The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 12

Northern Germania

“They’re all like this?” Ky asked, looking across the Rhine from the small hilltop they stood upon at what had once been a small village.

Dark plumes of smoke curled from the charred ruins and even from here, Ky could see bodies littering the ground, with no one left alive to bury them.

“The ones our people have actually seen, yes,” Bomilcar said. “There are tales of more villages deeper inside Carthaginian territory getting the same fate or worse, since this was a raiding party and those were hit by full detachments from their armies. At least this is our understanding based on the stories we’ve heard from the handful of people who’ve managed to escape and run north.”

“They’re fighting to rule an area where they leave no people alive. What’s the point?”

“‘Lives are cheap’ is a common saying among the emperor and his cronies. This was a common sentiment even toward my own people, but especially towards barbarians, which to the emperor is everyone who isn’t a Carthaginian. If they win, they’ll just bring people in from other areas they control and force them to settle here and work the land. There is some good news, at least. Since this was a smaller raiding party, a fair number of people escaped and made it to neighboring villages. They’ll be able to rebuild.”

“Come back to where their families and neighbors were murdered? I’m not sure they’d consider that good news.”

“It’s better than the alternative,” Bomilcar pointed out. “And it’s better than my other news. Our scouts have followed the trail of the Carthaginians. They crossed the river and are headed toward an Istvaeones village.”

“Damn,” Ky muttered.

“So far, the destroyed villages had been in areas still controlled by the Carthaginians, or at least in contested areas like the one we’re looking at. If their raiders are headed toward an Istvaeones village, it will be the first time they attack one of their allies.”

“I’ve sent riders to warn the village, but most of the Istvaeones men have already left our camps to return to their villages and get their families to safety,” Bomilcar said, his expression grim. “They make up a significant portion of our raiding forces, which is going to slow our disruption of Carthaginian supply lines. I believe they intend to bring not just their families, but everyone they find to the north, abandoning their villages.”

“In that kind of a hurry to escape, they won’t be able to carry much, which means we’re going to have to take them in as refugees. Some of the villages further north might take them in, but they’re all short on supplies as well and the harvest is still two months away. They won’t be able to feed all their people and care for the refugees too.”

“We don’t have the resources to handle them either,” Bomilcar pointed out.

“I know. Send a rider back to the coast with a message explaining what’s going on and arranging to have as much food and clothing as possible shipped to us. Also, have Valdar’s merchants start trying to buy what they can and deliver it here. Lurio’s going to have a stroke trying to find an additional money source to support this request, but Lucilla will see that it is taken care of.”

Ky would actually message her as soon as they rode away from the scene and he had a quiet moment alone, but they had a fiction to maintain which meant sending a runner with the request. At least with the advance warning, she could start getting the supplies together, maybe even send Valdar’s ship early saying it was based on her intuition.

It would still take time and they’d be stretched very thin until additional supplies arrived. They’d set out to make the Carthaginians struggle to keep their men fed and somehow, the Carthaginians had managed to turn the tables on them. Of course, the Carthaginians didn’t have to worry about feeding and protecting civilians, so all they were concerned about was their own army.

“We can’t stay on the defensive like this,” Ky said at last. “With our raids slowing, they’ll be able to increase how quickly they can build up forces while we have to divert rations from our men to feed civilians. Every day that passes we’ll get weaker and they’ll get stronger.”

“We still don’t have enough rifles to equip all of the men. Velius got the last shipment, which gives us only two equipped legions, not counting the muskets we handed out. Our supply of gunpowder is also lower than I’d like. The last shipments have been very light.”

“I know,” Ky said, thinking hard.

He didn’t disagree with Lucilla’s decision to transfer some of the gunpowder from his forces to Valdar. The Carthaginians had such a massive advantage in manpower, they could just keep throwing men at him, whittling away at him, unless he did something to slow down their reinforcements. Valdar was their only real shot at doing that.

“Which means we need to change our tactics,” Bomilcar said.

“That sounds like you already have something in mind.”

“I do. I didn’t disagree with your original plan to use hit-and-run tactics. Considering the disparity in manpower and the fact that most of our men are still not armed with rifles, it was the prudent thing to do. Especially during winter while we were still training our allies and consolidating forces. We can’t continue this tactic forever. No one has ever won picking at an opponent, slowly whittling away at them until they gave up, and we’re not going to win that way here.”

That might have been true in ancient times, but there had been points in history where guerrilla warfare worked, with the attacker eventually giving up and going home. Of course, there were just as many times, like the moon colony rebellion, when the other side giving up meant leveling every settlement and making the area uninhabitable before they left. Of course, that wasn’t really possible with the current level of technology and it didn’t make Bomilcar’s point any less valid.

“So instead of using allies to hit and raid, what should we do?” Ky asked.

He’d actually already gone over some plans with Sophus, but none had jumped out at him yet. Sophus was invaluable and his ability to process tactical data was unmatched, at least in this era, but sentience had not come with the human ability to imagine and think outside the box.

“Instead of hit and run, we need to hit them directly. Draw them into open battle where our new rifles would give us an advantage. If we can funnel their army into a trap, we could decimate them with a single blow. Right now, the Carthaginian army is advancing along the Rhine toward the Istvaeones villages. If we position our forces to the southeast, we can lure them into the hilly country between the Rhine and Visurgis rivers.”

“That plan has some risks,” Ky said. “The land there isn’t as mountainous as where we’ve been fighting. Yes, it’s broken up by a lot of smaller rivers, but it’s heavily wooded, which negates our advantages. We won’t have clear lines of sight for our guns, which will allow them to get on top of us faster.”

“That’s true, but there are some clear areas and our people know exactly where those are. We can use the rivers to slow them down and keep them from outflanking us, hit them, and then pull back to the next one. If they try and pass us, instead of using the musket-armed tribes for raiding, we use them to pick at the edges of the enemy forces while they’re moving through the forest. Their mounted units won’t be able to run our people down and they won’t be able to mass their archers. They’ll have to turn to face the threat, at which point our allies pull back, bringing the Carthaginians against our main body, which is set up and focused on where they’ll emerge from the trees. With our cannons and rifles, we can tear them apart and then pull back and do it again.”

“We’d have to choose our ground very carefully. We need to find areas that are both open to attack and have rivers close enough to keep them from flanking us, which would also help us break contact as they get close.”

“I’ve already picked several spots on their line of advance.”

Ky considered his plan. They were short on rifles and gunpowder, and running low on either would put them in a dangerous position. They were also outnumbered, although not as badly as they had been in the past, since the bulk of the new Carthaginian forces were still near the Mediterranean. Still, they couldn’t just keep waiting on supplies before attacking, not while the Carthaginians were threatening their new allies. They’d promised these tribes protection, and if they failed the first time one of the tribes was threatened, it would make any future promises that much weaker.

“Alright, let’s start moving. Have the legions break camp and get ready to march. You’re going to need to talk to the auxiliaries though. I’ve gone on enough of the raids now to see firsthand how … energetic some of these tribesmen can be. It’s imperative for them to know that they have a specific job, and that they can’t just engage in all-out combat. If they don’t break off, all we’ll end up doing is losing their men without drawing the enemy into our attack.”

“I know,” Bomilcar said. “I’ve already talked to some of them, and I think they’ve had enough experience with the muskets to start to appreciate the advantage that they provide, but I’ll continue to work with them as we move into position. I think they’re capable of more tactical thinking than a lot of us give them credit for. It’s one of the reasons I think this will work. The Carthaginians do not expect that kind of undertaking from them. They expect frontal assaults and retreats, and not much else. It will take some time for them to adapt to a change in the way the Germanic tribes fight, which is why I think this will work. If they see our men falling back, they will assume it’s a retreat and will follow to crush them.”

“I hope so,” Ky said as he turned his horse away from the burning village. “For all our sakes.”

***

Lucilla was running late. That morning’s audiences had run long. As more migration continued into Roman territory, both from inside the Empire and those fleeing from the continent, friction between Romans and the new immigrants was on the rise. She had hoped that as the rate slowed, mostly because far fewer Germanics were immigrating, tensions would ease up. Instead, it seemed to be going the other way, with people taking what should have been petty disputes and escalating them to the point where the Empire itself had to be involved.

She had managed to settle most of the disputes and finish listening to all of her petitioners for the day, but she still had what was bound to be a quarrelsome meeting with Lurio to deal with. Ky had contacted her late the evening before with more troubling news. Beyond the need to find the supplies he was requesting, which in itself wasn’t an easy task, she also had to find money for the new workers’ camp, the increase in expenditures for better rations for prisoners they put to work, and money for all the building supplies for the new factories. Their resources were stretched incredibly thin, which Lurio reminded her about every time she met with him.

She was just starting to leave to meet him in her offices when a commotion at the chamber doors drew her attention. She could hear raised voices outside the doorway as her assistant Gaius entered, the look on his face telling her he had something to report.

“What’s going on out there?” she asked.

“Praetorian Faenius is outside and wants to meet with you. He says it’s urgent and can’t wait,” the young man responded.

Although technically all of her guards were members of the Praetorian Guard, they took their duty very seriously and let no one in her presence without her approval, not even their nominal commander. Of course, that might be because most of her guards had been made Praetorians only recently as part of a reorganization of the Empire to put all internal security under that organization. Her men had been protecting her for much longer than that and felt more personal loyalty to her than to the Praetorians. Not that she minded. While she knew Ramirus screened everyone accepted into the Guard closely and she trusted Faenius, many a ruler had been deposed by his own army, which is why the Praetorians had been formed in the first place. Now that they had a different mission, it was a little comforting to know she still had people whose sole responsibility was protecting her from the growing list of people who wanted to see her dead.

“Let him in,” she commanded.

Gaius bowed and opened the door, saying a few quick words to the two men on the other side, who parted, admitting Faenius. The Praetorian swept into the room, his expression equal parts annoyance, probably at being kept waiting, and worried determination. One of the things she liked about the Praetorian was that he wasn’t easily flustered, which was why it was notable to see him look troubled.

Approaching the dais and giving a slight bow, “Your Majesty, I apologize for the interruption, but a matter of some urgency has come to my attention.”

At her gesture for him to continue, he said, “There was an incident this morning with the Flamen Dialis in one of the city markets. He was aggressively denouncing your recent policies allowing more immigrants into the city to a crowd of almost two hundred people. He called for violence in all but name against the ‘foreign influence destroying our city,’ as he put it. His words incensed the crowd, which began to grow violent. Several had to be forcibly dispersed and others arrested by my men.”

She knew many Romans still viewed even the Caledonians and Ulaid with suspicion, as well as the growing number of Germanics that had been entering the country. It had been one of the points the insurrectionists had used to try and build a wedge in the new Empire. She’d hoped that view had died with the last of the insurrectionists, but the sentiment had taken root. More troubling was that Vesnius was involved. She’d hoped he would take her previous words more seriously and back away from his dangerous rhetoric, but clearly, he had not. Unlike the insurrectionists, who were generally in disfavor after the destruction in Devnum, the Flamen Dialis wielded significant influence over the populace. His inflammatory preaching risked igniting chaos within the city a second time. They’d survived one insurrection; it was unclear if they could survive another.

“This is the third incident this week,” Faenius said, echoing her thoughts. “Each time, the crowds grow larger and more aggressive. Vesnius is tapping into underlying fears and resentments, and I am concerned about where this is headed.”

“It seems Vesnius has decided to disregard my warnings about involving himself in political matters,” Lucilla said, frowning.

Faenius nodded. “He does seem intent on stirring up the mob. My men can only do so much to keep the peace if he persists in riling up these crowds. So far, we’ve managed to quell the outbreaks more or less peacefully. Eventually, it will get out of hand, and there will be deaths, which will escalate things even further.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Lucilla asked.

She already had a notion of what he wanted to do about the situation and what her response would be, but she liked to let her subordinates express themselves, instead of giving arbitrary rulings. Very often, they surprised her with opinions she didn’t expect. Not this time, however.

“We should arrest him. If he isn’t out there preaching, the mob will calm down.”

Lucilla considered for a moment, just to make sure she was taking everything into account. Vesnius’s position and importance to the people made him somewhat untouchable, which is why Faenius had come asking for permission instead of just arresting the man on his own initiative. She, however, disagreed with his assessment of the outcome. Vesnius’s arrest wouldn’t calm the population down. If anything, it would have the opposite effect. He would become a martyr, inciting more anger and violence from the people.

“No. That would be a mistake. For now, monitor him closely. He’s always been difficult, but he’s never been so vocally problematic before. There is a factor in this we are missing, and I want to know what it is before we make any rash actions. I want to know everywhere he goes, who he speaks to. Identify his inner circle, find out who is funding and supporting him.”

Faenius made a face that either meant he didn’t agree with her, or he hadn’t considered that someone might be behind the scenes pulling Vesnius’s strings. Either way, the Praetorian bowed and said, “It will be done, Your Majesty.”

“Be discreet,” Lucilla cautioned as Faenius turned to leave. “I don’t want him alerted or driven underground just yet. We need to understand the full scope of this threat.”

Faenius nodded and left. Although he did not have Ramirus’s level of subterfuge, she’d found the Praetorian to be highly competent and trusted him to carry out her orders. Her problem was what to do with Vesnius once they knew the source and scope of his rabble-rousing.

There were political implications, both in what he was doing now and how he’d react when he was finally arrested, if it came to that. She would need to prepare carefully.

Vesnius wouldn’t have had much success if there wasn’t a deep well of fear and resentment against foreigners. It was the weak point in their new Empire. While the insurrection had been defeated, its ugly motivations clearly lingered. More work would need to be done to unify her citizens and ensure no demagogue could divide them again.