the radicals
but blamed the institution of the Emperor. They believe that the subjects of
the Empire will be able to sort out the economic problems themselves if they
suddenly become citizens of a Republic instead. Haven't quite worked out the
logic of that myself yet but they seem quite convinced."
Magnus sat back with a drunken, smug
look on his face, and closed his eyes.
"What about us?" asked
Marcus. "What did John Phocas say?"
He shook his head and opened his eyes.
"Oh yes! Nearly forgot about us!" His speech was quite slurred by
now. "John said that the Empire needs to harness the skills of its entire
people, and to work with our neighbours to increase trade. We need to overhaul
the machinery of government to make it work better and more effectively."
Marcus thought about this for a moment,
while Magnus finished the dregs in his glass. "That sounds all very well,
but what are we actually going to do?"
Magnus leaned over to Marcus so that he
could whisper in his ear. His movements were rather unsteady.
"At this very moment, John Phocas
is locked in negotiations with certain other parties!"
"What about?" asked Marcus,
but got no reply.
Magnus had passed out.
8th
January 1920
Roman
Embassy, Minden, Saxony
Cornelius slept late after his session
with Lucullus and missed the breakfast which was served in the communal kitchen
in his building. He managed to get some bread and cheese from the cook and
headed back over to the offices.
He had been allocated an office
adjoining the legates with full access to his files whilst he was away. A
legionary showed him to his desk. There was a pile of files and a note from
Lucullus on top. Cornelius picked up the note and read it. Before the legate
had left for Constantinople that morning he had gathered together all the files
that Cornelius needed to study.
Cornelius sat down at the desk, picked
up the first file, took a bite from the chunk of bread and started to read.
Saxon Army - Capabilities
There are two parts to the Saxon
army, the permanent establishment and the citizen army. The permanent
establishment consists of the full time army staff, regimental cadres and about
60 regiments kept at full strength for training and garrison duties.
The citizen army is organised on a
regional basis with each city, town or group of villages providing one or more
regiments of approximately 1000 men. There is known to be over 100 of these
reserve regiments at present. The men spend six months training in a permanent
unit before being transferred to their citizen army regiment. They train
regularly, but quality is variable and it can take two to three weeks for some
units to mobilise.
Three or more Infantry Regiments
make up a Battlegroup to which are attached additional units of artillery,
landships and support services. These are the main operational units of the
Saxon army and the nearest equivalent to our Legionary formations.
The permanent regiments which are
equipped with the new armoured motor carriages and landships appear to receive
the best recruits and equipment. There have been reports that one or more
centuries in each permanent Infantry Regiment are being trained in new tactics
which appear to emphasise action independent of the rest of the Regiment. A new
model of machine-rifle which is much lighter than that issued to the support
centuries has also been in evidence and appears to be issued to these
centuries. Additional information on these new tactics is being sought.
The cavalry regiments are drawn
from the country estates of the noble families, and are well mounted and
aggressive. However they still appear to follow traditional cavalry tactics on
the battlefield practising mounted charges unlike Roman cavalry cohorts which
have mainly converted to the role of mounted infantry.
The most effective arm of the
Saxon military is their field artillery. Since the last war, when they suffered
heavily at the hands of the Roman artillery, the Saxons have
but blamed the institution of the Emperor. They believe that the subjects of
the Empire will be able to sort out the economic problems themselves if they
suddenly become citizens of a Republic instead. Haven't quite worked out the
logic of that myself yet but they seem quite convinced."
Magnus sat back with a drunken, smug
look on his face, and closed his eyes.
"What about us?" asked
Marcus. "What did John Phocas say?"
He shook his head and opened his eyes.
"Oh yes! Nearly forgot about us!" His speech was quite slurred by
now. "John said that the Empire needs to harness the skills of its entire
people, and to work with our neighbours to increase trade. We need to overhaul
the machinery of government to make it work better and more effectively."
Marcus thought about this for a moment,
while Magnus finished the dregs in his glass. "That sounds all very well,
but what are we actually going to do?"
Magnus leaned over to Marcus so that he
could whisper in his ear. His movements were rather unsteady.
"At this very moment, John Phocas
is locked in negotiations with certain other parties!"
"What about?" asked Marcus,
but got no reply.
Magnus had passed out.
8th
January 1920
Roman
Embassy, Minden, Saxony
Cornelius slept late after his session
with Lucullus and missed the breakfast which was served in the communal kitchen
in his building. He managed to get some bread and cheese from the cook and
headed back over to the offices.
He had been allocated an office
adjoining the legates with full access to his files whilst he was away. A
legionary showed him to his desk. There was a pile of files and a note from
Lucullus on top. Cornelius picked up the note and read it. Before the legate
had left for Constantinople that morning he had gathered together all the files
that Cornelius needed to study.
Cornelius sat down at the desk, picked
up the first file, took a bite from the chunk of bread and started to read.
Saxon Army - Capabilities
There are two parts to the Saxon
army, the permanent establishment and the citizen army. The permanent
establishment consists of the full time army staff, regimental cadres and about
60 regiments kept at full strength for training and garrison duties.
The citizen army is organised on a
regional basis with each city, town or group of villages providing one or more
regiments of approximately 1000 men. There is known to be over 100 of these
reserve regiments at present. The men spend six months training in a permanent
unit before being transferred to their citizen army regiment. They train
regularly, but quality is variable and it can take two to three weeks for some
units to mobilise.
Three or more Infantry Regiments
make up a Battlegroup to which are attached additional units of artillery,
landships and support services. These are the main operational units of the
Saxon army and the nearest equivalent to our Legionary formations.
The permanent regiments which are
equipped with the new armoured motor carriages and landships appear to receive
the best recruits and equipment. There have been reports that one or more
centuries in each permanent Infantry Regiment are being trained in new tactics
which appear to emphasise action independent of the rest of the Regiment. A new
model of machine-rifle which is much lighter than that issued to the support
centuries has also been in evidence and appears to be issued to these
centuries. Additional information on these new tactics is being sought.
The cavalry regiments are drawn
from the country estates of the noble families, and are well mounted and
aggressive. However they still appear to follow traditional cavalry tactics on
the battlefield practising mounted charges unlike Roman cavalry cohorts which
have mainly converted to the role of mounted infantry.
The most effective arm of the
Saxon military is their field artillery. Since the last war, when they suffered
heavily at the hands of the Roman artillery, the Saxons have
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