The Eternal Empire (41 page)

The ‘Caesar Augustus’ had been
undergoing major maintenance and repairs at the time of the attack and some of
the blast doors to the magazine had been left open. Three of the converted
shells hit the ship and one of these exploded beneath the aft turrets. The
blast from the shell shot through the gunnery area and found its way to one of
the magazines. The rear of the battleship erupted in a bright orange fireball
blowing the rear turrets a hundred feet into the air. An escort moored nearby
was capsized by the force of the explosion and several more ships were damaged.

The Saxon bombers, escorted by the
fighters headed back out to sea away from the thick black smoke rising from the
harbour. One fighter and three bombers had been lost to anti-aircraft fire from
the surprised defenders. No imperial aircraft had managed to get into the air
to contest the Saxon attack.

It was a small price to pay for the
neutralisation of an Imperial Fleet.

2nd
August 1920

Headquarters,
legio I Germanica

It was daylight by the time Cornelius
was ready to leave his uncle’s headquarters. The muffled sound of distant
artillery could be heard, and the legions headquarters had been attacked again,
this time by Saxon aircraft.

Washed, shaved and wearing a clean
uniform, Cornelius returned to the operations centre. Tiberius had re-activated
his military commission and had given him the temporary rank of deputy legate.
It would give him some authority when dealing with army headquarters, Tiberius
told him. Once again he found his uncle studying the maps and giving orders to
those around him.

"It's not looking good," he
said as Cornelius came up beside him. "They attacked the airfields and the
supply depots last night as well as cutting all the communication lines."

"How long before you can
re-establish contact?" asked Cornelius.

"At least two hours," he
waved a piece of paper at Cornelius. It was hand written and had what looked
like blood stains in one corner. "The Saxons have already crossed the
Rhine at Colonia Agrippina. The auxiliary cohort in the city has been
overwhelmed and reduced to a few scattered groups but they did manage to get a
despatch rider out with this message."

He pointed to a fresh pencil mark on
the map. "I have the 3rd cohort establishing a blocking position about
five miles outside the city along this ridge, but it will be midday at the
earliest before any artillery or armoured vehicles will arrive to support them."

He turned to another map. "I don't
know what's happening elsewhere along the frontier but I doubt whether they are
any better off than we are."

"What are you going to do?"
asked Cornelius.

"Stick to our existing defence
plans," replied Tiberius, "without more information there is nothing
else that I can do. If I try to change things now without good information and
a plan it will just make the situation worse."

Tiberius used his finger to indicate a
line of red stars that lay parallel to the Rhine. "Our strategy is for the
auxiliary infantry to hold the 'Trajan Line' of forts along the frontier with
the mobile auxiliary units launching local counter attacks to slow the Saxons
down."

He turned away from the map to look
Cornelius straight in the eye. "The legions will back up the line of
forts," he continued but there was a mocking note in his voice. "Once
the Saxon offensive has begun to run out of steam, they will launch an attack
of their own to drive them back over the river."

"You don't sound very
confident," said Cornelius, picking up on his uncle's tone.

"I'm missing nearly a third of my
legion!" snapped Tiberius raising his voice suddenly. "Other legates
along the Rhine are in even worse shape. How confident would you feel!"

Tiberius calmed down and put his hand
on his nephew's arm. "I'm sorry Cornelius," he apologised, "it's
not your fault. Without you the situation would be a great deal worse. The
auxiliary units were hardly affected by the transfer of troops to Britannia and
the forts are still fully manned. Hopefully that should hold them up long
enough for our men across the channel to return and for reinforcements to be
sent from the armies along the Danube."

"Will you be able to hold them for
that long," queried Cornelius.

Tiberius took a deep breath and stared
at the map again.

"I really don't know," he
replied. "The 'Trajan Line' blocks all the roads from the frontier into
Gaul, and until they are taken the Saxons won't be able to move up large
quantities of supplies. The forts are designed to hold for two to three weeks.
By that time the first reinforcements should have arrived."

"The Saxons are sure to know all
this," said Cornelius. "They must have a strategy to counter it, and
I know that it's in the details of those plans."

"Then that's what you must find
out," said Tiberius. "And persuade that spineless idiot Dikouros to
do something about it!"

Fifteen minutes later Cornelius took
the plans and left in a motor carriage escorted by a pair of motorised
bicycles. They took the back roads to Augusta Treverorum as the main road which
ran parallel to the Rhine had already been blocked by the Saxons.

Cornelius could see aircraft in the sky
and hear the sound of artillery but otherwise the countryside looked strangely
peaceful that morning. Small groups of civilians were fleeing from the
frontier, on foot, with carts and even a few in motor vehicles, but not enough
to block the roads as yet. They were stopped several times at road blocks
manned by nervous auxiliary soldiers who examined their travel pass in detail
before allowing them to continue.

As they got closer to Augusta
Treverorum, signs of confusion and chaos became more evident. Soldiers milled
around fields and villages, artillery and landships sat immobile along the side
of the road while officers wandered around shouting at each other. They were
held up at a bridge over the Mosella for nearly two hours as two units tried to
cross in opposite directions. It was late in the afternoon before they managed
to reach army headquarters.

Cornelius dismissed his escort and sent
them back. Tiberius would need every man that he could find, especially
dispatch riders. His rank and the pass from Tiberius got him through most of
the checkpoints but when he got to the operations centre, he found his way
barred by a squad of heavily armed legionaries.

"I'm sorry sir," said the
optio in charge, respectfully but firmly. "Only army staff officers are
allowed in."

"But I must see General Dikouros
immediately," pleaded Cornelius, "I have critical information about
the Saxon attack!"

The soldier would not be budged, but
Cornelius was not going to give up that easily and demanded to speak to a
senior officer. Eventually the optio sent one of his men to fetch someone.

Ten minutes later, the soldier returned
with a tribune whom Cornelius recognised and greeted with relief.
"Silvanus Anemas!" shouted Cornelius as the intelligence officer
approached. "Get me inside. I have important information on the Saxon
attack!"

The tribune looked vacantly at
Cornelius for a second before recognition spread across his face,
"Cornelius Petronius! What are you doing here, and in uniform?"

Silvanus passed Cornelius through the
guards and took him to his office where he listened enthralled to the story of
the theft of the plans and subsequent flight across the Rhine. When Cornelius
had finished, Silvanus eyed the briefcase, eager to inspect its contents. 

"It's mainly raw data rather than
information," said Cornelius, trying to temper Anemas's enthusiasm,
"but it will give us an idea of their capabilities, but first I must see
Dikouros. He may not have been happy to see me last time but with this..."
Cornelius tapped the briefcase, "I'm sure he will be more receptive."

"General Dikouros will not be
receptive to anything," said Silvanus. "He's dead. A team of Saxon
assassins attacked his villa at about three o'clock this morning. They killed
him and a number of senators who were visiting from the capital." He did
not add that the general had been found in his blood soaked bed with a local
'entertainment girl' who had died beside him.

"Who's in charge then?" asked
Cornelius.

"The deputy commander is Marcellus
Comnenus. He arrived a few weeks ago from Constantinople."

"Not another appointment of the
Emperor!" exclaimed Cornelius is exasperation. "That's all we
need!"

"So far he doesn't seem as bad as
Dikouros, he’s a career office who has spent the last 20 years in Asia Minor.
At least he listens to his staff and is less concerned with pandering to the
politicians in Constantinople. I think he'll listen to you."

"I hope so," said Cornelius
rising from his chair. "Let's go and see him now."

5th
August 1920

Britannia

The destruction of the Imperial fleet
at Peturia coincided with the intervention of the Caledonian army in the
fighting in Britannia. The advance units of the imperial army which had been
pursuing the rebel forces were thrown back by the onslaught. A few days later
Hiberian troops landed along the west coast, and began to attack the Roman
rear. Titus Petronius found himself in combat again, leading a pair of cohorts
of the legio II Augusta from Isca against a force of Hiberians which were
attacking the naval base at Abonae.

Titus sent one cohort under Virius
Primus into the city to defend the harbour, while he retained the other cohort
and a single squadron of armoured motor carriages under his direct command.
Titus launched an attack in the early hours of the morning surprising the
undisciplined Hiberian troops and driving most of them back to their boats. He
then turned back to Abonae where pockets of the invaders, now cut off from
escape were holding out and refusing to surrender. He met up with Virius outside
a burnt out warehouse.

"What's the situation here
Virius," asked Titus. As a result of his performance in the fighting
against the rebels and heavy losses amongst senior, Titus had been appointed a
senior tribune of the legion and now outranked his former colleague.

"We've got the last of them
trapped in a group of buildings a block from here," reported Virius, his
face and uniform black from the fighting. "It's going to be a tough job
getting them out, they're not inclined to surrender."

Titus nodded grimly. The Hiberians were
a wild bunch with a fanatical hatred for the Empire. "Give them one chance
to surrender," he ordered Virius. "Then bring up artillery and level
the area. No prisoners. We can't afford to waste men in house to house fighting
now that the Saxons and Caledonians have joined in."

Virius inwardly grimaced at the cold
ruthless streak in his old friend. He could remember him being shocked by his
suggestion to sink Hiberian fishing boats in retaliation for a raid. He
acknowledged the order and sent a soldier to call up the artillery. He then
turned back to Titus. "Any more orders?"

Titus shook his head. "No, we'll
remain around Isca in case of any more Hiberian attacks. The rest of the army
will probably continue fighting the rebels and the Caledonians. With the
channel closed it looks like they're stuck here."

The day after the attack on Peturia,
the Saxon fleet had sailed into the Oceanus Britannicus, sinking any merchant
ships that they could find and shelling the ports along the coast. The
bombardment did not do much damage but drove home the fact that Britannia was
now cut off from the mainland.

"Do you know what's happening in
Germania?" asked Virius.

"Not really, only that the Saxons
have crossed the Rhine at Colonia Agrippina, Confluentes, Moguntiacum and
Argentoratum."

"Isn't your brother with the
embassy in Saxony?"

"Yes, Cornelius was assisting with
the trade negotiations," Titus confirmed casually. "Although I've no
idea what he's been doing since the introduction of the trade laws."

"Will he be safe in Saxony?"
enquired Virius, concerned that his friends’ nonchalant air hid some deep
worries.

"Safer than here!" laughed
Titus. "Give them their due, the Saxons respect the sanctity of diplomats.
My big brother will spend the war interned in some fancy hotel while we spend
it dodging bullets and trying to kill the bastards."

5th
August 1920

Fort
Claudius, Germania

Quintus Drusus dismissed his centurions
after the briefing. The Saxons had the fortress completely surrounded and had
made a couple of probing attacks last night but had been easily driven off. He
had great confidence in the ability of his men to hold this section of the
Trajan line even when surrounded. After all, it was designed for such an
eventuality and he had a full complement of men as well as plenty of food and
ammunition.