Marius' Mules II: The Belgae (55 page)

“
General?”

“
Hmm?” Caesar turned to look at him.

“
Something’s up. This is too stupid to be true, and I don’t
believe they’re idiots.”

The general
sighed.

“
Just for once, Fronto, have a little faith in your own eyes.
The terms are definitely favourable to us.”

They watched a
moment longer until Caesar took a deep breath and bellowed out to
the men “advance!”

Along the
lines, centurions took up the call and their cornicens relayed the
orders. Within moments, three legions: the Tenth, Eighth and
Eleventh, began to march slowly, inexorably forwards with the crash
of steel and the crunch of boots, closing on the relatively small
phalanx of Belgae. Fronto watched with trepidation, his breath
held. This was wrong.

The Roman
lines rolled forward across the plain and, as he watched, suddenly
the Belgae stopped in perfect order perhaps two hundred yards from
the advancing legions. The front row with their spears went into a
crouch as, behind them, two rows of men lifted bows, already strung
and with arrows nocked. Calmly, smoothly, and with a discipline
that would satisfy the strictest centurion, they drew back in
unison and released. As the flight of perhaps two hundred arrows
arced into the air and the Aduatuci fetched another arrow from
their quiver, the next two rows behind them released another
volley.

The legions,
unprepared for missile attack, sustained dozens of casualties from
the first assault. The lines faltered for only a moment before the
centurions, ever professional, called for the testudo formation.
The second flight of arrows struck home with brutal effect just as
the legions reformed, a protective roof of shields going up just in
time to save them from the third volley.

Caesar,
satisfied that his legions were now protected, smiled as his men
closed on the Belgae but once again, Fronto was startled to
realise, the enemy were ahead of the game. They had stayed out of
range of the Roman pila just long enough to launch a painful,
stinging assault and now that their edge was gone, the formation
merely broke and they ran back toward the oppidum, unencumbered and
far faster than the pursuing legions.

“
Cavalry to intercept!” Caesar shouted, but Fronto stepped in
front and shook his head.

“
Don’t, general.”

“
What?”

“
They’ll never get there in time. The cavalry are marshalled
behind the legions. If they do catch them it’ll be right under the
walls and they’ll drop boulders on us.”

Caesar ground
his teeth for a moment and then snarled.

“
Belay that order” he barked, and then, turning to Fronto:
“They rile me now.”

The legate
nodded.

“
I suspect that’s what they’re trying to do. They’re goading
you into foolish actions. Don’t fall for it. Just have the
auxiliary archers posted to the front in case they try that
again.”

Caesar glared
into the distance for a while and then growled.

“
Alright. Give me ideas, then.”

Beside Fronto,
Tetricus shrugged. “How long do we have, Caesar?”

The general
sighed, a harassed look crossing his face. He rubbed his forehead
irritably and grumbled.

“
Sabinus? Have a rider sent to Nemetocenna. Tell Labienus to
start without me and that we’ll be along in due course.”

As the staff
officer nodded and called over one of the clerks, the general
turned to Tetricus.

“
Very well. If time and manpower are no object, what is your
best proposal?”

A gleam that
Fronto knew very well came into the tribune’s eye. The legate
smiled as the tribune began to talk, illustrating all of his points
with waving arms and pointing fingers.

“
Firstly, circumvallation. I’d wall them in. The oppidum is in
the ‘v’ shape between two rivers. We build a rampart and ditch that
seals them off, and place redoubts at regular intervals along the
far river banks to make sure they don’t cross, though I think the
Meuse will be too deep and fast for that anyway, but it’s better to
be safe than to be sorry.”

Caesar
blinked.

“
That’s a sizeable rampart?”

Tetricus
nodded.

“
I’d say for safety six miles from bank to bank. And around
twelve miles of interspaced redoubts across the water.”

Caesar
frowned.

“
How long?”

Tetricus
shrugged.

“
Given the manpower and peace in which to work, general, a day;
maybe two. We’ll need quiet and undisturbed time after that,
protected by the rampart you see, while we build the
tower.”

“
The tower?”

“
Yes, sir. See, there’s no way we’re getting through those
walls up the slope, so the only other way is up the rocks. Can’t
climb them, and there’s no good materials for a ramp unless we
quarry a few miles away and bring it here, which will take weeks
and involve working within missile range of the top. So it’s a job
for a tower. We can build it out of range and then move it
close.”

Caesar
frowned.

“
Those cliffs are well over a hundred feet high, even in the
easiest places. You’re talking about building a hundred foot
tower?”

Tetricus
shrugged.

“
It’s been done before.”

“
It has?”

The tribune
nodded.

“
The siege of Rhodes over two centuries ago. Their tower was
one hundred and thirty feet in height. And that was built by
Greeks. Engineering has come a long way since then. I would say our
issue is not the height, but the other dimensions.”

“
What?”

Fronto noted
with a smile that Caesar’s face had taken on the same frustrated
incomprehension that all officers seemed to acquire when talking to
a passionate engineer.

“
Well” Tetricus went on, “it will need to be massive in all
other proportions, partially to maintain stability with the
enormous height, but also because we need to be able to flood them
with troops from the top of it, and not just a gentle trickle of
men. Also, the bridge across at the top will have to be pretty
immense on its own.”

Caesar boggled
for a moment and then sighed.

“
Do what you have to. Just get me in that city.”

He turned to
the rest of the officers.

“
Have the legions construct a camp, then. Looks like we’ll be
here for a while.”

* * * * *

Fronto stared
at Tetricus.

“
What the hell are you doing?”

The tribune
turned back to see his legate and smiled, the moonlight picking out
details on his man’s frame, as he collected the massive, coiled
rope from the ground beside him. Camp had been completed in mid
afternoon and already the ditch and rampart had been begun,
stretching half a mile with six feet of depth and height
respectively. The finished product would be twice that.

“
Measuring the height of the tower.”

“
What?”

Tetricus
grinned.

“
We need to know the height of the cliffs so we can work out
what dimensions the tower must be. I estimated earlier on, but we
need a more accurate measurement.”

Fronto
laughed. Only an engineer…

“
So you’re out in the no-mans-land in the dark with a rope. You
are a madman, you know that?”

Tetricus
shrugged.

“
Safer at night. This is actually a lot easier in bright sun,
but the Aduatuci would probably drop things on me.”

Fronto
blinked.

“
You’re actually going to climb that in the dark and measure
it?”

“
No, no, no. It’s very simple. I know I’m five feet and four
inches tall, yes?”

“
If you say so.”

“
And I’ve measured my shadow and cut a length of rope to
fit.”

“
Err… alright” Fronto agreed hesitantly.

“
So while the moon is at this height, that length of rope is
equal to five feet four inches.”

“
Yes?” the legate said uncertainly.

“
So now I just have to get to the base of the cliff and measure
the shadow of the cliff and I can work out how tall it
is.”

“
If you say so.”

Tetricus
laughed.

“
You’re not a scientific man, are you, sir?”

“
You have no idea, my friend. Come on. I’ll be your bodyguard
while you do your sums.”

The two men
strode off quickly and quietly into the moonlit night, leaving
behind the lights and sounds of the camp. While they walked,
Tetricus frowned as he regarded his superior officer.

“
Would you be offended if I asked you a couple of personal
questions, sir?”

Fronto laughed
quietly.

“
Gaius, I think we’ve known one another long enough by now you
can stop calling me sir when there are none of the junior ranks
around.”

“
Force of habit. Would you mind?”

“
Go ahead.”

The jagged
rocks that formed the massive fortress of the Aduatuci loomed less
than a quarter of a mile distant and it occurred once again to
Fronto that this could be a dangerous and even foolhardy little
jaunt.

“
Your arm’s not getting any better, is it?”

Fronto shook
his head. He’d been trying not to think too hard about that. A
future as a one-armed man was not a pretty picture.

“
Perhaps not. I’m not sure. The doctors say that since I can
still feel the pain in it, then it’s still alive. They think the…”
he tried to think back to what he’d been told. “Like in torsion
artillery, where you wind ropes tight? Well that’s sort of how the
arm works. The doc said that some of the most important points in
the workings have been badly damaged. He said that if it’s still
viable that it’ll slowly heal and I’ll start to get some movement
back, though it’ll take a long time and a lot of
exercise.”

He sighed.

“
Or possibly there was too much damage and it’s severed inside.
Then basically I have a decorative limb. I’m sort of hoping that’s
not the case.”

Tetricus
nodded.

“
You’re a very private person, I’ve noticed, legate? No one has
dared ask you about your arm before now, I’ll bet.”

Fronto
nodded.

“
Stop looking into my mind… it’s irritating.”

Tetricus
smiled.

“
I think that a lot of people who think they know you don’t
know you half as well as they think they do.”

Fronto gave
him a warning glance.

“
Anything else?”

Tetricus took
a deep breath.

“
The woman.”

“
What?”

“
That native woman you left in Noviodunum?”

Fronto, unseen
in the night, rolled his eyes.

“
What about her?”

“
Why look after her only to then leave her behind? You should
by rights have thrown her in with the captives. She should be sold
in Rome with the rest of them. Most officers would have done that…
or killed her.”

“
I don’t like killing girls.”

“
But to protect her from everyone and then just discard her
among the Belgae?”

Fronto looked
across at his companion. Tetricus was clearly weighing him up
somehow.

“
Go on…”

“
Well.” The tribune took a deep breath. “I hope you don’t take
offence at this, but… well, I saw the way you looked at
her.”

“
What?”

“
Like a hungry man staring at a cooked lamb. I know that
look.”

Fronto
growled.

“
I think this conversation is over.”

“
Fair enough. Any time you want to talk, though, I’ll
listen.”

The tribune
turned back to look at the looming cliff, missing the unpleasant
glare that Fronto threw after him. Muttering things under his
breath that he wasn’t really sure even he believed, he hurried and
caught up with the tribune, just as they passed into the shadow
cast by the bright moon in the east.

“
Not far now.”

Fronto
nodded.

“
So what? We pin the rope and then walk back to
camp?”

Tetricus
nodded.

“
I’ve got to…” he trailed off. “Did you see that?”

Fronto’s face
took on a sudden serious cast.

“
What?”

He frowned and
follows Tetricus’ pointing finger.

“
Shit!”

Shadowy shapes
moved, silhouetted, across the ground between the oppidum and the
partially-constructed siege works.

“
These bastards are tricky. We’d best go warn the legions.
Obviously they’ve not been seen or we’d have heard the call go
up.”

Tetricus
grasped his wrist as he turned.

“
No point” he hissed. “Watch them…”

Fronto stopped
and squinted into the moonlight at the black shapes. Tetricus was
right; they were swarming back up the slope toward the oppidum’s
gate.

The tribune
raised an eyebrow. Do we go check, or just back to camp?”

“
We check. I don’t like the look of this. The guards at the
rampart should have raised the alarm. They must have seen
them.”