20 Planning the Attack

"This here is a rough drawing of Greater Finland." Sakura started as she drew some shapes on the back of Mark's map. Mark looked at the shape of the country, it was much longer than it was high, with a similar ground coverage and shape of what Mark remembered as Asia, from Turkey to South Korea combined, shaped like an elongated diamond. The Honda kingdom took over the eastern most part, with a similar footprint to Mongolia. Runetown was but a dot on the eastern coast, with Raven's Peak a dot above it.

Mark looked at the size of the country, gobsmacked by it, no wonder it was broken it to several smaller warring kingdoms, it would be a logistical monster to manage a kingdom of this size, only something like the British or Mongolian empire could compare in size. It would be but a dream for one man to run it.

"If this is Greater Finland, what's next?" Mark asked.

"Other counties, Boudica came from across the sea from another kingdom, I dont believe any are as large as Greater Finland though." Sakura replied.

"What about the other kingdoms in Greater Finland?" Mark asked intrigued.

Sakura started to draw borders around Greater Finland. Her lines intriguing the others, some of who had never left the huge Honda Kingdom before.

"The Honda Clan run the Honda Kingdom here." She pointed to the eastern area. "They border the Saladin Kingdom here to the north west and the Tudor Kingdom to the south west. Beyond that are the Dong Clan here, the others are here and here, but I have only heard rumours of them. All I know is that the Dong Clan are the strongest and therefore have the central plains, but due to them being surrounded by the other 5 kingdom's they struggle to expand, in fear of being invaded by the others." Sakura continued.

Mark felt he had a better understanding of the larger area now, but pondered what Wilson had meant by a pending doom.

"What surrounds Greater Finland?" He asked.

"I'll answer that!" Eduardo offered. "There is sea to the east and south, with land to the west. To the North of the Saladin Kingdom and Dong Kingdom is a the Black Forest, a forest so dense that no army can traverse it. It is said that explorers that enter it, rarely come out."

"Across the sea are many other countries and kingdoms, numerous as there are people in this fort." Boudica added.

"Thank you for the explanation." Mark gratefully replied, "Now we all know our aim is to make the Honda Kingdom our own, so tell me more about it."

"The Honda Kingdom is ran by the Honda Clan, it is split in to five fiefdoms. The King is Honda Tadamasa, who was a great king once, until corruption took place, he sits on his thrown in the central fief." Sakura started to split the kingdom up in to five states that were a similar size to Europe, the central space being similar to France, with Spain and Portugal to the South and West and Germany and Italy sized states to the North and East. "His Chancellor and Chief Advisor Goebbels is based to the north, he runs that fiefdom and is the reason my clan no longer exist, I will have his head."

Sakura seemed to loose her cool slightly and Boudica placed her hand upon Sakura's shoulder. Eduardo stepped forwards and pointed to the west.

"To the west is Bleda, a war monger general whose constant clashes with the Saladin Kingdom keeps the Honda Kingdoms army busy. To the south is General Joan, she is a religious zealot and terrifying because of it. I would actually attack the south last if I was to invade from an external source, she terrifies me."

"She is the reason I am an exile knight." Bertrand added. "If you do not agree with her ways, you are burnt at the stake, I left my post, with horse, armour and naut else. I have roamed as a lone mercenary ever since."

"And finally we come to the east. Where we are." Sakura continued "This is the most unruly fiefdom, which is why piracy and banditry are so rife. King Tadamasa's cousin, Claudius. He is as lazy as he is inept, only caring for his own self worth."

"We are actually in the best location to start our forces, as long as we play along in Claudius's silly games, we should be able to grow and grow without him noticing or caring." Eduardo commented.

"We are based here in the North East, our nearest castle city is one hundred miles to the west, called WindSweep Castle. To grow we will need to journey to the west and take there first. This would mean traversing around Mount Tai, past several towns. We would need a few hundred troops and enough money to bribe Claudius for that to work though." Sakura added seriously.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, this is not a race. For now we should grow our forces, complete mercenary contracts and through our growing prestige, people will join us." Eduardo offered.

"I would also like to make Raven's Peak our permanent base of operations, if is secluded enough for us to have full control of who comes and goes." Mark replied. "That is our long term plan, now let's discuss short term."

Mark looked at everyone deeply, Gan Ning and Tsubotai were in deep thought, looking at the size of the map. Both of then wishes to conquer and unify it, something in their inner souls calling at them that this was their destiny. Boudica also felt strong feelings and wanted to fight for a free and better place for all of the lowly civilians.

"We found a letter on Jama's body when we traveled through the woods here, Eduardo has captured Little John, which will hopefully give us more answers, but for now." Mark replied, Mark pulled the scroll out from beneath the table and started to read the contents"

"Dear Jama,

I am writing to inform you that we have need of the Mount Tai Wood Bandits for an upcoming attack on Runetown. The Honda Clan have decided that the lack of respect and tax paid by these miscreants and pirate scum is unacceptable any more. They have agreed to pay a tithe of 1000 gold to any mercenary group that can conquer Runetown for the Honda Kingdom, and kill all those that dare to disrespect it's rule. We at the Wolfhead Mercenary Group would appreciate the support of the Mount Tai Wood Bandits due to their knowledge of the area and strength in battle. I would message Little John myself, but I appreciate you have a better relationship with us. The attack will commence on the next full moon, I expect to meet you at the edge of the forest at that time. There is 100 gold in this agreement for your bandits and a chance to permanently become part of the Wolfheads. Maybe there is space for a new senior among us Jama.

The Clan have mentioned to keep Crassus and his belongings away from the fight, he is a loyal trader and worth keeping alive.

Yours Sincerely

Henry McIver." Mark read.

"Damn, the Wolfheads." Bertrand breathed loudly. "They are a vile bunch who will work for anyone, they have thought for Honda, Saladin, Tudor and Dong. I heard McIver fighting in a huge war and created the Wolfheads as a force to redeem himself, fighting for gold and glory where ever they can find it."

"Are they strong?" Gan Ning asked worriedly.

"They were, but they are past their peak now." Bertrand replied, "To be given a mission such as invade Runetown, on the edge of nowhere, must mean that someone is bored of them."

"Will they be an issue for us?" Boudica asked.

"In our current state, we have no chance." Bertrand replied honestly. "They must have nearly 250 men left, all veterans. If they get the Mount Tai Wood Bandits support they will also have the local knowledge."

"We killed Jama and have their leader in the prison." Boudica replied, "That gives us a small advantage."

"That is does." Mark replied, trying to think up a plan now he was aware of numbers.

"Subterfuge." Sakura offered.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"We question Little John, find out his bandit location, kill or recruit them, then we pretend to be the Mount Tai Wood Bandits." She offered. "Then we join their assault, and assuming we want the town to win, we hit them in the back."

"They will still outnumber us." Mark offered. "Massively, nearly ten to one."

"Not if I message Captain Zheng." Eduardo offered. "She can have traps laid and waiting, she can easily call on 100 fighting men, she could get more, but it would leave her fleet too open, she has other ports she works with."

"We definitely need more men." Mark commented "When is the next full moon?"

"Tracking the current axis, I would say 10 days." Tsubotai replied.

"Then we best get started." Mark commanded. "Sakura and Eduardo, give Little John a visit, find out his bandit hideout. Tsubotai on the morrow, send a messenger to Captain Zheng explaining the letter on fast horseback."

Sakura and Eduardo nodded in agreement before heading towards the rear of the headquarters, there was a large wooden door that when opened led to a dark cold cellar beneath.

"The rest of you, inform your troops of the updates from the meeting and get an early night. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day." Mark ordered.