"The second force is approaching from the northeast, right on time."
"Through the forest?"
"Yes, sir."
"Send the order then."
Scout Captain Sungho saluted and quickly left the tent, and a mildly annoyed Xing turned to Mozi, looking like he was doing his level best to restrain himself from leaving the camp and taking care of things personally. "We were talking about casualties."
"Yes, colonel," Mozi curtly replied. "Captain Kai and Lieutenant Toshi led a successful ambush, but there were significant casualties sustained. Between the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the number of fatalities and those close enough to count as such were just under fifty, while the living wounded were about a hundred and fifty."
The young colonel's growing annoyance became a bit more tangible. "How much time did it buy us?"
"No more than two days," the deputy replied without hesitation. "Enough time for us to slip through."
"Just enough," Xing muttered, no doubt thinking about the allies slowing them down. "Maybe I'll have to ask the princess to stop sending her…admirers to us after this."
"Politely," Mozi added as a reminder.
After the first few exchanges, it became obvious that the communication between the 11th and their royal patron back in the capital was being intercepted. Xing's lack of writing etiquette managed to become a minor scandal for a short while when said intercepts were leaked.
It died out a few weeks after, when Princess Azula presented the court with the rumormongers' own private exchanges for a review on their writing etiquette. According to Sungho and his handpicked team who had returned from their short 'vacation' in the capital, some of the messages were rather damning in their insult to the royal family and other highly influential figures, leading to a bit of thinning among the courtiers.
A point was made, and unfortunately for the regiment's scouts, no further issues arose that required another short vacation.
The colonel nodded, and then looked back down at the map of the Earth Kingdom's southern realm, with the marker of the 11th Regiment being still a good distance north of Omashu, and several Earth Kingdom markers slowly surrounding it. The other Fire Nation forces were not present, as broken and routed armies were not a strategic consideration.
"So we might have slowed down two armies. Only four more to go."
Mozi tried to slow his commander's annoyance. "On the bright side, once we break through, we've only got a few days to link up with the Second Assault Army."
"It'd be a stalemate," Xing said sourly. If reports were to be believed, the Second Assault Army would likely end up digging in and holding the line against the persistent attacks. Advancing at a slower pace, they had the luxury to secure their flanks from encirclement at least, so their lines should be solid enough. Even if they were pushed back, in that direction lay safety, so the 11th had little choice but to reach it as quickly as possible.
"Better a stalemate than an outright loss."
The young colonel gave a thoughtful hum as he nodded his reluctant agreement. Mozi couldn't blame him, this whole operation had been doomed from the start.
Xing had wanted to argue through the princess against the push for Omashu, but with what happened to Prince Zuko being made public, a bad campaign was deemed far preferable compared to drawing the Fire Lord's attention.
Despite the war council's planning (or perhaps because of it, Mozi treacherously entertained), this assault south was tantamount to a suicide mission that had a singular goal of punching as deep as it could towards Omashu. A larger second force was supposed to follow in its wake and secure the supply lines, but the Earth Kingdom threw its massive manpower at both elements once they inevitably figured out their enemy's intent.
The result was that the 11th Regiment and the other forces making up the First Southern Assault Army found itself surrounded deep in enemy territory in just under a month since they launched their attack, while the Second Southern Assault Army had been bogged down by dogged counterattacks.
Panic did not break out, but the indecision and infighting that resulted might have been worse. General Yong Cha was torn between continuing the push or retreating back to the Second Assault Army, even as he fended off calls from discontented commanders to step down. Threats were thrown between the general's followers and his detractors, leading to orders being debated and the army's cohesion slowly falling apart.
The whole mess made the First Assault Army sitting turtleducks for the Earth Kingdom. Xing and the few other uninvolved commanders had seen the signs, but their warnings were ignored as the internal bickering continued. All they could do was coordinate between themselves to bolster what little they could of the army's defenses.
The battle that followed days later had caught most of the First Assault Army by surprise. By sheer ill luck the Earth Kingdom's initial bombardment had nearly decapitated the army's command. Several massive boulders fell short of the gathering Fire Nation troops at first, but then the speed and trajectory caused them to actually bounce into spearmen and firebenders alike, and then crash into the commanders behind.
General Yong Cha was spared that ignoble fate, but the chain of command had been severely weakened with the sudden loss of so many colonels and captains, and the display had severely shaken the common soldiers. Disorganized and demoralized, the First Assault Army would've likely broken and fled if they weren't already surrounded.
Instead, many of them put up a stubborn but chaotic defense, but they were nonetheless taken apart by methodical applications of blades and earthbending.
Mozi remembered the 11th and its new friends in the 26th, 44th and 51st Companies doing their best to salvage the situation and secure a corridor to retreat, but it had still been a costly thing. The brave 51st had been nearly wiped out trying to hold a flank by itself, while the 26th and 44th managed to bring other panicking stragglers under their banners in their escape north.
General Yong Cha had died fighting, pincushioned by rocky spikes alongside the officers who had opposed him. Rufen had reported that their bodies were surrounded by a pile of charred earthbenders and common Earth Kingdom soldiers, dragging an impressive amount of the enemy with them.
Thankfully, Xing's flames secured the 11th's relatively safe escape, but the regiment also found itself stuck with a larger group of stragglers. Several units were completely leaderless, while those few colonels, majors, and captains that made it with the 11th struggled to organize their men to fill their banners.
Mozi had only needed to watch as Xing quickly imposed his rule over the aimless, panicking men. He challenged six feckless commanders (and only left them with broken arms at worst) to secure singular - if somewhat tentative - command of the bloated force.
Xing had gained command of almost nine thousand men, but most of them were useless for what he needed right now. They were used to pitched battles and lightning assaults to conquer and subjugate, not careful withdrawals with the sole objective of preserving as much of the force as possible.
So the stragglers made for decent frontline troops, or filler for basic scouting or foraging parties. That unfortunately meant that it was up to the 11th's battalions and specialists to carry out effective stalling tactics. None of the officers in the 11th trusted the outsiders anyway to reliably burn down forests or lay the right kind of ambushes.
Mozi noted to himself that it might have helped if they adopted fodder tactics with their more burdensome allies, but that would besmirch all that Colonel Lidai stood for, and the lessons he'd imparted to Xing and the others. Whether the idea was personally entertained or not, nobody in the regiment's command tent gave voice to expending their hangers on, however much they complained about them.
What probably rankled Xing more was that a few of the officers now stuck with him were fresh faced volunteers who were here from their attempts to impress the princess. She'd assigned them to work with the 11th 'as a consolation', whatever that meant.
Most had been gracious enough to cede command to him after witnessing the brutal 1-on-6 beatdown, but a few of the young, noble scions only begrudgingly obeyed the even younger colonel of the 11th. Thankfully, that was all Xing needed from them, and they had enough sense to refrain from politicking in the middle of a retreat.
Though it might have been far more productive to simply leave the disparate groups behind as bait to buy the regiment more time, Mozi was glad that the colonel did not resort to such things. Helping fellow soldiers right now might lower the margins of escaping in one piece, but not by too much. And there was still something to gain politically from this retreat, with little to no blame that could yet be placed on the 11th's feet for the disaster.
So long as the 26th and 44th Companies made it out, and the stragglers saved by the 11th Regiment remained alive, there would be plenty of testimonies to keep Xing free from any attempts of scapegoating. Instead, Mozi felt confident that the late General Yong Cha and/or the officers in his opposing faction would take the fall, depending on which side had more survivors from this debacle.
A good thing then, that the dead could not be wrongfully punished.
"Have more of the night watch be handled by the outsiders," Xing ordered, bringing Mozi back to the present. "If any of them make noise, tell them they've been volunteered for the next night raid as bait."
"Yes, sir."
Xing paused for a moment, and Mozi shifted with discomfort as he saw the doubt fall on the boy's face like a tangible shadow.
"Am…am I doing things correctly, Mozi?"
The major stiffened with surprise before quickly recovering to offer a gentler nod. "You are not organizing futile last stands, or having us flee blindly to the colonies. I'd say we are doing as well as we possibly can."
Xing's shoulders slumped then, and Mozi felt a pang in his guts as he was reminded that his superior was still only a boy.
"It feels like I'm missing something…or that I'm doing something wrong, you know?"
"You're making the best choices you can with what you have," the major replied, reaching out to rest a hand on the boy's shoulder. "None of the outsiders have whispered about challenging your decisions. You're doing what you can to bring as many of us back in one piece."
There was a second of silence before Xing let out a sigh. Mozi lightly squeezed on the colonel's shoulder before giving him a more reassuring pat.
"This is not Tai Plains, Xing. We have not been broken, and I'm sure that we will not be, under your care."
The major and his colonel regarded each other in silence, before the latter finally gave a more confident nod. Mozi then offered a smile. "And you should know by now that if you've given questionable orders, I and the others would be sure to raise our doubts with you."
Ren and Kai especially would not sit back and let their little brother turn into another Shiluo.
"Yeah… Thanks, Mozi." Xing straightened, and his confidence and authority seeped back in. It took a few seconds, but after he unnecessarily readjusted his armor and banished the last of his doubts, Colonel Xing gave a firm, resolute nod.
"For tonight's meeting with the other commanders, I want you to present the effectiveness of our stalling tactics so far, along with the casualties. See if you can find a way to properly remind them that the 11th is doing all the work while they're being nothing but dead weight to us. Politely, of course."
Despite his usually reserved nature, Mozi grinned a little at that order. "Of course, sir."
"Oh, and tell Toshi that as soon as I'm able to get the paperwork for it, he's going to make captain."
No surprise there. Despite being a newer face, the man had stepped up while Ren was away, and took to command far better than anyone had expected.
Still…
"What about Ren?"
Xing shook his head. "Toshi will take command of the 2nd for now. If Ren wants to command again, I'll get her a new battalion after she settles in with her kid. Ideally, she'll be happy settling down as a training captain, but…"
"You could always have her rotate with Kai," Mozi said, not too spitefully. It still surprised him that the two of them were a thing, despite how much they outwardly got at each other's throats. But then again, considering that Ren used to be Kai's lieutenant up until Tai Plains, perhaps them bonding shouldn't be so surprising.
That wasn't the real problem for the major, though.
It was more the fact that neither had been thorough in their precautions to prevent Ren's pregnancy. The herbal remedies were readily available, and they were both firebenders, so just overheating the…fluids shouldn't have been an issue. How drunk did they have to be to forget? Even Li Ming knew that when Mozi mustered the courage to invite her for their first private dinner!
At least her reassignment to training overseer was declared a good month before the push for Omashu began. The mess of paperwork Ren left behind was annoying, but it was far better than having the pregnant battle hungry captain in the front lines. The sheer madness of it would've left the regiment's coherency in tatters.
Xing noticed his major's irritation and chuckled as he donned his helmet. "You can bring that up with Kai if you like. Anyway, if that's all for now, I have an Earth Kingdom army to stall."
"Don't make it two."
Major Mozi let out a resigned sigh and let his commander plunge into danger. Koshi and Rufen would likely keep him safe, but hopefully Xing wouldn't have to push himself too much. It would be bad if the stragglers ever caught sight of a shivering, barely walking boy.
Xing might have to actually kill a few people to restore his authority.