“Maybe not,” Clubs said. “Both armies have secured canal routes into Luthadel. That will make it easy for them to send for more supplies.”
“Plus,” Breeze added, “though much of Cett’s land is in revolt right now, he does still hold the city of Haverfrex, which held one of the Lord Ruler’s main canneries. Cett has a remarkable amount of food a short canal trip away.”
“Then, we disrupt the canals,” Elend said. “We find a way to stop those supplies from coming. Canals make re-supply quick, but also vulnerable, since we know exactly which route it will take. And, if we can take away their food, perhaps they’ll be forced to turn around and march home.”
“Either that,” Breeze said, “or they’ll just decide to risk attacking Luthadel.”
Elend paused. “That’s a possibility,” he said. “But, well, I’ve been researching how to hold the city as well.” He reached across the table, picking up a book. “Now, this is Jendellah’s City Management in the Modern Era. He mentions how difficult Luthadel is to police because of its extreme size and large number of skaa slums. He suggests using roving bands of city watchmen. I think we could adapt his methods to use in a battle—our wall is too long to defend in detail, but if we had mobile bands of troops that could respond to—”
“Your Majesty,” Dockson interrupted.
“Hum? Yes?”
“We’ve got a troop of boys and men who have barely a year’s training, and we’re facing not one overwhelming force, but two. We can’t win this battle by force.”
“Oh, yes,” Elend said. “Of course. I was just saying that if we did have to fight, I have some strategies. …”
“If we fight, we lose,” Clubs said. “We’ll probably lose anyway.”
Elend paused for a moment. “Yes, well, I just …”
“Attacking the canal routes is a good idea, though,” Dockson said. “We can do that covertly, perhaps hire some of the bandits in the area to attack supply barges. It probably won’t be enough to send Cett or Straff home, but we could make them more desperate to make alliances with us.”
Breeze nodded. “Cett’s already worried about instability back in his home dominance. We should send him a preliminary messenger, let him know we’re interested in an alliance. That way, as soon as his supply problems begin, he’ll think of us.”
“We could even send him a letter explaining Breeze’s execution,” Dockson said, “as a sign of good faith. That—”
Elend cleared his throat. The others paused.
“I, uh, wasn’t finished yet,” Elend said.
“I apologize, Your Majesty,” Dockson said.
Elend took a deep breath. “You’re right—we can’t afford to fight those armies. But, I think we need to find a way to get them to fight each other.”
“A pleasant sentiment, my dear man,” Breeze said. “But getting those two to attack one another isn’t as simple as persuading Spook over there to refill my wine.” He turned, holding out his empty cup. Spook paused, then sighed, rising to fetch the wine bottle.
“Well, yes,” Elend said. “But, while there aren’t a lot of books on warfare, there are a lot about politics. Breeze, you said the other day that being the weakest party in a three-way stalemate gives us power.”
“Exactly,” Breeze said. “We can tip the battle for either of the two larger sides.”
“Yes,” Elend said, opening a book. “Now that there are three parties involved, it’s not warfare—it’s politics. This is just like a contest between houses. And in house politicking, even the most powerful houses can’t stand without allies. The small houses are weak individually, but they are strong when considered as a group.
“We’re like one of those small houses. If we want to make any gains, we’re going to have to get our enemies to forget about us—or, at least, make them think us inconsequential. If they both assume that they have the better of us—that they can use us to defeat the other army, then turn on us at their leisure—then they’ll leave us alone and concentrate on each other.”
Ham rubbed his chin. “You’re talking about playing both sides, Elend. It’s a dangerous position to put ourselves in.”
Breeze nodded. “We’d have to switch our allegiance to whichever side seems weaker at the moment, keep them snapping at each other. And there’s no guarantee that the winner between the two would be weakened enough for us to defeat.”
“Not to mention our food problems,” Dockson said. “What you propose would take time, Your Majesty. Time during which we’d be under siege, our supplies dwindling. It’s autumn right now. Winter will soon be upon us.”
“It will be tough,” Elend agreed. “And risky. But, I think we can do it. We make them both think we’re allied with them, but we hold back our support. We encourage them against one another, and we wear away at their supplies and morale, pushing them into a conflict. When the dust settles, the surviving army might just be weak enough for us to beat.”
Breeze looked thoughtful. “It has style,” he admitted. “And, it does kind of sound fun.”
Dockson smiled. “You only say that because it involves making someone else do our work for us.”
Breeze shrugged. “Manipulation works so well on a personal level, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be an equally viable national policy.”
“That’s actually how most rulership works,” Ham mused. “What is a government but an institutionalized method of making sure somebody else does all the work?”
“Uh, the plan?” Elend asked.
“I don’t know, El,” Ham said, getting back on topic. “It sounds like one of Kell’s plans—foolhardy, brave, and a little insane.” He sounded as if he were surprised to hear Elend propose such a measure.
I can be as foolhardy as any man, Elend thought indignantly, then paused. Did he really want to follow that line of thought?
“We could get ourselves into some serious trouble,” Dockson said. “If either side decides it’s tired of our games …”
“They’ll destroy us,” Elend said. “But … well, gentlemen, you’re gamblers. You can’t tell me that this plan doesn’t appeal to you more than simply bowing before Lord Cett.”
Ham shared a look with Breeze, and they seemed to be considering the idea. Dockson rolled his eyes, but seemed like he was objecting simply out of habit.
No, they didn’t want to take the safe way out. These were the men who had challenged the Lord Ruler, men who had made their livelihood scamming noblemen. In some ways, they were very careful; they could be precise in their attention to detail, cautious in covering their tracks and protecting their interests. But when it came time to gamble for the big prize, they were often willing.
No, not willing. Eager.
Great, Elend thought. I’ve filled my inner council with a bunch of thrill-seeking masochists. Even worse, I’ve decided to join them. But, what else could he do?
“We could at least consider it,” Breeze said. “It does sound exciting.”