 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Algar horsemen, the finest cavalry on earth, continually savaged the
flanks of the horde, littering the Algarian grasslands with Angarak
dead. In retaliation - or perhaps as a part of a preconceived plan
the Angaraks slaughtered the Algarian herds, both horses and cattle,
and glutted themselves on the meat. Finally, fed to the point of
satiety' they simply killed the animals and left them to rot where they
fell. The sky over Algaria grew black with vultures and ravens as the
Angaraks passed.
The occupation of Drasnia was one thing, but the occupation
of Algaria was quite another. With the exception of the reindeer
herders of the far north, the Drasnians live in cities and towns like
other civilized people. The Algars, on the other hand, are nomadic
horsemen. The central Algarian plain is a vast, empty grassland. To
speak of occupying such an expanse is much like speaking of
occupying the ocean. The Algars simply permitted the hordes of
Kal-Torak to pass and then fell upon their rear in the vicious hit and run
attacks which are so famous in Algarian legend and song.
Although the horde suffered hideous casualties in their march
southward, Kal-Torak did not falter. He laid siege to the Stronghold,
the traditional seat of the Algarian King and the closest thing to a
city in all Algaria. The Stronghold of the Algars is one of the most
unassailable land fortresses in the world, not because of any
particular difficulty of the surrounding terrain, but quite simply because of
the unbelievable height and thickness of its walls. Because those
walls reach higher than the tallest tree, scaling ladders cannot be
built to permit assault over the top of them, and because the walls
are thirty feet thick, no siege engine can breach them.
The Angaraks hurled themselves at this man-made mountain for
six months until they realized the futility of their attacks and settled
down for a protracted siege.
That siege was to last for eight years (4867-4875). The
impregnability of the Algarian Stronghold gave the west the time needed to
mobilize.
In the late spring of 4875, disgusted by the futility of his efforts
against the Stronghold, Kal-Torak turned west and began his march
toward the sea. Once again he was pursued by Algar horsemen and
vengeful Drasnian Infantry units. In the mountains he encountered
yet another problem. By night the Ulgos came forth from their
caverns and butchered the sleeping Angaraks by the thousands. It
was a diminished horde that came down upon the plains of Arendia,
but a horde nonetheless. It has been estimated by reliable witnesses
that Kal-Torak mounted his attack upon Vo Mimbre with at least
250,000 men. If the reports from Drasnia during the early days of the
Angarak invasion may be believed, the horde numbered in excess of
a half-million. If these figures are at all accurate, then we may
assume that the campaigns in Drasnia and Algaria and the trek
across Ulgoland cost Kal-Torak nearly half his army. (This of course
does not take into account occupying forces left behind in Drasnia
and the substantial number of Malloreans who were to maintain the
siege of the Algarian Stronghold.)
Thus the stage was set for the titanic and bloody struggle which
men have come to call the Battle of Vo Mimbre.
Stopping only briefly to rest and regroup after the perilous passage
through the mountains of Ulgoland, Kal-Torak proceeded
immediately down the River Arend to the city of Vo Mimbre. It was
immediately apparent that his intention in Arendia was the same as it had
been in Drasnia - the total destruction of the nation and its peoples.
Horrid evidence of this marked his trail down the River Arend.