The Eternal Empire (45 page)

Katherine sat down and starred out of
the study window gazing at the peaceful scene outside.

"Then Cornelius didn't manage to
warn them," she mused quietly.

"If he did, then it didn't do them
much good," said Frederick. "In fact the King told me that Godisger
used the theft of the plans to force him to sign the declaration of war."

Katherine looked up at her brother. Her
face had gone white.

"What do you mean?" she asked
sharply.

"The King was told that once the
Romans had those plans in their possession they could use it as an excuse to
attack us anytime they wanted. His Majesty had to allow Godisger to attack
before the Romans could. What's the matter Katherine?"

Katherine had put her head in her hands
and began to cry. "We tried to stop it," she said through the tears.
"But we only succeeded in starting it!"

"What are you talking about
Katherine?" said Frederick, alarmed at his sisters’ emotional outcry.
"Start what?"

"The theft of the plans was
supposed to prevent the war," Katherine explained tearfully. "I
overheard Franz saying that without the element of surprise the attack would
have to be called off."

Frederick stood staring down at his
sister, horrified at what he had heard.

"You and Cornelius planned the
theft together," stated Frederick, his quiet tone masking the shock that
he felt. He finished his second drink and began to pace around the room.

"Nobody else must know!" he
snapped at her, causing Katherine to flinch. He then came over and knelt in
front of her, taking her hands from her face and holding them. "It was a
foolish thing to do," he spoke more gently now, "I know why you did
it, but no one will see it that way."

He removed a handkerchief from his
pocket and dried her tears.

Katherine composed herself and nodded
to her brother.

"I'm sorry for involving you
Frederick," she said "We both wanted to keep you out of it."

"Well I know now, and by law I am
just as guilty of treason as you are if I don't report you," he said.
"But I'll be damned if I'll put my sisters neck on the executioners block
just because she tried to stop a stupid war."

"Katherine," he looked into
her face. "You must leave Saxony as soon as possible. Scandia - or even to
the Rus."

"No!" she said emphatically
and stood up, "I won't go. This is my home and my country. I've done
nothing to be ashamed of and I will not run away!"

Frederick argued with her for some time
but the only concession that he managed to extract was a promise to keep quiet
and to remain at the house. In the meantime, he told her, he would continue to
work on his fellow Counts so that as soon as an opportunity presented itself,
he could pressurise the King into calling a halt to the war.

11th
August 1920

Constantinople

Chief Minister Exanzenus followed the major-domo
through the corridors of the palace to the Emperors audience chamber. He was
irritated and inwardly seethed with anger at the Emperors summons. He had
plenty of work to do without wasting his time explaining things to Alexander!
Stephanie was supposed to keep him occupied and out of his hair - he paid the
little whore enough!

The praetorians at the doors saluted
the chief minister. The major-domo knocked, and then entered the chamber,
announcing Exanzenus as he did.

Emperor Alexander IX, was seated on the
throne, but wore a simple toga rather than full imperial regalia. Exanzenus
halted at the prescribed distance and bowed.

"What's this I hear about losing
another Eagle?" Alexander demanded before Exanzenus could say anything.
"It was bad enough that the Arabs took one, but now it has come to my
attention that the Saxons have taken the Eagle of the fifteenth as well! I want
an explanation Exanzenus!"

The chief minister was momentarily
taken aback. Alexander rarely showed any interest in the war. He was normally
irritated by the decrees that he had to sign and bored by the discussions at
the war councils that he bothered to attend. Alexander had not said anything
about the loss of the Eagle of the legio II Trajana in the Sinai (but then that
invasion had been undertaken against his advice).

"I was not aware that another
Eagle has been lost your Majesty," said Exanzenus deferentially.

"Everybody else is!"
exclaimed Alexander, "Stephanie heard it from one of her servants, who
heard it from one of the praetorians. If the guards know, then why don't
you!"

‘That little slut’, thought Exanzenus.
‘She is stirring up trouble for me, probably wants more money’.

"The legio XV Primogenia has been
cut off by the Saxon advance your Majesty," explained Exanzenus calmly.
"Our latest reports indicate that it is still intact. I suspect that some
people have assumed the worst and are spreading rumours. Nothing travels faster
than bad news, even if it is not true."

Alexander hesitated in his verbal
attack on Exanzenus.

"Are you sure we haven't lost
another Eagle?" he asked.

"As I said your Majesty, the
fifteenth has been separated from the rest of the Rhine army, but it has not
been destroyed and the Saxons do not have one of our Eagles." – ‘Not yet
anyway’ he added to himself. The news from the Rhine was not good.

"That's all right then," said
Alexander looking a little embarrassed. "You know how the army feels about
those silly pieces of gold on the top of their standards, it's all a bit pagan
really," he added sheepishly.

The doors swung open to admit the
major-domo and Gregory Nicerites.

"What is the meaning of this
intrusion?" snapped Exanzenus, angered by the appearance of Gregory. He
liked to keep access to the Emperor limited to himself.

"I'm sorry your Majesty,"
said the major-domo. "But Gregory Nicerites has some important news."

Alexander glared at Exanzenus, "I
knew it!" he said with a cry partly of triumph and partly of anger.
"The Saxons have taken the fifteenth's Eagle!"

"No your Majesty," interjected
Gregory, "it has nothing to do with the Rhine. The news is from the
Danube. The army of Moesia has refused to send troops to Germania."

"What!" exclaimed Exanzenus
going red with rage, "Monomachus is behind this. He'll be stripped of the
office of governor immediately!".

Gregory was still facing the Emperor;
he had ignored Exanzenus since he had entered.

"There is more your Majesty,"
he said.

Alexander signalled him to continue.

"The Moesian legions have not just
mutinied and refused to leave the province, they have also declared Constantine
Monomachus Emperor. We now have a civil war on our hands as well."

11th
August 1920

Gaul

The abandonment of and retreat from
Augusta Treverorum was carried out efficiently despite the short notice, a testimony
to the professionalism of the imperial troops. The legio IV Macedonia, some
auxiliary cohorts and a number of units hastily thrown together from rear
echelon formations had managed to slow down the Saxon advance long enough for
the legio IV Gemina and the rest of the army to cross the Mosella before the
bridges came under artillery fire.

As a new army headquarters was being
assembled about twenty miles from Augusta Treverorum, Silvanus, Cornelius and
General Comnenus hammered out a new plan of defence.

"It's not going to be popular with
Constantinople," said Comnenus as Cornelius outlined his plan - a total
withdrawal to the River Mosa.

"I think that they'll prefer it to
the destruction of six legions and twice as many auxiliary troops,"
countered Cornelius.

"I doubt that they will see it
like that," replied Comnenus. "They may well just view it as running
away."

"We're trading space for
time," explained Cornelius, aware that the general was playing the devil's
advocate. If he could not convince the capital of the effectiveness of his
actions then he could easily be replaced. "The Saxons have too much of an
advantage this close to the border. They are close to their supplies and
reinforcements. Their war plans have been designed around engaging and
destroying our army close to the Rhine. The further we draw them away from
Saxony the weaker they become and more they have to improvise with new plans at
short notice. Their supply lines will grow longer, more troops will have to be
detached to guard their communications. They will outdistance their air support
and those rail mounted naval guns will be useless."

Comnenus nodded in understanding,
accepting the logic of Cornelius's argument but trying to gauge how it will be
received by the war council in Constantinople.

"Are there any positions east of
the River Mosa, where we can form a defensive line?" queried Comnenus.

"I don't believe so,
general," said Cornelius shaking his head. "Silvanus has the latest
strength returns and the army is not in good shape."

Silvanus took that as his cue and began
his report. "We saved the army from being encircled at Augusta Treverorum,
but we still got badly mauled. The legio IV Macedonia did an excellent job of
holding the Saxons back, but now they can only field about a thousand infantry,
a dozen armoured vehicles and some twenty guns. The legio IV Gemina is in
better shape, and the X Cataphract Landship Regiment still has eighty percent
of its vehicles. The auxilia palatina is at about seventy five percent strength
and we still have twenty auxiliary units with at least sixty percent of their
establishment."

"What about the formations on our
flanks?" asked Comnenus.

"The legio I Germanica is under
pressure and is retiring away from Colonia Agrippina. The legio I Trajana has
speeded up its withdrawal to Divodurum in order to prevent it being flanked by
the Saxons. The lower Rhine is still quiet and the legio XIII Gemina has sent
two cohorts and its landships to support the first Germanica."

"Any more news from the
fifteenth?" asked Comnenus.

"Nothing since yesterday, sir.
About a thousand men, mainly support personnel, managed to link up with the
first Trajana., but the rest of the legion is trapped around here,"
Silvanus indicated a heavily wooded region south of Moguntiacum on the map
before them. "The last message that we received from them was that they
would continue to fight on and try and slow the Saxons down."

"Yes, I know," confirmed the
general sadly. The legate of the legio XV Primogenia was a cousin of his, but
the army commander had not singled out the legion for any special
consideration. The need to save the army was paramount.

There was a knock on the door and an
orderly entered, saluted the general and handed him a message.

"Urgent communiqué from
Constantinople sir," the soldier said crisply, remaining at attention
while Comnenus read through the lengthy message.

"No reply for now," he said
to the orderly, dismissing him. He turned to Cornelius.

"I accept your plan," he said
curtly, "begin working on the defence line along the Mosa immediately
using the troops arriving from Hispania and Italia. The rest of the army will
withdraw towards the river with all haste. We'll hold the Saxons on the Mosa
and hope that they will bleed themselves white attacking us there."

"And when the legions from the
Danube arrive," added Silvanus, "we can kick them all the way back to
Saxony."

"We may have a long wait for our
colleagues from the Danube," said Comnenus ominously. Cornelius and
Silvanus glanced at each other, the reinforcements from Pannonia and Moesia had
been factored into their plan.

"It appears," said Comnenus,
waving the message in the air, "that the governor of Moesia has decided to
try for the throne. The four legions of the province have proclaimed him
Emperor."

Silvanus and Cornelius were too shocked
to say anything. They had thought that the Ottoman Turks might cause trouble,
but neither of them had expected this.

"There's more," continued
Comnenus grimly, "the Emperor and the chief minister consider this a
greater threat to the Empire than the Saxons. The legions in Pannonia will be
used to put down the usurper. We're on our own."

13th
August 1920

Augusta
Treverorum

Count Godisger was alone on the hill
overlooking the main bridge from the city over the Mosella. The land showed the
scars of the battle that had been fought across it and a farm, which had been
used by the Romans as a strong point, still smouldered emitting a hazy smoke
from its ruined buildings. Columns of troops passed by in pursuit of the
imperial forces that were now retreating to the west, and a regiment of Mark IV
landships were being refuelled and rearmed in a field by the road.