On the Rocks

by Peter Rhodan

  The men of Devent and Wern followed in due course not looking anywhere near as martial. Arturo stayed in his spot, holding his arm over his chest in salute until the whole force marched north. After the last of the men had passed, followed by several wagons Radovas had hired to carry supplies and spare arrows, Arturo led the cavalry north as well alongside the marching infantry.

  His first aim was to get to a spot he had noticed on the road towards Alladraef where it had crossed a stream via a small ford. He had studied the spot as a possible place to take up a defensive position on their way back from Alauna. After nearly two hours they reached the spot he had spotted on that trip and he halted the cavalry while he assessed the position.

  The road came down from the north on a gradual slope that had boulders and scrub on one side and the stream bed on the other, with trees and bushes lining the irregular bank. There was a small causeway type construction that was clearly centuries old where the road crossed the stream before it continued up a steeper slope on the southern side. This area had been farmed and was clearer than the northern side.

  There was a sharp ridge at the top of the slope and then the behind this ridge the land flattened out and gradually sloped down somewhat towards the south. There were several cleared paddocks here forming a relatively clear flat area. To the west there was a rocky rise with scrub that the stream wound around on the far side of. And to the east there was a long wood that stretched into the hills being land that no one had tried to farm as yet.

  The cavalry force had barely stopped at the top of the ridge when a rider appeared on the other side of the stream heading south. He was soon seen to be wearing the Republican green uniform so they all relaxed and he rode up to Arturo unmolested and saluted upon arriving.

  “Julianus reports that Maximus has left Maglona and is marching south. He is leading with his cavalry and letting the infantry march along behind. Some of his cavalry have armoured horses.”

  Arturo looked over to Valerius at this. “That will be old Sarmatian horse armour or copies of it. There were several thousand of them settled in Britannia a few generations ago and some of their traditions still linger.”

  Arturo nodded. He turned to the messenger. “Have a rest and change horses. I will have a message for Julianus in a bit.” The man saluted and moved to the rear of the force where there were several spare horses being led by the men at the end of the cavalry column. He had thought horses would hard to come by but so far there had been no trouble acquiring more than enough for his small cavalry force.

  Arturo surveyed the terrain once more before turning back to Oween and Valerius. “This is where we will fight. Radovas and the infantry should be here before long and we will confer when he is here, but this is the ground.”

  The other two looked around trying to see what Arturo saw but he doubted they would understand, at least not yet. In some ways the position was more like Waterloo than Agincourt but what he was sure of was that he had not wasted his time in the military history course he had taken, despite what his fellow cadets had said at the time. Most of his fellow cadets were of the opinion that any military studies that pre-dated spaceflight were pointless.

  Within the hour Radovas, Meries, Llewelyn, Dilleen and Vellgern, who led the Dervent milita all arrived to form a leader’s council. Arturo looked around their faces, noting that Dileen and Vellgern looked nervous, Radovas and Meries looked determined, Llewelyn had a sly appraising look on his face as if he was waiting for some surprise to be explained, Valerius simply looked intrigued in anticipation of hearing Arturo’s plan and Oween looked supremely confident, clearly having faith in Arturo’s leadership.

  The contrast int heir outfits made for an interesting tableau. Vellgern was wearing some coat of small plates that has a tarnished silver look, had clearly seen better days and may well have been something passed down from his father. Dileen had his faded Roman military tunic with chain armour, Llewelyn had adopted the uniform and amour of Arturo’s Legion. Meries wore his leather gear but with Legionary blue-green undergarments. Radovas looked as he always did, his armour and equipment just in better repair than the first time Arturo had met him. Valerius looked like the only ‘real’ Roman officer with his plumed helmet and solid breastplate.

  Compared to the homogenous appearance of modern military forces, especially when on campaign, Arturo found it almost barbaric. Not that he was any different, but this was clearly not the sort of military he had spent most of his life serving in!

  “Right gentlemen. This is where will fight assuming Maximus keeps coming down the road. He is leading with this cavalry so what I intend is to lure him into charging us with them by appearing to offer him an easy victory. Valerius and the cavalry will form up with me down the slope near the creek. Ostensibly we will be there to negotiate with him.” That brought a few smiles.

  “On the crest of the ridge we will line up some of our militia, half of the Wern force on the western side, half of the Dervent force to the east. They will leave their bows in position further back and take spears and shields from the Legion to make them look more, um military.” He paused and they all looked at him puzzled. Radovas went to say something but Arturo held up his hand. “Here on this flat ground hidden by the crest we will build two lines of emplaced stakes. Starting there.” And he pointed towards the rocky ground in that direction. “And there.” And pointed towards the edge of the trees on the eastern side, closest to the ridge.

  “We will emplace two or three lines of stakes depending on how much time we have to work in, putting in a diagonal line from each side back towards that farm house. About a hundred and fifty paces in front of it we leave off and will aim to have a gap one hundred and fifty paces wide.” He paused. "Basically, it will be a big vee with an open bottom."

  “Stakes?” Meries asked.

  “Yes. They don’t have to be fancy, say a pace and half long, no make it two paces. Sharpened at both ends so they can be embedded in the ground facing forward at an angle. Two or better three rows of these should deter any cavalry horse from trying to run through or over them.”

  There were murmurs and they all looked like men who have suddenly had a brilliant idea shown them. “With the stakes as a front we can space our men out along the lines, one century of the Legion to each side supported by one force of local militia each. My plan is to goad Maximus into charging across the stream into our small cavalry force and poor looking militia. We all run over the crest and hope he follows. Do you think he’ll fall for it?” And with this question Arturo looked steadily at Valerius.

  Valerius ignored his gaze, staring off into space for a few seconds, then crossed his arms and leant his chin on his raised fist. “Probably. Especially if you goad him into losing his temper.”

  “I can but try, so this is the plan.” And he explained his idea more clearly to the thoughtful looking officers. They were not enamoured with it but agreed that if Maximus could be goaded into charging across the stream it would probably work.

  The rest of the morning was spent by the whole army cutting and shaping stakes. There was a halt for a generous lunch to be dished out and then work resumed. By the time a rider from Julianus' scouts arrived to say Maximus was only an hour’s march north, the defensive position was basically prepared. The chosen younger militia men were issued the spears and shields of the legionaries, much to those worthies disgust. The legionaries were then positioned behind the line of stakes on either side with gaps for the militia troops to run through and join the waiting legionaries and the older, slower half of each militia force who were not being used as bait.

  When all were in place Arturo made sure that water was taken to all the men and a messenger was sent to Julianus for him to deploy his scouts on either side of the Imperial column in a pre-arranged plan. Each sub force had a trumpeter and at a signal they would blow their trumpets.

  Oween, Valerius and Arturo stood waiting at the top of the ridge while Arturo gave the whole plan a quick once over. Sati
sfied that all was in place he turned to face north with nothing else to do but wait the arrival of Maximus.

  Chapter 14

  The enemy cometh

  The thirty odd Roman cavalry halted across the stream from the waiting forces of Arturo. After a quick discussion one of the men went riding back up the overgrown road quickly passing out of sight due to the clumps of trees. Shortly after one of Julianus’ scouts rode up. Arturo acknowledged his salute as the man pulled his sweating horse to halt in front of the command group.

  “Sir!” He said touching his breast. Arturo waved acknowledgement in his usual carefully studied lazy manner. “Ensign Julianus reports that the main Roman cavalry force is about a mile back up the road. They have maybe two hundred and twenty mounted. Marching behind them and maybe half an hour back already is a force of about six hundred infantry. His says to tell you that they have some rudimentary uniforms and all have shield and spear but he doesn’t think they are any better than some sort of the levy. A lot of them don't march like they drill regularly at any rate. There are some wagons behind them and then maybe thirty cavalry bringing up the rear. They appear to be only semi-regulars as well.” He stopped, still panting from his fast ride.

  “Right. Very good, trooper?” Arturo enquired

  “Gwillim Maeli, sir.” The man answered.

  “Good. Now Gwillim, I want you to take a break for five minutes or so then ride back to Julianus and tell him he is free to harass the enemy rear once he hears our horns but he is not, and I repeat not, to engage in a stand up fight with superior numbers. You understand?”

  “Yes sir!.”

  “Good. Go over there in the shade and rest then.” Arturo ordered point to a nearby tree which cast a large area of shade. The man saluted and moved over to the shady patch, dismounting once there.

  Meanwhile the small Imperial cavalry force showed no inclination to force the stream in the face of the Republican force. Valerius had told him the Romans were not really big on forward scouting but he had not really believed that their idea of reconnaissance was thirty cavalry riding a mile in front of their main body. Amateurs!

  Arturo moved his horse a bit further back so he could see behind the ridge at the infantry deploying there. The hastily cut stakes formed a forest in front of the advanced wings, their flanks protected by the edge of the forest on one side and the rocky ground on the other. In the set-back centre where there was the clear gap he had specified.

  The scout roused himself after a short five minutes and after mounting his horse, saluted and rode off in search of the rest of his force. Arturo dismounted to give his horse a rest as the time dragged by. Finally, there was a stir on the other side of the stream and the main force of cavalry rode up, the lead being formed by several men who were clearly officers with helmets sporting either high horsetail crests or fancy feathers. With their armour burnished and shining and fancy horse accoutrements they looked very much the part of Roman commanders. The far bank filled with horses and men as the two hundred or so of Maxiimus’ cavalry gathered in the limited open ground on that side of the stream.

  "Here we go." Said Valerius as two of the new arrivals rode forward till they reached the edge of the stream. Arturo nodded and together they rode down to their side of the stream, Oween trailing behind as always. They halted on their side, facing the two Roman officers.

  “I am Maximus Theodorius, Dux Brittanium. Why do you stand in our path?” The bigger of the two men bellowed. His face was buried in his helmet, so it was hard to gauge his expression, but the tone of voice indicated that he had a fair idea of who he faced.

  “I am Arturo Sandus, Primarius of the new Roman Republic. I stand here because I would like you to join our cause.”

  The big man and his partner appeared to find this amusing. “Join your cause? Why should we?”

  Arturo waved his arm to the south east. “The Emperor hides in Ravenna and does nothing to succour the people of the Empire while barbarians wander around at will. He has told the cities of Britannia to fend for themselves I am told. Yet his court lavishes wealth on themselves and the many bureaucrats that are supposedly running the empire. The Emperors have been doing nothing but squandering the wealth of Roman people for centuries. They willingly waste Roman lives struggling with each other for power but do little to quell the barbarians without and more recently now within the borders of the Empire.”

  “It is time these men were removed from power and the Republic restored. It was under the Republic that the Empire was built. Despite their power the Emperors only added three provinces between the lot of them and this one is the last to still be even nominally Roman.” He paused to try and see what their response was likely to be but could see nothing under their helmets.

  “Join with us in restoring the Republic and the Empire. Together we can make the Roman people great once more.” He finished.

  There was silence for a few moments and then the big man started laughing. “Restore the Empire, with them?” He spluttered waving his arm at the thirty or so cavalry under Valerius and the hundred plus militia lining the ridge.

  “Everything must start somewhere.” Arturo answered although it sounded lame.

  “I think not barbarian. Yes I know you are from beyond the Empire. First I will crush your force here and then I will enjoy crucifying you on the walls of my fort in Lugowalion!”

  Arturo pointed at Maximus. “You are making a mistake Maximus Theodorius. Those of my officers who know you said you were an ignorant fool, but I did not believe them. Prove them wrong and join with me and restore the Empire.” He yelled.

  Maximus scowled at the implied insult, his hand going to his sword hilt, then he spat on the ground before he turned his horse and retreated to the main body of his cavalry force. His companion waited a moment to fake laugh at Arturo before copying his master. Arturo shrugged at the response before he retired back up the rise with Oween in tow . “You didn’t really think he would agree to join us did you?” Oween commented.

  “No. But it was worth a try. Stranger things have happened. Anyway even if he had agreed I would not have trusted him. That is why I didn’t really try.”

  Oween nodded and they turned their horses to join Valerius where he waited. Over the water Maximus appeared to have got his force ready and with a blare of a horn the entire mass of horses and riders began to walk forward. Valerius turned to his men. “Right. Soon as the first crosses the stream we bolt.” The men grinned at this command, having been informed of what was planned and obviously not concerned about being seen to ‘flee’.

  Maximus’ cavalry led with those men who had horse armour covering the front of their mounts. The ford was wide enough for four men to ride across at once and the shallow water offered little delay to the Roman cavalry. As the first of the Imperial horse reached their side Valerius and his men turned and after initially retiring slowly were soon racing up the slope flat out in mock retreat. The militia on the crest likewise turned and appeared to run way as well. The was another blare of horn from the Imperial force and Arturo, whose riding had improved somewhat from his first battle, turned his head to look back as they approached the crest. The imperial cavalry were now splashing across the stream as fast as they could. Those already across were moving up the slope urging their horses forward, obviously thinking the Republicans were running away.

  The Republican cavalry rode over the crest and continued straight ahead for the open end of the vee shaped lines of stakes. On either side militia men who had supposedly run away were now making their way through the lines of stakes before handing back their borrowed spears and shields and taking up their bows.

  Radovas and Meries were under orders not to fire till the lead cavalry were half way along the funnel formed by the lines of stakes. Arturo and the cavalry reached the end of the stakes and wheeled to form a line, Arturo and Oween falling in behind the cavalry troopers. The closest of the pursuing Imperial cavalry were barely one hundred metres behind when Valerius ordere
d bows ready and his men brought up their crossbows.

  Before he could fire there was the blare of a horn from Radovas’ side and the infantry opened fire. Men and horses crumpled under the onslaught of nearly three hundred arrows. The Republican cavalry then fired at the remaining cavalry to their front, knocking down all of the ones closest to them. Throwing down their bows they pulled their lances from the special holders attached to their saddles and as another salvo of arrows flashed out from the infantry Valerius bellowed “Charge!” And the entire force began moving forward.

  The Imperial cavalry, strung out in pursuit of what they thought was a fleeing foe had been decimated by the fire of the infantry. More than half the horses were down and many of those still upright lacked riders. What little cohesion they had maintained initially was completely gone and the stunned survivors found themselves facing a steady, well ordered, line of enemy cavalry armed with extremely long spears charging toward them in perfect order. Their leaders were nowhere to be found and arrows were still falling amongst them. The penetration power of the crossbow arrows had come as a nasty shock to the armour wearing Roman cavalry .

  It was too much. The was a cry of “It’s a trap!” And as they wavered for a moment, still under fire from the Republican infantry, there came several voices yelling. "Flee for your lives!" And in a moment what remained of the force broke and fled back over the ridge line they had crossed just moments before.

  Arturo, riding forward behind the charging cavalry turned to Oween. “Ride to Dileen. Tell him his militia are to collect the wounded and the horses. And he is to make sure his men tend to the wounded! No killing of prisoners!”

  Oween banged his arm across his chest like the soldiers were now doing and with a loud “Sir!” He rode off. Arturo headed for the Dervent Militia. “Vellgern!” He called reaching the centre of the line. The farmer stepped forward. “Have your men round up the wounded and look after them. They are Romans too after all. And round up the horses as well.”