Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 07] Trajan's Hunters

by Griff Hosker

  “The men and their leaders will not like that.”

  “I know but they will obey.”

  “And if he does not follow us?”

  “Then he is an even bigger fool that I took him for. What will he do? Follow Radha and Tam?”

  “He might do.”

  “Which suits us even more. I sent them there because Radha told me the old hill fort is hard to reach and harder to take. The Romans would need to build a road to get there and that suits us. They would need to build artillery and that also would delay them and allow us to pick them off.” He waved at more men who were marching in and cheering him. “I want you to take every mounted man we have here and find out where they are. Keep me informed. If you can begin to kill some of them then so much the better but I want them to lose more than we for if we manage to field four thousand men I will be surprised. I will follow with the men on foot tomorrow. If he is on the road heading for us then you will know soon enough.”

  * * * * * *

  First Spear was happy that they had a clearing in which to build their camp. They had the ditch which had surrounded the palisaded hamlet to make their task that much easier and soon they had a camp built. Piso always felt happier when he had a wall in front of him. Once the bolt throwers were in position then he felt that they could stay there forever. The only problem they would have would be the food or rather the lack of it. The quartermaster had told him that they had enough supplies for three days. He decided to ask the Prefect to send to Coriosopitum for more as soon as possible.

  He watched the Legate and his bodyguards trotting down the path which the refugees had taken. As soon as he left the camp it was as though a weight had been lifted from the legion and men’s spirits rose. They began to sing as they worked and the walls went up much quicker. The Prefect gestured for him to join him close to the fast flowing river.

  “The legate has decided to scout out the enemy himself. One of the Explorates just returned to tell him that they are fortifying a hill fort on the side of the river. He wants to attack as soon as he can.”

  “The trouble is sir that the path will only take four men abreast we will be strung out for two miles and there is a thick forest on either side, perfect ambush country. If we were attacked…”

  “Doesn’t bear thinking about First Spear. I suppose we could get the men widening the path?”

  “Yes sir but not tonight it will be dark soon and I don’t want to risk losing any men. The dark suits the enemy not us. Do you think the Legate will give us time tomorrow to widen the path?”

  “We will have to persuade him.”

  “He doesn’t seem the sort of man who is open to persuasion. And another thing sir. We need to send a runner to the fort for supplies. We only have enough for three days.”

  “I will send the quartermaster with the wagon.”

  “I would send an Explorate as well sir, he will get there quicker.”

  “Good idea.” Decius had just brought the message and was about to leave when the Prefect called him over. “Ride to the fort and ask the Prefect to prepare supplies. I am sending the quartermaster with a wagon. And if you wait there until the messenger from the Governor returns it will save time.”

  “Sir!” Decius rode off not knowing that the Prefect had just saved his life.

  The Legate arrived back just after dark and seemed in good spirits. “The hill fort is old, one cohort could take it. We will attack tomorrow.”

  “But sir, the narrow path means the men will take a long time to get there and it will be difficult to take artillery. If we could widen the path…”

  “And delay the attack? You know if I didn’t know better I would say you were a coward. But as I said one cohort could take it so I will take two and you can widen the path with the rest of the cohorts for it looks to me as though it might be a possible route to attack the Selgovae who did cause us trouble last year. With the Votadini defeated and the Selgovae subjugated the province will, at last, be safe.” The Prefect was not convinced but as he had got his way, at least partially, he agreed.

  Later, in the small hours there was a banging at the gates. The Prefect heard the commotion but knew that others would deal with it. He had just begun to drop back off to sleep when a red faced Legate entered his tent. “Do you know what your Explorates have done? Do you?”

  Karus was still half asleep. “Scouted?”

  “They have killed four of my bodyguards and maimed one of them.”

  If Salonius was expecting shock from the Prefect he was mistaken. Privately Karus was amazed that it had taken this long for some one to kill these savages. “Why?”

  “Apparently my men found some refugees and your men wanted to let them go.”

  “Were there women and children amongst the refugees?”

  “Well of course there were.”

  “Ah,” the Prefect had not been there but he could now visualise what had happened. “I will order them arrested when the campaign is over.”

  “When it is over? I want them arrested and tried and executed now!”

  “A little difficult as we don’t know which Explorates it was, they are all out of camp at the moment and we have not heard their side yet. I would need to interview your bodyguards and ascertain the facts. Besides we have few enough scouts without arresting the ones we do have.”

  “I have given you the facts. You do not interview my men.”

  “In which case sir, if you don’t mind, I will go back to sleep as any more discussion would be a waste of time.”

  The next morning the Legate appeared in a calmer mood although the looks he cast at Karus were murderous. The Prefect could see the wounded man already, his hand heavily bandaged. Idly the Prefect wondered who had been the capsarius ministering to the most unpleasant warriors he had ever met. Was it one of the Legion’s capsarii or did the Hunni tend to it themselves? “First Spear will you join the Legate and myself we have plans for the day to discuss.”

  The Legate merely waited for them to walk over to him which they did at a leisurely pace. The Prefect did not give the initiative to Salonius instead he began to direct the dispensations of his legion. “We need two cohorts to attack this hill fort. I would suggest the second and fourth as they are up to full strength. If we keep the first cohort in reserve then the others can widen the path in case we need to reinforce. How does that sound to you Tiberius?”

  “Good plan although I would like to use the tenth to widen the path back to Coriosopitum.” He paused, “Just in case the king decides to attack us or we have to get back to the fort quickly.”

  Salonius snorted. “A waste of time. We will take this fort today and then we shall defeat the Selgovae. If the king were going to attack he would have done it yesterday. I know barbarians, they do not think, they act. Have you a reliable centurion to lead this attack First Spear?”

  “Yes sir Centurion Bucco led an attack against the Silures and was awarded an honour by the Governor himself.”

  The disparaging look showed what the Legate thought of the office of Governor. He glared at Karus. “And I have not forgotten about those Explorates either.” With that he stormed off.

  “Explorates?”

  “Yes Tiberius. It seems our eastern friends decided to attack and rape some Votadini; the Explorates took exception to it and killed three of them.”

  First Spear smiled, “Those lads have got balls I’ll give them that but they had better watch their backs for I do not think that those slant eyed murderers have any honour. Right sir I’ll get this road started.”

  The two cohorts were moving slowly out of camp and lining up four abreast. The Prefect could see that it would take at least an hour to get them out of sight of the camp. The optimistic time frame of the Legate was going to have to stretch.

  Chapter 7

  Baroc saw the wagon and the tiny escort just ahead of him. There appeared to be no one else close and it did not look like a trap. The cautious words of his king still rang in his ears and
he sent a hundred men towards the road to Tamburgh whilst he led the other two hundred in a surprise attack on the Quartermaster and his ten man escort. The small detail stood no chance and was slaughtered to a man. Far ahead Decius heard the fighting and reined his horse in to see if he could aid his comrades. When he saw the numbers of the warband which attacked the ten man patrol he knew that they would have all died where they stood. He had no choice now, he could not return the way he had come and it was even more imperative that his message reached the Stanegate for the only legion north of Deva was now cut off from all aid and the Stanegate would be the only barrier should the barbarians come south. The Prefect at Coriosopitum would have to find his own wagons for the much needed supplies.

  Baroc and his warband were in high spirits as they trotted back to the Roman lines. As they approached within six hundred paces of the Roman camp scouts were sent out and they confirmed that the legionaries had indeed fortified the hamlet. “Ride to the king and tell him we have the Romans bottled up in the valley. None have escaped.” He smiled to himself, the king’s strategy could just work. He turned to his men. “Our job is to pick off any Roman stupid enough to get out of sight of the fort. Ones and twos we kill more than that and we ignore them.” They looked disappointed. “There are five thousand men down there boys. That is more than enough to go around. Let’s not be greedy, we don’t want them all dead on the first day do we?” Their laughter told him that they were ready. The killing would begin. The first of the Ninth had died; they would not be the last.

  The Legate was not finding the route to the hill fort as easy as he had thought. Perhaps the Prefect and First Spear had been correct and the path should have been widened. His self belief, however, convinced him that he would be vindicated once he assaulted and took this pathetic hill fort. He turned to Mongke, “Send some of your men to scout the other side of this fort. I want to know if there is a better way to attack than this one.” He gazed up at the fort. The sides of the valley were steep and any attackers would be exposed to missiles from the palisades. There didn’t appear to be any artillery atop the walls and the ditches looked to be shallow and devoid of traps. He looked impatiently down the path. So far barely four centuries had assembled along the shallow flat valley bottom and the sun was already high in the sky. He had expected to be attacking the fort by this time. Perhaps his scouts would reveal an easier route.

  Seius saw the Selgovae scouts before they saw him. He quickly sent two of his men to circle them and discover the size of the force. As he watched the warriors filter through the trees, heading for the river, he wondered what it signified. The Selgovae were a treacherous bunch and they could be either trying to attack the Votadini or, equally, the Romans. Either way the Ninth legion was in trouble. For the barbarians he had seen so far, outnumbered the legionaries and the terrain suited the enemy. By the time his men returned he could see for himself the size of the problem. There were at least three thousand warriors. He left two of his scouts to watch the enemy and then took the other two with him. “We will return to Cassius and inform him of this latest development.”

  Cassius and his two Explorates had seen the Hunni scouts leave the Legate. Were they intent on another rapine attack? Leaving sign for Decius he led his two scouts at a discreet distance. He was relieved that they merely rode around the hill fort scouting out another way in. When they discovered that every aspect of the climb was difficult, they returned the way they had come. “Well lads it looks like the Legate will have to attack the hard way.” He was about to leave when he suddenly had an idea. “Macro you are a fit lad. Could you climb one of these trees and look down into the camp? It might give us an idea of numbers of actual warriors inside the fort.”

  In reply the eager young scout slipped his bow on to his saddle horn and stood on the back of his horse. He climbed the tree with all the agility of a red squirrel and was soon hidden from view. Rather than risk shouting he gathered his intelligence and then, after what seemed like an age, climbed down again. “There are a lot of women and children in there sir but there are at least a hundred warriors, some are older men and some are boys but they are all armed. There are fires and kettles of water.”

  “Of course, with the river so handily placed they can use boiling water to discourage our men. We will need to tell the Prefect. How many warriors would you estimate?”

  “Probably over a hundred but some of them are old men. There is something else though sir. The Queen, the one with the red hair, she is in the fort and she looks to be giving orders. There are archers there and she is directing them. They look to have piles of stones and there a lot of boys practicing with sling shots.”

  The knowledge struck Cassius like a sledge hammer. The King would not abandon his Queen to the Roman army, he was coming and with a bigger army than they had thought. “Well done Macro. I think we head back to camp. This news might make the Legate change his mind.”

  It was early afternoon when Cassius arrived back at the fortified camp. The widened path was half a mile in length but still well short of the hill fort. He was delighted to see Seius crossing the river with two of his men and they greeted each other at the main gate. “Any sign of Decius?”

  “No Cassius but we have seen the Selgovae.”

  “We had better report to the Prefect then for my news is equally grave.”

  Prefect Karus slumped in his chair when they had finished with their reports. “Thank you gentlemen. Decurion if you would remain I would appreciate your input.”

  After Seius had left Cassius looked at the Prefect who appeared to have aged in the last two days. He looked drawn and haggard. “Surely the Legate will have to change his plans now sir?”

  “I think the opposite. When he discovers that the Queen is there he will do everything in his power to capture her and use her as a bargaining chip. It is the Selgovae which worry me although the fact that Lugubelenus will be bringing his whole army does not fill me with joy either. I hope both your man and the quartermaster got through to Coriosopitum otherwise we are in trouble.” He suddenly remembered the incident the previous day. “Speaking of trouble what do you know of the Legate’s guards being killed by Explorates?”

  If he expected lies or excuses he received neither from the honest warrior.”Yes sir they were killed by me and my men. I gave the orders. They were about to rape some more women. Bearing in mind what resulted the first time I thought I ought to prevent it.”

  The Prefect said mildly, “They are the enemy Decurion.”

  “Sir they were women and children. Did I do wrong?”

  “No of course not but the Legate wants you punished. However that is a moot point given our predicament. Go and rest for I fear you will be out again tonight.”

  When Centurion Bucco assembled the Second Cohort for their assault he was aware that he was attacking before the Fourth were in position but the impatient Legate urged him up the slope. “Centurion there is no artillery and they are mainly women and children in there. Attack!”

  The First and Second Centuries formed the first three lines of assault troops. Sixty men wide, they would attack the wall to the left of the gate. Had they had artillery or archers they would have softened them up first. As it was, Centurion Bucco would order them to throw their javelins over the wall just before the final push. Behind the first assault troops the remainder of the cohort, all three hundred and twenty of them waited in a line one hundred men wide. As he gave the order to advance Centurion Bucco glanced at the Legate surrounded by his stone faced bodyguards. They looked bored. It was ever the case. Officers like the Legate didn’t soil their own hands. Had the Prefect been with them Bucco knew that he would have had to dissuade him from joining them.

  When they marched up the hill they were protected by a solid line of shields. Tramping slowly up the hill, the elite soldiers of the Second Cohort felt uneasy at the silence from above. Barbarians normally shouted and screamed at an attacker but they could see nothing and hear nothing. It was as thoug
h the fort was empty or filled with ghosts. The steep slope meant that they had to go at a slow pace to ensure that they stayed in line and each step felt doom laden as they waited for the first missiles to be thrown or fired. They knew that it would come and each man had his shield as close to his helmet as he could. Each man was listening for the command ‘testudo’ which would be given when they were attacked.

  Down below the attack the Legate was smiling to himself. He had been right, this would be an easy victory and would give them two forts controlling this valley. By nightfall he would have shown the lily livered Prefect that he was right. This was how you fought a war, you took it to the enemy.

  The First Century suddenly found the land flattening out as they approached the ditch which completely encircled the fort. Although they knew they should look ahead they could not help but glance down into the bottom of the ditch to look for lillia and other traps.

  Inside the hill fort Radha had her men peering through slits in the palisade for the exact moment the legionaries reached the ditch. As soon as they did she gave the command and the archers fired their arrows in the air, the boys leapt to the palisade and hurled a volley of stones from their slingshots and every other able bodied refugee threw rocks and stones over the wall. The sudden attack coming as the line tried to traverse the obstacle meant that the First and Second Centuries took more casualties that they might have done had they been in testudo formation. The cohesion was lost as men fell, struck by slingshot or arrows whilst others stumbled on to the sharpened stakes.

  “Javelins!” Bucco’s command brought a ragged volley of javelins and he had the satisfaction of seeing at least one defender fall back dead. “Second rank forward!”