Chapter 21

Northern Italy

Ky waited outside the large headquarters tent at the center of the sprawling encampment, looking through the rows of men and material as he watched the small procession making its way toward him.

They’d been in this camp for weeks now, and as all camps did, it had started to solidify as soldiers built semi-permanent structures here and there to make their lives a little more comfortable, replacing the portable and more rugged materials used when the legions were on the move. Normally, Ky took it as a sign of soldiers’ ingenuity, something he could connect to his life before, in the distant future. War and technology might have changed, but soldiers were still soldiers, regardless of the time period.

Now, however, their activity signaled something else. Something that troubled him more every single day. It showed how inactive the legions had become. They were at the height of the campaigning season and nothing was moving. Even his lead elements, which were instructed to keep pushing south, had only just now started to cross into central Italy, a month behind schedule. The entire campaign had ground to a halt, and Ky was beyond frustrated.

He tried to keep those thoughts off his face as his commanders, or at least some of them, separated themselves from their traveling parties and approached. It did say something about each man’s organization and attention to detail that, even though they all came from different areas of the peninsula, they’d all arrived at roughly the same time. That, at least, could make him smile.

“Gentlemen, I appreciate your promptness,” Ky said, reaching out and clasping each of their arms in turn before beckoning them into the command tent. “Let’s get started.”

Ky led the group inside the tent, where a large table dominated the center, maps and reports scattered across it. Normally, they all just stood through these conferences, but Ky knew they’d all been on the road, in Bomilcar’s case for a full day, and would be tired, so he gestured for the men to take seats he’d provided.

“Gentlemen, I don’t need to tell you that things haven’t been going well as of late,” Ky began, the frustration evident in his voice. “We all had a brief moment of hope when some of the villages started to sway toward the Britannians, but things have since fallen apart. Marcus, would you please explain what’s been happening?”

Marcus nodded, his expression grim. “We’ve been making headway in some of the villages, turning things around. Villages were starting to work with us and attacks on our men became less frequent. We’d hoped this was a sign things were starting to ease up and that we’d again be able to concentrate our forces and move south faster. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. We’ve found the cooperation short-lived in nearly every instance. Things go well at first, but after a few weeks, word begins to spread about the work we’re doing in a given village. Inevitably, after our people pull back to the camps for the night, dissidents and Carthaginians show up and slaughter everyone who cooperated with the legions. Worse, other villages have started to take notice. Even those that seemed like they might be receptive to working with us have pulled back. People are afraid to work with us.”

“Is it still so bad that we have to remain in camps overnight, instead of staying in these villages permanently?” Bomilcar, who’d remained focused on the push south, asked. “Couldn’t we pull our men out of their camps and deploy them in the villages themselves, to protect the people there?”

“I wish it were that simple,” Ky said. “We can’t spare enough men to be in every village, and the Carthaginians just hit the ones where we aren’t present. And that’s in the villages that are friendly to us, or were friendly. Some villages are still openly hostile, attacking any soldiers we try to station there. It requires too many men to secure just one village.”

“We’re attempting to try and stop them,” Aelius said. “My men have begun patrolling the outlying areas, and at first, we were able to catch and defeat some of the dissidents and Carthaginians, but it’s started to become more difficult. The enemy knows we’re coming, warned by non-violent sympathizers, and they simply fade away into the countryside before we arrive. They have too many allies among the locals. To truly secure the region, I’d need at least three or four full legions concentrated here, and even with that, it would likely take the rest of the campaigning season.”

Bomilcar leaned forward and asked, “In light of this, should we stop advancing? My lead elements are already nearing Rome and I could have the city enveloped within the next few days, but taking the city is going to either take manpower or brutality. You’ve ordered against the second and from the sound of the situation, we don’t have the resources for the first.”

“What have your men seen of the city?”

“The Carthaginians have fortified the city with massive walls, which won’t pose a problem for our cannons, but the collateral damage to the city will be ... substantial. Beyond that, we’re looking at needing an envelopment and prolonged siege to take it.”

“No. Continue your operations, but do your best to minimize civilian casualties and damage to the city. I know it will slow things down, but we’ve already got a problem with public opinion, and it’s only going to get worse if we level the city in the process. If we need to divert some units back to you for the encirclement, we can. Does it look like the city itself is going to hold up and try to keep you out, or are the Carthaginians still in place? And if so, do they show any signs of continuing their retreat?”

“It’s hard to say yet. The Carthaginians are still in the city and have been gathering supplies, I assume to outlast our siege, but until we start to envelop them, we won’t know if their forces will retreat south again or if they plan on making a stand there.”

“Move quickly to surround the city, if you can. The further south we go, the more spread out we get. If we can stop them now, in central Italia, and defeat the bulk of their forces, we’ll have less to worry about later, when you’ve had to shed more manpower to control the countryside.”

“As you order, Consul,” Bomilcar said, sounding unconvinced.

“I know this is all disheartening, and you’re all frustrated,” Ky said, seeing the faces of his commanders. “Believe me, I had hoped we would be further along by now as well, but you are all doing well. We’re behind schedule, but we are not stopped yet. We haven’t passed the point where we can take Italia and still make it to Africa this year. It might mean fighting there in the late fall, but the weather there won’t turn against us as early as it did in Germania. Keep pushing, keep your men moving, and by the gods, we will see the Carthaginians fall this year.”

They all looked at least somewhat buoyed by Ky’s pronouncement. Ky just hoped he’d be able to deliver on his promise. Right now, he didn’t know if he could.

Londinium A large crowd gathered around the newly built station, cheering wildly as the first train pulled into it. Hortensius, standing near the door of one of the cars, watched them, happy to see the reception.

They had been met with a variety of emotions during the long months they’d worked on the line, from fear to outright anger. The one thing they hadn’t gotten a lot of was enthusiasm. He understood why. Besides the rails changing the very landscape these people had lived in for generations, the train itself, with its loud sounds and belching smoke, could be frightening. The closer they’d gotten to London, the more people they’d had come out to watch the supply trains arrive with more material for the track, but he hadn’t imagined enough had inured themselves to the sight of the gigantic metal beasts to have this kind of reaction.

He also knew the Empress, after the trouble he’d had with farmers and landholders along the way, had sent forth emissaries and heralds to talk to the people of Londinium, beating the drum of progress, as she’d put it. But he’d thought that would have limited success. He was happy to see he was wrong, and once again happy to see his ruler had a better handle on the emotions of her people than he ever would.

The train pulled to a full stop and Hortensius stepped out onto the platform. Since he hadn’t expected this kind of reception, he hadn’t prepared for it, but it definitely seemed like a moment that needed some kind of pronouncement.

The crowd cheered as they saw him step out of the train. He was pretty sure most did not know who he was. Outside of Factorium, he tended to take a back seat to politicians and other public figures. There were some dignitaries up front who he’d worked with and spoken to from time to time, including the duumviri, a pair of the top elected officials in the city, the city prefect appointed by the Empress, and the aediles, who’d handled the day-to-day operations in the city, and who he’d worked with the closest to finalize the platform construction and final track laying.

But for each of those, there were a dozen or more of what looked like normal citizens, who probably had no clue who he was. He knew he was being cheered mostly because he had stepped out of the first train they had ever seen and seemed to be in charge, but it was a strange feeling. He held up his hands to quiet them, a wide smile crossing his face.

“My friends, this is a momentous day for our great Empire! For months now, our team of engineers and workers have toiled endlessly along the route from the capital to finish this great project. They have crossed rivers, cut through hills, and laid mile after mile of rails across the countryside to bring this modern wonder to your very doorsteps!”

The crowd cheered again and Hortensius let their enthusiasm wash over him for a moment before continuing.

“I know many of you have heard about the train and what you can expect, and I am here to tell you that what you have heard is true. What used to be a week-long journey to the capital can now be done in a single day, with stops along the way at major towns and settlements, allowing families, merchants, and farmers to travel the length of our Empire quickly, opening up opportunities of all types to every Britannian. Goods from Factorium will now be able to come here in large quantities without the need for trains of wagons spending long days hauling them, making the things you’ve asked for, the new innovations and products, more readily available and less expensive. It will allow the city’s port, already on the precipice of becoming the largest in the Empire, to grow even faster, since it will be faster and cheaper for goods to come here by train than by ship or mule. Food will be more readily available, arriving, in some cases, the same day it was picked from the fields to your very doorstep.”

The crowd cheered again, whistling and clapping, as Hortensius listed off all the benefits they were likely to reap from the finished train line.

“Let this accomplishment stand as a symbol of our Empire’s spirit of innovation and progress! United as one people, there is no feat of engineering we cannot achieve, no challenge we cannot overcome. Just as the iron road connects our lands, let it bring us closer in camaraderie and prosperity. We embark, now, into an exciting new era of industry and advancement. The future is ours, friends!”

Hortensius thrust his fists into the air triumphantly. The crowd responded with a deafening roar.

One of the men in charge of running the station then announced that tickets for the train’s return trip to Factorium and Devnum were available, almost causing a stampede as the crowd pushed and shoved to be allowed to get theirs, forcing Hortensius back aboard the train car reserved for him and his men. He even took the precaution of barring the door as the crowd swirled around the train.

He understood their enthusiasm, but doubted this many people all needed to go to Devnum or Factorium. More likely, they wanted to be one of the first to take the train or were just excited for the opportunity. Either way, he’d seen how people’s enthusiasm could sometimes cause unintended devastation, and he had no interest in being trampled in the chaos.

“Well, that certainly was exciting,” Hortensius said, sitting on one of the cushioned benches in the specially designed car for dignitaries, resembling more a fine carriage, only larger, compared to the wagon-like seating with people packed in rows in the other cars.

“I want to commend you all on your amazing work,” Hortensius said to the engineers, mostly his managers who’d overseen the day-to-day deployment of this rail line. “You should be proud of yourselves for a job well done. And you know what that means.”

It was an old joke of his, and elicited a groan from the assembled men, who knew what was coming next.

“Exactly,” Hortensius said. “More work. This line is only partially finished. The Empress has charged us with extending the line north from Devnum to Monadhcarden before we begin constructing separate, crossing or spur lines. I’m sure I don’t need to point out that this will be a new challenge with a whole lot of new problems we’re going to have to overcome. Caledonia has a very different landscape than we’ve dealt with so far, and I’m all but certain we’re going to have new challenges to deal with. Even those challenges we’ve already bested, bridging and tunneling, will be taken to new levels. While Tasius begins assembling supplies and starting the line out of Devnum, the rest of us will go ahead and scout the proposed route north. I want every bridge, tunnel, and grading needed to be mapped out ahead of time. The Empress has promised the chieftain of Caledonia that we will have this finished by the harvest, and I am not going to disappoint her. Is that clear?”