“Yesh. Which one can I have first?” he said, looking at me.
He then lay snoring on the ground as I bonked him on the head with a hefty branch.
The girls looked at me with open eyes.
“Okay, we now know there are roughly two thousand and eighty warriors. If they’re all as pissed as this lot, we should wrap this up quite quickly. Come on, let’s get dressed and back to the others.”
“Won’t he alert the rest?” one girl asked.
“Him? I very much doubt it. What will he say?”
The girl shrugged.
“He got drunk, had a sexy dream and passed out. He’ll wake up with a headache and think no more about it. He daren’t share what he thought happened as he’ll be laughed at by the rest. Come, let’s go.”
We skirted around the meadow, keeping in the trees and sought the other groups. It was as the warrior had said. The besieged fort was on a slight hill, so far intact. A large group of warriors had encamped all around the fort, and did not appear too bothered about getting close enough for those inside to lob something nasty at them. They were just playing the waiting game. The besieged were short of water and food, so those outside knew it would not be long now.
The third group were encamped by the river, a short distance away. They were obviously taking turns at laying siege to the fort, so using the two other camps as somewhere to go for R&R while waiting for their next turn.
Once furnished with the intelligence and a crude map, we returned to the main body of troops.
Gallinas had stopped in a good place. It was out of sight in the forest, and because of the trees and raised ground, easily defendable. A stream gave fresh water and it was dry for those who needed to sleep.
The heavily forested landscape gave the advantage to the local tribesmen and their system of warfare. The set pieces the Romans so favoured would be difficult to execute with all the trees and uneven ground. However, they were learning to adapt all the time.
The girls were all buzzing with excitement when they returned. They had seen the enemy, achieved our objective and taken a prisoner to interrogate.
Gallinas was miffed we had not brought him back for him to question.
“Can you speak the language?” I asked.
“No, but...”
“What other questions would you have asked?”
“I don’t know.”
“We know how many there are, what their armament is like, what condition they are in and the level of their willingness to fight. They are drunk and lazy, preferring to wait for the Roman garrison to starve to death rather than risk an assault. In my opinion, as soon as you appear, most of them will run away.”
Gallinas turned to Gaius, who was looking at the map I’d made.
“What do you think, Gaius?” he asked.
“I agree with her. The last thing we want is for them to run away and disperse into the forest so we will never find the leaders and make them pay for the crimes against Roman legionaries. I propose that you split your force into four. Keep the larger First Cohort as the main thrust to relieve the fort and to chase down the main body of tribesmen who are there. As it is large, the enemy will certainly believe that you have committed your full force to the relief. Split the Fourth in two, and along with the cavalry, attack the two camps at the same time. Place the Third here, to catch those who would flee to the north along this valley, away from the First Cohort.”
“And the recon unit?” I asked.
Gaius regarded me for a moment.
“Where best would you feel they would perform, bearing in mind that they are not properly suited for face to face combat?”
“This valley here leads to the south west, away from the fort and between the other two camps that we will be attacking simultaneously. Many of the warriors may flee north, while some might head towards the fort to join the bigger party there. Some, however, will sneak down this valley beneath the trees. I shall place my unit here and see what pickings can be had. Given that slaves are in short supply in the Empire, it would be of great benefit to bring back a large number who could face each other in the arena or sit on the benches of the galleys and pull oars for the rest of their lives. There are many women and children, so you all might come out of this with a hefty profit.”
We all regarded the map for a moment.
Gallinas clapped his hands like an excited schoolboy.
“Excellent! Then, Gaius, draw up the plans and instruct the commanders of my plan. What time should we attack?”
They both looked at me.
“The warriors in this camp were all drunk as skunks when we saw them. That means that in the morning they will all be hung-over, headachy and not at their best. I should attack just before dawn when the alcohol is still numbing their reactions. They’ll be deeply asleep, so the attack will be almost home before many of them wake up.”
“But the light will not be to our advantage,” Gallinas said. “And the gathering clouds speak of rain before too long.”
“Both to our advantage. They will not know how many Romans attack them, and the darkness will confuse them as they try to regroup to defend themselves. They have no sentries out, so there will be no warnings given, so most will be slaughtered in their beds before they know what hit them.”
“Direction of attack?” Gaius asked me, ignoring Gallinas.
“For the two camps, attack from the south, forcing them to run into those waiting for them to the north. For the main body, as they are encircling the fort, the firmer ground is to the west, so advance from here and from the south. You could divide your Cohort. Place a third to the east with archers and long pilum. For those who do not face us, they will try to melt into the trees. We can therefore force them to head north too, and create a killing ground as we pursue them into the trap. This will also allow those forces in the fort to come out and attack them from the rear if they decide they want to face us there.”
Gaius nodded, making some marks with charcoal on the map. Gallinas was too excited to be upset about being ignored. Here was a battle that he would come from as a mighty victor, and he couldn’t wait.
“How do we coordinate our attacks?” Gaius asked.
“Simple,” I said, grinning. “Give everyone enough time to get into position and then release a flaming arrow into the sky over the fort.
“All of our people will be waiting for it, and any of the enemy will be too drunk or asleep to worry about it, even if they do see it. The garrison, if they’re switched on, might twig that it’s an attack, so it will be a winner all round.”
“How much time will be needed to get into position?”
I did some rough calculations, taking the time of day, possible weather conditions, the weariness of the men and the weight of their equipment.
“Two hours, max, from this location.”
“Is there an advantage in setting off earlier?” Gallinas asked.
“If we attack just before dawn, then there will be enough light to catch the escapers. If it is too dark, then they can melt away into the darkness. If our people can anticipate where they will most likely run, then we will be waiting for them. If we go too early, then there is every chance of being discovered and losing our element of surprise.”
It started raining just after midnight. The grumbles of the legionaries started thirty seconds after that.
I was pleased, for the enemy camps would be draughty and damp, so the warriors would all be wrapped up tightly against the rain. Little chance of sentries or any form of defences.
Gaius found me as I sharpened my sword.
“Still set?” he asked.
“Absolutely. There is one problem, though.”
“The arrow.”
“Exactly.”
“How else do we synchronise our attacks?”
I thought about it.
“Trumpets will alert them to a possible attack, so do your men march with a set pace to drums?”
“Usually, yes, but not if we’re undertaking a surprise attack.”