New Update! Enjoy the continuation of the adventures of Asinius!
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Chapter 6 – The Thundering Eagle
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Winter 189BC

The army stood outside the city. The overcast sky seemed to spell doom on the city but other than that, it seemed a perfectly normal day. Even from his spot, Asinius could hear the bleating of the goats and the haggling of people and the smell of market products drifted towards him. Asinius gripped the reins of his horse tightly; he eyed the trees warily, looking for any sight of enemy that might be hiding behind those imposing trunks.

“Bring the rams forward,” Asinius said.

“Mercenaries, forward!” Lucius yelled.

Three units of mercenaries marched forward slowly. The middle one was heading straight for the gates and the other two were heading for the walls on the left and on the right of the gates.

“Tell the archers to cover the mercenaries,” Asinius said.

“Sir, the enemy does not know that we are attacking them, why do we need the archers to cover our men?” Lucius asked.

“There could be some soldiers on watch, the Britons are too cunning to leave their walls,” Asinius replied.

Just on cue, a trumpet blasted from the inside of the city, followed by some yelling from a Briton soldier. Asinius did not understand a single word of the ranting and raving, but from the sound of it, he was sure that the barbarian was alerting the others.

“Archers, forward!” Lucius yelled.

Two units of archers marched forward, their bows cocked, ready to fire flaming arrows over the palisade. The three units of mercenaries were already at the walls and the gates, getting ready to pound at the palisade into smithereens.

Thankfully, no arrows were fired towards the archers and mercenaries. Watching the rams pounding the gates and the wall, Asinius looked at his legions in front of him. They were all tense and alert, each hand gripping the shield and the gladius. Asinius smiled, this battle would be an easy one, facing a formidable opponent would toughen up his soldiers after a year break.

“Order 2 legionary cohorts and the Urban cohort to take the wall at the left side of the gate. I will lead Praetorian and 1 legionary cohort to the gates. You, Lucius, I want you to lead the rest of the legionary cohorts to the wall on the right. And I want our cavalry guarding our rear, and make sure that they will be ready to charge towards the enemy when I give my signal.”

“Yes, sir,” Lucius replied and he galloped off to relayed the orders to the troops.

Asinius stared at the palisade and wondered how it would feel, the feel of his blade clashing against steel, the shock as his horse charge straight into the enemy, the feel of his blade entering the soft flesh of the enemy. Asinius closed his eyes and tried to force the thought that he might be the one to feel the blade in him out of his mind. A few years in the Spanish campaign and he still haven’t gotten over his fear. Gritting his teeth, he opened his eyes and stared at the gates determinately.

“They are ready, sir,” Lucius returned to Asinius’s side.

“Good, march forward,” Asinius said.

“Men, forward!” Lucius roared.

Slowly, the army of Asinius moved forward in precise order. At the exact time, 2 legionary cohorts and one urban cohort broke and marched towards the left side while another 2 legionary cohorts marched to the right. Asinius marched forward straight ahead. The gates were slowly weakening under the increasing poundings of the ram. As Asinius’s legions stopped just behind the mercenaries and the archers, the gates and the walls fell down slowly with agonizing groans.

“HOLD YOUR GROUND!” Asinius shouted. The soldiers stood still while the mercenaries moved the rams out of the way. The archers aimed their arrows at towards the open holes and waited for the enemy to burst forth.

Before the dust could settle, a horde of barbarians painted in woad burst out like a pack of hell dogs. The mercenaries managed to reform and braced themselves for the impact. However, the barbarians cut through the ranks of the mercenaries and started running towards the legionaries.

“Legionaries, forward! Reserves, fire at will!” Asinius ordered. The legionary cohorts marched forward to meet the barbarians. Over their heads, the sky became covered with flaming arrows and pilums.

Immediately, some of the Britons were struck down by flaming arrows or pilums. The second and third lines raised their shields to protect themselves, only to be bogged down by the irremovable pilums.

The legions charged forward and struck at any Briton that were in the way. Responding to the threat, the Britons rushed forward and charged at the Romans.

The air was filled with the clash of steel against steel, shields against shields, armour against body and the sounds of the groaning of the injured and the grunts of the fighting.

The mercenaries regrouped and charged at towards the rear of the Britons, who now realized that they were surrounded by Romans. Panicking, they turned and tried to run towards the city, only to be cut down by the approaching mercenaries. Asinius was sitting on his horse watching the slaughter of the unfortunate and reckless Britons when he heard a tremendous roar that came for inside the city.

Fast approaching the battle scene was a giant sitting on a horse that looked more like a monstrous bull. The giant charged and crushed the mercenaries standing in his way. The Britons who were trapped between the Romans yelled with renewed strength and surged towards the legionaries.

“Signal for the cavalry!” Asinius said to his messenger.

Waving a red flag, the messenger rode away from the fray and blew his trumpet as loudly as he could. The cavalry captain who was waiting saw the waving red flag and ordered his cavalry to charge.

The ground thundered and shook as a hundred and eight horsemen flew towards the Briton general, who was laughing and jeering as he went about slaughtering legionaries in his path. As he looked up, his expression become one of fear as he saw twenty horsemen thundering towards him. Before he could retreat, he was cut down from his horse and was trampled by numerous hooves.

The Briton general’s unit suffered the same fate and before long, the cavalry was thundering into the city.

“MEN, MARCH AT WILL!” Asinius shouted and galloped into the city. A huge war cry came up from the legionaries as they ran into the city. Sweeping his gaze around, Asinius’s sharp eyes spotted the few remaining Britons and cavalry running towards the city square.

“CAVALRY, WITH ME!” Asinius shouted and rode towards the remaining Britons. Whipping his horse with his reins, Asinius urged it to go faster.

“Don’t fail me now, Pegasus, let’s destroy them,”

Saying that, Asinius’s horse leaped into the air and Asinius raised his sword to cut a horseman’s head off. A Briton soldier turned and sawed the flying horse and man and immediately yelled out in fear:

“Gods be with us! It’s a thundering eagle!”

And so, the city of Samarobriva fell in a day.