The Awakening Wave

Chap 7 - CHAMPION'S HILLS

Lieutenant Sharpe completed his scan of the horizon, once more ending the circuit by unconsciously looking at the bare patch on his uniform where his Captains insignia had been. Colonel Huntington had lashed out after his girl had been mauled by the guard dog.

He characteristically laid blame for the incident everywhere except on his own child's stupidity. Ordering the beasts death was not enough, he had ordered that the handler be hanged, that the Celti Elders who organised the event all be flogged, that taxes be doubled and the curfew tightened. John Sharpe could not let any of this happen. He stepped forward and told the Colonel that as Captain of the guard, the responsibility was entirely his, no one else need be punished but him, so punished he was.

The Colonel knew that with John's family connections, it would be unwise to hang him or dismiss him from service altogether, so instead he had him demoted and flogged with twenty lashes. The demotion letter was written so as to ensure that John would never be promoted above Lieutenant again. The Colonel then took delight in tasking his 'new' junior officer with every patrol, guard duty, and menial job he could think up. He was allowed a six hour sleep period every night, but that was only if all his duties were completed on time.

John did not mind the work, or begrudge the demotion. He just didn't like the fact that he was no longer around the Keep to protect the men from some of the Colonels wilder demands, or stupider orders. Ever since he had arrived here, he had tried to be a barrier between the Colonel and the men.

He had been given this posting as a 'reward' for his service in the border wars against the Gorthians far to the south. He longed for a return to those days. The fighting had been hard, the days full of blood and terror, but then he had served a real commander.

General Hawkesbury had been the most brilliant leader the Petrosian Empire had ever had. With only a few hundred men, the General held off an army of thousands of Gorthian soldiers, all in unforgivingly harsh mountain terrain. John had been saddened when the great leader announced his retirement and then disappeared completely from public life.

Before he left office though, he made sure that all of the officers and men under his command that had borne the brunt of the heavy fighting, were taken off the front lines to allow them time to rest and recuperate. John thought that the sleepy, relatively peaceful Northern provinces would be just the place. Instead he had been met with boredom, poorly trained and undisciplined men, and service under an idiot.

He fixed the first two with a rigorous training and patrol program, but there was nothing he could do about the third, except try to buffer the men from the worst of the Colonel's decisions. His commander's biggest mistake was underestimating the danger of rebellion from the local Celti.

Simmering hatred for Petros was waiting to explode from an increasingly unhappy populace. The Colonel was a strong believer in that most stupid tactic 'a tight fist keeps the best order'. John had been taught better.

General Hawkesbury had once held a discussion with his officers about counter insurgency tactics. A hard line and harsh punishments may have an immediate effect on quelling a population, but they were ultimately doomed to failure. The rebels would gather greater popular support, enabling them to become sneaky.

Hiding among supporters, obedient to your face, then stabbing you in the back. The only way to stop it was to make the population genuinely like you more than they liked the rebels. You had to actively help, protect, and nurture them.

In his five years in Cromdar he had enforced many changes, but still the racism among his soldiers was so ingrained he had to fight them at every stage. He often found himself at loggerheads with the commander, as the simpleton thought he was being soft instead of tactically prudent.