The wilderness
The pastoral wilderness of the novel is an instance of imagery that suggests a wide open plain, the platform for war. In a way, the imagery suggests a board, like a board game perhaps. They are set in nature, which underscores the chaos they endure, and they are tasked to establish little communities in nature where they can live in-between battles. They conquer nature again and again, showing that their battle with one another is also a battle against the elements.
The hills
Contrasted with the imagery of the plains is the wilderness of the hills. The hills involve two major changes in imagery: the loss of sight and the task of climbing. To be climbing a mountain when the rival army is secretly summitted on the other side would lead to catastrophic loss, because elevation is an advantage, and the very word "advantage" suggests the issue of sight. Their vantage is better from a hill top, but navigating hills must be done precisely, because it is difficult to move armies through hills and valleys.
Strategy
There is a unique instance of imagery in the book relating to strategy that helps the reader to understand the various conundrums that army leaders had to face in these engagements. The spies and espionage are part of this imagery, as are the various tools the leaders use in their meetings. Together, the issue of strategy becomes a kind of mortal board game, a chess board with human lives as their pieces. Victory means a certain political outcome for the governments they represent.
Chaos and battle
The most unfortunate imagery is also the most obvious. The novel depicts facts that the reader likely knows, like casualty figures and the unfolding of military conflicts, but in light of the narrative of the novel, the battles are seen for their horror. The chaos of battle is a fight to the death, and so the stakes are ultimately high. This imagery includes the gruesomeness of violent death, the horror of combat, and the sadness of the loss of human life.
