“Noble Plautius,” the cavalryman said with a salute.
“What word do you bring?” the new governor asked.
“It’s the Durotriges,” the messenger replied. “They refused our parlay for peace and instead had the audacity to goad us into attacking them. We also heard word from several sources that they will try and defend against us at their fortress called Mai Dun1.”
“Mai Dun,” Plautius repeated, looking over at Tristan.
“It means Great Hill, excellency,” he explained.
“Do you know much about it?” Vespasian asked.
“I’ve been there once, when I was a small boy,” the young man replied. “The people of these lands believe it is impenetrable. It is a large hill with massive ramparts carved out of its very face; each rising up more than thirty feet. It was formed nearly two thousand years ago, and tall grasses now cover it. It is relatively flat on top and more than large enough for an entire town to occupy it.”
“The Twentieth Legion fought the Durotriges,” Plautius noted, turning to Artorius.
“Yes, sir,” the master centurion replied. “Though to be honest, we only fought against their reinforcements that had been late to arrive, no more than eight thousand total. Of those, we killed several hundred and captured perhaps another thousand. They’ve already been shipped off with the slave drivers.”
“They are a confederation of small independent villages and farming communities,” Sabinus added. “From that they can still muster large enough of a force to harass our territories to no end. The also border the Atrebates, who will look to us for protection should hostilities increase.”
“All with the perceived notion of safety within their great hill fort,” Plautius grumbled.
Word of the Durotriges’ refusal to capitulate had already spread throughout the camps. The army was mostly scattered by this point, with vexilations from each legion en route to their assigned locations, with only the Second Legion mostly intact still at Camulodunum. Artorius had sent half of the Twentieth to just north of the Tamesis River, where a more permanent camp was being established. He had kept with him his First, Fifth, and Eighth Cohorts.
After receiving the message, Plautius sat brooding for a few moments. The dispatch troubled him greatly. The emperor returning to Rome to prepare for his triumph the following spring complicated things. If the word Plautius received was true, then any celebrations in Rome would be premature should the Durotriges prove able to muster up enough warriors from their confederation of tribal states. And they had yet to hunt down Caratacus nor had they established relations with many of the surrounding kingdoms and tribal states. In short, Rome had a small province that was but a fraction of Britannia, and what they had acquired was by no means secure.
“These impudent bastards must be smashed into oblivion!” Plautius emphasized as he addressed his senior officers. “By refusing our offers of peace and continuing to make war with Rome even after the Catuvellauni were subdued, their king has forfeited his life.” He then turned to Vespasian. “Take the Second Legion plus whatever additional forces you will need and destroy them.”
“I’ll need two regiments of cavalry to screen our advance,” the general said after a moment’s contemplation. “We don’t know the terrain to the southwest or even how far it is to their stronghold at…what was that place called again?”
“Mai Dun, sir,” his chief tribune said.
“Two of my reconnaissance patrols have just returned this morning, along with the messenger,” Tribune Cursor spoke up. “I’ve just barely had a chance to look at their report. The terrain to the southwest is mostly open fields with the occasional hill fort. After their recent defeat, I do not foresee them attempting to face us in the open.”
“In which case I will need siege engines and lots of them,” Vespasian remarked. “Plautius, I will need every onager, scorpion, and ballista we have available. We cannot afford any protracted sieges, so I will smash every barbarian fort we cross into extinction.”
“You’ll have them,” the commander-in-chief asserted. “Take those heavy siege ballistae with you, as well. I will detach every spare logistics wagon we have available for your siege train. You will need extra manpower to escort them, as well as the crews themselves.”
“Alright,” Vespasian said while drawing a line with his finger along the crude map that showed their general axis of advance. “I’m guessing it’s about two weeks march to their capitol, though we should triple that pending any small sieges and assaults we have to conduct, plus how much those heavy ballistae and their ammunition wagons slow us down.”
“That was our assessment as well,” Cursor stated. “We didn’t get all the way to the coastal capitol, plus the messenger was turned back well before he could get close enough to have a thorough look. That being said, my men did hear from the locals, confirming there is an ancient fortress that’s been cut out of a massive hill. I’m assuming this is the same place as they say it’s impenetrable.”
“Of course, they would think that,” Plautius scoffed.
“The natives also call the place Dunium, which we think means fort,” the tribune added. “We believe that this is the seat of King Donan.”
“Send one of your regiments ahead to scout this fortress out,” Vespasian ordered Cursor. “Your remaining troops will screen the legion’s advance. I’ll need two cohorts of auxiliaries to protect the flanks and supply trains. And if we’re going to be conducting a number of assaults on fortified positions, I’ll need additional archers, so I’ll take the Syrian allied detachment with me. They are extremely mobile and very accurate with their longbows.”
“They covered us well at both river battles,” Plautius observed. “No doubt Achillia will be anxious to get her troops back into the fighting.”
“I’ll need two cohorts from you, Artorius,” Vespasian added. “I’m not concerned about the smaller oppida, but if this ancient fortress is anything that the locals would view as impenetrable, I’ll need extra assault troops.”
“I’ll give you three, including my First Cohort,” the master centurion asserted.
Plautius then addressed the assembled leaders. “If that is all, then prepare your men to start their advance tomorrow. Your orders are simple; find the enemy and break him!”
“You cannot go!” Magnus protested as Achillia packed her gear and threw on her mail shirt.
“Vespasian has asked for my skirmishers, and so I go with them,” she replied as she tightened her belt and slung her arrow quiver.
“Damn it all, I forbid it!” Magnus immediately regretted his choice of words, for Achillia simply glared at him coldly as she reached for her longbow.
“Know this,” she relied calmly, “though I love you, you are neither my husband nor my master.”
“It is not just you that I worry about,” Magnus persisted.
“I am not so far along that I’ll be incapacitated,” Achillia reassured him. She understood the cause for his concern all too well, and was quick to forgive his earlier words.
“Well,” he replied, “at least I’ll be coming with you.”
“We both have our duties. And I promise you, my love, that this will be my last…provided it is yours as well. I have no more desire to see you slain in battle than you do me, so let us end our campaigns here.”
Her words took him aback, yet Magnus did not hesitate to answer. He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately.
“One last campaign,” he promised. “And then a new life together!”
Despite continued pockets of resistance, as well as Vespasian’s pending trek to finish off the Durotriges, Plautius was still pleased with how the conquest was coming together. Fall was coming on, and in just six short months he had established Roman control in southeast Britannia and gained a new province for the empire. Even though the northern lands of the Brigantes had not been occupied by Rome, their queen, Cartimandua, was ready to swear allegiance and, as such, had made herself the most powerful monarch within Britannia. There was still one more kingdom to deal with that held the lands on the east coast of the isle, just north of the established Roman territories. Plautius was willing to offer them very favorable terms, at least for the time being.