"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
Date: July 1072.
Location: Wladirosa, Northern Kazimierz – Western Ursus border.
POV: Nelka Ramona.
"Morning Father!" I energetically greet my father, who already sits on the chair. He and my brother are all that I have left now. Speaking of my kind of annoying brother, where is he? He should've been sitting with our Father and talking either about work or meaningless stuff.
Nyx was pretty much accepted into our family. Sometimes she also cooked foods we had never eaten like that eastern noodle or that Siracusan pasta lookalike, per her admission on the matter.
We usually turn dough into bread or cure some fowlbeasts or tuskbeasts meat since it is much simpler and lasts longer. Her new culinary additions have become a novel experience.
"Where is Jan?" I asked my father while handing him his food.
"He went out with Nyx hours ago, probably training the hunters and volunteers or patrolling the land." My father answered and then started eating his breakfast.
"Is it perhaps... about that?" Anxiously I inquired of him. My father turned silent for a while before motioning me to finish breakfast first.
"Hah..." I can only sigh, the mood was already tarnished. The cause was of course the rumor of a renewed counteroffensive that was brewing.
Honestly, I hate war. Yet sometimes it will happen for the most nonsensical reason. I'm sure deep in my heart that not everyone wanted war, regardless of which side they were on.
We proceeded to eat in silence. This has been a recurring situation since a few months ago. Ursus patrolmen have been getting more and more violent nowadays. Of course, it brought resentment from everyone involved.
One of the soldiers even caused trouble for the local ursine people here. That's how badly they treated their kind, I don't have to say anything about how badly other races have it.
"What will you do today? Helping out with the crops again?" Father seems to sense my mood, so he initiates a talk to take my mind off it.
"Yes, I will be helping with the crops again. Ever since Nyx taught me how to create pizza, I keep wanting more!" I was very surprised when one day she just started building an earthen kiln for everyone to use, turns out she wanted to make Pizza.
I heard that this food was from Siracusa. Seeing how simple the ingredients were, it became a sort of fad here. To the point that our usage of flour had doubled than usual. Even after such a joyous luxury, in comparison, people slowly get bored eating it, but some don't and perhaps become addicted... sigh...
"Heh, just don't eat too many. Else you'll get stomach ache." Father just smirked and implied something quite rude.
"Are you implying what I think you're?" I glared at him, but he just dodged it and nonchalantly kept eating his breakfast.
I keep glaring at him... before we both burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! Yeah, I did! So what huh!?" He challenged me with a smile.
"Ohoh~ I see." I just grinned darkly, but playfully, reveling in this peaceful atmosphere. Something I would dearly miss soon.
Sometimes later
Walking towards the field, I can see some notable but cleverly hidden improvements in the village. Wooden houses have been reinforced with stones or bricks here and there. Fences are thicker and taller than before, which was only enough to stop tuskbeast from charging straight through back then.
Another notable improvement is several gaps in the buildings she called "murder-hole" where one can shoot with minimal risk of retaliation. These murder holes have been placed around walls, doorways, and even inside several trees that have been carved hollow.
Some people were skeptical of these improvements before since catastrophe can just blow every single one of our hard work away. However, Nyx argued that's not relevant when war is on the horizon. If it did get swept by catastrophe, we would have evacuated regardless anyway, she said.
When the rumor intensified and the sign of war was felt more vividly, more and more people acquiesced in her reasoning. The amount of dried or preserved foods has been increasing too. She was suggesting us to create pemmican, but it was pushed back so we decided on cured meat and hard bread instead.
Regarding preparation for evacuation, we had already packed the essentials thus shortening the process of vacating this place from non-combatants if we can't hold the village. Father had estimated the whole process to be no longer than 4 hours at most.
Well, that's enough of depressing hypotheticals, for now, I must refocus on my task. Every bit of work would surely count.
'Next is to help with the harvest again on the western field again.' I'm now walking on the cobbled pathway while reiterating where I need to go. This has been my usual routine during harvest. I had been living this way for the last 17 years, how times fly and how much I will miss this...
While I was passing the chapel of our village, a little girl called to me. She is a small kuranta child who was always shy, but it changed when Nyx came. Her affinity with children is abnormally high, to the point that a shy girl turned into an energetic one.
"Big Sis Nelka!" I looked at the girl who called my name. She immediately trotted my way and leaped at me for a hug. Reflexively, thank goodness for occasional Nyx self-defense training, I managed to catch her safely.
"What is it, Lina?" I ask her, this 8-year-old bundle of kuranta cuteness is my neighbor.
"Aunty! Aunty! When Aunty back?" Her speech pattern needs some work, but it is a massive improvement from stuttering.
"Oh! Your aunty is out for work, she should be back soon~"
"Mrrmm! Want Aunty Grey!"
I just sighed at this, she is always persistent with her wants. Lina was probably the only one who could force Nyx to do whatever she wanted.
Well, the latter didn't seem to mind, and although her face was as flat as ever, her eyes practically sparkled when Lina dragged her around the village.
Speaking about Nyx again, she has been doing a lot of things to help improve the safety of our crops from fangbeasts and tuskbeasts. I once spotted her creating some sort of contraptions that would help in repelling pests.
I just don't know how tough and vigorous she is. Last week she had been working non-stop for a whole week with minimal sign of fatigue if any.
"Now, now! Don't be like that! How about this, you help me in the field and then we make flour. As a reward I will m-"
"Pizza! Pizza!" She immediately brightens up. When in doubt, just offer them their favorite food.
"Alright then!" Lina and I headed towards the field. There are some trees around there where we can also take a rest in between our work.
At the field.
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~" Humming and harvesting the crops have become second nature to me. It is quite an enjoyable experience if you can do it correctly.
"Alright, that should be the last batch for it... Wait a minute... Where did Lina go?" Now that I'm finished with my work, I have lost sight of Lina. She was here a few minutes ago. Where did that girl go?
"Lina!" I called her out, but no response.
"Ana! Do you see Lina?" I called out to my friend who was a distance away from me, also harvesting the crops.
"Wasn't she over... there... huh?" Ana was pointing at the tree on the left side of the road. She also just realized that Lina had gone off somewhere.
I feel like something bad is about to happen...
"Ana! Can you take these back to the village? I need to find her!" I ran off immediately after placing my harvest at a nearby threshing area.
"HEY! WAIT!" Ana seemed a tad unhappy that her workload had suddenly increased, I mentally apologized while dashing towards the meadows where Lina usually played hide-and-seek.
Running towards the tall grass prairie not far from the field. I kept calling out her name, but there was no response and the place is eerily quiet... I step inside the tall grasses and whisper for Lina.
"Lina...?"
No response.
"Lina?"
"!?"
My nostril was assaulted by a very pungent smell... it smelled like something that rotted. My mind is panicking now, envisioning numerous fatal scenarios in my mind. I shouldn't have brought her along!
"LIN-"
My shout was cut off, a hand covering my mouth, I was about to scream and yank myself off when I heard a familiar voice.
"Shhh! be quiet Nelka..." It was Mr. Khariton, my eyes widened but I calmed down.
"Mr. Khariton?"
"Yep, this place isn't safe. I had found some fresh, unknown tracks, and doesn't look like beasts at all."
"I see..."
"So be quiet... Lina is safe, but you must return to the village, got it?" His face is serious, so I just nod my head.
"Good girl, now go." Heeding his words, I quietly but swiftly left for the village.
{==}
POV: Khariton
"Phew... Good thing she doesn't step further in there... still, was that necessary? Wouldn't it be better to let her get accustomed to it?" I inquired about a certain Pythian lady who stepped out of her hiding spot.
"She doesn't need to know." Nyx curtly replied.
"Well, I mean that's true because who would dump those there? You wanna make people question your sanity?" I ask her while pointing at a woodland not far from here.
"It is necessary, Tymoteusz even agreed." She just stepped further into the prairie... there are dozens of dead bodies here... Ursine, Liberi, and even some Kuranta... this lass seems to have a few screws loose judging by how clean yet brutal the corpses' condition is.
Common wounds for this pile of bodies are broken necks, slashed necks, some of them got their head ripped clean... spine and all...
I can also see some of my fellow ursine and kurantas here. They are visibly disgusted, but they keep stripping equipment off of the dead bodies.
These would be necessary for the next phase. There is also a group of people with Ursus army uniform here, they are ours though, and making some preliminary planning.
"Shit... this is disgusting." Grunted a young kuranta.
"Man up kid, this stuff will be commonplace soon."
"You guys are something else to be used to this..."
"Da, soldiers? Janitors? Street sweeper? We just clean shit by the end of the day."
The veterans just chuckled at that dark humor. This is how veteran soldiers usually kept themselves sane. You will get to the point where you have seen a lot of things that barely phased you or even look humorous and entertaining...
"Where are the equipment?"
"Go to the left 5 meters, there should be a hollow tree. From there, turn to the right 1 meter and there is where the special equipment is stacked inside a bush."
Following one of my comrade's instructions I waded through the dense tall grasses into the edge of woodland. In all honesty, we would be screwed if Ursus drones spotted that death field of ours, but Nyx assured us that such a thing wouldn't happen.
"Heh... she didn't lie about her expertise... the equipment is mostly intact."
There are 7 pairs of high-rank Ursus uniforms. These uniforms were from several patrolmen gone missing in other areas. Not on ours, since it would be stupid to attack patrolmen near our region. Of course, she did do that but mixed it up to throw pursuers off.
She has become very famous in this region, while somehow staying unknown with no wanted posters that are accurate with her face.
We have a radio, yes, but it has gone inactive months ago. Good riddance really, Ursus radio is filled with propaganda but then nowadays they are only repeating the same stuff over and over. About how their war with Higashi is going well or how their nation is the greatest.
'Feels nostalgic' I say in my mind. This honestly took me back to the better days, as much as it was better anyway since life in Ursus was shit if you weren't soldiers or noble lapdogs. The black uniform adorned by a two-headed eagle with a star in the middle still managed to rouse my soldiery spirit.
'Loyalty to the state? Always. Loyalty to the noble? I would rather die.' I chuckled since nobles weren't to my liking. Even Kazimierz's nobles are barely tolerable to me. All nobles are scum I say.
I quickly wear the uniform of a higher-ranking officer. My Ursine has that thick old way drawl, after all, it will be more convincing for me to play this role.
"Nyx! Everything is done!" someone shouted just as I returned to the group.
"Alright, suit up gentlemen. Don't want to violate the dress code after all." A familiar female voice said.
"Hahaha!" My comrades laugh heartily. This would be an insane plan for her to put some real hurt upon an Ursus army.
"Alright, folks. The next phase is a go. Group Hydra prepare to depart, group Helios back to the village, and group Ikaros... let's clean up this mess." She is our commander at this point, not that we're complaining.
{==}
Date: July 1072
Location: Wladirosa. Occupied Northern Kazimierz.
POV: Nyx
It is quite a silent night in this village, a tranquil night that tempts me to just rest. We all know, however, that the raid would be made exactly under the cover of the night.
Everything should be going smoothly now. Khariton and his team had departed for their task 3 days ago. Team Helios should be done with the preparation for battle and now is fortifying the village as best they can. While I lead group Ikaros for... excursion.
The excursion was a pretty bloody affair. We lost some men, not dead but combat ineffective, but Ursus soldiers lost a lot more than us. Ambush and guerrilla warfare is always the superior choice, regardless of which world... except that one where you can just blow a whole planet with little to no real repercussions...
Information I had managed to gain from several willing officers had painted a grim picture of their war in the east. Ursus is on the back foot, they are pulling as many resources as possible from the west while preparing for the inevitable counterattack by the Higashian United Front army.
From the looks of it, different commanders have different ideas. Some of the Ursus commanders seem to be opting for a protracted war, hoping that the East would hold. While others are already giving up and taking a much more realistic approach.
If you can't keep a territory, don't let your enemy have it for free. Especially if said territory wasn't yours to begin with.
Scorched earth tactics should be in full effect when they finally realize the war is lost. I can't help other villages directly since there is only one of me but I had spread rumors about potential atrocities. Hopefully, the Ursus army isn't that competent.
I was finally broken off my musing seeing several hundred Ursus soldiers coming out of the woodland under the cover of the night, they're now crossing the prairie. They're finally here to lay waste to the village. The most pragmatic solution was chosen by them, thus all bets are off.
And unluckily for them...
They're playing right into our hand...
"They are here."
"Yeah, the teams are already in their position."
"Good. Now, everyone remembers this!"
The militias around me now laid their eyes on me with rapt attention.
"You're fighting real soldiers, not beasts, not bandits, but real bona fide soldiers!"
"Keep your wits about you, follow the plans to the letter unless it becomes untenable, and do not fight alone. Use your knowledge of this place to avoid melee combat as much as possible."
Everyone nodded resolutely. For most villagers here, this will be their first real battle against a group of soldiers. Thus I need to hammer the point of how dangerous it is.
"They will kill you, so don't hesitate to repay in kind. Anyone who has second thoughts then head to the tunnel, get out of here! None of us can babysit a deadweight."
No one turned back and left around me. They're resolute for a group of, semi-trained, volunteers.
My eyes had spotted several familiar faces within their ranks, it appears that they had succeeded in pulling it off. Feeding false intel while also rousing the Ursus soldiers to act rashly.
Doing some mental calculation, I guess there are 2 companies worth of infantry there. Lightly armed too, guess the intel Khariton fed them proved effective. They are all moving swiftly, trampling the leftover crops.
I immediately prepare for the upcoming battle. With my trusty dagger and bow in hand I move to my designated sniping position, I don't use my pistol because the ammunition for it is extremely expensive, and other limitations ticked me off.
POV: Narrator.
The majority of Ursus Generals had decided that the ongoing war on two fronts was too much and worsening, doesn’t help that it is hemorrhaging their treasury. They're now choosing the most pragmatic solution, scorched earth. The Kazimierzian would most likely retake their lost territory. Said territory better left badly damaged, that should deter them from counter-invasion towards Ursus core territory.
Ursus is losing rapidly in the east. The Kougon clan in the north and the Mitsumoto clan in the south set their differences aside amidst their civil war to form a unified front. Their combined martial prowess from their seemingly never-ending warring period proves itself lethal to the declining Ursus army.
The deteriorating war also put a lot more strain on their already impoverished commoners. There are a lot of mines in Ursus, but food is always scarce for their people. Tundra was never known for their abundant food production after all.
This contingent is but one of what little the stressed frontline can spare. Their objective is to seize food, supplies, and any valuable resources they can get their hands on while torching the place to the ground. But they got themselves one hell of a nasty surprise.
"Remember the plan, destroy and take everything. Do not wast-"
A single arrow cut through the darkness, ending the officer's life and preventing them from reiterating their objectives. It stupefied the unsuspecting soldiers, and the first blood was drawn by the enemy... they were still 800 meters away from the village... an astonishing shot... They now lost the initiative.
Then several sources of light are lit around them. Compromising their position to their enemies.
From a well-concealed position about 200 meters away from them, tens of Kurantas archers had already laid in wait. Eager to exact hell and death upon these foreign soldiers.
While several tens more armed volunteers made up of Kurantas, Liberi, and Ursine with shields, spears, and axes are ready to hold the line the best they can at chokepoints inside the village.
With that one arrow as the signal, all of the archers stood up, nocked their arrows, drew their bows, and let loose hell upon their aggressor.
Arrow volleys suddenly rained down upon them, their armor managed to deflect or absorb a few but most of them hit their mark. For every volley, several died. For every volley, several are left hopeless and defenseless.
"AMBU- ARHK!"
"GO, CLOSE IN ON THEM!"
"CHARGE! THEY'RE ONLY FARMERS!"
"URAAAA!"
Charging as one, the Ursus soldier immediately shook themselves off from their stupor and bewilderment. Their body had been conditioned to act as ordered, a proof of their training. However, such a thing still doesn't deter them from cursing out their misfortune.
"THE INTEL WAS FAULTY!"
"BLIN! I'LL KI- AGH!"
"KHOLEV!"
"MOVE! DON'T STOP."
Crossing the field, they make haste upon their enemy. Eager to exact retribution upon their foe. After crossing the fields of tall grasses, the darkness of the night had turned on them. They refrained from bringing lit torches the moment upon arriving on the village, courtesy of now faulty intel.
They did try to retaliate with their crossbows. Unfortunately, the darkness hampered their ability to precisely retaliate, causing minimal disruption to the hard-to-spot defenders.
"Nock!"
"Draw!"
"Loose!"
Several more soldiers died, while wounded but still alive soldiers are being left compromised. It will be extremely challenging to move your arm with an arrow lodged in it. Not to mention that some hard parts of worn armor become pinned in place, further limiting mobility.
"They crossed the 75-meter mark! Helios, retreat!"
Seeing the rapidly closing in Ursus infantries, the militia archers immediately fall back to the next position. Their lighter gear made them able to outrun their pursuers while kiting them towards the village.
Ursus' army is made up mostly of Ursus known for their strength, but that is useless when they are trudging through the muddy field. Kuranta's superior agility allows them to momentarily stop, unleash a volley, and restart their retreat. Reminiscent of the Nightzmoran Khaganate way of standard mobile archery tactic.
This tactic starts to take a toll on the soldiers' psyche, they are under the impression that their enemies are real soldiers too. But they can't exactly retreat now, their superiors expect results one way or another. One thing is certain, someone’s head is already on the chopping block for this faulty intel.
There are still around 320 soldiers alive with varying degrees of wound. They had now reached the village, however, and started to storm through. Hoping to corner and overpower the defenders.
Unknown to them, the path they had passed was shut closed with concealed palisade, Khariton' disguised men had stabbed them in the back and sealed their fate.
"HALT!"
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
"WE'RE TRAPP-"
Once again cut short by streams of arrows from murder holes around the houses, walls, and even trees. Throwing them into even more chaos. They are forced to move forward, only to be met with walls of spears and shields locked into a tight line.
Ursus soldiers crashed against the shield wall like a tidal wave. The defenders are being pushed back, but they hold on and trust their comrades on the flanks to finish them off.
Sword hacked against the wall of shields. Some managed to penetrate through and injure the one behind it.
Axes chopped through their armor, shield, and weapons alike. The clash was filled with a cacophony of voices.
Spears were thrust from the shield wall gaps. Supporting the shielders while keeping the enemy at bay.
Arrows keep pouring down from concealed positions and murder holes. Ursus crossbowmen retaliate in kind.
The Sankta Chaplain pulled a revolver and dispatched several soldiers with ease... his bullet seemed to explode too.
Cry of men and women, shouts of curses, and pained wails filled the makeshift killing field.
Seeing that they are hopelessly outmatched. The soldiers start retreating in panic, confusion, and fear preventing them from making an effective fighting force. The soldiers stop dead in their tracks seeing an entity that has become a nightmare for patrolmen for the last few months.
A single shadow suddenly showed up on their flanks, cleanly cutting several soldiers' necks open. The soldiers screamed in pain and agony, a nearby infantry tried to fend off the assailant. Only to be met with a brutal display of the parting of their head off their dead body.
"Annihilate them!"
"RAAAHHH!"
That night 450 Ursus soldiers died, but that would hardly be the last time Ursus tried to attack the village...
{==}
Date: August 1072.
Location: Wladirosa, Northern Kazimierz – Western Ursus border.
POV: Nyx
'Damn it...' that was another Ursus raid we suffered this month... I don't expect that Ursus has that many soldiers to spare! What the hell were they thinking!? I had been commanding this place since Chief Radek and Jan were badly wounded a month and 2 weeks ago respectively, the chief is in a coma too...
Did I perhaps piss them off that badly!? To even send some mortar squads to a fuck-all-no-name village with drones too... Khariton had died, and the mad lad charged straight at the mortar team. Grenade in hand, the rest is history...
We had annihilated at least 3 regiments worth of soldiers... I cannot just charge out and take them myself since they have been sneaky lately... We don't have enough men to keep a full 24/7 parameters without being spread too thin...
The last time I went on a counterattack alone, Nelka almost died from a surprise attack from another direction. They scaled the nearby cliff, that exact tallest ground after they killed 5 of my subordinates… I placed the youngest there, only to get murdered by elite jetpack soldiers… fucking jetpacks! Once they had our blind spot in their control, they set up a long-range crossbow unit to riddle the whole village full of crossbow bolts.
Casualties are mounting rapidly, I can still fight with full power, but the available manpower is only a third combat effective. That is less than 40 men and women... Damn, why can't I have those cool arts that can blow armies into smithereens!?
"Nyx! We-"
"Another attack!?"
"Uh... no! We spotted Kazimierz Knights!"
"Really!?"
I quickly depart for the makeshift gate, or what was left of it anyway. There I saw a group of well-armed and wearing silvery armor knights looking bewildered by the state of this place.
"Campaign knights?" I inquired, too weary of being polite.
"Yes, are you in charge?"
"Tentatively."
"What happened?"
"Ursus Happened."
I then tell them what had happened here, the knights are astonished that village militias can hold off Ursus' army for months. They even praised my commanding skill, of which I couldn't care less.
I guess the war had finally ended... for this one...
[END OF CHAPTER]
Author Note:
Hello, this is me, myself, and I, the author who shot himself in the foot and is malding quite badly.
Do you guys read any interesting Sci-Fi, space-oriented, novel? Mind giving me a recommendation?
I severely underestimated how hard it is to write a battle scene. Hopefully, I will improve for the future chapter...
Update as usual.
Ciao.
"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
Date: July 1072.
Location: Wladirosa, Northern Kazimierz – Western Ursus border.
POV: Nelka Ramona.
"Morning Father!" I energetically greet my father, who already sits on the chair. He and my brother are all that I have left now. Speaking of my kind of annoying brother, where is he? He should've been sitting with our Father and talking either about work or meaningless stuff.
Nyx was pretty much accepted into our family. Sometimes she also cooked foods we had never eaten like that eastern noodle or that Siracusan pasta lookalike, per her admission on the matter.
We usually turn dough into bread or cure some fowlbeasts or tuskbeasts meat since it is much simpler and lasts longer. Her new culinary additions have become a novel experience.
"Where is Jan?" I asked my father while handing him his food.
"He went out with Nyx hours ago, probably training the hunters and volunteers or patrolling the land." My father answered and then started eating his breakfast.
"Is it perhaps... about that?" Anxiously I inquired of him. My father turned silent for a while before motioning me to finish breakfast first.
"Hah..." I can only sigh, the mood was already tarnished. The cause was of course the rumor of a renewed counteroffensive that was brewing.
Honestly, I hate war. Yet sometimes it will happen for the most nonsensical reason. I'm sure deep in my heart that not everyone wanted war, regardless of which side they were on.
We proceeded to eat in silence. This has been a recurring situation since a few months ago. Ursus patrolmen have been getting more and more violent nowadays. Of course, it brought resentment from everyone involved.
One of the soldiers even caused trouble for the local ursine people here. That's how badly they treated their kind, I don't have to say anything about how badly other races have it.
"What will you do today? Helping out with the crops again?" Father seems to sense my mood, so he initiates a talk to take my mind off it.
"Yes, I will be helping with the crops again. Ever since Nyx taught me how to create pizza, I keep wanting more!" I was very surprised when one day she just started building an earthen kiln for everyone to use, turns out she wanted to make Pizza.
I heard that this food was from Siracusa. Seeing how simple the ingredients were, it became a sort of fad here. To the point that our usage of flour had doubled than usual. Even after such a joyous luxury, in comparison, people slowly get bored eating it, but some don't and perhaps become addicted... sigh...
"Heh, just don't eat too many. Else you'll get stomach ache." Father just smirked and implied something quite rude.
"Are you implying what I think you're?" I glared at him, but he just dodged it and nonchalantly kept eating his breakfast.
I keep glaring at him... before we both burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! Yeah, I did! So what huh!?" He challenged me with a smile.
"Ohoh~ I see." I just grinned darkly, but playfully, reveling in this peaceful atmosphere. Something I would dearly miss soon.
Sometimes later
Walking towards the field, I can see some notable but cleverly hidden improvements in the village. Wooden houses have been reinforced with stones or bricks here and there. Fences are thicker and taller than before, which was only enough to stop tuskbeast from charging straight through back then.
Another notable improvement is several gaps in the buildings she called "murder-hole" where one can shoot with minimal risk of retaliation. These murder holes have been placed around walls, doorways, and even inside several trees that have been carved hollow.
Some people were skeptical of these improvements before since catastrophe can just blow every single one of our hard work away. However, Nyx argued that's not relevant when war is on the horizon. If it did get swept by catastrophe, we would have evacuated regardless anyway, she said.
When the rumor intensified and the sign of war was felt more vividly, more and more people acquiesced in her reasoning. The amount of dried or preserved foods has been increasing too. She was suggesting us to create pemmican, but it was pushed back so we decided on cured meat and hard bread instead.
Regarding preparation for evacuation, we had already packed the essentials thus shortening the process of vacating this place from non-combatants if we can't hold the village. Father had estimated the whole process to be no longer than 4 hours at most.
Well, that's enough of depressing hypotheticals, for now, I must refocus on my task. Every bit of work would surely count.
'Next is to help with the harvest again on the western field again.' I'm now walking on the cobbled pathway while reiterating where I need to go. This has been my usual routine during harvest. I had been living this way for the last 17 years, how times fly and how much I will miss this...
While I was passing the chapel of our village, a little girl called to me. She is a small kuranta child who was always shy, but it changed when Nyx came. Her affinity with children is abnormally high, to the point that a shy girl turned into an energetic one.
"Big Sis Nelka!" I looked at the girl who called my name. She immediately trotted my way and leaped at me for a hug. Reflexively, thank goodness for occasional Nyx self-defense training, I managed to catch her safely.
"What is it, Lina?" I ask her, this 8-year-old bundle of kuranta cuteness is my neighbor.
"Aunty! Aunty! When Aunty back?" Her speech pattern needs some work, but it is a massive improvement from stuttering.
"Oh! Your aunty is out for work, she should be back soon~"
"Mrrmm! Want Aunty Grey!"
I just sighed at this, she is always persistent with her wants. Lina was probably the only one who could force Nyx to do whatever she wanted.
Well, the latter didn't seem to mind, and although her face was as flat as ever, her eyes practically sparkled when Lina dragged her around the village.
Speaking about Nyx again, she has been doing a lot of things to help improve the safety of our crops from fangbeasts and tuskbeasts. I once spotted her creating some sort of contraptions that would help in repelling pests.
I just don't know how tough and vigorous she is. Last week she had been working non-stop for a whole week with minimal sign of fatigue if any.
"Now, now! Don't be like that! How about this, you help me in the field and then we make flour. As a reward I will m-"
"Pizza! Pizza!" She immediately brightens up. When in doubt, just offer them their favorite food.
"Alright then!" Lina and I headed towards the field. There are some trees around there where we can also take a rest in between our work.
At the field.
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~" Humming and harvesting the crops have become second nature to me. It is quite an enjoyable experience if you can do it correctly.
"Alright, that should be the last batch for it... Wait a minute... Where did Lina go?" Now that I'm finished with my work, I have lost sight of Lina. She was here a few minutes ago. Where did that girl go?
"Lina!" I called her out, but no response.
"Ana! Do you see Lina?" I called out to my friend who was a distance away from me, also harvesting the crops.
"Wasn't she over... there... huh?" Ana was pointing at the tree on the left side of the road. She also just realized that Lina had gone off somewhere.
I feel like something bad is about to happen...
"Ana! Can you take these back to the village? I need to find her!" I ran off immediately after placing my harvest at a nearby threshing area.
"HEY! WAIT!" Ana seemed a tad unhappy that her workload had suddenly increased, I mentally apologized while dashing towards the meadows where Lina usually played hide-and-seek.
Running towards the tall grass prairie not far from the field. I kept calling out her name, but there was no response and the place is eerily quiet... I step inside the tall grasses and whisper for Lina.
"Lina...?"
No response.
"Lina?"
"!?"
My nostril was assaulted by a very pungent smell... it smelled like something that rotted. My mind is panicking now, envisioning numerous fatal scenarios in my mind. I shouldn't have brought her along!
"LIN-"
My shout was cut off, a hand covering my mouth, I was about to scream and yank myself off when I heard a familiar voice.
"Shhh! be quiet Nelka..." It was Mr. Khariton, my eyes widened but I calmed down.
"Mr. Khariton?"
"Yep, this place isn't safe. I had found some fresh, unknown tracks, and doesn't look like beasts at all."
"I see..."
"So be quiet... Lina is safe, but you must return to the village, got it?" His face is serious, so I just nod my head.
"Good girl, now go." Heeding his words, I quietly but swiftly left for the village.
{==}
POV: Khariton
"Phew... Good thing she doesn't step further in there... still, was that necessary? Wouldn't it be better to let her get accustomed to it?" I inquired about a certain Pythian lady who stepped out of her hiding spot.
"She doesn't need to know." Nyx curtly replied.
"Well, I mean that's true because who would dump those there? You wanna make people question your sanity?" I ask her while pointing at a woodland not far from here.
"It is necessary, Tymoteusz even agreed." She just stepped further into the prairie... there are dozens of dead bodies here... Ursine, Liberi, and even some Kuranta... this lass seems to have a few screws loose judging by how clean yet brutal the corpses' condition is.
Common wounds for this pile of bodies are broken necks, slashed necks, some of them got their head ripped clean... spine and all...
I can also see some of my fellow ursine and kurantas here. They are visibly disgusted, but they keep stripping equipment off of the dead bodies.
These would be necessary for the next phase. There is also a group of people with Ursus army uniform here, they are ours though, and making some preliminary planning.
"Shit... this is disgusting." Grunted a young kuranta.
"Man up kid, this stuff will be commonplace soon."
"You guys are something else to be used to this..."
"Da, soldiers? Janitors? Street sweeper? We just clean shit by the end of the day."
The veterans just chuckled at that dark humor. This is how veteran soldiers usually kept themselves sane. You will get to the point where you have seen a lot of things that barely phased you or even look humorous and entertaining...
"Where are the equipment?"
"Go to the left 5 meters, there should be a hollow tree. From there, turn to the right 1 meter and there is where the special equipment is stacked inside a bush."
Following one of my comrade's instructions I waded through the dense tall grasses into the edge of woodland. In all honesty, we would be screwed if Ursus drones spotted that death field of ours, but Nyx assured us that such a thing wouldn't happen.
"Heh... she didn't lie about her expertise... the equipment is mostly intact."
There are 7 pairs of high-rank Ursus uniforms. These uniforms were from several patrolmen gone missing in other areas. Not on ours, since it would be stupid to attack patrolmen near our region. Of course, she did do that but mixed it up to throw pursuers off.
She has become very famous in this region, while somehow staying unknown with no wanted posters that are accurate with her face.
We have a radio, yes, but it has gone inactive months ago. Good riddance really, Ursus radio is filled with propaganda but then nowadays they are only repeating the same stuff over and over. About how their war with Higashi is going well or how their nation is the greatest.
'Feels nostalgic' I say in my mind. This honestly took me back to the better days, as much as it was better anyway since life in Ursus was shit if you weren't soldiers or noble lapdogs. The black uniform adorned by a two-headed eagle with a star in the middle still managed to rouse my soldiery spirit.
'Loyalty to the state? Always. Loyalty to the noble? I would rather die.' I chuckled since nobles weren't to my liking. Even Kazimierz's nobles are barely tolerable to me. All nobles are scum I say.
I quickly wear the uniform of a higher-ranking officer. My Ursine has that thick old way drawl, after all, it will be more convincing for me to play this role.
"Nyx! Everything is done!" someone shouted just as I returned to the group.
"Alright, suit up gentlemen. Don't want to violate the dress code after all." A familiar female voice said.
"Hahaha!" My comrades laugh heartily. This would be an insane plan for her to put some real hurt upon an Ursus army.
"Alright, folks. The next phase is a go. Group Hydra prepare to depart, group Helios back to the village, and group Ikaros... let's clean up this mess." She is our commander at this point, not that we're complaining.
{==}
Date: July 1072
Location: Wladirosa. Occupied Northern Kazimierz.
POV: Nyx
It is quite a silent night in this village, a tranquil night that tempts me to just rest. We all know, however, that the raid would be made exactly under the cover of the night.
Everything should be going smoothly now. Khariton and his team had departed for their task 3 days ago. Team Helios should be done with the preparation for battle and now is fortifying the village as best they can. While I lead group Ikaros for... excursion.
The excursion was a pretty bloody affair. We lost some men, not dead but combat ineffective, but Ursus soldiers lost a lot more than us. Ambush and guerrilla warfare is always the superior choice, regardless of which world... except that one where you can just blow a whole planet with little to no real repercussions...
Information I had managed to gain from several willing officers had painted a grim picture of their war in the east. Ursus is on the back foot, they are pulling as many resources as possible from the west while preparing for the inevitable counterattack by the Higashian United Front army.
From the looks of it, different commanders have different ideas. Some of the Ursus commanders seem to be opting for a protracted war, hoping that the East would hold. While others are already giving up and taking a much more realistic approach.
If you can't keep a territory, don't let your enemy have it for free. Especially if said territory wasn't yours to begin with.
Scorched earth tactics should be in full effect when they finally realize the war is lost. I can't help other villages directly since there is only one of me but I had spread rumors about potential atrocities. Hopefully, the Ursus army isn't that competent.
I was finally broken off my musing seeing several hundred Ursus soldiers coming out of the woodland under the cover of the night, they're now crossing the prairie. They're finally here to lay waste to the village. The most pragmatic solution was chosen by them, thus all bets are off.
And unluckily for them...
They're playing right into our hand...
"They are here."
"Yeah, the teams are already in their position."
"Good. Now, everyone remembers this!"
The militias around me now laid their eyes on me with rapt attention.
"You're fighting real soldiers, not beasts, not bandits, but real bona fide soldiers!"
"Keep your wits about you, follow the plans to the letter unless it becomes untenable, and do not fight alone. Use your knowledge of this place to avoid melee combat as much as possible."
Everyone nodded resolutely. For most villagers here, this will be their first real battle against a group of soldiers. Thus I need to hammer the point of how dangerous it is.
"They will kill you, so don't hesitate to repay in kind. Anyone who has second thoughts then head to the tunnel, get out of here! None of us can babysit a deadweight."
No one turned back and left around me. They're resolute for a group of, semi-trained, volunteers.
My eyes had spotted several familiar faces within their ranks, it appears that they had succeeded in pulling it off. Feeding false intel while also rousing the Ursus soldiers to act rashly.
Doing some mental calculation, I guess there are 2 companies worth of infantry there. Lightly armed too, guess the intel Khariton fed them proved effective. They are all moving swiftly, trampling the leftover crops.
I immediately prepare for the upcoming battle. With my trusty dagger and bow in hand I move to my designated sniping position, I don't use my pistol because the ammunition for it is extremely expensive, and other limitations ticked me off.
POV: Narrator.
The majority of Ursus Generals had decided that the ongoing war on two fronts was too much and worsening, doesn’t help that it is hemorrhaging their treasury. They're now choosing the most pragmatic solution, scorched earth. The Kazimierzian would most likely retake their lost territory. Said territory better left badly damaged, that should deter them from counter-invasion towards Ursus core territory.
Ursus is losing rapidly in the east. The Kougon clan in the north and the Mitsumoto clan in the south set their differences aside amidst their civil war to form a unified front. Their combined martial prowess from their seemingly never-ending warring period proves itself lethal to the declining Ursus army.
The deteriorating war also put a lot more strain on their already impoverished commoners. There are a lot of mines in Ursus, but food is always scarce for their people. Tundra was never known for their abundant food production after all.
This contingent is but one of what little the stressed frontline can spare. Their objective is to seize food, supplies, and any valuable resources they can get their hands on while torching the place to the ground. But they got themselves one hell of a nasty surprise.
"Remember the plan, destroy and take everything. Do not wast-"
A single arrow cut through the darkness, ending the officer's life and preventing them from reiterating their objectives. It stupefied the unsuspecting soldiers, and the first blood was drawn by the enemy... they were still 800 meters away from the village... an astonishing shot... They now lost the initiative.
Then several sources of light are lit around them. Compromising their position to their enemies.
From a well-concealed position about 200 meters away from them, tens of Kurantas archers had already laid in wait. Eager to exact hell and death upon these foreign soldiers.
While several tens more armed volunteers made up of Kurantas, Liberi, and Ursine with shields, spears, and axes are ready to hold the line the best they can at chokepoints inside the village.
With that one arrow as the signal, all of the archers stood up, nocked their arrows, drew their bows, and let loose hell upon their aggressor.
Arrow volleys suddenly rained down upon them, their armor managed to deflect or absorb a few but most of them hit their mark. For every volley, several died. For every volley, several are left hopeless and defenseless.
"AMBU- ARHK!"
"GO, CLOSE IN ON THEM!"
"CHARGE! THEY'RE ONLY FARMERS!"
"URAAAA!"
Charging as one, the Ursus soldier immediately shook themselves off from their stupor and bewilderment. Their body had been conditioned to act as ordered, a proof of their training. However, such a thing still doesn't deter them from cursing out their misfortune.
"THE INTEL WAS FAULTY!"
"BLIN! I'LL KI- AGH!"
"KHOLEV!"
"MOVE! DON'T STOP."
Crossing the field, they make haste upon their enemy. Eager to exact retribution upon their foe. After crossing the fields of tall grasses, the darkness of the night had turned on them. They refrained from bringing lit torches the moment upon arriving on the village, courtesy of now faulty intel.
They did try to retaliate with their crossbows. Unfortunately, the darkness hampered their ability to precisely retaliate, causing minimal disruption to the hard-to-spot defenders.
"Nock!"
"Draw!"
"Loose!"
Several more soldiers died, while wounded but still alive soldiers are being left compromised. It will be extremely challenging to move your arm with an arrow lodged in it. Not to mention that some hard parts of worn armor become pinned in place, further limiting mobility.
"They crossed the 75-meter mark! Helios, retreat!"
Seeing the rapidly closing in Ursus infantries, the militia archers immediately fall back to the next position. Their lighter gear made them able to outrun their pursuers while kiting them towards the village.
Ursus' army is made up mostly of Ursus known for their strength, but that is useless when they are trudging through the muddy field. Kuranta's superior agility allows them to momentarily stop, unleash a volley, and restart their retreat. Reminiscent of the Nightzmoran Khaganate way of standard mobile archery tactic.
This tactic starts to take a toll on the soldiers' psyche, they are under the impression that their enemies are real soldiers too. But they can't exactly retreat now, their superiors expect results one way or another. One thing is certain, someone’s head is already on the chopping block for this faulty intel.
There are still around 320 soldiers alive with varying degrees of wound. They had now reached the village, however, and started to storm through. Hoping to corner and overpower the defenders.
Unknown to them, the path they had passed was shut closed with concealed palisade, Khariton' disguised men had stabbed them in the back and sealed their fate.
"HALT!"
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
"WE'RE TRAPP-"
Once again cut short by streams of arrows from murder holes around the houses, walls, and even trees. Throwing them into even more chaos. They are forced to move forward, only to be met with walls of spears and shields locked into a tight line.
Ursus soldiers crashed against the shield wall like a tidal wave. The defenders are being pushed back, but they hold on and trust their comrades on the flanks to finish them off.
Sword hacked against the wall of shields. Some managed to penetrate through and injure the one behind it.
Axes chopped through their armor, shield, and weapons alike. The clash was filled with a cacophony of voices.
Spears were thrust from the shield wall gaps. Supporting the shielders while keeping the enemy at bay.
Arrows keep pouring down from concealed positions and murder holes. Ursus crossbowmen retaliate in kind.
The Sankta Chaplain pulled a revolver and dispatched several soldiers with ease... his bullet seemed to explode too.
Cry of men and women, shouts of curses, and pained wails filled the makeshift killing field.
Seeing that they are hopelessly outmatched. The soldiers start retreating in panic, confusion, and fear preventing them from making an effective fighting force. The soldiers stop dead in their tracks seeing an entity that has become a nightmare for patrolmen for the last few months.
A single shadow suddenly showed up on their flanks, cleanly cutting several soldiers' necks open. The soldiers screamed in pain and agony, a nearby infantry tried to fend off the assailant. Only to be met with a brutal display of the parting of their head off their dead body.
"Annihilate them!"
"RAAAHHH!"
That night 450 Ursus soldiers died, but that would hardly be the last time Ursus tried to attack the village...
{==}
Date: August 1072.
Location: Wladirosa, Northern Kazimierz – Western Ursus border.
POV: Nyx
'Damn it...' that was another Ursus raid we suffered this month... I don't expect that Ursus has that many soldiers to spare! What the hell were they thinking!? I had been commanding this place since Chief Radek and Jan were badly wounded a month and 2 weeks ago respectively, the chief is in a coma too...
Did I perhaps piss them off that badly!? To even send some mortar squads to a fuck-all-no-name village with drones too... Khariton had died, and the mad lad charged straight at the mortar team. Grenade in hand, the rest is history...
We had annihilated at least 3 regiments worth of soldiers... I cannot just charge out and take them myself since they have been sneaky lately... We don't have enough men to keep a full 24/7 parameters without being spread too thin...
The last time I went on a counterattack alone, Nelka almost died from a surprise attack from another direction. They scaled the nearby cliff, that exact tallest ground after they killed 5 of my subordinates… I placed the youngest there, only to get murdered by elite jetpack soldiers… fucking jetpacks! Once they had our blind spot in their control, they set up a long-range crossbow unit to riddle the whole village full of crossbow bolts.
Casualties are mounting rapidly, I can still fight with full power, but the available manpower is only a third combat effective. That is less than 40 men and women... Damn, why can't I have those cool arts that can blow armies into smithereens!?
"Nyx! We-"
"Another attack!?"
"Uh... no! We spotted Kazimierz Knights!"
"Really!?"
I quickly depart for the makeshift gate, or what was left of it anyway. There I saw a group of well-armed and wearing silvery armor knights looking bewildered by the state of this place.
"Campaign knights?" I inquired, too weary of being polite.
"Yes, are you in charge?"
"Tentatively."
"What happened?"
"Ursus Happened."
I then tell them what had happened here, the knights are astonished that village militias can hold off Ursus' army for months. They even praised my commanding skill, of which I couldn't care less.
I guess the war had finally ended... for this one...
[END OF CHAPTER]
Author Note:
Hello, this is me, myself, and I, the author who shot himself in the foot and is malding quite badly.
Do you guys read any interesting Sci-Fi, space-oriented, novel? Mind giving me a recommendation?
I severely underestimated how hard it is to write a battle scene. Hopefully, I will improve for the future chapter...
Update as usual.
Ciao.
