“It's not exactly genius, but the only reasonable choice” he said. “We can not fight this army on his terms or battlefield, even to defend Fuspmar. And the druid is right, Eth intends to conquer the whole world in the name of 'goblins.' Even if we defeat this army, he can raise another. The year is very young, and time does not press him. To fight them will cost us... by all odds, everything.
“So we don't engage him. We retreat. Run from the bully.” Nasch understood, but he was not required to like it.
Maraesh's laugh felt terribly wrong. The older goblins' features contorted with apparently misplaced mirth. “Good, honorable soldier you are. Tamar would be proud, you're ready to fight without so much as a chance of success. Bull headed about disgrace nor commitment, just like your father. Don't you worry, there's more to this retreat than running from the bully.” Maraesh paused, as though with an idea. When he opened his mouth to continue, a terrible coughing fit shook him for a moment.
When it passed, he continued, a bit more slowly. “I have some-thing special, for you, to do. Do not let, me forget.” Maraesh paused, and recovered a bit more. “Eth's army here is far from home, a detachment, cut off from the main body. They would learn how strong we are, or where we are weakest. What can they get out of Fuspmar, the council wonders, because there is little here an army would want. For Fuspmar to serve as the host city to an invasion, he would have to hack a road through meiness... it would be years to make such an effort.”
“But Eth has the time. His boarders are secure, the people in Eth are passive or loyal, and Bharrak is cut off and not getting any stronger. Could he not hold this city and build his road?”
Maraesh nodded, “Perhaps. The empire Eth is more constrained in time than you imagine, and its king is not patient. Nor will Eth trust us to be idle while he carves an arrow toward our heart. I am sure he will strike with a full army this summer.”
“But if this is not a full army...” Nasch tried to imagine what a full army was. Imagine the confusion created by telling a football player you could not field thirty men at once. Where would you put them all? What could they do? War as he knew it simply did not account for numbers like that. Fifty men, perhaps a hundred, could raid for plunder or seek combat with other raiders.... “This army which marches on us, as many as live in the city of Fuspmar, probably more, is nothing but a Kliet for Eth?”
“Ah!” Maraesh exclaimed, then took a moment to catch his breath. “In one sentence, you learn all our plans. Yes, this is Eth's Kliet. If he fight them at all, and they return home, Eth will learn from them and they will succeed. We simply can not fight them directly, even if we somehow defeat them, we loose.
“But, cousin, you saw there is weakness in size. This army is a city... and like all cities it has needs. A party of fifty might forage from the land, but an army of two thousand.... it must bring its own supply. For that, they must have cattle, and wagons, horses or oxen.
“And I remember the special plan I need you for, Nasch. You, and your Kliet, and indeed the whole Kliet. Our army will avoid Eth, keep from engaging him, and you will fight as you always have. Seek out the greatest and the best plunder, and take it from them. Because that is how they are weakest: in their dependence on their own supply. Even if you burn rather than steal, and do not kill a single soldier, much will be gained. Then Eth's scouts will report to him “we can not find the enemy, but they are depriving us of food. The army grumbles that you do not take care of them, and they wish to return home.”
Now Nasch was catching on. “It is a good plan, General Maraesh, but what of Eth's cavalry? What of his fast-warbands? These could slaughter my Kliet and a fast enough to catch us. We need a way to fight them.”
They talked of possibilities, but only concluded that the marching and the fighting must begin the next morning. Fuspmar would have to be evacuated. The army moved south, away from Eth. And the Kliet would fight this invader as they always fought.
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