Supply route, Yozi.
[General Dali POV]
I looked at the west direction, where the rebel leader and his army were probably charging towards us as I think. The anxious officials around me sat quietly, waiting for my decision on this matter. I know for a fact that if the rebel leader had arrived close to us very fast, it meant that he only brought a fraction of his army to him—the ones that can ride whatever mount they mainly use. It meant that they only brought a part of their whole army with them, maybe even less since I heard that their whole army wasn't fond of using mounts.
I don't know what the rebel leader was thinking, he's very unpredictable and hard to read, but I'm prepared for every scenario that I could think of. I'm not the only army that will launch this planned attack, there's also another general and his mission was to weaken the rest of the scattered forces of Rebel Army, while I have to face the rebel leader and his main army myself. With everything coming to place, I'm very positive that I will win this war.
Even if the rebels arrive here right now, we are prepared and ready to meet them, our numbers outnumber them by a lot, and we are mostly earth benders. My army has the upper ground, and we had already positioned all units to be ready when the rebels came to the site.
"My good friend, Major Guonu, and his whole unit were probably dead by now except for the one that managed to arrive here. I don't want to think about it, but we have to be ready for the worst-case scenario," I said. "I want all of the unit to stand by, prepare all long-range attacks, and ready our non-bender warrior. Send a hundred scouts one mile around us, and order them to immediately come back once they spot the rebels."
"Understood, General!" all of them said.
---
The sun was setting down. I watched another batch of supplies cargo pass through the route that we managed to take, they're lined up pretty long, with some even being merchant who stopped their trade after the rebels blocked all their routes and killed anyone who dares to use it like barbarians, due to that fear stopping their operation on the west. That's why having this location secure is very important to the Ba Sing Se as well as the whole Earth kingdom.
The soldiers around me had all tense expressions as they looked in the west direction, preparing for anything to happen. All boulders and rocks were now waiting at every edge of the mountains, ready to be shot down on the rebels. Every non-benders unit was fully armed and had their weapons at hand. This scene was very sad to see, this location was very safe before to the point that we didn't even put any soldiers to guard it—people all over the earth kingdom used this since it was a very safe path—but now, it can't be even left off and has to be guarded by a whole army just for people to think that it's safe.
"Fucking traitors," I said quietly.
I don't want to admit this, but it seemed that I hated the rebels more than the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation still harbored a deep hatred for me, but the rebels have climbed the ladder that even the Fire Nation will have a long time before reaching. Rebels have now killed more of our soldiers in a month than what the Fire Nation did, it shouldn't be a surprise, since they blocked us from even clashing with the Fire Nation army on the Frontline, but they're one of us—yet we're killing each other instead of blocking the invasion. We could have pushed back the Fire Nation off our land a long time ago had they helped us instead of sabotaging us. Just then, a soldier came up to me with a very serious expression.
"They are here, General Dali. The scouts said that their numbers were low, around a thousand, and the method of transportation that they've used is an ostrich horse, but most use earth bending—bending the earth to form a wave and riding it off," the soldiers added. "They killed most of the scouts, and the ones that managed to escape were in a really bad shape."
"Go tell them to focus on healing the scouts, and if there's ones that were in a really serious state then they're free to take them back to Ba Sing Se or the closest city for them to heal," I said. "And tell them to not use the same path we use to come here, they should take a new path."
"Understood, General!" the soldiers saluted before leaving.
It became more clear to me as to how they're able to arrive here very fast, and it seems that the Rebel Leader has brought mostly Earth Benders with him. It's not something to be worried about since their numbers were not much to us, the only thing I worry about is that the rebel leader was the one that's leading it. He was an extremely powerful earth bender, and I'm not sure myself if I could go unscathed even with all of us attacking him. However, at the end of the day, it's highly likely that we will win this if we fight right now. But something is bothering me...
"Just what are you planning...?" I said, closing my eyes to think.
Is the rebel leader actually stupid to fight us with his measly number of soldiers? I heard that he was a fightingmonger, but even that has limitations, for example, the situation right now. It's impossible for him to attack right now, unprepared—even if the soldiers he brought were all elite, he must have a different plan, but what exactly? I don't understand, but I don't have worry for now.
"They're here." I said, sensing the arrivals of hundreds of men below the mountain.
- - - - -
Support me and read chapters ahead in Patreon:
patreon.com/DivineMelon