4 Chap 4

One ship after another came crashing to the beach, many into earlier ships, and ploughing through to get close enough to land for the marauders to hop off.

My strategy was already undergoing a few alterations after the first day. The simulations had been accurate for the terrain I'd studied on the eastern front, but the marauders were more agile on steep terrain than I'd expected.

I had a troop of of civilians from the closest town conscripted for construction. They chopped trees and built overhang platforms over the edges of the earthen fortresses and cliff side. Anchored and weighted down, the platforms could support a few soldiers each while also slowing any climbers that got high enough to be a problem.

It was during one of the close calls that prompted this choice that I got my first proper look at the enemy. It was vaguely humanoid, but twisted and stretched, and compressed. Each one was different, but they were all wrong.

What really struck me wasn't their physicality, though. It was the eyes. Looking into its' eyes before it was blasted to bits with a trench-gun, I saw something unnerving. I saw sentience, but no intellect. This thing knew what it was doing and why it was here, I suspect it was self-aware. But there was no indication at all that it had decided to be here.

I determined over the course of the next week that they were all like this. Sentience, ego, purpose... But no intelligence. In my reports I would indicate that there was simply no way a species like this could have developed ocean-faring vessels.

I also reported, quite proudly, that the firearms were very effective at killing the marauders, and that our use of Mold Earth had managed to keep 'enemy territory' limited to the beach. However I also noted that a more permanent system of fortresses would be necessary for long-term defence of the coast.

The enemy would eventually start landing at areas further out from this point, and a battalion of trench-gunners was not enough to protect the entire coastline. I proposed the use of cooperative magic to create a connected line of thick stone walls in the water, some 150 meters out from the coastline.

It would be a massive project, but it would cost less and be more effective, the sooner it was started. The proposal included a set of sketches for the required bridges, underpasses, fortified stations, and mounted artillery.

"I propose a defensive line be constructed off the coast at an average distance of 150 metres from land.

On my home world, a project like this would require a fleet of massive ships and billions of tons of concrete. Here, we can do all the heavy lifting with magic, source the stone locally, and build the superstructure with heavy timber. Druids should be employed to do most of the construction.

The walls must be anchored to the ocean floor, with openings for water flow every 30 or so metres along, the top of which is no less than 10 metres below ocean level. The top of the wall should be no less than 5 metres wide, and no less than 10 metres tall above the water level. Overhangs should be built into the top portion of the wall to inhibit climbers.

Each station will house a unit of 10 soldiers trained in the use of mounted artillery. The station will of course also have mounted artillery and a stock of shells designed to destroy ships and shred flesh. Each station will be connected to land by a bridge of either stone or wood, capable of bearing the weight of artillery and shipments of ammunition. The space between stations should be no more than 100 metres.

Ammunition production facilities will be constructed at regular intervals near the coastline, as this wall is constructed. Easy access to supplies being essential to effective operation.

As the continent tapers near the south tip, it may occur that the wall construction project is hampered by forces from the east. This project should be conducted concurrent with the retaking of the eastern front, an operation for which I have several strategies prepared."

I suspect, though they never indicated to me, that the high command laughed raucously as they read that part of my reports. They didn't laugh at the rest of it, I'm sure. You can't argue with results.

This wave of marauders lasted three weeks, during which time my battalion, and the volunteer force that formed from the area, suffered no fatal casualties. We also lost no land permanently to the enemy.

We did almost run out of lead. The spaces of time available to dig it out of corpses were very short. I sent a rush order for lead projectiles after week one, just in case, and we did end up dipping into it toward the end of week three.

My strategy once again had to be revised, pre-assembling shot cups and placing them in Bags of Holding for the ammo production tents. This was the only way I had available to increase the reserve of shot on hand. The after-action cleanup did manage to collect most of the lead shot for reuse.

I finally got to hold some 'tainted' iron. A handful of archers joined the forces in defence of the cliff side. During cleanup they collected the arrows, despite being 'tainted'.

"So," I asked, "The 'tainting' of metal isn't some disease?"

"No, sir, it's safe to touch. The tainting renders iron unworkable. It's not so much a problem for arrowheads, I just sharpen the edges and reuse them. Broken blades can't be mended. Even with magic, the joint between pieces is never strong enough to be used."

"Can the iron not be safely heated? Does it fume?"

"No, sir. As I understand it the metal simply isn't malleable after being tainted. Even the best smiths can do nothing with it."

I asked him for an arrow. It was bloody, but intact. After cleaning, it looked about the same as one of his new arrows. I picked up another tainted one, and clicked them together.

A stupid grin formed on my face as I heard the ring. A sharp, consistent ringing of hard steel. As it subsided it was overtaken by my own chuckling morphing into maniacal laughter.

"It's steel!" I shouted. "Steel! The iron has turned into steel in the flesh of the things. How does that happen? Is it the blood? Heat? I wonder of the lead shot has been effected like this."

I attracted attention with this outburst, but nobody really understood what I was going on about. If this was what happened to iron in contact with the enemy, the eastern seaboard was littered with hardened steel.

I was drooling thinking of the possibilities. I would have to employ the alchemists to test some of this with acids and etching agents to figure out exactly what the alloy was. If it was impossible to work in a standard blacksmith's forge, then it had to be very high grade. I would devise an electrical solution in time for our eventual excursion eastward.

In testing the lead, I found no unexpected physical change in either colour or hardness. Aside from the damage of impact and bloom, they were the same as they had been. The melting and remoulding process went without issue.

I was a little disappointed. A harder alloy of lead would allow greater penetration, and potentially some pieces would be unscathed by impact and re-loadable in their found state. Alas, this was not to be.

I did a few experiments with iron and the corpses before we burned them. I started by stabbing a few corpses with a spear to see if it hardened. It did not. I tried soaking an iron nail in the blood of one. After a week, it was slightly harder, but not like the dramatic change the arrowheads had experienced.

I concluded that the blood was chemically active, but that somehow the animating life force of the creatures acted as a catalyst for rapid chemical reaction. I was unsure whether this was purely chemical, or if there was some kind of magic involved. Samples were sent to both the alchemists, and a college of wizards, for study.

After the successful defence of the Western Cliffs I once more made enquiry to fill the list of magic items. While the countryside of the west coast had ample farms and people to buy food and labour from, the east was a haggard mess. There was also a large military presence placing strain on what little civilian infrastructure remained.

Much to my relief some of the orders were positively received this time. It was still expensive, but as explained, they couldn't argue with results. By the time we started off toward the eastern front we were carting:

50,000 Beads of Nourishment

500 Candles of The Deep

20 Large Flying Carpets

75 Chests of Preserving

75 Protective shells for the Chests of Preserving

5 Cloaks of Invisibility

50 Goggles of Night

15,000 Paper Birds

30 Rings of Regeneration

Not even a quarter of what I had desired, but it would be a great help in reclaiming land from the enemy. My essential strategy for the beginning of this campaign would require a deep thrust into enemy territory, to a castle that was lost some time ago.

It had been swarmed and wiped out but to the best of our knowledge wasn't used as a base by the enemy. The enemy didn't use bases as far as any research indicated. I was looking forward to seeing how they did operate.

This castle was high up on a hill, with a single path to the gate. Without maintenance some elements had fallen to disrepair. The original occupants made a brave attempt to keep it, but couldn't defend from climbers effectively.

"I need an airship..." I said aloud in the war room that had been assigned me.

"We can get an airship, but it won't carry your entire battalion."

"I don't suppose we can get enough airships for that?"

"To construct the 25 to 30 airships required for an entire battalion and all its' supplies..."

"Yeah I thought as much. One will suffice. The enemy has no air units, so I can operate a forward command and observation post from the air without interference."