I had to stand. 'Your grace, don't you see that I can't bring all my men to Legnica, either? I have a major force in my boats on the Vistula. I cannot bring those boats overland to the Odra. They must be used in eastern Poland or not be used at all! The aircraft will be far more useful than you now realize, but we only have one airport! That airport is near Okoitz, which is east of Legnica, and if it is overrun, the planes are useless! My infantry needs the railroads to travel quickly. We have built extensive tracks along the Vistula and through the Malapolska Hills, the area that we will need to defend first. If we can win there, western Poland is safe. But the railroad net is thin in western Poland and nonexistent in many areas. We haven't had time to expand it yet. My men can not effectively fight in western Poland!'
'So. You, too, Conrad?'
'Your grace, I am not abandoning you, but don't you realize what the radios and the rails mean? It is not necessary for all of us to be in the same spot for us to be together! With good communications, we can work in concert even though we are hundreds of miles apart.'
'Count Conrad, I don't understand what you're saying. But what I do know is that every man true to me will join me at Legnica before the first of March!'
With that he got up and left, and the council of war was never called again. Instead of one Polish Army, there were now three of them. Those in the east under Duke Boleslaw, those in the west under Duke Henryk, and those men sworn to me. We were in pieces before the Mongols had even arrived.
Chapter Fourteen
There wasn't much time for marital bliss. Not with the war just weeks away. Francine moved into Hell with me, but that was only temporary. The. place for her when it started was Three Walls, only she didn't see it that way. She had visions of herself being a female power behind the throne.
We were arguing about that one night in bed. 'Look, love. Three Walls is my home. It's where I normally live and work. It's also my biggest installation, and my best defended. On top of all that, it's the one farthest back. Before the Mongols dare attack it, they must first destroy East Gate. Then they must take out Sir Miesko's formidable manor, as well as Hell, or they have an enemy at their rear. They'd even be well advised to destroy Okoitz before they tried to take Three Walls. It's a matter of simple geography.'
'Geography, yes. But not politics. It would be best if I were in Cracow. There I can do you some good.'
'I don't need you to do me any good. I need you to be alive. You will have a much better chance of staying that way at Three Walls.'
'You have no feeling for the politics of the situation.'
'I don't give a damn about the politics of the situation! The city walls at Cracow are made of old crumbly bricks. They are only three stories high, and they are defended by only two dozen guns. Do you know what came into the office today? An order from the city fathers of Cracow for two thousand swivel guns, to be shipped immediately! They should have placed that order two years ago! Then it could have been filled! Now, I could fill it only by stripping the guns from the walls of other cities, and I won't do it!'
'You see? If you had understood the politics there, you could have sold them those guns at the time, yes?'
'It's not that I wanted to sell them the guns! I've never made a penny selling arms and armor! It's just that the city is weak and the people there don't have much chance if they're attacked. You are going to Three Walls. I am your husband and you will obey me in this!'
'What happened to letting each other live our own lives?'
'I'm still for it! But you have to be alive before you can live! Now shut up and go to sleep. I have other things to worry about.'
'What other things, my darling?'
'Treason, for one. There is no way that I can obey the duke and retreat to Legnica. That move would destroy the usefulness of everything that I've done here. I must disobey him.'
'So. This must be?'
'Absolutely. There is no way around it. I wish I could obey him, and after the war I hope he still wants me for a vassal, but his battle plan is Just Plain Awful.'
'Then perhaps I should be going to Legnica, yes?'
'No! You are not going anywhere but Three Walls. And 1, well, I'm going to Okoitz in the morning.'
'And why do you go to Lambert, whom you do not like anymore?'
'I go there to add conspiracy to my treason, and compound it with sowing disaffection among the duke's loyal men. If I'm going to send out the riverboats to hold the Vistula, and maybe even the Bug, I'm going to need the aircraft to help patrol the area and watch for the enemy. Lambert is in solid control of the boys at Eagle Nest, so I have to talk him into joining me.'
'And you say that you do not care for politics.'
'I don't. And I'm sure not looking forward to tomorrow's meeting.'
At Okoitz, Lambert was effusive.
'Ah, my dear Conrad! It's so good to see you again! I trust you've come for your usual monthly visit. I want you to look over our defenses here one more time. Those old women you sent to teach my girls how to defend the place seem to know what they're about, but defense is really a man's business, what?'
'I'd be happy to go over the defenses, my lord, but there's another matter to be discussed.'
'Now, what's this 'my lord' nonsense? I thought we agreed to treat each other as equals, as brothers, even!'
'Sorry, Lambert. Just habit, I suppose.'
'Good! Now, what was this other matter?'
'Treason.'
'Dog's blood! Whose?'
'Mine. Maybe yours as well.'
'What the devil are you talking about?'
'I'm talking about the duke's battle plan. You were at the council of war. You saw what happened, and you heard what I had to say. It still goes. If I follow the duke's plan, everything I've done here is wasted. Poland will fall and most of us, the duke included, will likely be killed. I'm going to have to disobey him.'
'I see. But you've always had an obligation to a Higher Power.'
'What do you mean?' I said.
'Prester John, of course! I figured out who sent you here long ago. The greatest Christian king of all, Prester John.'
Good lord! Lambert told me about this fantasy of his nine years ago, but he hadn't mentioned it since, so I'd hoped he'd forgotten about it. Yet my oath to Father Ignacy still stood, and I couldn't tell him the truth of the matter.
'You are silent,' Lambert continued. 'Well, I understand your problem and your oath of silence. But to answer your implied question, I'd say that your duty to your king takes precedence over your later oath to the duke, so you are safe on moral grounds. As to the practical considerations, well, if your strategy is fight and the duke's is wrong, then you will be a hero and there won't be much he can do to you. If the duke's strategy is right and yours is wrong, then you are likely to die on the battlefield, and again there won't be anything he can do to you. Offhand, I'd say that your treason is a safe one.'
As safe as a tomb, I thought.
'Thank you. but I didn't come here for your moral support. I came here for your physical support. My boats are going to need your aircraft to show them where the enemy is concentrating. Can I count on your help here, though it be treason on your part?'
'You can count on my help and that of the boys from Eagle Nest. We'll be up there, you may be sure! But how
