Army of the Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

be racing for the next city.”
    “They can’t,” Marak pointed out. “The road is clogged with your evacuees.”
    “Mercy,” gasped the general. “You are right. If we move faster than the citizens fleeing, we will be blocked. My men and the citizens would be slaughtered.”
    “What are you suggesting, Marak?” asked Lyra.
    “I don’t know,” admitted Emperor Marak. “I think our planning is deficient because we could not visualize three hundred thousand men. It just meant a large number to us. Seeing that armada from the air today and realizing that each little speck on the water was a thousand warriors sort of brought things into perspective for me. We cannot play this Motangan army as if it were General Didyk opposing us with ten thousand men.”
    “Draw them into the Sakova,” suggested HawkShadow as he approached the group. “Let them know exactly where our reserve armies are, and they will try to eradicate us. Their ships will be useless inland. When we get them into the heartland, they will be playing by our rules.”
    “But the bulk of your forces are Omungans,” frowned Marak. “They are not used to fighting in the Sakova either.”
    “He is right, HawkShadow,” nodded General Manitow. “The Imperial Guards do not use strategy as the Sakovans do.”
    “They will have to learn,” shrugged HawkShadow. “My people can slow down the invaders, while the Imperial Guards take up positions that will be dictated to them. It is not a perfect solution, but it eliminates one advantage of the Motangans.”
    “Maneuverability along the coast,” nodded Marak. “It also endangers StarCity which should be the last stand of the Sakovans.”
    “There will be no last stand this time,” countered HawkShadow. “If we have to lure the Motangans across the Kalatung Mountains and into Khadora, then that is what we will do. StarCity can be rebuilt just as Alamar can.”
    “He is right,” interjected Lyra. “This fight is to the death.”
    “But you leave your citizens open to attack,” argued the Torak. “The Motangans will be free to raid every coastal city while some of their army chases you across the heartland.”
    “And we can’t move the citizens into the Sakova,” sighed General Manitow. “There would be no food to feed them, and we would be placing them in the path of the armies.”
    “Unless we can disable their ships after they land,” mused Emperor Marak. “Without their ships, they cannot follow you into the Sakova and still raid the coastline. They will have to choose.”
    “They would go for our armies,” asserted HawkShadow. “They can wipe out the citizens at any time, but only after our armies are conquered.”
    “I agree,” nodded Marak. “Draw them into the Sakova and turn them northward. My armies can cross the mountains and come to help you.”
    “It would be nice if you could get your armies behind them,” suggested Lyra.
    “I could,” frowned Marak, “except for one small detail. Vand has another seven hundred thousand men on Motanga with the ships needed to transport them. We don’t know yet where he plans to strike.”
    “A third of his armies for a third of our countries,” mused General Manitow. “You could soon have your own war to worry about, Emperor.”
    “I do not have an easy answer to this problem,” the Torak responded. “I do think that we have to do something for the residents of the coastal cities. We cannot allow them to fend for themselves while Vand’s forces control the sea.”
    “What are we to do for them?” asked Lyra. “If we use our armies to engage the Motangans deep in the heartland, we cannot also guard the cities.”
    “I know,” Marak nodded with a frown. “I could use my ships to help transport the citizens away from the war, but who knows where Vand is going to strike?”
    “Khadoratung is as far from the east coast as you can get,” suggested HawkShadow. “There was ample land there when I last visited, and your food