Legio XVII: Battle of Zama (40 page)

“Yes, you are.  My mistake!” Salicar smiled holding up his hands in mock surrender.  “My men tell me that you have information about the Romans.  Tell me about that,” he encouraged.

Emil could only say he saw thousands of men as specific numbers were beyond his capability.  He did reveal that the army at the lake was composed of Raeti, Romans, and Cenomani.

“You told my men about going around the lake?”

“Yes, I told them that I helped the Romans find a way around it.  I’ve hunted all around the area and know all the roads and trails,” Emil said proudly.

“Did you see any Illyrians, Boii, or anyone else?”

“No, just the ones I already mentioned.”

“You’ve been a big help to me.  I want you to stay with my guards until we can figure out what to do.  I might want you to accompany some of my men back to Lake Benacus.  You’d be one of my soldiers.  How does that sound?”

“That’s why I came here,” replied Emil straightening up.

That evening Salicar told Mago and the other Commanders about Emil and what he had to say about the Romans at Lake Benacus.  “It’s obvious to me that the Romans know we are recruiting men from the east and are at Benacus to block them from joining us,” groused Salicar.  “Emil told me that he saw thousands of Romans, Cenomani, and Raeti warriors.  That tells me that they probably have the capability to stop them or force them to suffer significant casualties, neither of which is acceptable.”

“You’re right,” admitted Mago.  “We need those mercenaries if we are to push past these seven Legions.  I’m counting on them.  When are the Illyrians and others due here?”

“Late July and August,” said Salicar.

“So, perhaps, there is still time to get some of our men up there and force the Romans to fight in two directions,” said Mago.  “Salicar, I want you to send Maedoc with 50 horsemen and 10,000 Gauls as soon as possible to break the Roman position.  Have them take Emil to guide the way.  We will still have about 24,000 men here in case the Legions in Etruria move north.”

About a week later, 10,000 Gauls and the small cavalry detachment left Savona for Lake Benacus.  They rode to Genoa, Placentia (modern Piacenza), and Cremona.  At Cremona, Emil stopped them and explained, “Earlier, the Cenomani had guards posted on this road to cover the approach to Brixia.  I doubt they are there now, but we need to proceed cautiously.”  The cavalry went forward.  They not only didn’t see any Cenomani guards, but also discovered that the entire Cenomani settlement at Brixia was deserted.  A little farther on, they surprised two Roman cavalrymen asleep by the side of the road as their horses grazed peacefully.  The two men jumped up as the Gauls approached, but were cut down before they could reach their horses.

Maedoc led his men east.  They were one day’s march away from the lake.  When they stopped for the night, the cavalry went ahead to try to locate the Romans.  At each bend in the road, some of the men would dismount and advance on foot to clear the way ahead.  It was a slow process.  Around dusk on July 14th, they were about a mile and a half from the wall when they got their first view of it.  The riders dismounted, secured their horses, and walked a mile forward.  They could see that the wall was well constructed and lightly manned.  The guards were not wearing Roman helmets.  The Gauls walked back to their horses and rode hard for their camp anxious to report what they had found.

The next afternoon, Maedoc and his Commanders went to see for themselves.  They waited in nearby woods until dusk and then inched their way to within half a mile of the wall.  There was no activity on the wall or on the outside.  In low whispers, they discussed how they would attack it.  When it was too dark to see, they returned to camp and continued their planning.  On the 16th, the Gauls moved to within three miles of the wall and began building ladders.  Maedoc wanted to look at the wall again to confirm his plans and ensure the spacing between units was right.  He and the other leaders rode out of camp about 11:00 A.M. and took up a hidden position on a slight rise in the ground that was surrounded by trees and brush.

They had no sooner settled down to look at the wall, when they saw men appear from around the side of the wall.  They were marching 10 abreast, and they kept coming. They were clearly Romans.  Maedoc watched and counted.  After an hour, he concluded that one Roman Legion and one Auxiliary Legion had just left the fort.  He wondered why they were leaving the fort?

The Gauls returned to their camp to talk about what they had just witnessed.  The Commander of the 10,000, Maedoc, said, “I’ll speculate that the two Legions are going around the lake to attack the first group of mercenaries to arrive on the other side of the river.  Maybe the rest of the men in the fort will storm out to catch them between their two armies.  But I really don’t care why they left.  The fact is that the fort is now minus two Legions, and that makes our job that much easier.”

“We should attack immediately,” said another Commander.

“I will not be rushed into attacking until we are ready,” said Maedoc showing his irritation. “We need to brief the men on our plans, run a rehearsal, check the ladders, and mentally prepare the men to attack.  I want to do this at night to minimize our losses.  They have the advantage.  They are on higher ground, and we have to climb to reach them.  Teams have to be designated to hold the ladders against the wall.  They will be trying everything they know to push them away.  It’s got to be done right, or it will fail.  Tomorrow, we need to find a field where we can draw a line in the dirt to simulate the wall.  Line the men up in the order they will assault.  I want to see men holding the ladders upright while others climb a step or two.  Place the archers back about 70 feet away from the wall to keep them out of pila range.  Once we’ve done these things several times, then we will attack.”

Unseen by the Gauls, on July 17, Rasce assembled 500 of his horsemen by the west wall and rode to Salo for the ambush.  He had a critical role.  His men had to block the escape route going south.

The Gauls rehearsed on the 17th and 18th.  The two groups of 5,000 men each knew their position in the line and how they would spread out upon reaching the wall.  To eliminate confusion, Maedoc placed 5,000 men on each side of the road in column formation and began walking to the wall.  Maedoc timed it so that the men would arrive about 1:00 A.M. for the planned attack at 2:00 A.M.   The men moved silently.  Each one knew the danger of assaulting a wall, but clung to the knowledge that the defenders were missing two Legions, and everyone else would be asleep.  They hoped for an easy victory.

*******

The Suevi blocking position

On July 15th, Vendim, Malush, and the Taurisci Commander, Sisak, arrived at the northern end of the lake.  While the troops set up their camps, the three climbed the hill to assess the log wall they would attack.  Having gotten the 10,000 men he had lobbied for, Vendim was quite pleased and perhaps even a little smug envisioning his anticipated victory.

When they arrived at the tree line, Vendim said, “As you can see, the position is about 1,500 feet wide, and the wall is only about five feet high.  My idea is that we will line up in rows of 800 men to cover the entire span and put the lines of men one behind the other in close order.  Sisak, I would like your men to go first, Malush’s men will follow, and my men will be last.  Since my men will be attacking the Cenomani wall in a few days, I need to minimize my casualties.”

Sisak did not like his men taking the brunt of the attack.  “Why not have Malush’s men go first?” he complained loathe to have his men take the brunt of the attack.

“Because the Taurisci are known for their bravery and tenacity,” answered Vendim smoothly.  “I’m not sure Malush’s men will press home the attack.  Once we get going, we can’t stop or they will slaughter us in this field by their archers.  We need to keep running forward.  From this tree line onward, we can expect to be under fire, but our shields should protect us.  The last 60 feet will be the most dangerous. I expect a storm of spears, which is why we must close the final distance as quickly as possible.  Let’s get the men up here tomorrow morning and attack as soon as they are lined up.”

The men were up at dawn and made ready for battle.  They had been told the plan and were understandably nervous about attacking up hill, and giving the defenders all the advantage.  The faster they could close the distance, the fewer of them would die.  At 7:00 A.M., with the Taurisci leading the way, 15,000 men snaked around the lake and up the hill.  Sisak halted them at the tree line and arranged them in four lines of 800 men each.  Malush and Vendim did the same.  The leaders moved among the men encouraging them and telling them to run as fast as possible while keeping their shields up.  The faster they could close the distance, the fewer of them would die.  Vendim delayed a bit to allow the tension to build, and then at 10:00 A.M., when he felt, the men were angry enough and past their fear, he ordered the attack.

Sisak’s men burst out of the trees, and immediately arrows rained down striking their shields, but inflicting little damage.  Occasionally, an arrow would find a leg or exposed shoulder and a man would go down, but the majority charged on shouting their battle cry and believing they might actually survive this day.

Peering around the side of their raised shields, the men could see the wall getting closer.  They were within 100 feet and closing in. Suddenly, the first row of men stumbled and fell, and at the same time, a cloud of spears came arching down the hill.  Men began screaming as their feet sank onto the spikes in the thousands of hidden foot traps.  Exposed men were impaled.  The second row of men, no more than two feet behind the first, pushed forward not realizing what was happening, and they too began dropping all along the line as they impaled their feet.  Seeing the exposed holes and pointed spikes, the third row stopped before crashing into their fallen comrades.  When they stopped, the fourth row stopped, and these now stationary targets became the focal point of the spears coming from the wall.

Malush’s men were told that the Taurisci might hesitate during the attack and to use their swords to drive them forward.  So when some of Sisak’s men turned to retreat, they had to fight Malush’s men, who cut them down.  The third and fourth rows were then driven at sword point to continue up the hill.  Sisak’s army was being slowly destroyed as men continued to fall from arrows, foot traps, and spears.  And Sisak, who was with Malush and Vendim in the tree line, was completely unaware of what was happening to his troops up front.

When Odo’s men had thrown their last spear, they removed the supports for the wall, and the logs began rolling down the hill.  The logs at the rear of the wall needed a push, but once they got going, they cart wheeled, bounced and rolled down the hill in a wild pattern of destruction.  Wounded men on the ground were crushed and standing men were knocked down.  Vendim’s men hugged the ground and managed to escape the worst of it.  Back in the tree line, the Commanders saw the logs bouncing towards them and lay flat on the ground with their faces buried in the dirt.  One rolling log struck the edge of a rock, bounced high in the air, and came down crushing Sisak’s skull.  As soon as the logs were cut loose, Odo’s Suevi defenders had turned and run back along the plateau.  They never saw the destructive power they had unleashed.

As the chaos subsided, the men on the hill slowly began to stand and look around.  They saw a disaster.  The defenders were gone, but on the hillside lay thousands of dead and wounded.  The Taurisci lost over 4,000 men.  Malush’s men suffered 1,000 killed or wounded, while Vendim lost only 300 men.  Vendim went forward and pushed his men to the top of the plateau.  They used their swords to scrape the ground to uncover the remaining foot traps.  Vendim had a mission to complete, and he was anxious to get on with it.

The rest of the beaten army crawled and stumbled their way back down the hill.  They spent the night of the 16th in their camps at Riva.  They began the long walk south the next day.  Malush expected to arrive back at their camp by the wall at midday on the 19th.  The dead were simply left on the hill.

Odo gathered his Suevi Legion at Limone, and they began walking rapidly to Maclino, the ambush site 16 miles down the lake.  Along the way, he congratulated his men for the victory as they kept up a steady pace of 4 MPH. As the road narrowed and became more difficult, they slowed to barely 2 MPH which was acceptable to Odo, since he knew he was far ahead of the Illyrians. Ten miles beyond Limone, they stopped for the night at Gargnano, the signal station, where Odo had the signalers send a message to Manius announcing their victory.  The following morning, the Suevi Legion walked the final six miles and took their place alongside Legio XVII and I Raetorum hiding among the rocks and trees.

Vendim pushed his men along the plateau and down the side of the hill to Limone where they stopped for the night.  In the morning, he tried to get the army moving early, but they were worn out and dragged their feet.  Finally at 9:00 A.M., his men began walking alongside the lake.  The pace quickly slowed because of the narrow, rocky road, and he felt he was falling behind schedule.  Some of his men were limping from hitting foot traps, but most of his army was still fit. He decided to keep going until it was too dark to proceed.