Chapter eighteen
I am peremptory with Princess ThefiThe high command of Hamal had no secret master plan to defeat the invasions. The story was a cleverly concocted propaganda exercise. I gripped the edge of the map table and stared wolfishly at the sculptured contours, the greenery denoting vegetation, the winding of rivers and the clumping of mountains that formed a miniature model of Hamal. Scattered across the land lay markers of various colors. These were representative of the armies and air fleets that marched and flew. These were the secrets.
The Hamalese had disposed their forces according to sound military doctrines, operating on interior lines, dispersing to march, concentrating to fight, keeping on the move so as not to exhaust the country.
It was all laid out. Broad arrows ma
