Battle of the Legion's Way

“Men . . . Women . . . Comrades” You greet as you look over your assembled troops. Having had a hearty breakfast of hot stew and bitter tea, you are confident that they would have the fighting strength for the battle ahead. “Today we shall fight a battle that will go down in history as nothing but a footnote” You say and get a few puzzled looks from the formation. “This will be the least of our victories we shall ever have” you say, smiling at the troops.

“We have fought winged beasts in the form of men” you say, nodding at the troops who had followed you into the Garden of Eden. “We have fought serpents ‘neath the waves” You add, nodding at the cohort who had followed you to Atlantis. Strabo had restructured the legion one last time, and this time the organisation would stay.

“Now we fight men” You say forlornly. “And perhaps this is our greatest challenge yet” you add. “Not because they are great warriors” you say “While probably true, no” you say “But because we fight men” you tell them. “Not winged beasts, not vile serpents, not monstrous men who will kill you with a baleful gaze, Men” you tell them. “You will look them in the eye as you kill them, look them in the eye as they fall” you say.

“You are all here as volunteers, none of you are **** to stay” you say “if any of you wish to leave, now is the time to do so” You say “State your name that it may be crossed off the lists” you say. Several of your legionnaires shuddered, clearly thinking of not fighting but realising exactly what that would mean.

“To those of you who joined us on the promise of corn and cattle, with this battle, I fulfil that promise” you say, looking for the faces of those you originally recruited. Vera’s face popped out at you, radiating zeal as she drank in your every word. You smiled softly at her, and the few other faces you recognised.

“I can order you to fight, but I will not,” you say, sweeping your gaze across the troops. “You do not fight for me” You say “Today you fight for your homes and families” you say “Tomorrow . . . Tomorrow you fight for me, tomorrow, you fight for Strabo” you say “Tomorrow you fight for the Sol Empire and for the peace and security of all of Terra” you tell them.

“Now I ask you to march” You tell them. “Come, my comrades, let us to war”

****

It was surprising to you, how an army of five thousand could form up so quietly and so stealthily. By the time the Federates had noticed what was going on, your troops had already gotten into formation. The drums of your legion and the sound of thousands of boots marching in unison mingled with the cries of the sentries as they roused the men for battle.

You observed your troops’ march from your observation hill, Strabo by your side along with a group of riders to carry messages to the troops. Strabo’s reformations had made for a modular legion. Currently, the legion was made up of five cohorts, each with ten centuries, each with ten contubernium, each with ten men. This would, on paper, total five thousand men.

The first three cohorts would be the main fighting arm of the legion, they would be armed with javelins, swords and shields. The last two cohorts would be the reserve cohorts, along with any additional centuries that could be added as needed. They would be armed however the legion needed them to be.

In this case, because the battle would be a straight clash between your forces and Odoacer’s, indeed, you noted he had brought no archers or skirmishers, you had neglected to equip your troops with crossbows aside from a small section of sharpshooters.

Instead, you had armed your reserve troops with spears, in addition to the regular kit. This was because Odoacer had brought cavalry with him, likely expecting the flat plains to favour them.

“I’m surprised he intends to give battle head on” You say with a frown. The man seemed a lot more intelligent than that. While it was true that the first cohort had formed a line formation, this was done to hide the checkerboard formation behind it. Your legion was using an updated version of the Triplex Acies which had allowed the Roman Republic to win battle after battle.

“He will likely try to use his cavalry to flank us while his men wear us down” Strabo told you. “It’s a trick he learnt off me, to shuffle his men during the fight” Strabo added.

“What do you mean?” you ask with a frown, turning to face the venerable general.

“When a man tires, he steps back and another takes his place, he then shuffles to the back and gets his breath back while binding his wounds” Strabo explained. “This is how Odoacer is able to win any battle he faces” he tells you.

“That will work against him here” You comment and Strabo merely nodded.

“This time, but only this time” he warned you.

You turned your attention back to the battle as your troops neared the enemy. The Federates had managed to form a shield wall to meet the charge of your forces but they were in for a surprise. A thousand Pila left the hands of your legion and struck the Federates’ formation, punching straight through their shields and, in many cases, into the people behind them, if only a little. You noticed one man topple forwards onto the Pila, bending the iron shank as he did and snapping the shaft. You wondered exactly where the javelin had hit him to make him fall in that manner.

Your thoughts were derailed when, with a titanic clash, the first cohort met with the enemy’s formation. Unfortunately, the men who had been hit by javelins had neatly stepped back, just in time for the men behind them to step forward and take the charge.

“This is going to get tedious” you mutter, looking around for a way to use your meagre cavalry to advantage you somehow. Forty men on horseback with swords might make the men on one of their flanks laugh at you, but that was about it.

Several minutes ticked by as the first cohort fought viciously, wearing themselves out on the enemy’s shield wall, before a horn blew and, just like that, the first cohort neatly stepped back.

The Federates were at a loss, and even Odoacer was confused for a moment until he noticed your forces splitting into centuries and retreating between the gaps in the second cohort’s line. Then the second cohort compressed into a line, hurled their javelins and charged.

This time, the Federates were ready and held their shields out as far as possible as they took the pila from your legionnaires, stepping back to let the men behind them take the charge while they removed the javelins from their shields.

“There,” Strabo said, directing your attention to a cavalry blob coming through some bushes. You aren’t sure where Odoacer hid them but you definitely had them in sight now. Strabo didn’t even wait for you, just ordered a trio of messengers to carry orders out to the reserve forces.

“We need a faster method of communication, flags possibly” you comment and Strabo nodded.

“One thing at a time” Strabo told you “We win the battle first” he said, speaking almost as if you were an apprentice of his. You are suddenly reminded of Bra’tac from Stargate.

With the orders delivered, three centuries from the reserve cohorts peeled off to meet Odoacer’s cavalry. It was at this time that the horn blew and the second cohort stepped back, retreating behind the third cohort who compressed. This time, they threw their javelins while charging, catching the Federates before they could shuffle.

Idly, you wonder if this tactic caused any additional casualties. From where you were observing from, it was nearly impossible to tell if any of the enemy had been killed yet, aside from that one guy you watched fall at the battle’s start.

“They’re tiring, their shuffles are getting slower” Strabo announced, flicking his gaze between the cavalry and the formation.

“Good” you say. “More tired means more casualties” you add. With that, you turned your attention to the cavalry fight and noticed that there were precious few of them left. Their charge had been met with a volley of javelins and now the riders were stuck in a melee with legionnaires more than happy to pull the stirrup-less rider off of their mounts. “When the battle’s over, rustle up the mounts” You say and Strabo nodded, giving you a quick glance. With that, you used your god powers to convince the horses to stick around, meet up with each other, nibble at some grass in the next field and just hang around.

With this, the horn blew once more and the third cohort retreated behind the first cohort. The first charged, repeating the third’s tactic and hurled their javelins on the charge. This time was different. Whether the Federates were too tired, weak from the lack of two decent meals and a decent nights’ rest, or something else. Whatever the case may be, the men of the first rank were unable to get their shields up and almost the entire first rank of Odoacer’s army collapsed into the mud. The first cohort then crashed into the rank behind it while odoacer’s army was still reeling from the loss.

“Well, this is over” you comment, slouching in your saddle as you watch the first cohort butcher their way through the Federates.

“A thousand men will not chop through ten thousand before they tire, but yes” Strabo told you. Already there were runners fleeing from the battle as terrified Federates fled for their lives. Strabo sighed as he watched the Federates’ formation break apart before ordering all cohorts in. it took a moment for the order to reach the men but once it did, the battle turned into a running battle.

“Let the enemy flee, get the men back in order and then . . . tend to the wounded” you say. “All of the wounded” you add.

“What are you going to do?” Strabo asked, turning to you with a frown.

“Me? I intend to head back to camp, wake the poor cooking staff up from their hour long nap and then prepare a victory feast . . . though a modest one while we are in the field” You say, giving a small grimace as you thought about the cooks who had worked through the night to make sure the legion had food in the morning. They had even taken up the watch so that all your legionnaires could be well rested.

“I will inform the men,” Strabo said, turning back to survey the battle. You also noted that he made no move to order the troops to stop.

“Tell the commanders to reign their men in and to not chase the enemy any further than their camp” You said to one of the messengers. The poor boy looked confused as his gaze flicked between you and Strabo.

“You heard the order boy” Strabo grunted and the messenger took off at a gallop.

“I’ll leave the rest to you then” you say and Strabo nodded. You wheeled Rapidash around and took off at a gentle trot. The Battle of the Legion’s Way had been won.