A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 969 - The Verna Army - Part 1
969: The Verna Army – Part 1
969: The Verna Army – Part 1
Oliver threw the last of the hot tea down his throat, wincing at the lightness of the burn that it inflicted.
Already, he could feel himself waking up the smallest amount, as the tea worked away at some of his sleepiness.
There wasn’t much that the men could do in terms of organizing themselves, not when the trees were so compact.
It was more a procession of a crowd, than the marching of organized soldiers.
They simply gathered behind the wagons and tightened up the harnesses of their horses, urging the wagons back out of the woodland in whichever way that they could.
When they left, they were greeted by a light of day even brighter than it had been under the canopy of trees.
Now they could actually see the place that they’d made camp – those different sections of moderately sized woodland that General Karstly had so expertly managed to locate.
Theirs was the first force out of the woods, by the looks of the clear land around them, but it wasn’t long after that Oliver began to see the first of the other forces leaving their camping grounds as well.
It was one thing to be a part of it, and another to see it happening.
It was almost like a magic tree, that so many men could come from the trees at once.
Oliver saw wagon after wagon being dragged out through impossibly small gaps, and still they kept coming.
“To the road!” A Sergeant shouted, echoing the Colonel’s earlier order, and they began their way towards the road, forming up ranks as they went, and otherwise trying to organize their army.
“Surround the wagons again,” the same Sergeant said, echoing the Colonel once more.
They hadn’t heard any orders from Karstly, but it seemed that the Colonel was showing his own sort of initiative, and ensuring that he presented the men that he’d been given in the best state that they could.
It was not even five minutes later that their ranks were sorted, and their uniforms were cleared of debris, and the wheels of the wagons were brushed for any excess dried bits of mud that might hinder the turning of their wheels.
One would never guess that they’d spent the night off the track, in the depths of untamed trees.
Even the horses seemed content.
Now, Oliver found himself far closer to the front of the column.
Since Colonel Gordry had been the first to make it to the road, the others naturally took position behind them, snaking down along the length of the road.
Oliver saw Lombard making his way with his own Colonel.
He spared the man a nod, and he received an even sterner nod in return.
The Captain was on high alert, it seemed.
As if to contrast him, General Karstly came riding past the Captain a split second later, an easy smile on his lips, and a spritely white horse beneath him.
“Good morning, Colonel Gordry!” He said cheerfully, as he took his position at the centre of the column, with his own guards and officers behind him – there must have been nearly twenty of them in total.
“Good morning, General!” The Colonel saluted with military enthusiasm.
“How did the men camp?” The General inquired.
“Well,” the Colonel responded.
“We encountered no difficulties.”
“Good!” Karstly said, a little too loudly.
“That is good… You never know what the real thing is going to be like.
There’s always a difference on a map.
I am glad to see that it worked out.”
“The scouts – have they picked up anything during our time asleep?” The Colonel asked.
“Nothing yet,” Karstly replied, his smile fading everso slightly.
“But I do not think that will be the case for long.”
From what Oliver had overheard, they had a group of fifty scouts riding along ahead of their army.
It was thanks to them that they’d managed to avoid getting discovered by the Verna scouting party the day before, and it was they that they were once more relying on to ensure that they got it through this day.
“This road stretches on for a few miles longer,” Karstly said.
It seemed like he was still speaking to the Colonel, though he wasn’t looking at him.
“We’ll be forced to leave it soon, to get to where we’re going.
I expect that is when matters will prove themselves to be the most troublesome.
Stay aware, Colonel.
You’ve made your way to the front today – I will have need of you in due order.”
“Yes, General!” Colonel Gordry said, puffing out his chest as he saluted.
The promise of battle was an undisguised delight for him.
It was hard to tell if that was what he’d planned when he’d made sure to leave camp far before the rest, but it was quite clear that he was happy with the outcome.
“Pass word to the men,” Oliver said to Verdant, as he overheard the loud conversation between General and Colonel.
“Let them know what they’ve said – to be on our toes.
We’re at the front now.
They’ll be making use of us.”
Chapter 12 – The Verna Army
“HAAAAAAAAALTTTTTTTTT!” Came a long drawn-out shout, courtesy of Colonel Gordry.
They’d left the road to plod through long grasses, and their progress had slowed ever since.
With the slowing of their speed came an increase in their altitude, as the lands grew increasingly hillier.
Oliver found that he could look back down on the woods that they’d camped in.
They were a few miles away by now, but they seemed so close when seen from the vantage point of the hills that they’d climbed.
The snaking line of men came to a swift and staggered halt.
The stopping was a wave that rippled down the line, with the men in front stopping first, and their action spreading bit by bit, as though by collision, to all the men at the back.
Oliver’s hand felt for the hilt of his sword, as he gathered his reins in the other hand.
He shared a look with Verdant.
Oliver hadn’t seen a reason to make them halt himself, but he figured that the priest likely would have.
