Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 00.5] Ulpius Felix- Warrior of Rome (30 page)

“So the Prefect told me.  Just another reason not to go to Rome.”

The Governor, the Legate and Julius Agricola were closeted together at Durocobrivis where the Governor had moved the whole army when the patrol returned.  “Quintus, this man Cresens is one of your aides I believe?  What can you tell me of him?”

Quintus found his friendship with Cresens embarrassing; he had hoped that, by promoting him in the ala he could forget him but now, thanks to the one they called, the Wolf, that would not happen. “I was a friend of his father, I did him a favour.”

“That is not what I need to know!” Paulinus’ voice had an edge to it.  The future of the province hung in the balance. “Did his men flog the Queen and did he rape her daughters?”

In a quiet voice he said, “Yes, he did.”

“Good,  Then the Decurion spoke true and the plan might work.” He walked over to the map. “The horde is here.  We will send the ala, ort a large part of it to be within sight of the Queen.  This fellow, Cresens will be at the fore. Hopefully the ala will draw them on.” He turned to Tribune Julius Agricola. “You will go with them?”

“Of course but I think only three turmae.  The rest should be as we discussed on the wings to enable us to chase them down when we turn them.” Quintus Cerialis looked in amazement at these two men who thought they could defeat this barbarian horde! “Leave Flavius Bellatoris with the ala and I will take this Decurion Felix, Wolf as he is called.”

“Colourful name.”

“And a colourful character.” He looked meaningfully at Cerialis.  “I believe he can make Cresens do as we wish.”

Quintus Cerialis, for once, was in agreement, although he did not know it with Decurion Lupus Ulpius Felix; he also hoped that Cresens would not return.

The next the day the whole army left for the site chosen by Julius Agricola and Wolf. The Governor relied on Agricola quite heavily.  He had seen in the young man a general in the making.  Cresens had been given his instructions and now rode between Agricola and Wolf; both of whom enjoyed his obvious discomfort and desire to be anywhere else.

“I expect you will be glad to get back to Rome sir?”

“No Wolf I like Britannia and I like the people.  I believe I could conquer this whole island with nothing but auxiliaries.”

Cresens looked as though Agricola had grown two heads. “I think I agree sir.  The legions are fine soldiers but this land has parts which do not suit the rigid organisation of the legions.  If you visit the land of the Brigante you will see what I mean; many small valleys and steep slopes.  It suits the auxiliary but not the legionary.”

When they reached the gorge the Governor was delighted.  “This is perfect.  Well done you two. Now we will make it defensible and then Decurion Princeps Gaius Cresens you shall have your moment of glory and draw Boudicca into the range of my legions.  She will not leave!”

Decurion Princeps Gaius Cresens was not a happy man.  Far from being hidden behind the rest of the army, he was to be the bait in a trap for the Queen.  The Legate had played him false; he had been used. The irony, of course, was that he had thought he was using the Legate.  Now he found himself in the worst of all worlds, not only was he in a fighting ala but his means of escape, the Legate, had abandoned him.  As they rode towards the barbarian army, which was somewhere ahead, he was already planning how to extricate himself from this mess.  Glancing over his shoulder he saw Cava, the man they called Horse, watching his every move. He suspected that Decurion Felix had arranged that placement. He could not understand how these warriors could ride into danger so fearlessly and so frequently.  From his standpoint at the last battle it seemed a ridiculous notion. The only reward for winning was to fight again and the result of losing appeared to be death. He had watched two thousand Romans die in the blink of an eye.  He shuddered.

“Cold, Decurion Princeps? Don’t worry when the Queen chases after you and your bollocks you will warm up.”

The brute behind him had voiced the other concern in Cresens’ mind.  What if he fell into Boudicca’s hands?  He was under no illusions there.  His death would be both slow and painful.

Drusus galloped back to the main column.  “Sir.  The Iceni camp is a mile ahead. They have wagons which they have placed in a circle and they are within it. “ His normally cheerful expression had been replaced by a grey and haunted look.  “They have some Romans sir.  They appeared to be torturing them.”

“Very well Drusus.  Well done. Decurion Princeps.  Would you care to join us?” Wolf took pleasure in summoning the man he hated.  This would not repay Lucius for what he had tried to do to him but it would, at least, be a part payment.

The reluctant hero nudged his horse next to the Tribune and away from Wolf. “Sir?”

“You and Wolf need to ride at the fore.  We will be but a hundred paces behind you.  When they have taken the bait Decurion Felix will escort you back to safety.”

The Decurion Princeps wished it was any but Wolf who was with him but the Tribune had obviously been sent so that he had to obey.  “Yes sir.”

As they rode forwards Gaius Cresens felt vulnerable and exposed.  He could see, some way ahead, the shapes which he knew to be the wagons of the Iceni and every step put him closer to danger. “No escape here.  You can’t hide behind the Legate this time.  You are going to learn what it is like to serve in the Pannonians this day.” Even though he was talking to the Decurion princeps, Wolf was scanning the sides of the road for signs of an ambush or scouts.  The Iceni were so confident that they had destroyed all the Romans that they had become lax. He wondered how close they would have to get for Cresens to be recognised? It didn’t have to be the Queen, of course, for the whole of Venta Icenorum had witnessed the flogging.  All it took was one person to see him and the Queen would know.  With a grim smile Wolf acknowledged that they would know if they had been successful if they had to flee for their lives. The wagons drew ever closer and still no-one saw them.  He was able to see the huge wooden wagons which carried the women and children of the Iceni to witness their warriors when they fought.  It seemed bizarre to Wolf and it swelled the numbers of the enemy. Suddenly there was a shout and twelve eager warriors galloped from the enclosure. “Well, they have recognised you, now let’s ride.  Come on Blackie!”

Wolf did not care if Cresens fell now; he had served his purpose but a desperate desire for life made the portly officer lash his horse.  Cava had seen their return and the three turmae were trotting back to the Roman trap. They allowed the two men to ride between them and then they closed ranks and galloped after them. Horse kept glancing over his shoulder.  The Iceni were slowly falling behind.  “Slow up.  We are losing them.” It was important that they report the Roman army and its, apparent, foolish deployment. Soon the exultant Iceni had closed to within sixty paces of the turmae.  As they turned off the road towards the gorge the Decurion noticed just how wide the plain was.  When the scouts reported back to Boudicca she would seize the chance to defeat the last Roman army in Britannia.

As soon as the warriors saw the Roman army they returned to the Iceni camp. “Majesty not only have we found the man who violated you and your daughters we have found the Roman army.  They are just a couple of miles up the road.”

Screaming like a primeval creature she grabbed the warrior.  “Well done.  Break the camp and we shall have them before they escape.”

The Iceni moved quickly and the plain filled with the warriors.  The wagons were placed behind in a semi circle enabling the camp followers to observe the battle, much as a Roman crowd would enjoy the arena.  The Queen and her daughters mounted her chariot and paraded before them. "
But now,"
she said,
"it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very persons, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven is on the side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are thinking anxiously of flight. They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much less our charge and our blows. If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die. This is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves."
There was a huge roar and the warriors began banging their shields and their swords.

At the Roman lines the Governor was checking the deployment when he heard the roar.  The two legions were in the centre and on their flanks the auxiliary foot. The few cavalry available to him, both regular and auxiliary were on the two wings to deter a flanking movement. Paulinus knew that the Ninth had lost their best troops and would be less confident and the noise of the enemy appeared to enhance their numbers.  He saw some nervous looks.  His Twentieth were still enjoying the euphoria of having defeated the druids but the legate needed to make his men fight and he turned to address them.
"Ignore the racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers - they're not even properly equipped. We've beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they'll crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about plunder. Just win and you'll have everything."

Wolf was with Flavius on the right of the battlefield. They would be observers at first for the Iceni would have to narrow their front the closer they came to the legions.  Every legionary had his two pila; they had a shorter range than the javelins used by the ala but they were heavier.  When they struck a shield or a man they broke and could not be thrown back and, more importantly, they made shields impossible to wield.  Each cohort was in a three deep line and the skill and training of the legions meant that they could rotate easily to place the freshest men at the front.  It was a tried and tested method. The whole line looked like small wedges upon which the Iceni would be spiked.

Although the noise continued unabated the whole Iceni line, led by the Queen in her chariot raced forwards.  Every one of the fifty thousand warriors desperate to be the first to claim first blood. The Twentieth stood calmly to receive the charge. Wolf clearly heard First Spear above the cacophony of noise.  “Loose!” A thousand pila flew into the air followed a heartbeat later by another thousand. Wolf watched in awe as the second line moved to the front and threw their two pila and finally the third rotated and their spears did their damage.  The whole of the front line of the Iceni lay like a macabre dying sculpture of broken men, horses and chariots.  The Iceni in the other ranks roared forwards to get at the Romans.  First Spear calmly brought up the next cohorts and they too hurled their spears into the packed ranks.  The Iceni were very obliging and they ran over the bodies of the dead and the dying to try to kill the pathetically small Roman army which faced them. If they thought that the legions had thrown their mightiest weapon they were in for a shock as the cohorts used the gladii to stab and hack at the bare bodies which seemed to want to die.  At the rear the women were screaming for their men to kill the Romans and the brave warriors tried to do as their women wished.  Boudicca, now unhorsed, looked in horror at the bodies of her dead daughters.  One lay awkwardly her neck and back broken by the crashing chariot while the other lay with a pilum in her young chest, the red stain spreading over her white tunic. Boudicca drew her sword and exhorted her men to greater deeds of valour. “Iceni! This is our time! One last push and we will have them!”

Paulinus was mounted a little way up the gorge and was pleased with what he could see.  The Iceni had lost thousands already and the warriors at the front were being chopped to pieces by the relentless lines of gladii. He noted, with satisfaction the rotating of the lines so that the exhausted Iceni kept meeting fresh legionaries and even their greatest Iceni, Atrebate and Catevellauni warriors could not defeat them. He judged that the time was right and said to the buccinator next to him.  “Sound the advance!”

Slowly at first the lines moved and the warriors at the front found themselves pushed back into the warriors behind.  Whereas the legions could punch with their shields and stab with their gladii, the longer weapons of the barbarians were useless and they could not bring them to bear.  There was nowhere for them to retreat and they were slaughtered where they stood.  As they moved back into the plain there was less pressure but the Roman lines spread out to extend their front and bring even fresher warriors into action.

“Sound the cavalry charge!”

Wolf and the ala had been waiting for just such an order.  The Iceni and their allies were being pushed back and their escape route was blocked by the wagons filled with women and children. “Form line!” With such a small battlefield Flavius just used a one turma line.  The twenty turmae could carve a line through the flanks of the Iceni and, hopefully, meet with the regular cavalry turmae in the middle. Cava was behind the Decurion Princeps and Wolf behind him.  They had no javelins and would have to use their long swords but they would avenge their dead comrades. They struck the lines like a hammer striking an anvil.  They sliced a huge chunk out of the side of the army but then the warriors on the side milled around the horses hacking at the animals and the legs of the troopers. Flavius just kept on going. If he could cut through the heart of the army then the cohorts could destroy them. Cava saw the warriors trying to get at their leader and he urged his horse on, slicing through the arm which wielded the axe aimed at Flavius’ mount. A tattooed warrior punched his shield at Cava’s horse which tumbled to the ground and he fell he relaxed and rolled but the warrior had followed up and before Cava could react the warrior’s sword took off the Decurion’s arm at the elbow.  Before he could finish off the Pannonian Wolf rode his horse directly at the man.  Blackie’s hooves thundered through his skull and he died with his brains oozing out.