Chosen one, so undone, load your gun, damage done...

Upon that very nightfall, the lantern lights and torch fires were ablaze upon a "victorious" Hagalz line, which had now effectively extended itself with a fresh and raw line of advancements after the counter-attacks spearheaded by the orcish irregulars. Beneath the veil of smoke cast by the burning forests, the Baron's troops began to dig themselves into the front of their new gains. Everything from the now-skeleton villages and towns of West-central Galen Thal (siezed and massacred by the orcs and secured by Legionaire dwarves and the ranger corps) down to the edge of the forests once held by Archos' men was now underneath the aegis of Baron Doriztenz and his lackeys. The burning woodlands would give the two sides a very deadly and treachorous new "No Man's Land" with the hillcountry upon the eastern edges of the battlefield a new "chief target" for siezure in the next counter-attack - or so the Warlock Order believed at this point.

The troop movements went as follows. Beneath the cunning defensive organization of the Dragon Legion field commander, a dwarf by the name of Torikz, the Hobgoblin infantry companies were advanced wholesale in front of the dwarven heavies and set to work digging trenches due North of the already progressing orcish lines. These were mixed with the single company of human troops and given direction by dwarven field engineers. Quickly, and with methodic tenacity, the Hagalz "sickle" was becoming more and more solid. The Baron supposed that Archos was right where he wanted him. The Order's superior numbers were finally paying off - if the dragon king sent sufficient aid to assault the budding Western defenses, then the core of his encampment could be attacked by the thousands of troops still stationed on the Hagalz trenches themselves. The only two options left for the Godslayer army was to stay and continue to let the attrition-bound Hagalz line spread like a virus, or utilize their mobility immediately and take a more evasive route. If his well coordinated sacrifice of approximately two thirds of his orcs and the ranger corps had not worked, then the thorough Baron's diversion of faux tunneling "assaults" he presumed, would.

((Note: For my next section, check the map of Galen Thal for reference. Any questions will be gladdly answered -s-))

The Hagalz line "proper" extended to the salt water canal which cut deeply into the Galen Thal countryside, south east of the city itself. This was purposeful. The Baron could easily defend the Northern shores of the canal, but for how long?

That night, the Godslayer army made use of precious time to advance as far as they could in an offensive stroke which left the slowly spreading Hagalz defenders advancing in the wrong direction. This military mistep could be the achilles' heel for the city. But the Baron would die before he gave up the capitol.

Grimly, the next morning, Doriztenz surveyed the reports that the mobile Godslayer army was approaching the canal. The Baron never even seemed to wince. Archos' movement was predictable, given his love for mobility and evasion. However, the one chink in Hagalz' armor had been anticipated and played correctly by the Dragon King. That irked the W.O. General severely.

Messages demanding that mobilized coastal militias march to the canal were sent. This would not be enough to match the might of Archos' army in crossing the canal. But it would send in a supply of fresh, if largely novice, soldiers to the new front to back up what the Baron could send for immediate defense.

The Hagalz line was slowly thinned, as soldiers found themselves on the march for their first time in months. Weary and often broken, these ranks consisted of scores of teenage boys thrown into the vicissitudes of warfare, older men who had seen the majority of their years pass them by and were now given rifles, bayonets, and uniforms and forced into regulation, with a core of seasoned, adult male troops. They move, literally, in throwing distance of the trenches, for the majority of the march, instead of taking a direct and more aggressive route to cut Archos off before he can reach the banks of the canal. This sacrifice of territory to the dragon king accomplishes two vital things - it shortens the trip, conserving troops for the "big fight" that the Baron is still hoping to force on his own terms, and keeps his soldiers out of countryside wrought with rebels. Of course, this also allows the peasants, disorganized and untrained and ill-equipped as they might be, to join Archos' army if either side sees fit to do so. ((many rebel peasantfolk will, when they see the Godslayer march in progress. There are a minority of veterans amongst them. After all, those who can fight against the drow guerrillas in such odds as they were and survive even a losing fight have potential.))

The initial defenses of the banks of the canal is a motley force of lightly-armed militia. Sandbags are piled out upon the banks, and light trenches are already being dug for riflemen. Iron cannons and other liter, out of date technology coupled with a few machine gun squads - all of the like which was seen by the M.A. in New Camelot defends the shores. About 4,100 soldiers guard the banks - but these are being steadily reinforced by nearly 50,000 regulars from the Hagalz line.

While the defenses of the canal are being hastily assembled by frantic field commanders who can almost taste the culmination of this grim campaign in the air, the Baron finally utilizes a weapon that was removed from the frontlines of the trenches weeks earlier after the initial disasterous attempt by Hobgoblins to bloody Archos' nose. The heavy dwarven artillery and their teams are transported from the city of Hagalz to guard the beaches from afar. The grim power of the Order's dwarven "big guns" cast a darkening shadow over the Godslayer-controlled Southern banks. Other assembled artillery is moved from the city and onto positions beyond the Northern bank.

Anti-dragon defenses are also taken into consideration. The ballista "dragon-fodder" units as their largely female crews have been cynnically labled by now, steadily pour from the city to make it slightly more difficult for the drakes to bully the ground forces. The orders are given, for now, to split the mass-production of ballistas and their missiles and the stationing of crews between the Hagalz line proper and the Northern banks of the canal.

The bulk of stalemate-victorious soldiers upon the Western flank of the Hagalz line were ordered to not pursue Archos through rebel infested lands. Instead, numbers were slowly thinned from the new battle-lines. No more advances towards the dubiously-termed "anthill" made as of yet. The Hobgoblins were the first to begin to be sent back through the safety of the Hagalz line in anticipation of a relief for the canal.

Finally, perhaps the Baron was acknowledging that urban warfare would be inevitable. With a cynnical, mirthless smile, he gave the order to fully authorize the all-out mobilization of the home guard. These militias consisted of virtually entirely youthful teenagers and old men. The Hagalz Guard, as it was officially dubbed, were issued an assortment of weapons - almost emptying a stockpile of reserved weaponry imported into the town via its still incomplete and crude system of tunnels. Perhaps the Drow could have given more. But they were Drow. In the end, even the Baron knew that the shadow elves were not under his total aegis. Their secrecy would always come first, and he could never expect total cooperation with the Spider Army.

Everything from swords, spears, crossbows, submachine guns ((rare, but still not unheard of)), bolt-action rifles ((1 out of every 20 were actually repeating, holding more than one shell)), muskets ((lots of these)), home-made grenades crafted from fuses and black powder ((lots of these)), old revolvers and repeating pistols ((in good quanitiy, if not quality)), and even iron cannons were given to the new civilian-based Hagalz Guard. The Baron issued a statement - publicized and bold.

The capitol of Galen Thal would fight to the death before Archos Godslayer raised a foreign banner in its citadel.

((Okay, a final explanation. The fuss about the canal is rooted in the fact that the Baron judges that its the weakest spot on his own defenses, and most likely to be attacked by Archos, who 1.) would be more at risk if he directly assaulted the Hagalz line itself, even with the thinning numbers, because the Hobgoblins will be on their way to defend what ever is getting attacked to the East anyways. and 2.) would lose valuble time and allow the city to prepare for a horrific siege if he went too far to the East and made his sweep too elongated. [check the map for references...]

The Baron doesn't actually know, of course, what will happen. He's just biding his time, still hoping to force a direct confrontation that will lead to attrition on the front lines.

Either way, it would be far better for him if Archos decided to take a long way around and avoid hitting the canal. But the Baron doesn't believe he's that fortunate.

I'm assuming the intelligence upon another possible naval landing will come in soon, as well, and the Baron will have to consider this, even though its actually a distraction. Of course, if he loses Hagalz, his existance on this material plane is over. He knows that, even with his superior numbers, he can not spread his army too thin... So, for the Hagalz line and all the immediate battles that come with it, Doriztenz has his attention focused.

Also, I'm assuming I do have those 15 Falcons that he requested. If not, then air corps officers will pay the price and will be executed at a seemingly random nature, one per day, until the air corps follows his post-deadline orders. The 15 fighter planes are not much, but I hope to use them wisely.))