Wolf Hunt (2)
I gathered every last soldier I could scrape together from the three nearest legions over the course of a week.
These legions had already been stripped bare once before, so the total force I managed to assemble was a mere four thousand.
Even that wouldn't have been possible without the hard decision to abandon a few border fortresses and strongholds.
I turned to face the troops lined up before me, each legion's banners fluttering in the wind.
"Eagles of the empire's defensive line! Soon the barbarians will arrive before us."
"They come to load their wagons with the grain, gold, and silver they've stolen from our lands—and to drag our daughters and sons away in chains as their slaves. Shall we simply send them on their way?"
"Kill them! Kill them!"
"Right you are. All we need to leave in their hands is death. Let us show these bastards in no uncertain terms that crossing the empire's border yields nothing but a wretched death worse than that of a cur. Thus, we shall demonstrate to the barbarians that order reigns in the empire!"
"Death to the barbarians! Righteous fury!"
The soldiers roared their response.
"Rikius!"
Rikius stepped forward from the ranks at my command and dropped to one knee.
"Take up His Majesty's golden eagle standard. We march!"
"Yes, sir!"
Rikius hoisted the emperor's golden eagle high.
"Glory to the golden eagle! Victory to the empire!"
Amid the soldiers' cheers, Rikius took position at the front with the standard. Behind him rode the commanders of each unit.
Governor Gratianus personally beat the drum to send off the troops as they departed the garrison one by one.
As I mounted my warhorse, Gratianus said,
"I pray for victory to the empire and the Praetorian Prefect. May the gods bless Imperator Ain."
"And may the gods bless you as well, Governor."
I brought my arm to my chest in salute. Gratianus mirrored the gesture. I turned my head from him and spurred my horse's flanks.
"Hyah."
As the horse picked up speed, my black cloak as Praetorian Prefect billowed fiercely, like a harbinger of death.
The soldiers raised their weapons and shouted short cheers as I rode past.
I raised one hand in acknowledgment.
When I reached the head of the column, Rikius said,
"Sir, where are we heading?"
"We follow Highway 92 southward, then set camp behind Kapilt Pass."
"Kapilt Pass?"
Rikius searched his memory. He'd clearly studied the maps for the last two days as well.
"It's the optimal spot we've chosen for the battlefield."
His expression turned puzzled at that.
"But isn't there a narrow valley near Highway 92? I remember better terrain for facing barbarians."
"Your memory's spot on. But consider the barbarians' numbers. Their column will be stretched thin, burdened with loot wagons and prisoners. Even if we ambush them in a valley, we can't deliver a decisive blow."
"The pass is different?"
"Exactly."
I said, facing into the wind.
A pass was an obstacle the barbarians could overcome. That's why a small force blocking the road wouldn't make them turn tail easily. It was the only way to annihilate them completely.
"Sir."
As I spoke with Rikius, a battalion commander rode up beside me.
"What is it?"
"One of our scouts monitoring the enemy has returned."
"Any special report?"
The battalion commander nodded grimly at my question.
"Yes."
"Out with it."
"The two barbarian bands that breached the border have joined forces."
I yanked the reins, halting my horse. Rikius stopped beside me. The words were so unbelievable I had to ask again.
"What did you say?"
"The two barbarian bands have joined forces."
'Gods above.'
I hadn't seriously considered the possibility that the two barbarian forces—separated by hundreds of kilometers and striking the border at nearly the same time—would cooperate. There was no reason for it.
But they had. I felt the foundation of my entire strategy crumbling.
"Sir, if they've merged, don't we stand no chance?"
Rikius asked.
I bit my lip hard.
But turning tail right after departing with such fanfare and drums blazing would crush the troops' morale.
Fleeing without even engaging the enemy would breed fear of the foe in the soldiers—and make the barbarians view us with contempt.
I realized I was in a desperately tight spot.
Reports had pegged the invading barbarians as two separate groups: the Goti Tribe from the east, and the Sartia Tribe.
Both were nomadic horsemen on a level far beyond the barbarians the empire had faced before.
But like most nomads, they were assumed unlikely to cooperate. I'd based my strategy on that, targeting only the Goti. Now the two enemies had united.
I had to decide how to respond to this new reality.
Retreat? Or fight?
The former was impossible. We could have considered it before marching, but we'd come here with vows to annihilate the enemy, burning with resolve.
Backing down now was out of the question.
But fighting was no easy choice either.
Facing ten thousand was one thing; twenty thousand was another entirely. I couldn't stick to the Kapilt Pass plan—I needed a new strategy.
And I needed it within a day!
I halted the march and sank into thought.
'Not ten thousand, but twenty. Is there truly no way to catch them?'
I paced through the woods, hands clasped behind my back. I'd told Rikius I needed time to think, so no one approached.
As I walked, a dung beetle came into view, rolling a ball of horse dung from who-knows-where.
Too focused on its task, it didn't notice the pit ahead until the dung ball dropped right in. The beetle circled frantically in distress.
Then another dung beetle appeared out of nowhere, latched on, and together they cooperated to pull the ball free. Things looked amicable enough—until the ball was out. Then they fought viciously over it.
I clenched my fist as I watched.
'Yes.'
I saw a sliver of victory.
Barbarians were wolves by nature. The moment weakness showed, they'd turn on even their allies.
In a world of eat-or-be-eaten, it was survival—but it meant they had no honor to speak of.
What if, in fighting such enemies, we struck one group hard?
Would the others rush to help?
'Not a chance.'
They'd pray for their rivals to be utterly crushed. If one side weakened enough, the other could swoop in and claim all the slaves and loot.
We feared their union, but at heart, they were competitors. They wouldn't follow principles of mutual support.
That was the weakness I could exploit.
'Of course, they're still twenty thousand strong. Underestimate them, and our men get wiped out. I need thorough preparation—and a killer gambit.'
A decisive stroke!
I recalled a dangerous tactic I'd never considered before. Using it might give us a shot. Of course, defeat was still a risk.
I watched the victorious beetle industriously roll its prize, then lifted my boot.
'Even so.'
Crunch!
My boot crushed the beetle and dung alike.
'As eagles of the empire, I can't just let you go.'
I ground my heel slowly, pulverizing them. Beneath my foot, it wasn't just one beetle and a bit of dung.
I imagined trampling tens of thousands of barbarians, biting my lip.
Our army established camp at Kapilt Pass. The road ran through it, so the slope wasn't steep—but it was enough to prevent warhorses from charging at full gallop.
I ordered stakes driven into the pass road and pits dug. This would block any cavalry charge.
Of course, considering they were nomadic horse archers, simply stopping a charge wouldn't solve everything.
They could shoot arrows from horseback.
For that, I had the men scatter caltrops pulled from the wagons across the pass. No horse archer, however skilled, could maneuver freely amid iron caltrops meant for heavy cavalry.
And there were more countermeasures.
I prepared a tactic once used by the Briton rebels who'd been our enemies: the enraged oxen stampede. In this narrow pass, if they came en masse, its value would be incalculable.
Finally, I readied catapults and sacks of flour. We'd hurl the legion's own rations to blind them. With these, I planned to face the enemy head-on.
Four thousand against twenty thousand!
The numbers were absurd, but I believed we had a chance. Favorable terrain, prepared tactics, and the barbarians' unwieldy column slowed by plunder—that was my faith.
I watched the soldiers bustle about their preparations and waited for the enemy.
Two days later, the barbarians arrived.
Bwoooo!
I jolted awake at the harsh horn blast and raced to the watchtower atop the stockade. From there, my eyes took in the horizon filled with an endless wave of men, horses, wagons, and livestock.
The sheer scale left me stunned.
They numbered twenty thousand, but with all their plunder and captives, they looked like a hundred thousand-strong host. Even our soldiers shrank a bit at the sight.
'They've looted massively.'
I shook my head.
As we prepared, a few barbarians approached the pass—likely scouts ahead of the main body. Some stepped on caltrops and fell from their horses.
Neighhh!
Horses screamed and collapsed, their riders tumbling. The barbarians panicked briefly.
Halfway up the pass, they spotted our camp, grabbed their wounded, and fled back to their main force.
Hand resting on my sword hilt, I waited for the barbarians to come.
But their army didn't attack right away.
The distant column halted on the plain, kicking up dust.
"Sir! The barbarians are sending an envoy."
"I see him."
I spat as I watched the white-flagged barbarian herald approach.
Soon, the envoy reached the stockade and shouted,
"I stand here on behalf of the kings of the Goti and Sartia. The kings wish your army to clear the road."
I sneered.
"Let looters who've ravaged the empire just walk away? Do you take us for fools?"
"You know your forces can't punish us."
The envoy said.
"Even so, we won't let you pass. We're here to kill you. If you want to leave, offer your heads. I'll allow your skulls to return home."
"You dare challenge the might of two kings?"
"I am Ain, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard."
At my name, the envoy's face flickered with unease. Among the northern barbarians, my name was well-known.
The man who'd felled the Black Star Heigirt and subjugated the Thunder Tribe. The one who'd bent the fierce barbarians around Belgorod to the empire's will.
To them, I was no lightweight.
"The Prefect of the Praetorian Guard is in the east, I h-heard."
"I'm here now."
I drew my sword and slammed it into the watchtower's deck.
The envoy flinched.
"Ain himself stands here. You think you can plunder before me and leave unscathed?"
"E-even you can't defeat two kings' armies."
"If you think that..."
I fixed him with a cold stare.
"Come at us."
(To be continued in the next chapter)