Back to Chapter 17
Chapter Eighteen � Lower Danubia
News
of the Duchy�s victory in H�rkustk Ris did not reach the Kingdom of the
Moon immediately. A few survivors from the Kingdom�s rout did manage to
sneak past the Grand Duke�s Royal Guards and slip across the border into
the Kingdom. However, the Kingdom of the Moon survivors, who could not
have numbered more than a few dozen, had no incentive whatsoever to
contact the Lord�s advisors with news of the defeat. In the Kingdom of
the Moon, the military policy was victory or death. Anyone surviving a
defeat faced hanging on one of the infamous torture hooks. So, rather
than warn anyone, the survivors simply returned to their homes. Two of
the men, an infantryman and a member of the elite cavalry, later wrote
accounts describing the campaign of H�rkustk Ris from the viewpoint of
the defeated invaders, of how an inevitable victory turned into an epic
annihilation.
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The Grand Duke gave his men a week to rest and recover, while he
assessed the campaign that lay ahead. The most dangerous part of the
campaign was over, having ended with a spectacular pair of victories and
his army still mostly intact. The Danubian fighting men now numbered a
total of about 8,000. The remaining thousand men were either dead or too
injured to fight. The mounted unit had taken the brunt of the
hand-to-hand fighting, so its strength had been reduced by a third.
However, the Danubian cavalry now boasted hundreds of captured Kingdom
of the Moon horses and the surviving men had the chance to try out the
Kingdom�s legendary weapons.
The Grand Duke ordered his infantry and artillery units to start moving
south. Meanwhile, he would lead the surviving cavalry against various
Red Moon garrisons still stationed around H�rkustk Ris province. The
Danubian horsemen would dress up in the uniforms of the Red Moon Army
and ride the Kingdom�s horses into garrisons that were unaware of the
defeat in H�rkustk Ris. The garrisons would be easy prey for the
vengeful Danubians. Across the southern area of the Duchy, villages and
forts were stormed by troops the defenders mistook for �Beautiful
Savages�. In every fight, the deception worked long enough for the
Danubians to achieve easy victory.
The non-Danubian inhabitants of H�rkustk Ris province at first did not
realize what was happening as the Danubian Grand Duke and his disguised
cavalry unit stormed garrison after garrison. They welcomed the
legendary �Beautiful Savages�, only to realize, too late, they actually
were Danubians. When the Kingdom�s garrisons were wiped out, there was
panic and confusion. If the Red Moon Army had invaded the Duchy and
taken H�rkustk Ris, why were these disguised raiders taking over so many
forts? Why were Danubian infantry and artillery units calmly moving into
villages cleared by the raiders? Why were Danubian raiders riding the
Kingdom�s horses and using the Kingdom�s weapons? Where was the Red Moon
Army?
The men accompanying their sovereign later recalled that he fought like
a madman as he led the attacks. He was furious about the invasion and
Lord Blood-Moon�s plans for the Duchy. He seemed completely oblivious to
his own safety as he charged garrison after garrison. His men had to
fight equally hard just to prevent him from being surrounded and killed.
As the campaign progressed, the Royal Guards� respect for the Grand Duke
evolved into adoration. Not only was he was a brilliant strategist, he
was a brave fighter. He was Royalty, but danger and hardship meant
nothing to him.
Had the Grand Duke�s concubines been able to see him in action during
the battles, their sovereign�s behavior would not have surprised them.
He was frenetic and as fanatical about killing his enemies as he was
about having sex. The ruler was fixated and driven, to the point of
being maniacal and at times psychotic. His men, convinced that he was
carrying out the will of the Creator by destroying the remnants of the
Army of the Red Moon in the Duchy, followed him with absolute and
unquestioning devotion.
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During the first week of July, the Danubian Royal Army achieved another
important victory, second only to the victory in H�rkustk Ris. They
passed through the narrow range of wooded hills that separated H�rkustk
Ris province from the former Ottoman lands that now comprised the
Kingdom of the Moon. On the northern side of the hills was a small town
called Iy�shnyakt Krep�ckt, and on the southern side of the range there
was a fort on a hilltop that had served as the Danubian border
garrison�s command post from 1531 until the previous year, when it and
the town were overrun by Lord Blood-Moon. Fortunately for the Grand Duke
and his men, the fort�s defenders were as oblivious about the defeat in
H�rkustk Ris as everyone else in the Lord�s army. They opened the gates
to let in the �Beautiful Savages�, only to realize they had just let in
hundreds of Danubian soldiers. The fight was over in minutes and the
fort was once again under the Duchy�s control.
Because the place was visible to the entire surrounding countryside, the
Grand Duke ordered Lord Blood-Moon�s flags to remain flying over the
fort. The Danubians would now make the border fort their main base of
operations to consolidate their victory, so the longer they could
maintain their deception, the better. The ruler sent for reinforcements
and decided to order his medical staff, including the concubines and
military wives, to the new forward-operating position on the border.
As she traveled south with her companions, Silv�tya tried to suppress a
month�s worth of memories of war, atrocities, injured men, corpses, and
wretched prisoners. Undoubtedly her master was about to expose her to
yet more war, but she consoled herself that at least she would have the
chance to see the Duchy�s southern border. She already had been north of
the Duchy�s border: now, just two years later, she would travel south of
the Duchy. She thought about how much her life had changed in just four
years. Strange to think, a little over four years before she had not
even seen what was on the other side of the hill that overlooked her
family�s settlement. Since then, she had seen the entire western half of
the country. She had seen so much, but what difference did it make? She
would have been happy to go home and brag about her travels, but no one
from her former life in Rika H�ckt-nem�t was still alive to listen or
care.
Silv�tya and her companions descended the final hill before arriving at
the border post. The women had to avert their eyes to avoid looking at
the rotting enemy corpses that had been dumped in a ditch just north of
the Grand Duke�s encampment. The smell from the bodies was horrific, but
all too familiar by now. They looked at the region to the south of the
fort. It was flat farmland, territory that had been the wealthiest part
of the Kingdom of Danubia prior to 1502.
The Duchy�s military now occupied all of the land that had been held by
the Crown since the Ottoman invasion and King Vladik�s evacuation. The
Grand Duke of Danubia had struck a devastating blow to his enemies, who
apparently were still not yet aware of what had happened in H�rkustk
Ris. Lord Blood-Moon still thought that his army of 30,000 men was alive
and moving north to seize the Danubian capitol, and certainly was not
expecting the Danubians to show up in the Kingdom of the Moon�s
territory.
As his army assembled in Iy�shnyakt Krep�ckt, the Grand Duke pondered
what he should do next and now had to make a critical decision. He
thought about the sacrifice made by the Danubians under King Vladik, in
which he had to abandon half of Danubia to save the other half. Given
the amazing victory so far, the ruler wondered if it would be possible
to reverse that loss and re-capture the region formerly known as Lower
Danubia. Would it be possible to push south, surprise Lord Blood-Moon,
and reclaim the Duchy�s long-lost territories? Would it be possible to
restore the Danubian Kingdom to its former glory? What if, after 250
years, the Danubians could once again celebrate religious services in
the cathedral in Sumy Ris, where the nation�s first Christian mass was
held eight hundred years before?
The Grand Duke badly wanted to push south, capture Sumy Ris, and see if
it would be possible to hold the city against Lord Blood-Moon�s forces.
He was torn between caution and the lure of a place that was extremely
important to the Duchy�s history and national identity. He understood
that attempting to enter the Kingdom of the Moon�s territory was
extremely risky. However, perhaps the Creator was watching over the
Danubians after-all and it was the Duchy�s destiny to reclaim Lower
Danubia. The Grand Duke looked for a sign, an indication beyond the
information he was receiving from his informants, that he should take
his troops beyond the Duchy�s current border.
He found the excuse he needed when an informant told him about a large
group of enslaved Danubians being held in a compound in the southern
city. The captives had not yet been moved further south because there
were not enough Red Moon troops available to guard them. Apparently the
entire region around Sumy Ris was lightly guarded, partly because of the
invasion of Danubia, and partly because other units were fighting
against the Ottomans over a position at the southern border of the
Kingdom along the East Danube River. The Grand Duke would indeed conquer
Sumy Ris: the captives and the lack of enemy troops gave him the
justifications he needed for the operation. He announced his decision to
his elated followers. Sumy Ris� the Duchy was about to reclaim Sumy Ris!
The mission was foolhardy, but the Grand Duke�s strategy of deception
and dressing his troops like Lord Blood-Moon�s soldiers gave the
Danubians an important initial advantage. The Danubians were very
experienced moving at night and moving quietly. The Grand Duke�s plan
took advantage of the disguises and nighttime to move through the
hostile territory in platoon-sized units. The Danubians would regroup
south of Sumy Ris, enter the city under disguise, and defeat the Red
Moon garrison. The Royal Army would move on the city with its entire
force, because the goal was to permanently seize the town and annex the
entire region. And to think� the Grand Duke was planning to do all that
with a force of 7,000 fighting men.
The Danubians spent three days moving through lightly-guarded enemy
territory. The villagers certainly did notice the strange movement of
troops, but the Danubians exercised discipline and kept their
conversations to a minimum to prevent the locals from hearing them
speaking in a foreign tongue. Because they were moving in small groups,
anyone observing the infiltrators would not have realized the individual
platoons actually comprised a much larger force.
The maneuver to take Sumy Ris was flawless. On the third night the Grand
Duke�s army re-grouped south of the city. At sunrise the Danubians
marched up from the direction of the Kingdom�s capitol, so the city�s
garrison did not suspect that anything was amiss. The local commander
was actually relieved that Lord Blood-Moon finally had sent a large
force to take away the Danubian captives and replace the absent men who
were campaigning in the Duchy. He only had 300 soldiers still protecting
the city. The Danubian Royal Army made it as far as the town�s center
before the Red Moon soldiers realized anything was amiss. As soon as the
first shots were fired, the Danubians spread out and exterminated the
garrison. The operation was finished within an hour.
For
the first time in 250 years, Sumy Ris was securely under the control of
the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia. The easy seizure of the city and the
apparent helplessness of the Army of the Red Moon was a tremendous shock
to the local residents. Like everyone else in the Kingdom of the Moon,
the population of Sumy Ris had not received any news that the Army of
the Red Moon had been defeated in Danubia. The residents had assumed
their soldiers had taken H�rkustk Ris and were besieging Dan�bikt M�skt.
Instead, the Danubian Grand Duke was standing in the city square,
Danubian soldiers were raiding houses and pantries, and Danubian priests
had taken over the old cathedral. Fleeing residents would spread the
shocking news throughout the Kingdom of the Moon: the Danubians had
captured Sumy Ris.
The wretched Danubian captives were chained in the city�s main fort and
in three holding pens in the city market. The prisoners had been badly
treated, were starving, and most were in poor health. Throughout the
rest of the day the Duchy�s soldiers retaliated against the city�s
residents, killing the leading male of each family and seizing all food.
The Danubians carried around the Red Moon Army�s impalement hooks as
justification of what they were doing to the defeated population. The
Grand Duke announced to the terrified civilians:
�I have taken note of the way you treated my subjects. I will bestow the
same treatment on you. We will eat, and you will starve. We will enjoy
your food, and you will have the pleasure of watching us consume it.
Anyhow, this is the Duchy�s city. This is land the Creator intended for
Danubians, not for you. You have no right to be here.�
The invaders noticed the local women were much more modest than women in
the Duchy, and took delight in tearing off the inhabitants� shawls. The
taunting gave the Grand Duke an idea to exert further control over
foreigners who, in his view, had usurped Danubian territory. Besides
killing the head of each family, he ordered his troops to confiscate all
the local women�s clothing and jewelry, including what they were
wearing. The troops burnt the clothes and kept the jewelry as souvenirs
for their wives and fianc�s. The entire female population of the city
would have to remain naked until further notice.
Seeing the dismay, humiliation, and panic of the foreign residents
bolstered the confidence of the Danubians. It seemed the Kingdom of the
Moon was not so strong after-all. The soldiers happily speculated about
future conquests. Sumy Ris was destined to return to being a Danubian
City. What about the Duchy�s other former territories? How about S�kukt
T�k and the lands along the East Danube River? No longer would he
Danubians need to call their country the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia.
Danubia would be united, large, and strong. The world would once again
know the country as the Kingdom of Danubia.
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The Grand Duke ordered the three concubines and the rest of his medical
staff to travel south with a large supply caravan. Silv�tya looked
around at the lands lost by the Danubians in 1502: all of the fine farms
and manors laid out on flat, rich soil. The architecture, after 250
years of foreign occupation, was different from what she was used to
seeing in the Duchy. She was particularly fascinated with some of the
public buildings and mosques that had been constructed by the Ottomans,
structures that were totally different from anything she had seen in the
Duchy.
Like every other Danubian, Silv�tya had heard plenty of history and
stories about the long-lost city of Sumy Ris. She vaguely expected the
place to be truly special but, with the exception of the old cathedral,
the city was simply a larger version of some of the towns she had passed
through already. The buildings were a mixture of Ottoman and southern
European architecture. Very few structures from the Danubian period
remained: Sumy Ris had been heavily damaged in 1502 during the Ottoman
capture and the majority of the buildings that survived the siege had
been replaced over the ensuing two centuries.
The military wives joined the army doctors in administering treatment to
the liberated Danubians. The three concubines had to report to the local
governor�s palace, where the Grand Duke had set up his headquarters. On
her way in she passed groups of miserable local residents who had been
ordered by the Danubians to carry out and bury dead garrison soldiers
and executed civilians. The humiliation on the foreigners� faces, from
both the defeat and from having the women forced to forego their
clothing, went beyond anything that could be put into words. Silv�tya
had an ominous feeling as she looked at the conquered populace: if these
people ever manage to fight back, they would have every reason to treat
us viciously.
Silv�tya felt extremely uneasy as she entered the governor�s palace.
Danubian flags flew above its towers and griffins decorated the
entrances. The Kingdom of the Moon�s flags were used as floor-covers
around the entrances. The soldiers took delight in wiping their feet on
the enemy�s banners. Everywhere, the soldiers were happy and optimistic.
She had never seen Danubians in such a positive mood, which sharply
contrasted with the normal somber outlook of the Duchy�s society.
The concubines cleaned up and enjoyed a good dinner, but the Grand Duke
did not spend the night with them. Instead he had taken the daughters of
several leading families into the governor�s bed-chamber and was
indulging himself with the foreign captives. The next morning Silv�tya
noticed naked palace servants taking bed sheets out of the Grand Duke�s
quarters. The sheets had blood on them, indicating he had forced himself
on several virgins. The Duke�s concubine felt sick. She pitied the
unfortunate girls, but she also understood her master seemed to be doing
everything possible to alienate the local population. Raping the
daughters of leading families certainly was not going to win him any
support.
Two days passed while Silv�tya and her companions stood in the palace
courtyard watching Royal Guards bring in loot from the city and
surrounding manors. There was a well-stocked armory, but the Danubians
became truly excited when they discovered a large cache of gold and
silver. It turned out Sumy Ris was a regional center for collecting
taxes for Lord Blood-Moon. The Kingdom�s ruler had been distracted with
the military campaigns and did not have enough men to spare to move the
tax money to the Kingdom�s capitol. Now, all that treasure was under the
control of his enemy, the Grand Duke of Upper Danubia.
The governor�s palace had a high tower that had been built by the
Ottomans, from which the countryside would be observed from a very long
distance in every direction. Silv�tya wanted to climb up to the top, but
knew she couldn�t go there unescorted. Fortunately, she saw Protector
Bul�shckt in the courtyard, examining some of the captured muskets. She
approached the Royal Guard, requesting an escort so she could have a
look at the region surrounding Sumy Ris. He surprised her by obliging.
She noticed that he had a strange look in his eyes, as though he was
worried.
The trip up a series of stairs and ladders left the two Danubians
winded, but from the top they could see a large portion of the former
Lower Danubia. In the distance to the west the guard and the concubine
could see part of the East Danube River. Apart from the river, the
landscape had no natural features at all. Flat farmland extended in
every direction. How hard it must have been for the Danubians to give up
all this land two centuries ago. Well, King Vladik had no choice,
because there was no way the territory could be defended.
No way it could be defended.
Now, the Danubians had returned, with a small army, to a city that could
not be defended. They had taken Sumy Ris with ease simply because they
had superior numbers. When Lord Blood-Moon learned of his army�s defeat
and that his nemesis was indulging himself in this city, he would attack
with everything at his disposal, and Sumy Ris would again fall to a
foreign enemy, along with the entire Danubian Royal Army. She looked
down at the cathedral and the old seminary. It was in the seminary the
bishop of Sumy Ris ordered the city�s defenders to make their last
stand. And that ruined gate over there� that�s where the Ottomans hung
his body. She expressed her thoughts out loud:
�This city� it�s not our Path in Life to be here at all. Sumy Ris is a
trap. The Duchy cannot hold it. King Vladik understood that. That�s why
Danubia survived; King Vladik didn�t try to hold onto what we couldn�t
keep. We can�t stay here. The Royal Army must leave� and we must leave
immediately. Already Lord Blood-Moon is gathering his army. He will kill
us all if we don�t get out.�
�I�ve thought the same thing, Servant Silv�tya. I don�t know how to
reach His Majesty with my advice. It seems this city put a curse on him,
made him lose all concept of reality, made him mad, really. This place
is indeed a trap.�
The two Danubians remained silent for a long time, staring out at the
flat terrain. Neither knew what else to say about their predicament.
Finally, Silv�tya glanced at the cathedral.
�Can you take me to the church, Protector Bul�shckt? I�d like to see
it� and try praying there.�
A few minutes later Silv�tya knelt in the church. Her mind filled with
visions� of the battle in 1502 and the dead bishop. Her vision went dark
and she saw the Grand Duke�s corpse hanging on a Red Moon impalement
hook� above the bodies of the entire Royal Army. The entire Duchy was
burning� with all its inhabitants lying dead and the banners of the
Kingdom of the Moon flying everywhere. Lord Blood-Moon was riding
triumphantly through his newly conquered territory. Yes, that defeat in
H�rkustk Ris had been devastating, but how much greater was the glorious
victory in Sumy Ris� where the Danubian Duke and his entire army set
themselves up to be annihilated. How sweet that moment and how complete
the revenge on the Danubian vermin.
The vision of the Duchy�s destruction vanished, to be replaced by
Alchemist F�toreckt. He seemed to have returned to the Realm of the
Living; re-invigorated, much younger, and healthier than she had ever
seen him in real life.
�Be patient and continue learning. Perhaps you will find yourself in a
position to temper and influence the actions and decisions of our
nation�s leader. How many of us can make such a claim?�
As quickly as Alchemist F�toreckt appeared, he vanished. Silv�tya
abruptly stood up.
�Protector Bul�shckt, I must speak with His Majesty immediately. I don�t
care what happens to me after I�m done. He can put me on the pillory or
fill me with arrows if he wishes� I don�t care. But I must speak with
him.�
�Very well, Servant Silv�tya. I will take you to His Majesty and I will
insist you have an audience with him. I will share your fate, whatever
fate that might be.�
Protector Bul�shckt led the concubine back into the palace. He demanded
that his fellow Royal Guards step aside so he could take the concubine
before the Grand Duke. The sovereign was in his quarters, indulging
himself with two young foreign women. Protector Bul�shckt opened the
chamber door and Silv�tya burst into the room. She did not kneel.
�Servant Silv�tya! What is the meaning of this? Have you lost your
mind?�
�No, Your Majesty, I have not! I�m here to warn you, and to save the
Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia! You must leave this city immediately!
Every one of your subjects must leave immediately! Anyone who stays will
share the fate of the Bishop, the one who defied King Vladik in 1502!
There�s a reason King Vladik abandoned this city! It�s the same reason
you must leave! You cannot hold Sumy Ris against Lord Blood-Moon�s men!
You simply cannot hold it! Go up into the tower and take a good look at
the land� everything is flat! The enemy can come at you from any
direction! Sumy Ris is cursed! This city will be the death of all of us
if you don�t take us out...now� today...not tomorrow� today!�
Silv�tya took a deep breath. Her knees were shaking badly.
�Your Majesty� I saw what will happen to you� I�ve seen it! I have
visions� the Ancients have cursed me with visions and sometimes I know
what will happen! I saw the Bishop� and your Path in Life will end in the
exact same place as his, and in the exact same manner! And without you,
the entire Duchy will die� all of us! I saw it!�
The Grand Duke didn�t know how to respond. The concubine�s face was
white, her eyes wide with horror, and her body was shaking badly. She
was obviously terrified, but not of him. She cared nothing for herself
or her own safety at that moment. She was thinking of the Duchy.
In a flash the Grand Duke�s illusions and hubris vanished. He fully
understood the perilous situation in which he had placed his army and
his country. No, it was not the Duchy�s Path in Life to reclaim Sumy
Ris. The city was a trap, as much in 1754 as it had been in 1502.
The Duke calmly stood up. He looked and felt as though he had just woken
up from a strange dream.
�Servant Silv�tya, you will take responsibility for preparing your
companions to travel. Tell them to pack and to report to the palace
courtyard.�
Still trembling, Silv�tya managed to respond:
�To hear is to obey, Your Majesty.�
He put on a robe and called the Royal Guard into the room.
�Protector Bul�shckt, you will ensure Servant Silv�tya and her
companions are properly escorted.�
�To hear is to obey, Your Majesty.�
Silv�tya would have been happy to pack, but she was still badly shaking
when she returned to her companions with the news they were about to
depart. The others had to gather her things while she stood at a balcony
trying to get her breath back and stop trembling. She couldn�t believe
the Grand Duke had actually listened to her and would heed her warning.
Minutes later the Grand Duke was dressed and had summoned his
commanders. He asked them for honest assessments about their ability to
defend Sumy Ris against a sustained attack from a larger army. The
commanders were forced to admit the city could not be defended.
�That is the conclusion I have reached as well. I have decided it would
be foolish for us to stay here, after having looked around and assessing
what happened in 1502. Therefore, commanders, it is my decision that our
raiding expedition against this city has concluded and we should return
to the Duchy. Prepare your soldiers for immediate departure.�
�To hear is to obey, Your Majesty.�
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The
Danubians left Sumy Ris as quickly as they entered, taking with them
hundreds of new muskets, cannons, ammunition, gold and silver, loot from
the residences, extra horses and wagons, and the 900 rescued captives.
The soldiers did not destroy anything or kill anyone else on their way
out: they simply let the local population run off. The city�s women
scrambled around, trying to find cloth and leather to cover themselves
with makeshift clothing as the Royal Army�s men marched northward.
The Danubians returned to their southern fortress four days after
abandoning Sumy Ris. The men had to move slowly with all of the wagons
and cannons they were transporting. If what the Danubians had just
completed truly was nothing more than a raiding mission and a rescue of
captives, then it was a hugely successful one. If it had been the
beginning of the re-conquest of Lower Danubia, the operation was a
failure. The commanders understood the Grand Duke had made a prudent
decision, but the soldiers grumbled about their leader�s cowardice. Just
five days before, their ruler had been talking about retaking all of
Lower Danubia, but now the entire army was returning to the Duchy�s
territory like a bunch of common raiders. Yes, the loot was nice, but�
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Lord Blood-Moon arrived in Sumy Ris with 15,000 soldiers on the same day
the Danubians crossed back into the Duchy�s territory. He personally
commanded the troops, unable to accept the news that the Danubians had
just raided the city. Sure enough, the story was completely accurate:
the Danubian Grand Duke had led the raid and stayed just long enough to
empty out the city and humiliate the local population. Lord Blood-Moon
couldn�t believe what he was seeing. The armory: empty. The treasury:
empty. The food stores and granaries: empty. The stables: empty. This
was a personal insult from the ruler of Upper Danubia, who obviously had
defeated the 30,000 troops sent to conquer the Duchy. But� how could that
have happened? How could the Kingdom�s best invasion force have been
defeated? How could the �Beautiful Savages� have been defeated by�
Danubians?
Lord Blood-Moon had never suffered a defeat, so he really did not know
how to handle such a loss. Any prudent leader would have accepted the
defeat for what it was and taken measures to minimize its impact on his
rule. After-all, the Kingdom of the Moon was still a formidable nation,
even with the loss of an invasion campaign and 30,000 troops. Yes, the
Danubians had raided Sumy Ris, but they didn�t have the forces to hold
it and were smart enough to know that. The Duchy�s border was back to
where it was in 1752.
Lord Blood-Moon did not see the situation in that way. The Danubians
were inferior and had to be eliminated. The raid on Sumy Ris and the
Danubians� refusal to stand up and be killed in a proper battle was
proof of that. No, the defeat was unacceptable and it was up to Lord
Blood-Moon to correct the problem. He would take his force north and
lead them personally, which was what he should have done in the first
place.
A week after the Danubians had evacuated Sumy Ris, their lookouts
spotted a large black mass of soldiers and cavalry approaching the
border. Yet another invasion force was approaching the Duchy. However,
the fort was surrounded by forested hills, precisely the terrain that
favored the Danubians and the way they were used to fighting their
battles. The Royal Army was rested and had the opportunity to set up
their newly-captured cannons. When Lord Blood-Moon�s men charged
recklessly up the wooded road, the Danubians were ready for them.
A rainstorm started and the battle became a grueling three-day nightmare
for the Red Moon Army. The Danubians retreated into the trees, elated to
be using their traditional crossbows as they silently picked off their
opponents. Throughout the first two days of fighting, heavy rain soaked
the invaders� clothing and gunpowder, making movement and firing almost
impossible. Discipline on both sides broke down as squad-sized units
attacked each other in hand-to-hand fighting in the mud. On the third
day, Lord Blood-Moon�s soldiers did something they had never done
before: they retreated. As his men scrambled down the hill and away from
the border fort, Lord Blood-Moon could hear the distant taunting of his
intended victims:
�DOC-DOC DANUBE!!! DOC-DOC DANUBE!!! DOC-DOC DANUBE!!! DOC-DOC
DANUBE!!!�
The Danubian flag flew defiantly over the fortress, in full view of the
hostile territory to the south, where it has flown ever since.
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The Duchy did not have time to celebrate the retreat of the Kingdom�s
soldiers. Although the battle at the border had been fought in a
location where the Danubians felt at ease using their traditional
tactics, the victory had been the most costly of the campaign for the
Royal Army in terms of casualties. More than 3,000 Royal Guards lay
around the forested hills, either killed or seriously wounded. The Grand
Duke�s men spent a week searching for the injured and the dead, and the
rest of August attending the wounded and setting up a formal cemetery,
in which 1,900 Danubians eventually were buried. Thousands of corpses
from Lord Blood-Moon�s army were simply left to rot.
Silv�tya and her companions spent a grueling month at the fort attending
all the wounded. The first days were the worst, when the medical staff
had to determine which troops could be saved from their injuries and
which men were destined to have their souls separate from their bodies.
The first injury she had to deal with was the Grand Duke, who took a
musket shot to his right shoulder and broke his left arm falling off his
horse. The injuries were not particularly serious, but the ruler
insisted that his concubine be the one to treat them.
Silv�tya did her best to make sure her master fully recovered. She hated
him more than ever, but resisted the temptation to give him an overdose
of opium or anesthesia. She was a doctor and proud of what she had been
able to accomplish with her piece-meal training, so she was able to
separate her personal feelings towards her patient from the tasks she
had to perform. Also, she remained a subject of the Grand Duke and a
Danubian citizen. As odious a man as he was, the country needed him.
Whether it was his cunning, his intelligence, his extraordinary luck,
his reckless courage, or Divine Intervention, it was only because of its
ruler the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia had survived the threat from the
Kingdom of the Moon. So, not only did Silv�tya do everything she could
to ensure a successful operation; she also converted some of her
precious blue powder into special regenerative medicine to ensure he
recovered as quickly as possible. With the additional treatment, the
Grand Duke�s shoulder was completely healed in just a week, and his left
arm repaired itself at a miraculous pace as well.
----------
The final phase of the Grand Duke�s military campaign took place during
the last week of August and most of September. The western sector of
H�rkustk Ris province had been completely secured by the Duchy�s men,
but many isolated villages in the eastern part of the province remained
occupied by subjects loyal to the Kingdom of the Moon. Upon recovering
and becoming convinced that no further invasion from the Kingdom was
imminent, the Grand Duke ordered his men to reassert the Duchy�s control
over the rest of the re-captured region. As Danubian Royal Guards
occupied more villages and the story of what happened to the Army of the
Red Moon got out, the non-Danubian population of Danubia�s southernmost
province began to panic and flee, abandoning their homes. The Grand Duke
ordered several massacres to terrorize the foreigners and speed up their
departure. The war against the House of the Red Moon degenerated into a
war against all non-Danubians living in the area. The panic was
augmented by the fact the foreigners still did not know the details of
what had happened during the battle of H�rkustk Ris and the raid against
Sumy Ris. Lord Blood-Moon�s army had simply vanished and now the
Danubian Grand Duke and his men seemed to be everywhere.
While he was leading his cavalry around the southern region of the
Duchy, the ruler sent messengers north to order all of the Danubian
refugees from H�rkustk Ris that were hiding in the forests to return
home. There was no way they could go back into the ruined city, but the
surrounding villages were empty and there were plenty of houses and free
land available for any takers. The Grand Duke dispatched some Royal
Guards to order the refugees residing near the capitol to return south
as well. H�rkustk Ris province now was secure and they had no reason to
remain camped near Dan�bikt M�skt. As the Grand Duke and most of his
army finally finished their campaign and trekked north, they passed a
long column of refugees heading in the opposite direction to reclaim
their homes or occupy houses abandoned by the foreigners. The squalid
refugee camps along the Rika Chorna River were emptied by the time the
Royal Army made its triumphant return to the capitol.
----------
The Grand Duke celebrated his victory with the jubilant citizens of
Dan�bikt M�skt. The surviving veterans of the Royal Army happily
displayed the souvenirs captured from their enemies: the muskets,
uniforms, flags, and impalement hooks taken from dead invaders.
When the war was over, the Grand Duke turned out to be as cunning with
his own people as he was against Lord Blood-Moon. During his victory
speech he spent hours thanking his commanders and numerous soldiers who
had distinguished themselves during the fighting. He thanked the town
councilmen who had assisted in recruiting men and sending money and
supplies. He praised the Duchy�s people and the Creator for watching
over the nation. He did not say anything to bring glory to himself,
knowing that his admirers would do that for him. Following the victory
celebrations and speeches, he passed out a portion of the captured gold
to the soldiers who had fought for the Royal Army and ordered more gold
to be given to the widows of the men who had died during the campaign.
The rest of the money seized in Sumy Ris would be used to retire the
Duchy�s debt with the Vienna arms dealers. The sovereign didn�t keep any
of the captured gold for the Royal Household and made sure his citizens
were aware of that.
The Grand Duke�s public display of gratitude towards the people who had
helped the Duchy achieve its amazing victories against the Kingdom of
the Moon omitted his most important source of information and advice:
his concubine Silv�tya. She was the one who had given him the knowledge
of the explosives he needed for the victory in H�rkustk Ris, she was the
one whose advice narrowly averted a disastrous defeat in Sumy Ris, she
was the one who operated on him when he was injured, and throughout the
summer she also had operated on countless wounded Royal Guards. More
than any other person serving the Grand Duke, the humble concubine
should have received credit for giving him the advice and knowledge he
needed to win the war. However, because the public did not know who she
was, the ruler felt there was no need to mention her. Instead, he would
take credit for everything she had contributed. Her reward would be to
simply go back to her old life as a naked sex slave, locked up in the
Royal Residence with her �sisters�.
So, while celebrations took place in the city�s central plaza, Silv�tya
returned to the castle and her duties as a Royal concubine. The matrons
ordered her to strip, unbraided her hair, shaved her armpits, cleaned
her up, and sent her back to the concubines� quarters along with her two
companions. The Grand Duke expected her to resume her old life as though
none of the events she had endured over the past four months had
happened. There was absolutely no reward for her efforts and service,
nothing except being confined with her ten naked companions and waiting
for the bell to ring.
Her only consolation was having Antonia in her arms again. Silv�tya�s
lover was desperately glad to see her, embrace her, and run her hands
all over her body. However, it seemed even that small pleasure in
Silv�tya�s life was ruined. She was happy to relax and allow her
companion to massage her weary body but, after everything she had just
been through and witnessed, she couldn�t find peace or enjoy the
relationship. She had to pretend to be elated to see Antonia, just as
she had to pretend to tolerate the Grand Duke.
----------
The Duchy returned to its life of peace and isolation. Danubian flags
and Danubian uniformed guards appeared along the entire border with the
rival nation, as constant reminders the Kingdom�s efforts to invade the
Duchy had failed completely.
Lord Blood-Moon found himself in serious trouble after the loss of
40,000 of his best troops. It was hard to believe that the �Beautiful
Savages�, the terrifying and invincible elite cavalry that had been the
Lord�s most important source of power, no longer existed. The resurgence
of the Duchy, coupled with the humiliation of Sumy Ris and the
disastrous defeat at the fort, weakened the Kingdom�s support for the
House of the Red Moon, while strengthening the position of the rival
House of the Blue Moon.
When the Lord of the Blue Moon sent some of his troops into the region
around Sumy Ris, the local leaders changed loyalties and declared
themselves in rebellion against the leader who had failed them. Lord
Blood-Moon, who by that time had partially reconstituted his defeated
army, sent a detachment of soldiers to retake Sumy Ris. In late October
there were two bloody and inconclusive battles near the city. Both sides
raised additional men over the winter and prepared to launch a major war
in the spring of 1755.
It seemed that, since Lord Blood-Moon�s plans to obliterate the Duchy
and annihilate its people had been thwarted, the Destroyer instead
decided to pay a visit to the Kingdom of the Moon. The Grand Duke�s
scouts brought back the welcome news of a civil war being waged between
two cousins whose forces were evenly matched. The rival heirs had no
chance to worry about Danubia because they were too busy fighting each
other.
----------
Today, there is very little evidence the Kingdom of the Moon ever
existed at all. The country was
completely destroyed over the ensuing decade by a bloody stalemate
between Lord Blood-Moon and the Lord of the Blue Moon. In 1764
the Ottoman Empire�s army re-occupied the devastated region and the
Duchy�s once-formidable enemy became nothing more than a footnote in
history.
----------
Note: The Grand Duke�s two
victories in H�rkustk Ris, combined with the raid on Sumy Ris and
follow-up campaign that wiped out the Red Moon garrisons stationed
throughout southwestern Danubia, is considered one of the greatest
military upsets in history. No one could have expected that an
ill-equipped army of 9,000 fighting men would annihilate over 40,000
professional combatants who were considered among the best soldiers in
Europe during the mid-1700s. As much as popular Danubian historians like
to credit the brilliance of the Grand Duke, and as much as the Danubian
Church would like to claim it was due to Divine Intervention, the
reality was that over-confidence, lack of accurate intelligence
reporting, and two critical decisions by two different Red Moon Army
commanders were what led to the Duchy�s victory in the 1754 H�rkustk Ris
campaign.
The Danubian defeat of the Army of the Red Moon had very important
implications for the history of south-eastern Europe. In the decades
leading up to 1754, the Kingdom of the Moon had established itself as a
powerful and respected state through its superb military training and
discipline, which created one of the most versatile, mobile, and feared
fighting forces on the continent. There was general consensus among
European leaders that the Kingdom of the Moon would continue to expand
into Ottoman territory. Many contemporary writers expressed hope that
the Kingdom of the Moon might even become strong enough to threaten the
Turks� hold on Constantinople.
After the summer of 1754, conditions in the Kingdom of the Moon changed
dramatically. Lord Blood-Moon had suffered much more than a
simple defeat: he had lost half of his entire army. His cousin
immediately challenged him for the throne, the aristocracy split into
warring factions, and the country endured a civil war from 1755 to 1764
during which neither Lord was able to establish superiority. Finally,
some of the local barons asked the Ottoman Sultan to re-establish order,
with the result that Turkey invaded and re-annexed the territory in
1764.
Although no treaty was ever signed, the Grand Duke of Danubia and the
Ottoman Sultan maintained an informal agreement to leave each other�s
territories alone. The Sultan was under the impression that the Grand
Duke�s army was much stronger than it really was, without knowing the
details of the fighting over H�rkustk Ris. As part of the informal
agreement, the Danubian settlers who had set up residence in strips of
former Danubian territory immediately to the south of the recognized
border were allowed to stay by the Ottomans, as a buffer between the two
countries. (The status of the border territories was not formally
resolved until the early 21st Century, when the Treaty of Sumy Ris
granted the majority of the disputed settlements to the Duchy, in
exchange for abandoning all other territorial claims.)
News of the sudden and devastating defeat of Lord Blood-Moon�s army by,
of all people, the Grand Duke of Danubia, shocked and dismayed leaders
and political writers throughout western Europe. European sympathy
clearly sided with Lord Blood-Moon in his effort to
annex the Duchy. The Kingdom of the Moon enjoyed good relations with
Russia and Austria, and the hope was that the three countries would form
a common and continuous front against the Ottoman Empire. Had that hope
become reality, Turkish control of the entire Balkan Peninsula would
have been threatened.
Foreign historians during the nineteenth century referred to the
destruction of the Kingdom of the Moon and the respite it provided the
Ottoman Empire as �Europe�s lost opportunity�. After 1754 the idea of a
common European front against Turkey became considerably less practical,
because the Danubian Grand Duke had no incentive to enter into an
alliance with either Russia or Austria. Later events, such as the
partitioning of Poland during the second half of his reign, validated
his aloof attitude concerning involvement in European politics and the
Duchy�s diplomatic isolation.
Many historians, myself included, have indulged in counter-factual �what
if� speculation concerning events in the Balkan Peninsula between 1754
and 1914. What would have happened had the Grand Duke�s army been
defeated and Danubia annexed by the Kingdom of the Moon? I am convinced
the Kingdom of the Moon�s aristocracy would have remained unified,
because the Lord of the Blue Moon would not have been in a position to
challenge his cousin for the throne, having neither the troops nor
adequate support from dissident lords. The civil war that destroyed the
Kingdom would not have taken place, and the Ottoman Empire would not
have had the opportunity re-annex the region in 1764.
Following a victory in Danubia, Lord Blood-Moon would have
turned his attention to building up the alliance with Austria and
Russia, as well as with Serb and Greek rebels, with the likely result of
a joint military assault on the Ottomans. Given the military situation
at the time, most Daunibian historians believe it is very likely Ottoman
forces would have been routed and forced to retreat from some or all of
their European holdings in the late eighteen century. (Counter-factual
speculation aside, the Ottomans were not forced out of the Balkan region
until over a century later, a process that started in the 1870s and
culminated shortly before the First World War.)
The events surrounding �Europe�s lost opportunity� and Danubia�s
subsequent neutrality towards the Ottoman Empire during the late
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries explains much of the underlying
hostility other Europeans have held towards the Duchy. However, that
hostility is in no way justified. The Grand Duke did what was necessary
to secure the future of his country and protect his people. The vicious
treatment of captured civilians by both Lord Blood-Moon and his
rival the Lord of the Blue Moon during the civil war clearly
demonstrated what the Danubians could have expected had the Grand Duke
been defeated. The destruction of the Kingdom of the Moon and �Europe�s
lost opportunity� cannot be blamed on the Duchy. As a nation, the only
thing we were doing was fighting for our own survival.
- Maritza Ortskt-Dukovna -
