The Janissary
The Final Conflict
by
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Chapter 9: The Cavalry Charge.
Day after day Konchak had been receiving written orders from Headquarters: he must launch a counter-offensive to drive the Werrauns back. Konchak’s response was to delay as long as possible, while frantically fortifying his position and bringing in more reserves on the Iron Horse. When he could delay no further, he made one final attempt to avert disaster.
He called a senior staff meeting in the bunker. A total of ten officers, including a few select junior officers, attended.
General Goran and General Richter sat opposite Konchak. Colonel Tselatse, out of ancient habit, went for the position at Konchak's right hand, but found that chair occupied by a young red-headed man whom nobody knew. He wasn't in uniform, and Konchak didn't even bother to introduce him.
"Look here, gentlemen," Konchak began, without preamble. "We all know this is crazy. We're going to get slaughtered out there. The Werrauns will finish off what's left of our army, and then they'll be in the capital city tonight, raping and murdering our families. Djegas has tricked the citizenry into staying to be slaughtered like cattle. Most of them could have been safely evacuated into the interior by now."
"What you're saying verges on treason!" snapped Goran.
Konchak ignored him. "When I was in Rym, I tried to talk to Djegas, but he wouldn't see me. We still have a little time left. I have plans drawn up for an orderly withdrawal to Moreki. Is there anyone here who has any influence with Djegas? Who among you is willing to go right now and talk some sense into that lunatic?"
Everyone was silent.
Finally General Richter cleared his throat. "It's no good, Marshal Konchak. Djegas is holed up in his office, hiding under his desk, praying for a miracle. Anyone who even tried to approach him would be shot by one of his flunkies."
"We're wasting time," Goran sputtered. "Konchak, you belong out there
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About the Book
“The King shall lose both head and crown…”
In The Peasant War, the first book of this amazing trilogy, the ancient prophecy came to pass, as an army of serfs and janissaries overthrew the corrupt dynasty. Janissary General Dmitry Konchak is now an unlikely hero of the Revolution -- a military genius who is squeamish and faints at the sight of blood, an effeminate drunkard, an outsider among the political elite, the so-called “New People” whom he helped bring to power.
In the second book, The New People In Power, Field Marshal Konchak fights to reunite the empire and re-conquer breakaway regions, including his own native province. In the village where he was born, the janissary comes face to face with his own past, as an ancient Oracle foretells a ghastly future.
In The Final Conflict, the third book of The Janissary trilogy, Konchak must save the empire which he himself forged, against its fiercest and most determined foe. As war wages on, neither enemy atrocities, nor assassinations, nor relentless power struggles within the ruling elite can deter Konchak from pursuing his personal destiny. The ancient gods, original inhabitants of this planet, for many generations trapped within a mountain, have decreed a unique fate for the janissary. But first he must settle scores with the man who betrayed him, and face the horrific loss of a beloved friend.
In this satisfying finale, all the threads of the complex story come full circle to a final resolution: A missing letter from an old printing press; a message that travels across the continent only to be returned as “Undeliverable”; fragments of encrypted files used to catch a spy: all the mysteries are finally solved, concluding this epic story of revolution, war, friendship, love, and betrayal.
About the Author
Firsid Barsa was born in South Africa, grew up in the United States, studied at Moscow University, has a Master’s degree in Russian Literature, and is keenly interested in Russian and European history of the Jacobin and Napoleonic periods.
Barsa is a prize-winning poet and has also published a short story in a romance magazine.
The author of The Janissary Trilogy, whose hobbies include alpine skiing and figure skating, currently lives in a small town in the state of Connecticut.