22 griffons stood in a darkly lit room, surrounding a table that had a detailed map of the surroundings around the city. Bismarck was uncomfortable in having sergeants in his war room, as normally only generals and field marshals would be allowed to be in it. However, he had to make do with what he had, which meant he had to make a majority of the decisions himself.
"We've brought the scouts as requested," A griffon walked into the room, following them were the two griffons who had spotted the approaching army.
"Good, what's the situation?" Bismarck stared at the two nervous griffons who couldn't stop fiddling with their collars.
"Well... We've found an army approaching west-side from the forests towards our city-"
"Are they hostile?" Bismarck asked, ready to explode on the scouts if they turned out to be peaceful.
"Their armour was choked with blood, and their swords were already unsheathed with splotches of dried blood." The other scout responded, allowing the other to relax slightly.
"How many did you see?" Bismarck placed a claw under his beak, slightly concerned about the number of bodies they would need to clean up.
"We saw around 2000 sir, however, we aren't entirely sure, as the trees obstructed our view." The scouts relayed, which made Bismarck sink deeper in thought.
Guess they will become fertiliser then...
"It doesn't matter, does it? We have better weapons don't we?" The other scout questioned, unsure as to why Bismarck looked concerned.
"It matters because we will be stretched thin, isn't that right Bismarck?" Hett playfully sang to Bismarck, which was responded by a groan from Bismarck.
How long will it take for this rockhead to be serious?! Bismarck mentally complained, as Hett seemed to be express the opposite reactions every time something happened, and his positivism was annoyingly repetitive.
"We may have better weapons, but they can just fly over us or around us to the city through gaps in our lines." Hett concluded seriously, "We will need to position our troops in a way that can both stop the enemy in the air and the ground, as well as spreading them out to cover all angles."
Bismarck was impressed with Hetts' evaluation, only if this transferred to his personality.
"That's right, we will win every engagement, however, it depends solely on the enemy if they decide to attack or go around us." Bismarck supplemented, which made the scouts nod in agreement. "Anyways, could you please point towards the place the enemy is approaching from?"
"Ah yes! Of course!" The scouts broke out of their motion and quickly pointed towards the forests in the west of the city.
"By that distance, it would take them at least 2 days to reach the city..." A sergeant said, leaning forward.
"My lieutenants' thought exactly, also did you happen to see anything else?" Bismarck asked the scouts,
"Nothing too special sir, majority of their soldiers were poorly armed, but the ones who did had some decent equipment."
"If that's all, you are dismissed." Bismarck quickly saluted the scouts, who saluted in response and wheeled around to leave the war room. Once the door closed, Bismarck turned to face his staff.
"Do any of you have an idea of what to do in this situation?" Bismarck asked his inexperienced staff sergeants.
They all looked at each other confused, talking and negotiating was out of the question, and they had never really fought before in their lives. However, Bismarcks' strict education of military thoughts and theories had paid off, as they weren't entirely clueless on what to do.
"Defending such a wide front with the disadvantage in numbers is impossible." A sergeant concluded, making Bismarck nod in agreement.
"We have to attack, but surrounding them in the forests is unlikely, as many could slip away towards the city." Another nod from Bismarck.
"Artillery will be ineffective in the thick forests, however, we may be able to disintegrate their lines if they are marching in tight columns." Another sergeant correctly assessed.
"If they fly above the forests, we can shred them with shrapnel shells from our mortars and field guns." A sergeant helpfully reminded.
"Good, good. They are indeed great factors in our strategy, but we are yet to piece them together. Hett? What do you think Hett?" Bismarck turned towards his lieutenant, who was currently scratching his beak in deep thought.
"We have to push them out the forests..." Hett concluded, which made Bismarck pique with interest,
"How will you do that?"
"We will control the ground, and intentionally leave the air open." Hett finished, his eyes brightening up with an idea, "They will be forced to take to the skies if we concentrate our entire force in the forests, and once they're up, we can blow them up with shrapnel!"
"We will then dig trenches to protect ourselves from the bombardment." A sergeant added,
"Our armoured squad will then approach from behind to cut down anygriff who decides to run away on land." Another chimed in,
"Brilliant! I couldn't have thought of a better plan!" Bismarck applauds, which garnered a proud smirk from all the officers present.
"You are now dismissed officers, prepare your defences immediately, as I won't be helping you for this one." Bismarck waved as the officers, which raised several brows.
"Why is that?" Hett asked curiously,
"See this as your final test, as I'm in a dire need of generals and field marshals," Bismarck muttered out tiredly, as he had to organise everything so far himself, which made him wish he had some other griffon to delegate his task to.
All the sergeants and Hett brightened up at this, as they finally had the opportunity to prove themselves to earn their leaders' respect.
"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE DISMISSED!" Bismarck yelled out playfully, however, all of his staff took it dead seriously and scrambled out the war room to hastily organise their squads.
I missed this so much... Bismarck reminisced, as he memorised a time, not so long ago when he used to boss around his inferiors similarly. He eyed the map once more to ensure he didn't miss anything important and turned slowly towards the door.
We need a national anthem... He thought.