The Fireseed Wars

THIRTY-SEVEN

Kalvan stood on the wharf evaluating his expanding Navy. The harbor held about fifty war ships and twenty-five to thirty of the small gunboats, most tied up at the docks. Conducting a survey of the new Navy was Admiral Herad, a stocky man of middle age and size, with a nose in the shape of a turnip and gunmetal-blue eyes that could bore through decks. He was the most experienced of the Ulthori captains as well as the most respected, and just about everyone's first choice as Supreme Admiral of the Navy of Nos-Hostigos. His handling of the Prince Ptosphes during the siege of Thagnor had only enhanced his reputation. There were some good Thagnori captains but none Kalvan trusted as much as Supreme Admiral Herad.

With the capture of Thagnor, they had added thirty seaworthy ships and recently ten more that were repaired and refitted. There had been some other additions, six escaping Nythrosi and Morthron warships, bringing the total number to over sixty capital ships. Clearly, not enough to battle either of the Grefftscharrer fleets on equal terms, but a force formidable enough to give them pause. Which was all he needed. Once the gunboats engaged the enemy, they would be in for a big surprise.

"We've put two of the new rifled sixteen-pounders on The Prince Ptosphes and two more on four of our other largest ships, Your Majesty. Is there any way you can find me a dozen more?"

"No, Admiral," Kalvan answered. "The new Foundry was only able to turn out twenty-four of them over the winter. I've already given you ten guns and most of the four and six-pounders. I'm putting eight of the rifled cannon on the outer walls, two at Vart-Burgult and two each on the gun towers on either side of Lake Suhl. I wish I had fifty more."

Prince Phrames, who was standing at Kalvan's right, put in, "Admiral, those guns are fearsome. I only wish I had all of them for the outer walls. You'll be able to shoot at the Grefftscharrer ships from twelve marches away, accurately at eight. Trust me, their Navy won't know what's hit them."

The Admiral said, "The Grefftscharrer's best guns aren't accurate at more than two marches. We should be able to scuttle twenty or thirty ships before they reach the harbor."

The Nos-Hostigos Navy's main harbor was Lake St. Clair, or Lake Suhl, as it was called here-and-now. Kalvan had used the lake as their main base in an attempt to draw in the Grefftscharrer Fleet. He wanted them to believe their superior force could trump any Hostigi home advantage.

He took out his pipe and filled it while he briefed his admiral on the strategy he'd worked out with Rylla. "Look, Admiral, if you start shooting and hitting Grefftscharrer ships at that distance, they'll only pull back and halt their attack. Then they'll set-up a blockade to keep us out of the Hassfryth Sea and the other Saltless Seas. We'll be fighting them for the next three winters."

The Admiral nodded, taking out his own pipe and tobacco pouch. "I suspect they'll blockade us either way, Your Majesty. Even if we can sail freely on the Hassfryth, there's no way we can make portage into the Galfryth Sea or the Zaffryth Sea without Grefftscharrer permission. They have forts in place at every bottleneck."

Kalvan liked the way Herad was questioning his orders. In Hostigos Town, everyone had pretty much taken everything he said as their marching orders with little or no questions. If the Hostigi were to survive, they needed people who could think on their feet and ask hard questions.

"True. I don't expect to use this victory to open up all the Saltless Seas. My plan is to draw the Grefftscharrer Navy into an attack on the City and our naval base at Lake Suhl. Once their ships get close enough, with our gunboats and advantage in firepower, we should be able to destroy most of their fleet. What I want you to do with those new guns, is to use them as a reserve. Once the battle has begun, you can use them to thin the Grefftscharrer Fleet, but, even more importantly, those guns will be able to destroy any of those ships who break the line of battle or survive the initial attack."

"Aha," the Admiral said, releasing a cloud of tobacco smoke. "You don't want to just win this battle, you want to destroy the Grefftscharri Southern Fleet!"

"Exactly. We're going to use gunboats, fire ships and sheer firepower to put this half of their Navy completely out of business."

"This will be like no other battle in the history of the Saltless Seas, Your Majesty. It will change the face of sea warfare forever!"

"Those are my intentions, Admiral. At whatever the cost."