Intuitions of War
Chapter 12: Meeting of the powers
*MORNING, NEWGATE*
A certain figure was still sleeping, unknowing of what has occurred in the world around him.
"Damn it…" Sunlight was shining into his eyes, and he was beginning to wake up. He definitely didn't want to wake up, he just wanted to keep sleeping. However, his dedication wasn't letting him.
'Why am I setting out on this damn journey? I'm gonna end up getting shot and I'll die, for god's sake…' Harper thought to himself. However, no matter how many times he repeated that line within his head, it felt like there was something in his body that wanted to go out there and do something.
"That's right, I must never forget why I set out on this journey." Harper said to himself as he began to stand up.
Last night, he had looted many destroyed buildings for food, and he got a pretty nice supply now. However, he wasn't planning on delaying his journey to London, so he was currently wrapping it all up in a bag that he would carry with him on the journey to London.
'Can't go wasting all of this food, it's good stuff!' Harper really wanted to bring the food with him. Canned or not, food was food. At the very least, he'd have something to eat on the way to London.
"Well, time to set out." Harper wrapped the bag that he stuffed all the food in, threw it onto his back, and began moving. Thankfully, the bag wasn't filled with that much food, so he could manage to carry it.
'London, here I come.'
--- sequence 2 ---
*LONDON, 1:00 PM*
'Today's the day that we decide when things will happen.' Caecca was extremely worried, though he didn't know what to do to get rid of this emotion.
'if I can't get the support of everyone for my idea, this could be the end of Britain.' Caeca was breathing deep and hard, excitement and nervousness filling his body and soul.
"Caecca, you seem to be in some emotional turmoil, are you sure you're fine?" Caecca whirled around to see the face of the voice coming from behind him, but it was just another general.
"Don't just pop out of nowhere like that, this isn't quite the time." Caecca muttered, and continued to think.
"Trust me, I don't want to be here. However, you demanded that we meet up here so that you could declare something to all the other generals." The other general was quite frustrated, considering he was on a winning streak back at the casino.
'Then out of nowhere, some soldier barges in and runs up to me, telling me about how Caecca wanted to meet up…' He grumbled, and then put his back against the wall and slumped down.
However, it didn't take long for all the other generals to arrive.
"Hey there!"
"How y'all doing?"
"Let's get this over with."
The last three generals came walking in as a group. Caecca looked down at the other general that slumped onto the ground, and glared at him.
"Ugh" The general moaned and then got up, and gestured for Caecca to go ahead and do what he needed to do.
"First of all, let's get into the building."
Caecca and the rest of the generals all walked into the building, which was indeed a very interesting looking building. It took inspiration from Greek Architecture, and had the big white pillars. However, it also looked like a court on the inside, a normal court, so it had quite a variety going.
There were two sides to this building when it came to sitting, the left and right. They were where the viewers would sit and watch the ongoing debate, and then there was the middle, where the debate was actually going on.
Caecca looked around, and saw many prominent people that belonged to Britain within this building. No matter where he looked, everyone seemed to be decked out in gold and polished clothes.
'Crap…' When it came to public speaking, he definitely wasn't as confident as he was when he was on the battlefield.
'Maybe it's because I know that if I don't do something on the battlefield, many lives will be lost?' Caecca began to question why he was like that.
However, he immediately got back in the game.
'No, if this decision isn't made correctly, many lives will also be lost here. Damn my nervousness to hell, trying to make me give up.' He began encouraging himself, and took a deep breath.
Meanwhile, all the other generals went ahead of him and went to their designated spots within this court like building. Caecca, the one who wanted to propose something, stood on the podium in the middle.
He looked ahead of him, and saw the judge's vacant spot, who didn't actually have a say in anything related to this. This was a court, but there was nobody who had done something wrong here, just a general presenting his idea, so the judge had nothing to do with this.
"So, what does this have to do with?" Lisander was the first one who spoke up, and Caecca glimpsed him really quickly before removing his eyes from him.
Even for a straight man, it was hard not to fall for Lisander, or at least his stories went as such. They definitely weren't enough to convince a straight man to fall for another man, but it was definitely close.
Lisander had shining grey hair, and a seemingly perfect physique that not even the other generals could manage to capture.
'When it comes to convincing, he's the absolute best out of us generals. However, when it comes to convincing him, it's the complete opposite…' Caecca thought out what he was going to say before he began, and took another deep breath.
'Alright, let's do this.'
"This has to do with what I dealt with at the English channel. Before I continue any further, let me just get this out of the way; the Germans did attempt to invade us." Caecca spoke in a prominent voice, authority filling his voice. It was almost the exact same as the voice he had on the battlefield, which showed that this meant something to him.
Of course, the other generals took note of this.
"However, we didn't quite finish them off. We had no casualties, and only some injuries, but we only killed a couple before they escaped. The issue is, we have no idea what they're planning from here on-out." Caecca explained, and the other generals began to nod, besides Lisander, who seemed to be ready to sleep.
"Considering how the Germans are, they most likely didn't retreat. That's what you wanted to bring up, right Caecca?" Richard's voice poked out from Caecca's right, and Caecca nodded to confirm what Richard said.
"Yes, but the real issue is this. If they indeed didn't retreat, we don't know what they've done. For now, we still have a regiment guarding the North Sea, so if anything happens there, we can expect to be notified. When it comes to the North, Scotland is protecting us, but they aren't exactly reliable." Caecca began, before Richard held his hand up to stop Caecca.
"Scotland isn't quite reliable when it comes to this war, yes, so you expect them to just let the Germans pass so that they don't take any damage, right? If the Germans don't come in from the North, they still have the West, so we have to think about what we want to do." Richard finished, and once again quieted down and locked his eyes onto Caecca.
"You must already know my personality, Richard?" Caecca asked, curiosity peaking in his voice.
"Yes, that's why I didn't mention the English Channel. You most likely already left it guarded, am I right?" Richard asked back, and Caecca just laughed it off.
"Yes, you are correct. So as of right now, we have to worry about the west and the north, but as of right now, my army is spread too thin, so I can't spare anymore soldiers." Caecca finally finished explaining the scenario, and was beginning to get to business.
"So, you want one of us to send out some of our armies to protect one of those sides?" Joshua finally spoke up, and stopped slouching while he did. He was definitely the most honorable out of all the generals, but he was an extreme slouch, and hardly liked to do work.
'When it comes to battle though, he's an absolute monster.' For some reason, Joshua seemed to have an extreme appeal to combat, and loved to embrace it. So when it came to battles, he was probably the most monstrous out of all of them.
"Yes, but there's more to the plan. Since we don't know which side they're coming from, we'll focus on mainly reinforcing London's defenses, so no matter which side they come from, we'll be ready. It's the safest bet in this scenario where the Germans are in control." Caecca finished, and slammed his hands down on the pedestal.
"Yet, there's still more that I want to add to the plan. When I originally heard this plan from Lucy, this wasn't a part of it, but this would definitely be helpful." Caecca looked all of the generals deep in the eye before moving onto the next general to stare into the eyes of.
"One of us and our armies will be positioned outside of the city for a while, so that when the Germans decided to invade us, they can flank the Germans and get them from behind. Plus, if they happen to be positioned where the Germans are invading from, they can intercept them before the invasion occurs, and radio in the other generals so that we fight outside of London and don't bring destruction to the city." Caecca finished explaining his plan along with his report of what had happened at the English channel, so his nervousness was beginning to disintegrate.
"However, it'd be even better if one general and their army protected one side, while the other and his army protected the other, wouldn't it?" Lisander, confused at why Caecca didn't propose this, interjected with this question.
"I did think of it, but if we do that and the Germans somehow come from another direction, and two of our armies are outside of the city, it could lead to some serious destruction. However, if only one army is out, we can spread the other four armies and generals out, and really fortify defenses." Caecca explained, and Lisander nodded.
"Well, I agree with the plan itself, but I don't think we need that much armies protecting the city. We should put out another army, and even if our defenses are somewhat weak, it's ok if the Germans infiltrate the city a little if we can manage to flank them. In the case that we flank them, they're done for." Joshua joined the conversation, before Richard calmed everyone down.
"I believe that this should be handled with a vote gentleman, right Jacob?" Richard gestured towards Jacob, the last general to not join in on the conversation.
"Yes, I believe so too, so shall we gentlemen?" Jacob finally joined in on the conversation as well, which meant that it was really beginning to reach the climax.
"I can deal with a vote, can you also deal with it, Caecca and Joshua?" Lisander teased the two generals a bit, who both got pissed off a little.
"Of course I can, you should be questioning yourself Lisander." Joshua said, and put his head down. Caecca simply nodded, and Lisander smiled.
"Alright then boys, let us begin voting!"