“After seeing our Legate, nothing about thissurprises me anymore,” was Macrinus’ comment, which I should haveadmonished him for making, but I did not.
“Surprise or not, that means we have a lotof work to do,” I told them. “Specifically, the artilleryimmunes and armorers are going to need to work throughoutthe watches to make enough artillery.”
“But where are we going to find enoughseasoned wood to make what we need?” Flaminius asked. “It’s notlike we can just cut down trees and use that wood.”
“I'll worry about that,” Flavianus toldthem, but I could see they were not convinced.
I actually had no idea where we would findtimber in sufficient amounts and quality to make the number ofpieces we would need. If Philippi had been on the coast, Flavianuscould have raided a shipyard where shed after shed of stored timbercould be dried out and cured for use. I realized I would have to goto Primus for his aid in this, knowing he would shriek to Olympusover further delays, but it could not be helped if he wanted to besuccessful. I turned to Capito, commanding the auxiliaries.
“Also, I want you and your men to starttraining with the sling. I'll have the armorers start moldingbullets for them.”
“What do we need slingers for?” Scipioasked, and I decided to take the time to answer the youngster’squestion.
He had managed to stay out from underfootthe last couple of days, which I appreciated, and it was a sensiblequestion.
“We'll need slingers to keep the heads ofthe Thracians defending the walls of Serdica down, unless they wantto get a sling bullet between the eyes. Since I don’t know muchabout Serdica’s defenses, I don’t know if it will even be possibleto employ them, but I'd rather be prepared than to get there andneed them.”
As I spoke, I remembered the old muleteerVentidius, and his use of the sling against the cataphracts ofParthia. I looked over at Scribonius to see that he was thinkingthe same thing, exchanging a secret smile.
“How are we with supplies?”
Scipio consulted his wax tablet. He read offsome figures representing the number of swine that he had talliedavailable in the city and surrounding area, along with theestimated cost to fill the barrels devoted to salt pork. Diocleshad already supplied me with the needed figures for chickpeas andwheat, all of which toted up to a huge sum. Because Philippi is ina Senatorial province, we could not appropriate anything withoutpaying for it, but that was Primus’ problem, especially since itwas his province. However, I strongly suspected that this would notmean much to someone like him.
“Flavianus, I'm putting you in charge ofbuilding the artillery and I need an estimate of when you'll beready as quickly as possible.”
“I can’t give you one until I have an ideawhere the timber is coming from and how long it will take to gethere,” my engineer objected.
He was right, so I agreed that I would waitfor his estimate until after I had found a source of timber.
Turning to Scipio, I told him, “Tribune, nowthat we have an idea about how much foodstuffs are available andwhere to get them, I'm putting you in charge of gathering it andgetting it ready for transport.”
This was another thankless job where it wasonly noticed if it didn’t go well, but Scipio glowed with pride atbeing singled out for such a task, and I saw Scribonius with a wrysmile on his face out of the corner of my eye.
“Is there anything else?”
Libo raised his hand.
“I need extra mounts for the cavalry.”
“And some of our wagon stock went lame onthe march here,” Flaminius put in, forcing me to stifle agroan.
It appeared very much like nothing was goingto come easily on this campaign.
“Very well. Libo, give me an estimate ofwhat you need as far as saddle mounts. Flaminius, I want you toconduct a complete assessment of not just the wagon stock, but theLegion mules for both Legions, then let me know what we need.”
I was pleased to see Flaminius turn slightlyred, clearly not liking being assigned this task, but in my mind,this was a good sign. Everyone was leaving feeling a little putupon, the sign that I had distributed the load as equally aspossible.
I signaled the end of the meeting, hearingFlaminius mutter to Macrinus under his breath, “And what, exactly,does he do?”
I stifled a smile. The fact was that I hadto deal with Marcus Primus, and I was willing to wager my entirefortune that after one conversation, not one of the others wouldenvy my position in the slightest.
“What?” Marcus Primus’ shouted question wasso shrill that it felt like someone had punched my eardrums with anawl.
The Praetor was standing behind his deskwhere, somewhat to my surprise, I had actually found him appearingto work. At least there were scrolls spread on his desk, withMasala standing over his shoulder, Primus’ aide staring at me downhis nose, his expression mirroring that of his mentor. The dumpylittle man’s cheeks were quivering with rage and frustration whileI stood there in front of him, absorbing his wrath.
“We're never going to march, are we,Prefect?”
“Of course we are,” I assured him. “But ifyou want this campaign to be successful, then we need to preparebeforehand, and we need the artillery to be augmented in order toaccomplish our goals.”
“Why didn’t you bring the necessaryartillery?” Primus’ tone was accusatory, like I had somehowdeliberately omitted bringing the heavy artillery on purpose.
“Because I didn't know the nature of ourcampaign,” I shot back, refusing to give in on this at all. I wasnot going to
