Chapter 21
Signs of Counter Attack
The men fought two more times before they reached the next farm. It was abandoned, it looked like another group of men from the base had reached this point before them. Or maybe one of the other evacuated farms had warned this farm.
The men had been following the same pattern for hours.
They would fight a group of undead. The undead would inflict minor casualties on the men, but would slow the men down. They would move south at best speed until they were caught by another group of undead. They would fight that group of undead. And the cycle would start again.
Freeman and his commanders knew they were going to die if this kept up. The undead could throw men away like this, they could not. The men were getting more and more tired. And each time the undead got closer to breaking the front line. It was only a matter of time before the undead managed to get through and start doing a lot of damage.
Plus the equipment was taking a beating. Armor was damaged and discarded, they just could not repair it and keep moving. The archers were also recovering arrows when they could but they were starting to run short at times.
Freeman knew they would have to change strategy if they wanted to defeat this enemy. The undead were happy to continue this running battle. At each battle they saw another man they had fought with in the previous battle but had fallen to the undead. Now they were back, raised form the dead and fighting with the undead. So each battle the humans became weaker, lost equipment, and lost men. The undead did not weaken, did not need equipment, and gained men.
Freeman started thinking about an alternative to this running fight. The undead forces could keep up this type of attack indefinitely, and if they did it would lead to the eventual defeat of Freeman's troops. He thought about what he could do to force the attack, but he did not have the men to take the offensive. The undead threat was too large and too hard to kill for his much smaller force to face them down in a final confrontation. Going to a guerrilla war would not help either. The undead did not have supplies to destroy. They did not need water, weapons, or food. Three things an opposing army could destroy to stop or slow a conventional army.
Freeman talked with his commanders. They knew that Freeman was right but could not give him any tactics he could use to turn the tide. Some of them started to look like they were already defeated. Freeman started to look for inspiration form anywhere. Desperation finally forced his hand. They needed to rest and if they did not get some time to eat and sleep they would be lost anyway. Freeman separated his men into three groups. He lead the first group himself. This group would be the group to lead the counter attack. He had just under one hundred in this group. The second group consisted of the youngest soldiers and all the volunteers and conscripts from the farms. This group would head south and continue warning anyone they could reach. The final group was the largest. This group had to buy the other groups time to act. They set up in a small clearing. They built barricades and shelters. This would be their last stand if required but Freeman thought they could hold the position for at least a day and night. That would give the young men all the head start they needed. His group would be either past the undead and safe within an hour or dead. So if the men could hold for a day that would be far more than his men needed.
He moved his men away form the main group and once he felt he had enough space between his group and the main force he circled back to the north. Freeman was going to gamble. Instead of retreating he would take the fight ti the corrupted lands. If he was right then the bulk of the undead forces were here under the command of Luuk. If he could get past them he would be able to travel to the corrupted lands and attack the home base of this legion with just the men he had. He smiled to himself, it had been Luuk who had taught him to think this way about battle strategy. Now he was going to use it against Luuk and his legion.
Freeman knew that his men would have to remain out of sight for this to work so they moved slowly and only when they were sure they could move without the enemy spotting them. They were under strict orders to fight to the death rather than lead an enemy force back to the group. It was a difficult command but it was necessary if the group was to survive. They heard the battle begin behind them and they knew that there friends were dying to give them a chance to fight this enemy. They made the most of the opportunity and moved quickly. They kept hidden while they moved but they moved as fast as they dared while they heard the sounds of the attack.
After nearly two hours they found a farm. It was burned. They quickly moved into the burned out buildings. Freeman told them to rest. They would sleep here and spend the next day here as well.
“No fires” He told them. “And no one leaves the buildings. I want to stay completely out of site for a day or so.”
The men quickly set up camp. The house was nothing but a pile of ash and charred timber but the barn held the entire force. The archers quickly moved into the barn loft and even got two men onto the roof and into the small dormer at the top of the building. The men would remain inside the dormer. Food would be sent up to them from inside the barn. Then would fire an arrow into the loft if they spotted anything.
The infantry set up on the main floor. They reinforced one set of doors and set up an barricade by the other. Five men volunteered to take up a position in the chicken coop. They moved over one at a time and set up a defensive position.
He hoped that the men were fairing well against the undead foes that he were attacking the men he had commanded to hold that position. He hoped that the young men were continuing to move south at the fastest speed they could maintain. But mostly he hoped they would not be discovered. His entire plan was to sneak back to the corrupted lands and attack the base of his enemy before they could react.
The men waited. Night fell. They still waited. Dawn broke. Freeman was sure they had managed to avoid detection. Night fell again. Freeman made his rounds telling the men they were breaking camp in the morning. The men were in high morale. They knew that they had managed to get past their foes now. There would be little resistance between here and the border to the corrupted lands, or at least that was what they hoped for.
When the sun broke the horizon at dawn they moved out of the farm and started marching north. They continued to keep out of sight as much as possible and had plenty of scouts out in front and plenty watching their back trail. Freeman pushed the men as far as he dared. Eating a cold midday meal and not stopping until dark.
The farther the men traveled during the day the more they all felt like they had escaped the main force of the undead. They camped for the night in a small cramped clearing in a valley far to the north of where they started the day. The following morning they set out again. Before mid day they passed far to the east of the former base. They made sure to circle far to the east in case the undead had left an occupying force. They traveled hard all that day. Near sun down they got to a farm. They again set up defensive positions in the farm buildings and Freeman allowed a small fire to be set up to cook meals.
They had not seen sign of the enemy in two days. He was sure they would not see any if the undead until they reached the border to the corrupted lands. He walked among his men and could feel a change in them as well. The running they had been doing for the last weeks was wearing them out. They had been retreating for more than ten days. It was good to be back on the offensive. He allowed them to stay at the farm for an additional day to rest. Then they moved out again. They followed this pattern for two weeks. Moving hard and fast. Always moving north. When they found a defensible site they would set up camp and stay out of site for a few days to rest up and prepare for the next sprint to the north.
After two weeks Freeman looked out at the border to the corrupted lands. He could not believe what he saw.
The men fought two more times before they reached the next farm. It was abandoned, it looked like another group of men from the base had reached this point before them. Or maybe one of the other evacuated farms had warned this farm.
The men had been following the same pattern for hours.
They would fight a group of undead. The undead would inflict minor casualties on the men, but would slow the men down. They would move south at best speed until they were caught by another group of undead. They would fight that group of undead. And the cycle would start again.
Freeman and his commanders knew they were going to die if this kept up. The undead could throw men away like this, they could not. The men were getting more and more tired. And each time the undead got closer to breaking the front line. It was only a matter of time before the undead managed to get through and start doing a lot of damage.
Plus the equipment was taking a beating. Armor was damaged and discarded, they just could not repair it and keep moving. The archers were also recovering arrows when they could but they were starting to run short at times.
Freeman knew they would have to change strategy if they wanted to defeat this enemy. The undead were happy to continue this running battle. At each battle they saw another man they had fought with in the previous battle but had fallen to the undead. Now they were back, raised form the dead and fighting with the undead. So each battle the humans became weaker, lost equipment, and lost men. The undead did not weaken, did not need equipment, and gained men.
Freeman started thinking about an alternative to this running fight. The undead forces could keep up this type of attack indefinitely, and if they did it would lead to the eventual defeat of Freeman's troops. He thought about what he could do to force the attack, but he did not have the men to take the offensive. The undead threat was too large and too hard to kill for his much smaller force to face them down in a final confrontation. Going to a guerrilla war would not help either. The undead did not have supplies to destroy. They did not need water, weapons, or food. Three things an opposing army could destroy to stop or slow a conventional army.
Freeman talked with his commanders. They knew that Freeman was right but could not give him any tactics he could use to turn the tide. Some of them started to look like they were already defeated. Freeman started to look for inspiration form anywhere. Desperation finally forced his hand. They needed to rest and if they did not get some time to eat and sleep they would be lost anyway. Freeman separated his men into three groups. He lead the first group himself. This group would be the group to lead the counter attack. He had just under one hundred in this group. The second group consisted of the youngest soldiers and all the volunteers and conscripts from the farms. This group would head south and continue warning anyone they could reach. The final group was the largest. This group had to buy the other groups time to act. They set up in a small clearing. They built barricades and shelters. This would be their last stand if required but Freeman thought they could hold the position for at least a day and night. That would give the young men all the head start they needed. His group would be either past the undead and safe within an hour or dead. So if the men could hold for a day that would be far more than his men needed.
He moved his men away form the main group and once he felt he had enough space between his group and the main force he circled back to the north. Freeman was going to gamble. Instead of retreating he would take the fight ti the corrupted lands. If he was right then the bulk of the undead forces were here under the command of Luuk. If he could get past them he would be able to travel to the corrupted lands and attack the home base of this legion with just the men he had. He smiled to himself, it had been Luuk who had taught him to think this way about battle strategy. Now he was going to use it against Luuk and his legion.
Freeman knew that his men would have to remain out of sight for this to work so they moved slowly and only when they were sure they could move without the enemy spotting them. They were under strict orders to fight to the death rather than lead an enemy force back to the group. It was a difficult command but it was necessary if the group was to survive. They heard the battle begin behind them and they knew that there friends were dying to give them a chance to fight this enemy. They made the most of the opportunity and moved quickly. They kept hidden while they moved but they moved as fast as they dared while they heard the sounds of the attack.
After nearly two hours they found a farm. It was burned. They quickly moved into the burned out buildings. Freeman told them to rest. They would sleep here and spend the next day here as well.
“No fires” He told them. “And no one leaves the buildings. I want to stay completely out of site for a day or so.”
The men quickly set up camp. The house was nothing but a pile of ash and charred timber but the barn held the entire force. The archers quickly moved into the barn loft and even got two men onto the roof and into the small dormer at the top of the building. The men would remain inside the dormer. Food would be sent up to them from inside the barn. Then would fire an arrow into the loft if they spotted anything.
The infantry set up on the main floor. They reinforced one set of doors and set up an barricade by the other. Five men volunteered to take up a position in the chicken coop. They moved over one at a time and set up a defensive position.
He hoped that the men were fairing well against the undead foes that he were attacking the men he had commanded to hold that position. He hoped that the young men were continuing to move south at the fastest speed they could maintain. But mostly he hoped they would not be discovered. His entire plan was to sneak back to the corrupted lands and attack the base of his enemy before they could react.
The men waited. Night fell. They still waited. Dawn broke. Freeman was sure they had managed to avoid detection. Night fell again. Freeman made his rounds telling the men they were breaking camp in the morning. The men were in high morale. They knew that they had managed to get past their foes now. There would be little resistance between here and the border to the corrupted lands, or at least that was what they hoped for.
When the sun broke the horizon at dawn they moved out of the farm and started marching north. They continued to keep out of sight as much as possible and had plenty of scouts out in front and plenty watching their back trail. Freeman pushed the men as far as he dared. Eating a cold midday meal and not stopping until dark.
The farther the men traveled during the day the more they all felt like they had escaped the main force of the undead. They camped for the night in a small cramped clearing in a valley far to the north of where they started the day. The following morning they set out again. Before mid day they passed far to the east of the former base. They made sure to circle far to the east in case the undead had left an occupying force. They traveled hard all that day. Near sun down they got to a farm. They again set up defensive positions in the farm buildings and Freeman allowed a small fire to be set up to cook meals.
They had not seen sign of the enemy in two days. He was sure they would not see any if the undead until they reached the border to the corrupted lands. He walked among his men and could feel a change in them as well. The running they had been doing for the last weeks was wearing them out. They had been retreating for more than ten days. It was good to be back on the offensive. He allowed them to stay at the farm for an additional day to rest. Then they moved out again. They followed this pattern for two weeks. Moving hard and fast. Always moving north. When they found a defensible site they would set up camp and stay out of site for a few days to rest up and prepare for the next sprint to the north.
After two weeks Freeman looked out at the border to the corrupted lands. He could not believe what he saw.
posted by shaneknysh at 03:22
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