Chapter Twelve
Now, by the time The Hawk marched north, it was
late spring. It was too
late for a campaign against their final enemy, Mu. But through the hot
summer The Hawk gathered his strength.
2 The problem with attacking Mu was that most of the land was swamp.
Five small cities ringed the swampland. The four major cities were in
the vast swamp itself, built on the only high ground for hundreds of
miles.
3 The capitol city, itself, was built on several islands in the middle
of the lake, at the center of the swamp. Each island was connected by
bridges that were high above any enemy's reach.
4 Of the five cities that WERE on solid ground, only the two upper ones
were easily accessible. The rest were high in the foothills,
or through the badlands where there were many places for ambush.
5 The problem that attackers had had before, was that they could never
carry enough boats, but The Hawk had solved this problem.
6 The Epons made a boat of wooden ribs over which they stretched a
waterproof fabric. The boats were extremely light, and could be made in
many sizes. With their sitting boards removed, they could be stacked on
top of ox carts, adding little to their load.
7 As the weather cleared, and the dust storms settled, even while the
rain still fell The Hawk was marching south. His plan was simple; he
would split his army into two elements, take the two uppermost cities
Nso and Mk, then with these as bases he would sweep through the swamp
in his light boats, capturing as many of the Mu's heavy boats as he
could. When he
had enough, he would drive for the capitol.