“That is a stalemate. They will never execute the hostages, as I have one of their chieftains and a druid in custody myself.”
Balbus, near the door, made a grumbling noise.
“Yet you have written off any hope of getting
Fronto glared at Crassus while he addressed the general.
“We have to move straight away, Caesar, before this shitty situation becomes a disaster and we lose our foothold in Gaul altogether. ‘All Gaul is conquered’, remember?”
The general stared at him for a moment and then, nodding, stood, placing his hands on the large map on the table before him.
Then we have to decide on how we move now. We have less than half the army here, the rest being out on food gathering missions.” He looked up at Brutus. “What’s the state of the fleet?”
Crassus blinked.
“Fleet? What fleet?”
Brutus ignored him and scratched his chin.
“A few days from operational, Caesar. A little rigging, some more sails, and the crews are imminent. Once the ships are ready, we can leave them to the new crews with just a skeleton staff and Galba can have the rest of the Twelfth back, preparing to move.”
Crassus turned to look in confusion at Brutus and then Galba.
“
Caesar ignored the legate and nodded.
“Very well. The fleet was a good idea. Moreover, it was
Brutus nodded, his face straight.
“I’m no experienced admiral, Caesar, but I know the basics. We’ll be there and ready.”
“Good. Where is Varus?”
Fronto smiled nastily at the astonished face of legate Crassus.
“I asked him to get riders sent out to the legions with the recall order.”
Crassus opened his mouth to argue but, behind him Caesar overrode him.
“Good. When he’s back, tell him to take half the cavalry and a few of the fastest moving foot auxiliary units and move across country as fast as they can to meet up with Labienus at Nemetocenna. The last report I had from Labienus a few months ago seemed to indicate that things were going exceptionally well there. He seems to be well on his way to Romanising the Belgae already and, with the cavalry reinforcements, he should be able to keep things settled and safe over there and hopefully keep the Germans on the other side of the Rhine.”
Fronto nodded approvingly. Labienus was, most certainly, the man for the job. With him watching their back, Fronto felt reasonably secure.
“So are we going to concentrate the rest of the forces on Armorica and hope the example we make keeps the Spanish and the British out of it?”
Caesar waggled his hand in a non-committal fashion.
“Partially. There’s very little we can do at the moment about Britannia. We just have to hope that either they decide against interference, or they take so long preparing that we have dealt with the situation before they can land in Gaul. Spain is a different matter.”
Fronto nodded. He had personal experience of the Celtic and Iberian tribes across the Pyrenees. They were as hardy as the Gauls but less inclined to settle and negotiate, a fact that had contributed greatly to the heavy- handed and brutal tactics Caesar had employed there years ago when Fronto had commanded the Ninth.
“We need something like the Labienus situation down there.”
“No” Caesar disagreed, shaking his head. “This is different. What we need with the Pyrenean tribes is to frighten them into submission. They’ve no real experience or appreciation of Roman culture, despite being so close to Narbo. They won’t be talked out of action, and we need to put a stop to them getting involved and also to seal the passes over the mountains and stop the Spanish tribes helping them.”
Sabinus, near the back of the room, frowned.
“Sounds like we’re in danger of splitting the army and spreading it a little too thin for comfort, Caesar?”
The general nodded, rubbing his temple.
“We can’t spare too many men, for certain.”
Sabinus cleared his throat.
“If you want me to take a legion or two and deal with it, sir?”
Caesar shook his head, examining the map by his hand.
“No. I shall be sending you, Crassus.”
The room fell silent, many faces quickly registering both surprise and disapproval. The tense quiet was broken when Crassus, finding his voice for the first time since the conversation began, turned to the general.
“Sir?”
The general glowered at him.
“You took a peaceful situation up here and turned it into a war. You are a good commander for punitive campaigns, Crassus, but to be frank, you are just too brutal in your methods to administer a freshly-conquered land.”
Fronto almost laughed aloud. To be considered ‘too brutal’ by the man who had ordered the execution of an entire captive tribe not long after they’d first ever marched into this country said a great deal.
Crassus was nodding, though, as though the general had complimented him.
“You want their spirit and their will to resist crushed?”
The general smiled.
“I see you have the picture. Can you repeat your success of last year?”
Crassus nodded, an unpleasant smile creeping across his face.
“I shall take the Seventh and seal off the southwest completely, general.”
“Good. You will need to be highly manoeuvrable in the foothills of the Pyrenees, so I’m sending the rest of the cavalry with you.”
Crispus leaned close to Fronto and whispered in his ear “That’ll please Varus!”
Fronto nodded slightly and spoke from the corner of his mouth.
“Question is: will he go with them to Labienus where he won’t have to deal with Crassus, or would he rather go south and keep his eye on his men?”
He became aware that Caesar was glaring at him.
“Sorry sir. Go on.”
The general took a deep breath and then focused on Sabinus, standing at the back of the room.
“Are you still up for a command, Sabinus?”
“Of course, general.”
“Good. I’m giving you the weaker legions, I’m afraid. Take the Twelfth, who are still busy training and re- equipping, the Fourteenth who are still very green and a little… Gallic… if you get my drift, and most of the Ninth.” He scanned the room for the legates of those legions and spotted Rufus near the door.
“Sabinus acts with the full authority of Praetor over the three legions, while you’ll each maintain command of your individual legions. However, I require three cohorts of the ninth to join the navy as marines. The ninth had experience of naval combat near Saguntum a few years ago, so they may be useful.”
Rufus saluted, his expression neutral.
Sabinus frowned. “What am I to do then, General?”
“You’ll take the Ninth, Tenth and Fourteenth up toward the north coast. Do whatever you have to in order to keep those tribes from marching south and joining the Veneti. Keep the peace if you can; keep them subdued if not.”
