"We get on and fight anyway. We can't just turn up and not do anything in case, well. ."
"Quite correct. As an aside, what do you think the likelihood of Caratacus having such a secret way of beating us?"
"Pretty close to zero, sir."
"So you won't bet on Caratacus?" Gaius grinned.
"No, sir."
"Neither would I," Gaius agreed. "Now, your job in the near future is to get the cavalry ready. I know, cavalry doesn't charge city walls, but we have to assume that there will be fighting or fleeing in the open, and you have to be ready."
"We are ready, sir, but yes, there will be more drills, to get even readier."
"I'm sure you are ready," Gaius nodded, and patted him on the shoulder. "Now, get the other Tribunes together, and tell the scouts I need a report as quickly as possible on what we know about the Celtic defences."
Chapter 26
The Celtic defence appeared to comprise walls around the city, with an outer wooden palisade, then beyond that, a deep ditch with the earth heaped into a mound on the outside. Numerous wooden lances were embedded in this mound, to offer some defence against a massive cavalry charge, although as Matius pointed out, a cavalry charge against a deep ditch was unprofitable anyway, because the horses had to be almost stationary to prevent them falling in and breaking their legs. This ditch went from the edges of a marsh that ran down to the river behind the town, and around to the edge of the essentially impenetrable thicket.
"That ditch happens to be quite convenient for us," Gaius said. "Now, I want fortifications dug along a line here," he said, pointing to a hand-drawn map.
"Isn't that too far away for us to use artillery?" one of the Tribunes asked.
"Yes, it is," Gaius nodded. "The idea is that the distance should be such that our artillery can send only small loads into that trench, and nothing into the city. Now, over here, we shall build a grandstand for the Senators, so they can watch what is going on. The Gemina Martia will continue these trenches out to here," he said, again pointing to the map.
"I don't understand," one of the Tribunes said. "Why don't we get closer?"
"So that Caratacus will think we have made a mistake," Gaius explained.
"Suppose we had, then what?"
"Our next move," Gaius continued, "would be to rectify the mistake, which we would do by taking their trench. If we did that, we could bring up the onagers, and smash their walls, and it would be all over."
"So why don't we?"
"Because this isn't just about defeating Caratacus," Gaius smiled. "What I want is for the Senators to start those sort of questions. I want the Senators to start questioning these tactics right now.
"What I then expect to happen," Gaius continued, "is that the Celts will realize that they can't afford for us to march up to their trench and capture it, which we just about could right now, and bring up our onagers. So what I expect they will do is to man their trench with everyone they've got, to repel us if we try."
In the event, Gaius was proven right: within an hour, Celts poured from the city gates and began manning the trenches.
Gaius was also correct with the Senators' reaction. They met together for a meal, and Vinicianus and several others immediately began complaining about lost opportunities. There had been an hour during which the twentieth could have marched up and may well have captured the relatively lightly defended trench. A deputation was sent to Claudius, who refused to see them, and sent them instead to the military commanders.
"So, you've rediscovered some military skill?" Gaius smiled. "There's still time for you to get equipped and. ."
"You know as well as I do Senators don't fight with common soldiers," Vinicianus scowled, "but that doesn't mean we have to turn down opportunities because you couldn't get off your arse quickly enough."
"So you think that was an opportunity?" Gaius asked.
"It's obvious! If you take that trench, we bring the onagers up and pound down the walls, and the city is ours."
"How many enemy troops were in the trench?"
"I don't know! You're the one that. ."
"So you send a legion forward against an unknown enemy? How long do you think it would take to get the legions assembled to march forward?"
"I don't know, but weren't they marching anyway?"
"Yes, but you still have to assemble properly to attack a fixed defence," Gaius said. "Now, how long do you think it would take the enemy to come out and fill the trench?"
"Well, it took them an hour. Surely we could have got there in less than that?"
"Yes, but they only took an hour when it became obvious we weren't going to do what you suggest. Had we marched forward, they might have done something quite different."
"So what? We still have to fight them."
"Yes, we do, on our terms," Gaius said. "If we do what you wanted, suppose we take the trench. You would have our men in that trench about thirty meters from the palisade?"
"Well, why not?"
"How many of our legion?"
"What do you mean, how many?"
"All of it? A cohort? What?"
"All of it. We don't want to let them come and massacre a cohort."
"So instead, they start propelling boiling pitch into the trench and seriously injure a legion?"
"They won't do that."
"How do you know?"
"Well. ."
"I think we can thank you for your military expertise. In the next few days you will see how it should really be done."
"That put them in their place," the Legate from the fourteenth said, after the Senators had gone, "but they did have a point. Sooner or later we have to take that trench."
"Not necessarily," Gaius shrugged. "Right now we have their soldiers in the trench instead of being behind the walls. Sooner or later we have to remove the soldiers from the field or persuade them to stop fighting and it's a lot harder to do that if they are fortified. Claudius has a plan!"
"I don't doubt," the other Legate nodded. "The question is, which Claudius?"
* * *
Claudius continued is policy of meeting his Legates and Plautius on a one-to-one basis. "I g get four p p plans," he explained once, "b but no arguments." It also meant that only those who contributed knew where any of the plan came from. As Claudius noted, he was also getting sour comments from the Legates about how the Celts were building fearsome fortification out from the city. The simple strategy of cooking the Celts, which the other two Legates had advocated initially, would not work. "Wh what the Legates don't know," Claudius said, "is th that I'd n n never order that!"
"Fortunately, neither do the Celts," Gaius pointed out. "All this work they're putting in is exactly what we want. They'll be really disappointed when they find out."
It appeared that Claudius had also decided to give the Senators something of a thrill. Initially, their stands had been constructed in the centre, where the Senators felt they would get a better view of proceedings. Claudius decided to give them an even better view: they were in a gap between the fourteenth and the twentieth. There was no need to alter any of the other deployments: nothing in front of the Senators would spoil their view.
* * *
This meeting would be the last meeting before the final battle, and Claudius was excited. "Th this has g got to work," he said to Gaius. "All the senators will b be watching."
"Then let's put on a show," Gaius smiled. "What I'd do tomorrow is march the two open legions up to these positions," and he pointed to the map. "I would then announce the villages that have surrendered and hence will not be enslaved, then I'd march up the prisoners, parade them, then invite the Celts to surrender. If they don't, then we must be seen to bring up the catapults. You must make as big a show as possible, and make it as noisy as possible. Make the troops shout insults, chant, anything. We want to make sure the Celts' attention is fully devoted to what is in front of them. The later they find out about the elephants, the better."