Marco and his commanders gathered in his cave for a secret meeting. The main focus of the meeting was to continue the debriefing with the small, middle-aged Chinese man whom they had found along one of the trails not far outside the village. The man claimed to be from Saul’s nation—the minions, he called them. Mr. Li had already shared a lot of information over a period of several days, but some of Marco’s commanders still had some doubts. So, the first order of business was to present Mr. Li to the other prisoners to see whether they recognized him.
“I only ask that you allow me to speak to them and that you not doubt my words,” stated Li.
“You can say whatever you like. As far as doubting your words, I will doubt them. When I no longer doubt them, I will let you know,” replied Marco. “Let’s go.”
With that, they all headed toward the jail, which was not far away. A detachment of ten armed soldiers accompanied them for added security.
They approached the jail, which had an outer barred gate that allowed the prisoners to look out through another inner barred gate.
“Hey, you! Big, strong man! Why you gotta keep us little men locked up in heya. Ya scared?” one of the prisoners called out as they approached.
Then, they saw Li, and excitement stirred inside as all of them crowded in front of the narrow gate to get a better look.
“Hey! It’s Mr. Li! Dang! Hey, Li! What choo doin’ wit’ deez big monkeys? You one a dem? Oriental piece a shit.”
“Get us outta heya!” another prisoner cried out.
As Li walked ahead, a Victory guard grabbed his arm to restrain him. But Marco grabbed the guard’s shoulder and nodded, indicating that he was to allow Li to approach the gate first.
“You come to get us out, Li?” asked Maggot, the leader.
“I am here to negotiate your release. They have agreed not to lock me up. You men need to be patient. I will try to get you out.” The five men howled with joy.
“Dat’s it, Li! You da man! Get us out!” There were howls of concurrence among the others.
Li turned to Marco and walked up to him so that they were out of earshot of the prisoners. “There, you see? Now can we talk further?”
“Okay, let’s go,” responded Marco, and they all turned and walked back the cave while catcalls continued to emanate from the jail behind them.
As they walked, the discussion between Li and Marco continued as the commanders tried to listen.
“You say you have escaped, and you want to join us.”
“Yes. I will give you every detail on Saul and how best to repel his attack. He will definitely come now that others have seen the size of your village. They must have returned and reported this information already, so you can assume that Saul will come immediately,” Li explained. “Saul also depends on me.
I am sorry to say that I have helped him in the past. So, I am partly responsible for many bad things that have happened. I was a coward. I looked out for myself only. Honestly, that is what I am doing now. I want to live in a civilized place like the one that I came from. It’s far away from here. I would like to stop Saul and help save your people, if I can.” The commanders listened and then waited for Marco to respond; they were not sure what to make of Li.
“Mr. Li., I want to believe that you are being honest. It is a start. We will work toward mutual trust. But we will need to restrain you at night, and you will have a twenty-four-hour guard for now. You say that you want to save us? I don’t know that we need saving, but I would like to prevent any loss of life, especially among my own soldiers.” He then turned to his commanders. “We will start to plan our defenses in the morning, with Mr. Li’s help.” With that, Marco exited the cave.
“I will be the one to keep an eye on you,” said Commander Zach, as several of his men just behind him stared at Li with suspicion. “You want to be trusted? Don’t do anything stupid.”
Li had no idea that Marco already had eyes on Saul and his perpetual humanitarian disaster. Manfred had already been sending back daily reports for several days, and they had a fix on the location and size of the military, as well as the civilian population—at least what could be estimated from a distance.
“Baggus, you get a hunnerd guys on da trail dis time— like tonight! Dey don’ come back til dey got ’em some a dose big fellas tied up. Bring ’em ta me. We gon’ negotiate an’ get ah boys back ’ere. So fa, we just givin’ all da info ta dem! Dat’s shit, man! Dat’s wolf crap. No mo! Git it goin’, you big dumb ass, ‘fore I send ya ta da butcher.”
Baggus cowered. “Yah, yah! Got it, Saul. Okay, heya we go. I will make it happ’n.”
“You fuck dis up, I will eat yer fuckin’ nuts,” emphasized Saul, his threat not meant figuratively. “Speakin’ a dat …
MEGAN! Git me some a dat new meat, will ya?” He looked back at Baggus, who was wide-eyed and appeared paralyzed. “Git the ’ell outta heya!”
Baggus made for the door.
That night, Buckley and his men were on watch. They were perched high above Saul’s village and were well away from any road. The night was clear, and there was a nearly full moon rising.
“Buck, I see movement—lots of it!” one of his men called out.
They all trained their eyes on the north edge of the village, where they saw dust rising, a sign that a great many men were on the march. They watched as the mob closed in on the mountains. So far, they couldn’t estimate the number of men, as it was too dark and they were too far away.
Buckley jumped up. “Stay here, and watch. Try to get a count,” he commanded. He then bolted off toward the north along the ridge to report to Manfred. About ten minutes later, Buckley arrived to find that Manfred and the team with him had also sighted the mob and were watching from a better vantage point.
“Buck, you saw it too?” Manfred asked. Buckley affirmed that he had. “We estimate about a hundred. Harrison, let’s send a squad back to Marco with the report now. If they keep coming west, they will already be up here by morning. If that happens, I will split us up. Two squads will move a bit south and keep watch on the village. Buck, they will be with you. The other eight will come with me, track these soldiers, and engage if necessary. Understood?”
The men split up, going into execution mode immediately. By the following morning, Manfred and his squads were repositioned and were waiting for the minions to pass through the area. They could hear them approaching long before they could see them. They were loud and undisciplined, thereby giving themselves away easily. Perched above the mob and watching the chaotic scene below, Buckley’s men remained silent and disciplined. The minion forces had weapons, supply packs, and many dogs. Victorians had few dogs, and they were mostly part of the military.
Victory operated by certain rules that involved sustainability. Although many people loved dogs, they were more of a luxury and not practical. But their sharp senses made them useful for military security related to both human intruders and wolves. Buckley and the others could see that the minions had many dogs; it was as if every other man was accompanied by one.
Buckley suddenly had concerns about the dogs— specifically, their noses and ears. He felt that he and the men were up high enough that it wouldn’t be a problem, but he wondered about Manfred’s ability to track and monitor this mob without the dogs becoming aware of their presence. As the minion mob passed through a small canyon below, Buckley watched as the dogs fanned out to investigate every inch of the terrain. He suddenly realized that Manfred needed to know his thoughts in this regard.
“I need you and Harper to very carefully get well ahead of this, find Manfred, and let him know about the dogs. I want to make sure they keep a large enough distance,” Buckley whispered Rusty, his second in command.
Rusty moved carefully as he went to enlist Harper for this urgent task. Meanwhile, the squad that was carrying the report to Marco had already passed two incoming relief crews and a “mule” team, alerting them to stand down and lie low temporarily. It would still be two days before Marco would receive word of the incoming troops.
“Dogs?” asked an incensed Marco.
“Yes, dogs,” replied Mr. Li.
“That’s how they take over whole nations? Whole societies? With dogs?” asked Marco, looking for perfect clarity.
“It is not hard to understand. The dogs are trained. They are loyal, and they are always hungry. It is hard to hide from dogs when there are many. And, even more important, when they have many dogs, they can venture quite far. They eat the dogs, you see.”
Marco stared and listened with unflinching incredulity.
Li explained, “So not only are there a few thousand soldiers but also an army of dogs—perhaps another thousand or more. I regret to tell you that this practice was not conceived by Saul. It came from my people. But we were a small tribe. Saul overran us easily. He then adopted our way and demanded that his people adopt them too. He could see the brilliance of our ways on a massive scale. Dogs hunt for themselves; they move in groups and find their own prey. But, at the same time, each dog is loyal to one man above all other men and even above all other dogs. The man only has to give the dog small bites of jerky to earn the animal’s love, but the dog must survive for itself.” Li continued, “You know you can kill your own dog, and even as your blade takes away his last breath, he still loves you. A dog is like no other animal.”
Marco paused silently, thinking and absorbing. “So, their dogs … they attack? Is that how they fight? The dogs do the fighting?”
“Not so much. Some dogs attack, but most do not,” explained Li. “They mostly eliminate any element of surprise, and if needed, they serve as food. It may not sound like much, but it allows large numbers of men to move without fear of ambush nor fear of hunger.”
“And the men don’t mind eating their own dogs?”
Marco asked, puzzled.
“The men do love their dogs, but they know it is the way. It is understood from the beginning. And, quite honestly, even the most barbaric and crazy of the men prefer eating dog meat over human meat.” Li paused for effect.
“Human? You mean …?”
“The soldiers in the village are not allowed to eat dogs if there are still prisoners in the pen. Only soldiers out on a march are allowed to eat dogs. So, the soldiers always prefer to march.
Saul knows this. He uses it as encouragement. Saving your people is not a certainty. You are in grave danger.”
Marco’s attitude was rapidly eroding into a feeling of dread. But he checked himself. “I wonder if Saul and his minions have encountered people such as ourselves.”
“I see the qualities of your people … very impressive in size and physical condition. Let me ask you this: are they killers?”
“They can be. We train for combat—bows, knives, spears, and hand to hand. But we normally try to avoid violence.”
“Saul’s men do not hesitate to kill other men. They do not hesitate to eat another men. Many of them are not impressive-looking nor even very skilled. But they are experienced in death. You must consider this. You may very well beat Saul, and I will help you. But it will come at a high price. I’m sorry. This is the truth, and the outcome will be very painful.”
Marco’s spirits continued to spiral downward as the two men spoke. He looked up at several of his attending commanders, all of whom were trying to appear unshaken but were clearly spooked.
“Call an emergency council meeting for tonight. I want all commanders present as well,” instructed Marco.
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