Chapter 36: Inferno
*****
"That right there is going to be one tough nut to crack."
Jack winced as the words were said out loud by Art, but he couldn't help but agree with him internally. At this very moment, Jack, Art, Greg, and Lindy were lying prone in a field outside of Kalmar, appraising the defenses of the Galician capital. It was close to late afternoon and already the sun was starting to descend on the western horizon, framing the city with an otherworldly glow.
Not much had happened since the anticlimactic naval "battle" from several days ago. Other than the fact that the Kalmar Task Force now made up an integral part of Jack's fleet, the city of Kalmar was still in the hands of Eric Rosdahl, and by the looks of things, they were determined to hold onto it for as long as possible.
"What do you think, Lindy?" asked Jack. "You were headquartered in Kalmar for most of your professional career. You know the city better than anyone. What are your thoughts on this one?"
Lindy's head shook from side to side as a difficult look appeared on his face. "Jack, I hate to say it but Art is right. Rosdahl can really make our forces bleed in taking the city if he really wants to. The long and short of it is that the city is an ideal defensive ground, and a lot of that is due to the fact of simple geography."
"You're talking about how the city rises in elevation the higher you get to the Castle, aren't you?" asked Jack.
Lindy nodded. "Correct. Now we can rain mortars and artillery on the city all day long but the fact of the matter is that every building we damage will allow the defenders to swarm into the ruins and make their defensive position even stronger. Not to mention the fact that they will always have an uphill advantage that we will not."
"Or the fact that they outnumber us right now," added Greg. "We can hardly make an assault with our kind of numbers."
"I'd rather not make an assault at all if we don't have to," said Jack. "I'd like to replicate the same success we had back at sea. I want us to look strong enough that we give the soldiers on that side some serious qualms about wanting to fight us."
"We may not be so fortunate this time around," said Art softly. "The men of the army are more closely linked to Eric Rosdahl than they were in the navy. The army is his playground. That's not mentioning the fact that he's been a tyrant for most of his rule, but generally he favors the army above all other things."
"He knows which side his bread is buttered," muttered Lindy. "As long as the army is there to protect him from the mob, he'll reward them when he can."
"And he generally has," agreed Art. "I don't think we'll see a mass desertion the way we did with the navy."
"Maybe not but I'm still betting we'll see desertions," said Jack. "To what degree it'll be, I don't know, but an all-out assault is our last option."
None of the other three had anything else to say to that comment, and Jack supposed he didn't blame them. There weren't many options that saw Kalmar come into their hands with the city still intact and without a lot of bloodshed.
Even still, they'd come all this way just to force Eric Rosdahl out of power. There had to be a way to get him out of the city even if it was a defender's paradise.
Jack and the rest of the commanders spent another half hour appraising the defense before he retired back to camp. The camp that they'd made was positioned on a small peninsula some distance from the city. The highlight of the position was that it could be defended by sea, which put Jack's temporary lack of numbers in the best possible position. He also found it unlikely that Rosdahl would leave the safety of Kalmar so he wasn't concerned with the possibility of an attack.
Despite the odds in front of them, Jack's force was arguably in the best shape it had ever been in. He had his best soldiers with him--his crack regiments made up of Galicians and Javan marines--as well as having a full task force that now consisted of eleven battleships and twenty-one cruisers, amidst a host of smaller vessels too.
It was one of the largest naval commands in the world. The ships under Jack's personal command now numbered close to half of the Javan fleet, the world's largest navy. To think that he'd started this whole adventure almost two years ago with two cruisers and a destroyer was nothing short of overwhelming.
With everything going so right, it was his hope that ridding Galicia of Eric Rosdahl would finally allow them the freedom to take the war to the Swabians, that is, as long as such a task was still possible.
Jack didn't dwell on it for very long. He took a meager dinner once the sun was down and answered some dispatches until it was time for bed. He soon crawled next to Abigail but as he did so, he noticed that Kat's spot was empty. Since the bassinet was empty as well, it could only mean she was up somewhere with the baby, something that only barely registered in his mind. It was common these days for Kat to sleep in a smaller room so she didn't wake the other two when John woke up to nurse.
"There you are," muttered Abigail as he slipped into bed. She draped her arm around his chest and nuzzled her face against his shoulder. "I was beginning to think you'd never come to bed."
Jack chuckled lightly. "You know it's only nine o'clock, right?"
She nuzzled even closer. "Feels like it's much later."
"What time did Kat leave?"
"About a half hour ago, I suppose," answered Abigail. "John started to fuss and she took him out of the room."
Jack nodded without saying anything. As much as he wanted all of them sleeping in the same room for now, he was a little thankful that she took John out of the room when he started to cry. He had no idea how disturbing a crying baby could be to a regular sleep schedule but he'd gotten a firm lesson in it the last month.
"I hope she comes back here once John is settled," murmured Jack as he got comfortable.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait long for Kat to return. He was sleeping for no more than fifteen minutes when he heard her enter the room and slip into bed with only a small amount of rustling. In that moment, Jack let out a satisfying sigh as he felt Kat's arm wrap around him as the rest of her body pressed against his back.
Something felt oddly different though. She felt warmer if that was possible, and Jack was startled awake when Kat's hand dipped low enough to start playing with his cock.
The sudden movement caused him to jerk and he turned around to find her wearing a playful look.
"What are you doing?" he whispered as she continued to play with him.
Kat grinned. "I would have thought that was obvious by now, my love."
Jack looked over to see the bassinet was empty. "Where's John?"
Her wandering hands continued to tease him. "Vera told me she'd watch him for the night. She wanted to give us a little privacy, and I gladly took her up on the offer. I figured we could have a little fun."
Even still, he was tempted to block her hand. "Don't get me all wound up. It's not like we can have sex right now."
