The Eternal Empire (47 page)

Despite his academic leanings, Manual
Strategicus was not known for long speeches or for flowery oratory. As soon as
the centurion had confirmed that the room was secure he came straight to the
point.

"At 0500 hours, three days from
now, the Army of Asia Minor will launch an invasion of the Arab province of
Syria. Our target is Damascus."

Most of those present had expected an
offensive of some kind, but there was a sharp intake of breath at the
announcement that their immediate target was the capital of the Arab Caliphate,
some two hundred miles from the frontier.

Two military policemen appeared on the
stage and removed the cloth that had been covering the board to reveal a map of
the area where Asia Minor and Syria met.

"The attack will start with an
artillery bombardment along the length of the frontier, coupled with air
attacks on Arab troop concentrations within fifty miles of the border. The main
attack will take place here at Qatura." Strategicus picked up a stick from
the easel and pointed to the town, about thirty miles west of Aleppo.

"As dawn breaks," he
continued, "the artillery fire in this sector will cease and three
cataphract landship regiments supported by the four auxilia palatina regiments
will smash their way through the Arab defences making a gap in their lines and
will head directly south along the main highway. They will be followed by the
legio X Fretensis and the legio XVI Flavia. The legio VI Ferrata will screen
the Arab forces around Aleppo while the auxiliary cavalry and armoured motor
carriage regiments will fan out and take the rest of the border forces in the
rear."

Strategicus paused for a moment. The
room was quiet, the officers waiting for him to continue.

"The spearhead of the cataphract
and auxilia palatina regiments are fully motorised and will bypass all the
major towns between the border and Damascus, including Hama and Hims. The Arab
Caliphate only has one field army in Syria, which is based at Misyaf,
twenty-five miles west of Hama. They will try and block our advance on
Damascus, but we will engage and destroy this army on the third or fourth day
of the offensive. After that we will have a clear run to Damascus. We will
reach the Arab capital three days later."

General Strategicus replaced the
pointer and stood back.

A score of minor conversations broke
out amongst the officers. They were taken aback at the audacity and the
proposed speed of the operation. Previous plans for an invasion of Syria had
envisaged a series of carefully planned attacks over a period of two months.
Strategicus intended to do it in a week! A few hands went up to ask questions.

"There will be no questions
now," said Strategicus curtly. "As you leave each legionary legate,
regimental and cohort commander will receive the orders that pertain to their
unit. Tomorrow I will visit each unit to ensure that you fully understand what
is expected of you, and will answer any questions that you have at that
time."

"You all have a lot of work to do
and there is a difficult time ahead, but we have trained for this moment and
now is the time to put our theories to the test. We will hit them hard and we
will hit them fast."

At a signal everybody in the room rose
to be dismissed.

"Gentlemen, you will have the
privilege of being present at the dawn of a new era of warfare. God save the
Empire!"

20th
August 1920

Mosa
River, Gaul

In addition to planning the defence of
the Mosa River line, Cornelius had been given the task of briefing the
commanders of the reinforcements as they arrived. He had just left the command
tent of legio I Italica that had just arrived from Milan by train, when he came
upon a volunteer field hospital attached to the legion.

His attention was drawn to a beautiful
raven-haired young woman, confidently organising the unloading of a truckload
of medical supplies by a mixed group of auxiliaries and legionaries. Cornelius
walked over and stood behind her.

"What is going on here!" he
demanded in his most authoritarian voice.

The soldiers immediately snapped to
attention while the civilian volunteers stopped what they were doing and stared
at him in surprise. The young women was startled by the appearance of a senior
officer behind her but was not intimidated she turned to face the intruder with
a flash of anger in her eyes.

"What the hell do you think I'm
doing," she snapped back, "I'm trying to get a.... Cornelius, what
are you doing here?"

"Hello Fulvia," he said
trying to keep a straight face, "I was about to ask you the same
question".

Her expression changed to one of joy
and Fulvia flung her arms around Cornelius and gave him a friendly kiss much to
the amusement of the watching soldiers and civilians. She told everybody to
carry on unloading, took Cornelius by the arm and led him towards a row of
tents, one of which served as her office and sleeping quarters.

"When the war broke out," she
explained once they were seated, "we, the Women's Franchise Movement that
is, decided to show that we could help to defend the Empire just as well any
man."

"To prove that you deserve the
vote I suppose," interjected Cornelius.

"That's very cynical,"
scolded Fulvia, "but absolutely true. Anyway, we organised and financed a
number of field hospitals and provided volunteers to run them. Due to the
manpower shortage caused by the recent defence cuts, the army was more than
pleased to accept our little contribution."

"And you, Fulvia Antoninius,
decided to become a nurse!" said Cornelius incredulously. Somehow he could
not see Fulvia emptying bedpans.

"Good heavens no!" she
exclaimed with a laugh. "I'm the administrator. My business skills are
more appropriate to organising than to patching holes in soldiers. But what are
you doing here? I assumed that you would be safely interned in Minden for the
duration."

"I managed to get out just before
the fighting began," Cornelius replied simply. "Uncle Tiberius
reactivated my commission."

She gave him a penetrating look and
Cornelius began to feel uncomfortable.

"I know you Cornelius, there is
more - tell me the full story," she said slowly and firmly. "All of
it."

"You're worse than my
mother," he said with a combination of irritation and resignation.

"I've known you almost as
long," she replied with a smug smile, "and I'm a lot more nosey than
she is as well as being more skilled in getting what I want from a man. Now
tell me everything."

Cornelius began from when he had left
Fulvia at Colonia Agrippina. He told her of Katherine's discovery of the Saxon
war plans and his futile attempt to alert Dikouros to the danger. Fulvia was
impressed by the theft of the plans and Cornelius's trek across country back to
the Empire, but was concerned about Katherine, realising the risks that she had
taken.

"So you left her bound and gagged
to try and hide her involvement," she said as he finished, "sounds
very melodramatic. I never knew you were so forceful with your
girlfriends."

"Fulvia!" exclaimed Cornelius
in disapproval.

"I'm sorry," she apologised,
"that was very flippant. You must be very worried about her."

"Yes I am," confirmed
Cornelius, his eyes full of sadness.

She took his hands in hers and squeezed
them gently.

"Oh my dear Cornelius," she
said softly. "You really are in love."

20th
August 1920

Britannia,
near Deva

It was close to midnight. Titus waited
impatiently for the agreed signal.

A light appeared from an abandoned
farmhouse about half a mile away. It flashed three times, and a few moments
later flashed twice more. Titus nodded to a young legionary and the soldier
replied with his own torch.

Five minutes later two figures in dark
clothes approached. The small squad of legionaries that Titus had brought with
him quickly surrounded the two men, their rifles at the ready.

"Hello, Titus," said Sextus.
"Thank you for coming."

"Who's your companion?" asked
Titus curtly.

"Tribune Munius Burrus,"
replied the old soldier, "I served under your brother."

Titus considered this and ordered his
men to stand easy. They put up their weapons and withdrew a short distance from
the three men.

"Why did you send me that
note," demanded Titus. "If the peregrini had intercepted it, I could
have been in serious trouble. People have been shot for 'consorting with the
enemy'."

"I'm sorry about that," said
Sextus, "but I had to speak to somebody that I could trust. It's vitally
important that I get a letter to Gregory Nicerites at the capital."

Titus regarded them coldly. "I'm
listening."

Sextus was struck by the change in
Titus. He was no longer the carefree young man that he had last seen in Milan
last December.

"The Caledonians are planning to
take over Britannia, once the imperial troops have been driven out,"
continued Sextus. After his first visit to Burrus, he had done some more
discreet investigations and had uncovered more evidence, even though most of it
was circumstantial, of Caledonian duplicity. Much of what he had found out
indicated that Quintus Flaccus was in league with the northerners.

"So?" said Titus after Sextus
had finished. "What's that to us? You started all this with your
rebellion."

"It was that idiot Exanzenus and
that fool of a governor Dalassenus who drove us to it!" Sextus snapped
back angrily. "Nobody here wanted this stupid war!"

"All right," conceded Titus,
"but why this meeting. I'm sure it's not out of a desire to keep
Constantinople informed of local affairs."

Sextus pulled an envelope out from
inside his jacket. "In here is a set of proposals for ending this
rebellion and returning things to the status quo."

"You mean as an integral part of
the Empire?" asked Titus.

"Yes, provided the conditions
detailed in this letter are met, I believe that I can get the majority of the
provincial leadership to agree."

"The military supports this
move," added Burrus. "We have no desire to be ruled by the
Caledonians. If these terms are accepted then we'll join you in expelling those
northern barbarians."

Titus looked at the two men for a
moment then he took the envelope from Sextus. "I'll make sure that this
gets to Gregory as soon as possible, despite the channel being blocked there
are still courier flights. I hope it has the effect you deswire, I'd rather
have you fighting with me than against me. How will Gregory get word back to
you?"

This time the tribune took an envelope
from inside his jacket.

"This contains the name and
address of a friend of mine in Deva. He knows how to cross the lines and to
find me. You can trust him."

Titus took this envelope as well and
tucked it into one of the many pockets of his battledress.

"I hope that Gregory can get them
to see reason and bring an end to this tragedy," said Sextus as they
parted.

"So do I," agreed Titus,
"but with Exenzenus still running things he'll have his work cut
out."

23rd
August 1920

Syria,
30 miles South of Hama

General Strategicus stood up in the
turret of his 'Raven' armoured motor carriage, much to the discomfort of his
bodyguards in the vehicles following. They were only a few miles behind the
advance units that were pursuing the fleeing Arab forces and the centurion in
charge of the bodyguard did not consider this a safe place for the army
commander. He had tried to remonstrate with the general on several occasions,
but to no avail.

"I understand your concern but I
must be up at the front," he had told the worried centurion, "I need
to push the men forward. We must keep the enemy off balance."

The centurion reluctantly agreed. After
all, there were no significant Arab forces left between Hama and Damascus.

The Arab field army, 40,000 strong had
placed itself squarely across the path of the imperial advance just north of
Hama, confident of defeating the invaders. Strategicus had used two legions to
hold the attention of the Arab troops while he had massed the cataphract
regiments on his left. After a short, but fierce air and artillery bombardment,
he launched the landships at the enemy. The Arab infantry had fled panic
stricken at the advance of 300 armoured landships, and the armoured motor
carriages regiments had pursued the routed troops to prevent them from reforming.
The landships had then swung to the west to roll up the rest of the Arab army.
Unable to deal with the imperial troops that appeared suddenly in their rear
and with few weapons that were effective against the heavily armoured 'Bear'
and 'Bison' landships, the Arab army had collapsed. Motorised infantry from the
auxilia palatina had already blocked the road south to Hama forcing the Arab
army back against the mountains. Unable to form a new line of defence, the Arab
regiments had been overwhelmed one by one. Only 5,000 of the army had managed
to escape capture by abandoning their heavy weapons and fleeing into the
mountains.