Legio XVII: Battle of Zama (43 page)

“Got the bastard, thanks!”

Modius and Manius’ aides carried him to his tent and called for Quintus, the Greek Medical Officer.  He had his hands full, but dropped everything when he heard that Manius was wounded.  He and Manius had served together at Bad Tolz and campaigned against the Cimbri/Teutons.

When Quintus arrived, he looked at Manius and opened his leather medical bag.  He drew out powdered henbane, mandrake, and belladonna.  He carefully mixed the three together in a cup of water and honey.  He prayed that the proportions were correct or it would kill Manius before he died of his wound.  He held the cup to Manius’ lips and told him, “Drink this.  It’ll make you feel better.” Manius drank the cup.  Within seconds, his face flushed and he struggled to rise.  “Help me hold him down,” he yelled to Modius.  Just then Cassius came into the tent and grabbed Manius’ legs.

After three to four minutes, Manius calmed and began to relax.  Then his eyes closed.  Quintus put his ear to Manius chest listening for a heartbeat.  He smiled, and said, “He’s asleep.”  Quintus examined the wound.  The spear had passed through and through.  There were no jagged edges.  He knew if he left the tourniquet on much longer, Manius would lose his arm.  “Modius,” he said, “Release the tourniquet.”  Modius struggled with the hastily tied knot.  When he pulled the scarf loose, blood gushed out of Manius’ under arm.  “Quickly, tie it off again.  The artery’s cut.”  Quintus reached into his kit and retrieved a scalpel, thin strips of papyrus, and a container of honey.  “Modius smear some of this honey on the papyrus and cut this thread so it’s about six inches long.”

Quintus took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly let it out.  He picked up the scalpel and cut a four inch incision over the wound.  He spread the skin wide looking for the source of the bleeding.  He found the artery and gently pulled it towards the opening in Manius’ arm.  He turned it around in his fingers looking and feeling for a cut.  “There you are,” he announced.  He found a small smooth nick running across the artery.  He knew that if he simply clamped it off, Manius would lose blood flow to his lower arm and the arm would die.  First he had to repair the cut, and then he could allow the blood to continue to flow down the artery.  “Hand me that ball of lint,” he said to Modius.  When he had it, he blotted the blood.

“Modius, now give me the papyrus strips.”  Slowly and skillfully, Quintus wrapped the honey covered strips around the cut in the artery.  Quintus then reached for the thread and wrapped it around the papyrus.  “Modius, slowly untie your scarf.  This is the test.  Let’s see if the patch holds against the pressure of the blood.”  Modius loosened the scarf.  Quintus watched the papyrus expand as the artery filled with blood.  “It’s holding,” he said.  The bleeding had stopped and the artery was fully inflated.

One of Quintus’ medical aides walked in.  “What can I do?” he asked.

“Prepare a wash of vinum acetum” (modern vinegar).  The aide took a jar of vinegar, soaked a tightly rolled ball of fresh lint, and handed it to Quintus who liberally washed the area around the artery.

He stitched the wound closed, but left a small drainage hole held open by a stiffened coil of papyrus.  Quintus painted the stitches with honey and animal fat.

Manius’ arm was swollen with blood.  “Keep his arm elevated.”  That was all he could do and he had other patients to tend to.  He told Manius’ aides, “Keep him absolutely quiet or the papyrus will rip away.  Give him water and more pain killer.  I’ll come back later.”  As he turned to leave, Quintus stopped and faced Modius.  “Modius, he owes his life to you.  If you hadn’t applied that tourniquet, he’d be dead.”  Modius beamed with pride and looked at his uncle, Cassius, who was smiling from ear to ear!

*******

Odo’s men threw logs across the ditch opposite the south gate and came around the wall.  Odo put his men into a triplex acies formation and they moved northward parallel to the wall.  They scattered the 1,000 men harassing the Cenomani on the wall and ran to engage the 10,000 Illyrians and Taurisci attacking the center gate.  Gervasius’ Cenomani crossed over the ditch, forded the river, and formed into their battle lines on the far side of the woods.  They met small groups of men who were wounded or were shirkers, but no large forces.  They trotted forward in three long lines until they were opposite the center gate.  Gervasius turned them to face the wall and immediately ordered them forward.

The Illyrians and Taurisci saw the Suevi coming at them from the south and turned to face them.  They quickly formed into a fighting formation and met the Suevi.  They did not see Gervasius men until they splashed across the river.  Their flank was completely exposed and the Cenomani drove into them viciously.  They were caught completely by surprise.  Some offered resistance; most fled northward as the sky began to lighten.  What were moving shapes became men running for their lives.  Aze saw what was happening and started yelling, “Return to the camp, return to the camp!”  His cry was picked up all along the wall.

Caile could now see the raging fight on the rampart by Legio XVII and I Raetorum.  The Illyrians and Taurisci that were attacking his position were now fighting the Suevi and Cenomani.  He ordered V Etrusci to run along the rampart to assist I Raetorum.  He sent others down the rampart to come up behind Legio XVII.  When they joined the fight, the 2,000 mercenaries who had breached the wall were now isolated and facing fresh troops who outnumbered them.  They were cut down, but not before taking a heavy toll of Legionaries.  The battle had lasted for two hours.  It was 7:00 A.M.

The mercenaries retreated from the wall a safe distance and stopped.  Aze gather his remaining leaders to discuss what to do next.  Haggith, Mintho, and the other Carthaginians joined them.  After a heated discussion, they decided to go north back over the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck and then travel west to join Mago.  The defeated army was now without its key leaders and its organization began to rapidly fall apart.

Odo’s men along with Gervasius’ captured the men by the center gate who couldn’t run away.  At the northern end of the wall, Bricius’ Cenomani did the same.  The vicious and bloody fighting had come to an end.  Dead and wounded littered the ditch, mound, river, and tree line.

Calvus has a bad slice on his left forearm and Caile had suffered an arrow strike on his helmet, but they were otherwise still firmly in Command.  The Commanders all along the wall ordered a count of the dead and wounded.  They knew Manius would ask.  The men outside the wall took a tally of their men who were killed and wounded.  The news that Manius was down had not yet spread throughout the camp.

Cassius, Modius, the two Greek scribes, Acamus, and Pittacus, and Manius’ aides stood by his bed.  Manius awoke about 30 minutes later.  He was pale and a bit woozy from the drug, but his mind was clear and the pain minimal.  The inevitable infection had not yet begun to ravage his body.  The first thing he said was, “I’m alive and so are you so I guess we won!”

Cassius said, “We took a beating, but the bastards are on the run.  It’s over for now.”

“Take some notes,” he said to his scribes and began issuing a stream of orders in no particular pattern.  “Calvus is to assume command immediately.  Use the captured Gauls to throw their dead in the west wall ditch.  Give me a count of our dead and wounded. Make an estimate of the enemy dead.  Let the men recover for five hours and then get them moving to start the pursuit.”

He breathed deeply and continued.  “Queen Bethica was told by Andreas to come around the west side of the lake.  Send a signal to have a rider meet her on the north-south road at the top of the lake and tell her to come down the east side of the lake to help finish the enemy.  Tell her to be prepared to meet the mercenary army going north.”

“Tell Rasce to have his cavalry follow the mercenaries so we know where they are going.  Send my congratulations to the Commanders and men.  They performed magnificently and I’m proud of them all. It’s an honor to command such men.  Tell Calvus I want to see him.  I need more pain killer.”

Manius was asleep 10 minutes later.

The aides went out to assemble the Legates.  They briefed them on Manius condition and Acamus read the notes to them.

The Commander’s signum now stood by Calvus.  The men were told about Manius.  Calvus collected the reports and passed the information to Manius’ aides.  The Commanders were told not to disturb him.  He needed to rest and not move at all.  Calvus told Rasce to dispatch his men to follow the mercenaries.

When Manius awoke, the aide gave him the casualty report.  “Sir Legio XVII reports 700 killed, V Etrusci 400, I Raetorum 500, II Raetorum 100, I Cenomani 700, II Cenomani 200, and the Suevi 100.  Those numbers include the ambush and the attack on the wall.  The total is 2,700 killed and over 6,000 wounded.  That leaves us with 15,000 men ready to take the field.”

“Sir, estimates of the enemy dead at the wall: Illyrians 3,000, Taurisci 2,000, Boii/Eravisci 9,000. Total enemy dead are 14,000 and we’ve taken 4,000 prisoners.  We estimate that another 5,000 enemy were killed at the ambush site, 5,000 on the plateau, and 5,000 during the night attack on their camp.  That leaves the enemy with 17,000 men capable of fighting.  We also captured 2,000 Gauls at the west wall.  We have a total of 6,000 prisoners.  Sir, Calvus is here to see you.”

“Let him in.”

“Sir, I heard you were wounded.  All the men wish you a speedy recovery.  The XVIIth, is taking the news particularly hard.  As you already directed, I have assumed Command, but I welcome your guidance as always.”

Manius said, “The pursuit is particularly important.  They must be completely destroyed to prevent them from joining Mago.  You may recall that Scipio was harshly criticized in the Senate for not pursuing Hasdrubal, who later managed to cross the Alps.  Calvus, we have 6,000 prisoners and two exhausted Legions.  I suggest that you leave Legiones XVII and I Raetorum here to guard the prisoners and to rest.  That still leaves you with five Legions to conduct the pursuit.  I heard the ambush went well.”

“Yes it did.  I call it revenge for Lake Trasimene.  The logs and rocks were more effective than I had hoped for.  It broke them up into small pockets and the Legionaries were able to deal with them more easily.  The cavalry and Odo’s Suevi sealed both ends and no one escaped.”

Manius’ eyes felt heavy and he began to close them, but said, “Well done.  You would make an excellent Consul some day. Good luck on the pursuit.”  Calvus quietly left the tent.

Within an hour, Rasce gave a preliminary report to Calvus.  “Sir, we followed the mercenaries as they retreated away from the wall.  It looks like about 1,000 Illyrians are walking east.  My cavalry can easily get around them.  If I double-ride with archers, we should be able to eliminate them.  The main body is heading north towards Trento.  I suspect they’re aiming for the Brenner Pass.  Their camp at Verona is full of their wagons and hundreds of women and children.”

Calvus asked, “How many riders would you need to cut off and destroy the Illyrians?”

“Sir, I would like to take 500 horsemen and 300 archers.  Even with the extra weight, we can catch them pretty quickly.  I would leave 100 horsemen here.  After we finish with the Illyrians, I’ll return to join you.”

As Rasce was leaving, Calvus said, “Snake’s men are pretty exhausted.  You may get an argument.  If you do, tell him I said to go.  Leave as soon as you can.  I may need your entire force when we catch up to the main body.  I plan to march at noon.”  He then called an aide.  “Send a signal to Queen Bethica.  Tell her that 17,000 men are heading her way.  Tell her that we will leave here at noon and follow them.  She needs to hold them until we arrive.”

*******

After the battle atop the plateau, Malush and his 4,000 survivors spent the night at Riva at the bottom of the hill.  He had 1,000 Taurisci and 3,000 of his own men.  The other 6,000 men were dead or severely wounded.  He let the men rest on the 16th, but decided he had to get back by the 20th to be in time for Vendim’s attack on the west side of the enemy camp.  His mission was to attack the island.

Malush got the men moving at 10:00 A.M. on the 17th.  They were so demoralized it was extremely difficult to get them to do anything.  He was forced to stop walking about 3:00 P.M. when the men refused to go any farther.  They got another late start on the 18th and again stopped early.  They were making about 2 MPH.  The wounded slowed them down.  The 19th was the same.  They stopped at 3:00 P.M. and set up a camp just off the main north-south road.  Malush couldn’t get his mixed force to even put out security. Malush exercised only minimal control of his troops.  They were bitter about the loss of so many men atop the plateau.