Colonel Liberty Watershome thought about the great irony of his life as he led his troup of a hundred and twenty ants across the river to their camp on the western side. He took his time and chose the most cautious and concealed routes. Two scouts ranged far ahead seeking West River lookout positions, and reporting on enemy patrols. Avoiding all contact with West River was critical. The scouts did their job well, and by nightfall the troup arrived without incident at a sheltered dimple in the ground where they would spend the night. Pickets were deployed beyond the perimeter of the camp and a watch was set. Watershome's ants dug into their rations and waited. At dawn they would attack.
Watershome hated the war with West River. He had allied himself with Councilant Toothwort and helped plan Toothwort's mission to West River, knowing the routes better than most. As a younger soldier, he looked up to Mallow Shellblower, and became friends with the older ant when Watershome attained the rank of colonel. When Mallow became dedicated to seeking peace, Watershome followed, not out of loyalty, but because he knew the colony was failing. He saw the truth every time he returned from the field. The new recruits were younger, the workers more solemn, the Council more argumentative, the colony's children thinner. The sight of the thin little ant-children drove Watershome most on these harvest raids.
When the scouts came in for the night, Watershome called the officers together to go over plans for the morning's raid. The scouts had discovered the location of West River's current harvesting sites. Watershome would send them out again just before dawn to watch West River deploy their workers and confirm the night's information. He would wait to choose the target harvesting areas at that time. Watershome preferred very current intelligence over well-laid plans, and his missions seldom failed. The officers nodded as he spoke. They were comfortable with his choices and there were few questions. All had been out on a harvest raid before, some many times, and the officers present were all hand-picked by Watershome for this mission.
Following the briefing, the officers sat close under a broad leaf talking of past campaigns and exchanging ideas for the coming raid. This time was one of Watershome's great pleasures, that and the dawn before a fight. Watershome loved the dawn, loved seeing Sun arise once more to drive away the morning mist. Though the coming day might see great evil, the dawn was peaceful and still and untarnished, and he would not be awake to see it were it not for soldiering. This was the source of his life's irony.
Watershome sat apart from the others, pondering how he could hate war, yet love soldiering so much. He had watched harvesters work the fields all day long, doing their jobs and speaking to their companions to grumble about the work or crack a joke. It was the same with soldiers, yet unlike the workers who returned home to their families every evening, soldiers knew their lives depended on the actions of their companions. They knew that any one of them might not return from their work. Out of this grew relationships that were as strong as marriage, maybe stronger. An ant might make fun of the crooked angle of another's antenna on a night before a raid, yet fight like a possessed wasp to save that same crooked-antenna fellow in battle the next day. There was no other colony activity that built camaraderie like soldiering. When all the fighting is over and peace comes, Watershome thought, I will miss all this very much.
Eventually the officers tired of talk on the morning's action, and sat silently, listening to the night and thinking personal thoughts. Lieutenant Blueleaf began fidgeting. "Does anyone know a good story?" he asked. "Hey, Tallgrass, how about 'The Princess and the Golden Pillbug'?"
"Captain Aster does a great job with that one," Lieutenant Tallgrass said. "I know it, but I can't tell it like he does. I'd rather wait to hear it the way he tells it." Aster had been injured on the last raid and was back in the colony's infirmary recovering. After learning Aster was unavailable, Watershome had chosen the newly promoted Timothy Flintspur in his place.
"How about you, Captain?" Blueleaf persisted. Captain Hightunnel had an excellent memory and was a fair story-teller, though she rarely offered.
"Well, I don't know that one very well," Captain Hightunnel said, "But I can tell 'General Catkins and the Grand Army'. I know most of it." She was in a serious mood, and thought 'The Golden Pillbug' too light-hearted.
"Yes, that's a good one!" Blueleaf said.
Timothy nodded, for he'd never heard the whole story in full. "Yes, I'd like to hear that again myself."
Watershome was leaning against the stem of the weed that sheltered the officers, chewing sassafras root. None of the officer's knew where he got the stuff, but he was seldom without it. It was his policy to keep apart from the others at these times, knowing the presence of a commander often made the others less talkative, and he had much on his mind with the coming attack. But the conversation had taken an interesting turn and he moved forward to join the others. "Allow me, Captain. I'm sure you tell it well, but I may be able to teach you a few parts you don't know."
"By all means, sir." Captain Hightunnel was more than happy to let colonel tell the story. Though she had spoken up quickly, she was not in the mood to recount the story well.
Watershome settled in and bit off another piece of root. He sat a while, bringing the tale to mind. Despite his no-nonsense repuation, he loved to tell stories. "Let's see. Most of you have heard the story before, but there may be parts you don't know. As you may have heard, I spent time in a West River prison until the prisoner exchange we had a while back. While there I picked up some of the West River side of the story. You might find it interesting."
Definitely, the others thought. They all leaned forward.
"Well, as you know, General Catkins was probably the best general West River ever produced. There's no doubt he was the best strategist. He was thorough and never missed a detail. He wasn't a big fellow, just an average ant. And he wasn't appointed to his position either-- he was once a ranker just like those lads out there." Watershome jabbed a finger toward the troupers resting beyond the officers' sheltering leaf.
"In those days, well before our queen was even born, we were harrassing West River hard, trying to force them to bargain with us. West River's queen was young and arrogant, and she wasn't about to negotiate with a bunch of rebel ants. So they'd been countering our raids with their own. Just like nowadays we're not as large and spread out as they are, so once the alarm was sounded we pulled back to the safety of our colony pretty fast, and left them wandering-about topside with nothing to show for their river-crossing.
"It was then that a dashing West River captain approached his queen with a bold plan. He had in mind not just to end the raids, but to finish East River once and for all. He sought an audience with his queen and told her of his idea.
"'That's been tried before, Captain. You waste my time with such foolishness.' The queen of course knew her history, that West River had once before tried an assault on East River and had been thoroughly trounced.
"'Your Majesty is correct,' the captain insisted. 'It has been tried before. But that attempt was led by an inexperienced councilant and the crown did not provide the support or sufficient ants to carry out the task. And, that attempt lacked one other necessary ingredient for success.'
"'And what would that be, Captain?'
"'That would be myself, your Majesty,' he said very seriously.
"Now, you're probably thinking a queen would send such an officer away to dig tunnels, but she didn't send this fellow away. In fact, she was quite taken with his boldness and the plan he laid out before her. Maybe it was because he involved the queen directly in the planning, giving her credit for ideas that were his own. Maybe it was his personal charm. In any case, it wasn't long before Captain Catkins was made a general and given his army.
"And what an army it was! General Catkins mustered every available soldier-ant, leaving just a few older veterans and the youngest trainees to maintain order in West River and protect the royal chambers. He pulled off the stronger workers from construction and harvesting, and bullied councilants who had sheltered their sons and daughters from military duty into enlisting those same ants. The queen backed him at every stage of the operation, even allowing him to strip the larder-chambers for supplies the mission would require. For it was Catkins' plan to drive the ants of East River underground and lay seige until lack of food forced us to either surrender or come up and fight a prepared and superior force.
"How many soldiers were in the Grand Army when it departed West River? No one knows. That it was as large or larger than the entire population of East River is certain. In West River they say the column stretched from the colony to the river itself.
"General Catkins stood with the queen herself by the entrance to West River as every ant in the army came forth to begin the march. Those who were there reported it as the greatest day in their lives. The army was the most magnificent thing they had ever seen, with their sons and daughters marching away with their weapons to rid the land of the Eastern rebels. Everyone was excited, expecting the war would be over in a few days."
"Boy, were they ever wrong!" Lieutenant Blueleaf interrupted. Captain Hightunnel glared at him, but Watershome nodded at the young lieutenant's remark.
"Indeed they were. Almost as soon as he set forth, the General encountered problems. The Grand Army was so big that the column began to snarl and back-up as they reached the river's edge and many ants became confused. They were so laden with weapons and supplies that negotiating the trail down to the river proved hazardous. There were many injuries and a few deaths. Trouble didn't end there either. As the day progressed and the army marched across the riverbed, it began to rain. Not enough to endanger the army, but enough to create mud from the dried river. Soldiers lost weapons in the muck, and many carrying supplies were bogged. The General had hoped to cross quickly since the army was exposed to the Great Enemies like birds and dragonflies, but it took hours to get everyone across, and many supplies were lost in the mud.
"But get across they did, and up the eastern riverbank they climbed. Of course our scouts had reported the gathering of the Catkins' Grand Army, and the watch-ants had long since detected them crossing the river. As the army climbed the bank it was subjected to a hail of spears and stones. More ants fell on that bank than the western side, and each ant who fell made the way more difficult for the next. Sturdy experienced soldiers fought their way to the top and drove away East River's skirmishers so that the others could gain the top.
"In less than an hour after completing the river crossing, the Grand Army came within site of East River. Our soldiers harrassed them every step of the way, but there was never a question of engaging the army directly-- there were far too many ants for us to fight. The West River column was like a giant centipede slowly crawling toward us. Even the stoutest and most experienced East River soldier knew we could not attack such an opponent and win.
"All of East River fled before the Grand Army. But the army could not move fast, so there was time to take everything of value underground, leaving nothing for the army to use. Queen's Gate and High Gate were sealed and East River prepared for an assault.
"Now, General Catkins was no fool and never intended to fling his ants at East River's defenses. He deployed his army around the entrances and began his seige. He expected it would not last long. The defenders would be impressed by the size of the general's forces and would report the hopelessness of their situation to their rebel queen. After two or three days, East River would send a couple of soldiers out to inquire about terms, and that would be that.
"Three days passed, then four, then five. After a week East River had not yet inquired about terms, and General Catkins became annoyed. He had received messages from his queen asking when the colony could expect him back for the victory celebration. The inconvenient lack of a victory for the queen's celebration was a problem, but he had worse to deal with. His ants had spent a week on a hot field with little shelter. Water was being rationed, and they had exhausted the supplies they had brought with them. Food was now being shuttled all the way from West River, which took workers away from other colony duties. There was grumbling in the ranks, and many who set out with the army thinking of adventure and glory now simply wanted to go home.
"It wasn't all nectar and honey for East River either. Even with strict rationing, food was running low. Many adults were giving their shares to children. The water situation was even worse. Primary supplies were nearly depleted, and the colony was relying on condensation collected from the stone of lower Heights tunnels. With the main gates sealed and the narrow drainage tunnels plugged to prevent sneak attacks, the colony's air became stale and rank. The Council began to argue the merits of surrender, but our queen was adamant. 'You will not surrender this colony without a fight,' she said, 'And I will not live to see the surrender of this colony.' So the entrances remained closed and no soldiers came to General Catkins to inquire about terms.
"Catkins had plenty of time to survey East River. He judged the high and narrow stone entrance of High Gate to be formidable, but Queen's Gate was just as it is now, a simple earthen entrance. He decided it could be penetrated, though he would lose many ants in such an action. After ten days he'd had enough, and ordered an assault on the lower entrance to East River. The army, hot, hungry and tired of sitting, was not thrilled with the order, but at least it was not sitting, and those who survived the fighting would be able to spend a cool night underground.
"The attack went as planned. Catkins' engineers tore away at the earth of Queen's Gate while soldiers kept the defenders busy. Soon the entrance was enlarged so that more of his soldiers could be brought to bear, and the defenders were forced back to lesser positions. East River soldiers began to evacuate everyone from the lower residential levels into the stone passages of the Heights. As you can imagine, things got pretty crowded, with everyone having to pass through Caranda's Hall, which we now call Victory Hall, to get to the tunnel leading up into the Heights.
"That battle was the most costly of any fighting between our colonies. I've heard more ants lost their lives in that single battle than in all other battles combined. Every East River soldier who died there sold his life dearly. I've heard each defender accounted for at least three West River soldiers. We'd lost half our strength before we retreated into the Heights tunnel and blocked it. You can still see the marker in Victory Hall where Lieutenant Wildsky and his volunteers sacrified themselves so others could block the tunnel behind them.
"That night was the darkest in our history. The Heights aren't cozy now, and there was even less room back then. Everyone was crowded in the stone chambers, and the tunnels were lined with miserable families. There was little food or water to go around. The queen and the princess walked the tunnels, attending to those suffering worst and trying to cheer those who would listen.
General Catkins moved more than half of his army underground to rest and keep watch on the underground entrance to the Heights. They made several tries against the tunnel that night but the stone walls prevented the widening of the passage and the defenders could not be dislodged. Topside, a colonel tried a night assault on High Gate hoping to surprise us, but was repulsed. Catkins didn't waste any more ants on these defenses. He thought the conflict was decided. With the lower residencies secured and used as a base, he could continue the seige indefinitely, and at this point he didn't care if we surrendered or starved to death
"That would have been the end for us, except that night, after turning away from us for a week, Lord Moon sent his cloud-armies against General Catkins. His clouds dumped rain down on the general's ants. It did not storm, but instead rained steadily throughout the night.
At first the general was not concerned. But water began pouring off the rocky cliffs of the Heights and ran down towards Queen's Gate. Some of the general's troups saw the water running down the tunnel and understood their peril. Against orders some fled the residencies, but most remained. Soon water was pouring thorugh Queen's Gate, even more than usual since the enemy had enlarged the entrance. General Catkin's engineers had been focused on defeating our defenses and had not properly surveyed the colony, so they did not know about the drainage tunnels or where to unblock them. Soon the narrow drainage passages began to back-up, and water began to fill the residencies. Escape through Queen's Gate was now impossible as the passage flooded. The only other exit was, of course, the passage up into the Heights. The general's ants gathered in Caranda Hall, but this time they came not to attack, but to beg East River to unblock the tunnel and let them up."
"The soldiers of East River wavered. To let the general's ants in meant their last defenses would be compromised, yet to let their fellow ants perish in a flood was hard to bear."
Timothy had heard this part before, and had often lingered by the twin monuments in Victory Hall, one for Wildsky's ants, the other for the many ants who perished there on both sides. "I heard the queen herself went down and spoke to them," he said.
"She did," Watershome replied. "She came to them and faced them with her back to the blocked tunnel. 'Stand fast,' she told them. 'They came to destroy us, and through no action of ours they are being destroyed. We will not open this tunnel. Let this decision be on my conscience, not on yours.'"
"And so the passage remained closed." Watershome paused. He saw that every officer was caught up in his story, each imagining the horror of that awful night. "Every ant in those tunnels drowned or suffocated, and I will say no more on that.
"The next morning, desperately lacking provisions and knowing what had occured during the night, our queen ordered High Gate thrown open and our soldiers charged down upon West River's ants. Even with the loss of nearly a third of their number in the lower tunnels, the enemy still outnumbered us, but they were in disarray from the previous night and scattered across the field. Hundreds of tired and wet ants simply layed down their weapons and surrendered. The rest fled. After eleven days of seige and battle, the Grand Army was defeated and we were free of the enemy.
"What happened to the general?" Lieutenant Blueleaf asked. "I never did hear that part." Captain Hightunnel nodded this time, for she did not know either.
"Well, in West River they told me he gathered scattered ants to him and formed a rear guard to give some protection to what was left of the army as it retreated back across the river. They tell some fine stories of that action, but I'm not qualified to repeat them. I hope one day we have peace so I can cross over to West River and hear them again.
"Nearly half of the ants who set out from West River never returned. Despite that, Catkins remained a popular figure in West River, which might have been his downfall. The queen became jealous of his popularity, and began sending him out on dangerous errands. As I understand it there was never any reason to doubt his loyalty, but some queens are like that. In West River they say Catkins was killed on the border by a spear thrown by a red ant. Just bad luck really, the spear might have hit anyone, but it hit the general, and that was that.
"In West River they say even now, even after leading so many ants to their deaths, you can walk by the site where the General was killed and still find fresh-picked flowers lying on the ground."