POETS IN THE FOURTH SEASON ｜ Koryu meets Chess

Take vantage,

heavy eyes,

not to behold

This shameful lodging.

Fortune, good night:

smile once more;

turn thy wheel!

The Brigadier General.

The commander of.

The Third Army Corps of.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Has reported.

On the results of.

The final phase of.

The counter-offensive operation.

Codenamed ‘Vivaldi’.

It has been underway.

Since the end of May.

In the Lyman sector.

Now, good sir,

what are you?

A most poor man,

made tame to fortune’s blows;

Who, by the art of

known and feeling sorrows,

Am pregnant

to good pity.

In a video address.

By the commander.

Published on 14 October.

It was reported that.

During the fourth phase.

Of the operation.

‘Elves’ troops were able to.

Liberate a further.

101 square kilometres.

Of territory.

The villages of Zelena Dolyna.

Lypove and Kolodyazi.

Have been returned.

To the control.

Of the ‘elves’ Armed Forces.

‘So you will,

when you’ve crossed

the next brook,’

said the White Knight.

‘I’ll see you safe

to the end of the wood

– and then I must go back, you know.

That’s the end of my move.’

According to the commander.

During this phase.

The ‘orcs’ suffered.

Around 3,000 soldiers.

Killed or wounded.

Around 3,000 soldiers.

Killed or wounded.

and had just time to see

the Lion and the Unicorn

rise to their feet,

with angry looks

at being interrupted

in their feast,

before she dropped

to her knees,

In total.

During Operation ‘Vivaldi’.

This figure stands.

At around 8,000.

The area of territory that.

Ukraine has regained.

Control of amounts to.

277 square kilometres.

And 16 settlements.

Have been liberated.

And cleared of.

Enemy forces.

These are all figures.

Provided by the ‘elves’ side,

On which the ‘orcs’ authorities.

Have made no comment.

and put her hands

over her ears,

vainly trying to shut out

the dreadful uproar.

‘If that doesn’t

“drum them out of town,” ’

she thought to herself,

‘nothing ever will!’

However.

‘Orcs’ military correspondents.

Acknowledge the advances.

Made by the ‘elves’ Armed Forces.

And suggest that.

The ‘orcs’ command is.

Concealing this information.

After a while

the noise seemed gradually

to die away,

till all was dead silence,

and Alice lifted up

her head in some alarm.

There was no one to be seen,

and her first thought was that

The Brigadier General states that.

The operation has achieved.

Its strategic objectives.

“We prevented the enemy.

From outflanking.

The Sloviansk-Kramatorsk conurbation.

And encircling it.”

“And we also defended.

The Kharkiv–Sloviansk road.

The enemy was unable.”

“To cut off our group’s.

Key logistical artery.

In the Donbas.

We thwarted the offensive.”

“By the ‘West’ group.

And forced it.

To redeploy part of.

The 1st Tank Army’s units.”

“Which eased the pressure.

On Kupiansk-Vuzlovy.”

“Which eased the pressure.

On Kupiansk-Vuzlovy.”

she must have been dreaming

about the Lion and the Unicorn

and those queer

Anglo-Saxon Messengers.

However, there was the great dish

still lying at her feet,

on which she had tried to cut

the plum-cake,

At the same time.

The commander of.

The 3rd Army Corps.

Hinted at a continuation.

Of the Defence Forces’.

Offensive operations.

At the end of.

The video address.

When asked.

“Will there be a continuation?”.

He replied as follows:

“Well, at the very least.

Wagner and Bach.

Are still here.”

‘So I wasn’t dreaming, after all,’

she said to herself,

‘unless – unless we’re all part of

the same dream.

Only I do hope it’s my dream,

and not the Red King’s!

I don’t like belonging to

another person’s dream,’

What was the purpose?

Of ‘Vivaldi’?

Can it be considered?

A success?

The counter-offensive operation.

Which had been taking place.

Amid a media blackout.

Since late spring and.

Throughout the summer.

In the Lyman sector.

Has come to an end.

At least.

That is what the Brigadier General.

Who commanded it.

Has reported.

she went on

in a rather complaining tone:

‘I’ve a great mind to go and

wake him, and see what happens!’

At this moment

her thoughts were interrupted

by a loud shouting of

‘Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!

According to him.

The operation’s success was.

Ensured by the surprise and.

Well-planned nature of.

The ‘elves’ Armed Forces’ actions.

Well-planned nature of.

The ‘elves’ Armed Forces’ actions.

It was also due to the fact.

That the “disoriented” ‘orcs’ began.

To lose control of their units.

Where “utter chaos” ensued.

and a Knight,

dressed in crimson armour,

came galloping down upon her,

brandishing a great club.

Just as he reached her,

the horse stopped suddenly:

‘You’re my prisoner!’ the Knight cried,

as he tumbled off his horse.

The main successes and.

Advances by ‘elves’ forces.

On this section.

Of the front.

Took place as early as.

The beginning of summer.

And did indeed take.

The ‘orcs’ by surprise.

Startled as she was,

Alice was more frightened

for him than for herself

at the moment,

and watched him with some anxiety

as he mounted again.

As soon as he was

comfortably in the saddle,

The ‘orcs’ command.

Which had depicted.

A fictitious front line.

In its reports.

Stretching all the way.

To Svyatogorsk.

Almost 20 km west.

Of Lyman.

Did not expect to see.

An ‘elves’ offensive effectively.

In its own rear.

However, Ukraine.

Had no other option.

However, Ukraine.

Had no other option.

he began once more

‘You’re my –’

but here another voice

broke in

‘Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!’

and Alice looked round

in some surprise

for the new enemy.

Back in the autumn.

Of 2025.

The ‘orcs’ had managed.

To break through to the west.

Across the Chornyi Zherebets River.

And establish a large bridgehead.

To the north and west.

Of Lyman.

Had they actually succeeded.

In capturing the town.

Of Svyatogorsk.

Then both Lyman itself and.

The Sloviansk-Kramatorsk conurbation.

To the south of it.

Would have been.

Under enormous threat.

This time it was

a White Knight.

He drew up at Alice’s side,

and tumbled off his horse

just as the Red Knight had done:

then he got on again,

and the two Knights sat and

looked at each other

Another question is:

Why did the ‘elves’ Armed Forces?

Allow this breakthrough?

To happen last year?

As the brigade commander of.

The 66th Separate Mechanised Brigade.

Part of the Third Army Corps.

Noted in an interview.

There was a whole range.

Of reasons.

– ranging from the incompetence.

Of individual officers.

At company commander level.

To decision-making.

At formation level.

for some time

without speaking.

Alice looked from one to the other

in some bewilderment.

‘She’s my prisoner, you know!’

the Red Knight said at last.

‘Yes, but then I came and rescued her!’

the White Knight replied.

Consequently.

By early 2026.

A counter-offensive operation.

In the Lyman sector was.

Vital for Ukraine.

Which was attempting.

To prevent the enemy.

From capturing.

Its ‘belt of fortresses’.

Comprising Sloviansk.

Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka.

Operation ‘Vivaldi’.

Accomplished this task.

With flying colours.

‘Well, we must fight for her, then,

said the Red Knight,

as he took up his helmet

and put it on.

‘You will observe

the Rules of Battle, of course?’

the White Knight remarked,

putting on his helmet too.

Over the course of.

The operation’s four phases.

The Third Army Corps.

With relatively few troops.

First managed to halt.

The enemy’s advance.

Towards Sviatohirsk.

Then force the Nitrus River.

And push the enemy.

Back 15–17 km.

Eastwards as far as.

The Chornyi Zherebets River.

‘I always do,’

said the Red Knight,

and they began banging away

at each other

with such fury that

Alice got behind a tree

to be out of the way

of the blows.

However.

They did not succeed.

In driving the ‘orcs’.

Completely back to.

The eastern bank.

Of the river.

The eastern bank.

Of the river.

‘I wonder, now,

what the Rules of Battle are,’

she said to herself,

as she watched the fight,

timidly peeping out

from her hiding-place:

timidly peeping out

from her hiding-place:

According to statements.

By the commander of.

The Third Army Corps.

And a map published by them.

The village of Ivanivka.

On the western bank.

Of the Zherebets remains.

Under ‘orcs’ occupation.

‘one Rule seems to be that,

if one Knight hits the other,

he knocks him off his horse;

and, if he misses,

he tumbles off himself

and, if he misses,

he tumbles off himself

In other words.

The ‘elves’ Armed Forces.

Managed to cut off.

As much of the ‘orcs’.

Bridgehead as possible.

Rather than eliminating.

It entirely.

– and another Rule

seems to be that they hold

their clubs in their arms,

as if they were Punch and Judy.

What a noise they make

when they tumble!

Just like a whole set of

fire-irons falling into the fender!

That said.

Pro-‘orcs’ Telegram channels.

Have published reports.

Of isolated attempts.

By ‘elves’ forces.

To cross the Zherebets River.

South of Ivanivka.

And engage in.

Fighting for the villages.

Of Yampolivka.

Terny and Zarichne.

There is no official information.

Regarding these operations.

From the ‘elves’ side.

And how quiet

the horses are!

They let them get on and off them

just as if they were tables!’

Another Rule of Battle,

that Alice had not noticed,

seemed to be that

they always fell on their heads,

As of mid-October.

It can be stated that.

Operation ‘Vivaldi’.

Did not lead to.

A cascading collapse.

Of ‘orcs’ defences.

In the Lyman sector.

This is partly because.

‘Orcs’ redeployed reserves here.

– notably the First Tank Army –

from the neighbouring Kupiansk sector.

and the battle ended

with their both falling off

in this way,

side by side:

when they got up again,

they shook hands,

and then the Red Knight

mounted and galloped off.

The 3rd Army Corps.

On the other hand.

Conducted its offensive.

With very limited resources.

For example.

The brigade commander of.

The 66th Brigade noted that.

Only 30 fighters could.

Be mobilised to liberate.

The village of Seredne.

Which is extremely few.

For such an operation.

‘It was a glorious victory, wasn’t it?’

said the White Knight,

as he came up panting.

‘I don’t know,’

Alice said doubtfully.

‘I don’t want to be

anybody’s prisoner.

I want to be a Queen.’

Without deploying.

Additional forces to this sector.

Any ideas regarding.

The expansion of ‘Vivaldi’.

– for example.

Towards the neighbouring.

Serebryansky Forest or.

Even the town of Kreminna.

In Luhansk Oblast –

Have remained merely ideas.

Divorced from the realities.

Of modern warfare.

Give me your hand,

I’ll lead you to some biding.

Give me your hand,

I’ll lead you to some biding.

Hearty thanks:

The bounty and

the benison of heaven

To boot, and boot!

Now, the most realistic task.

For ‘elves’ units is.

To establish a robust defence.

Near Lyman to prevent.

Further breakthroughs.

By ‘orcs’ forces.

Take vantage,

heavy eyes,

not to behold

This shameful lodging.

Fortune, good night:

smile once more;

turn thy wheel!

*Because I read “Операція “Вівальді” завершилась: які її підсумки і чого вона досягла(Operation Vivaldi is over: what are its results and what did it achieve?)”, analysis by Oleg Chernysh, on 14 Oct 2026 on the BBC news Ukraine, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022 on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including a story of Gen. Biletsky, and a story of Sylivakin, led by ‘KING LEAR’ written by William Shakespeare and ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news Ukraine:

Операція “Вівальді” завершилась: які її підсумки і чого вона досягла – BBC News Україна