The Chronicles of Tenroha

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Captain Bridgewater and the rest of the Peacekeepers had begun preparations for a hasty evacuation of Oaken Meadow. He had sent five riders out to warn the farmers on the outskirts of the city and to see if the prisoner was being truthful about the size of the approaching forces before he took his own life. Only two of them had returned and they confirmed what he had said.

The captain started his plans by commandeering the transport barges that were still at port and emptying them of anything that was of no use for an escape. He and his men set out to gather food and provisions for the three week voyage it would take to reach the capital city. There were three small ports between Oaken Meadow and the capital city, but the Captain was uncertain if they would be able to make port at them to acquire more goods.

He had commandeered six large barges and four fishing vessels that were anchored at the docks to help with the evacuations. There were a few smaller vessels that had made port that day and agreed to help out with the evacuation. His men had gone door to door in the city telling everyone the plans to leave before nightfall and instructed them to only bring what was necessary. A few clothes and some food, nothing more.

Once everyone was informed of the evacuation, his men began to reinforce the gates at the main roads into the city and the walls around the city before their upcoming departure. He only had about two hundred men left in his ranks, but they each did the work of three men that day. He was proud of what they had done in such a short time.

The Peacekeepers, along with several of the men from the city, had dug trenches around the walls and placed sharpened stakes in them to deter the use of ladders. They covered trenches with a thin cloth and spread some dirt over them so they went unseen. The men dug several rows of ditches that were waist deep further out from the walls and poured them full of crude oils. They laid thin branches over the tops and covered them with sackcloth and then covered the cloth with a thin layer of dirt as well.

The trenches were to be lit by archers after the attack began. The group then built two rows of small walls with sharpened tips outside the main wall using timbers from the nearby woods in an attempt to funnel the attackers to the main roads and keep them from surrounding the city. They strengthened the main gates by adding more timbers to them to help slow a breach if the enemy brought a ram to assault the gates.

It was about an hour until sunset and his scouts reported the enemy advancing. Most of the citizens of the city and the neighboring farms along with most of the peacekeepers had already loaded onto the barges and fishing vessels and had set sail for the capital city. The captain wanted to seek aid from the king and his men. They were loading the last of the farmers, along with more supplies, when the scouts reported in.

Captain Bridgewater and a select few of his best men stayed behind with one small fishing boat for their escape. He wished that Jeremiah was with him and he hoped that he was safe. He had left with the scouts and had not returned from his mission to bring his wife and family to safety inside the walls.

The captain placed his three best archers atop the walls near the gates with night arrows and a small brazier with fires burning so they could light them in a hurry. They tied ropes to the top of the walls and dropped them to the streets below for a quick retreat. They coated the walls with oils and after the attack was to begin, they were to knock over the braziers before they retreated.

The captain left one man to guard their escape vessel and to prepare it to sail. Captain Bridgewater, with two of his men, waited atop the bell tower in the center of the city. From there they could see the entire city and the advancement of the army from outside the walls. They waited for the enemy to arrive.