Legio XVII: Battle of the Danube (15 page)

The Planning Group then addressed the thorny issue of how to get their heavy gear into Bad Tolz without being detected.  Both Lugano and Davenhardt said that wagons loaded with goods from as far away as Verona and Brixia routinely crossed over the Brenner Pass to trade and sell their goods on both sides of the Alps.  A sudden increase in the number of wagons making the crossing, however, would immediately be detected by even a casual observer.

A few ideas were proposed, but the group determined that Proconsul Tullus needed to provide more guidance before any definitive progress could be made.  The working assumption was that if the Legions made the crossing over the Alps in early November 207, they would winter over in Bad Tolz and take offensive action in June 206.  They needed to know if that conformed to the Proconsul’ plan in order to determine the time schedule to stagger the crossing of the wagons into the area.

Manius was invited to visit the group as soon as it was convenient.  He arrived that afternoon accompanied by the three Legion Legates: Caile, Calvus, and Silvius.

The group had not intended that this meeting with Manius would result in a full blown briefing, but the Proconsul and the three Legates kept asking question and soon the entire draft plan was revealed up to the point of how to slip the wagons into Bad Tolz without attracting attention.  Manius and the three Legates were highly impressed with the group’s effort so far.  In fact, they were astounded with the progress.

Manius could also see that the men in the room were exhausted.  He told them that he approved the way they had task organized the Legions into two Attack Groups with Calvus in charge of one and Silvius in charge of the other.  He said that their assumed time lines were correct; he then ordered them to take a one day rest.  Manius had given them two weeks to plan the Expedition and they were this far already in only five days.  As Manius was leaving the room, he said, “I would like to see Rasce and the Commander of the Scorpio in my office.”

Before the group dispersed for their well earned break, Caile told them to be thinking about how to get the wagon loads of Legionary equipment into Bad Tolz.  He said that he would expect answers when they returned.  Caile was a tough task master and focused on the mission.  Troop welfare was secondary, but by no means neglected.  The high state of discipline and training that Manius saw in Legio V Etrusci was a reflection of Caile’s personality and drive.

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Ever since his three year tour of duty from 225 to 222 BC working equipment development with Quaestor Levi, Manius had been mulling over a concept to enable a more rapid employment of the Scorpio.  Currently, it was a semi-mobile weapon and he wanted to change that.

The Scorpio was transported by a two wheeled handcart pulled by two Legionaries.  Two other men pulled a four wheeled handcart loaded with 30 arrows.  They were able to move with the Legion and deploy for battle, but once in position, it took too long to reposition them.  Manius’ idea was to redesign the tongues of the two handcarts so horses could pull the carts, and move the Scorpio quickly from one side of the battlefield to the other as the situation dictated.  He figured that the axle might have to be lengthened and the wheels enlarged.  The concept needed field testing.

Manius met with Rasce his cavalry Commander and the Centurion in charge of the Scorpio.  Each Roman and Auxiliary Legion had 50 Scorpio for a total of 150 under his command.  He briefed the two men on his concept and asked that they build a mock up for testing when they arrive at Bad Tolz.  He told them up front that even if the concept worked, it may never be employed in battle, but he wanted the extra capability.  He said, “If the concept is validated by the testing, I want 10 Scorpio converted to the new configuration.  Keep me informed of your progress and tell me when you plan to run a test; I want to watch it.”

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Four days after Proconsul Tullus offered Sergius the job of Garrison Commander, he reported to the Expedition Headquarters.  The staff quickly briefed him on the mission and probable location of the camp at Bad Tolz.  Sergius’ main concern was to learn the exact number of troops and animals to be housed in and around the camp, the distance from the camp to the Isar River, any streams running through the area, the expected weather conditions, and the names of the Legates.

He had already made contact with many of the key contractors he relied upon to help him manage the camp and they, in turn, were looking to hire the men they needed.  Managing a large camp was no small undertaking.  After years of experience managing camps, he had developed a list of tasks to accomplish before the troops deployed, during the deployment, and after the Legionaries left the camp.

Included in his personal check list was a notation to look after the welfare of the girls that would occupy the Legionaries’ Recreation Hall.  He assumed the girls would be recruited from the local area and would have little knowledge of contraceptive and abortifacient information.  He would have to hire prostitutes from Rome to teach the girls how to avoid getting pregnant; and that included packing a wagon load of items such as sponges, cotton, dried lemon juice, Queen Anne’s Lace seeds, Pennyroyal leaves, honey, acacia gum, silphium plants, olive oil, oil of cedar, and lots of vinegar.

Sergius introduced himself to the Legions’ Engineers who would assist the architect in laying out the camp.  He then met with each Legate to remind them, in a general way that they would have to supply men on a rotating basis to guard the camp as well as construct various buildings, watch towers, bridges, and act as firemen.  His directness offended the Legates, but they knew they had no choice but to comply.  The man was just doing his job.

After a long frustrating search for an architect that included many rejections, Sergius finally found a man who thought he could design a camp for eight Legions.  He told Sergius, “A normal single Legion camp is roughly 600 feet (182.8m) to 700 feet (213.3m) long and 350 feet (106.6) to 500 feet (152.4m) wide depending on the terrain.  It looks like a typical rectangle.  But if we try to build a camp for eight Legions using that rectangular model, it would stretch out for almost a mile and be over half a mile wide.  That’s impractical.  Horns signals couldn’t be heard throughout the camp and the men would have to walk too far to access camp facilities.”

“Here’s my idea,” he said as he handed him eight rectangular pieces of clay.  “Lay the tablets down in a circular pattern,” he said to Sergius.  After Sergius placed them, the architect said, “Notice you have a big open area in the center.  That’s the locus gromae, the center of the entire fort.  Four roads will radiate out from that center to the four gates at the north, south, east, and west.  The Proconsul, his staff, and all the Expeditionary and administrative huts will be placed in that open space directly in the center.”

“The eight Legions will construct their normal one Legion camp, as represented by each of the eight tablets, and will radiate out from the center.  Each Legion will have its normal locus gromae (center point) and roads, as usual.  The difference is that the ditch and wall that normally surround each Legion will now only be at the top of each tablet, thus, forming a circle around the entire camp.”

“If we assume that each Legion will fit inside a 600 foot (182.8m) by 350 foot (106.6m) rectangle, which they normally do, and that the open center is 200 feet (60.9m) across, then the circumference of the camp will only be 4,398 feet (1340m); a thousand feet (304.8m) less than a full mile.”

Sergius said, “Well, it’s unique, but it appears that it could work.  I’ll get together with the Legions’ engineers and see what they think about it.  I want you to brief them.  I’ll let you know when.”

*******

While the Romans were busy planning to undo the Cimbri/Teuton successes, Donar, and his Teuton Commanders continued evicting Suevi farmers from their newly conquered territory.  They established temporary camps at Landshut and Augsburg and continued improving their permanent fort at Regensburg.  Since there was no threat to them, now or in the foreseeable future, the temporary camps were not fortified.  Instead, the Teutons simply occupied the existing huts that were vacant except for Regensburg.  Timur ordered the construction of a sturdy wooden wall around the existing settlement that could serve as a fort and future village.

The Teuton cavalry rode throughout the area delivering the news of the Suevi defeat and giving the farmers 48 hours to clear out.

The 20,000 men at Landshut and the 20,000 at Augsburg were forgotten.  As far as Timur and Donar were concerned their mission was to establish a defensive position and actively patrol the region to prevent a surprise Suevi attack.  Both Leaders assumed they were doing it.

The infantry at the three garrisons initially trained to repel an invasion from Innsbruck, but soon grew bored.  They had no pressing mission and lacked strong leadership.  As a result, the men mostly sat around and did nothing, but watch the refugees streaming down the roads to Innsbruck.  Their leaders failed them and allowed this behavior.

Eventually, the idle soldiers decided to establish road blocks in order to rob the refugees of their few possessions and to abuse the women.  Some of the refugees resisted and were killed.  The farmers’ exodus was turning into a nightmare. The Suevi Army did not exist and stealing from the refugees and abducting the young women to serve them as slaves was more profitable and fun.  Their commanders should have taken the initiative to continue training and maintaining the physical conditioning of their troops, but they did nothing.  Men lounged around and basically did as they pleased.

They stole all the food and livestock that came down the road.  Very quickly they acquired enough food to see them through the winter and slave labor to do all the work.

As winter set in, the men took to gambling, trading women, and fighting among themselves.  What had once been a highly trained and fit force, deteriorated to a mob of unruly and out of shape soldiers.  They neglected their equipment and focused solely on their pleasures.

By the end of September 207, only a remnant of Suevi remained in their homes completely unaware of the mass relocation underway.  All the major settlements were now vacant.  The cavalry had done their job with speed and thoroughness.  Donar was busy with events in Regensburg and Timur rarely left the encampment by Two Lakes north of the Danube.  He was trying desperately to rekindle the affection the people felt for him before the Quadi raid.

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When the Planning Group in Rome returned after their one day break, they were rested, focused, and ready to dig in.  Sergius was present with his architect who had already talked to the Legions’ engineers about the proposed circular camp.  They agreed that it was a good idea and worth trying.  Sergius asked Caile if the architect could brief the planners and he said this was the right time to do it, but to wait until he called on him to speak.

Legate Caile chaired the meeting, but rather than addressing the wagon issue as the first item, he raised the question of a time schedule.  His concept was to jolt their thinking early on.  He suspected that they had already thought through the wagon issue as he directed they do.  That could wait.  He wanted them to focus on a time schedule while they were still fresh.  After a bit of number crunching and assumptions, they put together a plausible schedule.

Canutus, the Expeditionary Operations’ Tribune spoke for the group.  “Rome to Vipiteno/Sterzing is 429 miles (690.4km).  It will take the Legions 36 days walking at a relative slow 12 miles (19.3km) a day to cover the distance.  If we depart Rome on 1 October, we will arrive at Vipiteno on 5 November.”

“We estimated that by pushing a little, that the Legions could walk the 16 mile (25.7km) ascending Pfitsch valley to the base of the mountain in three days, 8 November.  Due to the difficulty of climbing the 5 mile (8km) long winding footpath, we estimated another 5 days, one day per Legion and one for the specialty troops, 13 November.  As a footnote to this, we recommend that hospital wagons accompany the Legions to the base of the footpath.  If there are any injuries, the wagons can take the men back to the fort at Trento.”

“Once we cross the mountains, we are only 75 miles (120.7km) away from Bad Tolz.  There are two remaining valleys on each side of the Inn River that we still have to negotiate.  One is 35 miles (56km) long and the other, on the far side of the Inn River, is 40 miles (64km) long. That will add another 7 days, 20 November.  Lastly, the planners estimate it will take the Legions 8 days to cross the bridge over the Inn River at Jenbach and that fixes our arrival at Bad Tolz at 28 November.”

“The two choke points during the deployment are the steep mountain that we must cross in single file and the bridge at Jenbach, which must be crossed at night.  These delays appear to be unavoidable.  The positive aspect of these two points is that they will allow the troops and animals to rest while they await their time to climb the hill and cross the river.”