Tweet
The Battle of Hispalis Part 2, Constantine's Ruse
They were being abandoned, yet they knew they had to fight on. Fort Veii and Fort Pompeii had fallen, and Fort Rome was besieged. Artillery was crashing down on the fortification, as enemy Infantry prepared to storm the ruins of the final fortress. The Commander and fifty of his loyal troops had barricaded themselves in the basement of the fort, preparing for the inevitable. They could hear over the radio that their sacrifice meant that others could live on and fight. The artillery fire stopped and there was silence. The commander raised his pistol, as he thought that this is worth dieing for, the fate of the Republic…
“General, we have captured the final fort, but at the loss of 1,000 men. There seemed to be a small band of resistors lead by the commander of the fort that took out most of these troops, but they have been subsided. Our Mechanised Forces have reached the city centre, only to meet heavy resistance from forces located on the other side of the bridge. It would be suicide to try and capture that bridge. We must think strategically. They do not have a good commander, as could be seen by his abandonment of the Fortress Garrisons, so we will be able to find a weakness in his defence” finished Graccis.
“Very Well, general, you have to midnight to capture the other side of that bridge. What are our losses?”
“Very well, sir,” said Graccis picking up a sheet paper, “At the battle of Londinium Forest, we lost 15,000, with another 20,000 wounded, For the attack on the Fortresses, we lost 10,000 men, another 5,000 wounded, and to capture the city, we have lost 500, with another 500 wounded. This leaves us with about 149,000 troops fully active, but Marius took 15,000 troops with him to capture the Greek cities, which leaves us with 134,000 troops.”
“Then we have troops to spare! How many troops does Scipio possess?”
“Intelligence indicates 50,000 or so, but all well trained, and all very loyal.”
“You will storm the bridge, overwhelm their forces with your numbers, and smash through their forces.”
“This will cost men, Oh Immortal Caesar.”
“That it will. Now get cracking!”
“Yes, Oh Immortal Caesar.”
Colonel Publius was in command of the reconnaissance screen as it passed through a deserted Actum. He was very worried, as he expected at least some token resistance, but they had encountered very little, only a few Advanced Tanki that kept ambushing them, but even they had gone. Oh well, he thought, this would make their advance to Rome all the faster.
The General looked at the small reconnaissance screen advancing. He shook his head, and turned to the Tanki Commander. “Destroy that army, but try to capture some of the officers.”
“Yes, sir!” he saluted, and returned to his Tanki. Cracus turned back and looked once more at the cloud of dust. Yes, he thought, this would be another victory for the Republic, and maybe the end of the rebellion. But he did not know what was happening 1,000 kilometres away.
“General, sir! They are using foot infantry to storm the bridge!”
“Well then gun them down!” replied Constantine angrily.
“Well, sir, we do not have enough bullets”
“What? Ok, then, force them back with Tanki while engineers plant explosives on the bridge. Our Forces will then withdraw to preplanned positions and let the enemy advance. Once a sufficient number is across, we blow up the bridge and then slaughter all those who have crossed. Any questions? No? Good, then do it.”
Graccis was sitting down in the Governors Villa drinking Egyptian Champagne when the news broke. “Sir, they are launching a counter attack over the bridge! What should we do?”
“Hmm, I know this ruse. Let them do it. IF they withdraw afterwards, send a brigade over to hold a beachhead while our engineers scour the bridge.”
“Very well sir, but what are the Sappers supposed to find?”
“Our opposing General has a masterful plan, but unfortunately I know it. They will place explosives on the bridge, withdraw, and let us establish a large beachhead on the other side. They will then blow up the bridge, cutting off our troops and attacking us. But we will be ready for it.”
The attack on Publius’ reconnaissance unit was a complete surprise, so much of a surprise that a radio message did not even get through. His troops were searching through the ruins, when they found the body of a senior officer. He was amazingly still alive, but barely. They took him to Graccis who immediately recognised him, and sent him off to Veii, while he prepared his ambush.
“Sir, the explosives are set, shall we withdraw?”
“Yes. Those Caesar-ites will not know what hit them!”
The captain smiled as he saw the Tanki withdraw off the bridge, ordering his infantry to follow them, and establish a beachhead, or more appropriately, a Bridgehead on the other side. Then he ordered his sappers to follow them, scoring the bridge for explosives.
“We still have not got word from Publius,” said Colonel Graccis
“We will still advance, but cautiously. They may have been attacked by that unit of Advanced Tanki that have been hassling us,” replied Scipio, “But we still must advance. Reports indicate that Hispalis has nearly fallen and with that, the Imperialists will get to Veii before us. We must not let that important city fall to them!”
“It’s no use, General, it will take us eight days to get to Veii, compared to four for the Imperialists.”
“Very well, Graccis, It looks like we will just have to settle with Pompeii as our naval base for our impending attack on the Imperialists.”
“But sir, they outnumber us in both men and resources.”
“Yet we outnumber them in industrial output. Give us twenty-five years, and we will have a mighty army.”
“They have a division across, General Constantine, shall we blow the bridge?”
“Yes, captain, you may”
The captain pulled out a remote and pressed the red button. There was no great noise, but they were too far from the bridge to hear anything. Constantine then gave the order to attack, to attack a dug in division of Mechanised Infantry prepared to fight it through to the end, but he did not know that
“We are prepared to send the second armoured division across, sir”
“Very well, we will need it for our thrust on the enemy forces,” replied Graccis
“Do you think they have taken the bait?” There were a few shots in the distance, which answered the Captains question
“Yes Captain, I think they did.”
The massacre started then. 200 Tanki stormed the position protected by the crack Infantry division, and were slaughtered by the well prepared enemy infantry. They then started to advance, assisted by elements of the Second Armoured Division, through the advancing republican infantry, catching them by surprise. Word quickly spread to Constantine, and therefore, central command. Chrisius saw what would happen, his force in the East would be routed, and Cracus’ would be surrounded. He picked up the phone to order Constantine to retreat, and then dialled the number for General Cracus.
The Ambush had worked perfectly, and his advanced Tanki were ripping up the enemy infantry. Scipio’s forces were in chaos, and were preparing to retreat, when the message came. Cracus read it, swore, and ordered his victorious men to retreat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the next exciting chapter, the Rout begins! Will Constantine hold off the enemy long enough for Cracus to withdraw his troops, or will he fail once more. Will the Imperialists win or are the forces within conspiring to remove Caesar. Find out in the next chapter, entitled Trechery
They were being abandoned, yet they knew they had to fight on. Fort Veii and Fort Pompeii had fallen, and Fort Rome was besieged. Artillery was crashing down on the fortification, as enemy Infantry prepared to storm the ruins of the final fortress. The Commander and fifty of his loyal troops had barricaded themselves in the basement of the fort, preparing for the inevitable. They could hear over the radio that their sacrifice meant that others could live on and fight. The artillery fire stopped and there was silence. The commander raised his pistol, as he thought that this is worth dieing for, the fate of the Republic…
“General, we have captured the final fort, but at the loss of 1,000 men. There seemed to be a small band of resistors lead by the commander of the fort that took out most of these troops, but they have been subsided. Our Mechanised Forces have reached the city centre, only to meet heavy resistance from forces located on the other side of the bridge. It would be suicide to try and capture that bridge. We must think strategically. They do not have a good commander, as could be seen by his abandonment of the Fortress Garrisons, so we will be able to find a weakness in his defence” finished Graccis.
“Very Well, general, you have to midnight to capture the other side of that bridge. What are our losses?”
“Very well, sir,” said Graccis picking up a sheet paper, “At the battle of Londinium Forest, we lost 15,000, with another 20,000 wounded, For the attack on the Fortresses, we lost 10,000 men, another 5,000 wounded, and to capture the city, we have lost 500, with another 500 wounded. This leaves us with about 149,000 troops fully active, but Marius took 15,000 troops with him to capture the Greek cities, which leaves us with 134,000 troops.”
“Then we have troops to spare! How many troops does Scipio possess?”
“Intelligence indicates 50,000 or so, but all well trained, and all very loyal.”
“You will storm the bridge, overwhelm their forces with your numbers, and smash through their forces.”
“This will cost men, Oh Immortal Caesar.”
“That it will. Now get cracking!”
“Yes, Oh Immortal Caesar.”
Colonel Publius was in command of the reconnaissance screen as it passed through a deserted Actum. He was very worried, as he expected at least some token resistance, but they had encountered very little, only a few Advanced Tanki that kept ambushing them, but even they had gone. Oh well, he thought, this would make their advance to Rome all the faster.
The General looked at the small reconnaissance screen advancing. He shook his head, and turned to the Tanki Commander. “Destroy that army, but try to capture some of the officers.”
“Yes, sir!” he saluted, and returned to his Tanki. Cracus turned back and looked once more at the cloud of dust. Yes, he thought, this would be another victory for the Republic, and maybe the end of the rebellion. But he did not know what was happening 1,000 kilometres away.
“General, sir! They are using foot infantry to storm the bridge!”
“Well then gun them down!” replied Constantine angrily.
“Well, sir, we do not have enough bullets”
“What? Ok, then, force them back with Tanki while engineers plant explosives on the bridge. Our Forces will then withdraw to preplanned positions and let the enemy advance. Once a sufficient number is across, we blow up the bridge and then slaughter all those who have crossed. Any questions? No? Good, then do it.”
Graccis was sitting down in the Governors Villa drinking Egyptian Champagne when the news broke. “Sir, they are launching a counter attack over the bridge! What should we do?”
“Hmm, I know this ruse. Let them do it. IF they withdraw afterwards, send a brigade over to hold a beachhead while our engineers scour the bridge.”
“Very well sir, but what are the Sappers supposed to find?”
“Our opposing General has a masterful plan, but unfortunately I know it. They will place explosives on the bridge, withdraw, and let us establish a large beachhead on the other side. They will then blow up the bridge, cutting off our troops and attacking us. But we will be ready for it.”
The attack on Publius’ reconnaissance unit was a complete surprise, so much of a surprise that a radio message did not even get through. His troops were searching through the ruins, when they found the body of a senior officer. He was amazingly still alive, but barely. They took him to Graccis who immediately recognised him, and sent him off to Veii, while he prepared his ambush.
“Sir, the explosives are set, shall we withdraw?”
“Yes. Those Caesar-ites will not know what hit them!”
The captain smiled as he saw the Tanki withdraw off the bridge, ordering his infantry to follow them, and establish a beachhead, or more appropriately, a Bridgehead on the other side. Then he ordered his sappers to follow them, scoring the bridge for explosives.
“We still have not got word from Publius,” said Colonel Graccis
“We will still advance, but cautiously. They may have been attacked by that unit of Advanced Tanki that have been hassling us,” replied Scipio, “But we still must advance. Reports indicate that Hispalis has nearly fallen and with that, the Imperialists will get to Veii before us. We must not let that important city fall to them!”
“It’s no use, General, it will take us eight days to get to Veii, compared to four for the Imperialists.”
“Very well, Graccis, It looks like we will just have to settle with Pompeii as our naval base for our impending attack on the Imperialists.”
“But sir, they outnumber us in both men and resources.”
“Yet we outnumber them in industrial output. Give us twenty-five years, and we will have a mighty army.”
“They have a division across, General Constantine, shall we blow the bridge?”
“Yes, captain, you may”
The captain pulled out a remote and pressed the red button. There was no great noise, but they were too far from the bridge to hear anything. Constantine then gave the order to attack, to attack a dug in division of Mechanised Infantry prepared to fight it through to the end, but he did not know that
“We are prepared to send the second armoured division across, sir”
“Very well, we will need it for our thrust on the enemy forces,” replied Graccis
“Do you think they have taken the bait?” There were a few shots in the distance, which answered the Captains question
“Yes Captain, I think they did.”
The massacre started then. 200 Tanki stormed the position protected by the crack Infantry division, and were slaughtered by the well prepared enemy infantry. They then started to advance, assisted by elements of the Second Armoured Division, through the advancing republican infantry, catching them by surprise. Word quickly spread to Constantine, and therefore, central command. Chrisius saw what would happen, his force in the East would be routed, and Cracus’ would be surrounded. He picked up the phone to order Constantine to retreat, and then dialled the number for General Cracus.
The Ambush had worked perfectly, and his advanced Tanki were ripping up the enemy infantry. Scipio’s forces were in chaos, and were preparing to retreat, when the message came. Cracus read it, swore, and ordered his victorious men to retreat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the next exciting chapter, the Rout begins! Will Constantine hold off the enemy long enough for Cracus to withdraw his troops, or will he fail once more. Will the Imperialists win or are the forces within conspiring to remove Caesar. Find out in the next chapter, entitled Trechery
Comment