Enlightened Empire

Chapter 381: Surprise

Medala’s climate had always been peculiar, along the Narrow Sea even more so than elsewhere. Temperature differences between the southern and northern shores were frequently huge, even though one could see the other shore on a clear day. As a result, the battle on Puscanacra’s northern border was being fought in ice and snow, while a warm breeze blew from the Verdant Isles in the north-west down towards Medala and swept across the Narrow Sea, to bring spring to Sinchay’s southern shores.

Divitius Ichilia took a deep breath to savor the fresh air that the Verdant Isles had brought him. It smelled like victory. To his left, to his right, and in front, his flagship was encased by three layers of battleships. For today’s invasion, he had invested every military force that House Ichilia could muster. With this much, even someone as careful as him felt somewhat confident in his chances.

On any other day, he would stay away from any kind of battle. Divitius Ichilia, Governor of the West, uncle of King Pachacutec and brother of Empress Mother Spuria, had far too many titles to risk his life in some lowly scrap with the neighbors. He wasn’t used to warfare, and preferred to let others do the fighting for him.

Thus, he would either train up his own commanders with his significant resources, who would then take over command for him. Rather, if he could, he preferred to maneuver his enemies in such a way that they would weaken each other while he would sit back to make more money. Compared to warfare, these were the two areas he was most adept in: Administration, and politics.

However, several unique circumstances had compelled the lord to send his own troops this time, and even to helm their attack. For one, his last fleet admiral had proven less capable than expected. Back when Pacha had fought the southern kingdom, he had ordered his fleet to simply block the Narrow Sea. Yet somehow, even that simple order had been too much for his admiral, who had surrendered at the first sign of trouble. It had cost him a lot of ships, and it had lost Pacha the war.

Worse, Divitius hadn’t found anyone more able to take the admiral’s place in the meantime, since Huaylas was hardly known for its navy. Rather than ruin the mission again by sending another weakling, he had decided that this time, he would go himself. If his subordinates weren’t able either, he may as well take control himself.

Though his lack of personnel was not the only reason he had decided to lead the fleet himself. Since their last failure at sea, and since the war in the Verdant Isles, everyone in Medala knew that Saniya’s fleet was as strong as its army. This crossing, and the attack on Saniya after it, would entail considerable danger. As someone who valued stability, he would usually just cancel the whole operation, or at least send someone in his place so he would be safe even if their plan were to fail.

However, Saniya was simply too big a prize for Divitius to let go, even though he was aware of the danger. No matter from which perspective, the allure of victory was so great that he was willing to risk everything he had to chase the great prize. Most of his army and all of his ships had been invested in this operation, so he had come himself, to oversee his investment and make decisions in real time, to limit their losses if need be.

Many in the north were astonished by the wealth that Saniya had displayed over the years, but they were still restraining their greed. Maybe they thought it was strange that someone as careful as Divitius Ichilia would be the first to take action. To the governor however, these people had no imagination. He felt that even after years of increasing reputation, the lords of the northern kingdoms were still underestimating the strange king in the south.

After all, administration was one of his greatest forte’s, and he had sent many spies to Saniya over the years. No one in the empire could make a more accurate predictions on Saniya’s true wealth than Divitius Ichilia. Yet more than the wealth itself, it was the method of its acquisition that lured the lord of Huaylas to no end.

Traditionally, there were only two ways for medalan lords to become rich. One, their estate was rich in natural resources or fertile land. Two, the estate’s capital city had some sort of specialty they could sell or attract visitors with.

The first was the case for the lands around the Ichilia stronghold of Huaylas. Sometimes called Medala’s rice bowl, the region around Huaylas was large and flat, with large swathes of fertile land in the crook of the Argu river, surrounded by plenty of water on all sides. Yet over the past few years, the Chawir marshes around Saniya had become serious competition for the status of ‘most fertile region in Medala’.

Over the years, Saniya had used strange methods and hard work to turn the bog around it into arable land, and their newly invented fertilizer had made their fields even more profitable than those of Huaylas. For that alone, it would be worth the risk to attack Saniya.

Other lords didn’t seem to understand what incredible political capital this new fertilizer represented as well. They only thought about the money they could make from all the grain, and never considered that they would become dependent on this exclusive product from Saniya if they continued to use it. Such a dependency was worth more than all the gold in the world.

Yet Saniya’s incredible methods didn’t end there. They were already good making money through the first method, but their income from farming was nothing compared to their income from industry. Most places in Medala had no specialties at all. Those cities in the empire that had even only one would do quite well by their lord and would make their house one of the wealthiest in Medala.

However, Saniya had at least a dozen specialty products at this point, all of which were exclusive to the city. All of them were highly sought after in the rest of the empire as well. And just like with the fertilizer, the demand of these products in the northern kingdoms was outrageous. From the exclusive access to Chutwa glaze, to their own production of crystal mirrors, purple dyes, rose waters, and spices, all of them had deeply influenced Saniya’s culture over the past three years. It allowed the south to exceed a great deal of soft power on the nobility of Medala, something Divitius craved more than anything.

Thus, the lord couldn’t let them go from any perspective. Saniya’s high yields were directly attacking his power base, which largely depended onhis food exports. At the same time, Saniya’s fertilizer business was the ideal method to expand that power, should he manage to win it for himself.

At the same time, Saniya’s other products would help Huaylas diversify their income, so they wouldn’t be quite so dependent on their rice anymore. Furthermore, he would get some measure of control over just about any estate in Medala. Across many generations, his family had aimed to take control of the empire. Yet they had never possessed the precious legitimacy to even start their attempts.

The best Divitius could do was to force his nephew Pacha onto the throne. However, if every lord in the kingdom owed him a favor, legitimacy would no longer be a problem. Better yet, Saniya’s unique connection with the Verdant Isles and Chutwa would also increase his political operating room significantly.

Both in terms of economy and politics, winning Saniya would let Divitius fly in the sky, and immediately make him the most powerful man in the empire. With such an enticing bait, he had to go into action himself, even if there was some danger involved.

None of this was made any easier by the fact that he couldn’t really gather any allies to support his attack. Other lords around him would demand a share of the spoils if they helped with the invasion, and Divitius wasn’t willing to give it to them.

Worse yet, as a mere governor, he didn’t really have the legal power to lead other lords into a war. If he started a war with another estate like Chawir on his own, there was nothing anyone could say. However, had he called his allies into a larger war, his nephew Pacha may have used the excuse to call his actions illegal, which they technically were, and even threaten to take away House Ichilia’s governor title.

Since his final goal was to legitimately control Medala, this was the last thing he needed. Thus, the man who was so adept at forging alliances and making friends was on his own this time.

Whether it was from a political or military perspective, the danger of this operation was significant. Of course, Divitius had done his best to minimize the danger for himself.

Once again, the the governor walked across his flagship to observe his troops, like he had done several times compulsively since they had set off. With assured paces, he stepped off the quarterdeck in the back of the ship. Atop a plank, he walked above the many warriors he had mobilized.

On this ship alone, he had two hundred of them squeezed together, eager for the war to start. He marched past the benches filled with rowers to his left and right and past the drummers who dictated their rhythm. Finally, he reached the ship’s bow. His hand fell onto one of the two cannons. Feeling the cold of the metal against his palm, he observed his army.

To bring most of the troops of Huaylas in one go, even all of his ships wouldn’t have been enough, less so after his heavy losses in the last war. In addition to his own, he had also chosen to borrow many more ships from allied estates to fill out his numbers. With the almost fifty ships, he had just barely enough to transport his 7000 troops. It wasn’t a number that could fight the entire southern kingdom, but it was certainly enough to fight whatever the king had left in Saniya after moving out. Once they landed on the shore, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

Their most vulnerable moment was exactly now, during the crossing. If they were to end up in a naval battle, any number of soldiers would be pointless. Yet during only one short crossing, the chances of a naval battle were minimal. Still, he had done everything to prepare for one.

Over the past seasons, he had bought as many modern weapons from the Arcavians as he could afford. With the wealth of House Ichilia at his disposal, that turned out to be a significant number.

Every ship in his fleet was armed with at least three cannons, two in the front and one in the back to cover a retreat. With that kind of firepower, he could even fight the large ships of Borna in a head-to-head battle. Though of course, he didn’t really expect any strong resistance during the crossing.

For one, his attack would come as a total surprise, so he didn’t expect any enemy ships to suddenly meet him. Saniya’s fleet was made up entirely of sailing ships, which were far more at home on the high seas compared to the shallow, low-wind environment of the Narrows. They wouldn’t enter the Narrow Sea without a good reason, so he didn’t expect them to show up in time, even if they had found his movements. For similar reasons, they shouldn’t meet any resistance during the subsequent landing process either. The armies of the southern kingdom would be far too busy with themselves.

At this moment, King Corco and his army would be busied by his fellow governor Mayu Saqartu’s troops in the south. Though Divitius had his own spies, the intelligence had also been confirmed by Pacha. After offering some more empty promises to his arrogant nephew, Divitius had made Pacha attack in the north-east as well, to further stretch King Corco’s troops.

Even if there were a few hundred soldiers left over to stabilize the south’s capital of Saniya, they wouldn’t be enough to prevent his landing along the wide and gentle shores of the Narrow Sea. Whatever numbers Corco had left in Saniya, they simply wouldn’t be enough to defend everywhere in such a large area.

For House Ichilia, the war would be close to over once his troops had come ashore. Then, the cannons on board would be brought along to smash through the walls of the Sachay cities along the coast. Before the king could react, the northern shore would be in the governor’s hands, Saniya chief among them. By that time, the king, surrounded, cut off from supplies in the middle of winter, and without his base of power, would be easy to defeat.

The warm wind in his face formed a pleasant contrast to the cool feeling of his fingers on the cannon. In the distance, he could already see the gentle stony beaches of Sachay. Most of the southern kingdom’s beaches were shallow and wide like this, far too easy to exploit for a military campaign.

Although the southern king had built towers along the seaside these years, they were built as protection from bandits and wouldn’t do much against his army. As far as he was aware, the men inside them weren’t even properly armed and far too small in number to threaten him. In the distance he could see one of them, looming over the beach. If he had to guess, this size wouldn’t allow more than two dozen men inside. Two dozen against seven thousand, it wasn’t even a contest.

With great satisfaction, the lord watched as the distant tower came ever closer into view. Yes, with fortifications this small and insignificant, the southerners would never be able to resist his mighty army.

Full of rare adventurous spirit, Divitius breathed in the warm, salty air and puffed out his chest. He felt like a young man again, eager for recognition. Back then, he had held back his desires for a more pragmatic life. Now he finally had the power to let loose a bit. Maybe after this war, he would be known not only for his prowess with quill and coin, but also for his skills with an axe.

The warmth filled his entire body.

Boom

A distant shot of thunder reached the proud Lord Ichilia’s ears. From his vantage point at the bow of the ship, he could see the plume of smoke rise from within the guard tower on the opposite shore. Before he could react, something impacted right in front of the ship’s bow. The waves were torn and splashed up to cover him in a shower of cold seawater. All warmth was drained from his body in an instant, as the resultant waves of the impact rocked the battleship.

Unused to naval combat as he was, the old governor rocked back and forth on unsteady feet before he finally lost the battle against his balance. While he fell to the ground, his grip on the cannon slipped away, and he lost all sense of direction. It took him precious seconds before he understood what had happened. By then, he had heard even more shots of thunder in the distance. Yet even then he failed to understand where his calculations had gone wrong, and how his enemies had found his landing site.