Daggers in the Dark (Book 3 of Hanthalah)

Chapter 17

I gripped the rail of the prow, squinting in the wind as I grinned widely, studying the Cretan shore that came into view. Abu al-A'war, who was the general in command of this entire raid, had sent a number of ships in advance some days earlier in a mission of reconnaissance. The intelligence concerning the eastern shore they returned with provided us with the necessary knowledge to coordinate an attack. We decided to strike two adjacent guard towers protected with three massive Roman warships.

My breath caught in my throat as I recognized the monstrous design of the galley known as the dromon. It was by far the most dangerous sort of ship to deploy as well as the most expensive to manufacture and maintain.

These ships were even more impressive than any dromon I'd ever encountered beforehand. A dromon usually hosted any number of men upward eighty rowers and roughly the same number in sailors. By my estimate, all three of the bastards were manned by one hundred and twenty oarsmen and almost the same number in regular troops, armed with bows and javelins. The hulking monstrosities even boasted of towering constructions to either side of the masts. They were fort-like towers where archers were perched atop the battlements and would shower the enemy with any number of missiles.

Towers on ships! By the gods...

The dromons were huge. My concerns about boarding had just materialized; their railings were far above us. We would need to clamber up the hull to hop onto their deck, under the mercy of the Romans all the while. Boarding would not be an option. And there were archers atop the towers on the coast as well.

A brute force strategy could not be implemented.

The Romans aboard the ships numbered anywhere from six hundred to eight hundred. All packed in just three vessels. It would not be foolish to predict a tamer estimate of the men on the shore; any number upward a hundred, perhaps?

Abu al-A'war and I had some one hundred and fifty ships between us. That was a figure between three and five thousand fighting men. We outnumbered them considerably. However, our numerical advantage would be mitigated here. The towers and ships were sheltered between two rocky crags.

Behind them was acres of dense concentrations of trees, and further beyond, the promise of spoils.

The sun momentarily glinted on the polished white stone of a distant city, glimmering with hues of gold and silver that sent my mouth running.

We needed to use our numbers to our advantage. Storming the cove between the rocky outcrops would be beyond foolish. If we found another way, it should be one that avoids any close naval combat with the three ships. Boarding, as I mentioned before, would be reckless and costly. Even if we were to encircle the ships, our overwhelming numbers may potentially only serve to hinder us. An improvised naval attack could be disastrous in the slightest misstep, and there was sure to be one.

For instance, our ships could potentially collide with one another; if we were not careful with our volleys, tens of our own would be struck down by friendly arrows. Also, those fortifications on the ships would prove fatal if we allowed them to sail near us. One ship could dish out considerable damage to more than one enemy ship simultaneously by having each tower focus on one side, while the archers on deck were free to spray steel and iron down upon us. Even if we managed to pull off a win, it would be at great cost in lives and resources. And this would be only the beginning of our adventure here in Crete; it would demoralize us from raiding further into the island or even pursuing our other goals in the Mediterranean.

We prided ourselves in our speed and mobility. We could not use either in this cramped space, even if we managed to lure the ships out of their nook. We simply numbered too many. We needed to divide ourselves. I said as much to Abu al-A'war, the commanding general. Our ships floated side by side, overlooking the distant shore as we both leaned over our rails to discuss our plan.