Chapter 5
Natonito and Oen were with the other Dukes of the Bravian people in the swamps outside of Cork, detailing the plans for the rebellion so that everyone would be on the same page.
�The trick is to act locally and think globally,� Natonito said with a smirk.
�What do you mean by that?� Duke Van Larken asked.
�We have to keep in contact at all times, and make sure we work towards the greater goal of Bravian independence, but you all will have local autonomy with your bands, and have authorization to strike at the scattered Imperial troops on your own discretion. I suggest each of you break up your bands into sub-bands, each led by a strong local leader in each town. After all, we are dealing with an industrial army that is tethered to the Imperial Command post a long way away. If we keep in the shadows, sniping off officers and sentries and troops from hills, trees, and buildings, we will before long cripple the spirit of the Imperial troops. We have to think in concert and keep in contact about troop movements and the like, but when you act, do so on your own initiative. I am counting a lot on you guys,� Natonito said.
�Each of us will have our own area to deal with?� Duke Don said.
�Yes,� Oen said, taking out a large map of Bravia. �Each of you guys will work in the areas marked here, your own local domains. Whenever possible, I and Duke Van Larken should strike out at New Russville, to make sure that Duke Longbert the cowardly stays jittery about his own position.�
�Good thinking,� Duke Van Larken said. �And the barons of Paz all have their assignments too?�
�Yes, they do. Every one of us will operate in specific areas that we know very well, so that our local knowledge can be a vital advantage as we do hit and run assaults on the Imperial army posts. We want to utilize every advantage we have against them, as they have far better military training than we do,� Natonito said.
�They can�t shoot like Bravians, though,� Duke Don said. �No Bravian boy grows up past the age of 10 without being able to fell a target with a rifle.�
�That is true, Duke,� Natonito said. �That is why we are using snipers as our primary means of assault. We do not have the military discipline to fight a pitched battle with the Imperial Army, but we can pick off their officers very easily. The Imperial officers have a weakness in that they dress far fancier than the enlisted troops, so they will be easy marks for the snipers that we use.�
�And once we snipe, the troops will get restless and start to fire,� Duke Van Larken said.
�Yes, I know,� Natonito said. �But then we will blend into the surroundings and use the tunnels that our ancestors used when winning independence for the Bravians themselves. Once we are out of danger, we can blend back as normal citizens, dressed no differently from those around us. The Imperial troops will not be able to tell who their enemy is, as it will be a plain-clothes army of the people they fight.�
�They will complain that we fight ungentlemanly,� Duke Don said sarcastically.
�I am sure they will,� Oen said. �After all, they are used to fighting armies like their own in Imperial wars. However, they will be fighting a people determined to be free, and wars of independence are far different than wars of conquest.�
�Someday people may look back and wonder why we invented the guerilla war,� Duke Van Larken said.
�Yes, and it will be a shock to them that it was Bravians who first fought wars in the shadows, when they are the most courageous people around,� Oen said.
�Yes, that is very true, but we are not stupid. There is no point to fighting military rules when they would leave you dead and your people enslaved. We fight to win, by any means possible that will cost us the least and gain us the most,� Natonito said. �And in this circumstance that means we fight as irregulars. Given a strong nation, we may fight as an industrial army, but that remains to be seen.�
�This is going to be some dangerous warfare, isn�t it?� Duke Don asaid.
�Yes, it is,� Natonito somberly said.
�You have the look of someone that has been condemned for treason,� Duke Van Larken said.
�I am the one that the Empire wants,� Natonito said. �The rest of you may fade in and out of civilian population, and may even accept a general pardon, but if I am caught, I am a dead man. Even Oen here has a chance if the Emperor tells Longbert to quit his silly feud, but I am a goner unless we win.�
�So you feel like all the pressure is on you?� Duke Don asked.
�Yes, I do,� Natonito said.
�Brother, calm down. After all, treason never prospers; for if it prospers, none dare call it treason,� Oen said.
�That is funny,� Duke Van Larken said.
�Yes, it is. If we win, we will be patriots, and if we lose, we will not have long to regret our failure before the noose slides around at least some of our necks. At least you guys are not recognizable names in the Empire like I am,� Natonito said. �Most Imperial troops wouldn�t have a clue what you looked like. After the tirade in the Senate, though, every Imperial citizen has seen my face hundreds of times. I�m probably notorious all over the Empire by now.�
�Sorry to break the train of thought here, but I just wondered, what do we do once we peeve off the Imperial troops? After all, they only have so much patience for getting sniped at,� Duke Van Larken said.
�That is part of the reason why we are here,� Oen said.
�Yes, that is part of the reason I want us to keep each other informed. This lovely swamp where we are now is part of a trap I will lay for the Imperial forces. After all, after the sniping goes on for a while, the Imperial command will tell them to raze any town that rebels against the Empire, killing and raping as they please,� Natonito said. �At that point, I will send a message for you to meet me here at this point, where we will execute the mousetrap.�
�What is the bait?� Duke Don asked.
�Me,� Natonito curtly replied.
�How will you trap them here?� Duke Van Larken said.
�I do not want this war to harm the Bravian people, and once the Imperial troops get riled, morale will probably be good enough to get a large amount of troops to join our cause,� Natonito said. �I will tell the Imperial troops that I will parley on this island just outside the swamp. Then I will send you the message that the Imperial troops are on the way, and we will meet well before the scheduled meeting time deeper within the swamp. Imperial troops hate swamps, and they will do no more than a cursory search. At dusk on the appointed day I will make an appearance and lure the Imperial troops, which will be more than enough for a parlay, into the swamps, at which point all of you will surround the outside of the swamps and fire at will at the troops. Since the Imperial troops are so certain of bagging me, they will leave few or no troops as reserve, and in the night will fall victim to our strikes. Remember to aim low, as we do not want too much friendly fire in this fight.�
�That sounds like a great plan,� Duke Van Larken said. �When do we get the ball in motion?�
�As soon as you want. I will begin today,� Oen said.
�We shall keep in contact with you,� Duke Don said. �After all, timely communication is vital in our success.�
�Yes, I agree,� Natonito said. �Let us go, then, gentlemen.�
After Oen and Natonito bid the other Dukes a fond farewell, they sit to talk among themselves.
�Do you think the Dukes will execute the plan well?� Oen asked.
�I think they will do quite fine,� Natonito said.
�What makes you think that?� Oen asked.
�They have no practice in warfare, but they are brave men and defending their homeland. They know well what it means to be good soldiers,� Natonito said. �They do not need to learn theory of war for that. That is why I led the revolt and gave the orders I did. They are good soldiers, and will do their tasks well. It just remains for the Imperial troops to fall into the trap.�
�Do you think the Imperial troops will act as you have planned them to act?� Oen asked.
�Yes, I do,� Natonito said. �I have seen these troops in action. They are well trained, and highly skilled, but they lack the ability to think on their own. They lack initiative, because they have been trained so much by the book. We will use their own training against them, by presenting them well planned unpredictability. They know that Bravians have fought in few wars, but they do not know that we train for battle every year, and that we shoot from childhood.�
�That is true,� Oen said. �How long do you think this war will last.�
�I cannot say,� Natonito said. �As I do not know. I hope it will only take a few weeks, as the Empire will soon find after this debacle that it has other troubles.�
�What do you mean by that?� Oen asked.
�This will not be the only rebellion,� Natonito said.
�There will be others?� Oen asked.
�Yes, there will be many others. There will be separatist movements in the main area as well as in other outlying provinces,� Natonito said. �The empire only has so many troops, and if we beat them here there will be no fear left of them.�
�And that means that the enemies of the Empire will multiply?� Oen asked.
�Yes, once the mystique of the army is gone, no one will be afraid to challenge them. The emperor spends many days mocking us as hicks and rednecks, and if we defeat the Imperial army those words will come to haunt him. After all, if hicks and rednecks can defeat 400,000 crack troops, the people of other areas will have no fear that the smaller amount of troops the empire will have to dispose of then will be a threat to their independence movements,� Natonito said.
�Sounds like you know the empire well,� Oen said.
�Better then they know me,� Natonito replied. �Anyway, it�s getting late now, and time to go.�
�Yeah, we have much work to do,� Oen said.
�And miles to go before we sleep,� Natonito said with a smirk.
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