Raising Steam

by Peter Rhodan

  “The steam is fed into one end of the metal cylinder at the front. Inside there is a round metal wall that functions like the lid on your pot. The steam pushes against it and it slides towards the other end of the cylinder. As it does so the entry port for the steam gets closed and a port to let the steam out opens. At the same time a port opens on the other side of the metal wall and steam is let in there. This pushes the metal wall back the way it has come. The second steam port closes and that side's exit port opens while the first exit point closes and the original steam port re-opens.”

  The train was now rapidly disappearing into the distance trailing a faint plume of smoke. “How do you know so much?” Corotoc asked not at all sure he followed the explanation Harulex had offered but feeling a lot calmer now with the realisation that these steam engines were treated as commonplace by his fellow officer.

  “The Dux had all of us officers given a detailed instruction course in the operation of the things. He did it partly to re-assure the more superstitious amongst us and partly to give us a proper understanding of their capabilities. You will no doubt get a course at some stage as well. Once the line is complete to Lugowalion we will be able to load a train with troops here in the morning and be in Lugowalion before lunch.”

  Corotoc looked at him in surprise at this assertion thinking he was having his leg pulled but could clearly see the truth in the man’s eyes and thinking about the speed of the now disappeared train he could understand such a distance being travelled so quickly. The train he watched must have been travelling at least as fast as a galloping horse when he’d last seen it. Such a capability would certainly be a tremendous advantage to an army. “How many of these engines are there?”

  Harulex pondered that question. “I think about six so far. There were the two original ones, they are not as big or as good at hauling things. Then there are two more like the one you saw leave just then and one other designed more for freight work with smaller wheels that are coupled together on each side. I understand there are more being built but only slowly. Apart from the coal and iron mines there is not really that much traffic on the line yet, but it is growing.”

  Corotoc nodded and they returned inside the fort. He was still puzzled by the missing west wall and finally decided to ask Harulex about it. “Oh, that is so the Legion has room to grow. The fort was only designed for a cohort you see. And as the Dux’s policy is that the army is the Republics defence, not the walls of its forts, it was pulled down to make more room.” Harulex's explanation surprised Corotoc although he found the reasoning interesting and not a little unsettling in light of the recent battle where this Arturo had boldly marched north with a badly outnumbered force to face the Selgovae. And then proceeded to smash them.

  The new Republican Army was organised differently from the old legions and auxilia, or at least Corotoc thought it differed from the description he had listened to from some of the older tribesmen who had served as Auxilia on the Wall. Two companies made a Century, each commanded by an Optio and seconded by a sergeant. Each company was supposed to have two squads led by Ensigns each composed of two teams of eleven men, each led by a Decurio or sergeant and including two corporals. From the way Harulex described it, many of these ranks were merely the same men as in the old organisation just renamed and with their duties re-defined somewhat.

  He learned that everyone was expected to bath at the end of each day and to keep their clothes clean, not wearing uniforms more than one day a time. At least that was the routine in camp although he doubted it could be maintained in the field. This all seemed strange to him but Harulex assured him that it meant this was the healthiest army Harulex had ever seen. On further enquiry, Corotoc discovered that Harulex’s father had served in the Army that Constantinus the Third had taken to Gallia, towing Harulex along behind. Despite being barely a teenager, Harulex had served as an aide to his father for three years before that worthy took ill and died.

  Following his father's death Harulex had returned home but found his relatives scattered, some having died at barbarian hands, some having moved south to where things were more secure while some had simply disappeared. He had been in Bononia when he had heard rumours of what has happening in the north. He crossed to Eboracum but did not take a liking to the Comes or his subordinates and decided to head north where he joined the Republican army just before the previous winter.

  Corotoc had barely settled into the routine when the second Cohort, the Cavalry Cohort and the Artillery were roused out of the barracks and found themselves marching for Maglona first thing one morning. From there they headed north east and joined up with the entire first Legion which had come across from Lugowalion. As they moved east Corotoc tried to learn his duties but also tried kept an eye on how the whole army was run.

  The Romans were far better organised than his people and even more so compared to the Selgovae. Each night they built a quick camp for the army to sleep within, this being a trait the Romans had been used to follow in the old days and which Arturo had revived. Fortunately, his century did not have guard duty so once the troops of their company were sorted he left Harulex to mix with other Ensigns and went to watch the army command from a shadowed spot.

  The Dux Arturo had a tent in the middle of the temporary fort and several officers were gathered there as they went over things. Then a rider came in with a report from somewhere to the east. The Dux studied the report and wrote something on a piece of the marvellous paper the Romans used and gave it to the rider who climbed aboard a different horse from that which had arrived on, the new beast having been brought from the temporary cavalry stabling area while he conferred with the Dux. He soon disappeared into the night headed east. That was interesting. The Romans had no problem scouting at night it would seem.

  The next day he asked Harulex about scouting. The Gallic officer laughed. “And that’s another thing this Arturo does that’s different to any other Roman I have seen.” Corotoc cocked his head and smiled encouraging the man to continue. “His idea of scouting is to have men watching the enemy no matter how far away they are. Got some of our scouts down watching Eboracum you know.”

  Corotoc shook his head. “Really? You mean right now? How do they do it?”

  Harulex looked at him in a considering manner for a moment then shrugged. “Each cavalry cohort has a century trained to scout. They divide into squads and settle on reference points, geographic landmarks and such where the Optio bases himself and they send people as close as they need to keep an eye on the enemy or other targets. Those new telescope things really help with that. I got to look through Centurion Owedd’s one the other day. Unbelievable.”

  Corotoc nodded. He had not had a chance to look through one himself yet but Harulex wasn’t the first person to comment on just how useful the telescopes were nor the first to be enthusiastic about their ability to show distant things closer. The advantages such a device gave to the Roman scouts was substantial but this ability of theirs to scout out several days ride from their own territory without being interfered with was probably even more significant.

  No wonder King Cluen had completely failed to surprise the Romans. And this Arturo had known well in advance which way the Selgovae would march south so he could set up those damn hidden ditches and thus stop the Selgovae charges before they could reach the Roman lines. It was a tactic that would only work against an enemy once but at the same time it would probably work against most opponents the first time they met if they had no warning. Particularly when the Republicans were facing ill-disciplined tribesmen like his own people were.

  The army reached Vindolanda and made camp within site of the fort early in the afternoon on the third day. The fort was some distance south of the Wall and situated to the west of a small stream with low hills surrounding and had clearly seen better days although it was not the ruin many Roman forts were becoming. The village, or vicus as the Romans called it, was half abandoned and a lot of the buildings had collapsed while the Roman style c
emetery on the approach road leading to the fort was badly neglected and overgrown. It certainly lacked the hustle and bustle that the towns to the west under Arturo's control exhibited. The was another fort nearby that was situated on the Wall itself, Corotoc knew, but that fort had been sacked during the big raid twenty or more years ago the older warriors all went on about. And went on about. And went on about, their own roles growing in the telling! Apparently the Romans had never bothered repairing it and putting it back into service.

  The fort's commander made no attempt to negotiate at all, simple ignoring Arturo and the couple of officers he rode forward with. After waiting for some time without response Arturo then rode even closer to the walls and shouted to the men inside that he had come not to make war on them but to include them within the Republic and that they would be welcome to join his army where they would be given regular pay in good coin and have good prospects for promotion and land grants at the end of their service.

  This speech also elicited no response although the heads of many of the garrison could be seen on the walls. Tiring of talking to a stone wall he rode back to the camp and then shortly after that the artillery with the large wheels that accompanied the force were manoeuvred forward. This was yet another thing Corotoc had been impressed with at the battle against the Selgovae. The strange ballistae were mounted on a wooden frame with large wheels and had a wooden trail behind that hooked onto a big wheeled cart that some of the crew rode on and which carried the round metal balls the weapons fired. The whole thing was pulled by a team of horses which a couple more of the crew rode on. The speed and manoeuvrability of the things was impressive to say the least.

  The mobility of these weapons was clearly demonstrated as the two under strength centuries soon had their weapons lined up facing the fort just outside of bow range. At a signal Corotoc missed they each launched a metal ball at the fort. Several fell short and some must have sailed right over the wall as Corotoc only noticed a couple of puffs of dust where a ball hit the stone in the walls. He could see the garrison scrambling about on the wall looking over the sides at the damage caused while several fired arrows at the artillery but the best of them fell at least ten paces short of where the Republican weapons were positioned.

  At the corners of the fort there were towers and the garrison began assembling traditional ballistae there so that they could reply to Republican fire. There was a signal and the Republican artillery split into two smaller lines and angled to face the corner towers. They each then began a rapid barrage aimed at the platforms the ballistae were being assembled on. Bits of stone began to be knocked off the top of the towers and men began to go down as the metal balls hammered the stonework. One of the wooden ballistae was hit and a large part of it flew off the tower and disappeared into the fort.

  The crew in the other tower took several casualties and gave up, disappearing inside, leaving their half-erected ballistae sitting forlornly amongst the battered stonework. The Republican artillery now repositioned and opened fire not on the wall but on the gate and gatehouse in the centre of the side of the fort facing their position. It took some time but the fire from twelve of the things slowly wrecked both the framework and also the stone walls holding the gate in place. Finally, with a groan one side of the gate twisted and then was knocked backward by a couple of the shot arriving together. A cheer went up from the artillerymen and the fire stopped.

  Arturo rode forward again, trusting the garrison not to shoot him. Corotoc had to admire the cool courage of the man. “Honoriatus, surrender. You gate is broken down and we can march in at will. Your men are brave, but I have no wish to kill fellow Romans needlessly.”

  There was a pause and then an armoured figure in a white cloak appeared on the wall near the wrecked gatehouse. “I am a Roman and will not surrender traitor. I am loyal to the Emperor. Archers, shoot him!”

  Several men with bows took aim but a couple suddenly swung round and fired at Honoratus who gave a cry and fell backward off the wall. The was yelling and the sound of sword fighting inside the fort for a bit and then a figure in armour came through the battered gateway. “I am Duane, cousin of Coel of the Carveti. We surrender.” Corotoc was impressed by the fact that Arturo had gained another victory for no loss at all.

  The next two days were spent repairing the fort and sorting out the garrison. Many had land and families in the area and were allowed to retire. In total a bit over one hundred and fifty were added to the army, again split evenly between the two legions. Corotoc found himself promoted to full ensign and given the newly added second squad in the third century.

  The army then marched west to Portus Aelius which had a garrison of only fifty men, an outpost of the Vindolanda force. They also manned the fort at Segendum. These were mostly farmer soldiers too and only twenty were added to the army. The Dux decided that a century would be based there as a garrison but that the century used would rotate every month, the same at Vindolanda.

  Having secured the full length of the Wall the army returned west. There was much speculation amongst the junior officers as to how Combrosius would react to all this, but no one had any real idea. With the Wall secured Arturo next sent a force from the Second Legion south to Verterae to secure the area to the south east. This was also certain to annoy Combrosius, Corotoc thought, but the Dux did not appear overly concerned. Plans were made to survey a route for a rail line running from Lugowalion to Vindolanda and then on to the coast. In the meantime, a squad of forced labourers was set to work repairing the old Roman road that ran behind the wall.

  Training resumed and Corotoc found himself impressed with the Republican army despite his dislike of Roman arrogance. Although now that he thought about it he realised that the Republican officers generally lacked the traditional arrogance he had seen in his youth. Even Valerius Claudius, the very Roman Legatus, managed to not appear too arrogant. His social status posed a few problems but the Republican army had already worked this out apparently. In any official military capacity, he was Ensign Corotoc, Second Squad, Second Company, Third Century, Second Cohort, First Legion. When he was given his first leave he was told by his Centurion that he would be free to be Prince Corotoc of the Votandi until he returned to duty.

  It was an interesting policy. The more he thought about the matter the better he understood. Valerius and his son, Julianus, being Claudians, were easily the highest ranking people in the region, particularly as they were the only real Romans, even if their branch of the Claudian family was a minor offshoot of the main line that had been separate for several hundred years. Coel was probably the next highest in social rank followed by himself who was only a lowly ensign. All the rest of the senior officers were pretty much people Arturo had promoted along the way as the army had grown. Most had little or no social rank and although most were Roman citizens none were Romans as such. The only exception was Arcadius who was not in the military. His family were originally Roman although they had been in Britannia for generations plus he was serving as Censor which made him the senior magistrate in the Republic. Socially he ranked just below Valerius which he seemed content with.

  The more he studied the workings of the Republican army more impressed he became with the re-organisation this Arturo was carrying out. There was a large chart in the headquarters building that displayed the proposed organisation of one of his new legions. Each consisted of one cavalry cohort, 4 infantry cohorts and a support cohort. On paper two thousand four hundred odd infantry, six hundred cavalry, ten of the new artillery pieces, supply, support and medical personal.

  In practice both legions were still greatly under strength. The first now had just over a thousand infantry in two cohorts and barely two hundred cavalry. The second was similar but with a little more cavalry as he had noticed in the short campaign to Vindolanda. Still as the Selgovae ‘volunteers’ adapted to their new careers the fighting capability of the force kept growing. His own learning improved as well as he struggled to be educated in how to read and write.
It did not come easily but he found solace in the fact that he did better than the three of his followers who had also decided to learn.

  The line to Maglona opened with much fanfare. Corotoc was on duty that day so could only watch festivities from a distance, but it was yet another milestone for the Republicans. It was also interesting that there was a constant trickle of Scotti, Novotae and even Pechti who turned up and joined the army. No one asked for their reasons, they were simply enrolled and added to the rosters. As were Brythons from various parts of the Roman provinces and the occasional fellow from Gallia, the odd Saxoni and even a couple of Franconi.

  Corotoc’s squad grew from thirteen in two under strength teams to fourteen, then fifteen and then seventeen in a couple of weeks. There was an energy about the whole Republic he could not really describe as such but which he could feel. The new semaphore towers going up along the railroad lines would allow messages to be sent rapidly from the one end of the Republic to the other. The Britannia Times came out once a week conveying news to all those that could read. Even the money was new. The standard Republic coins were all identical with their value stamped on them. Older coins were still occasionally seen but generally they were taken to the Bank and exchanged for new coins based on their metal value. It was all very interesting if somewhat bewildering.

  The formerly small hamlet of Dervent was a bustling hive of activity dominated by the ever growing iron works owned by a young man named Ceri. Never had he seen anything like that iron works with its blast furnaces taller than a standing man, the fires driven by bellows powered by steam engines now although one older one still had a water powered bellows. The noise, particularly from the drop forges, the fumes and the constant activity was nearly indescribable and almost overwhelming for a country lad.