have won measures in feet not miles as would be usual.”
“That’d due to the difficulty of the narrow streets. That’s why we cannot use cavalry effectively. The horses would be almost unusable and quite useless. This is the only way.”
“Yes Sir.”
A servant brought a chair for Dolabella to sit on while his wounds were tended but he waited for Caesar to invite him to sit first.
“Please do.”
Dolabella sat gratefully.
“As soon as I gain any ground from the enemy they force me back. The fighting is like none I’ve ever known. The sheer numbers of the enemy are staggering. As soon as one falls another is pushed forward into the gap. It’s also a mixture Caesar, professional soldiers, militia, peasants. But they all fight as if their very lives depended on it.”
“And your losses?”
“Quite high.”
Dolabella’s shoulders suddenly began shaking at the enormity of what he’d said. He was a seasoned veteran but his lips trembled as he spoke.
“We’re having to storm the buildings and houses through the front doors. This is where my heaviest losses are. As we batter the doors down and go in the first of my men are cut down, unable to move by the weight of the men behind pushing them forward. There is no other way of taking the buildings. If only the houses were like those of Gaul, wood and thatch, we could burn them out.”
Though still listening Julius was studying the wooden model. The other General’s seated nearby. Then a thought struck him.
“Do we have any battering rams in the armoury?”
“Yes Caesar.”
“How solid are the walls of the houses and buildings here?”
The General’s left their seats to join him.
“They’re fairly strong,” Germanicus answered,” Mud brick, the roofs tiled. Virtually impossible to set fire to. The weight of the roofs devastating in earthquakes, causing the buildings to collapse and burying the occupants inside.”
“Is that if all the walls collapse?”
“I would think so Sir.”
“Ah but what about just one?”
“Sir?”
“The houses and buildings here have how many doors? One?”
“Most do Caesar. Some have two. The public buildings more.”
“Let’s suppose they all have just one door. Now behind every door are townsfolk waiting for unsuspecting legionaries and presumably they are also guarding the windows.”
“Yes.”
“Then what if we go in through the walls.”
“Through the walls?”
Dolabella pushed aside the sponge that was mopping at his forehead. He got up and joined the others, all in a circle now around Caesar, giving him their undivided attention.
“Yes through the walls. Take the battering rams and assault the walls of the first house whilst still attacking the door and windows thus forcing the defenders to split their coverage further stretching their defence.”
“That’s ingenious Sir,” Marcellus was excited, “Should we attack as many walls as is possible with each building?”
“No just the one for now. We don’t want the buildings coming down on top of us. We will move on from house to house in this way.”
“It’s brilliant Sir,” Marcellus again, “You are the wiliest, cleverest, wisest man in the whole world.”
“Save your praise Marcellus until we have the victory.”
“We will win Sir. With you in charge what could possibly go wrong.”
“Now!” Dolabella shouted. Despite his wounds he had insisted that Julius let him continue the assault. These were after all his men.
The eight legionaries manning the hand held ram brought their arms back and drove them forward. The ram smashed into the wall at the side of the first house. Across the street, directly opposite, another team did exactly the same.
Inside the first house a man sitting at a low table looked up and at the wall. The other occupants of the house, armed with a variety of weapons, glanced about nervously. They were guarding the door and windows.
“What was that?” he asked.
None of them moved or answered. Again there was a thump against the wall. He got up and went over to the wall carrying an oil lamp. Darkness had descended over Alexandria an hour before. He couldn’t see anything unusual about the interior wall. He glanced over at the man at the window.
“Can you see anything?”
The man shifted position.
“The street is filled with Roman legionaries but then it was before.”
“Is that all you can see?”
“For the moment.”
He held the oil lamp up again as there was another thump at the wall. Dust drifted down and settled on his shoulders. Then again, thump, thump, thump. More dust came down.
“Can any of you see what is happening?”
“Just a moment,” One man answered. He got himself into a position where he could see through