Legio XVII: Battle of the Danube (32 page)

After waiting about 15 minutes, he was about to order the advance, when he heard the muffled sound of yelling off to his left.  He listened intently for a few second and then assumed that his men were advancing through the woods.  He looked at his two Commanders and gave the order to advance.

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The Teuton runners from the center valley were seen by the Romans before they entered the woods.  The archers waited until they were inside the wood line, and brought them down easily.

The Teutons in the east valley heard the sounds of men preparing themselves for battle in the center.  The Commander stopped to listen and the men bunched up on him.  He turned to them and said, “Thiuderiks is getting ready to fight.  He must have cornered them.  Let’s go!”  He turned and started running for the woods; a Roman signal horn sounded and the Commander immediately fell with three arrows in his chest.  Arrows were impacting the men all along the line from both sides of the valley.  The Teutons crouched low and sought protection behind their shields; they bunched to put other men between them and the archers.  Men were screaming and dropping.  Some instinctively ran back up the valley, away from the arrows.  A few made it and disappeared, but most were hit in the back.

The Hastati came out of the woods on the run and threw their pila as each file cleared the trees.  The Principe on the other side of the valley also emerged and threw their pila.  Deadly pila were crashing into the Teuton ranks in a continuous ripple.  Teutons who survived 2,500 arrows were now pelted with 9,000 iron tipped spears that ripped through everything in their path.  The pila pierced shields and the flesh behind them.  When the last pila was thrown, the Hastati and Principe crashed into the cowering Teutons to finish the work with shield and gladius. The Teutons were now pressed between two powerful forces.  The surviving Teutons fought defensively against the attacking Romans.  Caile maneuvered the 1,000 man Triarii to the open end of the Teuton mass to prevent any escape up the valley.  The Triarii threw their pila and crashed into the staggering Teutons.  The Teutons were now fighting Romans on three sides.  The Roman attack was violent and relentless.  The Teutons had no time to react.  They simply stood and fought and died.  Not one tried to surrender.

Once the Teutons were all down, Caile recalled his men and reoriented them to face the center valley.  Once they were formed into two thick lines, he began advancing through the woods on the run.  His archers led as they approached the clearing.

Thiuderiks advanced his men to within 300 yards (274m) of the Suevi line and told the archers to fire.  His men and the Suevi were shouting insults and yelling to each other to steel themselves for the coming battle.  Thiuderiks assumed that his men in the side valley were working their way behind the Suevi position.  In reality, almost all 10,000 Teutons lay in crumpled heaps where they fell.  Acting Legate Vitulus’ battle in the west valley played out very similarly to that of Caile’s.  Both Legions were moving through the woods to the clearing with the intention of attacking the Teuton flanks.

When the two Legions were close enough to see the Teutons in the open area, they both had to shift to the south to get into their attack position.  They saw that the Teuton archers were firing on the Suevi and directed their archers to fire at the Teuton archers.  As the Roman arrows began hitting their targets, the Teutons archers fled through their own men to the rear.  Thiuderiks saw the arrows coming out of the woods and was initially perplexed, but had no time to dwell on it.

Nasua gave the order for the 50 Scorpio to trigger their weapons.  Simultaneously, the Roman archers shifted their aim to the mass of Teutons.  As the Scorpio arrows impacted the Teutons, they sent up an agonizing howl of pain and confusion.  Thiuderiks was taken completely by surprised and simply stood where he was.  He was now a spectator rather than a leader.  His men reeled under the impact of the large hard hitting Scorpio arrows.  They squatted; some ran to the rear.  Some ran at the Scorpio, but were stopped by the ditch.

Legate Vitulus led Legio XVII out of the trees.  His Hastati marched forward into the clearing with deliberate steps until they were within 50 feet (15m) when a horn signaled a halt; then another horn sounded, “Throw the pila.”  Just as with the Teutons in the side valleys, the pila penetrated everything in its path.  The dead piled up.  Caile advanced on the other flank and his Legionaries threw their pila.  Nasua ordered the Scorpio to cease fire (they had each fired about six arrows) and advanced his 10,000 Suevi, armed with pila and shield over the log bridges they quickly threw across the ditch.

The 10,000 Teutons were hemmed in by 11,000 heavily armored Legionaries on the flanks and 10,000 Suevi in their front.  Nasua gave the order and the Suevi Hastati threw their pila.  A cloud of missiles engulfed the first five ranks of the Teutons.  As they had practiced at Bad Tolz, the Suevi then ran into the Teutons and hit them hard with their shield.  Suevi swords then began swinging wildly and violently.  Teuton shields were shredded.  Whistles signaled rotation and fresh Suevi warriors took up the fight.  The Teutons put up a stiff fight, but were no match for the Roman or Suevi tactics and aggressiveness.  They were overwhelmed and began to drop on their knees begging to surrender.  The Centurions immediately began to shout to stop the killing.

The Cavalry had been waiting by the river for the Teutons to enter the valley.  When they did, 300 horsemen rode to the top of the valley to cut off any retreat, which was not expected for another hour.  The Commander sent 100 riders to explore the huts previously occupied by the Teutons and to kill any they encountered.  They found several dozen sick and injured which they dispatched.  They also found hundreds of young women who immediately made it clear that they were not Teutons, but Suevi.  They were not killed.  The huts were loaded with loot and there was an abundance of farm animals in the barns.  The Romans told the women to stay put and rode back to tell their Commander what they found.

The fight had lasted less than two hours. When it was over, Calvus rode throughout the battlefield complimenting leaders and men alike.  He was proud of the victory.  He found Caile and Vitulus and had them tell him about the ambushes.  But soon, he began thinking of the next step, which was to treat the wounded; gather Roman and Suevi dead and to bring them back to Dietramszell; gather any usable pila and arrow from the battlefield and return to Expedition Headquarters.  He learned that there were about 50 Romans dead from arrow and spear strikes in the face and triple that number of Suevi dead.  Without body armor, the Suevi were much more vulnerable than the Romans.  He also saw that his Legions had captured about 2,000 Teutons.

As he sat on his horse looking at the battlefield, he saw his cavalry commander enter the clearing with about 100 horsemen.  “Sir, you must have done a very thorough job here because we only caught a few dozen trying to escape the area.”  He could see the bodies of the Teutons in great piles.  “Sir, I sent some of my men over to the Teuton garrison to clear it of any remaining Teutons and found hundreds of Suevi women.  The huts are full of items stolen from the refugees and the barns are full of farm animals.  I don’t think we should let all that go to waste.”

Calvus was surprised, but not shocked.  He said, “I agree with you.  Come with me while I find Nasua.”  They found him in the hospital tent talking to the wounded. Calvus approached him and said, “I need to talk to you outside.  Nasua, the cavalry discovered hundreds of Suevi women inside the Teuton huts.  We think they were kidnapped.  There is also loot stolen from the refugees and lots of farm animals.  I think you should talk to the women.”

As they rode up the valley to the settlement, Calvus and Nasua discussed what to do with this unexpected find.  They both agreed to load the women and loot into any usable wagons in the settlement and to drive the animals along with the wagons.  Nasua said he would detach two Maniples to help organize the trip and to provide protection on the way back to Dietramszell.  Calvus said he would detach 50 horsemen to provide security and act as guides.  When they arrived at the settlement, Nasua spoke to the women and learned of their captivity and brutal treatment.  To encourage them, he promised that they would soon be back with their families.

The next day, 8 June, the Legions began the march back to Dietramszell as ordered by the Proconsul.  The cavalry carried the Roman and Suevi dead draped across the back of their horses.  When the column linked up with their wagons two days later it was clear that the dead needed to be burned.  Calvus was told to bring the dead back to Dietramszell, but it was impractical.  That evening, the men built a funeral pyre.  After several eulogies by the Commanders, the fires were lit.  The fires burned brightly, but the smoke disappeared into the dark.  Calvus estimated that the column should arrive at Headquarters in four days, 14 June.

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Landshut

June 9, 206

Bethica knew she would have to leave the hill and its protective ditch about two miles (3.2km) behind her.  She had to keep close to the creek on her right flank and get close enough to the Teutons to force a fight.  It was still dark as Bethica’s two Legions advanced to within one mile (1.6km) of the Teuton garrison. Her right flank was now about 200 yards (182m) from the tree line and her 5,000 man Suevi Legion waiting atop the creek bank.  This is where she planned to fight.  Two small poles stuck in the ground during her second recon gave her the position of the Suevi Legion.

When her 10,000 men stopped their advance and adjusted their lines, they placed their pila and shields on the ground by their feet.  Bethica wanted to keep these weapons a secret until the last moment.

As the sun rose, on 9 June, the men gave a shout and the horns blew a variety of Roman signals.  The Teuton garrison poured out of their huts to see what was happening.  Hludwig, the Commander of the 20,000, stood and stared at the distant host.  Once he calmed himself, he was surprised that anyone was attacking him with such a small ill equipped Army.  He wondered how they had gotten behind him.  If anything, he could understand an attack coming from the south, but not from the north.

Hludwig felt calm. The attacking Army was still a way off and he did not feel intimidated.  He summoned the Commanders of his two 10,000 man units.  “Line the men up.  I want to extend our line at least twice that of their line.  If we can’t scare them away, we will envelop them.  They look like a bunch of Suevi farmers.  I can’t see any shields or spears.  Maybe they’re armed with pitchforks and scythes.”  The two Commanders laughed.

Within 20 minutes, the Teutons formed up in a line a mile (1.6km) in length with his 1,000 archers on his left flank; his line was twice that of the Suevi line.  Hludwig ordered the men to advance.  As the line surged forward, he thought, “I better tell Donar at Munich what’s happening here.”  He signaled for a horseman who ran to catch up with him.  “Ride to Munich,” he said, “And tell Donar that a bunch of Suevi farmers are threatening us.  There may be 5,000 to 10,000 of them.  They look harmless, but we are moving to meet them.  I will keep you advised.”

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The rider ran to his horse, mounted, and faced west. He had about a 45 mile (72.4km) ride facing him and did not want to wear out the horse.  He mostly trotted at an 8 to 10 mph pace, but quickly realized that the horse could not sustain that pace.  He settled into a more comfortable walking pace of 3 to 4 mph.  He stopped every hour to water the horse and let him graze for a while.  On one of these breaks, he fell asleep for an hour.  In a panic, he got up and started to gallop at 30 mph, but the horse would have none of it and resumed walking.  He arrived at Munich on the morning of the 10th, a day after he set out.

He found Donar talking to his two senior commanders in an open field while watching the troops practicing an attack.  “Sir,” said the rider, “I have a message from Hludwig at Landshut.”

“What is it?” said Donar.  The man told him word for word what Hludwig wanted him to say.  Donar froze.”Let’s go back to my hut,” he said to the two men.  When they all took a seat, Donar said, “Something is happening.  First Augsburg is threatened and now Landshut?  This looks to be coordinated.  Both garrisons report the same thing within days of each other.  That can’t be a coincidence.”

One of the Commanders spoke up, “I agree with you Donar that this is unusual, but both Hludwig and Thiuderiks did not perceive a real threat.  It seemed to be more of an annoyance to them.  Didn’t they say the men were farmers and lightly armed?  Yes, we should be concerned and take precautions, but, with what we now know, I wouldn’t react too hastily.”  The other Commander agreed.

Donar said, “That makes sense.  Hopefully, they can take a few prisoners for questioning.  I assume Bethica is leading this and the men are coming up out of Innsbruck.  Our spies there did not report any suspicious behavior or build up of outside mercenaries or tribes.  If the Suevi are the only tribe behind these demonstrations, we probably have little to worry about.  I am surprised that they targeted Augsburg and Landshut and not us.  We are on a direct path from Innsbruck.”