sniffling children in tow, a brother and sister who’d been separated from their parents in the crowd. “Our people have been using those hills as hideouts for years. We hid there during the Era of Warring States. We hid there when the Federation came. We’ll survive this, too.” She hoisted the girl up onto her hip and jerked her brother along. “Come on, hurry up.”
Rin glanced backward over her shoulder at the masses of people moving below.
Maybe the caves would keep the Dragons safe. But the southern refugees had been ordered to occupy the valley lowlands, and that was just open space.
The official word was that the caves were too small to accommodate everyone, and so the refugees would have to make do. But the valley provided no shelter at all. Exposed to the elements, with no natural or military barriers to hide behind, the refugees would have no protection from the weather or the Militia—and certainly not from Feylen.
But where else were they going to go? They wouldn’t have fled to Arlong if home were safe.
“I’m hungry,” complained the boy.
“I don’t care.” Venka tugged at his skinny wrist. “Stop crying. Walk faster.”
“This battle will take place primarily in three stages,” said Vaisra. “One, we will fend them off at the outer channel between the Red Cliffs. Two, we win the ground battle in the city. Three, they will try to retreat along the coast, and we will pick them off. We’ll get to that stage if we are miraculously lucky.”
His officers nodded grimly.
Rin glanced around the council room, amazed by how many faces she’d never seen before. A good half of the officers were newly promoted. They wore the stripes of senior leadership, but they looked five years older than Rin at most.
So many young, scared faces. The military command had been killed off at the top. This was rapidly becoming a war fought by the children.
“Can that warship even get through the cliffs?” asked Captain Dalain.
“Daji’s familiar with the channel,” said Admiral Kulau, the young navy officer who had replaced Molkoi. He sounded as if he were deepening his voice to seem older. “She’ll have designed it so it can.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Eriden said. “If their warship even starts depositing troops outside the channel, then we’re in trouble.” He leaned over the map. “That’s why we have archers stationed here and here—”
“Why aren’t there any back-end fortifications?” Kitay interrupted.
“The invasion will come from the channel,” Vaisra said. “Not the valley.”
“But the channel’s the obvious avenue of attack,” Kitay said. “They know you’re expecting them. If I’m Daji, and I have a numerical advantage that large, then I split my troops and send a third column round the back while everyone’s distracted.”
“No one’s ever attacked Arlong from land routes,” Kulau said. “They’d be eviscerated on the mountaintops.”
“Not if they’re unguarded,” Kitay insisted.
Kulau cleared his throat. “They’re not unguarded. They’ve got fifty men guarding them.”
“Fifty men can’t beat a column!”
“Chang En’s not going to send a full column of his crack troops round the back. You have a fleet that big, you man it.”
No one spoke the more obvious answer, which was that the Republican Army simply didn’t have the troops for better fortifications. And if any part of Arlong warranted a defense, then it was the palace and military barracks. Not the valley lowlands. Not the southerners.
“Of course, Chang En will want this to turn into a land battle,” Vaisra continued smoothly. “There they have the sheer advantage in numbers. But this fight remains winnable as long as we keep it amphibious.”
The channel had already been blocked up with so many iron chains and underwater obstacles that it almost functioned as a dam. The Republic was banking on mobility over numbers—their armed skimmers could dart between the Imperial ships, breaking up formations while the munitions crews shot bombs down from their cliffside stations.
“What’s the makeup of their fleet?” asked a young officer Rin didn’t recognize. He sounded terribly nervous. “Which ships do we target?”
“Aim for the warships, not the skimmers,” Kulau said. “Anything that has a trebuchet should be a target. But the bulk of their troops are on that floating fortress. If you can sink any ships, sink that first.”
“You want us in a fan formation at the cliffs?” Captain Dalain asked.
“No,” said Kulau. “If we spread out then they’ll just obliterate us. Stay in a narrow line and plug up the channel.”
“We’re not worried about their shaman?” Dalain asked. “If we clump our ships together, he’s just