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There is a wonderful ambush in “They Came By Night”, but one of my beta readers complained there was modern terminology which was jarring, but I explained this story happens in the future not in the past. The Merconians have a US military training manual so they have taught the Northern leaders the tactics of the ancients as shown in this excerpt:
“He had received training from the Merconians and was impressed with their tactics which were based on the writings of the ancients. He had liked the sound of the ancient terms such as ‘kill zone’.”
In the chapter “Ambush” Aravand has setup the perfect killzone to kill the Southern king when he lands on the Ceniac island. He has a crack division of volunteers eager to make a difference and, for once, the intelligence on the South has proven to be accurate. Ling Laumas and Duke Morefield are walking into his killzone with practically no defense.
“He had inspected his new command and found the men in excellent shape; despite the poor nutrition they had experienced over the winter. After arriving at the objective rallying point, he had allowed them plenty of time to fish, to strengthen their muscles and brighten their moods. All the men on this mission were volunteers. They all wanted to be the one to kill the Southern king and end this miserable war.”
…
“Fifteen hundred archers made up the initial assault element, and three thousand short swordsmen would act as the support element. There would be barely enough room for more to act on the kill zone. The rest of his command would provide a perimeter protection to forestall any surprises and secure an exit route, just in case.”
…
Aravand almost pitied them. They are all about to be butchered. They all woke up this morning and put on their clothes for the last time, kissed their loved ones for the last time, and now, on these shores, they will breathe their last breaths.
The King had reached the center of the kill zone with close to fifty men slightly behind him.
Aravand screamed the order. “Attack!”