by Ian Miller
Gaius quickly rode to the hilltop, and there, before him, he could see the Celtic infantry starting to advance down the hillside. His opponent had seemingly noticed that he was building fortifications, and was determined to attack before these were completed.
With loud whoops the Celts charged down the hillside towards the stream below. Just as the leaders were about to reach the stream, Gaius ordered the catapults and ballistae to commence firing into the rear two thirds of the attackers. The archers were lined up to fire on anyone crossing the stream, and the infantry were in line to deal with whatever resulted.
Whatever else could be said about Ulsian simulations, Gaius realized, they were realistic. As the missiles tore into the images of the Celts, men appeared to be broken. As the charge reached the bottom, the leaders perforce had to slow down, and the charging masses tore into the leaders. The catapults now lowered their firing into this mass of imaged humanity, and the scene was one of incredible carnage. Then the image disappeared, and Gaius remained alone on the hilltop.
"I assume you had no desire to see the images played out to their gruesome end?" the Admiral said later.
"No," Gaius said firmly. He paused, then looked at the Admiral and said, "I became a soldier because that was the way to advance in Rome, and not because I had an urge to kill."
"But you knew you would?" the Admiral pointed out.
"Actually," Gaius pointed out, "apart from dealing with banditry, the majority of Roman soldiers do not see war. Even during the invasion of Britain, less than an eighth of the army was involved."
This clearly surprised the Admiral.
"You don't think you can simply join the army to do your duty?" Gaius challenged.
"Of course!" the Admiral chuckled. "After all, I did."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Gaius said, as he suddenly realized what he had said.
"Not at all," the Admiral shrugged. "I was probing you."
* * *
Two further battles were similarly fought, each ending up as a debacle. His opponent tried an early flanking movement on Gaius' right, but the terrain was too steep, and the Roman cohort could easily hold up progress long enough for the counter-attack to cut in from the side. Then he tried a flanking attack on the left, but his troops became lost in the swamp and the computer ruled that they would have dispersed and fled when Gaius simply crossed the stream and took the essentially undefended base.
On the fourth scenario, there was no attack, but when it was ruled that night had passed and Gaius was ready to advance, his enemy had disappeared, apparently having decided to retreat west to the hills of Wales. At that point the Admiral informed Gaius that the entire exercise was over. He should report to the military headquarters the following morning.
* * *
"You thrashed him!" Lucilla said later, when she heard that the fifth exercise would not take place.
"So it would seem," Gaius remarked, with a touch of self-satisfaction.
"One for the primitives!" Lucilla added, with obvious satisfaction.
"Except that you can't say so," Vipsania intervened.
"What?" Lucilla asked, almost in exasperation. "Why not? They keep telling us how good they are!"
"Because we can't afford to be seen as trying to humiliate their hero."
"What're you getting at?" Gaius frowned.
"Stop and think about it," Vipsania replied. "The last five scenarios represented one of your victories, and you were one of the participants. Presumably the first five represented a battle fought by your opponent, and I'm ready to bet he won."
"And there's only one famous Ulsian victory so far in this war," Gaius nodded, "and an Ulsian commander destroyed ten enemy ships without loss when they were leaving a planetary system."
"Nobody's going to thank you for saying he wouldn't have won if you'd been the enemy, and there's no future in pointing out he can't ride a horse," Vipsania continued. "All that happens is you'll really annoy them all."
"And we need them more than they need us," Gaius nodded.
"But you can't run yourself down," Lucilla said. "If you do, we'll never get home."
"We'll never get home," Vipsania said simply.
"What?" Lucilla cried out. "I thought we agreed it was at least possible they'd let us return, and . . ."
"But it won't be home," Vipsania countered. "It'll be at least fifteen hundred years later."
"Rome will still be there," Lucilla said confidently.
"But not the same as we know it," Vipsania countered.
Gaius nodded in agreement. He could hardly mention the prophecy now, so he added, "No city could withstand fifteen hundred years of the likes of Little Boots."
That was difficult to disagree with.
* * *
Gaius was determined to maintain as an impassive expression as he could as he entered, but he knew this would be difficult. This would be the first time he had seen Staff Officers more or less on their home turf.
The door was opened for him. He marched into the room and paused. There before him was a longish table, around which a number of Ulsians were seated. At the far end there was one who seemed to have a more important uniform, at the near end but to the right was a vacant chair that appeared to have been designed for him, while directly opposite this was a seated Ulsian who seemed to be somewhat agitated: his erstwhile opponent. He marched to the end of the table, saluted the meeting, then stood at attention until the officer at the other end indicated he should be seated.
By now Gaius was becoming experienced at reading Ulsian expressions, but it needed little experience to read the Ulsian sitting opposite. His erstwhile opponent was very unhappy, and not a little angry. He had been humiliated in front of his peers, and Gaius could see how correct Vipsania had been. A small device was handed to Gaius, and it was indicated that he should put it in his ear. They knew he had some reasonable command of Ulsian, but this would offer translations so that everything said would be correctly interpreted for him. He should reply in Latin, and a proper translation would be provided to the room.
The officer at the end of the table gave a quick résumé of what had taken place and why. The purpose was to select officers suitable for command. The Ulsian General Staff would now make or not make appointments. All Ulsians were bound by military discipline to accept the outcomes without question, but the same was not so for the Terran. Did Claudius wish to object to any procedures?
"I have already accepted your judgments in advance," Gaius replied.
"Good," came the reply. "However, the procedure is not yet over. You will each give me your interpretations of the tests. Claudius, being less familiar with our procedures, will go second."
This did not displease Gaius, but he knew he had to be careful. He would first listen to everything his opponent said.
His opponent began by pointing out that intercepting an enemy involved a certain degree of luck, and much of Gaius' actions in the last two battles depended on his having knowledge that his real opponent did not have. In effect, he had set a trap, and his opponent had walked right into it. Even in the early scenarios, Gaius knew he had an enemy, and he knew when the enemy would arrive. He agreed that Gaius had handled himself surprisingly well, and the use of mines was sound, but again based on the knowledge that would not normally be available. He admitted his handling of the Celtic troops was poor. He simply did not have the experience, and he had expected that one way or the other Gaius would have the same problem.
"Yes!" one of the others interrupted, "but in one scenario you simply fled! Is that the best you can come up with?"
His opponent was downcast.
It was then Gaius' turn to speak. "It is true," he commenced, "that I more or less knew I had an opponent, but I do not think that is relevant. In war, you know you have an opponent. If you don't know where he is, you have to assume he might be nearby.
"On the assumption that the first scenario was a repeat of a previous battle, I agree that a careless enem
y could well be caught out, I agree my opponent set a good trap to catch a careless enemy, and in the field any reasonable competence will often prevail. On the other hand, he knew this was an exercise too, and to be placed in such a competition he had to assume I had a sufficient degree of competence that just being good may not suffice. In the first scenario, I was really in a position from which it was difficult to win, if my opponent employed scouts, the asteroids, and depth of field properly. Initially he deployed so he could not concentrate his forces at the critical time, and he had no depth to correct. In the later scenarios, he used cover well, but there was still no depth, and it was too concentrated at specific points. At no time did he use scouts to find me.
"My only comment on the second set was that up to a point my opponent was correct on one round. In one sense, his best option was to flee."
"What?" someone frowned. His opponent was so furious he was speechless.
"What I meant," Gaius said hurriedly, as he tried to cover for the anger he had generated, "that action could be his best option from the military point of view. He has light infantry and cavalry, and is opposed by heavy infantry and artillery on ground quite unsuitable for cavalry action. His best option is definitely to make his stand somewhere else, where his cavalry might be more effective."
"I do not believe that ground was particularly suited for what you term heavy infantry either," a General Slaben interposed. He was seated about a third of the way down the table, and his expression was blank, a challenge to Gaius. "A direct attack seems the only real option, what with the swamp, the forest and the hills?"
"A direct attack has to be made sometimes," Gaius agreed, "but that works both ways. What actually happened was that Caratacus sat it out on top of the hill, forcing me to make the direct attack while he retained the advantage of height. I had no choice, because as you correctly point out, a stalemate does not achieve any goals, and it usually benefits the force with the closest supplies and reinforcements. However, I also made an additional deployment that, at the time, was critical. I actually made it in these exercises as well but it was never activated in these exercises because there was no need."
"And what do you think was the best deployment for your opponent in this exercise?" Slaben asked curiously.
"Much the same as what Caratacus did," Gaius explained. "Sit on the top of the hill, and advance when I do, so that he fights me about two-thirds the way up the hill. But he should also send skirmishers into the forest. First, it protects his flank from what I actually did, and if I don't do that, he can come around from the rear and attack my supplies."
"And the swamp?" General Slaben asked.
"I believe it is right to stay out of that," Gaius replied. "It is in full view of observers on the hill, and it is impossible to move quickly through it. Accordingly, with no element of surprise, a major problem for mobility and no tactical advantage, I can't use it. The same may not be true for the enemy if he knows secret paths, but I don't think my opponent here can be expected to use those, unless you provided special information to him."
"I see," Slaben nodded slowly. He then turned to Gaius' opponent and asked, "Have you any comment on that?"
"I think," his opponent said at last, after some thought, "that we can analyse these exercises exhaustively, but they are just that, and −"
"Your comment on that much?" General Slaben interrupted and stared at Gaius.
"Exercises have value," Gaius answered carefully. How could he be diplomatic, yet still promote himself? "It is true that actions in the field are a more reliable indicator, but the exercises do give an indication of what might follow."
"You wish to comment?" General Slaben asked, nodding at his opponent.
"I think there's a better indicator," Gaius' opponent said. He looked towards the General and said, "You are shortly going to lead a raid on the Ligra system. The question is, do you really want this Claudius in command of your escort, watching your back?"
The General looked a little stunned, then answered simply, "Put it like that, the answer's yes, which means this meeting's over."
"But you can't . . ." his stunned opponent began.
"Oh, yes I can," Slaben nodded. "I have terminated the meeting. Everybody will now leave, except you." Gaius watched with interest as the others immediately deferred to Slaben, and began gathering up their notes. He had clearly been the most important Ulsian at that meeting. Slaben turned towards Gaius and said, "As you may have gathered, our General Staff have decided that some sort of action is required." Slaben noted that the rest were ready so he then stood, paused and returned salutes from the other Ulsians. Another Staff Officer took Gaius' stunned opponent by the arm when he had refused to stand, and he then escorted him from the room.
As Slaben had stood to take the salute, so had Gaius. Slaben now indicated he should be seated, then he continued, "Shortly I am going to lead a raid on a planet that used to be considered as a significant Ulsian colony, and which has the largest factory outside Ulse for manufacturing the motors for our advanced ships. The first objective is to deprive the enemy of the ability to make new ships this close to Ulse. Secondary objectives are to destroy enemy ships so that we can retreat if we have to, attempt to incite resistance amongst the Ulsians living there, and if the opportunity arises, to take the system."
"They seem to be sensible objectives," Gaius said. A pause followed.
"I have read the files on your training," Slaben continued. "You all appear to be at least adequate pilots."
"Thank you," Gaius said. "Soon we hope to improve a little."
"You needn't worry about that," Slaben smiled. "The ships really fly themselves. Can you teach some of the elements of fighting to your women?"
"I believe so," Gaius said. He had to be careful. It was important not to overdo it, because the results would be verified, but it almost looked as if he might get his chance to burn up some centuries.
"Then the question is," the General continued, "are you prepared to command the escort, and will your family be prepared to go as well?"
"I suppose in principle I have to ask the other two," Gaius said carefully, "but yes, in answer to your question, we shall go."
"Then we shall adapt battleships for each of you," the General said. "You shall each train for at least two weeks, then you must be ready to embark. We shall upgrade what you term your Tin Man, provide the two women with equivalents, and they will also fly ships. The women will have tasks that do not over-extend their fighting abilities, and remember, technically if they don't know what to do, all they have to do is say, "Shoot what you can!" The ships always do the actual fighting, but they have to know when to, and what priorities have been set. You should concentrate on meeting your other senior officers, and arrange for any tactical agreements you may need. You can assume that anything you want to do will be able to be done, as long as those under you understand what you mean."
"I won't know the pilots," Gaius said, "but I need scouts. How do I −"
"That is done by machine," the general nodded. "You will be instructed in these standard operational details, and then you may add what you wish. Colonel Klendor will be appointed to aid you."
"Suppose I want to do something that the ships can't do?" Gaius asked. "I know a lot of Ulsians will say I don't understand enough physics, say, and −"
"Your ship will tell you," Slaben smiled, "and don't worry about knowledge. You will be no worse than many, and better than most. The ships take care of all that sort of thing." He paused, then asked, "Are you afraid the Ulsians won't follow you?"
"It will be my job to ensure that they follow," Gaius said, "although I suppose there is the problem that they may not recognize my rank, and −"
"They will recognize the rank," Slaben said, "because the appointment is mine, which means the orders are mine. You will, however, have to earn respect."
"I know that," Gaius replied. "I have never failed so far, although I admit that I have never commanded Ulsians before. Th
at is just one of many things I must address before we leave."
"There are certain social rights that Ulsians have that you should not block," Slaben said slowly. "They have certain off-duty rights and −"
"It is not my intention to intervene in any off-duty activity," Gaius interrupted. "My command policy has always been, the men can do what they like, as long as they turn up sober when it is time for action, and do not do damage to local civilians."
"You can leave that sort of thing to your more junior officers," Slaben smiled, "but I am pleased that . . . er . . ."
"You haven't accidentally got yourself some stuck-up prat that thinks he's God's gift to the military," Gaius smiled.
"I didn't think it could get that bad with you," Slaben nodded, "but it's good to hear you're aware of the problem."
"Most armies have them," Gaius shrugged, "but they're usually sorted out in early engagements."
"We should get together later on," Slaben said, "after you get some idea as to what you've let yourself in for, but in the meantime, one more point. When you take to the field, as you seem to put it, leave your more junior officers some operational latitude to achieve an objective in a better way, that is, leave some tactical flexibility at the level of the group."
"It is not my intention to be overly prescriptive," Gaius replied, "but if I order a group to attack with so many ships on a specified flank, I don't expect them to form a committee and discuss options."
"That, I promise, will not happen," Slaben smiled. "Military life is quite different from civilian life."
"There's one thing that puzzles me, and that is why you want me?"
"You don't think it was because you won that test?" Slaben smiled.
"No, I don't. You don't select a top commander that way, and there must be other choices beside that last Ulsian."
"The choice was made by others," Slaben nodded. "This was merely my opportunity to object, and it was difficult to find grounds after that performance."
"Then perhaps I should reassure you, I won't let you down."
