Fanfic:Ubriel's Basic Military Tactics
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Lesson 1: What makes up an army
Looking out at the people filling his classroom, Atreus began to speak. "The first thing you need to know is the parts of a bloody army. There's the cavalry, pikemen, and archers, and all of them are needed for any flaming army. Cavalry are bloody fast and can devastate archers, pikemen have a long reach and are best for taking out cavalry, and lastly, archers are great at ripping apart the slow pikemen. A battle is won by how you direct them, sending pikemen against archers is a good way to kill your bloody pikemen.
"I almost bloody forgot to mention this because it's not used very often, but there's one other type of warrior. Footmen armed with sword and shield are very vulnerable to cavalry and somewhat vulnerable to archers, but they can make flaming short work of pikemen if properly trained. It's not likely to come up much, I've never fought against men like this, but the great Artur Hawkwing used them to great effect. Because footmen like these are bloody rare, if you choose to use them you will be mostly on your own when it comes to tactics."
Any questions?"
Ubriel shot her hand up. When the nod from the teacher came acknowledging her, she asked, “Would Aiel be footmen or pikemen?”
Atreus grunted amusement, “What do you think?”
Ubriel frowned in consternation. If she knew, she wouldn’t have asked. She ran through the thoughts that had prompted the question and stated them. “Well they are on foot so there is that but they don’t use swords. They use spears, albeit short ones, but that is still not swords. Still, they fight with buckler shields. My best guess though, is that they would be footmen owing to the fact that they do not fight in tight formation but rather in loose concert. They are more like ants attacking than say, wheat growing. They are strong against horse or pikemen but weaker against archers. So I say foot.”
Atreus nodded, “Well reasoned. Aiel are an exception most of the time. They work like footmen but stronger, less likely to bloody break. Don’t forget they can easily transform into archers. But again, flaming rare to see Aiel in a Westland army or fighting against one. Though, like in the Aiel War, it does happen.”
Lesson 2: Fighting
Atreus walked up to the front of the room, a piece of chalk in his hand. "Today," he said, "you'll learn the most flaming basic tactics there are. This is how to fight 'by the bloody book', which will be just fine in an ideal situation.
“Generally, you want the pikemen around the perimeter of your forces so that no matter where your Light-blind enemy comes from, you can beat off the first cavalry charge. This is called making a 'hedgehog' because the pikes point in all directions, like the bloody spines on the back of the animal. Your archers should be protected in the middle of the ring, and your cavalry should be just barely inside the ring until it's time to bloody loose them." He drew a diagram on the board to demonstrate.
"Cavalry is best used in a bloody flank attack or, if you have enough, an attack on two of their fronts. You have to be flaming careful with the timing, because if the timing is off, the enemy is only fighting part of your forces at once. If that happens, they will be able to focus all of their men on a few of yours, and you will take heavy losses. That's very bloody bad for morale."
Atreus let that last lesson sink in for a couple seconds before continuing. Blood and bloody ashes, if they ever get in charge of an army, let the Creator keep them from making that mistake. He shuddered in memory. That commander didn't last very long, and neither did most of his men.
"Now, the problem with pikemen is that very few pike units have the bloody discipline to move in formation. Once they're ready to take a cavalry charge, they're flaming immobile. You have to deploy them wisely, or your archers are just corpses flaming waiting to fall. Archers shoot best stationary, so about half your bloody army will be immobile for the battle.
“Next lesson I'll bloody go over conventional wisdom, any questions?"
Ubriel looked carefully at the diagram drawn on the board and copied it into her notes. She could see the formation being used to move a force through hostile territory and into position. In her mind she thought this defensive formation would be quite useful in an open stage. Level ground all around should keep an attack from gaining an advantage above the level of the pikemen. The tall wall of pikes should help protect the ranks by obscuring any possible targets for an attack from outside. She made labels for each part of the formation and noted the advantages.
“What if there is high ground on either side?” She was talking to herself, completely immersed in her visualizations. She didn’t realize she had spoken aloud when she wrote the question at the bottom of the page. She was just beginning to “see” the hedgehog formation moving through a pass when the affronted grunt of her instructor brought her attention back to the classroom.
“Speak up there!” Atreus growled.
Ubriel fought not to blush and cleared her throat. “I apologize. I was just thinking that this formation seems to hold a clear advantage on level terrain but would it not be more vulnerable to attack if surrounded by high ground? Say it is moving through a mountain pass with ample opportunity for ambush on either side. Would a group of archers be able to make short work of this formation all clustered like that?”
Atreus nodded and pursed his lips as she spoke, then said, “Let’s think about this.” He turned to the board and drew indications of ambush from higher ground. He marked out the positions of the archers, foot, cavalry and pike line in the diagram once more. “What can be done here?”
Several students offered suggestions, Ubriel scoffing quietly to herself at most of them. “standing dead still and using the shields of the foot… By the Light I hope I never end up under that one’s command…”
Finally, Ubriel offered her own suggestion. “Send the cavalry ahead out of the formation. They are too tall to be effectively covered by the shields and they are fast enough that the formation would suffer trying to keep up. Arrange the foot so the shields are held above the heads of the rest of the formation. Archers and foot interspersed, pike along the outside with pikes held low and pointed out from under the edge of the shield cover. Archers can still take shots when they see them but everyone is covered as best they can be and they can still move.” Ubriel waited.
The other students seemed to be thinking it over, some still offering ridiculous suggestions. “Put the archers on the butts of the cavalry mounts… Light.”
Then Atreus raised one hand and spoke into the silence. “It’s a bloody mess no matter what you do but that is battle. One man trying to kill another is going to be messy. There will be flaming losses. The right strategy is anything that lets you survive it.”
Ubriel wrote that, and all the suggestions she had scorned, in her notes as well.
Lesson 3: General rules
Standing at the front of the class, Atreus looked and felt all of the soldier he was.
"Rule number one: Don't split your bloody forces!" He began writing the rules on the chalkboard as he spoke. "In order to maintain discipline and communication between your forces, you should keep all of your troops on the same flaming battlefield. This does not mean you can't send cavalry to attack while keeping the pikemen back to guard your archers, rather, this means you shouldn't split your whole bloody army in half to guard two mountain passes.
"Rule number two: Never, never flaming underestimate your enemy. Most battles are NOT decided by the numbers of your bloody troops, most battles are decided first by the skill of the general, then the skill and discipline of the troops. Numbers come into play third.
"Rule number three: Don't outrun your bloody supplies. Your army can't fight if it can't eat, and foraging is very flaming unreliable. If your bloody army gets cut off from its supplies, it is almost certainly an army of walking corpses.
"Rule number four: If your Light-blind enemy retreats, pursue and destroy. An army is most vulnerable while marching, and if your bloody enemy begins a retreat, it only takes a little pressure for it to become a rout, then a flaming surrender. Once an army starts losing, its usually going to KEEP losing.
"Rule number five: If you begin losing, then withdraw from the bloody battle. Your men will remain loyal and fight better if they know you won't bloody sacrifice them needlessly. Generals that disregard this rule tend to find themselves hanging from a flaming short rope.
"Related to this is Rule number six: Pay attention to the morale of your bloody soldiers. If you flaming mistreat them, they surrender more readily, panic more readily, and are not loyal. If your troops know you bloody care about them, then they will fight longer and harder, follow your orders to the letter, and generally look up to you. Remember, a general should not be a bloody tyrant, a good general is a strict father."
Atreus surveyed his students, making certain they were getting all of these rules. "Any flaming questions? Next lesson will be on using the ley of the bloody land to your advantage."
Ubriel copied the rules as they were set out, taking notes as the lecture went on. She thought, “Good communication between forces would be an advantage. If the leaders of the split groups need to make a change in the plan…” When the lecture was over and the other students were filing out of the room, she approached the teacher.
“Sir,” she waited.
“Yes?” Atreus growled the word but Ubriel was beginning to think that perhaps his voice was just that gnarled.
“What kind of communication is reliable on a battlefield?”
The teacher crossed his arms and looked down at her pursing his lips. “Bloody nothing is reliable on a battlefield. You have a few options; flaming horn calls, messengers, flags and the like, but the best option is to have men you can trust and who trust you. You have leaders and capable men running the flaming goat kissers of the rank and file. Those are the ones who should be as familiar with the overall plan of attack as you are. They will be making bloody changes and judgment calls on the field. As long as everyone knows the end goal and all of the flaming important points between... Well, that is the best you can bloody hope for.”
Ubriel nodded and mulled that over in her mind as she left the class.
Lesson 4: Terrain
Taking his place in front of the class once again, Atreus surveyed the students arrayed in front of him. Light, this isn't as hard as I first thought. "Today we cover the use of bloody terrain in battle. Terrain is flaming useful if your army is lacking in some way.
“For example, if you have few pikemen and the battlefield permits, you can use a flaming cliff or something to make up one side of your hedgehog. Likewise, if you have no cavalry, ambushing the Light-blind enemy while they're crossing a bridge or going through woods will decimate their forces.
“If you don't have cavalry, attack in terrain that will restrict their flaming mobility. If you don't have bloody archers but you do have sword-and-shield men, then attack at a short enough range to keep the enemy from charging. There are fewer flaming rules for terrain, but it's mostly apparent."
Ubriel thought back to the class discussion about high ground ambushes as she made her notes on this lecture. She tried to think of some type of terrain that would be miserable to fight in. Swamp. She thought about the slogging slowness of movement in the marshy ground and the impossibility of holding a formation through the underbrush and thick trees like those near her childhood home in the swamps coming north out of Haddon Mirk. A shudder ran across her shoulders thinking about trying to fight in that.
Then she considered snowy, rocky terrain like in the Mountains of Mist. Forested though not as thickly, the land bucked and turned in sudden angles. Just as she was beginning to despair that there was no way to fight in those conditions she realized that an enemy force would have just as much trouble.
She took a few extra minutes after the rest of the class left to write out some thoughts on how to turn the challenges of these kinds of terrain into advantages against an enemy force using standard and traditional attack formations. She began to doubt herself, looking at the suggestions to break into smaller forces, more easily maneuverable. Then she remembered the quote from her teacher. “The right strategy is anything that lets you survive it.”
Lesson 5: The Big Picture
Walking before the class once more, Atreus spoke. "This will be your last flaming lesson before your test, and it's perhaps the most important of them, so listen closely." He stared hard at his students, pausing for a moment to pace across the room to make certain the importance sank in. "Today, I teach you what you need to know in order to use these lessons in a flaming battle. The first thing you must remember is that in a battle, plans last until the first blow. Beyond that, the bloody fortunes of battle decide the outcome."
Atreus licked his lips before moving onto the next point. "Now then, the art of tactics is ordering your bloody forces to be where they need to be before the need arises . With your knowledge of the enemy's forces, terrain, and how a flaming battle is fought, you need to predict the enemy general's deployment, and manipulate his weaknesses. He will be trying to do the same bloody thing to you, so be aware of that."
A grin rose on Atreus's face. "A flaming great technique is to present a false weak spot or false strong point to control their decisions. Just be aware that your Light-blind enemy will be doing the same, and don't get caught with your flaming britches around your ankles."
"If you know where your enemy will attack, and how much of his bloody force he'll use, then make sure your army can take the hit. At the same time, always look for an unexpected way to hit his flaming weak spots. Cavalry is particularly good for this because there's nothing that'll panic an army faster than a flaming stampede of horsemen coming out of nowhere and ripping their flank apart." Atreus smiled at the memory of panicked faces. "The best way to win a battle is to hit the enemy where they don't flaming expect it and be prepared for your enemy's strike. Don't hesitate to sucker-punch the bloody fools. Any questions?"
A hand from the other side of the room rose before Ubriel could raise her own. Luckily it was the same question. “How do you know it is a false weak or strong point being presented?”
Atreus snorted and then guffawed in a short, coughing sound. “It’s a good question. I wish I had a good bloody answer!” He stifled another chortle and cleared his throat. “The likely best way to know its a fake is if it is too obvious. Those are going to be the ones any raw recruit can point out to you. Those aren’t usually what is flaming presented. No army is going to have a general that is that wool-headed.
“No, the ones that you have to watch for are the ones that seem reasonable. They have few cavalry so it makes sense that the cavalry is in a weak formation. The terrain makes foot slow and hard to keep in a formation, so it makes bloody sense that the line is either broken or stretched thin in the middle. Don’t flaming fall for that.
“Another thing to look for is going to be bloody lies. Use all of your reports, put them together, pick out the ones that don’t add up with the others. A report of no archers is obviously wrong if just bloody yesterday there were 500 right in the bloody middle. Use your head and look at everything.”
Ubriel nodded along and made her notes.
Final exam
Gazing over his class, Atreus shook his head. Light, I hope they learned enough to avoid slaughtering their first army. We'll bloody find out soon enough . . . Passing out a sheet of paper to everyone present, he said, "This is your bloody final test. Pretend that you're in Shienar, and some Light-forsaken Trollocs are coming through Tarwin's Gap . . . again. As you know, the Blight Border has the lowest guard of any point in time since the flaming Trolloc Wars, so the Shienarians ask you for help in turning back the attack. The Shienarians have the best heavy cavalry of any nation, but they have bloody few archers or pikemen. All you bloody know about the incoming Trollocs is that they outnumber you, but not by much. Also, they seem to be relatively disciplined, so you can expect a Light-forsaken Fade.
"Scouts have given you advance warning of the Trollocs, so you have your choice of bloody terrain. You are the only channeler there, but your men are flaming confident in their abilities. Write down your battle plans and explain your bloody decisions. Since the goat-kissing Trollocs are coming through, retreat is not an option. Good luck." With that, Atreus sat at his desk, watching the students write furiously.
Ubriel stared at the blank page. Sighing, she closed her eyes. There is a Fade. The Trollocs have already made it past Tarwin’s Gap and … There is a Fade.
She opened her eyes and began to write:
The Fade is keeping the Trollocs on task. Right now all they have to contend with is the defending troops. It’s work but it doesn’t scare them. We need to give the Fade a problem to deal with, make it hard to keep the Trollocs under control. Draw him out if possible. Numbers appear to indicate that there is only one Fade.
The blighted forest needs to be set on fire on either side of the oncoming Trollocs. The channeler can accomplish that at the front. Send foot using torches to the back of the oncoming forces. Narrow the alley in front of them and leave their retreat open. Send archers on either side of the alley of fire, outside the flames and in front of the Trollocs. The hope is that the fire will scare the beasts as well as blind them. They are rubbish in high light and they can’t fight fire with their weapons.
Send cavalry in to strike and retreat at the front, make the advance painful. Use the foot to round up stragglers and beasts that escape around the main line of the advance.
If my army can harass the Trollocs properly, the Fade should be drawn out. As soon as it shows itself, the channeler, a dozen archers and four sword and shield men will descend on it. The archers can begin the assault and hopefully fill the thing with so many arrows, it will resemble a pincushion. The channeler will use the Power to attack the thing and hopefully kill it before it can get close. If it advances close enough to reach the swordsmen, they will engage in the fight.
Once the Fade is dead, the majority of the Trollocs who haven’t been routed will hopefully lay down and die. Even if none were bonded to the Fade, once it is dead, it should be easier to convince the beasts to turn back. We will take down as many as we can as we harass them back through the Gap.
Once the fighting is over, the channeler can douse the flames with dirt or plow fire break trenches to keep the damage from reaching any human populations.
Ubriel was fairly sure it would be far more complicated in a real battle at the blight border. There were human frailties and terrors to overcome. But she hadn’t been asked about that. She just had to make a plan of attack. Satisfied, she deposited her exam paper on the desk at the front of the room, bowed to the teacher and walked out.
