The Eternal Empire (30 page)

Before the legion could continue its
advance, rebel forces from the midlands had launched an attack on Glevum near the
legions base at Isca. The legion had had to turn back to deal with this threat,
suspending the advance on Londinium for more than a week. It had only been
three days ago that enough of the legion had once again been able to
concentrate on renewing the offensive.

Titus removed his helmet and placed it
on the table just inside the tent flap. In the centre of the tent was a table
and the other officers of the legions were gathered around it. A small scale
map of the area currently disputed by the legion and the rebels was laid out on
the table. The conversation was light and Titus was about to go over and greet
Virius Primus when the legate entered un-announced.

"At ease everyone," he said
as the occupants of the tent came to attention, "no need to stand on
ceremony here. We have plenty of work to do - for a change!" That caused
some laughter from his officers. The legion had barely stopped marching and
fighting since the governor had ordered them to retake his capital. "So
gentlemen," he continued, "let’s get to work. First status
reports."

The legionary adjutant brought up his
clipboard and began to read from the roster of units.

"The 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th cohorts
are now at 75% strength after transferring men from the 5th and 7th. They have
also incorporated two centuries from the 8th cohort in Isca. The landship
cohorts are at 60% strength and the artillery has been re-supplied. Eight guns
are out of action due to damage or wear."

"Any news of the 2nd cohort?"
someone asked. The second had been in Londinium protecting the governor.

The adjutant shook his head. "No,
we can only assume that they are all either dead or being held as
prisoners."

The legate cut the digression short by
asking the air cohort commander about the state of his aircraft.

"We have managed to establish an
airfield about fifteen miles from here, this will reduce flight times on
sorties, but our air strength is down to 14 fighters and 12 light bombers. We
lost another fighter to ground fire yesterday."

"Thank you Marcus," said the
legate, "well, so much for what we have got, or rather what we have left.
Now, what are we going to do with it?" he looked over to Virius Primus,
who had taken over as the legions operations officer since his predecessor had
been killed in the fighting.

Virius picked up a pointer and began to
indicate parts of the map which had been marked in red or blue, bending over
the table as he did.

"Rebel forces are deployed in a
semi-circle across Ermine street blocking our advance on Calleva Atrebatum. We
will launch an attack on their left flank to turn their defences. The 3rd
cohort supported by half the artillery will undertake a holding action to pin
down the forces facing us whilst the 1st and 3rd cohorts, led by the landships
will launch the flank attack. The rest of the artillery and the light bombers
will support them. The 6th cohort together with the armoured motor carriages
will remain as the legion reserve."

Virius straightened up. "The
remnants of the 5th and 8th cohorts will be posted as detachments to guard our
communications with Isca. Any questions?"

The senior centurion of the 3rd cohort
leaned forward to study the map. "Why don't we attack on both flanks and
encircle them," he said. "Then we won't have to fight them again next
week."

There were murmurs of agreement from
around the table. Virius could see the legate watching him out of the corner of
his eye, but his expression gave away nothing. It was his plan and he had to
sell it.

"We don't have the manpower for a
double envelopment," Virius replied confidently. "We can barely put
half a legion into this attack as it is. If we split the flanking force in two
we risk being beaten back on one or both flanks."

Another centurion spoke up. "In
other words tribune, we drive them out of this position, losing perhaps a
hundred or so men and some vehicles, then do the same thing in a couple of days
a few miles down the road."

"Unfortunately, that about sums it
up," agreed Virius. "We simply don't have the strength to deliver a
decisive blow. They can replace their losses with civilian volunteers, who have
proved quite tenacious in defence, and call on fresh units from the north. We
fight with what we have."

"We'll still be doing this come
Christmas!" said the centurion. "If there's any of us left!"

"I think not," the legate
interrupted, speaking for the first time since Virius had begun to outline the
operation. "I received some news this morning which I've been keeping to
myself, but now seems as good a time as any to share it." All eyes turned
to the legate and there was complete silence as he took a piece of paper from
the pocket of his battle dress.

"Yesterday," he began,
"units of the Rhine army that have been dispatched to Britannia broke out
of Dubris and moved on Londinium. Durovernum has already fallen and heavy
casualties have been inflicted on the rebel forces."

The atmosphere in the tent changed
instantly from one of resigned pessimism to almost euphoric optimism. Everybody
agreed that it was good news indeed. Attacked on two fronts the rebels would
have to split their forces in two or abandon Londinium. Titus glanced over at
the full size provincial map hanging on the tent wall. Trapped between
Londinium and our forces up in Deva and Petuaria, they will have to surrender,
he thought. After all, who's going to help them.

28th
June 1920

Somewhere
in Saxony

From the observation tower Tribune
Vadomar of the 12
^th
Infantry Regiment watched his men move
stealthily towards the edge of the Imperial base. He could see the legionary
guards patrolling the perimeter checking visitors and vehicles at the main
gate. He turned to the man next to him who was dressed in the uniform of a
senior tribune in the legions.

“Your men certainly look the part
Sunno.”

“They should do. Their kit is standard
legion issue and they have been trained to think and react as Roman soldiers.”

Tribune Sunno was proud of his men. The
X Cohort appeared on the Saxon Army list as the 5
^th
Training and
Education Depot, but in practise reported to the Intelligence and Special Operations
Bureau not the Training Directorate. The unit consisted of men fluent in Latin
and Greek who had been trained as Roman Legionaries by ex-centurions of the
Imperial Army who had a grudge against the Empire or an overriding need for
Saxon Gold. Their purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of Imperial weapons
and tactics and act as the opponents in wargames with selected units of the
regular Saxon Army. As part of the units’ establishment they maintained a fully
functional Legionary base where the men of X Cohort remained ‘in character’ at
all times, operating the base as is they were on the Rhine frontier. The
existence of X Cohort was suspected by Imperial Intelligence but not the full
breath of its remit in preparing the Saxon army for operations.

By the perimeter wire a ‘Roman’ guard
spotted one of Vadomar’s men creeping towards the base and shouted a challenge
and then fired a shot. Other guards quickly joined in until an umpire emerged
from a nearby hut and put an end to the exercise by blowing a whistle. The
firing stopped and more Saxon troops appeared from the nearby woods and
undergrowth where they had been concealed. They wandered towards the wire,
gathering into groups, lighting up cigarettes and chatting amongst themselves.

“You are going to have to do a lot
better than that.” Observed Tribune Sunno.

“Yes, they are.” Agreed Vadomar grimly.
“And they need to do so quickly.”

5th
July 1920

Lactodorum,
Britannia

The theatre in Lactodorum was the
largest building in the city. For that reason it had been taken over by the
rebel government. The decision to abandon Londinium to the advancing imperial
forces had not been an easy one, but it had soon become clear that if they had
tried to defend the capital the legions could have encircled the city, and
Londinium would become a huge prison camp.

The withdrawal up Watling Street had
gone smoothly but the outlook was bleak as Quintus Flaccus, the newly elected
leader of the assembly war council, made clear to the other council members.
Sextus was now a member of the war council, having joined the rebels after the
fighting broke out. He was the highest ranking provincial official to support
the rebels and his administrative skills were welcome.

The meeting had started with a review
of the military situation by Claudius Camilus, the leader of the provincial
Equestrian Party. Due to his previous military experience he had been appointed
as the head of the rebel forces.

He informed the council that he had
some ten thousand men dug in around Verulamium, about twenty miles north east
of Londinium. He also had a smaller force outside Glevum to guard against an
attack from Isca. The auxiliary forces from the border had been moved to screen
the naval base at Petuaria and the legio XX Valeria Victrix at Deva. A small
reserve of three thousand men were at Lactodorum. There were not enough troops
to launch a counter attack against the forces driving from the south or to
eliminate the imperial bases in the north.

"What about the civilian
population?" asked the head of the Radical Party. "There are
thousands of volunteers ready to fight for the freedom of Britannia."

"With the exception of some
retired veterans, none of them are trained soldiers," said Camilus.
"We can issue them with rifles and they will give a creditable account of
themselves in defence, but sending them to attack a legion would be
suicide." He did not add that the supply of volunteers eager to fight had
dried up considerably since the retreat from Londinium. Few people are keen to
fight for a losing side.

The people around the table remained
silent but looked at each other willing someone to provide a solution to their
predicament. Eventually Quintus Flaccus spoke.

"I believe that the only option is
the 'foreign volunteers'," he said with a note of resignation in his
voice.

"I'm not happy with the Caledonian
army marching in to help us," said Camilus forcefully, "it'll change
the whole nature of this conflict and alienate many of our people."

"And even if we succeed in getting
Constantinople to recognise our independence," added the leader of the
Federal Party. "How free will we be if it's won for us by others. I've no
desire to become a client state of Caledonia!"

The others muttered in agreement and
Flaccus raised his hands for quiet in order to speak again.

"I understand your fears," he
said, "and I share them. But I don't see any alternative. We've all heard
what has happened to our colleagues who have fallen into the hands of the
imperial forces." The retreat from Londinium had seen a number of the
assembly members and a few senators taken prisoner by the advancing legions.
The peregrini had summarily executed those who had voted for independence. Any
auxiliary officer taken prisoner suffered the same fate. Flaccus continued.

"Without help it's only a matter
of time, possibly weeks before the Empire has re-established control over the
island. If that is the case I can only recommend that we surrender immediately
to prevent anymore suffering to the province."

Again, everybody was quiet. Flaccus
could see that each one was struggling with the choice before them. It was
Camilus who broke the silence.

"What form will these 'volunteers'
take?" he asked.

Flaccus allowed himself to relax a
little. He knew that he had won the argument.

"There are volunteers waiting to
aid our struggle against the Empire," he spoke to his fellow council
members as though he was addressing a political meeting, "not just from
Caledonia, but from Hibernia, Scandia, Saxony and the United Provinces. They
just need to know that we want them and they'll come. They will bring their own
weapons and will be integrated into existing auxiliary and citizen militia
units."

"What about heavy weapons?"
asked Camilus. "Without artillery and armoured vehicles we don't have a
hope of defeating the legions."

"We will hire mercenary units of
artillery, landships and aircraft," he announced.

There were expressions of surprise from
other council members. This was the first that any of them had heard about the
use of mercenaries.

"Where're they coming from and how
are we going to pay for them?" demanded Sextus.

"Actually, they will be regular
units of the Caledonian army with some Saxon army equipment," replied
Flaccus, "but to maintain the illusion of Caledonian neutrality they'll
officially be independent mercenaries hired by us."

"And payment?" persisted
Sextus.

"Academic," said Flaccus
dismissing the question. "Payment is the least of our problems at the
moment". He was in control of the meeting now and meant to maintain his
authority. "I hope that that clears up all the questions. We'll have to
move quickly if we want to stop the imperials before they push us up to the
wall."