Chapter VII: The First Campaign
On the East Side of the Rhine Bridges, Germania
March, 15 A.D.
It had been a long day, and Artorius was glad to be able to lay his head down and get some sleep. He thanked the gods he did not have watch duty that night either. The days before had been spent packing all of their equipment into their carrying sacks, loading the baggage carts with tents, food, and provision, as well as all of the artillery wagons. They formed up with the rest of the army early that morning and had just managed to reach the east side of the Rhine before setting up camp for the night. Eight legions were camped there, along with a huge number of auxiliaries and cavalry. Their camp was enormous. One could not hope to make it from one end to the other without a horse. In the morning, the army would split into two groups. Four legions plus the bulk of the auxiliaries would head east with Germanicus to destroy the Bructeri. The remaining four legions, to include the Twentieth, would head west to wage war against the Cherusci. However, that was tomorrow. Right now sleep was all that concerned Artorius.
In another part of the camp, the lamps were still lit in a large headquarters tent. Inside, Germanicus, Severus, and the legates of each legion were planning the specifics of their missions the next day. They would mainly involve long road marches deep into enemy territory. Contingency plans had to be made in case Arminius got word of their intentions and mustered a large force against them. This was highly unlikely. However, they still had to plan for it. It was more likely that the Germans would set up ambushes along the routes, using hit-and-run tactics against the Romans. Of course it was also just as likely that the Cherusci and Marsi did not know of their presence, and they would be able to conduct the first phase of their operations unopposed. Only time would tell.
Artorius awoke to the sound of the Cornicens’ horns. Though the day before had been long and hard, he was surprisingly refreshed. The weeks of training, right before going on campaign, had done him good. He and his tentmates got up, dressed, and proceeded to pack their tent and all of their gear. Gavius and Valens were cooking breakfast for the crew when Flaccus came walking down the line, talking to all the groups in turn.
“Statorius, just so your men know, we’re moving out in about an hour,” he said, “Apparently the cavalry screen found some scattered villages about half a day’s march from here.”
“Are they Marsi or Cherusci?” Statorius asked.
“They couldn’t tell,” Flaccus answered. “We definitely know they aren’t friendly, though. There are no friendly tribes on this side of the river. We know that some of the Marsi were settled to the west, we just didn’t think they had migrated this close to the Rhine.”
“They’re getting bold,” Vitruvius said as he walked up.
“They won’t be once we get done with them,” Statorius said.
Vitruvius smiled wickedly. “Yes, it has been a while since my sword tasted fresh meat,” he said, his right hand rubbing the pommel of his gladius.
“A few scattered villages? You’ll be lucky if you get to kill a cow, Vitruvius.” Flaccus said.
“It’s still fresh meat, isn’t it?” Vitruvius laughed.
Artorius listened to the conversation in silence as he helped his friends load their tent onto a waiting cart.
“So what will this mean for us?” he asked Praxus.
“Could mean a couple of different things, none of them very exciting though,” Praxus answered. “When we’re dealing with villages on a punitive expedition, the first thing we do is cordon off the entire area. Nobody gets in and nobody comes out. We then send an assault element through that clears the entire area of anything living. Once done, they set fire to the place, and we move on.”
“So we just kill everything in the village?” Magnus asked.
“Pretty much,” Valens answered. “Of course sitting on the cordon is boring as hell most of the time, though assaulting a village usually gets messy. Moreover, there is not a lot of glory and prestige to be had in killing a few farmers and some livestock, mind you. Occasionally you’ll get lucky and find something worth pilfering.”
Artorius thought about Valens’ words. Would this be how he got his revenge? By killing a handful of farmers and burning their crops? He still held out hope that the Cherusci would come and face them on the battlefield, and that they would be able to exact their revenge properly. It was not that he had any issue with the killing of Germanic farmers, far from it. All were guilty, and all would be punished. He just figured that a major battle would resolve the issue that much quicker.
Just outside where the headquarters tent was being dismantled, Master Centurion Flavius Quietus was reviewing the plans for their part of the operation with the Cohort Commanders. Normally this task would fall upon the Commanding General, but since Severus now had four legions plus auxiliaries to command, the task fell to his subordinates. As chief tribune, Strabo was technically the one left in charge of the legion. However, he was wise enough to allow those with the proper experience to plan the attack. Flavius took a staff and drew a rough overlay of their sector on the dirt. He drew up prominent terrain features, to include the placement of all the known settlements.
“Gentlemen,” he started, “this is our sector for this operation. It is not very large, and to be honest, using an entire legion for this is overkill. However, we are in enemy territory, and there is no way of knowing for sure what we will be up against.
“We will leave here with cohorts in a column. First Cohort will provide the vanguard; the Sixth will provide rear security for the baggage trains. Auxiliary infantry will provide security on our flanks and the cavalry will screen our front.
“Behind this ridge, the cavalry will hold fast and await our arrival. They will then take the long way around the settlements, utilizing the woods for cover, finally pushing out past the villages, and continuing to screen our front. The auxiliary infantry will push out on the flanks for at least a good mile and prevent anyone from entering the area. This gully on the northeast side leads away from the village. This is their most likely route of escape, should they become alerted to our presence. The First Cohort will secure the gully and make certain no one uses it to escape. The Second, Third, and Seventh Cohorts will conduct the actual sweep of the area. The Third will take the right, the Second the center, and the Seventh will take the left. The rest of the legion, minus the Sixth Cohort, will provide the close cordon of the area and ensure that nothing escapes. The Sixth will set up security around the baggage trains, one terrain feature behind the eastern section of the cordon. Once the sweep is complete, the assault elements will form back up in a column, the rest of the legion collapsing on them. Once the auxiliary infantry have joined with us, we will push forward to where the cavalry should have our campsite staked out. It is about half a day’s march from here to the ridgeline, so we’d best start moving.” He then took a few moments to answer any questions the Cohort Commanders had. Soon the legion was on the march.
Artorius watched the countryside slowly roll by. The area had a lot of open ground, though it was still infested with immense forests that seemed to permeate the entire country. He half expected they would come under attack at any moment, that there would be hordes of barbarians storming their flanks. Of course, Severus was better prepared than Varus had been. Auxiliary infantry had pushed out on the flanks and cavalry screened their front. If any force did come at them, the auxiliaries would, more than likely, be able to repel it. And even if they weren’t, they would at least provide ample warning to the legionaries. With his mind at ease in terms of the danger they faced, his thoughts wandered to their task ahead.