On Sieges
Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:06 pm
Searing 15, 122 Age of Steel
The last time Anton had been in a classroom this rowdy was in the aftermath of Kelgarde's coup, and even then many of the students had recused themselves in order to not draw attention to their family connections. Which made today even louder, louder by far. Unlike his unflappable calculus professor however, the uniformed instructor of his engineering course did not teach through the chaos. Instead he simply stood at the front of the room, eyes fixed on his pocket watch.
Rumors and whispers flew about the room, the students and cadets heedless of the silent Major for the moment. The topic of discussion was, of course, the conflict in the north. Kalzasi had managed to land the first strike in the war, and the military was actively engaged in the defense of an outpost against their onslaught. Or perhaps they had already failed, and the way south was open for the hordes of magi. The one thing that they knew for certain however was that Zaichaer had not won a victory, for the State would've trumpeted that news all the way to Ecith.
At the exact moment that class became, the Major snapped shut his pocket watch. Those cadets who knew him immediately took their seats and fell silent, eyes staring straight ahead. Anton, noticing the cord of tension that ran through them, swiftly followed suit. The remaining members of the class who were not as perceptive remained quite oblivious of the danger they were in until the instructor shouted out a demanding cry of, "Attention! that caused those still standing to practically fall into their seats from shock.
Upon the blackboard behind the Major was a series of half worked static equations, the instructor typically beginning class by immediately continuing from where he had left off. Today, however, he flipped the board to its blank side, gripping a piece of chalk in between his fingers with his typical fashion - as if it were a marshal's baton. "Today we shall focus on the dirtier realities of our profession. You boys want to gossip about the war? Fine, we'll talk about the war. Every last bit of it," he said in a curt voice.
He turned smartly upon his heel to look only at the black board, ignoring his students as he drew with exaggerated motions. When he was done, he took two steps backwards, heels of his polished black uniform shoes clicking together as he came to a halt. Left upon the board were two short, simple words, underlined for emphasis.
ON SIEGES
"For the engineer, there is no ordeal more sacred and profane than the siege. The actions we take in the days, weeks, and years prior to a site becoming invested mean the difference between life and death for those who shelter beneath our walls. By the same token, only the artilleryman has as much blood on their hands as we in such horrid days. No doubt you all think yourselves very clever, and that no matter the problem that may arise a solution will blossom from your mind," the instructor said, pacing about the classroom with his arms clasped behind his back.
"Consider, then, that no matter which side of the siege line you find yourself upon, on the other is someone just the same as you. Someone who also thinks that they are clever, and who earnestly believe that they will overcome any obstacle. Now give them wings and Runes. That is a Kalzasern engineer from one of their great houses, born and bred for war and witchcraft. And that is why it is not enough to be clever, that is why you are in this room. A siege is the greatest duel an engineer will ever face, creation and destruction, static strength and dynamic force, pitted against each other in as many ways as you and your opponent can imagine. You must be better than them, and the only advantage you wield is knowledge and reason. Is my point understood?"
Murmurs of assents came from the assembled students, while the cadets among them replied with a unified cry of "Yes, sir!" Seemingly mollified at his monologue having had the intended effect, the Major ceased his pacing and faced the black board once more. He swiftly began to sketch out in bold, broad strokes the outer wall of a star fort placed along a river bank, with hills upon its other side. The example was not lost on anyone present, especially not after he drew the outline of a siege camp on the far side of the river.
"Good. To defeat the enemy, you must understand how he thinks and what his angles of approach on this will be. Think. What would you do if you were a pidge general tasked with conquering this fortress?"
A torrent of answers sprang forth as soon as the question was asked, the entire class surging forward as the tension in the room was released. "Fly above the walls!" "Freeze the water and march across it." "Burrow a tunnel under the river and burst open inside the walls." "Open a portal into the hills, then fall upon them from all sides." And on and on, the Zaichaeri cadets taking shockingly swiftly to the thought exercise of what they would do if they were Avialae battlemages.
"Now, devise a countermeasure. Not against one of them. All of them. Any opening you leave, Kalzasi will see and take. You must handle every approach, unless you are very clever. What do I mean by that though? What would a very clever engineer do?" the Major asked, scanning the room for the answer.
"Sir, a clever engineer would make the avenue of approach they most desired the enemy to take the least painful for him," a cadet replied.
"Textbook!" the instructor practically shouted back. "Not wrong, but textbook. With that in mind, can anyone guess what the difference between a clever and a very clever engineer is?"
"A clever engineer will leave an opening because an opening is expected and try to do his best with the vulnerability he makes. A very clever engineer makes the vulnerability because he has deduced that it will do more good than harm," another student replied.
"Very good. An engineer must always keep an eye on the prime asset when making his plans. We cannot spend it frivolously, and must make a full accounting of it when the day is done. What is the prime asset of an engineer?"
The call and response that had so animated the room died down at that question, the assorted students and cadets looking at each other awkwardly. Weakly, one ventured the guess of, "The fortress?" only to wilt away at the Major's firm shake of the head. Silence began to pervade the room, and exasperation the instructor, until Anton at last decided to speak up.
"The men," he said. It did not take magic to inform him of that answer, the lordling having been inoculated in the culture of these sorts since birth. Magic did help though. It is important to not underplay the fact that Anton very literally used magic in order to confirm his idea before he dared to speak. Many others in the room had the same guess, some of them were even about to speak, but none had his level of certainty.
"Very good! Yes, we must always act in consideration of the men under our care. This alters the design, and in significant ways. Men need a supply of freshwater and be given the space to create wastewater. Men need food and shelter. What you make must provide these for them, or they will falter sooner rather than later. Your fortress must not be wholly closed off from the world, that does the enemy's job for him! The perfect defensive work is one that can continually be resupplied and cannot be breached." A pin drop would be heard with the room suitably cowed and taken in by the Major's firebrand talk, everyone else in the room waiting only for what he said next.
"Negation and Magebane are our greatest aids in these works, but a good engineer does not become reliant upon his tools. A fortress that relies upon its minders and its shards to stay secure is one suicide mission and one missed supply run from defeat. You must out think the mage, not rely upon your own. These are the skills that we will cover today. This the mode of thinking you must adopt. Victory depends on it," he announced, staring each person in his class in the eye as he scanned the room.
With those words, the Major had the room eating from his hand. Which was well, because the next thing he did required all of the energy that he had demanded of them as he began to write out the equations for the fortress walls and how they were altered by being placed so close to a river. It would be a lie to say that the class took to the math with enthusiasm, but it had, more or less, worked. A single speech and he had succeeded in convincing the unruly students and cadets to actually pay attention to the exact same classwork he had planned to give.
Perhaps he had been appointed to the Institute for good reason.