Legio XVII: Battle of Zama (29 page)

Finally, the senior Legate of the two Suevi Auxiliary Legions stood and demanded silence.  “If we are going to fight, we need to get organized.  The pila and swords of our two Legions won’t stop that army.  There are at least 10,000 more men in this fort capable of fighting.  You leaders need to tell these men to gather rocks, dig for them if they have to, and tear down these huts for logs to throw down from the walls. Have the men get their sickles and scythes; we need every man up on the wall with a weapon.  Have the women gather long sticks we can use to push ladders off the walls.  Go now.  I want to see rocks and logs all around these ramparts.”

When the sun rose and the people in the fort saw the size of the encircling army, they were gripped with fear.  After spending a sleepless night, no one was thinking clearly.  The advocates to fight seem to have prevailed; at least the walls were fully manned and rocks and logs were scattered along the ramparts.  Even the women took their place alongside the men.  Besides the Auxiliaries, there were at most another 12,000 men and boys old enough to fight.  Weapons were in short supply and fighting ability was totally lacking.  Fear rather than bravado filled their hearts, but with each passing hour, fear was growing into defiance.  The men began to encourage one another.  Bravery was slowly replacing fear.

Aze and Lugius allowed some time to pass so the people in the fort could take the full measure of what they faced.  At 9:00 A.M., a Boii representative rode to the main gate.  He spoke the Suevi language and was prepared to speak for Aze and Lugius.

“If you open your gates and allow us to enter, we will not harm the people.  We are only interested in your grain and livestock.  You have two hours to decide what to do, and then we will attack and no one will be spared.  For the sake of your women and children, open the gates now.”

He had delivered the message and turned his horse around.  It was now up to the leaders of the fort.

The tired men gathered one more time to discuss the proposal.  This time, there was a unanimous vote to keep the gates locked.  No one, not even the faint of heart, believe for an instant that the encircling army wouldn’t harm the people once they got inside.  They decided that one way or the other they would all die, and they elected to die fighting.

Word of the decision was passed from one person to another and very quickly the entire fort was in chaos.  Fathers were hugging and kissing their wives and children.  Weapons of every description were fashioned and brought to the walls.  Women readied the hemlock to give to themselves and to their children.  The crying and wailing of the people carried over the walls to the mercenaries as they prepared ladders to cross the ditch and climb the walls.

Twenty-two thousand untrained men who were poorly equipped faced 30,000 trained and experienced warriors.  At 11:00 A.M. the encircling army began shouting and banging their swords on their shields.  The sound was deafening, but only added to the bravado of the men on the walls.  The hour had come.  They shouted back at the mercenaries and defiantly lifted their weapons.

The mercenary army surged towards the ditch, scrambled over the ladders, and raced to the walls.  They were met by a storm of pila, rocks, and logs.  Ladders were pushed off the walls.  Women and children hauled more logs to the ramparts where they were quickly gathered up and thrown down.  After 30 minutes, the attackers drew back cross the ditch.  About 4,000 of their comrades lay dead or seriously injured.  The defenders on the wall cheered as they saw their attackers withdraw.  Some thought it was all over, and they had won.  The experienced Auxiliaries knew they’d be back.  The men on the wall had paid a high price for this small victory, however.  Arrows and spears took their toll on the defenders.  One thousand were carried away.

Kuno was one of those wounded.  He had fought well with his spear and killed or wounded two men on ladders who reached the top of the wall.  He leaned out over the wall and thrust his spear with two hands.  Usually, it hit a helmet or chain mail and did no damage, but the impact of the spear caused a few of the men to tip back and fall.  Two other attackers he struck in the face.  He felt the point sink in and saw the blood. 
Finally
, he thought,
I’m doing some good.

Most of the time, Kuno struggled to keep standing.  He was pushed from behind, jostled, bumped, and cut as other defenders tried to get closer to the wall to thrust their spears and swords.  His arms, shoulders, and back were soon bloodied from numerous gashes from the other men on the ramparts.  He stood next to a soldier who held a large shield and thrust with his pilum.  His shield deflected arrows and spears, but Kuno’s arm and shoulder were constantly battered as the shield was swung violently to ward off enemy blows.

Kuno saw the face of a man on the ladder and thrust with his spear, while the man stabbed with his sword.  They both connected.  Kuno reeled backwards, and his hands went to his face.  The sword had entered the corner of his mouth, traveled between his tongue and teeth, and exited in the back of his neck.  Blood poured from the wound.  He staggered off the rampart, his only thought to make it home to Alina.  He opened the door and collapsed on the threshold.  Alina rushed to him and pulled him inside.  She grabbed some bedding, pressed it against the hole in his neck, and cradled his head in her lap.  His eyes blinked open, and he looked intently at her. His mouth was full of blood, and he began coughing violently.  She turned his head to allow the blood to drain.

“Sorry,” he managed to say as his eyes closed forever.  Alina held him and sobbed.

Aze and Lugius moved through the exhausted men and began to encourage them as did the other leaders.  Money rewards were promised to those men who first topped the walls.  Some of the leaders crossed the ditch and walked dangerously close to the palisades as they attempted to rally their men.  After an hour, the mercenaries surged forward again.  This time, they did not meet any pila or rocks, only logs came down from the walls.  The ladders were firmly braced by half a dozen men and the army surged to the top.  Sword met sword, but the endless stream of men ascending the ladders won the day.  The defenders were cut down or driven off the ramparts.

Once inside the fort, the attackers ran to the gates and opened them.  The rest of the army poured in.

At the first sign that the walls had been breached, the women handed each of their children a cup filled with water, honey, and hemlock.  After each child drained the cup, she drank her own portion and cuddled her children around her as they lay together on the bed.  One by one, the children would say, “I can’t feel my feet.  My legs are numb. It’s hard to breathe.”  Then they closed their eyes and were silent.  They were the only ones to die a nonviolent death.  The mercenaries ran throughout the fort stabbing and hacking everyone they found.  Except for the young women, no one was spared.

A young Boii warrior kicked in the door of Kuno’s hut.  He saw Alina sitting on the floor with Kuno’s bloody head on her lap.  He was obviously dead. He quickly scanned the hut, turned, and pushed the door closed.  He lay down his sword, removed his helmet, and smiled lewdly at Alina.  He grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her to her feet.  Kuno’s head slid off her lap and hit the floor with an audible thump.  As the soldier turned to look at the bed, Alina’s hand found the dagger in her belt.  She tightened her grip around the hilt, drew it out, and thrust at his exposed neck.  He never saw it coming.  The knife penetrated his neck and severed his carotid artery.  He grabbed his throat with both hands and Alina struck again.  He fell to the floor, his eyes wide with terror.  Alina followed him down and stabbed his neck and face over and over.  She was in a fury.  When she stopped, she was exhausted and slumped to the floor trembling.

Then she realized with horror that more soldiers like him would soon be coming through her door.  She thought,
I need to hide.  Under the bed?  No, that’s the first place they’ll look.  Where?
She grew desperate.  She took a deep breath. 
Think, she said to herself.  What would Kuno do?  I’ll leave the dead soldier where he is.  They’ll think that he and Kuno killed each other.  The fireplace!
  She crawled to the blackened hearth.  The front was stacked with still smoldering logs and several pots still hung suspended above the once burning breakfast fire.

She reached out and touched the walls.  They were warm.  Her finger tips were black.  She rubbed her palms on the wall and transferred the soot to her face, then her legs and hands. 
More logs.  I’ll build it up higher and hide in the back
.  She grabbed three pieces of wood and stacked them on top of the burnt one.  As she squeezed herself alongside the logs and under the pots, her dress blackened with soot.  She sat with her legs drawn up tightly to her chest.

Soon the door burst open and two soldiers entered the hut. Alina could see their feet.  They saw Kuno and one of their own, both dead.  They riffled their pockets and walked quickly through the hut flipping the bed over and opening the food bins. Alina saw feet approaching the fire place.  They stopped at the opening.  She held her breath as a hand appeared and dipped into a pot.  “Empty,” he said to the other man, and they both walked out the door.  Alina let out her breath, but didn’t dare to move.  Her heart was pounding.

After an hour, the killing was over.  Shelters were looted, livestock gather up, and the food bins emptied.  A few of the men had qualms about killing children, but did it anyway.  Most thought nothing of it.

Later that day, Aze and Lugius were given a count of the dead and wounded.  Six thousand mercenaries would no longer fight, and 50,000 Suevi, mostly civilians, had died.

The mercenary army left Bad Tolz the following day.  Their wagons were loaded with a 60 day supply of food and loot to please the entire army.

A week later, the mercenary army entered the outskirts of Innsbruck.  The cavalry already told Aze and Lugius that Innsbruck, like all the other settlements they had passed, was completely deserted.  The army stopped to rest while the cavalry scouted the surrounding area.  The ground showed evidence of heavy wagon traffic heading west.  Every shelter was searched for food or loot.  Many were burned.  A cavalry detachment crossed the bridge to find the road to the Brenner Pass and found more empty huts and farms.  Nothing remained.  Wheel ruts in the dirt showed that people had crossed the bridge and gone west.  Cavalry followed the trail and very quickly discovered Fort Seefeld.

Aze, Lugius, Haggith, and the other leaders rode to the fort.  It was half the size of Bad Tolz, but they could see the walls were thick with defenders.  As they rode closer, they were met with a hail of scorpio arrows.  Several horses were hit.  They immediately retreated a safe distance to discuss a course of action.  No one had the appetite for another siege.  They had already lost too many men and they had all the supplies they needed.  They made a decision to cross the mountains at the Brenner Pass and continue on to Genoa.

Aze disagreed.  He saw the fort as an opportunity.  “Maybe we can bluff them into giving up their gold and silver.  I think if they see the size of our army, they would consider paying a tribute to have us ride away and leave them in peace.  Let’s bring up the army and I will go forward to issue our demand.  Pay us or we will attack!”  The others agreed that it was worth the effort.  The army was marched to Seefeld and arrayed in a battle formation at the southern entrance to the fort and the valley.  They filled the valley’s mouth.

Bethica, Nasua, and the troops in Seefeld could easily see that they were badly outnumbered.  Once the army was displayed, Aze rode forward with a single aide.  He held his hand off to the side in a gesture meant to imply ‘I am coming to talk.’  It was a brave deed considering the scorpio the Suevi had fired earlier.

Bethica instructed the crews to hold their fire. She was interested in hearing what the man had to say.  He rode to within 50 feet to demonstrate his lack of fear.  Nasua yelled out, “That’s close enough!  What do you want?”

Aze dismounted in a further display of bravado and walked to the edge of the ditch surrounding the fort.  He addressed his comments to Nasua.  Bethica and Davenhardt stood alongside him.  “I am Aze, Commander of the Taurisci.  You can see that the army behind me could easily surround your fort and eventually conquer it.  We want to spare you.  In exchange for your lives, we demand a tribute.  Fill a wagon will all the gold and silver you have and send it out of the fort.  We give you one hour to comply, or we will attack.  Your life and the lives of your brave men are surely worth more than gold and silver.”  He then turned around and walked back to his horse.  His face and arrogant attitude were seared into Bethica’s brain.

Nasua looked at Bethica.  He had no intention of paying them a tribute, but it was Bethica’s decision.  She said, “Prepare the men to fight.  They want gold; we will give them iron!”

The hour passed, and the army marched away.  Bethica smiled and slapped Nasua on the back.  “I’m glad that’s over,” she said with a wide grin.  The following day, June 30th, the mercenary army crossed the bridge and made their way up the hill to the Brenner Pass.