NationStates Jolt Archive

Signs were up everywhere. Overnight notices had been put up requesting more soldiers to join the army and to go on a march up north, destination was not certain yet.
However a new ruler had appeared in Antioch, and Damascus stood between Antioch and Caesarea. It would be to whoever took it first, and General Cohen was intent on it being the Judean army.
Already the first would-be soldiers had started appearing, as they were tested then kitted out if they were suitable.
The legions were marching back, but there were still a few days until they arrived, until then, the new recruits were to be trained up, so that they would be ready. Hopefully the new recruits would number a complete cohort (480), which would then be fitted into one of the legions, which had lost a complete cohorts worth of men.
The men were given armour and weapons, then went off to training. The blacksmiths were hard at work in their workshops keeping up with demand.
The news from a scout who'd ridden ahead was good, Memphis had fallen to them, and with relatively little casualties. This operation was to be simpler though, and a Caesarean operation only. Jerusalem was to be left out of it, to give the troops time to rest.
The Caesarean legions had been left out of the fighting last time, and this was their chance to shine. Siege weapons had been pouring out of the factories, hundreds of them. Onagers were the majority, with some trebuchets as well. War was, for the second time in as many weeks, on everybody's minds.

Damascus, a Great city, a great staging ground, a great conquest to be had, A Stepping Stone into the South, and the Vast Riches of the Empire that was growing.

In a short time, Cavalry had been armed, Chariots made, Infantry Armed, Archers trained.. Now, They Marched South.

The Preparations were Reaching Frutition, and The General Mythrades would be the first to claim this prize. No Enemy would have it.

Tonight, They Rested, Tommorow, Full March to Damascus.

The troops had arrived in Jerusalem, and two legions had marched through the night to get to Caesarea. At daybreak the troops, two Jerusalemite legions along with six Caesarean ones were on the road, marching towards beautiful Damascus, or Damesek in Hebrew. The sun was just coming out, and clouds were obscuring it, meaning the day was not too warm. The route took them between mountains and the Jordan river, through a narrow pass between the two. It was there the army stopped for a short break during the afternoon. Soon they were back on the road though, and as night fell Damascus was just visible in the distance. Tactics were called for, and the generals convened.

Many Days Ships had Travelled to the Coast, Not Far From Antioch, The Boats from Byzantium had brought many more men and horses, Now the March Began.

Phalanx, The Preferable formation and infantry Style, For now, In Legionary Terms, it could be said 10 Legions of Men were Moving to Damascus, with 6 Regiments of Cavalry and a Few Thousand Archers, it had taken much time to assemble so many men.. but it would be worth it.

And so, Over The Tigris, the bridges could not always take such a horde, and many waited for many hours to cross..

But now, they marched for the city, In the Dark, one could see the many torches of the army..

And what would happen now?

The lights were visible from the Judean camp. Scouts were immediately dispatched, their orders were clear. They hid in the brush and stayed low. They inched forwards slowly and got a view of the size of the mighty army in front of them. As they got up to go one of the men landed in a rabbit hole, twisting his leg. He screamed as he went down. The men had no choice but to abandon him, as it was sure to have attracted attention from the soldiers. They straightened up and sprinted off back towards their camp, leaving the man down.
They came back and made their report to the generals, who immediately mobilised one cohort of archers in case they had been followed. The rest settled down for the night to get some sleep.

The Horse snorted as its rider brought it to a stop, its rider jumped down onto the dusty ground, brandishing his sword at the immobilised scout, he made sure the scout was unarmed, and began to pull him out, He grabbed some rope from his pack on the horse, tied the scouts hands together, put him on the horse, before he remounted and headed back to the formation that was slowly approaching Damascus from the opposite side of the Judeans.

When he arrived, The Rider took his horse to the rear, to the officers, The Army finally stopped to make camp. And they only had question for the Scout, finally overcoming language barriers.

"Tell us everything, and quickly"