Legio XVII: Battle of the Danube (40 page)

The Teutons fought back fiercely.  Their bravado returned.  Some threw their spears; others used it to jab at the Roman helmets.  Their swords crashed down on Roman shields, helmets, and shoulder armor; but they were tiring and the Romans were not.  Legionaries rotated smoothly while Teutons died in ever increasing numbers; they were wearing out and getting more fatigued by the minute.

The Hastati pushed the Teutons back 60 feet (18m) closer to their fort and had rotated every man twice.  The Legate ordered the Principe to pass through the Hastati and continue to aggressively push them back.  The Principe brought new energy and overwhelming violence back to the fight.  After 30 minutes of relentless onslaught, the Teutons’ flanks broke under the assault.  They ran for the fort; everyman for himself.  They had ceased to exist as an army.  But the gates were closed and locked!

Bethica had positioned her 100 Slingers forward of her Legions to soften up the Teuton center. They threw hundreds of lead slugs without opposition.  Each slug penetrated shields and leather wrappings.  There were no Teuton archers in the center to oppose them.  Hundreds lie dead or wounded.  The Teutons wanted to attack their antagonists and began edging forward.  Donar saw the movement and ran along the front with his leaders to hold them back.

A Slinger’s slug hit him in the thigh and penetrated deep into his hamstrings; he fell and was carried to the rear where he continued to yell, “Don’t attack; hold your position.”  His cries fell on deaf ears.  The Teutons in the center had taken the flying lead pellets as long as they could.  They ran yelling and screaming at the Suevi Legions.  The Slingers turned around and passed through the Suevi ranks; they repositioned themselves on the flanks and continued hurling their deadly slugs.

The Roman trained Suevi Centurions gave the order “Prepare to throw the pila” and thousands of arms were drawn back into a cocked position.  When the advancing Teutons were about 60 feet (18m) away, the pila snapped forward and hit the tightly packed Teuton warriors.  The charge was stopped in mid step and the Suevi ran at them with their second pila ready to throw.  The air again filled with the deadly missiles and rained down death.  The Suevi crashed into the milling Teutons and the pushing and stabbing began.  Their shields and swords opened huge holes in the Teuton lines, but Teuton warriors continued to step into the gaps.

At the same time that the Teuton center charged, the Proconsul saw the Teuton flanks began to soften and then break, he signaled the cavalry and Scorpio to attack.  The cavalry saw the gap between the Teuton flank and center and charged.  Their spears ripped the Teuton center and pushed them to the other side and into the waiting Scorpio.  As soon as the Teuton archers broke and ran, the Flying Scorpio had hooked up to the horses and rode from the far left to the center to await further orders.  By chance, they were in the correct place and within minutes, were pouring shots into the flank of the Teuton center.

The Suevi Centurions rotated the files as they saw the men tire.  They blew their whistle about every three minutes and fresh men continued moving forward.  The Centurions did this over and over and then began to notice that their men were beginning to falter and take casualties.  They were fought out.  One of the Centurions ran to the rear of his Maniple and shouted at the Principe, “Pass through, pass through!” He returned and continued to rotate troops, but more quickly.  Other Centurions also called for the Principe to come forward.

Finally, the Legate realized what was happening and ordered the Principe forward.  They pushed through the exhausted Hastati and added new vigor to the fight.  The Teutons gave more ground.  The men in the Principe rotated until they too were exhausted.  The Legates of the two leading Suevi Legions signaled the two Legions standing behind them to pass through and take up the fight.  This is a difficult maneuver under any circumstances, but the Suevi had practiced it repeatedly while at Bad Tolz.  Signal horns were sounded and the two leading Legions in contact began to back away from the Teutons as the two rear Legions ran forward.

When the two fresh Suevi Legions were in place, they unleashed their pila and charged the exhausted Teutons.

Timur was powerless to stop the disaster unfolding before his eyes.  He saw the flanks as they were pushed back and then watched as they broke and run.  He could not blame them.  He saw how smoothly the enemy rotated their lead men doing the fighting.  His men were exhausted and dying in unprecedented numbers.  He wanted to stop the battle before he lost his entire Army.  Feelings of failure overwhelmed him.  He started to climb atop the wall to jump down and join his men in a warrior’s death.  His aides saw him start to climb and grabbed him.  He struggled as they pulled him down.  He had never felt so hopeless.

Once the flanks broke, the Roman Legions turned inward and hit the flanks of the Teuton center.  When the Legions turned on the Teuton center, the cavalry and Scorpio withdrew.  It was now an infantry fight.  Attacked from the front and sides, the Teuton center disintegrated and ran for the fort.  The slaughter continued up to the gates of the fort.  The Teutons beat on the locked gates and the men on the walls yelled for the men guarding the gates to open them, but they remained closed.  Finally, the gates swung open and the men crowded in.

Manius saw the slaughter taking place and also saw Teutons beginning to man the walls.  He knew his men would begin to take casualties from arrows, spears, or rocks thrown from the walls and quickly sounded recall.  The Legions backed away from the fort and reformed about 400 yards (365.7m) away.  The Teutons survivors manned the walls expecting the fort to be stormed.  The Scorpio drew closer to the walls and began to pick off exposed individuals.  Manius estimated that 20,000 Teutons lay dead or seriously wounded.  That meant that 30,000 were back in the fort.  Teuton archers manned the walls and began to fire on the Legions, but were out of range.

The fighting was over for the day.  The Legions’ dead lay where they fell, but the wounded were recovered by brave men who dodged Teuton arrows flying from the walls.

*******

Rasce led his 300 horsemen closer to the ferry site.  Earlier, he had a few men crawl to within 200 yards (182.8m) of the ferry to observe the defenses.  They reported that about 100 Teuton warriors were in the area, but there were no defenses such as a ditch or walls.  Rasce waited until he saw the Legions attack and ordered his men to advance.  He put archers behind each rider and told them to fire as soon as the cavalry charges.

He then led the cavalry at a trot towards the ferry site.  With all the noise and fury coming from across the river, his approach was not seen by the Teuton defenders until the last minute.  When he was about 200 yards from the ferry, he spurred his horse to a gallop and yelled, “Charge.”

The archers fired and Teutons scrambled for cover.  Within seconds the cavalry was among them and the killing began.  The Teutons fought back but were outnumbered and taken by surprise.  A few horses received disabling sword slashes, but the men were untouched.  The surviving Teutons ran to the river and were hit with arrows before swimming 10 feet (3m).  Rasce dismounted and cut the ropes holding the ferries.  They swung out into the current and floated downstream.

Rasce then waited to see the outcome of the battle.  When he saw Teutons standing on the walls inside the fort, he knew the Legionaries had driven them inside.  He then began shouting and taunting the Teutons to get their attention.  He began to threaten the settlement at Two Lakes.  Teuton archers began firing at Rasce’s men, but were too far away to be effective.  Once Rasce knew they were watching him and knew his intentions, he mounted his cavalry and slowly began riding north in the direction of the settlement.  The Roman archers remained at the ferry to discourage any swimmers.

*******

Timur assembled his surviving Commanders.  Donar was not one of them.  He died fighting at the main gate as the last of the survivors scrambled to get inside.  Unexpectedly, the gate swung closed and 3,000 Teutons were locked out to face the surging Suevi Legions.  They were cut down to a man.  Then the Suevi and Romans withdrew.

Timur accepted the defeat and loss of his men more easily than the other commanders.  They wanted to talk about what had happened while Timur tried to get them to focus on what lie ahead and what needed to be done.  While the Commanders tried to come to grips with the disaster, Timur issued a stream of orders to his aides: man the walls, secure the gates, treat the wounded, count the survivors, secure the food stocks, tell the archers to conserve their arrows, etc.

After issuing his orders, Timur rejoined the shocked Commanders to review the battle with them.  He said, “I want you to tell the men that I am proud of them; they did everything asked of them and fought bravely.  They did not fail me and the people, I failed them.  We were beaten by better tactics, equipment, and weapons.  I heard the archers were hit with large arrows that seem to come out of nowhere.  They lost at least half their men while we watched the cavalry battle.  This enemy simply out thought us at every turn.  When I saw that their heavy infantry had unexpectedly moved to the flanks, I couldn’t shift our center to meet them because the Suevi center was poised to attack.

While the Commanders talked, an aide entered the room and said, “We have 25,000 men inside the fort.  Enemy cavalry just attacked the men guarding the ferry site across the river and killed them all.  They then told us they were enroute to Two Lakes to attack the settlement.”  Panic gripped everyone in the room.  The people were defenseless; there were no troops at Two Lakes!

*******

The Proconsul assembled his Commanders and complimented them on their successful attack.  He praised the Cavalry for defeating the Teuton cavalry; the Scorpio crews for eliminating the threat from the archers; the Legionaries for pushing back the flanks, and the Suevi legions for crushing the center.  He asked about casualties.  They responded that the count wasn’t complete, but they appear to be minimal.

Manius then said, “I want Legio XVII and Legio I Raetorum to reposition themselves about 400 yards (365.7m) from the Teuton west gate; Legio XX and Legio V Etrusci will block the east gate and two Suevi Legions will guard the center gate.  I will hold the two remaining Suevi Legions with me in reserve.  My plan is to dig a ditch and build a wall around the Teuton fort.  We will starve them into submission.  Get the wounded back to our fort and allow the Legionaries to eat and drink.  Give them a four hour rest break, and then start the ditch 400 yards (364m) from the fort.  I want Timur to see our intentions.”  Manius then mounted his horse and rode to each Legion to talk to the leaders and listen to the men.

That evening, the Commanders gathered to discuss the battle.  Total dead numbered about 600 and about 2,500 wounded.  Most of the dead and wounded came from the four Suevi Legions in the center.  Their Commanders accepted blame for not rotating the Hastati soon enough.  They had allowed the men to fight until they were exhausted before pushing through the Principe to take up the fight.  Most of the casualties were in the ranks of the Hastati: the youngest and most inexperienced of the men.  Legio I Raetorum did not suffer the same fate of the Suevi.  They had watched Legio XVII and imitated their rotations.

Manius then asked his Legates, “Why were we successful in today’s battle and the Teutons not?”  No one responded.  They looked at each other or down at the ground.  Manius said, “I’m not trying to embarrass anyone.  I think there are lessons we can all learn from today’s fight.  What are your thoughts?  There is no right or wrong.”

Calvus was the first to speak, “We had the initiative; they reacted to what we did.”

“Good, “said Manius.  “What else?”

Caile then spoke, “Proconsul, when Legio V Etrusci and Legio XX went up against Hannibal, we were defeated before the first pilum was thrown.  The men lacked confidence that he could be defeated.  Our men today were confident.  They were in excellent physical shape; they were trained; they trusted their equipment and knew there was a plan.  They felt like winners.”  Legate Valerian nodded his head in agreement.

Nasua said, “The cavalry distracted their leaders so the Scorpio could remove the threat from the Teuton archers.  That enabled the Legions to attack the flanks unmolested.”

Manius said, “All these comments are correct and they all boil down to leadership.  Troops will do whatever we ask of them.  Our obligation is to give them the best chance of winning with minimal casualties.  To do that, we must train them and have a plan.  That said, plans don’t always go as envisioned.  When that happens, a good leader has a backup plan and must be flexible enough to adapt to the new situation.”

*******

The Teutons on the walls who heard the cavalry declare their intentions to ride to Two Lakes quickly spread the word.  There was an immediate reaction; troops begged their leaders to do something to save their women and children.  The tumult was heard by Timur.  When he went outside with his Commanders to see what was happening, the soldiers implored him to do something.  They were on the verge of mutiny.  He even heard talk of scaling the walls and swimming the river.  He told the soldiers to stay in the fort until he could resolve this.