Bumi looked at Haru, his mouth widely opened. After progressing with what Haru told him, Bumi took a deep breath.
"In times like this, I wish I was younger." Bumi sighed. If the Avatar was here, he would have deliberately let Omashu fall, for a bigger picture purpose.
But for now, there is no Avatar. They have to fight, and Haru was their only hope to defeat the Fire Lord Ozai.
The young man put a leg above another and he took a deep breath.
Although Haru wasn't showing it, Bumi could feel how angry the young earthbender was.
"No need to be anxious. We are two days ahead of them. Although their numbers surpass ours by a large margin, we know their strategy. That's our advantage."
"I'm not anxious." Haru stared blankly at the wall.
"What's bothering you then?" Bumi sat down.
"I was there." Haru sighed. "Their soldiers, the way they talked about slaughtering my people in order to gain honour and glory… I seem to have a desire for violence, and I can barely hold it."
So that's the reason he was angry.
But Bumi had to give Haru the credit for suppressing his emotions from showing up on his face.
That's what a real leader should be.
"You know what's the most glorious thing for a soldier?" Bumi asked.
"Dying on the battlefield." Haru crossed his arms.
"Hehehe… you will be only fulfilling their desire for glory and honour," Bumi said. "But looking at how things are going, I think we are the ones who will die like heroes. Don't you think that we should surrender and then attack in the back?"
It would be no doubt that they will be attacked by thousands of soldiers, probably ten thousand after the other bases surround Omashu.
Omashu had been fighting for 99 years. Their army isn't strong enough to stand an attack from every different direction.
If only Ba Sing Si sent their troops to help, they would have had a strong chance in this war. But for whatever reason, Bumi and the rest of the Earth Kingdom never knew anything about Ba Sing Si. The only thing they knew was how great their walls are.
"Why would we?" Haru, who seemed to calm down, said. "Do you have a map for the Earth Kingdom?"
"Sure." Bumi walked to a near shelf. He opened it, and he picked up the map.
Haru pointed to the wall. "Would you like to pin it?"
"Sure." Bumi flicked his finger. A small rock flew from the wall behind him, taking the map and pinning it to the wall behind Haru.
Haru stood up and pointed in the sea's direction. "I have counted their speed. They will arrive at this point in two days. And given the number of their troop, they will take another 5 days to arrive at Omashu." Haru pointed all of the ways from the beach to Omashu.
"But what about the town you have liberated?"
I will ask them to pin the Fire Nation soldiers to the walls." Haru said. "The Earthbenders can do that."
"Are you possibly thinking of using their soldiers as a human shield?"
"Hell yes," Haru said. "If they killed their men by their own choice, whosoever makes that decision will be a war criminal in their nation and will have to take responsibility for acting on their own. No leader will make such a decision without consoling Ozai."
As it seems, using the fallen soldiers from the Fire Nation as hostages is their only choice to defend that town.
Bumi thought about his experience in 112 years. "Only a lord like Ozai would have enough guts to shoot them. I think if we did this, they will leave that town for later. To them, Taking Omashu is more important."
"Besides, I doubt that they will waste their bolts on that wall." Haru half closed his eyes on the map.
"But that wall of yours can't withstand a few bolts. Besides, they can collect them again." Bumi said.
"It's a compressed wall Bumi. If they used the giant crossbows, it will only ruin the bolts and make them unusable. They will get it from the first attack, that if they decided to attack. My bet is that they will immediately move to Omashu and turn to that town later, and they will take this road."
"We can set traps for them, but I don't think that they will always fall for them," Bumi said. "We can dig holes with spikes under them, or even throw boulders. But that won't stop them, and they would still use scouts to observe things ahead once they fall for the first trap."
"What if they don't know if it's a trap," Haru smirked. "What if Lava suddenly cornered them."
"Hold on…" Bumi narrowed his eyebrows. "I saw you making lava before. But how would you move it?"
"Just leave it to me. Let's now use the army for something. I need them to change the terrain for me." Haru replied. "This way, the final trap will be more effective."
Haru stood up, gave his back to Bumi, and looked at the map. "Now, I can create a large meteor with a diameter of 7 meters. If I lessened their members and gathered them in one spot, I can drop a meteor on them. The impact alone should take care of that."
"You are cruel, for sure." Bumi laughed. "I like that."
"Showing mercy to an enemy is the same as being cruel to our people." Haru frowned. "If there are survivors, we will take them as hostages."
"How about the other troops that will join them?" Bumi asked.
"That, as long as they don't have the giant crossbows, they are technically nothing." Haru smiled. He lifted his hand, and a 10-centimetre rock floated above his hand. It glowed and was surrounded by red colour. In instant, it flew to the wall at high speed. It exploded, and the wall had a deep crack. "I will spam this on them."
"Wow, If I didn't know you better, I may have thought that you are the Avatar," Bumi smirked. "I guess this battle is going to be fun."
If there is something Bumi had to admit, Haru is very suitable to be a general more than anyone he had seen. He isn't weak, and he doesn't have to create some bullcrap in order to kill his enemies. And if it must, he is willing to take extreme methods.
-x-X-x-
Haru walked out of the secret room and reached the main hall. Bumi summoned the generals and the soldiers of Omashu, and he explained to them what is going to happen.
The soldiers were afraid at first, scared of the new weapons.
Luckily, they had time to react. And they had a plan.
Haru started with the first thing he must do, which sent a messaging hawk to the town that wasn't far from the base. He had written for them to hang the captives soldiers on the wall, and if it must, use the civilians of the Fire Nation.
He wanted to do so in order to protect his fellow Earth Kingdom from genocide.
And in order to make such a thing happen, Haru gave an order to a skilled earthbender to move there.
As for the rest of the soldiers, Haru explained to them the plan, and what they have to do to manipulate the terrain.
And as for the day of the battle, Omashu's soldiers will use tunnels to get behind the enemy and attack them from their behind.
"Alright, you got the plan," Haru asked.
A general approached, cupped his fists, and bowed down. "We will do as you say."
Haru could sense the anxiousness in each soldier.
"Everything depends on you," Haru said, lying a bit.
After the meeting, Haru took a bath and walked around the palace. Suki was wearing a new outfit, and she met him. After they kissed, they went to her room and sat on a large bed.
"I heard about what happened," she said. "So, are we going to the war?"
"Were you spying on me?" Haru raised his eyebrow, wondering if she was skilled enough to spy on their meeting.
In the other timeline, she had shown herself to be reliable when it comes to spying.
"No, but the maids are whispering," Suki said.
"Yes, we are going for the battle." Haru laid down on the bed. "Are you worried?"
Suki's pink full lips made a smile. "Seeing how calm you are, you are making my warrior side boiling."
She then made a turn and sat on his crotch, grinding her wide cheeks against his member.
Haru half closed his eyes and put his hand behind her head, saying. "I'm getting excited too…"
"Let's calm ourselves then." Not resisting his grip around her hair, Suki leaned on him.