In the silence that followed she mapped out the line of the rolling retreat, the numbers of crossbow-men and
the positions they should occupy. ‘As each group retreats they should keep close to the walls, so that the next line of bowmen can rake the enemy. When you pass through the lines, take up positions to the rear and prepare to cover your comrades as they in turn retreat.’ Slowly and methodically she covered the plan again, then asked questions of the officers until she was sure they knew what was required.
The man with the curling moustache spoke again. ‘And what if the line breaks, General? What do we do?’
‘You get out as best you can,’ Karis told him. Seeing that, he was about to speak again, she raised her hand to halt him. ‘No more questions,’ she said. ‘Go and gather your men, give out your orders, then assemble at the park entrance to the catacombs. Vint and Forin will be there waiting for you.’
‘As will I,’ said Tarantio, from the rear of the room. Forin swung in his seat and gave a broad grin. As the officers filed out Tarantio moved over to Forin. ‘I think you have something that belongs to me,’ he said.
‘Indeed I do, man. It is good to see you.’ Unbuckling his sword belt he passed the weapon to Tarantio.
‘What changed your mind?’ asked Karis.
‘The love of a good woman,’ Tarantio answered.
‘You and Vint will cover the withdrawals. You will rove freely, making use of the available cover – and there is a great deal of that. The catacombs are a maze of stalactites and stalagmites.’
‘I never could remember the difference between the two,’ muttered Forin.
‘Neither could I,’ said the Duke. ‘Think of the “c” and the “g” as standing for ceiling and ground. Stalactites grow from the ceiling downwards, stalagmites from the ground up.’
‘Thank you, my lord,’ said Forin. The Duke gave a short bow.
‘When I say free roving,’ said Karis, ‘I mean exactly that. But do not allow yourself to be drawn away from the retreating lines. There are a number of blind tunnels that lead nowhere, and a great many more that have hidden pits, some of which are very deep. The main areas we are defending have been marked by white paint. Keep to those.’
Vint spoke up. ‘I know this is a difficult area, Karis, but all the men who were here heard you talk about a rolling retreat. Retreats do not win battles. They know you will have a secondary plan of action; we all know it. Therefore so will the Daroth. It has to involve the exits; you will be planning to ambush them as they come out. Therefore they will probably not follow us.’
‘Forgive me, General,’ said the Duke, ‘but I was thinking the same thing. Once the battle begins, the Daroth can take any number of exits.’
‘That is true,’ said Karis, ‘but firstly the Daroth may not yet know about the catacombs. Secondly, even if they do, they will not be familiar with the layout.’
‘Every man here will have seen the map,’ said Forin.
‘Yes,’ agreed Karis, ‘but we cannot cover all the eventualities. As you can see, if the Daroth are drawn into the first series of tunnels the number of exits available to them drops to eight. The further we pull them, the fewer their options.’
‘At the risk of labouring the point,’ said Vint, ‘everything you are telling us can be learned by the enemy.’
‘That is why I am not telling you everything. Trust me, Vint. We will surprise them. You see, they also will face a difficult dilemma. They know I have misdirected them once before, by planting false information in the mind of
one of our scouts. Therefore, in the chaos of battle within the tunnels, they will not be able to trust completely in the thoughts of the men facing them. That will lead to confusion, believe me.’
‘I believe you, Karis,’ said Vint. ‘I just don’t want to be used like that poor scout.’
‘You are being used in exactly that way,’ she told him coldly.