Alfren lifted a restraining arm to Caros’ chest, “Not yet Caros. They must take the walkway and they volunteered to be amongst the first wave.”
Caros ground his teeth and clenched his falcata. It was against his nature to hang back while good men died so futilely. His eyes were stretched wide, his breath coming in bursts and he had not yet struck a blow. The Bastetani were gaining the top of the wall now in greater numbers. He sensed a movement in the press of warriors. The attacking warriors had stormed their way up a pile of broken rock in one of the many partial breaches and were hacking and tearing at the crude, wooden palisade placed there by the enemy.
Caros pointed at it, “Alfren, the breach. We can force that!”
The Commander grimaced, looked back at the ladders choked with climbing warriors and then grunted in agreement. Caros bulled his way towards the breach and clambered up the loose rock. The defenders above had been thinned, but arrows were still thudding with regularity into shields and bodies all around them. A javelin hurtled over the wooden palisade. The defenders had tied an oil-soaked strip of cord to the weapon and lit it. Burning furiously, the javelin struck a warrior’s shield. The man grunted from the impact and then tried hacking the javelin away. The burning cord ignited his breeches and he yelled and flung away the shield before tearing off his clothing. More burning javelins flew over the palisade creating pandemonium amongst the Bastetani. Men screamed in agony as they became human torches. Caros sensed the mood of the warriors around him altering. Men were backing up uncertainly. Archers from within the city were thinning the Bastetani who’d gained the wall above them remorselessly. He stumbled up to the palisade and a spearhead suddenly thrust through the upright beams at him. The warriors hacking at the palisade had made no headway and were being cut down as they tried to pull down the barrier.
Caros grabbed a sweating, bloodied warrior and shouted into his ear. “Get ladders up here now! I want as many as you can get. Go!” He hunkered down next to Neugen and Alfren who both held their shields above them and tried to keep their bodies as small as possible. Suddenly warriors were passing ladders over their heads towards the breach. Four ladders came swiftly over the throng of men and in short order were lodged up against the rim of the wooden palisade. The lip of the palisade was much lower than the city walls the ladders had been built to scale, so they lay at a gentle angle. Caros deftly swung himself onto the first ladder and realised he wouldn’t need to use his hands to climb due to the gentle slope. He hefted his shield and shouted to the warriors behind him. “Bastetani! Let’s take these sheep-shagging bastards!”
A roar sounded from the warriors as they surged up the four ladders. Caros ran up the wooden ladder, praying to Runeovex that he would not miss his footing on the bouncing structure. Warriors were falling from the ladders as they ran, but more were sweeping forward. Caros reached the palisade’s rim and prayed it wasn’t far to the ground beyond. With a wild, desperate war cry he launched himself over the rim.
The enemy packed along the wall, raised their shields as he flew into them feet first. With his feet together, he slammed into a shield and knocked the owner into the ground. He lashed back handed with his falcata at the packed warriors who had little room to manoeuvre. He swung in a circle to his right, knocking away sword and spear thrusts. He couldn’t hope to keep them all at bay and in moments a warrior slammed into his back and tried to ram a spear into his neck. Caros staggered forward, blocking sword thrusts with his shield as he furiously elbowed the man behind him. Suddenly the weight bearing down on him was gone and he heard a voice bellowing at him.
“Are you insane! By Saur’s dogs that ale has torn your senses loose!” Neugen looked genuinely peeved as he finished off the warrior by hacking his throat open. More Bastetani were hurtling from above into the Saguntine defenders giving Caros a moment to regain his footing and breath. Alfren appeared, battering two warriors to the ground and killing them with quick, hungry thrusts. The Commander’s eyes were alight with bloodlust and he grinned widely at Caros. A spearhead slammed against his chest and gouged a shining trail across the armour. In a flash Alfren roared and drove first shield then sword into the hapless attacker. Caros grinned back at him; the defenders were falling back and the Bastetani were forming a wall of shields and driving forward. Enraged by the number of their comrades that had been slain, by the fear they felt, they plunged into the defenders like a living blade. Their wild attack caused the city’s archers to retreat and the men climbing the upper walls quickly took advantage of the fact. Bastetani archers were quickly brought forward and took a strong position on the walls from where they could fire down on the defenders as they fell back.
Caros found himself in the shield wall with Neugen beside him. Behind them Alfren was shouting to the warriors, urging them into the line. They needed to exploit their hard won foothold and drive the enemy back quickly. A mass of some hundreds of Bastetani now surged into the city, filling the streets and lumbering over any defence the Saguntines attempted. Ahead of them the afternoon sun lit up the city’s inner wall. They pushed relentlessly towards it. Caros staggered and slipped over a pair of dying warriors who lay choking in an open sewer. He gagged as entrails looped around his ankle and he kicked his foot free. A man charged from a dark doorway thrusting a broad bladed spear at him. Caros deflected the blade with his shield and stepped in close to the crazed looking Saguntine. The man spat at him even as Caros drove his falcata into the warrior’s midriff. Caros then batted him away with a vicious blow of his forehead. The iron helm knocked the dying man back into the doorway. Around him, Caros saw the Bastetani struggling to contain suicidal attacks from doors and rooftops. Unnoticed, the enemy rolled a large log off the edge of a roof to drop, with a sickening impact, onto the warriors in the street. At the same time Alfren staggered under the impact of a rock hurled from above and dropped dazed to his knees.
Caros turned to the rear ranks. “Get the archers up here and onto these roofs, clean the bastards off them!” He then helped Neugen to drag Alfren off the street into what had been a bakery.
“Bastards do not know when to give up. Here, help me get him onto the table.” They lifted the heavy man onto a rough table. Alfren tried sitting up, but fell back with a groan. Caros looked at Neugen worriedly and shook his head.
“We need to get him out of here. As soon as we get archers to cover these roofs, we should be able to risk it.”
“It is not long to nightfall. It may be better to wait till it is dark.” Neugen cautioned.
“No.” Caros wiped the bloodied falcata off with a bundle of linen lying beside an oven while exploring the room. “When night falls the Saguntines will counter-attack using the dark as cover.”
Neugen slammed a fist into the timber and mud wall of the building with a curse. “I hope the other columns had better luck than us. Those flaming javelins are nasty bloody things. Trust these turds to come up with that idea.”
Caros walked to the doorway and glanced out. The Bastetani warriors were holed up in every doorway along the street. He could hear goods being overturned, shouts and the ringing clash of blades coming from among of the buildings. He needed to take control and come up with a plan. They had been so intent on breaching the wall and getting into the city that they had not stopped to consider the possibility of fighting the Saguntines for every cursed building between the outer and inner walls.
He looked speculatively back at Neugen, considering his last remark. An idea flared in his mind; one he did not like. However, the more he considered it the more he knew it would need to be done to avoid losing all they had gained. He made up his mind and called across the street to a pair of warriors who sheltered just inside a doorway. “You two fellows, come over.”
They nodded and then with nervous glances at the roofline, darted across the filthy street and into the bakery.
“Neugen, get Alfren back over the wall with these two fellows. I am going to be bringing the rest of the men back. Any warriors coming forwa
rd are to return to the breach and get everybody handy to tear that palisade down. We may need to get out of here in a hurry and that thing will be in our way.”
Neugen frowned, not liking the implied urgency in Caros’ tone, but he held his tongue and gestured to the two men to grab Alfren who lay, ashen faced, on the table. They got him up between them and made their way out and down the street as fast as they could go. Neugen paused beside Caros with a questioning look to which he responded.
“Trust me, if I am right, we are going to need to move fast.”
Caros darted from doorway to doorway ascertaining where his men were and getting them to fall back. Their archers were struggling to make their way forward, so the Bastetani were still dodging missiles from the roofs above. Some men had taken the fight to the Saguntines on the roofs, but the defenders, who knew the layout of the city intimately, quickly outmanoeuvred them. In a short while the Bastetani warriors’ headless corpses were thrown to the street below with jeers while their bloody heads were fixed to spears and mounted on the rooftops. As galling as that was, Caros shouted his men down when they clamoured and bayed to go after the killers. He formed the men into tight squares and hunched below their shields, they shuffled back down the streets. Warhorns called the retreat and as the Bastetani fell back, the emboldened Saguntine warriors materialised at their rear. Slingshots, javelins and arrows rained down on the Bastetani. A man beside Caros shrieked in pain as a javelin smashed his knee. The man could not stand and would be killed by the advancing Saguntines in a moment. Caros roared in anger and physically dragged the injured man to his feet. “Get up! Here take him, we leave no injured!”
For some reason, Caros felt the mood among the beleaguered Bastetani solidify into a grim determination. Men quickly grabbed the injured man and hauled him back with them after tearing the javelin from what was left of his knee. Others fell injured along the way and were likewise lifted and carried back with the retreating band. Caros was becoming more and more incensed by the Saguntine mob baying and heckling them between every throw of a javelin. He could tell that they were on the verge of charging his ranks.
A sudden strumming of taut bowstrings sounded from above them and the Bastetani cringed, but the arrows flew over them and pierced the Saguntines. Finally, they were approaching the outer wall where Neugen had managed to secure a few rows of buildings on which he had positioned archers to cover the retreat. They were in the shadow of the west wall now and thousands of Bastetani were hemmed in here. Caros ordered shield walls on any streets or alleys in a rough semi circle about the area of the wooden palisade at the breach.
He found Neugen. “Alfren over?”
“Yes, he did not look well, poor bastard. The men are pulling up that palisade like you wanted.” He looked into the city, “Did you see how many were still in there? It was a bloody good thing you pulled us back when you did. Sorry I questioned you.”
Caros grinned and slapped him on the ear. “You get a knock on the head or something, friend? When do you ever not question me, eh?”
Neugen shook his head to clear the ringing from the slap. “Ouch!” Then he laughed. “Well here is a question. What now?”
“Fire.”
“Yup. Go on...”
“What is happening with the other columns?” Caros asked quickly.
“Same story. Masulians made the wall, held it and then pulled back. Libyans are holding the wall, but a couple of hundred of them are trapped within the first rows and cannot pull back. Sounds like they will be crossing Saur’s lands soon I fear. Hope that fool from the honour guard is not amongst them. Kind of liked the chap.”
“Bullshit, you kind of liked the dream of his sister.”
“He has a sister?”
Caros felt better for the banter, but the position of the Libyans worried him. What he was contemplating was bad enough without their comrades being trapped in the city. Then he heard the warhorns signalling a full retreat. The entire army was pulling back!
Neugen looked grim. “Guess that means the Libyans are finished.”
Caros glared about. “Archers! I want every man to fire flames into the city. Douse everything and set it alight.”
Neugen spun around. “Burn it? Burn the whole place? What about the people?”
Caros looked grimly at Neugen. “What people? I did not see a cursed shadow there that was not trying to gut us. Their people are long gone.” Or will be soon, he thought. In his heart he knew there would be innocent people within that part of the city, but none of the warriors had seen a single woman or child, even within those homes or buildings they had taken shelter in. “We will be back within days and when we come back everything will be burned clear. As it is, every bloody hovel here is a mini castro and frankly I am sick of seeing our fellows with their heads stove in.” He clenched his fist and swiped his falcata across the cityscape. “Fire the whole cursed place.”
From the plains, the mauled army watched captivated as the buildings within the outer walls burned. The army had pulled out from the city, bloodied and hurt. Estimates at this point put losses amongst Hannibal’s forces at some four thousand of their warriors. The Libyans had lost a disproportionate amount of men despite their better armour. They had struggled more slowly up the ladders and through the narrow breaches and then many had been trapped too far into the warren of alleyways and cobbled lanes.
Now the army slunk back to the plains to watch the enemy city burn, spared from the jeers and catcalls of the defenders by the flames. Caros quickly ascertained that Alfren was still alive. He had been removed from the field to the pavilion where Asklepius could work his talents as a healer.
Caros gathered the Bastetani warriors at the foot of the hill. It was still light enough to see the figures of stragglers, from every contingent of Hannibal’s army, making their way down the many goat tracks to the plain. Libyans, Masulians and others limped and staggered in a daze past the massed Bastetani. Caros walked the mare part way up the hill before turning to address the assembled warriors.
Filling his lungs, he shouted. “Who are we?”
The milling warriors looked up at Caros, confusion and exhaustion lined their soot-blackened faces.
Caros looked out at the sea of battered warriors. “Who are we?” He looked at the closest warriors. “You men! Who are you?”
They looked about uncomfortably. Neugen was frowning from where he sat his mount.
“You know who you are! Tell me!”
A graybeard stepped forward on shaky legs and leaned on his spear shaft a moment. The man spat a wad of sooty phlegm into the dirt and then rose to his full height.
“I am Bastetani!” He shouted.
Caros smiled, his doubt falling away. In days and years to come, when men spoke of Hannibal, of Maharbal, and other leading men and champions; Caros would remember that exhausted graybeard and he would acknowledge him as a true champion. The warriors standing behind the old warrior, probably his kin, stepped forward. “We are Bastetani!”
Caros smiled and looked again across the battered warriors. “Who are we?”
Now men began to sense what he was asking and man after man, they stood taller. They began calling hesitantly.
Caros raised his falcata, silencing the discordant voices. “I asked who are we?”
“Bastetani!” The ragged call came back.
Caros lifted both arms and shouted with all his might. “Who are we!”
“Bastetani! Bastetani! Bastetani!” They growled and then roared.
Caros turned his mount to look up at Sagunt and joined the cry. As he shouted, stragglers from other contingents paused to watch the Bastetani, who stood yelling their name. They saw warriors with all manner of wounds, rising to lean on their spears and call their name. The uninjured helped up those too injured to climb to their feet unaided. A Libyan, burned and bloodied, stopped and sank to his knees nearby with a smile on his face and tears running down his cheeks. Masulians carrying a body of a comrade, slowed and stopped to
watch the Bastetani. More and more warriors gathered, attracted by the roaring Bastetani. They stood on the plain and watched, as in the face of defeat, these warriors declared their name. They were not broken, nor were they defeated. They were stronger.
A rapidly approaching dust cloud signalled riders. As the Bastetani’s cheers gathered Hannibal’s bruised army, that General sped towards them with Maharbal at his side. Caros watched as Hannibal was forced to slow and pick his way through the crowd of Libyan, Masulian and Turdetani warriors encircling the Bastetani. The General came to a stop beside Caros and surveyed the gathered thousands. He looked at Caros, one eyebrow cocked. Another General may have considered Caros a threat at this point, but Hannibal smiled and grabbed Caros’ wrist, lifting his arm above his head. The Bastetani howled with pride and cheered. Most likely it was them that began the chant that brought a flush to Caros’ cheeks.
The chant spread through the massed warriors. “The Claw...the Claw...the Claw.”
“You fired the city.” Hannibal spoke.
“I did, the second wall is now wide open for the taking.” Caros replied with his arm still held high above his head by his General, the burning city reflected in the blade clutched in his fist.
CHAPTER 25
HANNIBAL HAD ORDERED Maharbal to retake the outer walls at first light. In other circumstances the army may have needed days to recover their morale after having been forced to relinquish the tenuous grip on the city they had gained so bloodily. Hannibal however, recognized that through Caros’ actions, in both burning the buildings between the outer and inner walls and more importantly, in so deftly turning their rout into a semblance of victory, that the warriors were eager and ready to crush Saguntine resistance.
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