heavy Infantry, 5,000 Light Infantry Archers Javelin throwers, skirmishers, and finally 3,000 cavalry. Primarily composed of light cavalry he only had 1200 knights with him. They moved in response to 25,000 Redtowers soliers slowly marching toward their border. This could be seen as an unprovoked attack without approval from the council. But there was only one nation West of Redtowers the kingdom of bck therefore their target could only be them. Valerius got approval from the queen in advance. They only sent one written warning, Redtowers must march their army in a different direction unless they wanted War. Their envoy was ignored.

  Redtowers had only defended their border with the occasional scattered garrison and small fortress. These forts fell on the same day that the invasion began due to the overwhelming power of Valerius's Army. Redtowers probably hoped for a longer dey and more casualties to be accumuted on the Bck side. However, they had overestimated the morale of their garrison who were completely unwilling to die for their Country. They surrendered with very little persuasion oftentimes killing their garrison commander. As a result, Bck forces marched into Ayers, a town east of Fort Francis under the control of Red Towers, completely bloodlessly. Unless you count the garrison commanders. In total, they made 3,000 Redtowers soldiers prisoners promising to release them without ransom once the war was over.

  The enemy's low morale was a result of the poor treatment of both their entire Army and their border garrisons in general. As it was a punishment within their army to be sent to the Western border there was frequent skirmishing against the fearsome Bck soldiers. But the Bck kingdom was poorer therefore less loot and ransom. These soldiers obviously had no intention of dying for their nation.

  Valerius passed by another Vilge being looted and burned. He had long grown accustomed to it besides he had even taken part in it himself so it no longer bothered him at all. He came by once the soldiers were getting into the st part. But he knew what they had done from experience and just by looking at the smoldering ruins of the vilge.

  The soldiers had dragged the residents outside the vilge gathering them up and beating those who resisted. After that, they proceeded to systematically loot the vilge. Judging by their uniforms these were men of the first division - they'd been through this process hundreds of times. After they were done looting, they proceeded to pile all of the valuables into a spot outside the vilge.

  Once they were done, they grabbed hay from the stables or barns and with practiced movements spread it around. This was to make the fires burn quicker and to ensure that nothing was left behind. Once that was done, they finally set the vilge on fire. The fire then completely destroyed the vilge and the soldiers got to what many of them considered to be the best part.

  An Anttur prisoner had once commented that the Bcks even engaged in looting and rape in a coordinated manner, which was true. In most armies when engaging in looting, the soldiers would race for the best spoils and sometimes even kill each other over the finer pieces. They operated on a first come first serve basis; the same applied to sves and rape.

  The Bcks did not operate like this at all. Instead, the Bcks secured the city or town they were looting, first gathering the residents and restraining those who posed a potential threat. After that, they systematically loot the pce gathering all their spoils together, a portion would go to the families of the fallen and the injured. Whatever was left would then be divided among the remaining troops. Anyone caught stealing from their comrades by not sharing their loot would be hung and his family would not receive any pension.

  The Bcks even adopted a simir method when engaging in rape. They would gather the residents together restraining those who might potentially pose a threat before proceeding. Each soldier would take turns, usually on a Squad(10 soldiers) basis. The rest of the soldiers would guard the captives and the loot. Once their comrades were done they would then take their turn. They even generally selected non-virgins to preserve the value of the captives which did fall into the same category of the profits being divided but the soldiers who brought the sves would get the remaining percentage and it wouldn't be divided among the whole Army. “Rational cruelty.” Valerius had once heard Veronica call it that.

  The ptoon assigned, or rather allowed, to loot this vilge was doing exactly that. Their lieutenant was selecting which team would get to go first while her NCO was selecting their victims. Valerius called out to her right as she seemed to be finishing up assigning the teams. “Lieutenant, might I have a word with you.”He shouted. Lieutenants of any Bck Army were easily recognizable when only with their ptoons, as they were the only ones allowed to wear the Red Cloak.

  The moment she heard him she came running over. The lieutenant was a typical military woman. She cut her hair short she was on the taller side with a fair amount of muscle and a Stern face. The moment she arrived she saluted. “Sir. Is there anything wrong, sir?”

  Valerius shook his head “I was just checking out to see if you had received the special orders.”

  “Sir, me and my ptoon were ordered to loot and burn this vilge. We were told we could do it we wanted with residents and that the loot would go to the pile.”

  Valerius nodded. “Well, I just made the order. I would like you to select three of the vilgers, preferably one of them being the mayor, and hang them. Just leave their bodies after you're done.”

  The woman couldn't hide her frown but she still saluted. “Orders received, sir.”

  Valerius was about to leave when he decided to ask, just out of curiosity, “Who are you going to take?” He gestured at the captives to make his point. She slightly blushed before replying by pointing at a young man still being held in the group. “That one, sir, if you don't mind. I intend to keep him even after the war.”

  He stood up in his saddle to get a better look “Is that a boy or a girl? It's genuinely hard to tell from here.”

  “He is a boy, sir. I confirmed it for myself.”

  “Well, you can keep him so long as you follow regutions.” Regution did exist to allow soldiers to keep sves but they had to pay their comrades back for their loss. “But you're into that type, lieutenant.”

  She averted her eyes. “I'm not judging you,” he shrugged. “I'm into younger girls myself.”

  “Would you like to partake in some of our prizes, sir?”

  Valerius shook his head “I no longer take my pleasures on the battlefield ever since a woman tried to cut my cock off.” Valerius shed the reins of his horse and galloped off satisfied. His companions fell in around him protecting him from all sides as they rode.

  Companion Cavalry were 20 Elite soldiers sworn to protect and die for their charge, generally a general of the army. They did everything together. They slept together. They fought together. They died together. Valerius' companion cavalry had been constant companions for only a little while after he became a major general, but they were still close and loyal.

  The leader of his companions, Michael, rode his horse so that they were side by side. He was a big man - 7 ft tall and massive in girth but it was all pure muscle. His shaggy bck hair was covered by his helmet but not his smiling bck eyes. “General, why didn't you just admit that you don't want to cheat on Lady Luce again?” Michael asked while ughing.

  Valerius shrugged. “It would seem unmanly for me to admit that, like Luce had unmanned me.” he replied. The friendly teasing lifted his mood a bit. “Those damned Redtowers cowards.” The source of all his frustration is the fact that bad reports kept coming in from the southern border. But his ability to go to the southern border aid was hampered by the Kingdom of Redtowers. Valerius wanted a swift victory against his enemies so he could march quickly to aid the southern border. But after assembling their army, Redtowers marched incredibly slowly. They probably knew his desire to end the battle quickly and hoped he crossed the Great Alloro River. He would never do something so stupid but at the same time, his hand might be forced.

  As a result, he ordered his men to burn and loot what they could in the hopes that Redtowers would come faster. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have much effect as the enemy was still marching at a snail's pace. “If we don't get a move on the southern border will be overrun.” He said worriedly to Michael. the whole reason for their trip today was to inspect the bridge crossing the river. If his army were to cross, it would offer a perfect opportunity for the enemy to attack with his men divided by the river.

  Michael Shrugged “Isn't that why we're hanging those people?” He gestured behind him “If we can't make them come running with burning fields, we will make them come running with hanging nobles,” he said while ughing.

  “I hope it all works out that easily,” Valerius replied concerned. Ayers was a small trading town without any defenses. It primarily served as a market town for all of the nearby vilges to come and trade their food and goods. At this point, they were put on a ship in the town to sail downriver to Cachexia. It also provided other services to the nearby vilges with a popution of around 3,000. In now served as the main base of operation for Valerius’ Army.

  Just as they were entering the outskirts of town, Charles rode his usual horse, a chestnut charger, straight for Valerius. “What's up, cuz?” Valerius asked, rexed.

  Charles got straight to the point “The Irregurs have fallen. Anttur is now in the Bck Valley.”

  On the 8th day of the month, the second division departed from the capital Lapetra 11,000 soldiers in all which included two brigades and the division's knight battalion. They had been held up by the council's needless worries about an Uscan Union invasion. Only after the queen stepped in directly were they allowed to finally get going. They marched southward but they still only made it to Grastide on the 10th day of the month. There they joined up with an additional brigade and Reserve Army Brigade raising their total force to 21,000, although some of those men were unreliable.

  During the Conquest of the region by Anttur they had put most of the cities to the torch. They needed a new base to rule from and so the city of Grastide was constructed, primarily due to its proximity to Anttur and due to the bck Valley the most fertile region in the Norost mountain ranges. Grastide was once the rgest city in the region thanks to its ideal location and favorable treatment by the first Archduke. But under the incompetent rein of his son Theamor the Tyrant, the city fell into disrepair with most people leaving for the city of Lapetra in the North.

  During the Rebellion the city was one of the few that remained loyal to the tyrant because of their long-term favorable treatment by the archdukes. As a result, it had a complicated retionship with the kingdom of Bck and was generally treated unfavorably in its politics. It also fell further into disrepair under the kingdom of Bck. not only did its favorable policies end, the Bck Valley became the new frontline in a series of wars with Anttur being frequently burned down. The pne of Francis became the new most fertile region with the second being the Bck Knife River. Despite all of this, the city was still the second-rgest city in the Kingdom and an important military base for securing the Bck Valley.

  Livia Tallwood found herself in a dilemma by the time she arrived; the Anttur forces had already made it into the Bck Valley. If she rushed to reinforce the border fortresses, she could be surrounded and annihited. Meanwhile, if she did nothing the third division themselves would be surrounded in their fortresses and slowly wiped out. Normally this would be a good thing as she could lead her men to relieve them once the enemy was exhausted but they had 120,000 soldiers. The third division and her own forces put together they would still have less than 40,000. Even if the first division was to join, they still wouldn't have half the strength of the Anttur forces. She hesitated for another reason as well and that was the fact that she understood this war was no mere border skirmish. If they lost it would likely mean the end of the kingdom of Bck.

  Livia was by no means an inexperienced commander; she'd won victories both as a supreme commander and as a subordinate. But she never felt that the weight of the entire nation was resting on her shoulders; she always felt that someone, even if she failed drastically, would fix the problem. But even if Valerius was a God of War like some of his men cimed he was he would need every sword to drive off this invasion. She couldn't waste an entire division on a reckless gamble and so she hesitated till the 11th day of the month when the golden stallion decided for her.

  He split off 30,000 of his troops and they marched for Grastide; they set up camp only a mile away. She was tempted to emerge and fight him but ultimately decided against it and so the stalemate continued. She also decided to send Prince Francis who had arrived in Grastide before her and had been demanding that she March to the aid of the Bck Valley fortresses back to the capital before they were cut off.

  a map for those who are interested: https://imgur.com/C8Egt0Z