The Eternal Empire (44 page)

Of the eleven thousand men who had
crossed the border only three thousand had survived and returned to Egypt.
General Ducas had been one of those who had lived to board a ship off the coast
of Sinai, but disappeared during the trip to Alexandria. It was officially
concluded that he had committed suicide by jumping overboard because of the
shame of the disaster and the loss of the legions Eagle.

Unofficially it was believed that the
general had recieved some assistance to 'do the right thing'.

9th
August 1920

Rhine
Army Headquarters, Augusta Treverorum

Silvanus Anemas put the phone down.

"Still no news. The plane hasn't
returned yet."

"That's the third plane since
yesterday," said Cornelius.

"The one that went out this
morning had an escort of Pilum fighters," added Silvanus "I'm sure
that it'll return soon."

Despite his colleagues’ attempts to
allay his fears him, Cornelius still had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his
stomach. He had not been able to gather any additional information about the
Saxon forces that had crossed at Colonia Agrippina. The planes which had been
allocated for reconnaissance by the hard pressed air cohorts had not returned.
In the absence of any evidence to suggest a threat from the north, the
counter-attack towards Moguntiacum had begun at dawn that morning.

"Latest reports from the front say
that the Saxons are giving ground and taking heavy casualties," said a
centurion who had just returned from the operations centre, "the assault
force expects to be able to link up with the fifteenth Primogenia early
tomorrow morning."

Cornelius smiled politely at the news
but did not feel comforted by it. The sense of foreboding remained.

The phone on Silvanus's desk rang. He
answered it immediately, listened to what the caller had to say and then
returned the phone to its cradle.

"That was the airfield," he
said to Cornelius. "The reconnaissance plane has returned."

"At last," said Cornelius.
"When will the crew get here for the debriefing?"

Silvanus stood up. "They're in no
fit state to go anywhere, "he said grimly, "their plane was so shot
up it crashed on landing. The pilot's dead and the navigator's in the field
hospital at the airfield. None of the escort fighters returned."

Cornelius also stood and grabbed his
helmet off the table by the door. "Let's get over there now. I think that
the navigator saw something that the Saxons don't want us to know about."

Despite the doctor's protests Silvanus
and Cornelius managed to get into see the navigator. His legs were a bloody
mess and one side of his body was badly burnt. He was being treated by a nurse
who made it abundantly clear that she disapproved of the presence of the two
officers. They introduced themselves and apologised to him for bothering him,
but he waved their concerns aside and insisted on speaking.

"The sky was full of Saxon
fighters," he said, struggling to control the pain. "If it weren't
for our escorts we wouldn't have lasted five minutes."

"What did you see," coaxed
Cornelius gently.

"The roads are crawling with
Saxons. Landships by the hundred, cavalry by the thousand, columns of trucks
and motor carriages, all heading south." He leaned over slightly and
pointed towards a scorched leather case by the bed, grimacing at the pain as he
moved.

"It's all in there," he said
with difficulty, "I marked everything that I saw." He slumped back
against the pillows, exhausted by the exertion. The nurse then insisted that
they should leave and let the navigator rest. Cornelius picked up the case as
they left.

As Silvanus guided the motor carriage
out of the airfield, Cornelius opened the case and began to study the navigators’
notes and the marks he had made on his maps.

"When we get back to the
office," said Silvanus as they headed back to Augusta Treverorum, "we
can analyse those papers properly."

Cornelius quickly double checked some
of the information before replying.

"Never mind the office," he
said his voice level but tense. "We're going straight to Comnenus. Half
the damned Saxon army is heading straight for our rear."

9
^th
August 1920

Colonia
Agrippina

The air in the landship stank with
gaseous fumes as they made their way along the main road out of Colonia
Agrippina. Driver Klaus Alaric wished he was in the turret and able to stick
his head out and get some fresh air.

He had been shocked when his unit had
arrived, footsore and weary at the assembly point along the Rhine and had been
informed that they would shortly be at war with the Empire.

“I hope the Romans are as surprised as
we are,” Klaus had confided to the other members of his crew that night. “I
don’t fancy going toe to toe with one of their ‘Bison’s’, even in a nice shiny
new Mark IV.”

“Amen to that,” agreed the gunner. “I’m
not sure we could do much damage against those monsters from the front –
luckily they are slow so we have a chance to get round their flank.”

“Let’s hope our new commander has the
wits to realise that,” added Klaus.

The first week of the war had been quiet
for Klaus and the rest of his unit. The infantry and artillery had led the way
clearing Imperial troops out of the frontier towns and defences. The regiments
of Saxon landships had been kept under cover, only moving at night once new
camouflaged positions had been prepared for them by the engineers. But now they
were being ordered into battle and Klaus drove his Mark IV landship forward,
wiping the sweat out of his eyes as he strained to see through the narrow slits
in the armour.

‘Commander Warken had better be keeping
a good look out,’ Klaus muttered to himself as he changed gears. ‘I can see
bugger all from here!’

9
^th
August 1920

Imperial
Army Headquarters

General Comnenus was with the chief of
staff reviewing the progress of the counter attack when Silvanus and Cornelius
made their way into the army operations centre. They boldly walked straight up
to the commander demanding to speak to him immediately.

Alexius Cabasila was horrified by their
breach of military etiquette and began to berate them when Comnenus intervened.

"What is it, Petronius?" he
said sharply. "It had better be good or Cabasila here will have you
arrested."

Cornelius put the maps and notes that
he had taken from the navigator down on the table beside the general.

"A reconnaissance plane managed to
get back from the area around Colonia Agrippina," he spoke slowly,
struggling to keep calm and to give a factual report. "There are about
twenty Saxon regiments, heading south at this very moment. Within twenty-four
hours they'll be across the Mosella and this city and all the imperial forces
to the east of the river will be cut off."

Comnenus picked up the papers noting
their burnt edges and the traces of blood. He and the chief of staff quickly
matched some of the places mentioned with the map mounted on the wall.

"Those roads are blocked by three
cohorts of auxiliary infantry with artillery in support," countered
Cabasila irritably. "We would have heard from them if a Saxon army was
coming their way!"

The army commander looked at Cornelius
and then at Cabasila. He called over to a line of orderlies sitting behind a
row of desks.

"What was the last situation
report from...," he glanced up at the map again. "The 23rd Auxiliary
Cohort?"

One of the orderlies rummaged around in
the pile of papers in front of him and pulled out the information required.

"Some skirmishing with Saxon
pickets," said the orderly summarising the report as he read it.
"Sporadic artillery fire and a lot of air activity, but otherwise
quiet."

Alexius Cabasila looked smug.
"Wild estimates by air reconnaissance crews, especially those under
attack, are not unusual," he said condescendingly.

Cornelius did not believe that the
navigator had exaggerated. He ignored the chief of staff and addressed the
orderly himself.

"When was that report filed?"
he demanded.

The orderly looked at the paper again,
a puzzled expression crossing his face.

"Well?" pressed Cornelius,
aware that everybody in the room was now paying attention to the exchange.

"Nearly four hours ago sir,"
he said. "They've missed two reports."

General Comnenus barked an order at the
row of orderlies. "Check the reports from the other units in the area and
then try to raise them by phone," he turned to Cornelius. "I think
that you may be right. Do you think that we can keep the main road between Augusta
Treverorum and Virodunum open?"

Cornelius shook his head. "No. Not
with the forces that we have left here, they're too weak," he pointed to
the symbols on the map. "If we pull the troops back from the
counter-attack, assuming that they could re-deploy in time, we'll leave the
Rhine vulnerable. Then the Saxon forces to our south could break through at
Divodurum to cut the road to Virodunum and we would still be trapped."

Comnenus studied the map and came to
the same conclusion.

"What do you suggest?" he
asked abruptly.

"A complete withdrawal west of the
Mosella," replied Cornelius without hesitation. He had thought this
through on the trip from the airfield and could see no alternative.

"Are you mad!" exclaimed
Cabasila, "abandon most of Germania to the Saxons and scurry back to
Gaul!"

"Would you rather see the bulk of
the army destroyed between the Rhine and the Mosella, leaving Gaul, Hispania
and Italia virtually defenceless?" snapped back Cornelius.

"That's enough!" said
Comnenus. An orderly approached the four officers and saluted the commander.

"There has been no contact with
the 23rd Auxiliary Cohort or any other unit in that area since eight o'clock
this morning sir," he said in a dry, hoarse voice. "All the telephone
lines have been cut, but I do have reports of fighting and heavy artillery fire
to the north.

Comnenus looked at his chief of staff
and the two intelligence officers, his eyes alive with the rapid thoughts
behind them.

"We withdraw," he decided.
Cabasila was about to say something but decided against it once he saw the
commanders face. Comnenus began issuing orders.

"Break off the attack towards
Moguntiacum immediately. All forces are to retire on Augusta Treverorum. The
fifteenth Primogenia must try to link up with them or to withdraw to the south
and fend for themselves. The first Trajana must expedite its retirement to
Divodurum, we will need their troops here, not on the upper Rhine. The legio IV
Macedonia is to leave its entrenchments outside the city, move across the Mosella
and keep the Saxons away from the main road for as long as possible."

"Cabasila," he addressed his
dejected looking chief of staff. "Move the headquarters across the river
and get the logistics people to ship out what they can and to burn what they can't."

The room exploded into activity.
Silvanus and Cornelius were still standing next to the general. He now turned
to them.

"Right," he said, "you
two can come with me. I need a new defence plan. The one that I just had has
been shot to hell and you can help me to draw up a new one!"

9th
August 1920

Minden,
Saxony

Katherine was having lunch on the
terrace of her brother's estate outside Minden when she heard his motor
carriage return. She left the remnants of her meal and hurried back into the
house, meeting up with him as he entered.

"What happened?" she asked
her brother as he went into his study.

Count Maleric said nothing. He walked
over to a cabinet and poured himself a large glass of fortified spirits. He
downed the drink in one swallow.

Katherine stood beside him expectantly,
waiting for him to speak.

"The King can do nothing," he
said evenly. He was breathing heavily, trying to control his anger.

"According to the reports from the
generals, the war is going well, and his Majesty can see no justification for
pushing the council into calling for a cease fire."

He poured himself another drink.

"Is the King inflamed by this war
fever too," asked Katherine angrily. "Doesn't he want to stop
it?"

Frederick put a hand on Katherine's
shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"The King is not the omnipotent
ruler of two centuries ago," he told her gently. "He rules through
the council. He will need a majority agreement amongst the senior Counts to
stop this war. Whilst we appear to be winning that will not happen."