The Eternal Empire (49 page)

Mosa
River, Gaul

The sound of rifle fire was growing
steadily louder, marking the approach of the Saxons. Cornelius stood next to
General Comnenus on the east bank of the Mosa watching as the last few motor
carriages of the rearguard carried the wounded across the river. Every now and
then artillery on the west bank would fire a few shells in support of the
imperial troops covering the retreat.

As the last vehicle drove onto the
bridge, Comnenus nodded to Cornelius and they both walked leisurely across to
the other side. Cornelius would have preferred to run across but the general
wanted to put on a show of confidence for the troops and insisted that they act
casually.

Once on the other side Cornelius turned
to look back across the river. He could make out some imperial troops in the
town on the other side. He watched as they continued their retreat. One squad
would head towards the bridge while another would cover their movement. The
last few hundred yards to the river was over open ground - all buildings, trees
and other obstacles had been demolished to give a clear field of fire. Each
group of soldiers sprinted across this space and over the bridge. Comnenus
waited on the other side of the bridge and greeted each man with a few words of
praise and encouragement as they arrived.

Finally about a dozen horsemen emerged
from out of the town, galloping for the bridge. A few moments later some Saxon
cavalry appeared chasing after them, but a couple of bursts of machine rifle
fire from the teams covering the bridge caused them to halt and turn back.

The Roman horsemen, auxiliary cavalry
of the 11th regiment crossed the bridge and their leader reined in his horse
before Comnenus, his short cavalry rifle still in his hand.

"Decurion Vibius Celsus reporting,
Sir. We're the last of the rearguard."

The young soldier looked tired and
dirty, his face black with smoke and his uniform torn and grubby, but he spoke
with pride. Covering a retreat was a difficult and dangerous undertaking,
casualties had been high, but they had carried it out with courage and skill.

"Well done!" said Comnenus
loudly so that all could hear. "You are a credit to the Empire and to the
army. Take your men to the rear, Decurion, and get some rest, you all deserve
it. Cornelius, make a note of this man's name and unit. They will get
recognition for their bravery."

The cavalryman saluted smartly, his
grimy face beaming at the praise as he led his men off, forming them into a
column of threes as though on parade. Despite the long retreat and the constant
fighting both their morale and their confidence in Comnenus was high.

"They're good soldiers," said
the general as they watched them ride off. "With enough men like that I
could storm the gates of hell itself!"

"But without enough of them we'll
be lucky to hold this river," noted Cornelius quietly.

"I know," agreed Comnenus,
"Hispania and Italia have sent us what troops they could, but those areas
have suffered from the economies of previous years even more than the Rhine
army has. The legio I Italia doesn't have a single landship and are missing
more than a quarter of their infantry strength. Both provinces can barely put
three half strength legions and a dozen auxiliary cohorts into the line."

"I estimate that we will have at
least three days before the Saxons are able to launch an offensive across the
river," said Cornelius spotting more movement across the Mosa. "They
outnumber us three to one but they will be able to concentrate many times that
number wherever they decide to attack. It will be touch and go whether we can
hold them until General Strategicus and the army of Asia Minor get here."

Comnenus turned away from Cornelius and
looked down river. The strongly flowing grey water looked strangely peaceful
despite the activities on either side of it. "We may have to manage
without our colleagues from the East," he said quietly.

Cornelius looked at Comnenus, but the
general did not meet his gaze. "What do you mean? We had notification from
General Strategicus himself telling us that the first ships had already sailed.
He said he would be flying to Massilia with his staff to organise the
disembarkation in a few days."

"It appears that the Emperor needs
General Strategicus and his army more than we do," said Comnenus coldly.
"The fight against the usurper Monomachus gets priority."

Cornelius was incredulous. "First
the Pannonian legions, now this! What do they expect us to fight with!
Civilians! Women! Children!"

The general turned to Cornelius, his
face taut with determination. "I don't like it either, but we are going to
hold this line. It's not common knowledge that we are on our own and we must
keep it from the rest of the army. If the men think that relief is on its way
they'll fight with greater tenacity."

Cornelius looked into his commanders’
face and saw the resolution in his eyes. "We don't really have any other
choice do we?"

"No Cornelius, we don't."

A centurion from the engineers of the
Fourteenth legion came up to the general and saluted.

"Everything is ready sir.
Permission to blow the bridge."

Comnenus nodded. "Permission
granted. Carry on centurion."

"Come on Cornelius," he added
with a smile as the centurion left them, "lets get away from here. I don't
want you hit by a piece of flying Mosa River Bridge. I need every man I've
got!"

29th
August 1920

Sidon,
Syria

The quayside at the Sidon docks was
relatively quiet now that the majority of the troop transports had left. Only a
few cargo ships were being loaded under the watchful eye of imperial military
police. The local Arab workers were sullen and slow but did not appear inclined
to engage in acts of sabotage in revenge for their humiliating defeat at the
hands of General Strategicus.

As expected the Caliph had sued for
peace before Damascus had been occupied. The peace terms imposed by Strategicus
had been comparatively light - imperial occupation of the Lebanese coast for
six months, dismantling of fortifications along the borders with Egypt and Asia
Minor and the return of the Eagle of the legio II Trajana. It was in the
interests of both sides to settle quickly. The Roman troops were needed
elsewhere and a revolt was already brewing in Arabia amongst the more fanatical
Bedouin tribes. As soon as the Caliph had signed the treaty the imperial army
began embarking on the transports for Gaul.

General Strategicus was still in Sidon,
occupying an office in the Port Customs building commandeered as a temporary
headquarters. Gregory Nicerites and General Probus were in there with him. They
had flown directly from Constantinople to Sidon and had arrived a few hours
before the orders from Exanzenus diverting the army of Asia Minor to the
defence of the capital and the Emperor's person.

General Probus was an old friend of
Strategicus, and Gregory had also served under him when he was in the army.
They described the last council meeting to him.

General Strategicus looked at the piece
of paper in his hands ordering him to send his men to the capital. "This
is wrong," he said with conviction. "The Emperor's first
responsibility is to the security of the Empire - the whole Empire. Philip
would never have allowed this to happen." Strategicus had fought with the
previous Emperor and had received his first army command from him.

"He doesn't seem to have a mind of
his own anymore," said Probus. "Exanzenus and his mistress have a
tremendous influence over him.

"Alexander is not the man his
father was," said Strategicus, "he has always been easily influenced,
especially by the more base sorts. He needs good, strong advisors to help him
guide the Empire, not self servers."

"That's where we need your help
General," said Gregory. "We believe that unless the Emperor can be
removed from the influence of Exanzenus and Stephanie Dikouros the Empire will
collapse into chaos. Hispania and Gaul will be overrun by the Saxons, Africa
will secede, Britannia will become a client state of Caledonia, and the army
will exhaust itself in constant rounds of civil war.

Strategicus gave Gregory a long cold
look. "What do you expect me to do about it? Disobey orders and contribute
to the breakdown of the army? Set myself up as another Emperor like that fool
Monomachus?"

"No General," said Gregory.
"You are the most honest and honourable man that I know. That's why we
have come to you now."

Strategicus eyed the two men suspiciously.

"The Army of Asia Minor must go to
Gaul," pleaded Probus, "General Comnenus needs those troops to defeat
the Saxons. Without them his army is doomed."

"I agree with you," said
Strategicus sadly and waved the orders in the air, "but these tell me to
do otherwise."

"There are precedents that exist
where a general has ignored orders in the light of circumstances - or a higher
priority," said Gregory.

"It's still rebellion,"
insisted Strategicus, but with no anger in his voice.

"General Strategicus," said
Gregory gravely. "We are both of the opinion that you are the only one who
can save the Empire from its current crisis," it sounded very dramatic,
but Gregory said it with sincerity. On the flight from Constantinople, they had
discussed their options and had come to the conclusion that Manual Strategicus
was their only real chance.

The General looked at the two men
opposite and then swivelled his chair to look out of the window at the port. A
cargo ship of stores for his army was being guided out of the harbour by a pair
of tugs. Would it be going to Massilia or Constantinople?

He closed his eyes for about a minute,
breathing deeply but steadily. Gregory and Probus sat quietly, leaving the
general to wrestle with his conscience and to ask his God for guidance.

He opened his eyes and turned to face
them once again. "We'll do everything we have to do in the name of the
Emperor," he stated. "I will not turn against Philip's son."

"We have no desire to depose
Alexander," confirmed Gregory. "Just to get him away from the evil
influences that he is under, and to return the assembly and the senate to its
rightful place in the governing of the Empire."

"As long as that is understood. I
want nothing from this. I do what has to be done because it is necessary and it
is the right thing to do. If they wish to court martial me after then so be it.
I will hand myself over for trial."

Having made up his mind General
Strategicus immediately took charge. He stood up and headed for the door.
"Come with me, both of you. We all have a great deal of work to do."

30th
August 1920

Mosa
River, Gaul

Cornelius was wrong in his estimate.
The Saxons launched their first attempt to cross the river the day after they
arrived.

They selected a stretch of river away
from the main towns with plenty of natural cover. In the middle of the night
without even a preliminary bombardment, thousands of Saxon infantry crossed in
small boats and rafts that they had hastily built. Losses amongst the first
wave were high but the speed, surprise and suddenness of the attack overwhelmed
the two centuries of auxiliaries from Hispania defending the area. By dawn the
Saxons had a bridgehead a mile wide and half a mile deep on the West bank of
the Mosa.

General Comnenus flung every reserve
unit he had at the bridgehead immediately. The Saxons had only managed to ferry
infantry and some light artillery across, but they had dug in amongst the trees
and low hills that protected the crossing area. The first counter attack by two
cohorts of the legio IV Macedonia came to standstill under heavy fire from
Saxon mortars and machine rifles. It was only after half a dozen artillery
batteries were brought to bear that the legionaries were able to make any
headway.

Saxon engineers had begun to assemble a
pontoon bridge from the moment that their first troops had landed on the west
bank, and by daylight they were over half way across the river. Comnenus sent
every aircraft that he could muster to disrupt the bridge building. The Saxons
in turn put up all their fighters and deployed every anti-aircraft gun they
had. Without the bridge the Saxons would not be able to get any of their
armoured vehicles or heavy artillery across.

The battle raged all day. Imperial guns
and aircraft would shell and bomb the Saxons, whilst their Saxon counterparts
would try to break-up the imperial attacks.  By the evening the legions had
prevailed. A regiment of landships spearheaded an attack by three fresh cohorts
from the legio I Italica and broke through to the river splitting the Saxon
perimeter in two. The pontoon bridge never reached the opposite bank. Under the
cover of darkness the surviving Saxons made their way back across the Mosa.

The next morning, General Comnenus,
Cornelius and a dozen other staff officers picked their way through the debris
of the battlefield. A century of legionaries fanned out in front of the
general, on the lookout for enemy snipers. The air was still thick with smoke
from burning trees and the sickly, sweet smell of roasted human flesh. The huge
concentration of fire directed by both sides into the area had turned the lush
forest into a blackened, barren landscape. Trees had been so badly burnt that
none of their foliage remained. Every piece of undergrowth, every bush or
sapling had been reduced to ashes or a charcoal remnant, a grim testament to
the ferocity of the fighting. Imperial landships, destroyed by Saxon guns or
mines lay scattered around with teams of technicians fussing over them to see
if they could be fixed.