The Eternal Empire (52 page)

"One more victory!" repeated
Edwin, and left to rejoin his men.

A group of sullen but defiant Roman
prisoners were marched past by their guards as Franz looked on with
satisfaction. He felt for the piece of paper in his pocket as he had done
regularly that morning. It contained the announcement of a great victory over
the imperial forces and called on the rest of the army to join his drive on
Lutetia. As soon as Vouzaria had fallen he would send it to every Saxon
formation still on the East bank of the river.

The 4th cohort of the legio I Italica
was also in a state of confusion, but Cornelius quickly identified their senior
centurion who was busy getting his unit back into some semblance of order.
Informed of the loss of all the legions senior officers he acknowledged the
right of Cornelius to take over command and gave him a summary of what he knew.

"The Saxons are across the river
in strength but so far only on a fairly narrow front, no more than a mile. The
auxiliary cohort manning the river defences has been overwhelmed and we have
just lost contact with our advance century."

"Are you in contact with the rest
of the legion?" demanded Cornelius. "I must contact them."

The centurion led Cornelius to the
cohort’s command post, a sandbagged position inside a small copse. A table with
a map of the area took up most of the space but along one wall was a field
telephone.

"I'm still in touch with the 2nd
and the 5th cohorts as well as one artillery battery sir," said the
legionary manning the telephone, "but the lines to the rest of the legion
must have been cut by the Saxon artillery barrage."

Cornelius moved over to the map and his
practised eye quickly took in the situation.

"Vouzaria. They must be going for
Vouzaria," he said partly to himself and partly for the benefit of the
centurion. He looked at the map again, trying to find somewhere to form a line
of defence, but he did not find one.

"Order a general retreat to
Vouzaria," he told the centurion. "We haven't got the time or the
manpower to hold them anywhere else. Send a courier to the town to warn whoever
is there that we are coming." He turned to the soldier still trying, in
vain, to raise other units of the legion on the telephone. "Tell the
artillery to lay down a barrage to cover our withdrawal."

The centurion saluted and began to
leave to implement the new legates orders. Cornelius called after him.
"Send me a dispatch rider. I must get word to General Comenus
immediately."

Otherwise thought Cornelius, my first
experience as the commander of a legion is likely to be rather short-lived.

2nd
September 1920

Vouzaria,Gaul

By midday the Saxons had launched three
separate attacks on Vouzaria and the legionaries of the legio I Italica now
only held the centre of the town. The suburbs were in flames, some fires caused
indirectly by the fighting, others by either the Saxons to support an attack or
by the imperial defenders to cover their withdrawal further into the town.

The fighting was desperate and mainly
at close quarters, especially once the Saxons had penetrated into the town
itself. As the number of defenders fell Cornelius slowly contracted his defence
line.

Vouzaria was built on a flat plain in
the bend of a small river, which was a tributary of the River Mosa. The railway
centre with its large station, marshalling yards, workshops and warehouses
nestled in the bend of the river on the east bank. A series of railway bridges
across the river led into the station like arteries into a heart and the town
had grown around this complex, its streets radiating out from the station in a
series of semi-circles.

The first defence line had been on the
edge of the town with both flanks protected by the river. The initial Saxon
assault on the town had been beaten off but the second attack was better prepared
and more successful. Cornelius had ordered his men to retire to a series of
barricades that had been erected by those civilians who had not fled. Some
groups of legionaries were cut off from the outer defences during the retreat
and made desperate last stands in side streets or buildings. The ferocity and
intensity of the fighting was such that little quarter was asked or received.
The Saxons immediately launched a third attack on this second line but it was
repulsed, and a lull occurred as they reorganised their forces.

 A few reinforcements had arrived, but
General Comenus, believing the ceasefire was a ruse was now expecting attacks
all along his front and dare not risk releasing his few remaining reserve
formations. The legions 3rd cohort, now only 350 men strong, had turned up
during the third attack and Cornelius had led it in person to relieve the
battered remnants of the 5th cohort, holding the centre of the line.

Cornelius was returning to his
headquarters in the railway station when he came upon a medical post operating
out of a small church. He saw Fulvia outside giving a soldier who was waiting
to be attended to by the small group of doctors and nurses a drink of water.

"What are you doing here
Fulvia?" he demanded. "The front line's only a couple of hundred
yards away!"

"And whose fault is that!"
she countered lightly as though she was exchanging witticisms at a dinner
party, "I've got my job patching your soldiers up. It's your job to keep
the Saxons away."

Cornelius ignored the jibe. "I
thought you were an administrator, not a nurse," he said noticing the
blood stained apron that she wore.

"Not much paperwork at the
moment," she replied with a smile, "and they can always use another
pair of hands. However," she added with a stubborn grin, "I'm still
not changing bedpans."

For the first time that day Cornelius
smiled. Fulvia's indomitable spirit had raised his own, if only momentarily.
‘If you can laugh in the face of danger’, he thought to himself, ‘you are
strong enough to confront it, and if you can confront it, you can win’.

Cornelius told Fulvia that she should
get the aid post moved to the station, or better still over the river before
the Saxons broke through.

"Surely they would respect a
hospital, especially one in a church! After all they're not Turks or
Arabs!"

"Usually I would agree, but in the
heat of battle, and after the heavy casualties that we have inflicted on them,
I wouldn't depend upon the enemies’ restraint for the safety of your people and
their patients."

Fulvia reluctantly agreed and began to
issue orders. She would have made a first class centurion Cornelius thought as
he continued back to his headquarters. He would tell her that when the war was
over, although he would have to make sure there was nothing close at hand that
she could throw at him.

2nd
September 1920

Mosa
River, Headquarters of Saxon 54th Regiment

The Romans had not been the only ones
who were surprised by the Saxon attack that morning. At first General Godisger
had thought that the Roman Army of Asia Minor had arrived and had launched a
counter attack. He ordered the army to stand to and there were several
exchanges of fire across the river between two confused and nervous armies.

Eventually it became clear that only
the regiments commanded by Edwin were involved and that they had crossed the
Mosa. Godisger drove to the army headquarters accompanied by some troops from
the 54th regiment to find the army operations room almost deserted.

"They have all crossed the river,
General," said one of the few remaining occupants, a crippled soldier
assigned to desk duties, "Tribune Maleric has taken every able bodied man
with him to fight. He left this letter for you, sir."

Godisger took the envelope and tore it
open. It contained the rumpled notice of the cease-fire from Minden and a short
note signed by Franz Maleric.

'We have come
too far to have victory snatched from our grasp by weak willed politicians and
cowards. I will lead the attack myself to show that with determined leadership
we can win. Bring the rest of the army behind us and the Roman legions will be
destroyed. Saxony has waited for revenge for three decades - it must not wait
any longer.'

Godisger read the letter again.
Although his face did not show it he felt ashamed and guilty. He had made Franz
Maleric and the others into what they were. The defeat of the Romans was all
that he had lived for these past thirty years and he had instilled his own
hatred into this new generation. They now believed in victory at all costs.
Godisger now knew that some victories were not worth the price that had to be
paid.

The General turned to the commander of
the men who had accompanied him.

"Tribune Maleric is to be
arrested," he said to a shocked room. "All Saxon forces across the
Mosa are to disengage and withdraw. Contact the Roman commander and inform him
that we request a cease fire prior to discussing the complete withdrawal of our
forces back across the Rhine."

Enough was enough. It was time to stop.

2nd
September 1920

Arcadiopolis,
Thrace

Stephanie let a cigarette and helped
herself to a large goblet of red wine from the bar. She had left Alexander
sleeping deeply in their room after a Guard medic had given him a sedative and
had come down to the deserted bar.

“His Majesty is well I trust?” The voice
echoed slightly in the empty room.

Stephanie turned to see Exanzenus by the
doorway. He made his way into to bar, found a comfortable chair a few yards
away from where she was standing and sat down.

Stephanie remained standing, gave the
First Minister a distaining look and took an elegant sip from the goblet. “So,
what are you going to do now? Everybody is against you. The assembly has always
hated you, the senate will disown you and the army would happily shot you.
Shortly Alexander will be looking for a scapegoat and I think you are perfectly
qualified for the job.”

“If I fall Stephanie Dikouros, so do
you.” Exanzenus gave her a cold look. “I have plenty of evidence about ‘our
arrangement’, plus some additional rather scandalous stories about you, which
while not true, will play very well with the newspapers and the crowds. I very
much doubt even your renowned bedroom skills will save you once it becomes
public that you have been working for me all along.”

“You bastard.” Spat Stephanie.

“That’s as maybe, but I don’t take
betrayal from anyone! You were well paid to keep Alexander distracted and well
disposed to me becoming First Minister - not to undermine me and follow your
own agenda.” Exanzenus stood up. “I suggest that you think upon our situation
and use your charms to find a solution for both of us.” He turned his back on
her and left the room.

Stephanie watched him leave then had
another cigarette, drank some more wine and for once did what Exanzenus asked.
Think. After several more cigarettes and most of a bottle of wine she had a
plan. “Time to get out of here I think.”

She made her way up to the room she
shared with Alexander where she collected the jewellery that she had managed to
grab when they fled the palace as well as the purses of gold and gems she
always travelled with. Then she sat on the bed next to the sleeping Emperor,
stroked his forehead for a few moments and them kissed him tenderly. “Goodbye
Alexander. It was fun while it lasted... and quite rewarding as well.” She got
up, left the room and walked out of the hotel.

She found a few shops that were still
open where she picked up some non-descript clothes into which she changed, and
a bag before joining one of the groups of refugees heading away from the
fighting. She had sufficient money on her and not insignificant funds in
various private bank accounts around the empire. As she made her way out of Arcadiopolis
she reflected that life need not be that bad for a rich and attractive widow.

2nd
September 1920

Vouzaria

Infantrymen of the Saxon 17th regiment
rested amongst the ruins. Some cleaned their rifles or patched up a wounded
comrade whilst others used the time for a few minutes sleep. Edwin moved from
group to group talking with the junior officers, giving field promotions to
fill gaps in the chain of command and reorganising units that had taken heavy
losses.

A dozen soldiers appeared out of the
smoky haze that covered most of the town and from their clean uniforms Edwin
took them for reinforcements. Then he recognised Franz, his staff officer's
uniform partially disguised by helmet, battle harness and rifle.

Franz drew Edwin aside. "Godisger
has abandoned us," he told him quietly. "He has cut off all supplies
and sent orders to withdraw. The 21st and 34th Regiments - our reserves - are
already pulling back."

Franz spoke calmly without a hint of
anger. There was a perverse aura of peace about him. "He also sent orders
for my arrest, but they refused to do it." He turned his head briefly to
indicate the others who had come with him. All were junior staff officers and
like Franz were now equipped as infantry. "I told them I was going to the
front and they insisted on coming."