Chapter 52 - Growing

It was awful is what Damun would say everytime in the future, holding that much power, deciding the lives of another on a whim was awful, he would lament.

He naturally felt nervous, anxious, even fear. He questioned himself whether he was ready for this or not. It was soon going to be his decision that would now determine how many lives are lost and how fast can he capture the fort.

Whenever he had gazed at his commander before, it was bound with immense fear and awe, which kept him at tenterhooks. Don't get him wrong Sho was no cruel Tyrant, but he was no saint either.

To prove this fact, all who opposed him either lie six feet underground or are missing from camp. He understood what was done and accordingly to what he was taught, it was respect built out of fear.

The Commander to him was like his mentor, but he also felt that Commander was very childish, even petty and demanding of his subordinates. To him it looked like Commander was ready to exploit everything under him.

But right now, when he stood at the forefront and was given the power to choose for others, only then did he realise. It was not that easy, power no matter what is always tangled with responsibility.

Only now would Damun think was this very true, and he felt he was not good enough. He knew Commander wouldn't give him this task unless he was ready, but he had to question whether he was worthy of this chance.

There was Sam who was cold and silent, but even then she was a better choice than him. There was also Zake, although it felt bittersweet, he agreed that he was better in warfare than himself.

Damun could name a few more who were a better choice and perhaps everybody could see his unease.

Zake had looked at him and said "We are under your command Strategist, don't be nervous, we don't have enough time to settle down your nerves".

It was urgent and maybe that is why they had camped near the Fort. To give him a sense of urgency.

Damun was fidgety and he coughed before saying "The scouts ?, what have they, to say about the Fort".

The scout came forward and said "Well barricaded, the walls are a hassle as they are 10 meter tall and lack enough foothold for any climbing activity".

"Also the nearby areas are too plain, owing to the fact that it is between a desert and the beginning stretch of a mountainous region, makes it harder for a surprise attack".

"From what we gathered, the number of soldiers inside the Fort may well be about two Infantry regiments, so to say about 1000-2000 soldiers".

This was harrowing news, their entire troop barely combined to about 500. The difference between the enemy troops and his was at least quadruple and for the first time he creased his brows.

'War is not all about numbers, if there exists a gap then fill it. Fill it with your wisdom and you will be able to fight against all odds'.

Sigh, it maybe easy to say this paragraph but he could not really think on a way to capture the Fort. The main problem here was the Wall and the barricades near it.

So unless he finds a way to get in before they can see his entire troop, its a lost cause. Everyone knows a Turtle is hard to kill as long as it stays in its shell.

By the time the enemy realises our true numbers, it will be over. From then on instead of us, it will be them proactively fighting against us.

There are many ways to defeat them but he could only think of two. One is to chip away at their forces, slowly but surely diminishing their strength. Two is to capture Fort before their enemies can retaliate.

But both aren't feasible, if option one was carried out then should the enemy forces have a good eye, they would instead become the one that gets chipped out.

To be honest, option two is pretty feasible. Though the main problem lies in the fact that would the entire regiment abandon base in any case, the answer is impossible.

As Damun was going through all this Zake then said "What if we ambush their supply convoys and assasinate their higher ups and slowly chip away at them".

This was a good option but "We do not have enough information. Even if we were successfull, should they discover it early, we would have another regiment coming for us".

Zake was not concerned "Then what, we continue on to ambush them and kill them all".

Zake was a genius when it came to warfare but in face of logistics and human management, well he was a straight F.

Zake was pretty good and all the Imperials could drag the fight out, and most possibly even continue winning. But what about the children, elderly and women in the camp.

Could they keep their nerves taut for the entirety of this exchange. To be fair capturing a Fort was easy, it only becomes a hassle to defend it back.

Even in the World War, which Damun studied with Commander, there were many cases of Fort capture only to lose it back in enemy retaliation.

So to say it had to be clean and extremely fast and vicious. "We need a plan that ends at once, before even the enemy realises they have lost, we need a plan like this".

"Only then will it be a perfect capture and give us enough buffer time to rest, rebuild and enhance our defenses".

Kain then asked "Why can't we protract it, we have the Commander with us and as long as he moves everything will be fine".

For the first time Damun had realised just how dependent they were for their Commander. Looking back, he can't recall a time when the Commander wasn't confident or sure of any matter.

Then he remembered what his Commander once said "Damun, always depending on one person and building hope around this one person is no good. Its never fine for a group to be entirely dependent on one person or for one person to hold that much power".

"It should be in balance, otherwise the moment this person falls, his hardwork would only crumble more faster".

Damun had forgotten his nervousness and all his fidgety appearance had dissipated. He said "We cannot, if we call for the Commander for such trivialities, then he would be disappointed at us. We can't always depend on him, we have to grow, so he can say that we have made him proud. That we can stand with him not behind him".

With power in his gaze and his voice moving through the wind he said "We are the troops under our Commander, not children looking for guidance and help at every step. He has taught us and given us all the resources, if we can't stand independent even after this, we would be no better than livestock".

"Are we human or livestock ?".

No one answered, they had gotten so used to walking behind their little Commander. They had gotten so used to his confidence, his sharp wit and his decisiveness which had always struck them as ruthless and charismatic.

They had forgottten that their Commander was but still a child, and he was filling in the shoes of an a.d.u.l.t. It was embarrassing how they were shirking all responsibility on a child, and even then Commander was following through confidently with success after success.

Yet here they stood unable to even march forth without his presence. It was dissapointing and it made them question, 'Who was the real child here ?'.

Aren't we no better than burly children at this point. This was their test, the Commander could capture the fort in one smooth go with his mind.

So why wasn't he doing it ?. This question had never entered their mind and now that it had registered. They understood, it was their Commander giving them the chance to grow, to leave the Childish shell they had slowly receded in.

It was certainly shame enducing but like Commander had once said 'Know your wrongs, if its embarrassing then it is what it is. There is nothing wrong with embarassment, move beyond it, learn from it. What I hate more is petty rage than slight embarassment'.

Then the Commander had then gone on a huge rant about how stupid cultivator society was, but those things were not really the point here. so everybody conveniently dodged the issue.

There were few though who had a question, isn't a cultivator a farmer. Is it different since he teaches the elderly and children about agriculture so kindly.

If its really different then why so much hate against this, whatever a cultivator really is ?. Ahhh no one can understand the minds of an insane genius.

So they kindly dodged this entire Cultivator issue and focused on the embarrassment part.

Zake had a look of anger in his face "We aren't livestock". He wasn't angry, he was just embarrased and he was trying to hide it with his angry face. But he wasn't fooling anybody present, after all his red ears betrayed him more easily than his face.

Jane stifled her laughed but even then the short chuckles and her body's vibrations betrayed her. Then as if in conjunction, the entire tent exploded in full blown out laughter, one at the expense of a fuming Zake.

Damun who had laughed heartily then looked at Kain. This elderly man was smiling as if he had already expected this, and as if it all clicked in. He realised, ahhh so he was set up by the Commander.

Then he remembered what his Commander once said 'Mistakes should be realised because pointing it out only makes one* look bad in everyones eyes'.

Such a roundabout way of making everyone progress, Damun could swear he really felt helpless against his childish Commander. In certain aspects his Commander really was still a child.

After the laughter had died down and only snickers were left. Kain proceeded with his idea "What if we consider these aspects first, they have communication telephones and telegrams and they have radios too, but they all run on electricity".

Damun then went "Ahhhhh if we can keep them in the dark first, then it will be easier to progress through the other plans or improvise through them".

Then he looked at the logistics department and asked "How fast can an Electric powerplant be fixed if it looks like it was destroyed by natural causes".

They talked talked amongst each other and replied "Considering that it is of high importance and there are engineers and workers among our enemy, it should roughly take three to five days at most".

"But this will leave them at a high alert state, Jane take a few Valkyries and a few Scouts from both groups and infiltrate enemy lines, even of its well barricaded they must be bringing in humans supply from somewhere".

The last statement confused many, but a simple sentence ended it all, "They are using captured Ishvalan for human experimentation".

"This..." everyone present was angry, why had they thought that Alchemists, could at least keep their last sense of decency and not forget their second rule 'No Human Transmutation'.

But it seems like Amestris wanted to win this war either by hook or crook. It was them as well who had begun the war and it was still them who acted like they were victims and it triggered everyone present, just thinking about this situation made them puke a few dozen gallons of blood. But they held it back, because this time they can at least strike back.

"Keep your calm, we may still be able to save all those who are still alive. I want one team to be on standby and cause the power grid to blackout. I want another on standby to storm in at any moment. I want first contact with the infiltration team before any movements can be made".

All present could carry out their own ideas and in an instant Janes group had become a lost Ishvalan civilian group.

Kain then calmly walked towards Damun and said "Aren't you concerned that your plan could fail ?".

It was a small thought ringing even in Damuns mind, but he shrugged and said "If I wasn't confident of my own plan, would those under me still follow through it".

Kain laughed and then said "You have grown Damun, and I know everyone can see that. So guide us through this, Strategist".

At once everyone began making, tweaking and improving the plan. It was seamless how everyone was co-ordinating with each other.

Perhaps this is what the Commander wanted to see, 'Who knows ?'.