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"Mind Ring" (Solution)
Two things are repeatedly apparent in this problem: first, the enemy outnumbers us; second, the enemy is disorganized. As Captain Kiltor's insight shows, the troops have obviously had some instruction, but there don't seem to be any admiral-type figures directing the swarms. Right now, the enemy troops are running on pure excitement, so if we can force them to doubt themselves, it will substantially reduce their fighting ability.
This requires a common military maneuver: make your strong units look as weak as possible, and your weak units look as strong as possible, then demonstrate the strength of your strong units so that the enemy will imagine that your weak units are unbelievably powerful. In this case, the way you do this is by fighting with a small squad of elites and displaying a horde of greens. I'm not going to do exactly this, but keep it in mind.
It is also important to note at this time that unless otherwise noted, all of these plans are executed simultaneously, or as soon as possible based on obvious conditions included in the plan. Just because I outline a long-winded maneuver for a small group of troops doesn't mean the rest of the army is sitting there twiddling their thumbs.
However, before we try to turn the tables on the enemy, we have to make sure they can't do the same thing to us again, breathing new life into their armies even as they're consumed with despair. In short, we have to neutralize THEIR secret weapon, which, as Scout Dilth discovered, is located behind the waterfall. Those dozen troops aren't going to defeat an army no matter how good their weapons are, but they could provide encouragement to our enemies or a distraction to our troops at a fatal moment, which could prove disastrous. Fortunately, no one should have realized that we discovered them, since the only piece of equipment in a water fight that would "stop working" when dipped into a waterfall is probably a radio. With a little luck, radios are expensive enough that this special ops team would only be furnished with one.
Therefore, the trick is to isolate and destroy the dozen well-armed enemy soldiers behind the water fall, preferably without attracting notice. Scout Dilth is to run like crazy and keep as many of those troops as possible away from their stash as long as possible, while General Esthrat's five elite spies (who don't have much else to do in this battle anyway) make their way over and carefully ambush and assassinate the enemy squad. They can use Scout Dilth's radio to check in, because whether Dilth is alive by the time they arrive or not, his radio should still be there. If those spies are really so elite, they should be able to come up with the specifics of a good plan on their own (spies have to be good at independent operation), and will do a far better job on the spot than I could do in advance, so I'll let them handle it. Similarly, they themselves should know best which weapons they can make the best use of, so the may have their choice of the available weapons.
For the moment, there don't seem to be any opponents trying to join up with this special detachment. Though we cannot discount the possibility of some sort of "back door" entrance that got them there in the first place, its unlikely that the group will receive any more troops at this point except by joining up with the main body of the force; if they had just been left there as a guard while a larger force took this same "back door," there wouldn't have been a dozen fools getting their equipment wet, there'd be two or three disciplined soldiers. Frankly, I'd expect disciplined soldiers in any case, but this army doesn't look like it does well on discipline.
Anyway, it is quite likely that some body of troops from the front lines will try to fight their way back to this cache, if they haven't already. Our defense on the near side of the river, for the moment, seems to be blocking any enemy traffic, so we should have a sufficient head start to have the spies render useless most of the equipment and set up an ambush, unless the opponents come up along the far side of the river. If this happens, they should be spotted by Esthrat's now-vigilant men, and as many of Esthrat's remaining troops as are necessary (using the combatants before the snipers, of course) will follow the spies up to the area to help with the encounter. Meanwhile, Scout Dilth (if he survives; one of the spies in the likely instance that he doesn't) stands watch while the (rest of the) spies empty water guns, disassemble slingshots, and destroy water balloons so that the equipment horde will be as difficult to use if re-captured by the enemy (they do, of course, leave just enough to make use of in the ambush they set for any enemy troops who come up).
When the sentry gives the alarm or everything (except what they plan to use) has been rendered as inoperable as possible, they quickly set up an ambush using high-powered weapons, probably one of the slingshots, and any traps (such as mines, etc., once again they should already be good at this sort of thing) that they can manage to set up. They do as much damage as possible to any troops who come up, and if possible kill any enemies who try to get away in a confrontation, so that they cannot get word back. They should use their radio to signal every time a combat begins and every time it ends, but should remain there guarding unless some strange unforseen circumstance/opportunity presents itself.
Once the spies use the radio to report that the dozen guards have been defeated, Esthrat's soldiers no longer pay any attention to what happens up there, unless it is quite obvious that it is retaken quickly enough that the weapons will still be useful, as this could significantly detriment the rest of my plans and would warrant pulling as many troops as necessary to take it back, at any time, unless doing so would put into imminent peril the safety of the HQ. At that point, Esthrat should lead any of his combatants not sucked up in the previous assignment down to the hills and take command of Bremmon's defense, since he doesn't really seem to know what to do with it. Esthrat's snipers should circle around behind the Wall and help with the plan that I am about to explain. Esthrat will have to divide the equipment based on his troops' specific skills and which equipment the spies took with them, but the snipers should have weapons appropriate to their function. The snipers should also take any of the 5 extra weapons not being used by someone else as an additional sidearm, as well as 2 or 3 of the slingshots and an appropriate ration of water balloons. The use of all this extra equipment to a party of snipers will be discussed later.
Right now, the defense at the Wall is succeeding ONLY because of serious tactical negligence on the part of whoever planned the attack, and we obviously need to find some way to break off that encounter and make better use of the troops.
Captain Kiltor is to have his troops retreat to the very rear end of the wall and get partway down, taking at least the 3000s and 1500s, but grabbing any other equipment they can easily carry. I'm going to be pessimistic and assume that there's only about 45 surviving troops. They should make sure they're far enough back that they cannot be seen by the enemies on the ground in front of the Wall, but they should spread out and make sure they quickly shoot down anyone who shows his/her face above the Wall. This will drastically reduce their casualties and should still prevent anyone from passing the wall; however, because they won't be exchanging as much fire, several troops who were attacking them -- the more heavily armed ones, if our enemies have even a hint of tactical sense (though that is by no means certain at this point), will be shunted to one side or the other, to be dealt with by the other defenders. Therefore, any troops not needed (in Kiltor's experienced judgment) to keep the enemies from swarming up the Wall and breaking through our defenses should quickly join Commander Bremmon's defenders on the hills to the west, since he sorely needs reinforcements.
If any of them have any experience in covert ops to speak of (and are not already too tired out), it may be helpful for them to circle around and make their way stealthily along the river bank to the bridge, at which point they should be in a position to get a very high kill-to-death ratio against the enemies attacking Bremmon's forces. This idea, of course, will probably not work well unless the river bank provides significant cover (it would have to have thick reeds or something), so if conditions are not appropriate, it should not be carried out. If the bank provides some cover from enemy fire but insufficient concealment to make a surprise attack, a brave soldier or two could be sacrificed in a diversion which (given the enemy excitement levels) may reduce the concentration of enemy forces on the front lines enough to give Bremmon's defenders a break.
Meanwhile, we have Lt. Cmdr. Jackson's troops to deal with. We radio him his orders AND the orders for Lt. Tont (both of which will also be explained later), since Tont has no radio. A courier from Jackson's troops runs over to Tont to deliver the orders. In addition, 14 of Jackson's best snipers take the remaining open passage back towards HQ to circle around behind the Wall, where they will stay, offer any assistance necessary, and prepare to execute the key maneuver in my battle, which will be explained even later. Of the remaining 30 troops, 15 (which will have to be enough to pull off a surprise attack) retain their previous assignment of being prepared to mow down from behind any enemies who rush up the empty passage (given the enemies' disorganization, its quite possible they haven't moved on that path yet simply because they don't feel like it), and will operate under the command of the highest-ranking (or most experienced) officer under Jackson who has not already left on another assignment. Jackson's 15 remain there even if the enemy charges, though he may send 5 additional troops up if the situation grows desperate and may send his entire force up if most or all of the enemies try to take that route (which is unlikely, but possible). Otherwise, he remains there, also waiting for the signal to engage in the gambit I'm setting up for later.
Tont's orders are to lay low and watch for the signal for my plan, as well. He should shift weapons around for maximum combat effectiveness for making a suicide charge against a superior force, which would, of course, include making sure that the best shot had the 1000 and enough water to use it (unless of course the best shot has some combat deficiency that would disqualify him, such as an inability to dodge).
Meanwhile, Sgt. Hanson is under attack. His most valuable troop, of course, is Rithben, who is on trial (and who, by the way, I sincerely hope the judge or jury finds to be innocent). Rithben is to be immediately released on my authority by radio, and he is to join any surviving defenders at the northeast perimeter point (this side being opposite the one from which the attack came). Because of the problems in communication with Patrol Five, we can assume that either the short-range radio used by Patrol Five has been damaged by water, or the enemies are somehow jamming communications, so Hanson should give as much information as he can (not exceeding the bounds of necessity, for time's sake), because in either case the enemies should not have an operable radio of ours in their possession. Rithben should carry with him the LR radio, and swap this for the weapon of one of the surviving defenders (if Hanson doesn't know who should be deprived of their sidearm and made a communications officer, Rithben can pick someone arbitrarily and claim it was ordered by Hanson). These troops, under Rithben's command (because he is obviously fit for command, except for an inability to rigidly follow orders), should move stealthily, avoid enemies, and get as close to the enemy force attacking Bremmon's position from across the bridge without being noticed. At this point, they radio in their status and also wait for the signal to begin my primary plan.
Sgt. Hanson should remain in the courthouse with the civilians, hold out for as long as possible, and generally make it seem like there are as many defenders guarding the building as possible, thereby creating a diversion and a delay. Admittedly, I don't expect this to be particularly successful against such disorganized and frenzied troops, especially considering he apparently has only a 25 at his disposal. If he is killed, the nearest civilian is to pick up his weapon and continue fighting until everyone has been killed or the weapon's water supply has been exhausted.
Meanwhile, all troops of any fighting ability at the HQ should take what weapons they can carry south and join Captain Kiltor's forces behind the Wall. If the winning condition are to capture the HQ, a small veteran garrison should remain to guard any stray troops who might break through our lines. If the winning condition is to kill the marshall (me), we leave the HQ completely abandoned and I go hide in the forests to the northeast. Once we meet up with Esthrat's snipers, the troops previously stationed at the HQ can make use of the sniper's extra equipment, including setting up the giant slingshots. These troops, as well, are in position for my plan.
Once everyone with a working radio has reported in as being ready, and we allow a reasonable time gap for the messenger to get from Jackson's force to Tont's, we can begin. By this time, enemies should no longer be streaming into the battle -- all (or almost all) of the troops should have already joined the fray. If they haven't, either they've spread their forces too thin, and we should now be winning, which makes my plan unnecessary, or we're outnumbered twenty-seven thousand to one and my plan is moot. The signal is water balloons flying up over the Wall into the enemy's forces.
As soon as that happens, any forces still at Jackson's location make a mad dash towards the main body of the enemy force, inflicting as much damage as they can along the way. Simultaneously, Rithben leads his squad in a rear strike against the forces attacking Bremmon's position over the bridge, and Tont's group gets the center of the enemy's back. As soon as the enemy troops anywhere near the front lines show any sign of distraction, all the troops at Bremmon's position (now under Esthrat's command) charge, and all of Captain Kiltor's original forces, Esthrat's snipers, and the 14 troops Jackson sent behind the Wall rush up, firing madly, and leap (or climb, if necessary) down into the fray. The troops pulled from HQ climb atop the wall and man the slingshots or guard the wall -- the key thing is that they STAY THERE instead of charging like everybody else.
The enemy horde is now being chaged recklessly by forces of significant size from five directions at once. That's enough to destroy any remaining semblance of order (if we assume that any figure of authority capable of controlling the enemies at this point would have acted to organize them much earlier, and therefore must not be present), and will hopefully damage their morale enough and sow enough chaos throughout their ranks that their combat effectiveness is low enough for us to win. Our troops should spread out to a certain degree, throw water at the enemies like there's no tomorrow (since most of them will die rather than run out of ammunition), and hit every enemy they can. If they have to fire towards the vacinity of an ally, use short, controlled bursts. The officers should give a little pep talk before the battle, cause once this starts, there's no controling it until the number of troops drops to a tiny fraction of what it is now, at which point (hopefully) things are already pretty much over.
At this point, if we still have control of the enemy's cache behind the waterfall and there are no more troops visibly heading toward it, we send a radio signal to the spies telling them to carry as much equipment back towards HQ with them as they can and render the less as useless as possible (if they haven't already), then to hide it. It will take them a significant amount of time to get back, so its quite possible they won't get a chance to help with the battle, but if they do, so much the better.
As with any plan, there is, of course, room for error. The main problem will occur if the enemy manages to break through our lines at any point. Fortunately, our radio contact should allow us to alert everyone immediately if this happens, but contingency plans are definately needed.
If the enemy troops break past the hills that Commander Bremmon has been guarding (which seems like the thing most likely to go wrong), any surviving defenders at that location try to take out the largest possible number of enemies before being killed. All the forces behind the Wall, as well as the troops at Jackson's position, sprint like mad back to the HQ so we can put up a last-ditch resistance effort, while the spies guarding the weapon horde remain there, but are joined by Rithben's squad to make sure our opponents cannot use that weaponry. ALL the slingshots being guarded should be dismantled and hid, and all the water balloons (except a maximum of one per defender) should be destroyed, because it is critical to limit our enemy's access to artillery weapons as much as possible. Once the enemy clears out, Tont leads his remaining forces to the front of the wall, assesses the situation, and makes the best use of his troops possible in a rear attack, hit-and-run warfare, diversions, or whatever. I'll leave that up to him. Any troops that get cut off from the HQ backtrack and join him. If the marshall (me) has retreated into the wood because the important thing is to kill him (me) rather than to capture the HQ, I circle around as far as necessary to join up with the small outpost established by my spies, if possible.
If the enemy troops manage to swarm the Wall and break through there, things will be more difficult. If the key thing is to prevent the enemies from getting the HQ, ALL surviving soldiers get back toward HQ as fast as possible. Since its unlikely they'll beat the defenders there, they conduct a fast-paced attrition war against them as both sides sprint towards HQ so that the enemy will be as diminished and as exhausted as possible by the time they reach the HQ, lest they take it without a fight. This catastrophe, fortunately, is not likely to happen, because the Wall is extremely defensible and is also the point at which the most troops cluster for my plan.
If the enemy troops get smart (*gasp*) and swarm up on the east side of the Wall in large enough quantities that the 15 remaining troops of the squad originally commanded by Jackson to guard that pass cannot catch them all, we do the same thing as if Bremmon's (now Esthrat's) lines break, except that Bremmon's (now Esthrat's) defenders will be joining us at the HQ instead of Jackson's. As soon as the order is given to break, the 15 troops under Jackson who were waiting to spring the Mind Ring are released from that responsibility and can help hamper the enemy's progress up the east-side passage.
In the unlikely instance that the enemy troops get REALLY smart and walk up the far side of the river to the second bridge, Rithben causes them as much trouble as possible on their way up, while all of our best snipers move into the forest where Esthrat was previously garrisoned and my other troops (except the spies guarding the enemy equipment horde) move back to HQ to mount a defense there. The snipers in the forest will make things hard on any enemy forces passing through there, and will fall in behind any enemies who go around and cause more trouble when they try to attack the HQ.
Well, I think that covers just about everything.
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