Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 01] The Sword of Cartimandua (30 page)

Ulpius rested his mount as he watched the progress of the legionaries. They were an impressive sight. Their short stabbing swords made light work of the unarmoured Carvetii.  He could see the decurion princeps calmly surveying his men as they moved inexorably forward. Few of the tribesmen had helmets and even fewer had armour whilst their blows were taken on stout shields and iron helms. Suddenly Ulpius was aware that a mounted man was ordering them back and they began to fall quickly back. The warrior had organised some archers whose arrows although not causing casualties slowed down the legionaries. This was as he had expected but then disaster struck. Ulpius saw the Carvetii leader charge Lucius Emprenius in the flank. The decurion had lost the cohesion of his line and they were bowled back towards the stream. The warriors closest took advantage and began hacking at the legs of the horses.

Ulpius turned to his two turmae. “To me! Three lines.” His men formed behind him ten men wide and three deep. “Charge!” The brief rest had allowed his mounts to regain their wind and they hit the bodyguard of Woolgar in the flank.  Ulpius’ mighty sword flashed death as he carved a path through warriors eager to destroy Lucius’ men. Soon all order was lost and the cavalry were enmeshed and embroiled on all sides. Swords and spears flashed as every man fought for survival.

In the centre Aetre had extracted most of the men and there was now a gap between them and the legionaries. He kept berating those warriors who would have returned to the fray. It was vital that they retreated to the narrows close to the lake and the steep hillside. Gradually they edged their way back and soon there was a noticeable gap between his men and the Romans who were now approaching the more uneven ground which would break up their formation.

On the right Marcus had halted his horses as they were blown. He looked around to see which of his men had survived. Both Decius and Gaius were with him although he could see a tendril of blood dripping slowly from a wound on Gaius’ arm and both men were afoot. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of horses hacked down as the barbarians tried to get to grips with their riders. For a cavalryman it was one of the saddest sights they could ever witness. The horses of the turmae were snorting heavily and they were looking weary.

Woolgar could see this from his mount and he suddenly shouted to his men. “Withdraw!” Leaving many of his blood kin in a wall around him Woolgar took his bloodied and blood soaked survivors back towards the bulk of his army. Although they had lost many men they still outnumbered the Romans.

Decius Brutus had taken this lull to bring up his bolt throwers and they began to hurl death at the retreating tribesmen. This was what his men did well. He roared. “Forward!” and the cohort once more began its relentless pursuit of the enemy.

Ulpius Felix sheathed his sword and trotted Raven over to the legionary who was ordering his lines. “You and your men did well centurion.”

“Aye we have only lost one or two men but this ground is no good for us; it is too rough.”

Before them the ground was littered with large pieces of rock, scrubby trees and bushes. The enemy were forming up again with their flanks protected by water and the steep hillsides.

“Now is the time to wear them down. The longer we hold them here the more time that Orrick will have to attack them in the rear. Have more bolts brought up let us see if they have the will to take the punishment.”

The centurion nodded and began to organise his men. The bolt throwers were placed either side of the cohort so that the men could retreat behind the cohort in the case of a sudden attack. Ulpius turned to Julius Augustus. “Lucius was wounded in the last attack. Take charge here. Send the wounded back to the fort and watch out for sudden attacks.” Dismounting he led his mount over to Marcus and his troopers.  He could see that his young deputy had dismounted his men. “Well done men! Be vigilant the day is not yet ours.” The men gave a tired cheer and Ulpius drew the centurion to one side. “Send any wounded back to the fort. It will bolster their defences. How many men did you lose?”

Looking around briefly to confirm the numbers he said, “Eight dead and four wounded enough to merit a trip back to the fort. The rest would not thank me for taking them away.”

“Good. I had thought that we would have ended the day victorious but they have a wiser head commanding than we are used to. It will be a slog. Our legionaries will batter at the enemy and I will send a patrol along the stream to see if we can flank them.”

Marcus shook his head. “The stream leads to the lake and there is no path this side. The path on the hillside is steep and dangerous we would not be able to travel swiftly. I fear that the only way is through this narrow pass.”

“Then we will have to rely on our foot soldiers. Rest your men but be alert. I do not think they will attack but you never know with these warriors.  They may decide to make a death or glory charge.”

Woolgar was also consulting with his lieutenants. They had not emerged with as few casualties as the Romans.  Many of his best warriors had perished in the initial attack and the charge of his blood kin had also resulted in many of his better armed and experienced warriors dying. The warband remained intact but they were not as solid and controlled as their well trained and disciplined opponents.

The leader was being given a variety of opinions.

“Let us attack now for we are being slaughtered by these machines.”

“I say we retreat to the head of the lake and ambush them.”

“Let me take me warriors up the stream to attack from their rear.”

“Silence you are chattering women!”

Even as they spoke they heard the screams as the bolts flew through his ranks slaughtering whole files of them as they stood awaiting the next order to charge for they were so enraged that all they could think of was a charge to destroy these heartless machines which had made the battlefield a sea of blood.

“My lord our men are being killed here, we need to move to somewhere they cannot attack us with those devilish weapons.” Aetre was no coward but he hated to watch men dying without being able to strike back.  Their voices were pleading with the young leader to be allowed to fight, to attack and avenge their horrendous losses. Already another thirty men had been killed or wounded as they vacillated.

“You are right but the minute we retreat those horsemen will be upon us.”

Aetre looked up at the scrubby trees around them. “We have axes a plenty why not cut down a barrier. They would have to move it and that would give us enough time.”

Woolgar slapped his nephew on the shoulder. “That is why you will lead this band one day nephew.  You think.” He turned to his blood kin. Cut down trees and build a barrier in front of our men.”

The bolt throwers continued to take a heavy toll on the lightly armoured tribesmen.  As the wood barrier began to form there were less and Ulpius walked over to Decius Brutus. “Our native friends are becoming cleverer.”

“Yes and no for it means we can assault them without risk of a sudden sortie. We will prepare our attack. Are your horsemen ready commander?”

“Yes they are rested.” The cavalry leader looked around at the reformed turmae.  They were now down to seven effective turmae but Ulpius knew there were at least thirty men back in the fort that would soon be able to rejoin. He could see that they had made the barrier the height of a man.  It was time to attack. “Centurion, begin your attack.” It would take them some minutes to reach the barrier and the bolt throwers were already being dismantled in preparation for the next attack. “Mount. Single column.” The narrow pass meant that they would have to follow the legionaries in a much narrower formation than they would have liked but Ulpius was pleased with the way his troopers had grown and developed into this team.

The legionaries at the front of column moved slowly to keep their formation intact. The last thing they wanted was for a shield to slip and allow the enemy inside.  They braced themselves for the onslaught of missiles which they knew would come and this was made worse by the fact that all that they could see was a wall of wood looming ever larger. Suddenly the arrows, stones and javelins began to shower down. There was a scream of pain and the centurion shouted. “Close ranks! Do not stop for wounded men.” It was vital that their momentum continued and as long as they marched shoulder to shoulder, shield to shield there was little damage that could be done to them. Decius Brutus hoped that the weight of men would demolish the barrier and he needed the speed he could muster. Men continued to cry in pain as the missiles began to strike home and the legionary leader could see that they were but a few paces from the wall. “Charge!” They hit the wall with the power of a hundred men but the barrier held for the Carvetii had braced it with more logs which were partially embedded in the ground. The missiles now began to take casualties as the tribesmen fired from many paces behind the barrier.

Ulpius recognised the problem and he called to Marcus.  “Take your archers, shoot over the barrier and clear those tribesmen.”

By the time that the obstacle had been cleared and the threat of archers removed the tribesmen were long gone. Their task had been to slow up the enemy and they are gone as soon as they had loosed their missiles. They had learned from their Roman enemies and mounted their archers. Ulpius surveyed the battlefield.  They were not in a position to successfully pursue the defeated tribesmen but Ulpius needed them to be looking behind rather than forward in the hope that Orrick would be able to complete his ambush. He called over to Esca. “Bring your best men. Marcus take charge here and then give me your turma, Decius Brutus remove the barrier and strengthen the tower I will follow the enemy. We do not want them to return.”

Esca and Marcus came over to him. It was Marcus who spoke first. “I will follow them commander. “

“You could follow them Marcus but Esca and Orrick would like to see the sword of Cartimandua wielded would you not?”

The Brigante nodded. “The sword is worth a hundred men.”

“Aye well start your men down the pass and I will follow with my men. Be watchful for ambushes.  Their leaders are too clever by half.” As he loped off Ulpius turned to Marcus.  “I mean you no slight decurion for you could do the task as well as I but this is more than a skirmish we need the Brigante to fight for their land not as mercenaries but as brothers in arms.  The sword will do that for with the queen dead it is the symbol of Brigantia. If we can defeat the Carvetii I have hopes that more tribesmen will come to join us and that gives us our only chance of success for if Venutius brings his whole army we will be defeated.” Marcus nodded. “One thing still rankles. Find out from the two men who survived the tower how they believe the enemy was able to get past them.  I do not want a repeat of that disaster. If it were not for their survival and quick thinking we could have suffered ever greater losses.”

Orrick had reached the neck of land between the lakes as the battle was raging near to the tower. His scouts reported Woolgar’ messenger heading north but were unable to stop him. He knew this area well and the thin, spindly copse would hide his men. He sent thirty archers to the opposite hillside as the enemy was not in sight it would give them the chance to climb high enough to be safe from an attack. Orrick turned to his men. “At last we have a chance to strike back at the deceitful Venutius by destroying this warband.  I have no doubt that our Roman friends will defeat them and they must return by this path. You will await my signal to attack.  I want to trap them between us and Ulpius. Now hide and rest but be vigilant.”

They were too far from the battlefield to hear anything and the late winter morning was silent so it was that they heard the first wounded stragglers dragging themselves towards their camp. Orrick wondered, as he signed for his men to remain hidden, if he could have attacked their camp but he dismissed the thought as soon as it entered his head for the camp would be fortified and he might not have reached it, no the Roman barbarian had been right.  Suddenly they heard the tramp of a larger number of men and the whole of the Brigante force tensed as they sensed they would soon be embroiled in a deadly conflict.  Orrick was in the middle of the ambush and he waited until he had counted fifty men pass him. Then with a scream of Brigante invective he launched himself at a warrior with a chieftain’s torc. His sword sliced through the shoulder of the grey haired leader who died almost without knowing they were being attacked. As the ones further away from the assault turned to face their attacker they found arrows raining down on their unprotected backs. Orrick felt immortal as his sword sliced through thin leather and damaged shields his enemies falling away before him.  The momentum could not last for the Carvetii outnumbered them three to one and soon his men began to fall.  On the other side of the path Carvetii archers were picking off the hidden Brigante.

A voice boomed out. “Brigante bandit face a real man” and he found himself facing Earl Woolgar who was dressed in mail with a mighty helm upon his head. Undaunted the younger warrior leapt forward and slashed at his opponent’s head. A shield blocked it and Orrick barely had tome to raise his shield as the axe hammered down chipping pieces of metal and would. Before he had time to counter Woolgar backhanded the hammer end of the axe and it jarred against Orrick’ arm making it slightly numb. Earl Woolgar then used the boss of his shield to punch Orrick in the face. As he stumbled backward the last thing he saw before oblivion took him was the axe head slicing down. The blow was so powerful it split not only the warrior’s head but the top half of his body.

The day would have been even worse for the Brigante had not Aetre suddenly shouted. “The Romans they are right behind us!”

Woolgar turned to his blood kin. “Hold the pass! We will meet in the afterlife.” His blood kin gave a mighty cheer and turned to make a shield wall before the oncoming soldiers. Leaving the remaining Brigante who were still engaged in combat Woolgar and Aetre took his men through the narrow part of the pass and into the wider land between the lakes.