The treacherous plans of the patriotic German had fully succeeded. While
the Romans were toiling onward through the straitened passes, Hermann
had sought his waiting and ambushed countrymen, to whom he gave the
signal that the time for vengeance had come. Then, as if the dense
forests had borne a sudden crop of armed men, the furious barbarians
poured out in thousands upon the unsuspecting legionaries.
A frightful storm was raging. The mountain torrents, swollen by the
downpour of rain, over--flowed their banks and invaded the passes, along
which the Romans, encumbered with baggage, were wearily dragging onward
in broken columns. Suddenly, to the roar of winds and waters, was added
the wild war-cry of the Germans, and a storm of arrows, javelins, and
stones hurtled through the disordered ranks, while the barbarians,
breaking from the woods, and rushing downward from the heights, fell
upon the legions with sword and battle-axe, dealing death with every
blow.
Only the discipline of the Romans saved them from speedy destruction.
With the instinct of their training they hastened to gather into larger
bodies, and their resistance, at first feeble, soon became more
effective.
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