Chapter 39: Important Events

Kyle smiles when the new Shiloh settlers arrive, Nathan sent his best assistant to manage the base, along with one hundred and fifty people (many specialists like blacksmiths, carpenters, leather workers, etc.) to work the compound and surrounding farmland, as well as another four and a half companies. This gives Kyle twelve companies to work with. The extra troops are available because they now know they don’t need large patrols covering the eastern or southern borders and a lot of volunteers for the force arrived from the people of the new farmlands. The many indentured workers frees a lot of the regular workers as well.

While the new workers get settled in and organize the interior of the compound to how they want it Kyle puts Larry to work supervising the construction of the exterior defenses while the other militia leaders talk about realigning the army now they have more troops.

Kyle has long talks with his five local generals. Their casualties have been replaced by trained volunteers from the camp workers and the new people, so all of the companies are now back up to full strength. The first result of the talks is for the companies to retain their current identifying letters while H Company is brought to full strength with the new companies being given the next letters in the alphabet. Two of the new companies are sent out on patrols to the east to check the land between what’s now being called One Dog Creek and the Gray River. Another company is sent to check out the valleys between the fort and the old Shiloh border. People are already calling this fort Shiloh East. A fourth company is checking the valleys east of the fort.

After much discussion the regiments are changed to five companies in each regiment with two generals to command them. The lead general is a two star and the second in command is a one star. Companies A to E now comprise the First Regiment of five hundred and twenty-seven officers and men, while the Second Regiment is the same size and has companies F to J. For now the Third Regiment is two companies, K and L, with a one star general in command; they’ll stay at Shiloh East and conduct the patrols of this area while the others are to continue with the campaign against the Black Army.

Kyle smiles when he sees the new compound manager making some changes to the protective ditch. This ditch has a long slope into it the same as was made at Shiloh, but he’s having about two thirds of it dug out and roofed over so it becomes a series of low stock shelters with slopes between them. The sides of the shelters are made from fired adobe bricks and the wood roofs are covered with fired tiles before being finished with earth and sod. When asked he says, “Lord Kyle, all our defensive ditches are being made this way now, as they give shelter to the animals in winter or big storms. The ditches protect them from the direct storm winds while the shelters keep them out of the rain and snow; they also provide some warmth. If need be, we have easy access to spread hay and grain in them as well.” Kyle nods his agreement to this improvement. He also notes they now have fences up to mark the fields on both sides of the ditches, as well as control stock movement on the roads and the slopes. He has the drain to the lowlands enlarged.

About six weeks after the new people arrive the compound defenses are finished and a company is provided to escort the prisoners to Shiloh for distribution over the whole area. Scouts are back and the Third now has a set of regular patrols to cover the whole eastern border to One Dog Creek. The only Black Army activity found is a half built fort on the other side of the creek, just short of the mountain forest. All the local farming communities are happy to be included in the lands controlled by Shiloh and are now protected against the Black Army. With all here now secure and set up Kyle decides to take the First and Second Regiments to deal with the half built fort. This is going to be a huge raid, so supplies are taken on pack horses and not in the wagons.

Eleven hundred riders on twelve hundred horses is a large column, but it’s also a lot faster and maneuverable than having the wagons with them. Kyle has one thousand and fifty-four officers and men with Larry and Nadia acting as advisers to the Regimental commanders, KK as his assistant, and forty-two camp workers with one hundred pack horses carrying extra arms as well as food and cooking equipment. It’s a large group and they spread out as they move. One company is scouting in front and another is watching their rear, with the main column in five abreast. It’s an impressive sight when they move across the plains.

Ten days after leaving Shiloh East they reach the valley before the one where the new enemy fort is being built. Kyle and his leaders are in the scrub just below the east side of the ridge between the two valleys while they view the work in the middle of the open area below. For several minutes they examine the work in progress and the camp there.

Finally Kyle says, “This looks like they’re making a duplicate of the base at Collective, but without the town beside it. I don’t understand why it’s not a more secure facility!” No one else has any ideas on why.

KK asks, “Isn’t the usual process to put your strongest bases near your places of main concern and then have lesser ones further out?”

Kyle turns to her, “Yes, it is! You always put your best forts at the most important points, unless it’s at a critical crossroads or similar.” His voice trails off toward the end of his words. A moment later he turns to a soldier and asks, “Digger, you’ve been watching them for the last couple of days and were part of the scout group who found them, what’s their routine?”

The soldier called Digger replies, “Yes, Lord Kyle. The cooks start getting the food ready of a morning, but they wait for dawn and check the area before they call the troops to eat in two relays. Then the others get to eat. They work until almost dark before the troops eat in relays and then feed the workers as the twilight falls. While the troops eat the workers must wait in their camp area. They seem more alert at the early meal than the one at day’s end.”

Kyle watches for a moment more and says, “Generals, you’ve got ten minutes to come up with a plan for dealing with them.” The four generals move away a little and have short discussion.

They return to where Kyle is and General Phillips says, “We think it best we hit them while the first relay is having their evening meal and the workers are in their camp. It’s only just on lunch, we can be ready to go today. Unless you’ve an objection to it, we think a straight forward cavalry charge through the enemy military camp area. Four waves of two companies as the camp is only that wide, with another company going to each side to use bows and arrows on any the cavalry miss.”

Kyle sits and thinks for a moment while looking over the site. The walls of the fort are in place, but no gates or fighting platforms. Guards stand in the gateways. The workers’ camp is inside the fort to make it easier for the Black troops to stop them leaving. The pits and trenches on the east and southern sides are dug out and the area to the north is being worked on, while the main troop camp is on the west side, the side the Shiloh force is on. It’s clear they see the west as being the safest side. They mustn’t know about the loss of the fort just taken. He thinks on this and the earlier talk as he considers how the plan is likely to play out. He also considers where the main enemy control center may be. Turning to the generals Kyle says, “Detail some people to take out the guards in the gateways. Feed your men and get organized to do battle. We’ll watch from up here.” The generals all nod acknowledgement and slowly move away to talk to their troops. They move slow so as not to be seen and alert the enemy they’re there by moving the bushes too much.

A little later a couple of camp workers bring cold meat and water to where Kyle and the others are sitting and watching. As they eat Kyle says, “We know the generals now know how to do their jobs well. This battle will show the troops they do, too. The men who heard us talk here will tell the others this is all the generals’ plan, so they’ll have more confidence in their work in future. That’s why I don’t want us involved in this one.” The others nod their understanding of his reasoning, as they were confused about why he was keeping them out of the battle.

Many hours later, when the first set of Black Army troops collect their meals and sit down to eat, Kyle sees movement to the south. The Shiloh Army is moving into sight as it rounds the end of the ridge he’s sitting on. He smiles when he sees the formation, he had wondered if they’d charge in line abreast or not, and they’ve chosen to charge in lined columns. Each platoon is in two lines of thirteen with the officer in the front left corner, the lines are about four feet apart and there’s a horse length between troops in each line. The Company Commander is riding in the middle of the line his unit forms, but behind them so he can see what’s going on. The Regiment’s Second in Command is in line with and between the two Company Commanders of his line, with the others behind them in the same layout. This will allow the troops to ride through the camp and lance the enemy, there’s just enough space for each trooper to pull aside after using his lance, so the others can pass him and he can recover his lance and join the end of the line. On each side of this large block formation is a company riding in five abreast column. These men will cover the flanks.

The Shiloh troops ride on, working up to a gallop. Listening hard Kyle still can’t hear the sounds of the horse’s hooves while they race along, they’re just a bit too far away - at the moment. But it’s easy to tell when the force is noticed by the enemy, when people jump up while yelling and dropping their food for weapons. Those not eating head for their horses hobbled in the grass area just north of their camp.

The Shiloh men are almost up to the camp when Kyle gets a big surprise, the front line don’t use their lances, but fire their short bows while still short of the camp and ride through it firing at the enemy troops near them; most of these men are standing their ground with swords in hand, so the use of the bows allows the Shiloh men to deal with them from outside of sword reach. Once through the camp and coming up on the men running for their horses he hears whistles blow and the men switch to lances to take these troops from behind. As the first line passes through the camp most of the remaining enemy troops in the camp put their swords away and reach for their bows, looking up just in time for the next line to take them out with lances. This is not one of their previously planned maneuvers, but it will be in future, Kyle likes it and the effective way it deals with the troops on the ground.

Movement in the corner of his eye causes Kyle to look to his left. He can see armed horsemen moving out of the tree-line of the forest about a mile and a half from the camp and they’re forming up for a charge. He puts his whistle to his lips and blows ’Left flank’ and ’Danger.’ He watches as all the generals look up at the forest. More whistles blow.

The Second Regiment changes course, as does the company on the left flank. Riding hard at the new enemy the troopers of the second respond to the whistles and realign on the move. They soon form two long lines for a standard cavalry charge. The company covering the left flank splits into two and half of the company joins each line. In the time it takes the regiment to reform several hundred enemy cavalry ride out of the forest. Kyle wonders how no one had found or seen them hiding there. Then he has an epiphany and thinks this is a relief force that’s just arrived at a bad time for his men.

Most of the enemy in the camp are dead, as are the guards at the nearest gateway and the troops of the First are finishing off those left alive while a platoon from the company on the right flank are galloping through the fort to ride down the enemy running away from the other gateway. The enemy don’t get far before being lanced from behind.

Whistles are blowing commands among both of Kyle’s forces while their leaders react to the changing situation. One company of the First rides hard toward the new enemy, but aim a bit off to the side, another turns to recheck the camp while two companies leave the camp area to form up in line for a cavalry charge as a third line.

The enemy form into the usual Chaos cavalry charge line and are soon spread out quite a bit while the Shiloh people constantly look up to keep their lines even. The company riding to the side suddenly stops and the troops raise their longbows. All smile when they see bowmen ready to fire at this range, the enemy because they thinks it’s a waste and the Shiloh people because they know they’re coming into range.

The bowmen allow for the enemy movement as best as they can and get away three flights before they stop to not risk hitting the Shiloh troops. The arrows fall among the enemy and cause pandemonium.

The three hundred arrows falling into the charging force in what’s effectively blind fire don’t score many hits on the men, only about sixty are hit and most of those are wounds only, not kills. However, about half of the fired arrows do strike horses and they rear up in shock and pain. Many of their riders are killed when thrown from the saddle, some are only injured and some retain their seat while they fight for control. But the real damage is in how this disruption breaks up the charge and slows down the horsemen behind the horses and men hit.

The Shiloh men raise their lances and the lines meet. The Shiloh troops in the front line are quick to grab their second lance, but some aren’t quick enough and get cut at by passing swordsmen. The enemy troops that get through the first Shiloh line don’t have time to regroup before the second Shiloh line is upon them. For just a brief moment a lot of the Shiloh troops are fighting with their swords while they pass through the back of the enemy formation. What’s left of the enemy is slow to turn to follow after the troops of the Second when the line of First Regiment troops reaches them. The enemy didn’t expect those busy with the camp to be finished there yet and to join in here, they suffer badly from not keeping an eye on the whole battlefield as almost all are lanced in the side or back by the arriving First Regiment troops. The First grab their second lance and continue across the battle field to finish the enemy still on horseback or standing on the ground.

A few minutes of bloody fighting and it’s over. Men ride back across the ground using their short bows to confirm the enemy are dead. Some stop to check on fallen mates, while those wounded and still on their horses head toward Kyle’s position because the camp workers and medical staff are just behind the ridge. Kyle turns and sees the medical staff moving down the ridge as fast as they can manage in this brush. When they reach the open grass below they move to a gallop with their pack horses trailing them. They stop a little short of the battlefield and are soon set up to help the injured men and horses.

The civilians that Kyle thinks of as forced labor walk out of the fort to see what’s happening and soon have stunned expressions when they see the extent of the enemy dead lying across the plain.

The Shiloh camp workers are moving down the hill to help with the injured and to organize meals. One of them stops by the command group because she’s leading War Bonnet and the other horses the leaders ride. KK gives War Bonnet a suitable greeting before mounting up to ride down to take over command of their camp. The others mount up to follow her.

Kyle is not that happy, because he sees way too many of his people lying on the ground, but he’s made happier every time he sees another of his people help one stand and get on a horse to be taken to medical help. He diverts to where the civilian workers are standing near the gateway. When he pulls up one of the workers asks, “Who are you?”

“Forces of the Shiloh Militia,” is Kyle’s response.

“You know the other members of the Black Forest Clan will not like you killing their people and will seek to hunt you down and kill you!”

This is the first time Kyle has heard this name, so he now suspects it’s this Clan that’s the core of Carl’s army. He asks, “Who is this Clan and what do you know about them?”

“They live deep in the forests and mountains for a few miles here, but mostly to the west. Most of the time they live by robbing people on the plains. I was taken from my farm, several miles east, a couple of weeks back. It’s been many years since they were this active or went so far east. The Clan is very large and there’s thousands of them.”

“Thank you for the information. We’re from Shiloh, a large ranch and farm many miles to the west, over near Riverview. These people entered our lands and have killed our people and stolen our property, so we’ve declared war on them and are hunting them down. Some of those we caught said they called themselves the Black Army and are taking over this whole area. We’re out to stop them, dead. So far we’ve taken about two thousand farm boys they’ve forced to work for them as prisoners and killed around six thousand of their hardened fighters like these, plus this lot today.”

“Damn! If you’ve killed that many of the Clan core members then you’ve probably killed most of them. The best estimates anyone has made on them is around the range of six to twelve thousand men. You don’t have to worry about the women, because most of those are kidnap victims, it’s their men that are the trouble. But their major centers are in hidden valleys in the mountains and are hard to find. I know, as I was part of a force from the Jones Citadel that came up here to deal with them a few years back. I liked one of the local women and stayed.”

Kyle slowly nods as this explains why he knows so much. “Did you know Gerald Jones died and his nephew Sid is his heir. He’s a lot like his uncle, but he’s busy fighting slavers looking to take over the world.”

“I’d not heard Gerald was dead. After the campaign against the Clan I’d had enough of fighting and that’s why I chose to stay near here with a good woman. Thanks for letting me know about Gerald, I liked him.”

“Something else you may wish to consider. Since this campaign has started the lands under the protection of Shiloh have grown a lot when many smaller communities have asked to join us. We’ve been taking over the forts the Black Army had built and we captured. The first two we turned over to the communities they were built beside. But the last one wasn’t near a community so we’ve turned it into a compound for us to operate from. At the moment our official border here is the deep stream just west of here that runs down toward the town of One Dog, we call it One Dog Creek. The other borders are the Gray River, the Red River, and the mountains ridges. All inside that area have asked for and been given protection, they also pay levies to pay for the upkeep of the protection. We’ve no intention of coming this side of the creek, except to deal with these killers, unless asked to extend control this way. If you need help, send word via Riverview, Collective, Sable, or Shiloh East - which is a large fort just below the mountains a few miles west of here. Our troops patrol up to the creek, so you may also see them around there.” His listeners nod while he talks. “On another issue, we wish to destroy this fort and its defenses. We’d like your help in doing so. When it’s all done we’ll let you have your pick of the captured horses and weapons to get you home, as well as give you some food to eat along the way. But you may leave now without any of that.”

They move off to talk among themselves. Kyle moves off to see how things are going and to talk to Dana about what he’s just learned regarding their enemy. It does explain their extreme attitude.

Dana has his reports in and is waiting for Kyle. He says, “Our loses are thirty-eight dead and seventy-nine wounded. Most from sword cuts after they used their lances, nearly all are from the Second Regiment. Also, we’ve over ninety horses needing treatment with six being killed as their wounds are so bad they won’t recover. The new force from the forest had one thousand, one hundred and eighteen in it and the force in the camp had seven hundred and fifty-five. All dead. The pits and trenches don’t have any spikes, so we’re throwing the dead enemy and horses in them. The camp workers are setting up camp and looking to feed us and the civilians. They’ve already taken charge of the food the enemy had and are preparing some horse stew for today’s meal.”

While nodding Kyle responds, “I’m not happy with our losses, but we have to accept them, because people do die in war. Tell all the troops I’m proud of how they responded to the appearance of the new force. They fought well. I’m fairly certain that force wasn’t hiding in the forest, but just happened to arrive at a bad time for us. One of the civilians knows a lot about them and says these hardcore fighters are part of the Black Forest Clan, their core lands are in the mountains around here and to the west. They’re a large clan of organized brigands. We need to find and eliminate them in their hidden valleys. We need to do two things right now. First, set a very good and strong guard to watch the tree-line, I suspect there are entrances to hidden valleys without roads to them on the other side of those trees. Two, we need to send a company to Shiloh East to warn them about the Black Forest Clan and tell them I suspect the enemy has large forces near them as their main headquarters is likely in a hidden valley behind the forest there. They need to keep a strong force on hand and to keep a good watch.”

“Shit! I’ll get F Company moving right now, they had our right flank and did next to nothing. I’ll order them to stay at Shiloh East until we get there.” Kyle nods and moves off to talk to the other leaders, letting them know of this new danger. None like what they’re hearing, but all like the fact they must be making major inroads into the Black forces.

A little later Kyle is quietly eating his dinner of horse stew while he thinks about the Black Forest Clan. Due to the name he thinks they may be descended from Huns who lived in the Black Forest of Germany. He figures they’ve killed between nine and ten thousand of the Clan’s men. If the initial estimate the other man heard is correct there can’t be more than a few thousand left. Also, it would appear the Shiloh troops have taken over control of most of the lands the Clan controls. Thus it’s likely the only ones left are in a few hidden valleys. All it’ll take is finding them and eliminating them to finish Carl’s army. He thinks he’ll also find the portal Carl has while doing that.

The next morning the civilian workers are very happy and very busy filling in the holes they’d been digging before the Shiloh force arrived. The combined force works so hard the trenches and pits are filled up in just three days. The next day is spent pulling out all the logs making the fort walls and filling those holes with dirt. The area now looks like a big field ready to graze stock on, but with a few dirt patches and bumps.

While Kyle is thinking about what to do with the logs a few of the workers approach him and a spokeswoman asks, “Lord Kyle, may we take some extra horses to drag many of these logs home to use on our farms? These are good woods and are very useful to us.”

Kyle smiles as he replies, “Certainly. If you want them, take them. I just don’t want them left lying around for them to put up again.” They walk away, smiling. Kyle walks over to tell Dana and the others so they know what’s going to happen with the logs and horses.

Organizing for the people to take the logs means they stay at the site for another few days, but Kyle and Dana think it’s worth the delay. Ten days after the battle the Shiloh force is ready to move out. The civilians left two days ago and now the Shiloh people are leaving. They stayed a couple of extra days to ensure the civilians got a good distance away without being immediately chased by the Black Forest Clan. Kyle is sorry he can’t escort them all the way to their homes, but they should be safe, for now. He has other concerns to deal with for his own people’s safety.

Kyle’s force reaches Shiloh East and settles in for a nice break. The people received the warning and have since seen some movements just within the tree-line, they’ve also limited access to the fort to Shiloh people they know. The compound leaders discuss the situation with the militia leaders and they decide the militia will rest up here for a couple of weeks to provide security while the first twenty yards of the trees of the forest to the north of the compound are cut down.

One of the compound’s leaders asks, “Lord Kyle, why do you want the trees cut down, but the stumps left in place?”

“Removing the trees denies them their use as cover to watch us and leaving the bottom foot or so of stump means they have to take care walking their horses through the area before they can mount a charge. It should give you more time to see them before they can get a clear run at you. The same as putting obstacles in their path. If they choose to come out the sides of the forest onto the roads, then they’re starting further away from you and giving you more time to get ready, as well,” is Kyle’s response. Looking at another leader he adds, “Use the logs and cut lumber to strengthen the gateways and walls. Put another layer of logs along the inside of the walls, but lay them down on top of each other the way we do with the bricks. You’ll lose some inside space and have to add some uprights to hold them in place, but they’ll spread the force of any attack across a larger area to make breaking the wall down ten times harder. You need only do this for the bottom half to two thirds of the wall. Reduce the size of the gates to one wagon wide and make the rest of the space solid like the rest of the wall.”

The next day the work starts. One company provides cover while a work crew starts beside the road to the east to cut down a section the depth they want, working west. A similar group also starts work at the western road end. The logs are dragged away from where they’re cut down to a point near to the compound and are trimmed there with suitable firewood being taken inside to be used and the waste dumped in one area for later burning. The cut logs are then sorted and used to build the changed gate areas first. Once they’re built the logs are taken inside and moved into the buildings where the work making the walls stronger can’t be seen from outside the compound.

It takes a month for the trees to be cut down and dragged away. Lots of individuals are seen deeper in the forest watching them, but no one approaches the work crews. When all the logging is done and the gates rebuilt Kyle leaves the First Regiment at the compound and leads the Second Regiment back to Shiloh for some rest. The trebuchets are left in the compound as extra defenses, because they can shoot over the walls. More packs of small rocks are made for them as well.

After a long ride home the weary force rides into Shiloh on a cold and windy morning with a light rain falling. While they cross the bridge Kyle looks down into the trench. He sees the berry bushes are growing well, the water in the bottom is flowing, and the animal shelters put in since he was last here have stock taking shelter in them. He smiles at the useful addition to his design. The residents are glad to see Kyle and the troops safely back, as scouts had warned them half the force are still in the field at Shiloh East.

When all are in the compound and formed up Kyle addresses the troops, thanking them for their hard work before giving them all four weeks leave. He also informs them they have to reform and relieve the First Regiment at Shiloh East after their leave.

After taking a day off to relax Kyle is soon back at work in the Shiloh compound while he checks where the potters and blacksmiths are up to. They’ve five kilns built, one made with fired clay bricks, one made from ceramic coated bricks made in the first kiln, and three made with ceramic only bricks. They form a half circle near the back wall of the smithy, where two people are employed to keep the fires hot by feeding them from inside the circle while those using the kilns work on the outside of the circle. They’ve already got a good supply of kaolin clay ceramic pottery for household use, thus allowing them to reuse the metal in some of the pewter household goods.

The main task Kyle has to teach the potters is how to make the very fine ceramic cutlery. He uses the fine wood shapes the carver has for knives, forks, and spoons of various sizes to make molds to place the high quality ceramic mix in and fires them at the highest temperature the top kilns can reach. After the implements are fired he places them in other molds made of hand grips and pours a mixture of the local rubber into the molds to provide the implements with a large handle to grip.