The Sea of Grass by John Van Stry

Author:John Van Stry [Stry, John Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: John Van Stry
Published: 2015-04-02T22:00:00+00:00

Ten

Sea of Grass

"Ahhhh, am I glad to be out of there," Rachel sighed as we rode together near the front of the column. We had left Tradeson about an hour ago. The two days there had allowed Rachel to see and be seen, as she had wished, and to make a good impression on the people there. Other than that however, it had mostly just been official tours, official visits, and politicking. Something Rachel excelled at, but which I found rather boring.

"Really, Your Majesty?" Second Carso replied to her comment looking surprised.

"It's a nice city, but it's too flat, and that high wall around it just makes it feel confining," Rachel replied.

"That's your nomadic roots speaking," I said with a laugh.

"Maybe," Rachel agreed, "But walls don't stop armies, just raiders and animals."

"The best defense is a strong offense?" I asked.

Rachel started and gave me a look, "I like that! Where'd you hear it?"

I started; I forgot sometimes that many of the things I thought of, as common wisdom, hadn't been learned here yet.

"It comes from my homeland," I told them. I noticed Second Carso and his aide, Fourth Leto, were both looking at me curiously.

"Any other gems to share?" Rachel asked grinning at me.

"I heard him once say that fixed defenses are monuments to stupidity," Second Carso told her.

Rachel pondered that a moment and then nodded, "I can see where that would be true." She looked at me again, "Any more?"

I thought about that, "Get there fustest with the mostest," I said.

"Well, that's a curious one."

I shrugged, "It was from a famous Cavalry leader many years ago back home. I think the original quote was about always getting their first with the most soldiers."

Rachel nodded, "Is that why you're so hot for the cavalry?"

"That's part of it. Remember, we won Rivervail because we were able to move the entire army a long distance in a very short time. The only reasons we won as easily as we did was because the Mulanders never expected it, and never had time to organize or regroup. It was our speed that did it more than the size of our army that day."

Rachel nodded.

"And of course, here is one of the most important to remember, even if people hate it. ‘He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.'"

That one got me some startled looks from all those around me.

"Sounds like cowardice to me!" Second Carso said, and even Rachel looked a bit shocked.

"When you're losing, and you know you're not going to win, what does fighting to the end do for your queen? Your kingdom?" I said looking at all of them. "When a fight becomes un-winnable, it is your duty as an officer to get your men out of there, save as many as you can, to regroup and try again. Hopefully, with better numbers and a more favorable terrain.

"Remember that you all have a duty, and that duty is to win. Losing is not winning. Fighting to the death may be honorable, and at times it may be necessary.

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