Peter Darman - Parthian Vengeance

‘Well, Marcus, perhaps you would give us a summary of our present condition.’

He rubbed his hand across his scalp and began reading from a parchment of his notes.

‘There are in camp two thousand, two hundred cataphracts fit for duty, sixteen thousand horse archers, two hundred of Babylon’s royal guard,’ he bowed his head to Orodes, ‘nine and a half thousand legionaries and two thousand Babylonian foot soldiers. Plus three thousand squires and the camel and wagon drivers, medical staff and so forth.’

No one said anything but all realised the sobering nature of these figures. In two days of fighting our combined forces had lost over eight thousand foot soldiers killed and wounded, over a thousand cataphract dead and casualties of eight thousand among the horse archers, to say nothing of Babylon’s three hundred royal bodyguards killed and three thousand squires slaughtered when the camps had been overrun. The only ray of sunshine was that the legions’ losses were light.

‘At least the enemy’s losses are greater,’ offered Surena in an attempt to brighten the mood.

‘We must march out of camp when it is light to fight the enemy once more,’ said Orodes. ‘Either that or withdraw north back to the bridge and return to Ctesiphon.’

‘I would advise against withdrawing, Orodes,’ I said. ‘The hill men may have gone but the remnants have probably fallen back to the bridge, which means we may have to fight our way across while conducting a rearguard action at the same time.’

‘I also do not wish to retreat,’ added Atrax. ‘It is dishonourable to flee thus before the false high king.’

Gallia rolled her eyes at his notion of honour but Surena was nodding his head in agreement.

‘The enemy will think that we are almost beaten,’ he said. ‘As such they will not be expecting us to attack, which may give us an advantage.’

Domitus was more sobering in his assessment. ‘Whatever the decision taken here, you all should know that this army has only one fight left in it.’

‘There is something else,’ remarked Marcus, ‘we are running short of arrows.’

I was astounded. ‘How can this be? Dura has its own camel train carrying spare ammunition, as does Hatra, Gordyene and Media.’

‘I am sorry to report that during the last two days of fighting we have expended a great many arrows and we also lost a great many camels carrying ammunition when the camps were attacked.’

Orodes looked at him with weary eyes. ‘How much is left?’

‘Two quivers for each horse archer, more or less.’

‘That will last about ten minutes,’ said Gafarn.

‘Our odds lengthen,’ remarked Atrax flatly.

We fell silent as each of us mused over the possibilities in our minds. Retreat was out of the question. We had come this far and to crawl back to Ctesiphon would not only embolden the enemy but would deal a fatal blow to our cause. We had no idea how Musa and Khosrou were faring, but if we were defeated here then Narses and Mithridates would surely pursue us as we fell back west while the other eastern kings marched against our allies in the north. And when news of our defeat and the death of my father reached Hatra the Armenians would surely launch a full-scale invasion of Gafarn’s kingdom.

‘I have an idea.’

I stopped thinking of nightmares and looked at Surena, upon whom all eyes were now fixed.

‘Please share it with us,’ said Orodes, smiling faintly at him.

Surena cleared his throat.

‘We must use Dura’s legions to attack the enemy frontally to focus the enemy’s attention, while we use our one remaining advantage — our cataphracts — to make a wide detour to envelop Narses’ right wing. Then we can roll up his whole army. The horse archers can deploy on the left of the legions to support their advance with what little ammunition they have left, but the decisive force will be the armoured horsemen.’

‘You will split the army,’ I remarked.

‘That cannot be helped, lord. We must do the unexpected to confuse the enemy.’

‘Makes sense,’ said Domitus, ‘though what about the hill men? They may return.’

‘Babylon’s foot and horse can act as a reserve to deal with any threat from the north. In addition, half the horse archers should also be deployed towards the north to form a defensive screen to cover our rear.’

‘You dilute our depleted forces even further, Surena,’ said Orodes.

‘It will make no difference with regard to missile power, lord,’ he replied, ‘the Babylonians are…’

He suddenly remembered that he was addressing not only the king of kings but also the King of Babylon and so stopped his words.

Domitus laughed gruffly. ‘He’s too polite to say that the Babylonians are finished as a fighting force.’

Orodes frowned but what Domitus said was true. The Babylonian foot had suffered eight thousand casualties and were demoralised, and even the royal guard has lost over half their number. It made sense for them to stay out of the front line.

Orodes smiled at Surena. ‘Please continue with your battle plan.’

Viper smiled at Surena who spoke once more.

‘The horse archers deployed to the north will carry no ammunition. Those who are supporting the legions will have all the arrows.’

Atrax stared in disbelief at his fellow king. ‘What use are horse archers without arrows.’

‘They will give the illusion of strength,’ replied Surena.

Surena’s plan had merits but it was also a gamble, and if it failed the army would face certain destruction. And yet it was audacious enough to succeed against an enemy who had also suffered high casualties but who must have believed that we were on our last legs. Whether we opted for Surena’s plan or not we had to do something this day. Inactivity was not an option.

‘I think we should decide what we are going to do,’ said Orodes. ‘Pacorus, I would hear your views on the matter.’

I could think of no alternative. ‘I agree with Surena.’

Orodes looked at Atrax. ‘And you, lord king?’

‘Let us finish this business,’ he replied.

‘And what of you, Gafarn?’ enquired Orodes.

Gafarn wore a mask of steely determination. ‘I have a debt to settle with Narses. I say we attack.’

Orodes nodded his head. ‘Very well. We march out at dawn.’

That was three hours away and so everyone left my tent to go back to his forces to brief their officers. Before they left, though, Alcaeus appeared with jugs full of a bitter-tasting liquid that he insisted we all drink. He told us that it was water mixed with an extract from a Chinese plant called Ma-huang that was a stimulant and would sharpen our dulled senses during the coming fight. He made sure that we all drank a full measure before retuning to his hospital as we went to rouse our sleeping men.

As aching and fatigued bodies were shaken awake a thorough search of the camp was conducted for arrows, including those that had been shot by the enemy during the previous day and night. In this way enough ammunition was found to equip each horse archer who would be fighting alongside the legions with three full quivers. These men would be drawn from the contingents of Dura, Media and Hatra and would be commanded by Vagises, while Surena would use his own horse archers from Gordyene to form the defensive screen immediately north of the camp. Gallia would remain in camp with the reserve.

‘I do not wish to remain in camp,’ she complained as she assisted me in putting on my scale armour.

Having already lost my father I was gripped by a desire to protect her at all costs.

‘If the hill men return then Surena will not be able to hold them with horsemen armed only with swords. Your reserve will buy us more time.’