War Games

The mule team pulled the supplies up the dirt road. Lumbering behind it was the Copperhead. Tanner, Lump, and the old man from the village, named Brimford, were following along side. Tanner had decided that these two men would be his crew for the battle. The old man knew something of crossbows, and it had not been difficult for him to work the Copperhead. Lump was brighter than his name suggested, and had proved a quick study on it.

They moved the Copperhead into position along the dirt road leading up to Fort Necessity. Tanner surveyed the situation. They’d be out of range of most bowshots. A compound bow might hit them from the fort, but not much else. Lump got the extra cables off the mule cart, and then the pitch. There were two barrels of pitch for the battle. ‘This ought to do the trick’, Tanner thought.

Faolan gathered a number of young men who would serve in the close assault and skirmish operations. He had taken up position on the opposite end of the fort, where the sally door was. Sgt. Klug had taken up position to the right of the Copperhead. He and his archers would pepper the inside of the building. To the left of the Copperhead, another battery of archers would be ready to prick the armor of the Red Legs inside. On the immediate flanks of the Copperhead, Tanner had a pair of archers and some infantry to protect the Copperhead battery. ‘Good’, thought Tanner, ‘We’ll have all angles covered. Faolan and his boys will keep them from escaping through the rear.’

At first light, Faolan demanded that the Red Legs surrender. An arrow shot out and landed about two yards from his feet. Faolan didn’t flinch. Tanner expected as much. Faolan moved back into position, and the archers started to pepper the fort. The fort returned fire. Tanner had Lump load up the Copperhead, and Brimford lit the bolt. Tanner released the trigger, and a flaming bolt whacked into the side of the fort. The fort caught on fire. There was shouting from inside the fort, and hurried attempts to douse the fire.

This went on through the day. The smoke began to hang in the air, and it became difficult to breathe. Faolan and his boys rushed the fort and hit the back side of the fort with flaming pitch. A couple of men got hit with arrows. Brimford was one, but he yanked the arrow out of his left arm and got back to work. Annah was able to save some of them, but a few were killed instantly by arrows. ‘Accurate firing and a lack or armor will equal death’, thought Tanner. ‘But war means fighting, and fighting means killing.’

As night came, fewer arrows came out of the fort. The walls were burned enough so that they might be knocked through. Tanner had some young boys cut down saplings for new Copperhead bolts. By midnight, they had run out of pitch. Tanner coughed. His eyes stung, but not as bad as earlier.

Tanner, Annah, and Faolan conferred. It was agreed that Faolan and the toughest of the remaining troops would rush the fort at first light, before the sun gave full light. Annah would rest and prepare to heal anyone who needed it. Tanner would keep on firing the Copperhead, and lead reserves in relief if necessary.

Faolan and his boys grabbed a small tree trunk and knocked out a weak portion of the wall. They swarmed through and saw the Red Legs in the rear of the fort. The Red Legs grimly arose to meet the threat. Their leader started motioning them to move forward when a loud whistling noise screamed in through the air. The Red Leg captain looked up in surprise, but he couldn’t move in time as a Copperhead bolt struck him in the chest, went through his back, and pinned him to the ground. The remaining Red Legs were shocked. Faolan yelled, ‘Run ‘em down and gut ‘em.’ The frontier boys ran forward. It was slaughter.

Back in Sunshine, Brimford sat with The Couriers. ‘We never did have enough magic back in the war. Thanks for healing my arm’.

‘You’re welcome’, said a tired Annah. She had healed up everyone who survived the battle. She was worn out.

‘And Faolan, you kept the Red Legs on their toes. It took a lot of guts to go in the fort and clear them out. I know you were ready for it, but those boys you led in, some of them weren’t’.

‘I’ve seen worse, but it was a good effort’, said Faolan. ‘A few less Red Leg scum, and I could have done it all myself.’

‘Tanner, that plan was solid. It kept most of the men safe, and wore down the opposition. If we’re going to be free, we’ll need more of that smart fighting. And that Copperhead. I thought it might be good, but it was better than I thought. About as good anything as we had in the war’. Brimford slapped Faolan and Tanner on the back.

‘Yep,’ was all Tanner said. It was good victory, but he’d all ready started to analyze things that could have been done better. ‘More pitch, better bows, and some kind of machine that can knock the walls down.’, he thought.