For the Glory of Rome: Chronicles of an Isekai'd Legion
B2 Chapter 19: Map Quest

Tiberius once again found himself in an all-too-familiar position, standing bent over a map on the table before him. With how often he found himself here, he’d honestly begun to think that he might develop a permanent stoop. Then again, maybe his improved stats would ward off any such thing.

Potential back problems aside, he couldn’t help but marvel at the sight before him. To call it a map would be a disservice. No, this was a miniature model landscape. The imprecise, roughly drawn lines on vellum that he was so used to were a thing of the past. Now, little projected hills and dips in the landscape rose up from the page itself, with trees and other terrain features poking up from the ground.

The features blurred slightly where their scouts were less confident of their information, as when they hadn’t recorded an elevation change properly. It also disappeared in areas where they had no eyes. But that honestly reassured Tiberius more than anything. Knowing how incomplete one’s information was could be just as valuable as the information itself.

Tiberius poked at one of the tiny projected soldiers positioned along the road. His finger passed through, causing the figure to blur slightly. He heard a grunt and looked up. One of the Legionnaires standing in the corner of the room was frowning, his eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

“Sir,” one of the men helping to maintain the table spoke. “Please don’t actually touch it. If you want to see anything changed, just ask.”

Tiberius pulled his hand back and nodded. Evidently, these men’s skills did have some limits. Best not to test them unduly.

He looked across the table at Quintus. The Primus Pilus stared attentively at the map, frowning. He gestured to the terrain.

"Can you move the perspective north and show a wider area?"

The lights shifted, and a new section of terrain was displayed. A large city came into view at the northmost point of the map. At least, large compared to what they’d seen in this world. They had yet to encounter anything that could rival the size of Rome. Still, tens of thousands of people probably lived there. More notably, a stream of soldiers was heading away from the city, well on its way down the road to the southeast.

Quintus hummed. “One minor detail. The hill here,” he indicated with a wave, being careful not to touch the lights, “Was a bit taller.”

The hill grew slightly until he nodded. “That looks right.”

Tiberius nodded. "So. This is the latest from the scouts?"

The Primus Pilus nodded. “Our estimates of troop count remain unchanged. Approximately 1,300 men, most of them inexperienced. Our scouts have attempted to confirm their classes, but they’re having difficulty getting close enough to do so. There are at least a few of their number that exhibit strength beyond the others."

He glanced down at the map. A handful of black icons stood out among the ghostly soldiers, the ominous color warning of those very individuals. At the moment, there didn’t seem to be many of them. But it was hard to be certain.

"What do we know about these individuals?" Tiberius asked, indicating the dark icons. "Have we managed to collect any information about them?"

"As I said, our scouts are having difficulties getting close enough to use [Appraisal] on them. We lost a few good men before realizing the danger." Quintus grimaced at the admission. "The one that managed to get away was able to identify a level twenty-three [Cursed Berserker] before he was forced to retreat. There are five in total that look more well-equipped than the rest. We suspect they are adventurers. If we assume that the others are of similar strength, then it may be an issue."

Tiberius nodded. He suspected that "an issue" might have been putting things a little lightly. But really, they had little way to tell. They lacked too much information.

"This was two days ago," Quintus continued. "Their current position is…"

Quintus made a brief request to the focusing Legionnaires and the map changed again. This time, the scene it showed was closer to Habersville. “This is what we think is happening now. As of a few hours ago, at least."

The phantom images showed the procession of soldiers stretching out along a long road. They were much more bunched together than before and their comparative lack of progress suggested they were moving at a much slower pace. A black icon hovered far ahead of the rest of the forces.

“The traps have slowed them down massively, but they are growing wise to them. We are not able to pick up the same easy casualties that we had achieved earlier in their march, though that is to be expected. Their scouts are surprisingly good at identifying and disabling them. The effort is still slowing them down massively, however.

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"If we had cavalry, I’d suggest harrying them. But given their current pace we are probably going to receive them in two or three days, depending on how hard they push. If you want to meet them in Habersville…”

Tiberius frowned. “Stonester. Do you expect them to assault it, or head straight for Habersville?”

“Show the entire region,” Quintus asked the map table technician.

The map changed yet again, this time more drastically. It flattened out and lost most of its detailed terrain features as they morphed into lines on a page like Tiberius was used to. Despite that, the positions and numbers of the various troops remained relatively accurate. They even moved occasionally as their scouts provided up-to-date information to the Legionnaires.

“They’re approaching along this road here,” Quintus said, drawing a line with his finger from the seat of the barony to Habersville. “Stonester is over here.” He indicated a position further southwest of the indicated path.

“If they continue on their path, they won’t directly come across Stonester. But in about half a day’s time, they could decide to veer off the path here. There’s no direct route, but they could easily traverse the open fields and try to retake the town. We have sent warnings to the cohort stationed there just in case. With the additional cohort we sent for the, erm, experiment with the ghouls, I believe the men could manage, but the stronger individuals that they have with them are a much bigger concern. Though we will pause the ghoul farming if it seems that Stonester will come under siege.

"Granted, I still believe the Legion could hold out, even against these enemies. But not without large casualties. And if they manage to take Stonestir, it won’t be long before they come here. It’s just too much of an unknown.”

Tiberius nodded. “Thank you for your report, Primus.”

Quintus gave a salute and stepped back from the table. Tiberius studied the map alongside the other officers present. After a few moments, he began to think aloud.

“I don’t like situation of the Legionnaires in Stonester," he admitted. "The walls may be in good shape, but they were merely adequate to begin with. And if the real danger comes from five individuals rather than the army itself, that is even more problematic. They could easily sneak in during a siege or some other diversion. They could tunnel under the walls or sneak through the gates or a dozen other things."

A few of the officers nodded in agreement. Getting a few people in a city was much easier than getting an entire army in. And if these individuals were anything like what they’d seen so far, they might have other abilities up their sleeves. They may even be able to just jump over the walls completely.

Tiberius looked to one of his officers. "When are the wall upgrades scheduled to complete?"

The man referred to a scroll at his side. "Another four days, Legatus. The men might be able to rush and finish them early, but then they will be exhausted and not in prime battle condition."

"I see." Tiberius filed the information away and continued. "If they do come straight for Habersville, that is preferrable, but presents its own problems. We’ll need to divert our resources from other projects to prepare, perhaps clear more of the forest to give ourselves a better battlefield and reduce their potential hiding spots."

It was a course of action that he was sure Iladrien would object to. But between offending the elven envoy and giving his own men a combat advantage, he would happily take the latter.

Tiberius drummed his fingers against the table. Whichever way the enemy chose, they would be able to defend from a fortified position. But the nature of those fortifications varied greatly. What’s more, they weren’t as prepared as he would’ve liked for a full siege in either location.

“Let’s see more detail in this area.” Tiberius extended his finger, momentarily forgetting his resolution not to touch the lights floating above the map as he indicated an area. He heard another grunt, but the area expanded accordingly.

"Along this route, there are significant rolling hills. If we can get there a half-day ahead of them, I believe the path here—” Tiberius traced his fingers through a few different valleys—“would not be seen easily from the road. If we can take up a position there, we can potentially avoid their scouts or lure them into traps to eliminate them. Either way, smart positioning would allow us to take two cohorts and assault them from each side. This initial attack should be able to pin them in place while they’re gathered together. The column is what, eight men wide?” He asked.

“Ten, sir,” Quintus corrected.

“Good. Not ideal, but it will work. It’d be better if it was in a forest, and they were more strung out. But I don’t want to gamble on them picking Habersville for their attack, nor do I want to let them make it this far uncontested. The hills will probably force them to narrow the formation slightly, which will play to our advantage.”

Tiberius turned to Marcellus, one of his officers in charge of training. “How are the archery auxiliaries doing?”

The man lifted a shoulder. “They won’t win any awards, but they can fire in volleys. Now, their marching will be slow, and I expect that they will lag far behind the Legion—maybe an extra day or two for every three days we march. But they will manage.”

“Mhmm,” Tiberius said, a plan taking shape. “All right. I think if we meet them here, we can pin them down. The archers will be late, but I believe we can use that to our advantage. Once we have them engaged here, here, and here,” he pointed out several places on the map, “We will fight but maintain clear paths of retreat. Their scouts will know where we are, but we’ll be able to prevent any new information from getting back to their leaders. After, we will pull back to here…”

The planning session continued, with the others offering ideas and suggestions as they worked to revise the plan into a better state. Eventually, Tiberius felt comfortable, if not completely confident, in their course of action.

"Prepare six cohorts to march." The Legatus straightened from the map. "The longer we wait, the less enviable our position becomes."

The men saluted and dispersed. Tiberius began his own preparations as well. If all went well, they’d soon meet the enemy on the battlefield.