The Trumpets of Mars (Imperium #2) - Chapter 25

Ky and Ramirus continued working well into the night, reviewing reports and deciding how best to deal with Romans who had to be relocated to keep the battle location safe, and the possibility of relocating other Romans from areas that weren’t under threat as a way to throw off the Carthaginians.

At first, Ky had been against the idea, since he didn’t want to disrupt civilians any more than they already had been, but eventually caved to Ramirus’s reasoning. Ky was a soldier and thought like one. It allowed him to be sneaky when he needed to, trying to stay one step ahead of the other side, but Ramirus was on a whole different level.

He pointed out that it wasn’t enough to just keep the area where the trap was supposed to be sprung clear, since that created an intelligence blind spot. A smart strategist would notice that blind spot and surmise there was a reason the other side worked so hard to keep intelligence getting out from there. That would make a smart commander wary, and possibly give away the game.

Since they couldn’t help but create an intelligence blind spot, because actual intelligence of the area would be worse than a blind spot, the only solution was to create additional blind spots. This would require quite a bit of manpower, since even after moving out the people who lived in the area, they’d have to do continual sweeps to make sure no one got into the area to investigate. He went on to say that the Carthaginians would probably realize that’s what was happening and that one of the spots would be the real thing that the Romans were hiding, but that also couldn’t be helped.

Ky’s brain reeled at the complex schemes and counter schemes in Ramirus’s brain, but he couldn’t argue with the man’s logic when he laid it out. Besides the chance they were going to make more citizens unhappy, and possibly push them over into the arms of the malcontents still hiding in the shadows, their real problem of making this happen was manpower.

The praetorians had no more reserves or men in training to pull from, and they’d already stretched the men in the field as far as they could, reducing the manpower in patrols and extending the distances those patrols had to cover. Faenius had already been complaining that his men were stretched too thin. Ramirus suggested the idea of using some of the Caledonians, especially the new arrivals who hadn’t had time to train with the Romans, making them only useful in the blocking forces or as reserves, but Ky nixed that idea.

Just as it had been on the other side of the border, the Alliance was still in its infancy and vulnerable. Using Caledonians to disrupt Roman lives would make those Romans even more set against the Alliance. Ky eventually came up with a compromise. He’d talk to Llassar and get some of those Caledonians temporarily assigned to Faenius, who could use them to swap out parts of his existing patrols, especially along the border, and have the Romans freed up from that swap form new units that would go about the unpleasant task of removing civilians from the designated intelligence blackout areas. They could also use Caledonians to help patrol those areas once the deed was done.

Ky had also walked Ramirus through the possible options of what they would do next. If they defeated the Carthaginians, they couldn’t wait while they came up with their next plan, since it would just give their enemy time to build new forces. And there was no use planning if they lost, because that would mean the end of the bulk of Roman and Caledonian forces, which would also mean the end of both of those civilizations.

Ky knew that their next target, when they won, was to take Londinium and clear the country of Carthaginians. If they were successful in doing that, it would mean that the Britannic Empire would be assured of its long-term survival. Because the Empire was based on an island, any invaders would have the added difficulty of landing troops before they could take on the Empire’s armies. That had been doable before, because the Romans were a Mediterranean people who weren’t particularly well suited to patrolling and defending the harsher Atlantic. Ky could change that with the introduction of new methods of boat building, new navigational tools, and new methods of sailing. It wouldn’t take much in the way of new methods, for the Romans to outclass the Carthaginians on the sea, because they were also Mediterranean peoples.

Of course, first, the Romans had to secure the island, which meant dealing with Londinium. Even if they completely destroyed this army, there were still a lot of defenders in Londinium, which was well defended with high curtain walls and heavy catapults. Even with the advancements in siege equipment Ky could supply, it would be costly in men and material to break through the defenses, and the Carthaginians would have time to reinforce again. Ky had some ideas of how to best these challenges, but he needed Ramirus to gather some information before he could be sure, and that would take time, which was something the Romans didn’t have a lot of, even if he wasn’t counting the coming battle.

Overall, he was happy with how his meeting with Ramirus went. The spymaster had brought up good points that would help make sure Ky’s plan for the coming battle succeeded and they were able to get the initial stages of what came next worked out.

Ky had just laid down and closed his eyes when a banging at his door. His men were usually pretty good about keeping everyone but Lucilla or the Emperor from bothering him when he needed to rest, unless it was a true emergency, so the urgency of the banging had Ky up and across the room, flinging the door open in seconds.

“There’s a massive fire in the industrial district, my lord,” Carus said as soon as the door opened, looking worried.

In modern times, this would have been something dealt with by local fire brigades and wouldn’t have escalated to the higher levels of government, but in ancient times where the buildings were all built of wood and packed close together, a fire in the city could mean massive devastation and death.

Ky couldn’t help but think of the fire in Rome under Emperor Nero he’d read about in Sophus’s files. Although this reality would never meet Nero or experience his fiddling while Rome burned, it was still a cautionary tale of the dangers a fire like that could pose.

“How bad is it? Are the fire brigades out?”

“They are and the praetorians are rallying now. I sent a man down to find out how the efforts to contain it are, and dispatched some of the palace guards and staff to help fight the blaze, but there is a bigger concern. The fire is at the main warehouse where Hortensius was collecting the arcuballista to be handed out to the citizen militia.”

“Damnit,” Ky said.

This meant the fire wasn’t an accident. Someone, either a Carthaginian agent or one of the malcontents still hiding after the failed insurrection was trying to strike directly at Rome’s ability to defend itself. They might not know of Ky’s plan, but so many citizens had been put through training with the new weapons for everyone to realize how important they are and that they were going to be used to fight the Carthaginians.

“How bad are the losses?” Ky said, pushing through the door and walking quickly through the palace, forcing Carus and his guards to scramble to keep up.

“From what I’m hearing, we are going to lose the entire warehouse and everything inside.”

“Damnit,” Ky said again.

This was very bad and had a chance to completely derail their battle plans. Without the citizen militia and the weight of volleys they could bring to the Carthaginians, it would be all but impossible for the front-line forces to contain the huge mass of Carthaginians for long. He was relying on the damage these new weapons could do both in actual damage to the forces themselves and in psychological damage. If he could get enough Carthaginians to surrender, the entire line would crumble. Rome still had a lot of fighting to do after this battle and could not afford to have large casualties defeating this one army. At least not if they were then going to go on to take Londinium.

Ky didn’t bother getting a horse and ran through the streets, although he kept it at a human pace so his guards could keep up. Lucilla must have been notified at the same time, because he noticed her guards just before she appeared next to him, breathing hard to keep up.

She wasn’t wearing her normal Stola and Palla, with their fine embroidered edging and the Palla’s elegant drape that added an almost toga-like appearance to the simpler Stola, marking her as a higher-class woman. Instead, she wore a simple Tunic that she must have slept it.

Even with the nanites that Sophus had reintroduced into her system, she struggled to keep up with Ky, as were the rest of the guards. He didn’t dare slow down, since even if it was slight, there was a chance that he might be able to help save some of their supplies.

That hope died as soon as they rounded a corner onto the street holding the warehouse and saw the blaze in person. The warehouse was very large, even by Roman standards, and completely engulfed in flames. Several nearby buildings had also caught flame and long bucket lines were throwing water on the flames as fast as they could, barely able to contain it. Already men with axes and sledgehammers were starting to destroy buildings on either side of the blaze, trying to create a fire break to keep the fire at least contained.

“Is there anything we have on us that we could use to get this fire out faster?” Ky asked Sophus internally.

“No, Commander.”

“Is there anything in your records of technical files we could use to extinguish this fire?”

“No, Commander. There are better methods of firefighting using current or achievable technology, all of which would have needed significant preparation and construction beforehand. The most effective method now is to create enough of a fire break to limit the fires spread and keep the nearby buildings wetted to prevent sparks and embers from setting buildings alight.”

“Damnit,” Ky said, out loud.

He’d tried to think of everything he should set up to get Rome ready for industrialization, and he’d somehow overlooked advancing the way ancient people fought fire. He mentally kicked himself. Even without sabotage, industrialization increased the chances for fires as more machinery came into use, so he should have thought about that and set up something. It wouldn’t have taken much technological advancement to set up manually operated pumps connected to wheeled water cisterns, allowing more water to be moved and applied at a time. It was too late for any of that.

“Lucilla, get people together and have them start throwing water on the nearby buildings. Carus, we’re going to help clear a fire break.”

Lucilla nodded and ran off, her guard in tow, to begin her task. Maddeningly, Carus did not follow suit.

“My lord, there are too many people here, it isn’t safe. Whoever set his fire could still be nearby. If they are, they will use this as a distraction to make an attempt on you.”

“I’m not that easy to kill. Keep one man on guard, watching my back. Everyone else pitches in to help. Send someone for the rest of Lucilla and my guard force and any free hands to come and help. Draft civilians to come if you have to. We have to clear a complete fire break around the warehouse.”

“Consul, you can have people do that without being directly involved.”

Ky ignored Carus and went to one of the men with a sledgehammer, taking the tool from the surprised man, who released it and stepped back when he saw who it was.

Stepping back, Ky swung as hard as he could, the metal head of the sledgehammer smashing through the side of a wall in one go. Sophus highlighted a second section of wall, adjusting for the supporting weight and indicating the safest location for Ky to stand. The second swing took out another chunk of the building, which was enough to cause the wall to collapse completely. As soon as it went, the corner and wall next to it also fell as it lost integrity. Thanks to his enhanced muscles and Sophus’s directions, Ky had taken down a third of a building with two swings. Admittedly, large proportions had already been demolished by the men working on the building, but the demonstration was effective nonetheless.

“That’s why I need to be involved,” Ky said to Carus before turning back to his task, leaving Carus to make his own mind up if he was going to help or not.

It took almost two hours and the destruction of another row of buildings on the west side of the warehouse where the fire managed to spread before they could extend the firebreak.

Once the fire had finally burned out and smoking ruins were all that remained of the warehouse packed with supplies for the legions, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Every building in an almost hundred-yard radius, and in one side stretching another fifty yards beyond that, were flattened into piles of debris. Some of that debris was also blackened and smoking from where the fire had gotten into the smashed timber of the houses.

Ky drafted several local officials and a senator who’d come to rubberneck at the destruction into helping find places for the displaced citizens whose homes were caught up in the destruction. There had been some slight protest until Lucilla reminded them of their responsibility, and how hard it would be to maintain their positions when the Emperor and the Consul both supported whoever decided to stand against them in the next elections.

Although it was a little more heavy-handed than how Ky would have chosen to convince them to help, he had to admit it was effective.

“This is going to make things harder,” Lucilla said as they made their way back to the palace, although slower this time.

“It will, although it’s not going to be the death blow I think whoever set the fire hoped it would be. I’ll speak with Hortensius in the morning, but he was already retooling assembly factories to a faster, more efficient process and had committed to opening three more by next week. I’d hoped the ramped-up production would put us enough ahead of target to be able to increase the civilian auxiliary for the battle and maybe even arm patrols along the southern border, but even without that, this won’t alter the plan. The increased auxiliary would have helped lower our casualty numbers, but it wasn’t a tipping point. If the Carthaginians fall into our trap, we have a chance of winning and if they don’t, we will be lost, regardless of how many auxiliaries we have.”

“That’s good news, at least. It’s a little disconcerting how easily they were able to get to the warehouse and set it on fire.”

“I should have seen it coming. We’ve had to pull a lot of the patrols in the city so we could supplement our security forces along the border. I knew we were taking a calculated risk when I’d agreed to pull some of the security we’d put on factories and warehouses, but I guess I was just hoping we’d be lucky. It’s going to get worse, since I authorized more of the praetorians who’d been assigned as city guardsmen to transfer to the patrols in the south. If anything, we’re going to be more vulnerable once those men start pulling out.”

“So, we can expect more of this?”

“Yes, and it will be inconvenient and probably get some innocent people killed, but it’s not going to have the effect the arsonists hope it will. We’re close enough now that we’ve already got most of the supplies we’re going to need for the battle being staged outside of town, and under guard by the legions themselves. I’ll talk to Hortensius about having military supplies shipped to the legions daily, including supplies for the civilian auxiliary. It’ll make his logistics harder, but he’s resourceful. I have faith he’ll come through.”

Lucilla nodded but didn’t say anything else. He could feel her walking close to him, the warmth from her body pushing away the cold night air. She didn’t touch him or hold his hand like they sometimes did when walking in more private settings. Although it was very late and there weren’t people on the street, aside from a handful returning from looking at the warehouse fire, that kind of casual display was still frowned upon by the upper echelons of society.

Ky didn’t particularly care what other people thought, but being dumped into a foreign civilization like this and spending a lot of time in a third society with its own social norms was teaching Ky to respect the social pressures people could feel. He was just glad she was there, next to him.

Of course, as seemed to be true with every private moment between then, the needs of the state seemed to take precedence over their personal needs.

“There was something I was talking to Ramirus about earlier this evening I’d like your thoughts on.”

“You can have them,” she said, smiling up at him.

“We’ve done everything we can to prepare for the coming battle aside from moving the pieces into their final places and actually fighting it. We need to start looking forward, beyond our immediate survival.”

“I agree.”

“Good, because I am having trouble seeing how to get around our biggest problem. We’ve put the entire efforts of both the Roman and Caledonians towards fighting this one army, and are still fighting at serious odds. Our problem is that, while this represents a titanic effort on our part, it’s a secondary concern for the Carthaginians, who are more focused on their last efforts to pacify Germania and deal with uprisings in the east. Once we push the Carthaginians out of Britannia, we will draw more of their attention. Your ancestors fought in Hispania, where you had five times the legions that were still smashed by numbers that dwarf what we will face here.”

“Isn’t that where your innovations and new technologies come in?”

“To a degree, although we are still quite a ways from the force multipliers we will eventually need. Even with those, we will need more of a force to multiply if we’re going to take the fight off the islands and to the Carthaginians.”

“Knowing you, I’m assuming you aren’t bringing this up just to vent, and you have something specific in mind.”

“I do, in fact,” he said, smiling down at her.

He enjoyed how well she was getting to know him. It felt oddly comforting that she could predict him so easily.

“Don’t leave me in suspense,” she said, returning the smile.

“When I originally talked about the need to construct the alliance between Rome and the Caledonians in a way that would allow others to join us, it had been abstract. An eventuality that I knew we’d probably need, but one I didn’t have specific plans for.”

“But you have plans for it now?”

“Yes. What do you know about Hibernia,” Ky said, invoking the Roman name for the island that, in his time, would have been called Ireland?

“A land of primitive tribes, mostly herders and farmers. They have sometimes raided across the sea separating us and there is the occasional trader. Although they deal with the Caledonians more than us, since there are some familial ties and the ocean is narrowest between their lands.”

“That was about what Ramirus had to say when we spoke, except he added that sources inside Londinium have notified him that the Carthaginians have begun setting up bases to operate out of in the south of Hibernia and on a small island between it and Britannica. It’s unclear what the collection of men and material in southern Hibernia is for, since, as you said, there isn’t much outside of farmers and herders. There are few industrial centers to control and a large open hinterland and spread-out people that will require a not-insubstantial amount of men to control. The island between us, however, seems like an ideal place to launch raids and potentially even a seaward invasion into Roman lands. With both, however, they are going to be a threat to them, which makes them potential allies and an additional source of manpower. The problem is, we have little information about them and Ramirus has no contacts with them at all. I’m thinking of how to best send a messenger to Talogren, since their closer relations might mean he has more knowledge about them, but this isn’t the kind of conversation that works well through messengers.”

“I think I might have an idea?”

“Really?”

“Yes. Llassar should know how we can best approach them, or know who could tell us. He’s involved in everything Talogren has done, so if Talogren knows, Llassar will know. You need to focus on the battle and the Carthaginians. I know what you need to have happen.”

“Are you sure?”

“You trusted me to be your voice while you were up north. Yes, I know that was partially because you had access to me through the communicator, so you could still have some decision making, but I’d like to think it was also because you trusted me to make decisions you’d support.”

“It was, and you did better than I could possibly have done with keeping the alliance together. I am just thinking that beyond the language barrier, they are going to want to negotiate with someone who has the power to make guarantees they can believe,” Ky said.

“We’ve already established there have been traders from Hibernia who’ve made contact with both the Romans and the Caledonians. That means there has to be some people who speak both languages. As for making deals, we’re only making contact. They can arrange for some kind of negotiators to either travel here or come back and arrange for our people to go there. You aren’t the only one who can make deals, especially for the new Empire, where the Caledonians have an equal say and so must be made part of any diplomatic mission. I know you have knowledge and abilities far beyond anything we’ve ever encountered, but you said yourself that you were a soldier and not a politician before you came here. I have been doing this since I could walk. Politics and diplomacy have quite literally been my entire life. You wisely set up the framework and rules by which any new members of the Empire would join. Trust us to follow that framework.”

“She is correct, Commander. You are needed here and cannot afford the time it takes to travel to Ireland, let alone negotiate treaties or additional alliances. Lucilla has the same abilities and can select an ambassador to send to the proto-Irish as well as you could. I believe this would be covered in the delegating you have previously said you needed to do more of, to keep from being a bottleneck in your plans to build an industrialized society here.”

Ky could see confusion cross Lucilla’s face as Sophus identified Ireland by its modern name, but wasn’t surprised that she brushed it off and continued to stare him down, one eyebrow going up as Sophus sided with her. She was tenacious and a little thing like a language barrier wouldn’t distract her from what she wanted to do.

“I wasn’t trying to suggest you would be any way incapable or less qualified than I would be to do this, and of course, you’re both right. I leave this in your capable hands. Talk to Llassar and make it happen. Just remember that by the end of the summer I hope to have control of Londinium and we will need to have some kind of agreement in place for what comes next.”

“What does come next?” Lucilla asked.

“We take the fight to the Carthaginians,” Ky said, a smile crossing his lips.