The second testudo was now on the base of the hillside and moving upwards as it began to take arrows to the front and above, the first already looked like a large advancing hedgehog with dozens of arrows embedded into its shields. Ballista bolts continued to fly over the advancing men as the attack was pushed forward, dust rose from the earth from their shuffling hobnail boots. As the first line of men in the original square got to within fifty paces of the now gesturing Briton, he turned and waved for something to come forward from within the settlement. Varro strained to see what was happening and stood up straighter but couldn’t see clearly as the advancing troops blocked his view.
He suddenly heard shouting from above and saw Roman shields thrown into the air and men at the side of the square breaking away from the testudo and then turn and run back down the hill. He was shocked as he hadn’t expected anything other than a quick assault on the relatively small hill fort. Men in the first square however, were now shouting, panicking and fully turning to retreat. Shields were thrown and abandoned as panic set in and the former square was rapidly reduced to a rabble.
As the men in the rear ranks jumped or turned to run, Varro saw what had happened. The Britons had rolled large logs into the advancing testudo knocking them over and backwards into the ranks behind sweeping the front rows of the shield wall aside. Their archers had then turned their full attention on the soldiers nearest to them and as they began to find their targets, more heavy infantry began to fall.
Injuries or loss of life was always expected in engagements of this nature but it was always a surprise when it happened especially when facing barbarians like this who were presumed to have had little tactical awareness. As the soldiers raced back down the hillside they tried to avoid the second testudo as it had now halted and had dug its shields into the ground. More Britons ran outside the hill fort and took up positions with bows and picked off the men further forward of the Roman line. Varro saw they were targeting legs in order to disable them and bring them down.
More Britons flooded out armed with spears that they hurled into the air at the retreating men. The first attack was quickly turning into disarray and more injured lay on the ground screaming in agony on the bloody hill. As the first of the rolling logs now crashed into the second testudo, it held firm but it now began to take more arrows to the front and above. The men formed up in tight ranks inside the testudo, huddled together their shields interlocked. Men from the first wave ran past them some who still had their shields tried to hold them over their backs as arrows fell.
Some of the Britons now ran forward and attacked the men who were injured, some with legs broken by the heavy rolling logs, unable to move. More screams broke the air as the Britons stabbed and slashed at the prone men already injured on the ground. Varro saw the enemy desperately searching for gaps between his comrades armour as they lay helpless on the slope, screams revealed they had found the flesh below. Where they couldn’t stab deep inside the invaders flesh they ripped away the armour and found their mark or chopped at their exposed faces. The second testudo could do nothing to help or it to would start to take casualties in the same fashion, all it could was hold firm for the time being.
Shouted orders could be heard from inside the second square as it slowly began to retreat backwards. The front rank had embedded their shields into the soft earth where they left them forming a wedge between their formation and the logs as they moved away. Shields were passed forward from the rear to cover what had been the front line.
The injured troops near the top of the hill were butchered where they lay all except three who were dragged inside the fortification screaming and kicking as best they could. As soon as they disappeared from sight the wall that Varro thought had fallen down was pulled and dragged back into place and the wooden wall was whole again except for where the ballista bolts had punched holes. Where those bolts had obliterated logs and parts of the fort, the Britons worked furiously from inside to repair or replace them or cover the damage.
Vespasian shouted orders and the blast of a horn resulted in the second testudo halting and digging in where it stood, it was still within range of the missiles from above. The already retreating men reached the safety of their own lines where an Optio barked orders for the injured to get treatment from the medicus and his orderlies at the rear. Slingers ran forward and took up a position behind the remaining testudo. Vespasian’s face red with rage, barked more orders, he was clearly determined to defeat the defenders above no matter what the cost.
Another horn ordered cavalry forward from somewhere in the woods, the horses cantered behind the existing testudo and slingers out of range of the falling arrows. As the ballista began to fire again, their bolts rattling forward into the air, the men already on the slope formed up in the tortoise formation began to advance once more, the slingers prepared their weapons. A direct hit from an accurate missile could kill a man as easily as an arrow or pila.
“Your general is determined to crush the settlement and isn’t afraid to lose valuable men in the process it seems, surely he could just retreat?” Brenna said pulling Varro out of his concentration on the battle.
He turned to look at her, “He can’t afford to do that, we can’t afford to do that. Any backward step would be seen as a sign of weakness, any weakness isn’t something the General does.”
They watched as the formation of shield covered soldiers continued up the hill, waiting for the inevitable counter attack from those inside, they didn’t have to wait long. As the testudo got to within a hundred paces the Britons appeared again and rained arrows and spears into the shields. The tempo picked up from the artillery as the ballista bolts intensified and hammered the un-armoured defenders outside the fort. Bodies stood launching arrows one second at the advancing men who were instantly propelled backwards in the blink of an eye. Some were blown and ripped backwards and vanished from sight instantly as others were pinned to the wooden walls behind them taking more with them who were unfortunate to be stood behind. The bolts even at this range, were so powerful that some passed through bodies before their victims were even aware of their injuries. Shock registered seconds later as they fell to the ground dead.
Light infantry now began the march upwards to the right as the cavalry readied themselves to join the fray from the left. More legionary archers launched their deadly volley from behind them and the skies darkened in front of the testudo as the arrows fell to their targets. Despite the barrage the Britons continued to spill out of the settlement whilst others fought in vain to repair the hill fort walls that were now succumbing to the torrent of iron hitting and shattering their timber.
Another cohort of cavalry galloped away from inside the woods, skirting around the base of the hill to support an attack elsewhere moving off to the left. The Second Legion was now throwing everything at the fort and there would be no escape for the brave natives holed up inside. As the cohort disappeared from view, astonishingly a group of Britons ran out of the front of the settlement hurling spears at the testudo now only feet from the former entrance. The first cavalry cohort galloped up in support followed by the light infantry running and struggling to keep up. Neither got to the Britons before they launched themselves onto the shields of the now dug in Roman square, who were hunched behind their overlapping shields taking cover from the onslaught. The natives were wild eyed and screaming as they tore at the shield wall trying to find its soft underbelly to stab. Sword points were thrust out at them, when they managed to force an opening wounding the attacker’s hands, arms and legs. Screams of agony filled the air as furious Britons stood their ground seemingly impervious to their wounds.