“This is intolerable!” Ingiomerus shouted.
“Where are they moving to now?” Arminius asked.
“They are coming this way,” Haraxus answered. “It would seem they are goading us into fighting them again.”
“Then we shall oblige them,” Arminius said quietly. “We will defend the stronghold with our infantry. Cavalry will occupy the woods to the east and attack the Romans from behind. The west is a swampy marshland; they will not dare use that. Many of our women and children have come to this stronghold in order to seek protection. We need to offer them that.”
Haraxus smiled. “This will be the day of our victory. There are still many warriors who survived the battle. From a defensive position, there is hope.”
“Are you certain?” Germanicus asked the scout.
“Yes, sir, without a doubt,” the man answered. “From what we were able to see, it looks like Arminius has rallied all of the warriors he still has under his control. They are occupying this stronghold here.” He pointed to a section of map. “They also have many families — women, children, and elderly — located in this stronghold. Doubtless they will try and evacuate it while their warriors defend against us.”
Germanicus sighed and looked over at Severus. “Do you feel up to another major battle?” he asked. The older general shrugged.
“Giving Arminius another kick in the balls can certainly do no harm,” Severus answered. “We can bombard the stronghold with artillery and storm it easily enough.”
“I’ll lead the attack myself,” Germanicus stated. “We will send another contingent to rout whatever they may have massed against us in the woods here. Shall we go and have a look?”
Later that day they rode forward to where the stronghold was just coming into view. There was a deep, swampy marsh on the left and a thick forest on the right. It only left one avenue of approach available. Germanicus knew Arminius would keep a large force within the trees, hoping to draw him into a fight there. Artillery was already being set up in a long line, facing the stronghold.
“Severus, you will take half the army and assault the wood lines,” Germanicus ordered as they surveyed the scene in front of them. “Use your infantry. I want the cavalry kept in reserve. Once you break them, go ahead and use the cavalry to conduct the pursuit.”
“Yes, sir,” Severus replied calmly. The woods were thick, but this would work to their advantage. The barbarians, with their spears and war clubs, would have less maneuverability. Their cavalry would also be greatly restricted by the terrain. Severus turned to the legates of the legions who would take part in the attack.
“Men, you need to reassure your legionaries before tomorrow’s battle. I know they do not like to fight in restrictive terrain. They feel it breaks up their formations too much. What they need to do is stay online with each other and make sure each of them uses the trees for flank protection, like they would each other. The barbarians will be even less maneuverable with their longer weapons. By utilizing the terrain, the enemy will not be able to coordinate their warriors against our soldiers. Make certain they understand this.”
While Severus discussed these things with the legates participating in the woodline attack, Germanicus surveyed the stronghold. The rampart was rather long, though it was no more than eight meters high. Thankfully the enemy had absolutely no concept of siege warfare whatsoever. If they did, the next day’s fighting would be desperate and difficult. Enemy archers were few and far between. The Germans could do little more than hurl spears and stones down upon the legionaries when they scaled the wall. Germanicus looked over to where Tribune Pilate was supervising the setup of artillery. The scorpions would then suppress whatever numbers the enemy managed to rally along the walls. Onagers would rain fire down upon the inside of the stronghold. Germanicus could only speculate as to the burning chaos that would cause. He saw Pilate inspecting one of the onagers while the weapon’s section leader looked on nervously.
“Everything alright, tribune?” he asked.
The section leader snapped a sharp, if rather nervous salute. Pilate, though not intimidated by the presence of his commander, still looked worried.
“To be honest, sir, I’m not sure,” Pilate replied as he continued to pull and inspect the catapult’s tension ropes. “The scorpions all checked out fine, but these onagers I’m a little nervous about. They have never been the most stable type of siege weapons, and I worry about these tension ropes.”
“Will they at least hold through tomorrow?”
Pilate thought hard before making his reply. He did not want to look incompetent in front of the commanding general. Then again, how bad would it look if one of his weapons failed during the assault the next day?
“They should hold up through tomorrow, sir,” he finally replied. “However, I am going to keep an eye on them. First sign of trouble and I’ll have to order a cease fire on the line.”
“Be sure you do,” Germanicus said, standing with his arms folded, “because I really don’t want to get struck by a stray fireball tomorrow.” With that he gave the tribune a half smile, turned, and left.
“What did he mean by that?” the section leader asked.
“It means he plans on leading the attack himself. It also means we need to make damn sure these weapons are functioning properly. After all, I don’t think either of us wants to explain to the Emperor why the commanding general, who also happens to be his nephew and adopted son, was killed by his own artillery.”
As Germanicus walked away, Pilate turned back to his work of inspecting and repairing his heavy weapons. It would soon be dark, and he needed to be sure that all machines were up to standard before the attack commenced in the morning.
“Ever scaled a barbarian fort before, lad?” Statorius asked.
“Never,” Artorius answered.
“It’s not too bad,” the sergeant assured him. “Those turf and sod walls are slanted and not that difficult to climb, so I doubt we’ll even bother with ladders which can be tipped over. You just sling your shield across your back, look for hand and footholds, and up you go. The only tricky part is once you get to the top.”
“Why is that?” Artorius asked.
“Because you have to be able to pull yourself over the top, get your weapons out, and find your bearings before the barbarians at the top can gut you.”
Artorius cringed at the thought.
“Decimus here, claims to be the fastest climber in the century,” Statorius continued.
“Is that so?” Magnus asked.
“What’s more, I’ll prove it when we attack that fort tomorrow,” Decimus replied confidently.
“You see, Decimus has been decorated with the Rampart Crown twice for being the first over the wall of a siege,” Statorius said.
“And I intend to make it three times!” Decimus retorted.
Carbo shook his head. “Decimus, some days I swear you have a death wish.”
Artorius sat back and started to sharpen his gladius. There were a number of nicks on the blade that needed to be worked out. Besides, he always took pride in keeping the blade razor sharp.
“What do you think about attacking this German stronghold?” Magnus asked, taking a seat on the ground beside him.
“If we do it right, it shouldn’t be anything to worry about,” Artorius replied, running the sharpening stone across his blade.
“I just hate the thought of not being able to see the enemy at the top, not knowing where they are going to be.”
“Would you rather they were where they could see us?” Artorius asked. “The last thing I want is to get picked off the wall by one of their spear throwers or archers.” He hefted his gladius, admiring the blade as he looked down the edge. One would scarcely guess the amount of use it had gotten over the past year and a half.
Later that night, Artorius was coming off of sentry duty when he saw torches by the artillery positions. He walked over to investigate and saw that Pilate was inspecting the tension rope on one of the onagers. Artorius walked up and saluted.