HFQ Official Snippet #26 (I think)

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

JRM wrote:
Thank you very much. I certainly enjoyed it.

Notice that Wyrshym is expecting Vicar Rhobair to keep to the schedule of restoring canal access to Guarnak by mid April. BGV is on schedule to take the Northland Gap at Esthyr’s Abbey, and the Guarnak Gap at Fairkyn in detail before Wyrshym can reinforce either. Can he take Wyrshym at Guarnak before he is reinforced?

What has Siddarmark done to restore the canal up the Sylmahn Gap? Once BGV’s force come through the Guarnak gap, will either the Siddarmark or ICA forces do anything to restore the Guarnak-Ice Ash canal? What are the watershed boundaries? Will possession of Wyvern Lake allow barging repair material right up to damaged locks on the Guarnak Sylmahn Canal, or will the repair material have to be freighted to the damaged locks with repair opening another operational section for logistical purposes? When does the Hsing-wu’s Passage open as far as the Ice Ash river, or as far as the Hildermoss river ?

Notice that logistical considerations limit BGV’s ability to take the first concentration camp at Hyrdmyn. It is implicit that it limits his ability to fight much further than Guarnak, unless one of these lines of supply is opened.

James

n7axw wrote:

BobG wrote:I'm also glad to hear that you are doing better, David. (and thanks for the snippet).

PeterZ wrote:*quote*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.*quote*
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

Henry Brown wrote: If the ICA can work out a good system for forward fire control that is going to be a pretty substantial advantage on any battlefield. Or better yet, put the 4.5 mortars on high ground so they can direct their own fire.

JeffEngel wrote:

Henry Brown wrote:I'd say the new 4.5 inch mortar is going to be fairly important as the series continues. It is described as having 4000 yards extra range compared to the older 3 inch mortar. If I'm not mistaken, the old mortars could fire something like a mile to a mile and a half. So the new M97 mortars should have something like 3.5 to 4 miles of total range. If the ICA can work out a good system for forward fire control that is going to be a pretty substantial advantage on any battlefield. Or better yet, put the 4.5 mortars on high ground so they can direct their own fire.

It's got a lot of range and kick, but it won't be getting to all the places the M95 can or as easily. The M95, in pieces, is just barely man-portable among a squad of four. I doubt the plate of a M97 is something a human is carrying at all, so the piece (assembled or not) has to be carried on wheels or draft animal. (Or a draft animal dragging it on wheels.) It's an out-and-out field artillery piece. That's a fine niche to be filled, but it still leaves a role for M95's or an updated 3.5" mortar like it.

Louis R wrote:When last heard from, the Sylmahn Gap was still flooded by the dam at Serabor. Assuming that the Sword left them intact - not at all certain - the locks between Wyvern Lake and Serabor will need major overhauls even once the dam is opened - they've spent the last year or more under water. Given that the Gap will be a wasteland anyway, it could be that the PTB have installed temporary locks or cranes or whatever to get more barges around the dam without opening it. Otherwise, there's going to be a serious bottleneck in the logistics of forces operating west of the Gap. That simply can't be avoided under the circumstances.

Bear in mind also that Wyrshym's forces won't surrender any of the canal they hold intact, either. Not if they have any choice at all in the matter. How much choice the terrain gives them, of course, we don't know. It may be that the region between the Ice Ashes and Hildermoss is a high plateau that actually drains through the Gap, and there aren't any locks until close to Guarnak. My bet, though, is on the height of land being very close to, if not at, the western shores of Wyvern Lake, meaning that the canal climbs from Guarnak and there are locks to be blown up in plenty. At least some of them will be, no matter how little choice the RSA attempts to leave in the matter.

It's a pretty safe bet that plans for repairs of recaptured canals are already afoot. The Republic doesn't have nearly the resources that Duchairn can throw at the problem, but it's no less urgent for them than it is for the AoG, so they'll deal with it somehow. With luck, they'll manage to capture some of Duchairn's works just before they're completed - and so just before they can be prepared for demolition

JRM wrote:
Thank you very much. I certainly enjoyed it.

Notice that Wyrshym is expecting Vicar Rhobair to keep to the schedule of restoring canal access to Guarnak by mid April. BGV is on schedule to take the Northland Gap at Esthyr’s Abbey, and the Guarnak Gap at Fairkyn in detail before Wyrshym can reinforce either. Can he take Wyrshym at Guarnak before he is reinforced?

What has Siddarmark done to restore the canal up the Sylmahn Gap? Once BGV’s force come through the Guarnak gap, will either the Siddarmark or ICA forces do anything to restore the Guarnak-Ice Ash canal? What are the watershed boundaries? Will possession of Wyvern Lake allow barging repair material right up to damaged locks on the Guarnak Sylmahn Canal, or will the repair material have to be freighted to the damaged locks with repair opening another operational section for logistical purposes? When does the Hsing-wu’s Passage open as far as the Ice Ash river, or as far as the Hildermoss river ?

Notice that logistical considerations limit BGV’s ability to take the first concentration camp at Hyrdmyn. It is implicit that it limits his ability to fight much further than Guarnak, unless one of these lines of supply is opened.

James

EdThomas wrote:The decision to take or not take prisoners was made by Cayleb when planning for this mission started. Provisions for housing, securing and feeding prisoners had to be an integral part of the plan. Somewhere in BGV's logistical tail are the means to keep surviving TL's alive as prisoners of war.
I doubt very much if Merlin and Cayleb would have put this decision on BGV's shoulders. They want all all their forces to be able to look in the mirror.