Battle under Farthen Dur V

I have not been able to post as much as I like. I am sorry but Real Life gets the better of me.

Now returning to the critique. The first new crtique I have to add is an extention of an old one. It is commented in the book that the flood of the Urgals is too great and too constant and threatens to flood the Varden and dwarves. Why don't they just shut it off, massacre the Urgals of the field and then turn it on again? For those wondering how that is possilbe since the Urgals are not water to be controlled by faucets I have one answer: tunnelling. The dwarves could have several redundant ways leading to the opening, they could just collapse one of the tunnels during the battle and create a gap while the Urgals use a secondary bypass to re-reach the surface, gaining a breather. Talking of tunnel preparations, even though the dwarves decided to abandod the tunnels to the Urgals (a major mistake IMO) there is no reason why they have not set up foot traps and the like inside the tunnels. The Viet Cong had hidden traps of bamboo pikes covered with feces inside their tunnels so as to wound and infect American soldiers trying to hunt them inside their tunnels.

Another issue is that of the tactic used during the battle. Ajihad and Hrothgar have at their disposition human archers, lightly armed human pikement and swormen and heavily armed dwarves. Light and heavy troops have their own advantages and disadvantages. Heavily armed troops are harder to kill but lack mobility. Lightly armed troops have mobility and endurance but are seriously disadvantaged against heavier troops in one to one combat. Traditionally light troops do not really stand still in the field, they harass heavier troops by attacking them and retreating when they counterattack. This is how Iphicrates' peltasts defeated an entire mora of Spartan soldiers in the Isthmus during the Corinthian War (390 BC). If this is what Ajihad meant when he said that his troops need manoevering space he is justified in having them in the field. Yet under Farthen Dur the humans and dwarves fight on the first line indiscriminantly of their armor. This is a simple bloody battle of infantry versus infantry (with minor exceptions), no brilliant tactical move is to be seen anywhere, except in Durza's tunneling whose main purpose is to capture Eragon, not win the battle!

We learn that all troops fight under the Varden symbol. Why the dwarves do so we are not told.
The burning tar is a great note. The fortifications as earthen armor for pikemen are also a good force multiplier. It would strengthen the Varden more if they had archers on the fortifications wearing down the Urgals. After the fortifications are broken the dwarves and Varden meet the Urgals in a mixed formation. Why in the two columns having humans are they mixed with dwarves? Why arent the Varden on the side flanking and retreating the Urgals? We will not know.

Some of my critique I admit may be unfair. Paolini published his book at the age of 18. Unlike the Battle of the Burning Plains this one is not as central to the book as Eragon's travels. Some mistakes are always to expected even in real battles with all general. The was no perfect general in history (with the possilbe exception of Alexander the Great) so we should not try to find a perfect general in fiction although it seems Ajihad and Hrothgar belong to the bad ones. I cannot think much more to write now. If I am finished I will format this for publication in the website. If not I will add more thing here before publishing a more final edition.