Chapter 177: Their Nature

December 7, 623

“Alright, do as I do and generally, we shouldn’t be speaking unless spoken to. You can’t treat these people as any ordinary intelligence agents. You need to look proper, talk proper, act proper, and don’t step out of line.”

Jasmine rattled off her advice as we walked into headquarters. Both of us were in our Glimmers, yet thankfully weren’t sticking out since there were triple the amount of summoners in headquarters after the reinforcement. 

We were going to meet our new superiors who we would be advising. They were Generals, and they stood at the top of the military’s hierarchy. 

“These Generals may be despotic but they’re in their position for a reason. They’re some of the smartest people in the world and have decades of experience in battlefield strategy, as well as more influence than any Brigadier will ever have. These people operate directly with Sovereigns and Marshals, making decisions that can end the lives of numerous thousands. They aren’t people you want to be on the bad side of. Do your job well, and let them do theirs. Maybe by the end of this, you’ll be a Lieutenant Colonel.”

“Mm. That would be nice.”

I smiled, the two of us pausing outside a door to the war room. Jasmine took a deep breath. 

Our positions now were rather unique. Neither of us held a high rank compared to the people in the room, yet we were chosen as advisors because we were at the center of this new war’s intelligence game. There was a lot of information that they wanted, which we had analyzed and parsed for a while now. 

Part of me was worried about outliving our usefulness rather quickly. I didn’t want to lose this advisor position anytime soon, but we also couldn’t withhold what they wanted to know. That would only ruin this opportunity. 

However, I had something even Jasmine couldn’t take advantage of. 

I was a field agent. I might have limited knowledge, but I could go out and collect more, a task that would remain crucial in the coming months. If I were reporting directly to one of the Generals as a result of my abilities, I’d have no issue getting the recognition I wanted. 

For a brief moment I was worried about Polly. My achievements were supposed to be going under her name, but with the top brass involved, she wasn’t able to make that happen. I hoped she wouldn’t be butthurt about it and try to knock me down. 

“Ready?”

“Mm.”

I nodded, Jasmine pushing open the door. We entered, immediately seeing all of the highest ranking people in this base. 

Alois, Miron, and Nonnen were here, along with the new Marshal. The four of them radiated harrowing power. Being so close to it was rather suffocating for me since they didn’t bother reigning in their Auras. Sometimes being so sensitive to it was a curse. 

Then, there were the Generals. One General, one Major General, and two Brigadier Generals alongside Brigadier General Hristo who originally manned this base. I saw a lot of dragon wings around the room, reminding me what kind of place I was in, as well as the kind of weight my position held. 

Very few ever got the chance to advise people this high in the ranks, let alone do so at the rank of Major, not to mention that I was just promoted yesterday.

I looked between some of the Generals. They were all summoners, naturally, and surprisingly I could feel the power of a low Authority 8 from the General. His power was well above mine, which was an interesting thing to experience. I had gotten so used to being the best summoner around that I could hardly imagine another summoner being able to compare. 

He was a rather short man though, clean shaven with slicked back hair. When he glanced over at me from his chair, I had to look down on him. I often forgot that I could be much taller and bigger than other people, and that didn’t always leave a good taste in their mouths. 

Only one person, a Major General, could match my height. The other Major General and the two Brigadier Generals all sat shorter in their chairs. 

Jasmine and I snapped off salutes, waiting until we were acknowledged. 

The General turned and faced us, any conversations coming to a halt. 

“Colonel Jasmine and Major Cooper reporting to General Viskar.”

General Viskar still wasn’t the highest ranking man in the base. He was technically a step below a Marshal, but he still sat in the highest rank a summoner like him could get, being one of the smartest strategists in the Kingdom. I was sure that people like him weren’t allowed to rise to the rank of Marshal or Sovereign not just because of the lack of power, but because the Kingdom wanted to keep such smart people under control. By keeping them a rank or two below the highest, they could be wielded like a tool. They would never be allowed to step out of line.

I found it unfortunate. At the same time, I could also understand why Summoners kept a tight hold on who could rise past the rank of Colonel. It would dilute the influence the generals could wield against others, including the Marshals and Sovereigns. 

General Viskar nodded back. 

“At ease, Colonel Jasmine. Major Cooper, I’ve been hearing your name frequently this past week. I’m glad you’ve made it back from your recent mission in one piece. I hope you’ll be able to clear up some questions we’ve had in recent days.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”

“Mm. Come sit. We’ll get right to it.”

He waved us over, Jasmine leading me to two open seats for us around the table. 

The map was already up, everyone’s attention turned toward it as we sat down. General Viskar operated an Orb and modified some of the images on the map. 

“It was made clear by your reports, including the mission record where those two squads were wiped out, that the Scourge is making some massive moves and that your guesses as to where they would me moving were correct. They’ve also introduced a new species which you’ve dubbed the Bombardo. However, what some of us are having an issue with is understanding the thought process that led you to guess where more of those Bombardos would be. I’ve heard from Brigadier Nonnen about your work with him in locating some more of their hiding spots, and I’ve seen the map you have to Colonel Jasmine displaying your suspected Bombardo sites. Can you explain that thought process to us? Why were they there?”

“…”

I was silent for a second, pondering his question. I knew exactly why my guesses were accurate, but explaining certain pieces of modern knowledge was difficult. 

I was more than familiar with the concept of artillery. This world wasn’t. Artillery was the cornerstone of warfare as soon as it was introduced through the catapult, turning into the cannon before evolving into pieces like the Howitzer. It could demolish fortifications from over the horizon, making it a strategic tool. 

This world had yet to see such things. The closest example to artillery they had were powerful warlocks, but even those comparisons were limited. 

Either way, I understood the nature of artillery and how it had to be handled on a battlefield. That’s why I could make some decent guesses regarding where the Scourge was going to move their artillery, the Bombardos, and the kind of circumstances that could be expected surrounding them. 

I decided to divulge some of this knowledge. After all, most of it was simply logic. 

“…In order to explain my thought process, I would like you to think about the nature of what a Bombardo is. A Bombardo is a slow moving, massive species that can dish out heavy attacks from long range. Like many Scourge species, this makes it very specialized. That means it has clear strengths and weaknesses.”

“Can you explain those to us?”

“Sure. First off, the slow moving and massive aspect, two major weaknesses. Second, it’s capable of firing powerful projectiles over long distances, two strengths. However, those projectiles are also slow, as in they can’t hit small targets reliably, and especially not nearby. Another weakness. Now, this makes it very predictable in how it has to move. The thing can’t defend itself against small groups, so it relies on an army to protect it. That means it needs to be escorted by a sizeable force, which needs sizeable logistics behind it. This limits its avenues of advance, and if we think about what the Scourge has been doing recently in this little war, we can infer where they would station the Bombardos and their escort forces. Mind if I use the board?”

“Very well.”

The General rolled the Orb over to me so I could operate the map. With it, I cleared the map and started drawing on it. 

“The Scourge has moved the majority of its forces through this nearby ravine, which I checked personally. One thing I noticed was that the ravine was free from the red fungus that blankets everywhere else the Scourge advances. This means the Scourge was attempting to hide its advance from us through this secluded route. Why? Because they wanted to keep the Bombardos secret from us for as long as possible. They knew we would understand their threat, and they knew that we could easily form missions to kill them off bit by bit. Bombardos can’t relocate fast or hide, which makes them easy targets if you know where they are. Raids against them are effective, as I’m sure the Snow Doves can attest to.”

“Indeed. They make great target practice.”

Brigadier Nonnen nodded in agreement, earning a bit of my appreciation. 

“So, the Scourge wants to move them discreetly. That makes obvious routes null, leaving the unassuming routes left. Now, because Bombardos are slow to move, they can’t amass many of them quickly. They need to hide them as they come in batches, so they station them in pockets of land where we either couldn’t or wouldn’t recon since it would be too out of the way. Then they simply keep them there and wait until more arrive. Once they’ve gathered enough, they move them all at once. But you can’t move them in from one direction, so you spread them out, which requires more hiding places and most importantly, more logistics. 

“In essence, I sought to understand the challenges the Scourge would face trying to utilize the Bombardos. Then, I simply thought about it from their perspective. If I wanted to level the Treehouse with these new troops without them getting decimated either beforehand or in the process, where would I need to hide them, and from where could I use them? That’s what led to my inferences. I picked some hideouts that fit the requirements as well as points of attack the Bombardos could use to great effect given their range. After some process of elimination, there weren’t many places left, and I was able to recon three of the most suspicious spots, two of which were confirmed to have Bombardos.”

“…”

Everyone was silent as I finished. 

Utilizing artillery demanded that the artillery be safe above all. They couldn’t be attacked, otherwise they’d be useless. More than that, their range afforded them certain advantages that, while deadly, also made them predictable. I knew that, and simply used the knowledge at hand. 

That wasn’t even mentioning the fact that I was being safer than normal when guessing their points of attack. These Bombardos didn’t have the range that modern artillery did. That limited their use cases even more, making them even easier to predict. 

By now, my drawings covered half the map, arrows and circles dotting the area. I had basically redrawn the map I gave to Jasmine that had my other points of suspect. I’m sure all of these generals had seen it already, and this was nothing new. 

Now though, they got to hear about some light tactics that they’d never encountered before. Artillery was a new piece on the board, and I was capable of exposing all its secrets to them, negating any surprise advantages it may have afforded the Scourge. 

It wasn’t hard to understand though. Sure enough, there were several nods around the room, General Viskar speaking up. 

“It’s sound logic. Impressive, for having just encountered this new enemy in the field. However, I have some doubts as to your estimation of the Bombardos threat.”

He leaned over a bit, facing me directly. 

“How dangerous do you believe these Bombardos will be to us?”

“I have no doubts that the Bombardos will be extremely dangerous to the Kingdom as a whole if not countered properly. Those monsters will be able to engage targets well beyond the target’s ability to retaliate. You would see projectiles flying over from halfway to the horizon, firing constantly. You may be able to defend against some with shields or the like, but I can assure you that the defense would tire out faster than the Bombardos will. Volleys will come unceasingly, and those monsters will force you to come out and attack them while being defended by entire armies. Give them room, and the base will be leveled, its inhabitants leveled with it and forced to scatter, making us prime targets for their follow up attacks.”

“Do you believe that they are difficult targets to kill?”

“It depends on the tactics employed. Powerful but small squads will be the most effective weapon against them, but even then, we need to find them first. We need lots of information in order to make sure that they can’t hide any in the surrounding terrain and strike us when we’re on the back foot. That will be the key to making sure that these Bombardos don’t turn the tide of this war.”

I finished my words before rolling the Orb back to General Viskar. He grabbed it and pondered, gazing at the Orb. 

“…You speak as if you completely understand this enemy.”

“I don’t, sir. These are my inferences given the information at hand, but if they are indeed more than meets the eye, then they can only be more dangerous than I’ve assumed. However, I don’t have the whole picture. The Snow Doves have real experience fighting them, so if you want to know more about the battlefield tactics, I would refer to Brigadier Nonnen. What I’ve posited is just the overall picture regarding their nature and use philosophy.”

“Mm. I will be doing that.”

He nodded, glancing at Brigadier Nonnen before looking back at the map.

“And I agree with your statement regarding information. If we want to find where the dozen or two that they’ve sent are hiding, then we need recon. Ever since our reinforcement, the Scourge seems to have backed off in order to wait and watch. Anything they throw at us right now will be decimated, so they want to muster up more forces. We can also assume that they’ve realized we know about their major movements. If they really do want to hide those Bombardos, then they will have moved them. However, my major concern right now is both the army and the Royals they’ve sent. The sighting of even one King Royal is grounds for high alert. That means we’ll soon need to mobilize our high combat forces so that we can start moving low combat troops into the field…”

General Viskar went on to start outlining his plans. Since this conversation obviously went out of my control, I leaned back and went quiet. 

However, one thing nagged at me. 

A dozen or two Bombardos? Why would he assume that’s all there were? Sure, that might be the number right now, but give it a week and that number would have quadrupled at minimum. 

There should be hundreds flooding toward us right now. 

Another thing about artillery was that, unless it was precise, it was generally useless against an army unless there were numbers. These Bombardos wouldn’t be killing high level combatants. They would be killing masses of people and obliterating infrastructure. 

That couldn’t happen unless there were a lot more than there were right now. And since we just gave them a much bigger target with this recent reinforcement, they would be sending that much more. 

Screw the King Royal. My major concern was the new artillery. I wasn’t interested in getting my living quarters leveled. 

Not like I could bring that up though, and General Viskar couldn’t be that stupid. Underestimating your enemy was just about the number one mistake to make in any battle. Thankfully he at least understood the importance of information.

Over the next three hours, I listened to the man talk with the other generals. He led the discussion most of the time since he was basically the highest decision maker here. Not even the Marshal could so casually disregard his thoughts or tactics. Smart generals won wars, and lots of power often merely supplemented their strategies, not outright replaced them. That was especially true when your enemy could bring out just as much power. 

Instead of worrying about it, I just listened in and took note of his thought processes. I wanted to know how these generals thought personally instead of trying to judge their thoughts based on the broad movements across an entire theater. 

Eventually, General Viskar gave out his orders. He wanted recon to begin as soon as possible. Gathering information meant that we would be able to start carrying out missions on a large scale, given so many reinforcements. 

And perhaps unsurprisingly, Jasmine and I were to be involved in the formation of the recon operations alongside one of the Major Generals. We would be the advisor to Major General Quill, and he would be leading all intelligence operations here for the foreseeable future. 

After giving out all those orders, General Viskar left the rest of us to figure things out ourselves. We knew what had to get done, and it would be up to us to figure out the details. 

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