them?" Pat asked. "If they gain the Neiper, sooner or later they'll flank us above the ford and jump between us and the Roum, wilderness or not, no matter what John says."
He looked over at Julius, who was intently listening to the debate, nodding in understanding as a translator explained the rapid-fire conversation.
"We must stand together," Julius said. "It is like our facies: one stick alone and we are broken, three united and we will stand."
"Suppose they don't strike here at all, but move on Roum instead?" Kal asked rhetorically, knowing that that question had been debated endlessly and was still up in the air.
"Difficult. If they send everything, we could always move against Cartha and liberate what is left," Andrew replied. "Beyond that it'll double their distance of march, and we'll still be in their rear. Going through us and then on to Roum is the direct route, otherwise it'll be a campaign of over fifteen hundred miles.
"Sherman did it on foot," Andrew continued. "But we've already laid that plan to rest. From what we've heard the Merki are afraid to give us another year, so the campaign will come straight at us."
"Our patrols down through the narrows in front of Cartha show they have moved at best one umen, maybe two, across the channel," Hamilcar said through his translator.
"Give me another year," Chuck interjected, "and they'll regret it."
Andrew nodded and smiled. What he wouldn't give for another year, or another five years. But then it was always that way, there was never enough time.
"We can expect at least some sort of feign run up the cast side of the Inland Sea towards Roum. Fifth corps will stay in Roum, while the 4th is positioned in Rus as our strategic reserve. When 6th and 7th Corps under Vincent are fully mobilized in Roum, we'll shift them as need be. Undoubtedly they'll feign in that direction at the very least, but I want to focus on what we do here. For the last six months we've invested all our strength in fortifying this line."
Andrew looked back at Hans.
"I'm merely saying it as I see it," he replied sharply. "And I'm telling you that when they hit they'll come at us with everything. They're under time pressure, just as we are. That Horde is huge--it's a vast eating machine of horses and of Merki and if they stop they'll starve to death. John, what's the quartering ability of horses for this type of land?"
"Well, as near as we can figure," John said quietly, "it comes out to something like twenty-five acres to support one horse for a year on grassland. Now that's for year-round, mind you. In late spring you could most likely graze twenty of them on an acre for a day or two, but you'd need a good two weeks or more before you could use that again. So, doing some rough figuring, the settled area of Rus is about the size of Maine, about thirty thousand square miles or so. It could barely see the Merki through a season—and that's just for the horses, mind you, as to what they eat." He fell quiet.
"The Tugar Horde was a third their size," Hans said quietly, "and starvation was getting to them as well by the time the siege ended, and there was a hell of a lot of Rus territory where they controlled the harvest. Jubadi is no fool, we've seen that already. He knows he'll have to strike and break us before summer even sets in, and he needs to get all the way to Roum before fall and break them as well, otherwise he's finished.
"That's why I'm worried. I hate it when I'm fighting an enemy who might be every bit as desperate as I am, or more so. The rebs showed us that: Those bastards were kicked into the ground, and they still kept coming back for more."
"We can't forget that we are desperate," Hans said quietly, "but never forget that Jubadi knows us—Muzta and the Tugars did not. He's desperate, and he'll not make the same mistakes."
Andrew sat back in his chair, looking around the room, which was quiet except for the clattering of the telegraph key in the next room.
Too much had
He looked over at Julius, who was intently listening to the debate, nodding in understanding as a translator explained the rapid-fire conversation.
"We must stand together," Julius said. "It is like our facies: one stick alone and we are broken, three united and we will stand."
"Suppose they don't strike here at all, but move on Roum instead?" Kal asked rhetorically, knowing that that question had been debated endlessly and was still up in the air.
"Difficult. If they send everything, we could always move against Cartha and liberate what is left," Andrew replied. "Beyond that it'll double their distance of march, and we'll still be in their rear. Going through us and then on to Roum is the direct route, otherwise it'll be a campaign of over fifteen hundred miles.
"Sherman did it on foot," Andrew continued. "But we've already laid that plan to rest. From what we've heard the Merki are afraid to give us another year, so the campaign will come straight at us."
"Our patrols down through the narrows in front of Cartha show they have moved at best one umen, maybe two, across the channel," Hamilcar said through his translator.
"Give me another year," Chuck interjected, "and they'll regret it."
Andrew nodded and smiled. What he wouldn't give for another year, or another five years. But then it was always that way, there was never enough time.
"We can expect at least some sort of feign run up the cast side of the Inland Sea towards Roum. Fifth corps will stay in Roum, while the 4th is positioned in Rus as our strategic reserve. When 6th and 7th Corps under Vincent are fully mobilized in Roum, we'll shift them as need be. Undoubtedly they'll feign in that direction at the very least, but I want to focus on what we do here. For the last six months we've invested all our strength in fortifying this line."
Andrew looked back at Hans.
"I'm merely saying it as I see it," he replied sharply. "And I'm telling you that when they hit they'll come at us with everything. They're under time pressure, just as we are. That Horde is huge--it's a vast eating machine of horses and of Merki and if they stop they'll starve to death. John, what's the quartering ability of horses for this type of land?"
"Well, as near as we can figure," John said quietly, "it comes out to something like twenty-five acres to support one horse for a year on grassland. Now that's for year-round, mind you. In late spring you could most likely graze twenty of them on an acre for a day or two, but you'd need a good two weeks or more before you could use that again. So, doing some rough figuring, the settled area of Rus is about the size of Maine, about thirty thousand square miles or so. It could barely see the Merki through a season—and that's just for the horses, mind you, as to what they eat." He fell quiet.
"The Tugar Horde was a third their size," Hans said quietly, "and starvation was getting to them as well by the time the siege ended, and there was a hell of a lot of Rus territory where they controlled the harvest. Jubadi is no fool, we've seen that already. He knows he'll have to strike and break us before summer even sets in, and he needs to get all the way to Roum before fall and break them as well, otherwise he's finished.
"That's why I'm worried. I hate it when I'm fighting an enemy who might be every bit as desperate as I am, or more so. The rebs showed us that: Those bastards were kicked into the ground, and they still kept coming back for more."
"We can't forget that we are desperate," Hans said quietly, "but never forget that Jubadi knows us—Muzta and the Tugars did not. He's desperate, and he'll not make the same mistakes."
Andrew sat back in his chair, looking around the room, which was quiet except for the clattering of the telegraph key in the next room.
Too much had
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