Read Online Legatus Legionis: Book Two in the Gaius Claudius Scaevola Trilogy by Ian Miller - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ian Miller
Tags: General Fiction
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top of this bluff, on the right of the advancing Iazyges. The auxiliaries would take a position to their left, out of sight, also following a very broad flanking movement.
The enemy sent out scouts, but only to scout the area immediately before them, and accordingly all they saw was pristine snow. Gaius smiled to himself at the surprise awaiting them when they passed the bluff, and ran into the third cohort.
Nothing happened for some time, which meant that the Iazygian scouts must have been all captured, then eventually the sound of the enemy approaching could be heard. About twenty minutes later the first of them came into view. They were marching forward following the tracks of their scouts, and these tracks only led forward. Presumably the scouts would report only close to the village.
The Iazyges had no formal structure to their march; they jostled along full of the swagger men have when the fight is still well in the future. They knew how many Romans there were, they knew they outnumbered the Romans about three to one, and while the Romans would be behind their fortifications, these would be of wood and could easily be burned. Roasted Roman seemed just about right.
Accordingly they were a little surprised when they saw the third cohort march into view from behind a bluff. What the Iazyges saw was a column of men marching, then stopping, to hurriedly form a battle line. What they did not know was that this marching had been precisely timed through scouts in the trees on the top of the ridge.
Not that they cared. They had somehow caught some of these Romans outside the fortifications, and this would be a good time to despatch them. There were yells, and a ragged charge began. The charging men ploughed through the snow, thus, as Gaius noted later, ensured they were half exhausted even before the fighting was to begin. The Roman wall stood fast until the Iazyges were rather close, then a wall of pilii flew through the air, quickly followed by another. Dozens of Iazyges fell to the ground and the charge faltered. Then the Roman shield wall advanced.
For a moment the Iazyges doubted, and in that moment the shield wall pushed them back and the stabbing gladii dispatched many of those doubters. That triumph was temporary. A loud roar went up as the main band of Iazyges charged forward, swinging axes, broad swords, thrusting spears. The hill to one side, and the drop into a small gully on the other, however, negated much of the advantage of these numbers. The Roman line was no more than twenty-five men wide, and it was not possible to flank it on flat ground. Accordingly, the Iazyges with their vastly superior numbers were forced into a long column.
Following the plan, the Roman advance halted, then, on the sound of a horn, every second man on the front line fell back behind the man to his left, while fresh soldiers advanced into the gap. The new front line immediately closed shields and began thrusting, stabbing, and at the first opportunity, the second of the fresh men relieved the remaining original men in the front line. This terrain had been carefully selected, and it was precisely correct for these line changes for the third cohort, as the terrain widened slightly as they fell back, making a little room for the interchange. The Romans could easily fill the widened line, but the choke point behind the Iazyges made it more difficult for them. Accordingly the Roman line could fall back quickly at a time judged by the Centurion in order to present a larger fresher full line to greet the advancing Iazyges who were forced to spread out, or be attacked from the flank on the edge. Because of the choke point, this gave the Romans a temporary minor advantage that was a considerable irritant to the Iazyges, who did not have the disciplined training to get the correct numbers where required in an orderly fashion.
The retreat was not without cost, however. When the Iazyges worked out when the Roman line would move backwards,
The enemy sent out scouts, but only to scout the area immediately before them, and accordingly all they saw was pristine snow. Gaius smiled to himself at the surprise awaiting them when they passed the bluff, and ran into the third cohort.
Nothing happened for some time, which meant that the Iazygian scouts must have been all captured, then eventually the sound of the enemy approaching could be heard. About twenty minutes later the first of them came into view. They were marching forward following the tracks of their scouts, and these tracks only led forward. Presumably the scouts would report only close to the village.
The Iazyges had no formal structure to their march; they jostled along full of the swagger men have when the fight is still well in the future. They knew how many Romans there were, they knew they outnumbered the Romans about three to one, and while the Romans would be behind their fortifications, these would be of wood and could easily be burned. Roasted Roman seemed just about right.
Accordingly they were a little surprised when they saw the third cohort march into view from behind a bluff. What the Iazyges saw was a column of men marching, then stopping, to hurriedly form a battle line. What they did not know was that this marching had been precisely timed through scouts in the trees on the top of the ridge.
Not that they cared. They had somehow caught some of these Romans outside the fortifications, and this would be a good time to despatch them. There were yells, and a ragged charge began. The charging men ploughed through the snow, thus, as Gaius noted later, ensured they were half exhausted even before the fighting was to begin. The Roman wall stood fast until the Iazyges were rather close, then a wall of pilii flew through the air, quickly followed by another. Dozens of Iazyges fell to the ground and the charge faltered. Then the Roman shield wall advanced.
For a moment the Iazyges doubted, and in that moment the shield wall pushed them back and the stabbing gladii dispatched many of those doubters. That triumph was temporary. A loud roar went up as the main band of Iazyges charged forward, swinging axes, broad swords, thrusting spears. The hill to one side, and the drop into a small gully on the other, however, negated much of the advantage of these numbers. The Roman line was no more than twenty-five men wide, and it was not possible to flank it on flat ground. Accordingly, the Iazyges with their vastly superior numbers were forced into a long column.
Following the plan, the Roman advance halted, then, on the sound of a horn, every second man on the front line fell back behind the man to his left, while fresh soldiers advanced into the gap. The new front line immediately closed shields and began thrusting, stabbing, and at the first opportunity, the second of the fresh men relieved the remaining original men in the front line. This terrain had been carefully selected, and it was precisely correct for these line changes for the third cohort, as the terrain widened slightly as they fell back, making a little room for the interchange. The Romans could easily fill the widened line, but the choke point behind the Iazyges made it more difficult for them. Accordingly the Roman line could fall back quickly at a time judged by the Centurion in order to present a larger fresher full line to greet the advancing Iazyges who were forced to spread out, or be attacked from the flank on the edge. Because of the choke point, this gave the Romans a temporary minor advantage that was a considerable irritant to the Iazyges, who did not have the disciplined training to get the correct numbers where required in an orderly fashion.
The retreat was not without cost, however. When the Iazyges worked out when the Roman line would move backwards,
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