BobG wrote:I'm also glad to hear that you are doing better, David. (and thanks for the snippet).
PeterZ wrote:My guts tells me the simmering anger Green Valley has been displaying in his internal monologues will lead to an act of brutal practicality regarding prisoners. Unless there are non-arctic troops following his vanguard, BGV will leave these temple boys to freeze. They won't last long enough to starve. From that perspective he might not even leave them with more than 1-2 days of food and then burn down anything that might shelter the SOBs.
If he captures this garrison whole, he cannot leave them able to join other TLs and he can't take them with him. Leaving any sized force to guard the prisoners will reduce his firepower to use against Fairkyn, Ohlarn and finally Guarnak. So, whether BGV has enough troops to guard these prisoners will really tell us how he planned for this offensive. Did he accept from the beginning that prisoners were a luxury he would dispense with? Or regardless of his growing animosity, will he take prisoners and provide for their welfare once in custody?
There is a real nasty part of me that wishes the former knowing full well that doing that would perpetuate evil. If simply reading the book leaves one feeling that way, imagine what actually being in a similar situation would make one feel? The Eastern Front on '39-'40 or '43-'44 if the Russian commanders knew about the German concentration camps, could the combat have become more brutal than it was? I shudder to think.
I don't know what he will do, but if he leaves them with no weapons or warm clothing and barely enough food to survive, then then won't be any sort of threat for the next couple of months - at which time, BGV can send a force to walk them back to POW camps.
I agree that if he wants to burn the place to the ground and leave, that would finish off the forces. And he might just do that. And frankly, given the CoGA forces handling of civilians and POWs, I don't see any reason for him not to do so. Why show them any more mercy then they've shown Allied forces?
The only problem with that is he won't be able to have a special welcome for the Inquisitors assigned to the Abbey. But I suppose knowing they're freezing to death would be good enough.
I'm not sure, however, what honor dictates in the handling of prisoners (excluding Inquisitors), should he accept them. If he takes prisoners, then leaving them to die is probably a violation of Cayleb's orders. But BGV can just blow the place to heck, take the living inquisitors, and leave the remaining forces without taking them as prisoners. Not sure...
-- Bob G
I suppose that the reason for treating others well even if they are enemies who have done dispicable things is that what we do determines the kind of people we ourselves are. I don't want BGV doing anything that would cause him to not like what he sees when he looks in the mirror. This something that can't be rationalized away because at rock bottom, we all know the truth about what we are looking at.
Don