illusion that his time would not come. Romantic ideas of charging with the cavalry were exactly that. They were romantic ideas and, as such, had nothing to do with the conflict at hand.
Unfortunately, the conflict at hand was not going quite as well as the Albany High Command had hoped. Around the map table, faces were grim, and Field Marshall Virgil Dunbar had not been happy since the command vehicles had first come within sight of the valley and he had seen the disposition of the enemy as it really was rather than an abstraction on a map. He had cursed for all to hear. “Goddamn him. I swear that son-of-a-bitch Balsol has had this place in his back pocket since he marched into Virginia, going the other way as a conqueror. It’s too perfect for his purpose to be blind happenstance.”
He had turned excitedly to one of his aides. “You see that third ridge behind him? I’ll wager good money there’s some backdoor there that he can take his whole army through if the day goes against him, and he feels the need to slip away. We are going to have our work cut out, and no mistake.”
The Mosul, under the command of Faysid Ab Balsol, were dug in at the far end of the valley, and, as Dunbar had expected, were waiting for Albany to take the fight to them. The valley, according to Slide, was created by some prehistoric glacier or movement of ice. It was narrow at the end into which Albany was expected to advance, but then it quickly broadened out into a broad, flat, expanse of green, valley-floor meadow flanked by steeply wooded ridges on either side. The original Albany plan had been to clear the ridges before any major assault on the Mosul center. With Mosul guns on the high ground, an Albany advance into the valley would be through a withering crossfire. Unfortunately, the original Albany plan had only been half implemented. The ridge to the east had been cleared and was held by Albany Rangers, the Ohio, and various cavalry units and crews of irregulars, but the slopes on the west side of the valley were still in Mosul hands. The enemy guns were in a dominating position, and although their fire had so far fallen short, any further Albany penetration would be met with both exploding shells and solid iron cannonballs. The enemy was now deployed as an elongated crescent, with the greater mass of them on the valley floor but with a stretched, but fully intact, left flank extended along the western ridge, and this was very close to the last thing that Dunbar wanted. Instead of a fast thrust at the heart of the Mosul center, they would be attacking a double objective, half of which had the full advantage of the local geography.
Albany was not, however, without some advantages of its own, and the greatest of these was their weapons. They came at the Mosul with the edge of aircraft, flying bombs, breech-loading howitzers, and repeating Bergman guns. One on one, they enjoyed overwhelming range and firepower, but, in this battle that so far did not have a name, the balance was nothing like one-on-one. The Mosul outnumbered Albany perhaps three or four to one, despite the Mosul losses on the Potomac, and while holed up in Richmond. Faysid Ab Balsol still had reserves of men to more than counter Albany’s superior ordnance. Virgil Dunbar could, of course, hold off and simply pound on the Mosul with his artillery without unduly exposing his troops. Given the time, Dunbar’s guns could inflict such devastating casualties from a distance that the enemy would either mount a last-ditch attack or attempt to flee, but time was something Dunbar did not have. An army of reinforcements was on its way from Savannah, and, with the weather clear and the ground dry as a bone, there was no reason to suppose it was not coming with all speed. As soon as Balsol had lured Dunbar and his divisions out from under the protective umbrella of the Norse rocket bombs, both commanders knew that Dunbar’s best chance was to finish Balsol and his battered and
Unfortunately, the conflict at hand was not going quite as well as the Albany High Command had hoped. Around the map table, faces were grim, and Field Marshall Virgil Dunbar had not been happy since the command vehicles had first come within sight of the valley and he had seen the disposition of the enemy as it really was rather than an abstraction on a map. He had cursed for all to hear. “Goddamn him. I swear that son-of-a-bitch Balsol has had this place in his back pocket since he marched into Virginia, going the other way as a conqueror. It’s too perfect for his purpose to be blind happenstance.”
He had turned excitedly to one of his aides. “You see that third ridge behind him? I’ll wager good money there’s some backdoor there that he can take his whole army through if the day goes against him, and he feels the need to slip away. We are going to have our work cut out, and no mistake.”
The Mosul, under the command of Faysid Ab Balsol, were dug in at the far end of the valley, and, as Dunbar had expected, were waiting for Albany to take the fight to them. The valley, according to Slide, was created by some prehistoric glacier or movement of ice. It was narrow at the end into which Albany was expected to advance, but then it quickly broadened out into a broad, flat, expanse of green, valley-floor meadow flanked by steeply wooded ridges on either side. The original Albany plan had been to clear the ridges before any major assault on the Mosul center. With Mosul guns on the high ground, an Albany advance into the valley would be through a withering crossfire. Unfortunately, the original Albany plan had only been half implemented. The ridge to the east had been cleared and was held by Albany Rangers, the Ohio, and various cavalry units and crews of irregulars, but the slopes on the west side of the valley were still in Mosul hands. The enemy guns were in a dominating position, and although their fire had so far fallen short, any further Albany penetration would be met with both exploding shells and solid iron cannonballs. The enemy was now deployed as an elongated crescent, with the greater mass of them on the valley floor but with a stretched, but fully intact, left flank extended along the western ridge, and this was very close to the last thing that Dunbar wanted. Instead of a fast thrust at the heart of the Mosul center, they would be attacking a double objective, half of which had the full advantage of the local geography.
Albany was not, however, without some advantages of its own, and the greatest of these was their weapons. They came at the Mosul with the edge of aircraft, flying bombs, breech-loading howitzers, and repeating Bergman guns. One on one, they enjoyed overwhelming range and firepower, but, in this battle that so far did not have a name, the balance was nothing like one-on-one. The Mosul outnumbered Albany perhaps three or four to one, despite the Mosul losses on the Potomac, and while holed up in Richmond. Faysid Ab Balsol still had reserves of men to more than counter Albany’s superior ordnance. Virgil Dunbar could, of course, hold off and simply pound on the Mosul with his artillery without unduly exposing his troops. Given the time, Dunbar’s guns could inflict such devastating casualties from a distance that the enemy would either mount a last-ditch attack or attempt to flee, but time was something Dunbar did not have. An army of reinforcements was on its way from Savannah, and, with the weather clear and the ground dry as a bone, there was no reason to suppose it was not coming with all speed. As soon as Balsol had lured Dunbar and his divisions out from under the protective umbrella of the Norse rocket bombs, both commanders knew that Dunbar’s best chance was to finish Balsol and his battered and
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