Koban 6: Conflict and Empire (29 page)

“Sire, it appears the Federation has committed over four thousand three hundred combat ships to the defense of this one planet. We brought two thousand forty Ravagers and six hundred Shredders for space combat, and some of them are defending the five hundred twelve supply ships. We cannot prevail against that many of the enemy, and their rapid response to our invasion is all but incomprehensible. It seems improbable they knew we were coming, since there was no waiting ambush, yet they matched our total warship force in less than two cycles, and now in less than three cycles, they have sent an overwhelming force. When the Pounder landings were under way, you asked me, ‘
Which is more important? The flagship or the rest of the fleet?’
”

Thond cringed inwardly at his own words being quoted back to him, knowing it was justified. Grudfad didn’t expect a response, so he continued talking.

“I am informing you that our fleet is at great risk, and under the present circumstances it is more vital to the Ragnar future than is a Ground Force that we cannot possibly withdraw safely with the force already deployed against us, and certainly not before the next enemy fleet arrives. With so many enemy ships, they will cripple or destroy the bulk of our Space Force within two or three cycles. I intend to withdraw, but I will wait until I see what type of ships comprise the new enemy force. What can I do to help strengthen the Ground Force in the short time remaining?”

Thond had been devising a desperate partial remedy while Grudfad spoke. “I propose we send down as many of the supply ships as we can, and divide them equally to land where the Pounders of the four infantry groups are presently gathered. The defensive weapons of the Pounders can help protect them when they leave orbit over them and the infantry. I’m not going to load the infantry into the Pounders now, to move them to link up with the remaining armored forces. However, we need supplies if we are to hold out.

“If there is any hope for our relief or a safe withdrawal later, our leaders have to notify the Thandol High Command of our invasion effort here. They’ll eventually learn about it anyway. The Emperor may agree to send a portion of one of their far larger three fleets here in a relief effort, and if he does, you may be allowed to join them. In any case, I concur with your assessment that you should withdraw the fleet’s warships. Although, the supply ships are vital to us on the ground, but not to the survival of the fleet.”

He exerted his authority. “As Force Commander, I order the captains of the subservient species to Jump their two hundred fifty ships to the edge of atmosphere, directly above our four landing coordinates. There, they will descend as if their survival depends on speed. Because it will.

“If they refuse to follow that order, fire near them until they do. Remind them they can’t flee home when they Jump, because we know who they are. The Ground Force can’t survive long without their cargo. The Ragnar commercial fleet furnished us with supply ships, but they will leave with you when you Jump for home. There’s no need to sacrifice them, and their loss would aggravate the political storm that is certain to arise on Tantor.” Thond’s fabled career seemed unlikely to survive this fiasco, even if he somehow did.

****

Mirikami was incredulous. “Thad, did you say they’re landing more ships? What in hell for? This invasion is a busted operation. More troops and tanks on the ground can’t hold out, not without their fleet for protection and resupply. If the fleet stays we’ll destroy it, or they’ll be driven off after heavy losses. Their ground units are going to be on their own, no matter what.”

“Tet, the only ships Jumping in and descending to land are the supply ships, which we have thus far left alone. Nearly half of them appeared to have designs that differ markedly from ship types the Ragnar build. I spotted at least twenty that resemble the tubby Hothor ships we saw on their world when we were there. Athena spared them earlier, and I agree with her reasons. I didn’t think killing people we might want to cooperate with us in a fight against the Thandol a good idea.

“Now, I’m reconsidering. I wonder if we should dive in close to Tanner’s to blast them as they arrive. Those supplies will be used to support their troops.”

Mirikami was doing his own consideration. “Thad, is it only the ships you think are from subservient species doing the landing?”

There was a brief pause. “About half of the supply ships have the sleek lines the Ragnar seem to admire, and those also have similar electromagnetic signatures to the Normal Space drives of the Ravagers and Shredders. None of those are attempting to land. I think it’s only the ships of the other aliens doing that.”

That confirmed what Mirikami suspected. “Thad, I want you to let them get through unmolested. Ask the PDF to avoid shooting them down unless they do anything hostile. I doubt if they are capable of an attack anyway, or can defend themselves for that matter. I believe this means the rest of their fleet is about to Jump out of the system, taking the Ragnar built supply ships with them. They don’t mind losing those alien ships and crews, and they know some of the supplies will reach the ground safely even if we do attack them.

“With us in control above Tanner’s World, and then we deploy our troops, Shadows, and the ladybugs we brought with us, I think we can contain their infantry and defeat their armor, even if they get those supplies. In fact, if we are obvious about allowing resupply to happen, that should play into Maggi’s political strategy. We can prove to the species of the Empire that we are not like the Thandol. It’s also a gesture we can point to, when Maggi tries to convince the Ragnar, down on the planet, that we will negotiate with them in good faith.

“I don’t know, man. It may be a hard sell to the PDF. Their troopers, even with our help, are vastly outnumbered, and they don’t have any armor or decent air cover.”

“I’ll give them the two hundred ladybugs we brought with us, delivered to wherever they need them. I learned from Nabarone that Tanner’s shipped their handful of wartime tanks and most of their ladybugs to New Dublin, two years ago, to help root out the Krall holdouts there after we neutralized their fleet. Our four hundred thirty-two Shadows will fly support for them. I know the enemy flyers can’t match the capability of our pilots, but their space planes might have more firepower.”

“OK, Tet. In ten minutes you’ll join the party. You have the IFF codes to keep the PDF from shooting at you, and they know you’re coming. Any of your ships that don’t have troops, Shadows, or ladybugs aboard to slow them down can go after the Ravagers and Shredders before the Ragnar fleet makes a withdrawal. Let me link to Colonel Gaffigan to plead with him to let the enemy’s supplies get through. What a fascinating conversation that’s going to be.”

****

Hitok was as amazed as Thond, after the new enemy arrivals made their presence known. Destructively so. “They actually had another two thousand clanships to throw at us. If they have as many of them as Thandol drone scouts estimated were once in Krall possession, over twenty thousand, the Empire could be in trouble. The Federation may have captured a fleet that is eighty percent the size of the Thandol Space Force. That fleet was partly why the High Command wanted the Empire to stay incognito for so long. They may have overestimated the degree of destruction the Krall fleet suffered from human attacks. Humans must have had their own warships before defeating the Krall and capturing their fleet.”

Thond had the same concerns. “Where
is
the navy the humans used to conduct their war with the Krall, before the Federation won and had captured clanships to use? We haven’t seen a single warship they must have used to fight the Krall, before they learned how to disable their weapons.”

Thond reluctantly conceded the possibility that there was a larger Federation fleet than the High Command believed, but he had reservations. “If they have so many warships, I can’t explain why they left their newer colonies so undefended, at least after they learned about the Emperor’s aggressive intents. I suppose alien minds are alien, and we can’t be sure we understand their thinking.”

Hitok uttered a confused hoot-pant. “There’s no denying the Federation’s reaction at a more populated and developed world like this one. Grudfad, by waiting to see what type of ships the Federation sent in that last wave, paid for our curiosity. He has already lost twenty-four more Ravagers, against only five of their ships lost. Forty-three nearly helpless Shredders have been blown apart, in a terrible travesty of their names. They are designed for a type of combat the humans refuse to fight.”

Then he commented on the good fortune granted to his Group 1 Ground Force. “Why do you think the enemy is permitting the supply ships through unchallenged? We need the ammunition and power packs, food, and heavier weapons, spare parts, and replacement body armor, so I’m not complaining. But this smacks of being a deliberate strategy on their part, which must have a benefit for them in the long term. Yet, I can’t see how it helps them.”

Thond hooted in amusement. “They have not been shy in showing their displeasure with us up to now. I’m sure an unpleasant explanation will soon be revealed.”

“Well,” Hitok said, almost in envy, “Commander Grifdan is satisfied the enemy has not placed any defenses along the river valley he’s in. That valley leads up to the bluff where his target city and spaceport were built. Several high suspension bridges cross the river, and make for shorter routes, but he isn’t about to use them. They would be too tempting a target for demolition with Pillagers on them, and they may be high enough for some of the defense lasers to target them, if they were leaned on their sides. He told me he split Group 2 in half, and is using the excellent roads that run parallel to the curving river on both sides, along the lowest parts of the valley.

“Most of that city’s laser batteries are high up on the bluff, and can’t possibly be aimed down into the valley, as happened to Gontra on the flat plains. Grifdan says the hills along the winding river will shield his Pillagers for most of his approach, even if some of the space defense lasers above them, around the city, could somehow be tipped over to such an extreme angle. The valley is free of the high ridges and narrow canyons that were used to trap Culpa. Staging a simultaneous double ambush on both sides of the river in the valley is impossible. Each column is within easy range of the other for mutual fire support. I wish the situation I faced had so obvious a solution.”

“What have your scouts and drones reported?” Thond asked, having been too preoccupied with other matters to foolishly micro manage his best Ground Force Commander.

“My battlefield AI estimates there are less than ten thousand enemy soldiers in body armor, dispersed around the edges of the city on the side of our approach, to confront my column. Although, in the last twentieth of a cycle, keeping a drone aloft has become nearly impossible. They are shot down even when stealthed.”

“The enemy has no type of Pillagers of their own? This is where their small military ground force, the only one apparently remaining on this planet, is concentrated. If they had armor like ours, here is the place they would use them. Could the terrain or buildings be concealing them?”

“They would have had to reposition them before our fleet arrived. No tanks have been seen. The scouts have not entered the city, but they have used vantage points on hilltops near the edge of the outlying structures to observe. I mentioned the problems with drone observations. That itself is a clue to how sophisticated the enemy body armor is. They are being shot down by individual troopers, at considerable distance, using plasma rifles that have higher energy bolts than do our own handheld weapons. And their targeting accuracy is fast and accurate. I believe they must have low-grade Artificial Intelligent systems helping them, linking their hand weapons to their suit visors, as ours do. In the Empire, since the Thandol prohibit such weapons production for the subservient species, only we and the other security forces have such capability. We have not faced an enemy equipped like this previously.”

“Then that makes them a potential match with your Ragoons, but not your armor. Our own infantry can’t easily take out a Pillager without heavier weapons than plasma or laser rifles. Even against a shoulder fired missile, our reactive armor makes penetration unlikely. If several of their soldiers focused repeated bolts on the same spot, they would eventually burn through. A Pillager crew would have to stand still, like idiots, to permit that.”

Hitok agreed, but was still concerned. “My crews are trained to keep moving and to fire back instantly when attacked, but to be blunt, our Ragoons have faced only relatively inexperienced forces in the last twenty orbits or so, since the last organized revolt by the three species that joined forces. These people faced the Krall, within their own life times, and won that war. They have already demonstrated resilience and improvisation against two of our Ground Force Groups. I don't want to be surprised.”

“I assume you will take advantage of the surrounding hills and valleys, and approach from multiple directions? Gontra and Culpa kept their forces bunched together and came at the enemy from only one direction. Grifdan has split his force in two, to negate a single trap catching both columns, and they can each support the other column if ground forces foolishly attempted to attack his armor.”

Hitok bobbed his entire body once, in agreement. “I will be entering the city along six corridors on this east side. Two are larger highways, the other four are lesser routes, through what appears to be residential areas, and then, when close to the orbital batteries, individual units will be dispatched to destroy them, as the main force continues towards the spaceport we need to capture. The scouts are reporting that the enemy in body armor are spread around the east side of the city, and will not be able to concentrate what force they have on any single point of entry. They are using civilian transport trucks, except for a number of heavy shuttles that have carried groups to the more distant locations. There is a mass evacuation underway of their civilians, which sometimes clog their roads, but that is on the west side, and to a less extent on the north and south.”