The Santara Commentaries (Book 1-6)
The Santara Commentaries (Book 1-6)
Chapter 6: On the Offensive
Chapter 6: On the Offensive
There were very few Khmerians who sided with the Padri. Drusus and the Despotate of Leste made up the entirety of those few. Historically speaking, there was no reason why Leste should side against the Tionghoa. If it wasn’t for Drusus’ sense of loyalty as a vassal of King Aron and Dun-a-din, Leste would have surely sided against us. After all, the nobles of Leste trace their lineage to the Dragon Emperor himself.
After the Tionghoa had completed the conquest of Santara (through the slaughter of the Borromeans), knights from the Tribe of Marius was the first to have surrendered to the Tionghoa. In appreciation for this act, and also to cement a new foothold in the archipelago, the Dragon Emperor sent his daughters to wed these knights. We can still see the effect of dragon blood in the Lesteans as their lives are much longer than that of the average man.
After I learned the dark history of Leste, I began to understand Sultan Kochba’s suspicions of Drusus. The fact that the Komodo Dragon had come to our assistance was flabbergasting to us all (so to speak). Weren’t the dragons supposed to be against us? Why would a kinswoman of the Dragon Emperor attack a Tionghoa fleet? For that matter, who was the Komodo Dragon?
Those questions continued to assault our minds. At the time, we all had our own theories. But I shall write more on this topic in future chapters.
Because the Tionghoa fleet meant to conquer Leste had been destroyed by the Komodo Dragon, we cancelled our voyage to the Despotate and rerouted our ships to Mocasar to reunite with Sultan Kochba. To think that Livia had predicted this turn of events correctly… I simply had to get answers from Livia, about my past.
The following was what she had to say:
“As I said before, you are a Nodian. However, I’ve never heard of Nodians giving Tionghoa names to their children. Not the ones in the Black City anyways.”
“Wait,” I said. “You’re telling me there are more Nodian cities out there?”
Livia’s answer: “There’s one, somewhere in the west but I don’t know the exact location. That information is known only to those within the highest authority of the Black City.”
“But Rus told us that your family occupies a prestigious spot in Nodian society,” I responded.
“My cousin is correct,” said Livia. “But that doesn’t mean everyone who happens to have a Delapore surname knows all the secrets of the Black City.”
So much for that. It was better than nothing, though.
Our conversation was ended by Drusus who came by. I still can’t get over how around this time he always acted so nervously around Livia – the warrior without equal had finally met his match. As soon as he came within an arm’s length of the Nodian girl, she quickly snuggled to him and put her head on his chest.
With the two lost in each other’s eyes, I was ready to make myself scarce. But I stopped myself short when I heard what Livia said next:
“Lord Drusus, have you considered my proposal?”
“Of course,” responded Drusus. “But it simply cannot be. I do not believe Lord Aron is ready for such a revelation.”
Livia sighed in frustration. “I understand. I disagree, but I understand.”
Yes readers, I was eavesdropping on them. Given what I had just learned about Leste, I had every reason to.
Moving on…
At the time, I thought they were talking about their courtship. It would be strange to get married in the middle of a war. And King Aron surely would not approve. Thus, I thought nothing of this conversation and moved on.
Within a few weeks of sail, we reached Mocasar. I remember the city looking even worse than the last time we were here. The town square had its damages, but the walls were absolutely battered. All thanks to a battle that happened in our absence. For the sake of clarity, I shall refer to that battle as the ‘Second Battle of Mocasar’. Most of the battle actually happened at sea. The damage to the city was caused by repeated bombardments by Tionghoa ships. However, this was part of Kochba’s plan as he hid his fleet within the jagged coasts of Mocasar Bay.
The Tionghoa admiral Zheng Li thought he had a clear path to Mocasar, with the only thing standing between him and the conquest of the Sultanate capital being the city walls. And so, his ships kept on bombarding Mocasar.
But this was all part of Kochba’s trap. In truth, the Sultan was actually at his fleet, waiting for the perfect time to strike. So elaborate was his charade that he even made sure to send messenger birds from Mocasar with letters bearing the seal of the Sultan to the admiral, supposedly asking for a ceasefire though the terms were so outrageous that the Tionghoa admiral would never have accepted it. Zheng Li never knew what was going on until it was too late.
When Kochba finally struck, he did so from a position away from Tionghoa cannons, ensuring that Zheng Li’s fleet would not be able to counter. Kochba’s flagship, the Judah, took center stage. The Sultan, being onboard, launched several fireballs at the enemy ships. It wasn’t necessary though, as the battle was a complete rout in favor of the Paloeans.
The Tionghoa lost their entire fleet: about three-fourths of the ships were sunk while the rest were captured. Perhaps fittingly, Admiral Zheng Li was killed by Kochba’s inferno. I only know of this fact from the survivors who happened to witness his death; unfortunately, his body had been turned to ashes and was lost in the chaos of battle.
As for the Paloeans, they lost no ship. None. Though a few were damaged and in need of repairs.
With the Tionghoa having suffered not one, but two grievous defeats, we knew that it was now time for us to go on the offensive. Kochba wanted us to attack the Kaliman island, located to the west of Paloe island. And King Aron quickly accepted this plan of action. Every one of us did, with the exception of Livia.
In fact, Livia had been nagging us to make peace with the Tionghoa. She kept telling us about how the Nodians were behind this war and that we should not play into their game. None of us, not even Drusus, took her seriously, especially since she was unable to articulate what exactly was the Nodians’ plan.
We should have listened. Alas, what was done was done. But I’m getting way ahead of myself.
Let us move on…
With the plan of action agreed upon, the next thing to do was for the members of the Triple Alliance to rendezvous. Lord Protector Davit wanted to lead the Puncakian army, but with Puncak still reeling from the helot revolt, he feared the collapse of Puncakian society should he leave. Thus, once more, Inferna and Paradisa were sent as co-commanders of the Puncakian army. The three armies met in the Paloean town of Minasa, located at the southern tip of the Paloean Boot.
Minasa was a small town. It would have been unremarkable if it wasn’t for the heavy garrison, necessary because of the war. But even with its heavy defenses, it still would have been preferable for any would be invaders to take Minasa, land their army there, then march north to Mocasar, rather than attack Mocasar directly. That was Zheng Li’s mistake, he tried to attack Mocasar directly.
Never attack Mocasar directly.
But to be fair to the poor admiral, very few commanders would have been so callous with their own men, especially innocents, as Sultan Kochba. His victory was less the admiral’s foolishness and more the Sultan’s disregard for his own people.
As an aside, the other course of action I listed was what Lord Aron had done before I met him. That was how he could take part in the First Battle of Mocasar. Though Minasa was not hostile territory at the time.
With the Paloeans and the Dunadinians waiting at Minasa, the Puncakian contingent was the last piece of the puzzle. Our wait was mostly uneventful, I used to this opportunity to get a feel for how our army was like. By this time, I have earned the respect of King Aron’s soldiers, and they began to address me as ‘Prince Yu’.
It was the opposite for the Paloeans who simply despised me. Out of concern for my safety, Drusus and Livia tried to talk me out of my attempts to understand the Sultan’s men. But I insisted, and thus Arphaxad ended up escorting me as I went to the Paloean camp in Minasa.
As soon as I was amongst the soldiers, I could feel their glares being aimed at me. At times, I wondered if the soldiers would all gang up on me. Not even Arphaxad could protect me then. I would need Drusus, though that wouldn’t do us any good, since they despised the Khmerians even more than they do the Goyans.
This was a bad idea, I figured almost immediately. I was ready to leave but I then ran into Sultan Kochba, of all people. Apparently, he was inspecting the men. It soon occurred to me that this was the first time that I met him without Lord Aron anywhere near me.
“I’m on my way now, Your Majesty,” I said in the most respectful tone I could.
But just as I was about to leave, Kochba held my arm. With a scowl on his face, Arphaxad moved to tug me free before the Sultan held his arm up.
“Peace, Rider of Dun-a-din,” he said. “I just want to have a talk with Dun-a-din’s Royal Tactician.”
This was the first time that I finally got a good look at Sultan Kochba. Despite his long face, he was handsome, just like my lord. And as he smiled, I couldn’t help but feel reassured. I wondered if I had misjudged this man; perhaps he and Lord Aron were not so different after all. Such were my thoughts.
The Sultan spoke first: “King Aron spoke very highly of you. He’s even considering adopting you as his son.”
“He is?!” I said in shock. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“As I said, he was simply considering it,” responded Kochba. “He gave you a lot of credit for his victories. He was also pleased by how low his casualties have been. All thanks to you, apparently.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“I’m curious as to where you stand. Tell me, tactician. What will you do if Aron was to adopt you as his son.”
I answered, “I’d be honored. Very much. To think that I can be a Yakobinian like everyone else.”
Kochba guffawed; it was such a loud and hearty laugh that the soldiers around us couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “You can never be one of us, goy. Never!”
“But Lord Aron appreciates me,” I countered. “You said it yourself.”
“A dog can be useful, but it can never be your son,” responded Kochba. “And you have been very useful, I must admit.”
And with that, he dismissed us both. I was livid. But in retrospect, I should have been flattered. That was the closest thing to respect that I could have gotten from the Sultan.
It must have been about a week since my conversation with Sultan Kochba when the Puncakian contingent finally arrived.
We were all anticipating the Puncakians’ arrival, especially Lord Aron; he had been nothing but nerves in those prior days. And as the horde of pegasi and gryphons was swarming over the plains of Minasa, Lord Aron was up front (with me by his side) waving at the Puncakians, welcoming them.
Inferna and Paradisa were the first to land on their contrasting pegasi before dismounting. But while the older sister gracefully walked towards us, the younger beelined for my lord with the speed of a Malang rhino. I just barely got out of the way as Paradisa leapt towards Aron, who caught her in an embrace.
I remember in my bemusement thinking, ‘Wow, she must be really happy to see him’.
“Indeed.”
I jumped in surprise. I realized that I must have said my thoughts out loud. “Inferna!”
“Greetings tactician,” she said with a respectful bow. “My sister found these last few months to be unbearable. Can you fault her?”
“No,” I responded.
“And she’s not the only one anxious to see your king.”
Initially, I did not catch her implication. Until Inferna walked up to Aron and Paradisa (the happy couple were in an embrace, though the latter now back on her feet), and she enveloped Aron in her arms.
The look of hesitation in my lord’s face was evident, but he let her do as she wished. And Paradisa didn’t seem to object either.
Many things went through my mind as I witnessed this scene. First, I felt sorry for poor Paradisa. More importantly, however, I realized that Paradisa and Inferna were more alike than I had first thought.
It was not lost on me that it was Paradisa who asked to fight alongside us back in Ben-Teng. It was she who had been open with her affections. My lord gave her the initial spark of confidence, and she ran with it.
I’m sure a love triangle was not Lord Aron’s idea of preparing for our western offensive, but our preparations went off without a hindrance. Days after the Puncakians’ arrival, we set sail for Kaliman island. With the Sea Peoples of Western Santara as our allies, we had a smooth journey.
Our target was Khatulistiwa, a port city in the eastern coast of Kaliman. We had agreed to strike the town with the help of our Sea People allies, who would supply most of the ships in besieging the city’s port.
Unfortunately, the Sea Peoples were delayed when the huge whirlpool around the Cursed Island of Sheram expanded (a seasonal thing, but happened much sooner than was expected), creating unsafe waters for the direct route. This forced the Sea Peoples to take the long route by going to the western coast of Kaliman, then hug the coasts eastwards on the way to Khatulistiwa.
We learned of this just as the first men of our army disembarked; our landing spot: a beach about five miles northeast of Khatulistiwa. A messenger bird from the Sea Peoples arrived at the Leviathan to hand over the letter informing us of their delay. We were left with a dilemma: to attack or to wait.
Our answer was empathic: attack. We did not sail all the way to Kaliman to wait, and the Sea Peoples could join us when they were ready.
We divided our forces in two: the land and the sea. On the sea were those who did not disembark from our ships. With the Sea Peoples delayed, we had to siege the city with what we had.
The airborne Puncakians remained in the ships as we besieged the port. To compensate for the lack of ships, Inferna and the flyers of Puncak patrolled the port, destroying any ships that attempted to enter or leave the city.
On land were the Dunadinians and Paloeans. We had enough men to take Khatulistiwa. What stood in our way was the walls, for which we came prepared.
Our artillery were mostly ballistae and onagers, though Lord Aron had one cannon crew in his army – colonial deserters led by a Tionghoa-man named Tian Tian. That one cannon crew became the decisive force, as it was able to blow a hole in Khatulistiwa’s walls in a short time.
This gave the opening for Arphaxad and his riders to charge to the city, with Drusus coming in to support from the air. Following them was our contingent of swordsmen who accompanied King Aron.
As for me, I was Paradisa’s passenger so I could get a good look at the battle. Having once again chosen to fight alongside us, Paradisa flew around finding people who are in need of healing. With the Puncakians having to besiege the port, the battle was surprisingly tough for us. Paradisa’s light magic was sorely needed and kept us going.
Paradisa’s help was not lost on the enemy, as they strove to shoot down her pegasus many times. At this point, I was used to flying and no longer threw up from evasive maneuvers; with my pistol, I defended Paradisa and took out any enemy who dared approach her.
Astute readers may notice that I did not mention Sultan Kochba and the Paloeans. That’s because at this point, they had yet to take part in the battle. Instead, they were biding their time. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Paloeans marched to the west of the city. At this point, that part of the city was left empty of defenders as they had left to fight King Aron’s soldiers in the north.
Unopposed, the Paloeans climbed the walls, then took control of Khatulistiwa’s western gates. Afterwards, they made their way to the town square and faced little opposition.
Thanks to those maneuvers, the Tionghoa were now caught between the Dunadinians and the Paloeans. And from there, the battle was all but over. Some may say that Sultan Kochba won us that battle, but I resented being his meat shield. I also don’t take kindly to late arrivals taking all the credit.
Speaking of late, the Sea Peoples arrived the day after we captured Khatulistiwa. Though at least they had a good excuse. Neither did they take the credit for our victory.
But we were able to put all that aside. With a foothold in Kaliman island now established, we moved to reclaim Isildur, the Sacred Sword of Borromeo.
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