Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 23

Chapter 23

A long sigh issued from between Ludmila’s legs.

“I do not understand why you have to sound so utterly unenthused,” she glowered down at the top of Nonna’s silken cowl.

“This is utterly banal,” Nonna replied.

“That is the point,” Ludmila told the Elder Lich. “Doing something radical here would ruin everything.”

Five hundred metres below, ten thousand Zombies shuffled through the trees, making their way south towards the Goblin army. After flushing out the scouts being sent north, she allowed a few to escape to report the advance of her Undead forces. The Death Knights and Death Warriors were positioned far to the rear, though she interspersed most of the Squire Zombies that she had available throughout the ranks of their weaker fellows.

She supposed calling them ‘ranks’ was probably a poor description. They were simply shuffling forward as fast as they could, in no set order. A horde of the walking dead that would emerge before the Goblin army to the south, who would presumably have had ample warning before their arrival. It looked nothing more than a cliché related a thousand thousand times in the tales passed down by any place with the most basic knowledge of the Undead.

The Elder Lich commanders immediately questioned her plan, offering various amendments. Form proper ranks. Equip them with armour and shields, at least. Use the Death Knights and Death Warriors to drive fear and despair into the enemy camps. It was a rare moment when the Elder Liches felt just as alive as any living being. Their sensibilities were challenged, and concerns bubbled to the surface of their usual dispassionate delivery.

You may play according to whatever rules you wish, but, in the end, you cannot stop me. By the same token, do you think any lesser being can stop you?

Her liege’s words might easily be taken as an expression of confidence in an exceptional vassal. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t gratified by Lady Shalltear’s words, but the true meaning of them most likely had little to do with Ludmila at all. It was the inviolable agency of a supreme sovereign, carried forth through those who enforced his will.

The behaviour of the Elder Liches underscored this notion. Every action and point was scrutinized; any detail that might be construed to misrepresent His Majesty was criticized. Appearing impotent was not permitted. Retreat was not permitted. Failure was not permitted. Opponents of His Majesty were to be subjected to the most extreme measures in all things at once, somehow. The absolute authority, power, grace, and splendour of the Sorcerer King was to be made clear to any and all who would witness even the tiniest fragment of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Rather than foreign, it felt familiar. It was a sort of exceptionalism that one might find amongst nobles and their households, who held the dignity and value of aristocratic culture above all else. Or the fervent devotion found in adherents of her faith. She would probably not be wrong to say that they perceived the Sorcerer King as a god, and that they were agents of his divine will.

It was an impossible ideal where perfect outcomes were executed perfectly, and anything that fell short of perfection was considered anathema. To Ludmila, at least, it seemed that way. To the Elder Liches, it was a matter of course. There was nothing to deliberate over. They would carry this attitude to the ends of the world, or to the end of themselves.

Thankfully, they were ordered by Lord Cocytus to defer to her instruction. She had the strong suspicion that they would have gone and done something ridiculous on their own otherwise. Though they shared the conviction that the enemies of the Sorcerous Kingdom should be destroyed, the how and why and when of it were fundamentally irreconcilable.

They followed after the slowly advancing Zombie army, and twilight faded into a clear night under the waning moon. She looked over at one of the Elder Lich commanders to her left as they came within a few kilometres of the Goblin camps.

『Take one-quarter of our Zombies across the river. Leave the Squire Zombies on this side.』

She had the remaining Elder Lich commanders slow down the advance of the western forces so the new detachment could get to their position on the eastern bank. All 40 of the Death Knights from the day’s new trainees were sent into the river, as were all but one of the Death Warriors. The seven free Death Knights from her demesne were evenly spaced along a line that extended roughly one kilometre out from the riverbank.

With what felt like a brief set of initial instructions, everything was made ready. All that was left was to nudge the Goblin army into action.

『Send the Zombies on the western side of the river forward. Summon Wraiths and start sending them down into the forward camps. Attack individuals in tents, but make sure they’re awake before you kill them. Plenty of screaming, please.』

The Elder Liches – the ones from the army were all more powerful than Nonna – summoned four Wraiths each, sending them down as instructed. Shouts and screams soon started to rise from below, and she could see the camps coming to life in the wake of the disturbance.

“Are you certain this strategy will work?” Nonna asked.

“Ugh, why do you have to ask that right as we start?” Ludmila grimaced, “It is simple enough that it should. Their scouts should have forewarned them of our attack. Now we have alerted their perimeter to our presence. Next, we will give them an imminent threat to react against.”

“I don’t see how it will play out the way you expect it to,” Nonna said. “Our Zombie forces are no match for even one of these encampments.”

“They do not know that,” Ludmila told her, “all we have to do is give them the impression that what is coming is weightier than it actually is.”

To do this, Ludmila set the majority of her Squire Zombies along the leading edge of their advance. The Goblin army scouts would be able to see how strong they were, and all they would note from further beyond was that there were more and more of them coming.

“What if the first camps decide to fight?”

“Then they die,” Ludmila shrugged, “and we have more Zombies to work with. Losing a few of their forward camps will probably not change anything when it comes down to their ultimate response.”

The ‘ultimate response’ was her answer to the problem of containing the tens of thousands of Goblin army soldiers in the central valley. Through the days of clearing the encampments along her southern border, the composition and practices of the army became quite clear.

It was a force formed around a core of Hobgoblin heavy infantry. Small numbers of Bugbears served as shock troops while the vast majority of the army was composed of Goblins. These Goblins were auxiliaries: serving as scouts, pickets, skirmishers, and logistical components while the Hobgoblins represented the majority of their front line strength. As heavy infantry favoured flat and clear terrain, she would attack them where they were.

Her purpose was to provide her enemy with the sort of battle that they had trained for, in a location that they found favourable. The tide of Zombies shuffling forward would give them ample opportunity to prepare without arousing suspicions about the true nature of their opponent. The Hobgoblin commanders would gather everyone in a single battlefield for a fight that they expected, oblivious to the fact that they were conveniently collecting their forces in one location to be decisively defeated.

Below, hundreds of Goblin pickets scurried out of the forest ahead of her advancing Zombies. The Wraiths continued their work in the nearest camps, though it appeared that an organized response to combat them was in progress.

“The Wraiths are at risk,” Nonna informed her. “Should we not withdraw them or attack elsewhere?”

“No,” Ludmila shook her head. “They can die, but make them work a bit for it. The first step of our strategy is to instil fear into the northern group.”

“Then we should have gone with the suggestion of the other commanders.”

“That would be too much fear,” Ludmila said. “It is as I said a few nights ago: fear on its own is insufficient. The application of fear as a deterrent may also be wielded to goad your opponents into making confident choices.”

She ordered the Elder Liches to replace their Wraiths and resume their harassment before continuing.

“How does fear inspire confidence?”

“Fear is only the catalyst,” Ludmila explained. “It is the choices available to deal with that fear that can inspire confidence. At this juncture, the camp commanders have two options: fight or withdraw. The unknown number of Undead approaching, combined with the constant Wraith attacks, will have them withdraw to consolidate their forces with the others to avoid unnecessary risk. It is a choice that they can make with confidence: this army is well-disciplined, trained, and rational. They will seek the best strategic options for themselves and their soldiers.”

They watched the encampments evacuate as the Zombies drew closer. Given the attitudes of the Elder Liches, Ludmila ventured it was something that they couldn’t understand, or at least never consider. If they were to be part of a larger army, however, it was something that they had to learn. It was decidedly strange that Goblins could be well-versed in this, but her Elder Liches weren’t.

“Eventually,” Ludmila continued her explanation, “this army will reach a point where they will make their stand. The slow movement of our ground forces will give them ample time to analyze the threat and organize a proper response. After a series of confident choices that lead to a series of successes, fear will dissipate: leaving only certainty in their imminent victory. They will make their moves, not knowing that they are being manipulated into making them.”

Truth be told, it wasn’t something that a regular commander could do with a regular army. If she ordered the vast majority of a Human army to go sacrifice themselves like this, they would certainly desert. It was a strategy unique to an Undead army, playing by rules that no one else could. Unless the enemy commander was capable of framing things in those completely alien terms, it was an undeniable advantage in her favour.

As they crossed over the first line of encampments, Ludmila ordered the forces on the eastern bank to advance in a similar fashion. The Death Knights and Death Warriors submerged in the river were moved ahead to a place just before the first ford. When they reached the second line of encampments, she directed a number of Undead to create a haphazard line of stakes stretching before a wide bend in the river. The barricades of the nearby encampments were added as well.

To the south, Ludmila could see the entire cluster of encampments in the central valley in a frenzy of activity. Demihumans started to stream towards the central camp. Neat, rectangular formations started to manifest on the field before a short platform. On the other side of the river, the Demihumans there started gathering at roughly the same point along the river.

『Looks like this is the starting point for the battle. Let the Zombies keep moving forward, and space our Squire Zombies between them again.』

Unexpectedly, the first move from the Goblin army was not sending forward their skirmishers to thin the slowly advancing Undead, but the appearance of a group of Goblins riding Wolves. The enemy cavalry swept over the front, taking down several hundred Zombies with what appeared to be short javelins. As slow as her forces were, they could do little to retaliate.

“Say, Nonna,” Ludmila mused as she watched the tight formation run by far below, “do we get a Zombie if a Squire Zombie kills something with a ranged attack?”

“…that is unknown.”

She ordered the suddenly-isolated Squire Zombies that had survived the first attack to retrieve some of the javelins strewn over the ground. As the next wave of Wolf Riders came in, they hurled their weapons at each other. The Squire Zombies were too tough to easily take down with light javelins, but they were also terrible at throwing them. Still, the cavalry formation was so tightly packed together that more than a few of the weapons hit something.

The Elder Lich commanders started drifting forward, and Ludmila frowned down at them from above.

『Do not do anything yet. Prepare Wraiths to retaliate after they start sending arrows our way.』

She returned her gaze to the fallen Wolf Riders. After a whole minute, nothing got up.

“Aw.”

Ludmila pouted. Her overly optimistic idea of having Squire Zombies operating siege weaponry crumbled away before it could even take shape.

As the Zombies closed in, a great number of Goblins came out from behind the lines of Hobgoblin infantry. The ground below was briefly clouded by thousands of arrows before they hailed down on her troops.

“That must have been ten arrows for every Zombie down there,” Ludmila muttered. “These Goblins are really enthusiastic.”

She wasn’t sure what might have happened to House Zahradnik if the Sorcerous Kingdom had never annexed the duchy. She doubted that the Royal Army of Re-Estize would have been able to hold this Goblin army back. How many Adventurers would it have taken to stop them?

As instructed, the Wraiths were sent down in retaliation. Watching intently as the Goblin Skirmishers deftly manoeuvred behind the safety of the Hobgoblin lines, Ludmila could only nod in appreciation of the enemy army’s sound decisions and smooth reactions. They had somehow drilled tens of thousands of Goblins into a work of organized chaos. The skirmishers and shock troops were spread out over a wide area – they must have noticed the Elder Liches too.

Across the river, the fighting was winding down. She spotted the Elder Lich floating above its decimated forces, and could only imagine the entirely displeased expression on its withered face.

『Assume command of the forces in the river. Shadow those Goblins’ movements, but do not initiate the ambush before I call for it.』

Another volley of arrows fell below, followed by another retaliation by summoned Wraiths. It played out much the same way as before. Ludmila called down to the three Elder Lich commanders hovering just out of range of the enemy lines.

『Time to rile them up. Pick out the most well-equipped formations and send some spells their way. Ignore the more poorly-equipped Hobgoblins for now. Make sure you keep your protections up – stone is the most common material to fashion arrowheads with out here, and they can be made to deal bludgeoning damage.』

The Elder Liches started their attack, opening up with several Fireballs against the Hobgoblin lines. As expected, they formed shield walls against them. She had only read about the tactic, but it appeared to be as effective as described. Wraiths were summoned to retaliate against the archers trying to hit her commanders from below, which were in turn intercepted by nearby Bugbears. On the other side of the river, the enemy forces had withdrawn nearly two kilometres south.

『Alright, time to start flailing. Feel free to experiment with spells, but do not hit them too hard.』

Ludmila observed as a variety of different attempts were made to harm various parts of the Goblin army. Apparently, Lightning spells were terrible at high angles. With the enemy either hiding behind shield walls or spread out, area effect spells were similarly ineffective. Resorting to single target attacks when the enemy numbered in the tens of thousands felt like a waste of mana.

Tier magic had suspicious shortfalls when it came to spells that could deal widespread damage to large armies like this. Admittedly, there were a few that she knew of that appeared to be excellent at it – such as the Storm of Vengeance spell that Lady Shalltear had cast in Fassett County – but they were not spells that Ludmila would have access to with mid-tier casters like Elder Liches.

The Elder Lich commanders appeared to be at a loss as well when they were going over their options for the battle. As far as Ludmila could tell, aside from the few golden opportunities to land devastating attacks on opponents that were arranged just the right way, magic was better used in a supporting role while powerful physical combatants like Death Knights and Death Warriors dominated the field. Not everyone had Death Knights and Death Warriors, of course, but any strong warrior with adequate support could keep swinging long after several mages had run out of mana trying to eliminate the same number of lesser opponents.

When the enemy forces on the opposite shore were nearly to the ford, Ludmila recalled the Elder Lich commanders. She ordered the Zombies below to cease their advance. Shortly after, the ranks of the Goblin army started their own.

“Oh, they are actually moving,” Ludmila remarked.

“I find it disconcerting that you sound surprised over the success of your own strategy,” Nonna said.

“I expected it to work,” Ludmila replied, “but seeing it unfold right before your eyes is, you know…a-anyway, how is everyone doing for mana?”

Elder Liches gathered around her exchanged glances

“As ordered,” one of them replied, “we have maintained minimum reserves of roughly eighty per cent.”

“Well done,” Ludmila smiled. “Back to the second line of encampments.”

Looking over once again to the south, she called for the fourth Elder Lich commander to commence its ambush against the Goblin army forces just starting to cross the river. Forty Death Knights and seven Death Warriors exploded out of the water and into the Demihuman column. The entire formation seemed to recoil at once. From their distance, Ludmila couldn’t hear anything over the current of the Katze River and the sound of the advancing army lines.

Within a minute, she could see Zombies shuffling into the water, swiftly carried downstream to join Ludmila at their new position. Below, the commanders of the Goblin army appeared entirely unaware that a third of their number was being systematically slaughtered and turned into her reinforcements. She issued her orders to the forces gathering below.

『Order ranks. It is time to form our little trap.』