Princess Rescue Inc (66 page)

“Huh?
Shock and awe?” Sue asked confused. “That doesn't make any sense,” she said
sighing in frustration. Wanda did as well. Perry sighed patiently.

“Well,
they haven't seen what we can do. We throw them off base then throw enough
explosives at them that their animals will freak... or faint... as will their
soldiers. Most animals have an instinctive fear of fire, including man,” he
explained. They nodded at this. “Remember, most of the footmen are farm
conscripts. I've seen it often enough. The first taste of real battle,
our
sort of battle and many men, even the hardest of hard asses break and run or
lock up.”

Sue
nodded eyes troubled. “Yeah, blowing something up will be something new and
frightening for a medieval peasant,” she grunted as she thought about it.
“Yeah, their first exposures to fire and explosives cause many to break. Okay,
so that explained the whole shock and awe bit. Huh,” she grunted rubbing her
chin, oblivious to the amused glance Perry shot to the Master Sergeant.

“Something
I've been wondering. Why are they here? Who's tending the homes?” she asked
suddenly.

Perry
looked around then shrugged. “From what intel we've gained they've had a
horrible harvest the past couple of years. They're desperate, so they hit here
to get what they needed,” he grimaced.

“Most
of the people left behind are the women, children too young to fight, the
infirm or the old. Those that survived the past two famines that is,” Ryans explained.
“They'll have an even worse year with that mix of manpower and a complete lack
of draft animals for support. But without the need to feed all the soldiers, it
will make it a little easier in the summer.”

“So
instead of trading for it they come in and play Viking?” Wanda asked disgusted
with the idea. “Steal it instead of trade for it?”

The
Master Sergeant nodded. “It's the mindset, they don't want to appear weak to
their neighbors. They'd be easy pickings. Anyone could come in and start taking
bites out of them.”

“Ah,
so they come in and raid... Act with violence first. Typical male
testosterone,” she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Should have thought of
that. I gotta go, I've got a still to check,” Wanda said shook her head leaving
the room.

Ryans
snorted. “Testosterone...” Then chuckled quietly.

“Something
just occurred to me, why didn't Duluth come here?” Doc asked looking at Perry
and Ryans.

Ryans
raises an eyebrow. “Several reasons Doc,” he said but didn't elaborate. He
shrugged as she quirked an eyebrow at him and kept staring.

“No
honestly; I want to know,” she finally asked. There was a hint of exasperation
in her voice.

He
smiled. “Okay, first from the intel they had a poor harvest so his logistics
are messed up. Second he may not want to get in too deep and get cut off.
Third, the Duke's castle hasn't fallen so he can't leave it behind.”

She
looked confused. “Why not?” Deidra looked at them both, eyebrow raised.

Zara
nodded, looking fascinated by the lecture. “Yes, why?”

Perry
shifted on his stool. He didn't have a lot of patience to educate them but
maybe something good would come of it in the long run. “Because it's a sally
point threatening his supply lines and rear,” Perry explained nodding to Ryans who
nodded back. “There's another reason, he may not want to go to deep for fear of
being mired and cut off from escape. This way he can set himself up to go
deeper while his reserve forces marshal and come forward and he has a
negotiating base.”

“What
do you mean?” Deidra asked.

“If
your father wanted him out without the war, because he didn't have the
resources to marshal his own fighting force in time, then he would send
diplomats to try to negotiate to get them to leave,” Ryans explained. “I have a
feeling Art’ur was half expecting that. But we intervened and changed the
situation.”

“True,”
Perry said with a nod.

“Which
means Duluth would get a partial victory there as well,” Ryans said nodding. He
gave the princess's a look. “Had he got his hands on you, he would have had one
heck of a bargaining chip to hold over your father. His majesty would have been
desperate to do anything to save you and may have capitulated.”

Both
girls paled and then nodded slowly.

<==={}------------>

“For
want of a nail a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe a horse was lost...for want
of a horse...” Perry shook his head. “You get the idea. Logistics, logistics,
logistics. It all begins and ends with setting that up right, getting
everything moving properly and keeping them moving with no muss or fuss.”

“Yup,”
Ryans nodded. He sat against the edge of the butcher block. Cassius and Gregory
were working at the stove with their students. Answorth and Corgi hadn't
understood why he'd wanted them to learn cooking but had gone along with it
since he'd ordered it. He didn't expect them to be chefs like Cassius but at
least if they ever had to do it in the field they could do it on their own...
and would have a definite appreciation of the end product. Besides, it taught
them a little about kitchen sink chemistry.

“What's
cooking?” Perry asked, sniffing.

“Potato
chips and French fries,” Ryans replied. “Right now chips,” he said. He pulled a
wicker basket out from behind him. It had a tea towel inside and was covered
with a heaping pile of chips. The chips had coarse salt on them. “Want some?”

“Okay...”
Perry said smiling. He took a few. He bit into one and his eyes popped. “Is
that vinegar?”

“Sea
salt and vinegar. Apparently they knew how to make potato chips, they've even
got some pretty good native veggie oil they use, but adding different flavors
hadn't come up.”

“Ah.
Different, this a new taste sensation?” Perry asked carefully.

Ryans
shrugged. “Yes and no. It's also for logistics like you said.”

Perry
eyed him. “It's easier to keep potatoes if they're cooked and bagged. Or
dehydrated. We're working on a dehydrator too.”

“Ah,”
Perry nodded. “So what's that smell? It smells like cheese and potatoes.”

Ryans
smiled. “Ah, it's the au gratin. We've got some in the stove.” Ryans waved to
the new stove. The latest design was a box, welded together at the seams. It
was a steel stove, only slightly sooty. “We're going to be making all sorts of
stuff soon. But since we're in a potato mode, we decided to play a little.”

Perry
popped another in his mouth, chewed, swallowed and then grinned as if a new
thought had stuck him suddenly. “You do realize Sue's going to be on your case
about the whole chip thing right? Saturated fat?”

“I
don't see the harm. At least not in the short term,” Gregory said, looking over
his shoulder. “I haven't checked, and I know Charlie hasn't either, but I bet
the oil isn't made of saturated fat. When we get the time we can and will
adjust things.” He shrugged.

“Ah.
Okay, carry on,” Perry smiled in amusement and walked out, popping chips into
his mouth.

<==={}------------>

Lieutenant
Galloway made a point about the architecture. Some of the older buildings had
Roman or Greek influence. A few had Asian influence, most likely from Tau and
Duke Isamu Sung's ancestors. Deidra told them that people had been here before.
The capital was built on the ruined foundations of a Greek outpost city that
had burned down.

“Many
people died there. So many they lost their breeding,” Deidra said grimacing.
“One of the greatest gifts a woman can give is children; we don't have enough
for a pure bloodline. That's why gaijin are respected and sought after. They
bring new strength back to the blood.”

“Ah,
so that's why most of my men and even some of the women are getting hit on,”
the Gunny said chuckling.

“Well,
it's not going to help. We're all fixed for another year or so, so any wild
oats they think they are sowing aren't going to take,” Galloway said with a
snort.

“Yeah.
But it's fun trying anyway,” the Gunny chuckled. “Besides, they don't know
that,” he said with a smirk.

“Just
as long as you don't get syphilis or something else along the way, remember
Doc's orders,” the lieutenant deadpanned. The Gunny nodded, suddenly cold
sober.

<==={}------------>

They
sent out Lewis in the ultra light loaded with digital cameras to map the
battlefield terrain and get placements of enemy. It was a hit or miss thing, by
the time she got to the battlefield it was near dark so the shadows were long
and details hard to make out.

Since
the ultra light had a five hundred mile range they pulled the cameras the next
morning and sent out the electric ultra light to check in with the blocking
force. Ginger landed on a bumpy stretch of road and dropped off a couple of
kegs of explosives and ammunition and exchanged a grateful handshake with
Ticundus.

Fortunately
they had access to a well so water was not a concern. The blocking force was
using conscripted labor to dig into the Imperium side of the wall fortress,
making a moat on the Imperium side. Reinforcements in the form of another
century of soldiers arrived the day before Ginger did to aide them. Locals that
had lost their homes and were found wandering the area trying to avoid the
raiders were picked up by the reinforcement century on their way to the wall.
When they had arrived the civilians had set up camp around the wall, they were
even reported to be building wooden hoardings on the wall.

Ginger
smiled as she made her report. She felt a little undressed though; surely she
could have scared up a white scarf and goggles to make her look like a real
aviator right? she thought with bemusement. Perry rubbed his chin and smiled to
Ryans who smiled back. “Looks like the pieces are finally falling into place,”
he said.

“Pretty
much,” Ryans said.

“Sir,
with all due respect... the blocking force doesn't stand a spitting chance
against that army. I've seen it,” Lewis said.

“But
they don't have to hold them all off, just a few for now. Right now they've just
got to keep them from being resupplied and piss this King Art’ur off. If he's
as big an arrogant prick as we've been led to believe he'll send a small force
to try to chase them out.”

“Which
they will chew up and spit out,” Ryans supplied. Perry looked at him and
nodded.

“Right,”
Perry said “and the next, and probably the next after that. They've got the
advantage since they're defending from the fort remember? So it'll take ten
times their numbers to get them out. Ticundus has a damn good head on his shoulders,
he'll kick their ass.”

“As
long as they aren't flanked,” Waters warned.

“They
can defend at range with the rifles,” Ryans said. “And they've got orders to
run if they can't hold. But if they can they will and they'll make damn sure
nothing passes.”

“Thermopylae.
None shall pass.”

“Not
quite the three hundred but getting there,” Ryans said. “Let’s just make sure
it goes better for these folks than it did for the Spartans.”

“Right,”
Perry replied with a firm nod.

<==={}------------>

Art’ur
received word that his messengers had not been getting through the pass later
that evening. At first he thought they were deserting. The next morning he sent
a party to find them. The leader of the party was centurion Serid, a distant
cousin to lord Wedst.  He was bored, bored with the siege and bored with
the raiding. Bored with the assignment, zig zagging across the fields to find
deserters who were most likely long gone if they knew what was good for them.

On
the second evening they arrived at the wall and found more than they bargained
for. They arrived at the ruined fort at the center of the defenses at night
surprising the defenders. Several of the surprised soldiers managed to escape
back the way they had come into the night.

Ticundus
thought about following but then disregarded the idea. The odds of finding them
in the dark let alone catching up to them to stop them were highly remote. If
he was them he'd go hell for leather as fast as his beast could take him to
safety. Instead he reported it in via his radio.

<==={}------------>

“They
dare?” Art’ur raged, reacting badly to the news of the blocking force. The
survivors including a wounded Serid were on their knees before him. Serid had a
bloodied bandage over his face and another on his right arm. That arm hung
limply in his lap, a sure sign of it being broken. He would be useless in
battle for several months while he recovered.

“A
daring move my lord. It speaks of their getting ready to attack soon,” Uuôden
counseled. “I believe a peace offering is now out,” he said dryly. The general
had started to regain some semblance of his former self as the siege raged on.
But this strange gaijin craft had thrown him. Now the blocking force had him
uneasy.

He
looked at his liege. Art’ur was still as impatient and impulsive as ever he
realized. The siege had not taught him patience, only shortened his temper. He
ranted for nearly an hour before dispatching men to force the pass open once
more.