I Might Not Know Where I Am, But I Ain't Lost by cmsix

Chapter 4

The sixty power spotting scope gave us more warning of the caravan than we really needed. After going directly to the gate we couldn't even see it from ground level and barely could with binoculars after we climbed to the top of the wall.

Chungi and I retired to an Inn, leaving instructions with a guard to fetch us when Kaltaken arrived. We drank watered wine for a little more than an hour before word came.

In a stroke of pure luck, Kaltaken's caravan was almost all grain. He intended to sell it at Katahalana, King Dasga's border fortress, more than twelve miles across the river.

He was delighted when I offered him more money than he'd expected further up the road, and more so when I asked if he could gather up another load quickly.

He agreed and I had him rest his people while my soldiers unloaded the grain during the night. The caravan left before noon the next day.

Chalmas returned with his wagons and pack animals loaded heavily two days later. While my soldiers were unloading it, we went to an inn for a meal and some wine. He was thrilled when I actually paid him as much as I'd promised.

He was so happy with the deal that he asked if I needed more grain.

"I'm sure I can use it, but surely sooner or later King Frata will learn that he's lost this outpost and send someone to find out how and why," I said.

"I believe I can make at least one more trip. King Frata will not learn of the situation here unless a caravan passes through and the merchants refuse your offers and then tell him when they reach Kahtal, if they are going there. Even if a peasant or two leave and try to tell him, they will most likely be turned away, or even beaten for attempting to see him.

"The only other way he would normally learn of it would be if his collectors come for the taxes. They will know that you are not the commander who is supposed to be here and they will surely tell him when they return," Chalmas said.

"If the collectors come here, they will not be returning. He may start wondering what happened to them later.

"Actually I doubt if any peasants have left here, none that were living here when we took over anyway.  We do not let the soldiers mistreat them at all. In fact we have whipped three at the stake for it already.

"The only other peasants that come and go are the ones who want to sell in the market here and we make sure that they never have to take anything back with them, especially food.

"Chungi's mother and cousin are our main buyers and if a peasant leaves with any of the goods he brought to sell it is because the price he was asking was ridiculous. I don't want to be robbed, but I made sure that Shealta and Sheleata knew I'd rather pay more than the normal price than have any arguments."

"So your capture of his outpost is almost certainly unnoticed so far. If you need more grain, I will go find another load and bring it back. I will keep a scout far ahead of me, and if he finds an army here we will take the grain elsewhere," Chalmas said.

"But what about your trade goods that are in a warehouse here?" I asked.

"They would be a loss, but I'm willing to take the chance. If I can bring you one more load of grain and then leave with my goods, I will have made twice the profit of my previous year, and it is still early in this year," he said.

They were gone by ten AM the next day, and Chalmas had bought two more wagons and teams.

Kaltaken was back three days later, and I wondered how he found grain so much closer than Chalmas must have. I didn't ask though, I paid and then had the soldiers unload it. We had to find another warehouse since the first one was full by now.

He asked about another load too, and I told him what I'd told Chalmas. He agreed with Chalmas on the prospects of King Frata learning anything.

"King Frata will not notice anything is wrong until he misses his gold, you can count on that. I do think that it won't be long before the collectors come here though since I heard word in one village that they were on the way. They weren't at that village though, the word had merely reached there with a traveler," Kaltaken said.

"Then there is probably plenty of time for you to make another trip."

He spent an extra day in Quancho this time, mending his wagons and letting his people rest. He bought another wagon also, and converted six of his pack mules into a team for it.

Six days after Kaltaken left, Chungi spotted the collector's detachment while it was still at least five miles away. There were probably forty mounted men and six heavy wagons, besides the two that were obviously carrying their food.

We replaced the real archers on the wall with normal soldiers that were merely holding bows. I already knew from some of my new recruits that the wagons would come straight through, down the main street, to the commander's residence; it happened to be mine now.

We had planned long ago for this and had even drilled the men, all the men, on the plan.

Most of the soldiers we'd acquired here were armed with short pikes and hidden behind buildings that faced the street. All the real archers were hidden behind the headquarters building, the former commander's and officer's residence. It also had a room with a heavy door for storing the taxes that were collected.

The other two snipers and I were by second story windows in a building across the street from headquarters, while the rest of my original squad with their M4s were with the archers.

Chungi was hidden in the first cross street with an eight-horse team to pull a roadblock across the street. We'd attached a special shortened tongue from one wagon to the rear of the one he was driving. They had about a thousand pounds each in them, a relatively light load, and he'd drive them across the street to block it when the first collector's wagon pulled to a stop in front of headquarters. He'd then set the brake and haul his ass to safety.

Chungi's action would open the ball. Next, we snipers would deal with all the wagon drivers as the archers and my squad broke cover to deal with the mounted men. If anyone were still resisting after the first forty seconds or so, the pikemen would come out and deal with them.

With the early sighting we had more than enough time to prepare and almost too much. When the lead wagon finally stopped, Chungi did his thing and so did everyone else. The pikemen looked like they were disappointed when they didn't find anyone alive except the cook who'd been sleeping in the rear food wagon.

I was astonished at the proceeds from this foul deed. Apparently the collectors had made a long circular trip gathering the money. We'd had a scandalous amount here already but they were carrying easily thirty times as much. Alas, there was no one left alive to give us any details.

It took hours for the soldiers to unload the small heavy chests and it was a bigger job to stack it high enough in the small room so that we could fit it all in. I had an idea that King Frata was going to be pretty mad about the whole thing when he found out.

Four weeks later, Chalmas and Kaltaken had both made two more trips and still no one had been by to ask about the missing detachment. Almost every warehouse in Quancho was full already but I'd still promised to buy more grain if they wanted to make another try.

They'd both come in at nearly the same time this trip and the soldiers had been up most of the night unloading and complaining. Jorgenson set some of the squawkers straight though.

"You bitch now, but when King Frata has an army camped around us you'll be glad that you have something to eat besides each other."

Both caravans left again the next day, and two days later Chungi spied twelve mounted men approaching, almost in the tracks that the collector's wagons must have made.

Frankston, Chungi, Jorgenson, and I had a quick meeting and modified our wagon train ambush. We didn't bother with blocking the street this time and we told the pikemen, archers, and my squad not to fire unless the men refused to surrender after we showed ourselves. None of them had their bows strung and ready so there was little risk.

Apparently they realized this also, because when armed men started showing up with bows drawn and pikes lowered, they couldn't surrender fast enough. Now we had someone to question.

It only took a few minutes to know that King Frata wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree. After he'd decided that his money train was late, he'd sent these men out to follow its expected path and see what had become of it. Quancho was the last stop for pickup so this bunch had been forced to follow the whole route.

Frankly, I was tired of waiting on the King and his army, so I decided to let these men leave after Chalmas and Kaltaken made one more delivery. To make things safer for them, I kept the kings men confined in the windowless cells at the back of the headquarters building.

There were slots to push food and water through for them and another one, low to the floor, that they could push their chamber pot out for emptying. The kitchen girls that brought their meals were instructed not to say anything at all while they were at it.

Raastan, who was still hanging on, was assigned to emptying and replacing the chamber pots and I had Big'un gag him every day for the process.

It was a little odd to me, but our population seemed to be growing. I'd been suspicious when I first noticed and I made the men at the gate begin inspecting everything and everyone to make sure they weren't bringing in weapons, but they never found anything.

After his trip before last, I'd asked Kaltaken to take his caravan to the cache we'd left in the woods where we'd arrived. He obliged and Big'un and Jorgenson went with him. It was only about seventeen miles one-way, and they were out and back with everything in three days. We stored most of it in the headquarters' basement.

After his last load, Chalmas, who was just as willing to go again, collected his trade goods and left. I'd looked through most of it and hadn't found anything we couldn't live without. I hadn't sent him for more food because there just wasn't any place left to store it, and frankly I didn't think King Frata or King Dasga or even both of them could stand up very long against us.

After Kaltaken made his final delivery, he almost decided to stay with us just to see what happened. He'd gotten a hint that we must have something up our sleeves, especially after he learned that the few weapons makers were going full speed ahead making bows, bowstrings, and arrows and that the regular archers were busily teaching their skill to every soldier, and all the civilians that would try it.

He finally decided that he could probably make money hauling grain and other food to the King's army when it camped nearby for the seige. I laughed and told him to make sure he got cash money and was ready to sell as soon as they arrived.

Two days after Kaltaken left, I released the king's patrol. Only two of them would leave and I made them walk. If worse came to worst we might need the horses to eat later. Every day I had them taken out of the walls to graze and I'd hired many of the new arrivals to cut and bundle hay. We had mountains of it near the rear of the walls, stacked in open areas on land that wasn't occupied yet.

The men that remained begged to join our little army. They hadn't even considered going home because they felt that their king would have them killed when they delivered the bad news. I asked why the other two had gone and they said neither of them planned to go home either.

One of them could read and write and he'd said he would try to send King Frata a message, the other one planned to go toward Perneath.

Six days later we found out that someone had wised up. Chungi spotted twelve more men approaching from the short way to Kahtal. While still a mile from Quancho, six of them dismounted and six came on.

I was waiting at the gate with all thirty of my original archers on the wall. I didn't even let them in the city, I just told them to go back and tell the king that Quancho had been taken and all his officers in Quancho, the men of the collection team, and the first detachment of scouts were dead.

"I'm keeping the tax money too. King Dasga said I could keep it after I took Quancho. Tell King Frata that I'd be happy to see another bunch of tax collecting wagons if he wants to send them around again."

I don't know what made me throw in that taunt about King Dasga, but it seemed right at the time. For some reason these soldiers didn't seem that happy to be returning with the news. Maybe it was because I made them leave their horses.

The die was cast now, but I was sure we were ready. That didn't mean I slacked off on the armorers though or on the archery lessons.

It was a few days over six weeks later when Chungi saw the first signs of the king's army approaching. We sent up a signal flare that we'd told the horse wranglers to watch for and they had all the horses, mules and the few cattle back inside the walls in less than an hour. The army's scouts were still so far away that I doubt they could even see the movement.

God almighty it had been a long wait.

We were nearly out of room for storing the hay, there must be over a hundred tons of it piled up back there. Every soldier and most of the civilians had bows now and there were a few hundred arrows for each. They were all at least proficient with them too. The escape tunnel had been extended nearly three hundred yards further into the woods, and it was shored up solidly all the way.

You can imagine how surprised we were when most of the army kept going right past us, albeit out of bow range. There were probably six to eight thousand men, including their seven hundred or so light cavalry, but they kept moving except for a few hundred that started on a rough camp maybe five hundred yards from the gate. They also had about a hundred horses, but they seemed to just turn them loose to graze. I wondered what in the hell they were doing.

I asked Jorgenson if any of the king's former soldiers knew how to pour piss out of a boot without looking for instructions printed on the heel, and he brought three to see me where I was watching things through my binoculars from the top of the front wall.

One of them clued me in right away.

"They're to build a siege engine or maybe even two. There's no chance they can do these walls any damage with a ram, and they probably couldn't even breach the gate with one.

"They'll just set up their camp tonight and start cutting trees for it tomorrow, no doubt," he said.

"But where did he take the rest of the army?" I asked.

"I'm not sure if the king was with them, but if he is, he won't want to just sit around and wait a week or more while the siege engine is being built. He probably intends to go on to Katahalana and rattle his arms, to see if he can get them excited," he said.

This was a move I just couldn't understand. He didn't have control of his own border city and he was heading to the nearest of King Dasga's cities to stir them up? What could that possibly help? Was he intending to scare up a land battle while he was trying to conduct a siege of the city he had just lost? I would never understand that.

Letting them go, I climbed down off the wall myself. I went to the base of the tower and climbed it to join Chungi, hoping to get a better look through the spotting scope. We had others but I didn't want to go looking for one in the basement right now.

Chungi was happy to let me have a look see. The first thing I noticed was that the horses were grazing and the next was that they were all large draft horses. There were only a few wagons left here and I wondered what the hell they needed with so many draft animals.

Then I saw that a few men had left, heading towards the tree line nearest their camp, thankfully it was more than a mile from where our tunnel came out. About the time they reached the woods two men caught up two of the horses each and put some type of harness on them, then they headed towards the woods where the original men were now working on felling some small trees.

I wondered about the trees, since they seemed to be too small to be of any use in a siege engine. Maybe they were for firewood, but if that were the case there should be plenty of squaw wood lying around, even if there were no squaws on this planet.