An Ancient Hell (Discontinued)

Chapter 2: The Storm

It is now early morning, the light barely shining over the mountain tops. The skies now seeming to fill up with many clouds. They are very gray and dark clouds as if a storm is brewing up. The failed night raid was a disaster for the Huns, they lost a few hundred men while the Romans lost one or two. This infuriates the General into making a larger army, 10,000 strong to go out and attack the Roman force. He is planning on making swift and brutal attacks to keep the Romans from rebuilding any defenses and to try and break their morale. Over at the Roman city, 3,000 soldiers are on the ground trying to set up the moat with oil again. Almost all of the fighting force is outside the walls. The effectiveness of the defense was outstanding and the Romans will use what little they have to keep up their sturdy defense. At least a few hundred archers are on the city wall watching and keeping an eye out for the Huns forces. They have no idea that the large force is now on its way and since there are soldiers on the ground, it is going to turn bloody and violent. An archer spots the force moving towards their position but knows the soldiers wont get into the city in time. They'll have to stay out and fight, the General is not willing to risk opening the gate. The General was a hearty but serious man. He is a veteran fighting for Rome for many years, rewarded many times for his courageous and valiant efforts. His name was Augustus, which in Roman times meant great or venerable. It was a title given to many rulers, including the three kings of Poland. Also give to Octavian, adopted sun of Ceaser. Augustus' eyes were a deep dark hazel, while his face had a rough and gray beard. To everyone he seemed to come across as a very fit and strong man. A large and seemingly deep scar runs across his chest. Within moments Augustus decides to set up a few hundred archers on one side of the wall to get into position and to prepare a volley of arrows for their enemy. Their is not enough space on the walls for all the archers to stand up there and provide cover. However, since Augustus knows that the archers are trained well he sets up more formations from inside the city. He also gives them a spotter as well to fire volleys from inside the city and give maximum cover. The soldiers on the ground are notified of the invasion and begin to go into formation. Augustus suggested the formation Triplex Acies. He was in one before, so from experience he decides to reuse it. The formation is thinner than it should be since they are low on troops, which will lessen the defense. Many disagree with the General, stating that it would be a failure. He denies their request to change it using his knowledge and experience of war he keeps the formation. Since he is high in military rank and experience, nobody questions his decision. The soldiers make three lines made up of 1,000 troops. Each line is broken up into fourths. They are spread out so as to not jumble up and to lessen the chance of being hit by arrows. The first line is spread out, meaning they are not next to each other. The next line behind them is slightly farther behind to allow for space and also spread out from one another. Their formations are right behind the open gaps that were left from the front line. The last line does the same thing, spreads out and is a bit farther behind the second one. It again covers the gaps created from the second line. This formation was a weaker and smaller version of the successful formation, Triplex Acies. Think of their formation like a checkerboard pattern. As soon as the Huns were in range, the first volley of arrows was ordered and fired upon them. A small cloud of arrows shoots up into the sky and starts descending upon the Huns forces. The accuracy was well and thanks to strong gusts of wind it managed to go further and get more than expected. A few hundred are wounded another hundred lay dead amongst the advancing army. The Huns skilled in archery prepare to fire a volley at the Romans in return, but they are prepared. Seeing them prepare to fire, Augustus shouts out to the leading commanders of the columns. "Tortoise!" He yells and repeats. The Romans quickly scramble to get into a tortoise formation. Men in front hold their shields up in front of them, while all the men behind them raise their shield upwards and above their heads creating an impenetrable fortress. The large volley of arrows is fired down upon the Romans, and proved ineffective. They clang off the shields with ferocious intensity. Seeing their arrows as ineffective the Huns then begin the charge. Fast moving cavalry pushes forward at great speeds and the Roman soldiers now breaking the tortoise formation for they know the Huns will not fire upon them if their own are there.  The cavalry of a few thousand men and woman now reach the Roman force. Blood shed is created, the first face to face combat. Archers are ordered again by Augustus to fire another volley of arrows onto the foot soldiers of the Hun army. The cavalry clash into the first line of the Roman formation. They move swiftly through spearing and slashing at Roman soldiers, but as soon as they get into the middle of the column, the Romans being to attack from all sides. The uncivilized Huns thought brute strength would be enough to scare off the Romans, they were wrong. The horsemen now taking hits from all sides and the Roman front line taking casualties themselves. Clanging metal and the screams of the fallen fill the air, some strikes so brutal against one another that sparks fly off in the midst of battle. The fired volley of arrows strikes the Hun foot soldiers creating another few hundred deaths, they now begin to charge forward holding up shield and sword. The front line of the Roman defensive formation is barely managing to hold off the cavalry advance. Agonized screams of their fallen brethren discourage and vacillate the second line of the formation. Those wounded who fall to the ground are then trampled to death by the many horses which are now unmanned due to the deaths of their masters. Then within an instance rain begins falling heavily, pounding away at earth and man. Strong wind blows from behind the Romans giving them a slight edge. The wind carries water rapidly and viciously into the eyes of the Huns, blinding them slightly. Lightning bolts fill the sky as it darkens tremendously. The General Augustus has crept out of the city with his elite guards. He is not worried about death, he is planning to go out and bring encouragement and bravery into the Romans hearts. They ride in on horseback, twenty of them including the General. As the third, second, and first line see their General, Augustus, their courage and bravery double and they begin to fight back relentlessly. Almost all the cavalry have been wiped out, but the first line is also in ruins. Only a hundred or so remain out of the thousand that formed the columns. The first line is also still spread out into columns making them easy targets against any charge or volley of arrows. The ground becomes wet and bloody from the dead. The stench of the bodies is masked by how heavy the rain comes down upon them. The crackling of thunder being heard for miles around and the blinding lightning bolts can be seen even further. Augustus rides in front of the front line picking off any Hun survivors that may have managed to get away from the bloodshed. He also shouts out to rally his men. "We are Romans! We will protect Rome from these mongrels! The gods are on our side as well! Look at this glourious rain. It blinds our enemies and our arrows are carried further. Let us repel these foolish invaders!" He raises his sword high into the air and cries out. The romans follow and they all begin chanting. The sound of them chanting is louder than the thunder and makes the Huns frightened and discouraged as they move forward. A few hundred horsemen from the first attack managed to retreat intact and their horses still able to move. They regroup and move with the foot soldiers. Augustus joins the ranks and pulls back the remnants of the first line conjoining it with the second to strengthen it. The second clash was about to begin, Augustus knew that and so did his men. He shows no fear and yells out as the Huns charge at them. "Attack!" He thrusts his sword forward and upward into the air as him and his guards charge forward. The whole Roman force follows shouting out loud charging right behind their General. The real battle has begun.