Chapter 208: The Power of a Superpower 2
Chapter 208: The Power of a Superpower 2
“It’s a trap. They think they can lure us in with such a low-level trick. The Eastern Emperor seems to be less than his reputation.”
After examining the situation from various angles, Kaidu concluded that the retreat of the Roman army was a ruse to bait them.
Maues also agreed with Kaidu.
“They’re probably pretending to retreat and then attack us again as soon as we chase them. It’s a dangerous move to act rashly here. We’ll fall into their trap.”
“I think so too. But we can’t just sit back and watch either. Let’s split our forces into two and move accordingly.”
It was highly unlikely that Marcus would give up on Karen and Suren, but Kaidu had to consider the possibility.
Marcus might try to ruin the Hunnic plan at the cost of his own losses.
He didn’t think he would do such an emotional thing, but Kaidu was not in a position to judge that himself.
Anyway, the order of Bayatur, the Supreme Senior Warrior, was to prevent the Eastern Emperor from leaving his territory no matter what.
Bayatur was generous with rewards and spoils for his subordinates who achieved merits, but he was ruthless to those who failed.
Of course, he didn’t execute or humiliate them unless they committed a serious crime.
He wouldn’t do that unless they deserved death, but he didn’t expect anything from those who couldn’t do what they were supposed to do.
He didn’t give them any important tasks, and their chances of advancement were completely blocked.
He gave everyone a chance to prove their abilities, but he never used those who lacked them.
Kaidu knew that better than anyone, so he tried not to allow any variables.
Maues, who was aiming for the position of Prince, also had to succeed in this operation.
The fate of the Scythian tribe depended on Maues, whether they could become part of the Hunnic Empire or fall into a near-slave status.
If Maues achieved a merit that Bayatur recognized and became a Prince, the Scythian’s position would be much stronger.
They wouldn’t have to worry about decline anymore.
With their interests aligned, Kaidu and Maues finished their emergency meeting and started their action.
Their strategy was simple.
First, Maues led the Scythian cavalry and continued to pursue Marcus’s main force while keeping a certain distance.
Meanwhile, the Hunnic cavalry led by Kaidu raided and burned the borderlands of Suren Kingdom as they pleased.
It was impossible to withdraw his army without caring about his subjects being trampled on.
Kaidu thought, ‘Would they still retreat like this?’ and acted cruelly on the borderlands.
But as time passed, he began to feel something was wrong.
“It seems like the number of people has decreased drastically…”
The number of villages and people he saw was noticeably less than when he first invaded Suren Kingdom.
He thought it was strange and investigated, and sure enough, he found out that many people had abandoned their homes and fled elsewhere.
They even burned all their food and supplies so that the Huns couldn’t loot them.
This made it difficult for the Huns to carry out long-term missions without local supplies.
They had to go back to the Silk Road at least once to get supplies.
“They’re using scorched earth tactics? Why?”
Scorched earth tactics were so destructive that they even destroyed civilian goods, so the aftermath was serious even after the war ended.
It was impossible to use it unless the defenders were extremely disadvantaged.
Unless there was no other way, it was the last resort that they wouldn’t use.
Moreover, this was not a tactic that had an I'm mediate effect.
They had to endure for a long time until the invaders ran out of food anyway.
So those who used this tactic also had to suffer for a long time.
In other words, unless it was absolutely necessary, they wouldn’t use scorched earth tactics.
“Could it be that the Eastern Emperor is serious? Does he really intend to abandon Suren Kingdom and withdraw his army?”
He was confused because the situation was too different from what he expected.
He wandered around the border area more, but he couldn’t get any benefit anywhere.
The residents had already burned their villages and entered fortified cities.
He killed and burned those who couldn’t escape, but it didn’t have much effect.
He naturally became I'm patient and joined Maues who was chasing the Roman army.
Maues frowned as if he couldn’t understand after hearing what happened.
“Are you saying that they gave up on Suren Kingdom? But that doesn’t make sense. The king of this place is the nephew of Marcus’s general Surenas. Why would they…”
“That’s why I’m confused. I can’t figure out what they’re thinking. It’s frustrating.”
“Maybe it’s something like this. Marcus really wants to lead his army and support Rome. Suren Kingdom is holding on for now, even if they have to suffer some damage… As soon as they form new legions in their homeland, they’ll send more troops here.”
“That would take a lot of time, wouldn’t it? Do they not care if Suren Kingdom becomes ashes?”
“Rome probably treats this kingdom as a buffer zone anyway. They might think that it’s enough as long as they follow them. The king of Suren has no choice but to obey if Rome tells him to. Don’t you think that’s possible from the Roman perspective?”
Kaidu’s face stiffened.
It sounded plausible when he heard it.
If the Roman citizens were dying, Marcus would have a hard time ignoring it, but Suren Kingdom was nothing but a puppet of Rome.
He probably told them to endure even if it was hard, and they had no other choice as Suren.
He might face some backlash if he abandoned Suren Kingdom completely, but he could recover it later with his support.
“Damn it. I didn’t expect them to go so extreme… What should we do?”
“Why don’t we just change our plan and destroy Suren Kingdom completely? We can bring the supplies from the Silk Road and besiege their capital. If we slowly starve them out, they’ll have to surrender before the Roman army gets reinforcements.”
“But what’s the point of subjugating Suren Kingdom for us?”
“This place is not worthless. If we conquer Suren, we can secure a route to the south of Persia. We can use this as a base to sweep the eastern part of Karen and the south of Persia. Don’t you think the Supreme Senior Warrior would approve of that?”
That was also a reasonable argument, so Kaidu thought for a moment.
Bayatur, as he knew him, was not an inflexible person.
He acknowledged the merits of his subordinates who adapted to the situation and achieved different results from the original mission.
One of his four Princes, Altan, was a good example.
He received an order to destroy the Bosporus Kingdom, which was located in the northeast of the Black Sea.
It was to use it as a bridgehead to conquer the Black Soil region, which was located in modern southern Russia and Ukraine.
Bosporus, which was practically a vassal of Rome, tried to resist at first, but soon realized that they couldn’t beat the Hunnic elite cavalry led by Altan.
They eventually cut ties with Rome and pledged allegiance to the Huns, even preparing a promise to pay them grain.
Altan decided that it was better to use them as a cover for his spy work than to destroy them completely.
Bayatur, who heard his report later, agreed with Altan’s decision and praised his merit in front of all the tribal chiefs.
Maues suggested that they should act on their own judgment based on this case.
But when Kaidu thought about it carefully, the situation was different from then.
The order that Bayatur gave to Altan was to subjugate Bosporus anyway.
The only difference was whether to annihilate them or use them alive.
And the order that Kaidu and Maues received was to hold back Marcus’s army.
But if they continued like this, they would ultimately fail the core order that Bayatur gave them.
It didn’t matter if they destroyed Suren Kingdom and invaded the south of Persia.
And even if they went to the south of Persia, they couldn’t enter the Eastern Province completely.
They had to cross the huge Zagros Mountains to enter Mesopotamia, the core of the Eastern Province.
It was not an easy task for the Hunnic army, which consisted entirely of cavalry.
Letting Marcus go like this and ravaging the border regions that Rome didn’t care much about.
It was easy to conclude which one would tilt more.
“We can’t let them go like this. No matter what excuse we make, as soon as the Eastern Emperor goes to Rome, the Supreme Senior Warrior will think that we failed our mission.”
“Then what should we do? We’re about to cross Suren Kingdom and enter Rome’s province. Isn’t this too deep to chase them?”
“Now that we’ve reached the province that he directly rules, it’s easier to see his reaction. If he doesn’t turn his army around even when we raid this area, we’ll have to assume that he’s determined.”
Kaidu decided to test Marcus’s intentions one last time and raided a few villages in the south of Persia.
But even though he must have heard about it, Marcus kept retreating.
As the Roman army didn’t stop retreating, Kaidu became I'm patient.
If they reached Zagros Mountains like this, they wouldn’t be able to chase the Roman army anymore.
They needed to attack the Roman army once and hinder their retreat, and also take some time to rest themselves.
But as if he read Kaidu’s mind, the Roman army suddenly increased their speed of retreat.
Kaidu decided that there was nothing more to see after hearing that the Roman army was retreating at almost their limit speed.
“If we don’t stop them here, we’ll lose them for sure. We have to catch up with them as fast as possible and fight them near the entrance of the mountains.”
“We have to be careful not to be isolated. We can’t win against the Eastern Roman army head-on with our equipment.”
“Of course. We’ll just hit their rear and hold them back.”
Maues nodded and pointed to a part of the map with his finger.
It was a crude map that didn’t show the proper terrain, but he could roughly tell what was ahead.
“There’s a wide plain before the mountains. The Roman army has to pass through here, so let’s poke them here once.”
“Good idea. I’ll take your suggestion.”
The Huns chased Marcus faster than usual, as Rome suddenly sped up.
They moved so quickly that they couldn’t use their scouts properly, but the Romans looked desperate as well, judging by the traces.
He thought he could relax a bit and finally Kaidu and the Scythians entered the Rayen Plain.
The plain was a strange terrain that was blocked by mountains on both sides and only open front and back.
“If the Roman army wants to fight us, they’ll retreat right away. So be ready to withdraw your army at any time.”
Sure enough, as the Huns closed the distance, the Roman army stopped and organized their formation.
They slowly turned around and raised their weapons toward the Huns who entered the plain.
As expected, the Roman army retreated as soon as the Huns approached. Kaidu snorted and signaled his troops to withdraw.
But instead of the sound of hooves galloping back, he heard a scream of horror.
He was at the front and couldn’t see the rear situation well, so he quickly looked for Maues.
“What the He'll is going on!”
“Sir, we’re in big trouble. The enemy’s army suddenly appeared from behind.”
“What? How did they…?”
A possibility flashed in Kaidu’s mind.
“Damn it! The sudden march was a trick to ambush us with a separate force.”
The north and south were blocked by rugged mountains from the Huns’ perspective, and the only open roads were west and east.
But from both directions, the Roman army that had been divided in advance was slowly closing in.
“I should have been more careful as the Supreme Senior Warrior said…”
Kaidu bit his lip until it bled and blamed himself for his carelessness.
“I’m sorry. Great Supreme Senior Warrior… I will atone for my incompetence with death for failing to fulfill your command.”
Kaidu, who sensed his fate, bowed his head once toward the far northwest where Bayatur was and drew his weapon.
On the other hand, Maues, who was trying to find a way out, was engulfed in despair and screamed while tearing his hair.
He looked around, but there was no exit in sight, surrounded by the Roman army.
No matter how fast he ran, he only saw the Roman army that covered him.
The psychological state of the commanders naturally had a great impact on the soldiers.
The invaders who had been raiding and destroying with great momentum until now could only wait for the Roman army to come with a blank expression.
Marcus, who watched the Huns’ movements in confusion from afar, let out a sigh of relief.
“I can finally breathe. That was a brilliant plan, Surenas. I wouldn’t have dared to use such a strategy if you didn’t know this terrain well.”
“Thank you. It was your calm judgment that made my plan possible.”
“Yeah… The damage was too great to lure them in. I still grind my teeth when I think about how much I have to compensate Suren Kingdom. Let’s vent some of our anger by crushing those bastards.”
Surenas’ plan was to lure the Huns deep into the south of Persia and use the terrain to surround them.
But of course, the cautious Huns wouldn’t fall into the trap so easily.
So he ordered Suren Kingdom to use guerrilla tactics to make the Huns retreat.
Of course, he promised to pay for all the damage caused by this, with interest.
It was also a blessing from heaven that Surenas, who knew the area around here well, was under Marcus.
Without Surenas, it would have been impossible to secretly ambush tens of thousands of troops without being noticed by the enemy.
“They were too arrogant for coming into an unfamiliar territory. I would never have put myself in a situation where I could be ambushed in any case. They brought this upon themselves.”
“I kept provoking them psychologically. Anyway, we have a very nice gift for their leader now. You did a great job. When the war is over, I’ll help you get a seat in the Senate. No one will oppose you with this merit. You’re more fluent in Latin than most Romans now.”
Surenas smiled awkwardly at his joking remark.
“Haha… I’m a Roman commander now.”
There was a smile on his face, but there was hatred in his eyes for the Huns who trampled on Suren Kingdom.
Marcus sensed his boiling anger and pointed precisely at Kaidu, who was struggling to organize his troops.
“Then let me order you as an imperator to a Roman commander. Get rid of those bastards who dared to touch Surenas’ family right in front of me.”
“I obey your command, imperator!”
As soon as Marcus gave the order, Surenas spurred his horse forward and drew his weapon.
He was not the only one who had accumulated anger.
The Roman army that had been harassed by the fast Hunnic cavalry until now shouted with rage and ran forward.
Soon, the red wave that the Roman army created completely covered the Huns and Scythians who were desperately trying to escape.
In the first victory of the Hunnic War, which would be known as Rayen Rotation in Rome, 60 thousand isolated Huns and Scythians were annihilated.
The damage of 120 thousand Roman army that completed the encirclement was only 2 thousand.