Chapter 5: Pyrrhic and Decisive Victories Ravenna, Western Roman Empire, 479

"With a new year upon us, it is time to move directly on Odoacer," Narius spoke to his generals, and one Eastern Representative, "We must assume that Odoacer has done something to deal with our advance north."

"If he's heard of it," Flavius Sextus commented, "If he's gone against the Burgundians and fought there through the winter, he could be dead by now."

"An optimistic hope, but unlikely," Narius sighed, "and even if Odoacer has been killed, his army is still out there. We must finish them off, before any other enemy of Rome's recovers and attacks."

"The mountains are likely to still have snow melt flooding their creeks and streams," Urses warned, "It would be unwise at the present time to go charging in. We could be trapped against a flooded river and destroyed."

"We are not going to march for a battle yet," Narius shook his head, "I want you o send your cavalry out to find the enemy. His capital is likely to be near Genua or Mediolanum. Part of his army must be between us and one of those two cities."

"Of course, sire," Flavius Sextus saluted, "They'll be found."

"I'm curious, Narius," Illus spoke up from where he was standing, "But why do you think that Odoacer would be using two cities as his capital?"

"Because we presently hold Rome and Ravenna, the two cities that would be regarded as the 'capital' of the Empire in the minds of most people," Narius replied, "Without them, he's likely looking for a suitable replacement for them. Mediolanum is the larger city and was a former 'capital' of the Western Roman Empire, and Genua would put the capital along a larger number of possible trade routes, which would mean greater wealth coming into the capital."

"I take it we will march on one of those cities when the season is more favorable?" Urses asked.

"Hopefully we can march on both," Narius answered, "but yes. We will be marching in that direction when the campaign season truly begins."

"Which city will be attacked first, Sire?" Flavius Sextus asked.

"Mediolanum will be the first target," Narius replied, "if Odoacer isn't there, taking the city will trap him around Genua, which will not be equipped to withstand a well prepared siege."

"Of course," Flavius Sextus spoke, "General Urses and I had best see to giving our cavalry units their orders."

Narius nodded and watched as his two generals departed to meet with their cavalry commanders and give them Narius's orders. This left Narius alone with Illus in what had once been Orestes's court in Ravenna.

"I take it your campaign to insure the loyalty of Odoacer's tribe will continue on this march?" Illus asked.

"Yes, the campaign against the foederated tribes loyal to Odoacer, the Sciri and the Heruli, will continue," Narius nodded, "I can not advance against Odoacer and leave a hostile population behind me. It will only allow some fighter within Odoacer's tribe to rise up and force me to have to crush a rebellion again, later."

There was a brief silence between the two before Narius spoke again.

"Besides, it will also insure that Zeno receives the money for the Greek provinces," Narius added with a smile.

"Of course," Illus chuckled back.

Bononia, Western Roman Empire Grene looked out from Bononia's walls out at the surrounding countryside. The days were quickly becoming warmer and longer. The signs of winter were quickly disappearing and soon the year's campaign season would begin again. Grene was somewhat nervous in his gaze over the countryside. He knew Narius was out there and that he had unnerved much of the population in the northern parts of Italia. What shocked him the most was that many of them were perfectly willing to give Narius their loyalty. If Sciri and Heruli farmers would submit to a Roman who made it absolutely clear that he did not like the Germanic tribesmen that were settling inside Roman territory, Grene was beginning to wonder if his warriors, no matter how well trained, could beat Narius or not.

"Here you are," Horz spoke as he came up the stairs behind Grene, "I've been looking all over for you."

"I've only been here, General," Grene answered, "Has their been any word from Odoacer?"

"No, riders report that he has not returned to Genua," Horz answered, "We'll need to keep holding here."

"Holding here?" Grene sighed, "Narius is out there, we ought to get the army together and beat him, before he realizes that our army is divided."

"We have nothing to fear from Narius," Horz spoke, "Besides, if he's in Ravenna, he has to march through us if he wants to go after Odoacer. We have him exactly where we want him."

"We were ordered to hold this city until Odoacer rejoins us," Grene replied, "Narius could easily cut the city off from supply. We'd be besieged here."

"Would you rather engage him in battle?" Horz asked, "You grew up in this area, you should know the terrain."

"I would prefer to fight him directly, yes," Grene answered, "But not here. Not in an area where our own people have lost their own spirit. Haven't you talked with some of them? Many are fleeing north to get away from Narius, others are moving south to pledge allegiance to him. We're not going to be helped here by our tribesmen the way we were at Mediolanum when they told us where Orestes and the Burgundians had camped. They're too afraid, which means they might side with Narius if they think he'll spare them that way."

"This Narius is nothing," Horz told him, "Just some Roman noble with his head up his rear. That's the way they all are. They love money and power, but they won't get down in the mud and do the work themselves. I bet half his army is made up of our people or from other small tribes and once they see us, tribal loyalty will overtake this 'fear' you speak of."

"I wish I had your confidence," Grene sighed back, "It's just that something about this Narius makes me nervous. Something is different about him, and fighting him without planning first could be dangerous."

Genava, Kingdom of Burgundians For Odoacer, things were not looking as good as he would have liked. While he was certain he could starve the Burgundians into submission, maintaining a siege through the winter was hard on his army. Many had frozen to death in the snow and cold, the result of Genava's higher elevation in relation to Genua or Ravenna. The Burgundians also periodically fired barrages of arrows at Odoacer's camps, occasionally taking down the careless.

"What is your command, sire?" one of his lower ranking officers asked.

"The mountain snows are beginning to melt, at least in the lower elevations and along the rivers, their people will begin to feel the pressure of our siege as they are beginning to approach the end of their winter foodstuffs," Odoacer spoke, "We are to prepare for possible counterattacks coming from within the city and from the outside."

"You wish to have two sets of lines prepared?" the officer asked.

"No, with Grene and Horz watching Narius, we do not have the troops to man an inner and outer siege wall," Odoacer sighed, "but we must keep lookouts posted along various pathways at some distance away from our army."

"Sire?" the officer asked.

"Remember that the Burgundians seem to be in their own civil war over who will be the ruler," Odoacer answered, "Which means their population is at arms. Either an army allied with Genava will arrive to relieve the city or an enemy of Genava will arrive to take it. If it's a relieving army, we must be able to react to their movements, and if it is an enemy of Genava, we will need to negotiate with them to formally offer our help."

"You would ask to help them?" the officer asked.

"If they are enemies of Gundobad, yes," Odoacer answered, "He was the one at Mediolanum. He is the only one that I will have to deal with. The other Burgundian leaders are of no importance, other then the fact that if they arrive to fight us, we could be in trouble."

"I trust we'll have no trouble," the officer replied, "If they were to throw us out, they would have done something sooner as we used very aggressive tactics in attacking in winter."

"More like the stupidity of campaigning late in the year," Odoacer grumbled, "We must begin firing projectiles at their walls. We must bring the walls down quickly. Then they will have to face our armies directly."

"I will pass along your orders," the officer answered.

Inside the city, Gundobad sat nervously waiting for any word from what his attackers were doing. While Odoacer was nervous about his success here being costly, Gundobad was concerned that his bid for power within the Kingdom of Burgundians to be over. His men were relatively well rested and he was willing to take his chances in a battle with his attackers, but they had taken up positions around Genava, and if he attacked in force, he would risk coming under fire from multiple directions. His opponent, who he assumed was Odoacer, was willing to starve him out. Attacking would leave him open the heavy fire, and the terrain made a quick retreat impossible. The only other option would have been to sit and wait for reinforcing troops to return from their campaigns against his brothers, who he was sure wanted to rule the Kingdom themselves, and that depended on their winning their campaigns during the previous year.

He looked up to see one of his lieutenants approaching and hoped that the winter had broken Odoacer's army.

"Are they leaving?" Gundobad asked.

"Not in the way we could wish," the lower ranking officer reported, "We saw several small groups move away, but they could more likely be off to forage for food, or are scouting parties to make sure they aren't caught off guard."

"How many are in these groups?" Gundobad asked, hoping Odoacer would be cautious enough and overconfident enough to worry more about outside relief then about the foe inside the walled city.

"About five men each," the officer answered, "And anyway, we don't know why they were sent out. For all we know they're out hunting for meat."

Gundobad sighed.

"Order our men to increase our fire on their camps to the north of us," Gundobad commanded, "Perhaps we can send them into a panic as they are 'cut off' from their base."

"Of course, sire," the officer answered and rushed out of the throne room that Gundobad was using.

Ravenna, Western Roman Empire Flavius Sextus moved deliberately across the office space where Narius had been working on something.

"Sire," Flavius Sextus spoke with a salute as he approached, "There is news to report."

"What is it?" Narius asked.

"My cavalry commander has sent a report back," Flavius Sextus answered, "The roads to Mediolanum are largely clear, but Odoacer has sent part of his armies south. They found the banners of two of Odoacer's legions flying in Bononia."

"Bononia? Narius asked.

"Yes, sire," Flavius Sextus answered. And pulled a piece of paper-like substance from one of his pockets.

Flavius Sextus then placed it in front of Narius on the table. On the parchment were two insignia crudely drawn in some form of ink.

"Odoacer's third and fourth legions," Narius commented recognizing the emblems presented on the parchment.

"They could easily ambush us on the march to Mediolanum," Flavius Sextus warned.

"Then we will advance on them directly," Narius said firmly, "We'll have to defeat them anyway, so we will advance to the city of Bononia and destroy them."

"Of course, Sire," Flavius Sextus answered, "My cavalry are still on station there. As far as I know, General Urses's cavalry is between here and Mediolanum."

"Where is Urses now?" Narius asked.

"I believe he is exercising," Flavius Sextus answered, and then saluted again, "I should probably prepare my legion, Sire."

Narius nodded, "We must be ready to march in an hour."

It actually took longer then an hour for Narius and his generals to get the troops moving, but once they were on the main roads to Bononia, they made good progress. As they moved, Narius began to explain the hopes of the coming battle.

"The third and fourth legions aren't Odoacer's strongest forces, but they are potentially the fiercest," Narius spoke, "They are not likely to back down from a fight, even if the enemy is far stronger then they are. At least, that is what I was told when I was given command of southern Italy on Orestes's behalf. We can not risk settling for a siege of Bononia."

"We can't outright assault the city either," Urses commented.

"I don't intend to," Narius answered, "We must find some way to draw them out an away from the city. With the winter snows melting in the mountains, we could try to trap them against a swollen river."

"You think they would actually just mindlessly attack?" Urses asked, "These Germanic tribes may not have a Roman's culture and sophistication, but they know the arts of war. I find it hard to believe they'd be so easy to draw into a trap."

"They might if they sense an opportunity for an easy victory," Narius answered, "Such as we bring our cavalry into sight of Bononia's walls and hold them there until they come out to answer the challenge. We fire one volley of arrows and then retreat. They will charge after us thinking that our force is a spent one."

"I find it hard to believe that they would fall into such a trap," Flavius Sextus commented, "I must agree with Urses. A simple siege would be our best option."

"We can always fall back on that if they don't take the bait," Narius answered, "But would prefer to take Bononia without resorting to starving the city."

"Then I hope they will take the bait then," Urses sighed.

Bononia, Two Days Later

"I think they're Romans," Grene commented as he managed to make out the images on the banners flying with the horsemen sitting at the edge of a nearby clearing, "I've never seen anyone else use banners remotely like that."

"Every general flies their own banner," Horz commented, "This Narius probably likes that image."

Grene sighed in agreement and then turned when he heard Horz walking away from the turret in the city's walls and toward a stairway.

"Were are you going?" Grene asked.

"Out to take care of those people," Horz answered, "They're cavalry, the vanguard of any army. They won't attack without support, but that is coming. If we crush them now, Narius will be without his best force."

"We were told to watch for Narius's movements," Grene said, "Not attack his cavalry with no information. For all we know he could have the rest of his army hidden outside our line of sight."

"He only has two legions, and this isn't the crowded streets of Rome," Horz answered, "I'm destroying them before their support arrives."

"We ought to scout the area before we mindlessly attack," Grene warned, "The last thing we need is to be lead into a trap."

"Then you had best cover my advance," Horz scolded, "The men are board. We had one battle and no action for the rest of the year. We will win."

Grene sighed and began his own work. Horz's cavalry rushed out from the city about half an hour later, his infantry and Grene's troops following behind. Horz, himself, lead the way with his cavalry toward the Roman soldiers. They fired one volley of arrows at Horz's and then turned and began to gallop away. This made Horz smile.

"They're weak," Horz smiled to himself, "One volley and retreat."

Behind them, Horz's infantry began to rush to try and keep up with the charging cavalry to chase after a retreating enemy. Grene, however, noticed the swift retreat that seemed to have a great deal of order to it. He then quickly relayed commands to his own officers to hold his men to a orderly advance.

"He's walking into a trap," Grene growled to himself.

Meawhile, a few miles away, Narius looked down the gentle slope of hill leading to swollen and fast flowing river. Some of Urses's cavalrymen watched out from positions higher along the nearby ridges leading to the mountains, while Narius and his generals waited. One rider then quickly rode down to make a report.

"Caesar, one of the two stationed legions appears to have taken the bait," the cavalrymen reported, "They are pursuing General Sextus's cavalry."

"Very good," Narius responded and turned to Flavius Sextus and Urses, "Prepare to spring the trap."

Both of Narius's generals relayed Narius's instructions and allowed Narius to watch his army ready their weapons. They then watched as Flavius Sextus's cavalry came into view and rushed over a small wooden bridge that had been erected the day before. Shortly after, Odoacer's cavalry began to arrive and they rushed for the bridge, which looked like the weight of Flavius Sextus's cavalry had weakened it.

"Fire all ballistas and onagers," Narius ordered, "drive them into the river. Archers, fire!"

That sprung the trap and begun the battle. The barrage of ballista bolts killed a few riders, sending them falling dead to the ground, one or two others hit and killed the horse, sending the rider to the ground, while the rest startled the Sciri and Heruli horsemen. The shots from the onagers caused further panic among the Germanic cavalry in front of them and a few large stones fired from the onagers destroyed the makeshift bridge, making it practically impossible for the Horz's force to continue its pursuit of Flavius Sextus's cavalry.

"We have them, Sire," Flavius Sextus's smiled as the first flight of arrows from the foot archers created even more panic among the Germanic cavalry in front of them, one killing one of the lead men, "You were right."

Another rider came down the ridge to report what could be seen.

"A force of infantry is rushing along the same path that the cavalry took after General Sextus's cavalry," the rider reported, "they should be here shortly."

Narius nodded as the rider saluted and turned to direct the growing battle.

"General Sextus, signal your cavalry to reform and fire on their positions with their arrows," Narius ordered, "Meanwhile direct the infantry to repel cavalry."

Narius again watched as his orders were relayed and Flavius Sextus's cavalry began to reform on the opposite side of the river and fire arrows at the confused enemy. Apparently the cavalry were beginning panic as their leader appeared to have been killed, or was at least wounded to the point that he could not continue leading the battle. Some began to retreat back towards Bononia, some began to try cross the river, while others charged toward Narius's lines.

The foot archers laid down a strong fire that broke up much of their attack, but one or two of the attacking cavalrymen did leap over the placed wall of shields and spears. But, with no strength behind these attacks, the riders were quickly cut down and paths opened to allow the horses to run through. Narius watched as the cavalry force of one of the two Sciri and Heruli legions be destroyed in the surprise trap as that legion's foot soldiers appeared in front of his legions.

"All units are to continue firing on them," Narius ordered, "Don't give them a chance to get organized."

"Of course, Caesar," Urses replied.

Grene continued to press his men to maintain an orderly but relatively quick pace. He cursed Horz's overconfidence and lust for victory. It was a vice he knew that Horz had always had, and one that Horz rarely thought he had to control. Grene was privately certain that if it weren't for the large numbers of Burgundian warriors that had joined with Orestes, Horz would have made a mad rush at Orestes's lines with little preperation or organization. Grene had grown up on the farm villa of a Roman noble, who had hired his father to protect it. While there, Grene had learned much from the man through the man telling him what he had read. Roman historians credited past victories to better organization and tactics. Grene tried to continue what he was certain many of the Germanic tribes that had invaded Roman territories had done, use Roman tactics and organization against them while saving fierceness and things that many non-Romans prided themselves on for the exact moment that those things would be needed.

Many times, Horz's enthusiasm would even be encouraged, that had been against weak opponents or opponents who lacked the nerve to fight a fierce fight. But Narius had already proven himself to be different from those who Grene had faced before in Odoacer's service. People talked about him beating a Vandal force at Rome that was much larger then the forces available to him, and many of his own people in the region either wanted to get away from wherever Narius was or were perfectly willing to submit to his laws. This meant that Narius had to be not only an intelligent but charismatic leader among the Romans and the soldiers in his individual legions. Horz's charge was blind and against a commander with a reputation of victory, blind enthusiasm was not the right tactic.

"General!" an officer said pointing as they followed down the path that Horz's men had rushed through.

Grene looked up and was astonished by what he saw. It was Horz's cavalry, rushing back toward them as if there was no tomorrow. Grene moved forward and tried to stop one of them.

"What is going on?" Grene demanded, "What happened?"

"It's a trap!" the rider he did manage to stop, "Don't go in there!"

"What happened?" Grene demanded.

"They lead us into a trap," the rider answered, and then pointed to a nearby ridge, leading up into the mountains, "The Roman has two legions on the other side of that ridge that we didn't see. As we rode after their cavalry, they retreated across a river and destroyed it as we approach and then fired on us with arrows and catapults from every side!"

"Where is Horz?" Grene demanded.

"I believe he's dead," the rider answered.

Grene then sighed, "Where is the rest of Horz's legion?"

"They're still caught," the rider answered and then rode away, heading toward Bononia.

"What do we do?" an officer asked.

"We move into the trap to see if we can get Horz's men out of the trap and then begin a retreat back to Bononia," Grene said, "We will have to hope that we can last long enough through a siege for Odoacer to return from the Burgundian Kingdom."

Narius continued to watch the battle unfold before him. The infantry faired much better then the cavalry had, but taking fire from foot archers behind Narius's main lines on one side and Flavius Sextus's horse archers on the other side of the river kept them from forming adequate lines, and the Roman catapults did not make that task any easier.

"Advance and crush them, before their second legion arrives," Narius ordered, "Urses, call your cavalry down. Use them to cut off their retreat."

It took a little while for the overall attack to get started as Urses had to call his cavalry down from their lookout positions and bring them in to join the main battle line. Once it did get going, however, Narius felt confident of victory. Urses's heavy cavalry charged into the flank while his horse archers began picking off targets at a distance, which made things much easier for his infantry units marching to push their enemy into the river.

"It would appear that we were wrong to think that these barbarians were smarter then they look, Sire," Urses commented, "One unit fell right into the trap."

"Not entirely," Narius answered, "We've only trapped one legion, and the scouting report was that they had two legions in Bononia. Either they are advancing southward toward Rome, or did not take the bait and are still in Bononia, which will mean we will have to lay siege to the city."

Urses sighed as Narius finished his answer. It was clear that while Narius had no qualms with crushing any possible rebellion, he didn't want to mindlessly kill anyone. Urses respected Narius for that and he was certain Flavius Sextus respected Narius for the same reasons. Illus, Urses did not try to read or understand. To Urses, he was an observer on behalf of the Eastern Roman Empire, which his family had grown to heavily mistrust for various reasons.

"Perhaps we will be fortunate as we were with Ravenna, and the city and its garrison is surrendered to us," Urses offered.

"Perhaps," Narius replied.

Shortly after a volley of arrows came down on Urses's cavalry from the far edge of the field and outside Narius's direct line of sight. This surprised everyone and Narius watched in shock as the arrows scattered Urses's cavalry and breaking their ability to contain the retreating foot soldiers.

"What is this?!" Flavius Sextus spoke in surprise.

"Their second legion," Narius sighed, trying to get over his own surprise at the situation, "Urses, recall your cavalry. Angle our catapults to fire over the rise toward the river."

Orders were screamed and relayed quickly through the lines, and Urses's cavalry quickly turned and pulled away from the fighting, back toward the main Roman lines. In doing this, the infantry forces that had been trapped began to break and run for cover toward the direction that the most recent flight of arrows had come from.

"Fire all catapults toward our new attackers," Narius ordered, "Reform our infantry and order them to repel infantry attack."

Grene looked on horrified at the tattered remnants of Horz's legion as the fled from the trap that they had been lead into. They were cut up and limping along from the wounds they had received. He then growled to himself as ballista bolts and onager shots were fired over the sharp ridge that separated his army from the Romans. Many of these shots fell well short of his own lines, but a few landed close enough to wound some of his men, and those that fell short did create more chaos among the infantry trying to retreat Grene's lines.

"Should we move forward? Draw their fire?" an officer asked.

"No," Grene sighed, "Prepare to pull back once the survivors of Horz's legion have gotten past our lines."

Narius watched from a safe distance as his men reformed and began to make a steady advance. Urses had split up his cavalry into various sections so that they could provide some protection along the entire line.

"All front line troops are ready to advance," a runner reported.

"Advance and force the second legion to retreat," Narius ordered.

Shortly after, Narius watched as his two legions moved forward, keeping some distance between the edge of their line and the edge of the river. Flavius Sextus's cavalry rode along the other side of the river to provide some extra cover. Narius then began to ride slowly forward on his horse to try and get a closer view of his soldier's progress.

"Where are you going Sire?" Flavius Sextus asked.

"Forward enough so that I can see what is going on and then provide orders should we run into a changing situation on the other side o this ridge," Narius answered, "We'll still stay away from being killed by any stray bolt, but I would prefer to see the battle I am directing."

They then rode to a spot where they could observe the battle that was unfolding in front of them. Once they cleared the rise, they saw that the second legion was moving back toward Bononia, but in a fairly deliberate manner, as if trying to preserve some order and prevent Narius from striking at the remnants of the first legion.

"This one is smart," Narius commented as he watched the soldiers of Odoacer's retreat, "He knows we've won the field but won't allow us to rout his forces."

"Can't you catch them?" Illus asked.

"Not without giving up organization in a dead charge," Flavius Sextus commented, "Narius is right. Whoever is leading the second legion is smart. We can pursue, but we can't catch up with them unless we decide to give up all organization, which we require to win battles."

"We'll let them limp back into Bononia," Narius sighed, "It will take awhile to reconfigure our catapults so that they can be moved. Once we can gather them around the city we will move to insure that no one goes outside the city and that no one gets into the city."

"Of course," Urses and Flavius Sextus responded.

Genava, Kingdom of Burgundians Odoacer, meanwhile, found himself in a tight position of his own. The effort to keep Genava from being supplied was going well, and there was still no sign of anyone coming to help the Burgundians, but he was anxious for news from the south, and none had arrived. As the days had passed, he watched safely from his own lines as the Burgundian resistance to his siege began to gradually grow weaker, as the soldiers and people inside the city began to grow hungry.

"Still no sign of any reinforcements, Sire," an officer reported, "For either us or them."

"That is good news for us locally," Odoacer sighed, "but this campaign is still lasting far too long."

"Our siege towers are nearly ready," the officer responded, "We can begin an attempt to force our way into the city soon."

"Good," Odoacer answered, "I want them in place and ready the as soon as they are finished."

"Yes, Sire," the officer responded.

"I also want all of the men who are not watching for any Burgundian reinforcements to be ready to mount the assault as soon as the siege towers are in position," Odoacer instructed urgently.