Chapter 209: The Power of a Superpower 3
Chapter 209: The Power of a Superpower 3
Even though Marcus had repelled the Hunnic vanguard at the Ryan Plain, it had little impact on the situation in the northwest.
Germany had already been almost completely devastated, and Gaul had fallen into the hands of the Huns.
At first, the Huns had indiscriminately slaughtered and terrorized the locals, but gradually they increased the frequency of using them as their subordinates.
Naturally, the Gauls did not want to follow the Huns, but they did not dare to resist because of their cruelty.
“If you take the lead in fighting against Rome, I will give you back this land in its entirety after the war is over.”
It would have been a tempting offer in the old days.
But most of the Gauls, who had already been largely Romanized, did not want to fight against Rome so badly.
Still, there were many who had lost their families or been sold as slaves in the war with Rome.
Those who secretly hated Rome wanted to take revenge on them with the help of the Huns.
Bayatur gladly welcomed them into his camp.
He was confident that they would not dare to have any other thoughts after he had created a definite atmosphere of fear with his indiscriminate slaughter in the beginning.
Besides, he needed guides who were familiar with the local terrain.
The risk of being ambushed was much higher when fighting in unfamiliar terrain.
Bayatur sent the captured Gauls and Germans to the front line to prevent such a danger.
To enter Hispania and Italy, they had to cross the huge mountain ranges of Pyrenees and Alps.
Bayatur’s next target was Hispania, which was adjacent to Gaul.
But it did not seem easy to cross the rugged Pyrenees mountains.
Even the areas where roads were open were too narrow for cavalry to enter, and the Roman army stationed in Hispania and the Gaulish tribes that had joined them had already built a defensive line.
He had no intention of risking his cavalry by forcing them to cross the mountains.
“Whoever makes a merit here will have their tribe freed and given enough wealth and food to settle in any land they want.”
Bayatur’s words shook the hearts of many tribes like a devil’s whisper.
No one questioned how he could trust his words.
At least until now, Bayatur had never broken his word once.
It was already a famous story that a Gaul who had captured a Roman engineer who could not escape became a member of the Hunnic cavalry on the spot.
If they could get out of this nightmare with one battle, what would they care?
Bayatur’s main force did not move from central Gaul and only sent those who were expendable, but they had no choice.
The tribal coalition that united with the will to break through the defense line slowly advanced southward toward the Pyrenees mountains.
“That’s quite a number. It looks like a mixed army of several tribes.”
The expression of the general who wore a lion’s skin turned dark as he received the report from the scout.
It was not just because of the size of the enemy.
Rather, he expected that there would be more enemies coming than now.
“Is it still mostly Gauls in the enemy’s mixed army?”
“Yes.”
“Damn. Those damned Huns…”
He was unhappy because he had to fight against his compatriots.
There was not a single Hunnic cavalry among the enemies that were approaching from afar.
The man who wore a lion’s skin and showed an overwhelming presence.
This great warrior came to Hispania with his followers to fight against the Huns, not to cut down his compatriots.
‘If they joined the Huns willingly, I wouldn’t care…’
There might be some like that, but he knew well that most of them were forced to follow them.
He would rather have fought against Rome.
It was an unwinnable fight, but at least he knew who his enemy was and they were relatively reasonable people.
“I need to check their exact location myself.”
He climbed up to a temporary watchtower himself.
He could see Gaulish warriors armed with various equipment forming their ranks at the bottom.
‘The Remi and Haedui are there too.’
His fierce eyes hidden behind the lion’s skin narrowed slightly.
Those who were considered pro-Roman would never have surrendered to the Huns willingly.
Probably some tribes that could not escape for some reason were caught by them.
“Get ready to defend and repel them right away.”
But he had no intention of sparing them on a battlefield where he faced them as enemies.
“Hurry up! They’ll be here soon!”
The Gaulish warriors who followed him moved quickly.
The sound of horns echoed in the clear sky and everyone held their positions firmly.
The Hispanian tribes who stood on the battlefield for the first time looked a bit nervous, but none of them disobeyed his orders.
That’s how great the authority of the general with the lion’s skin was.
The soldiers stationed here remembered the scene when he first came to Hispania.
He had slaughtered five of the Hunnic cavalrymen, who were the nightmare of the Gauls, and brought back their severed heads.
The Roman legion commander who saw that sight I'm mediately appointed him as the leader of the local tribe’s raiding party.
After that, he captured the hearts of all the warriors here as if he had always been one of them.
“This battle will be quite long. But if we all do our best in our positions, we can hold on. Don’t ever lose your morale in any situation.”
“Yes, sir!”
The construction of the defensive line was not perfect yet, as they were short on time.
There were two places that had to be blocked.
The western and eastern extremes where Gauls entered Hispania.
Troops were coming from various places in Hispania, so a solid defense line would be formed if they could buy some time.
But on the other hand, if this place was breached, the Hunnic cavalry that was waiting in the rear would enter Hispania without bloodshed.
Of course, the troops that were coming for defense would also be quickly defeated.
Then this region would be doomed.
The tragedy that happened in Germania and Gaul would be repeated.
‘Altan… I will not hesitate for a moment until I plunge my sword into his neck.’
He had been searching for the one who caused that tragedy since the day his village burned.
It was not hard to find out the name of the beast.
One of the four favored sons of Bayatur, the celestial son of the Huns.
Altan, who was feared by all Gauls for his I'm mense cruelty, was his enemy.
He hoped that he would meet him in this war, but unfortunately, it seemed that such luck would not happen.
Instead of killing his enemy, he had to stop the Gauls with the hated Roman army.
He suppressed the rising anger in his heart.
He vowed to vent all his resentment and hatred when he faced his revenge someday.
He held up the shield he received from the Romans and blocked the narrow path.
It was a dangerous place where he had to stop the enemy’s charge head-on, but the passage was so narrow that not many enemies could attack at once.
Still, the number of enemies pushing in was more than twice as many as his allies.
A look of disbelief appeared on the face of the enemy tribe who ran with an axe.
“What is that guy?”
Mockery and various throwing weapons flew in the sky.
But they could not inflict any meaningful damage on the defense army that formed a dense formation with Roman shields in a narrow terrain.
They eventually decided to push with their numbers, as if they were determined to make a breakthrough.
Their eyes were filled with madness, as if they were trying to seize an opportunity.
But the next moment.
Berticus, who was in charge of the vanguard, doubted his eyes.
The commander who led the defense army instantly cut off the necks of three charging warriors.
He was so fast that he could not even follow his sword speed with his eyes.
It was literally one slash, one kill.
Every time he swung his sword, someone’s life disappeared.
The Parisii warriors who had been leading with momentum stiffened their faces and slowed down their speed.
There was no trace of complacency.
They cautiously threw themselves forward, trying to take advantage of their numerical superiority.
But the result was no different.
The opponent was too bad.
His name literally meant king of great warriors.
He proved that his name was not vain by dominating his enemies with his divine movements.
Finally, those who recognized his face began to appear from several places.
A warrior from Sequani shouted in a voice mixed with screams, pointing at his blood-soaked lion skin.
“That’s him. The monster of Arverni!”
“The monster who killed eight Roman legions alone in the war with Rome?”
Berticus felt his allies’ agitation and swung his weapon desperately and shouted.
“What are you afraid of for just one guy! Push him back with numbers!”
But the warriors who had lost their momentum could not easily move forward.
The enemy sensed that their morale was broken and stepped forward instead. He took three lives and returned to his position calmly.
“O pitiful ones who have fallen into slaves of the Huns. You who have lost your pride as warriors can never surpass us!”
His roar reminded them of a lion and boosted the morale of the defense army to the sky.
On the other hand, Berticus felt cold sweat running down his face as he felt his subordinates’ eyes focused on him.
They were pawns to be discarded anyway.
If he failed to achieve anything here, he would face a miserable slave life when he returned.
He bit his lips hard and met eyes with the unidentified man.
He instinctively drew out his axe.
If he didn’t regain his momentum here, there would be no more chances.
“Uaaaah! Don’t get in my way!”
He threw his axe in a circle in the air, thinking of his family who were waiting in pain in the clutches of the Huns.
The man calmly raised his shield.
Berticus felt a feeling as if his heart was squeezed tight.
It was his experience accumulated in the battlefield that saved his life.
The man’s sword, which had easily deflected the axe with his shield, grazed the spot where Berticus’s neck had been a moment ago.
He would have died instantly if he hadn’t instinctively pulled his body back.
The difference in skill was clear.
He would surely die if he continued to fight here.
But he had no choice.
Berticus and his followers pushed forward with gritted teeth.
“Damn it! My family, my family is waiting! Get out of the way, you bastards!”
“Hoo…”
He could guess the enemy’s situation with just that one word.
He sighed softly and plunged forward, aiming for Berticus’s neck.
The best mercy he could give was to end his life quickly and painlessly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll kill all those Hunnic bastards for you.”
“Your name… you have an enemy…! Ar… Arverni’s…”
Berticus’s body, which had been screaming in rage, soon stopped convulsing and collapsed on the ground.
No one knew if the man’s last words were any comfort to the dying one.
The man who closed Berticus’s eyes looked around at the enemy warriors who were approaching him over the fallen enemy leader’s corpse.
“If you come any closer, you’ll all die.”
They all lost their words for a moment.
When had they ever been so overwhelmed by a fellow Gaul?
Something unimaginable was happening.
Only the pile of corpses of the allied forces that kept stacking up on the path showed that this scene was real.
※※※
The exploits of the great warrior who wore a lion skin did not stop at just blocking one area.
As soon as he judged that the defense line in the eastern mountains was solid enough, he led an elite unit and headed west.
It was an absurd plan to move along the rugged mountains, but that was why the enemy did not even think that their rear could be attacked.
He crossed the Pyrenees mountains to the west and ambushed the rear of the Hunnic army that was fiercely attacking.
Although they were few in number, the enemy who was attacked from an unexpected direction could not maintain their formation and collapsed in no time.
It was a salvation that arrived miraculously in a desperate situation where the defense line could have been broken if they were a little late.
If it weren’t for his support, Hispania might have fallen.
It was that serious.
The Roman legion commander who was commanding the western defense army grasped the hand of the savior who arrived miraculously with an emotional look and asked him.
If Spartacus, whom any Roman would have heard of at least once, really fought, would he have been like this?
He thought so because the man’s prowess with a lion skin wrapped around him was overwhelming.
Having such a warrior in one’s camp would naturally boost the morale of one’s allies to no end.
He would have been hopeless without the reinforcements that were late, but the man who appeared in his eyes was like a salvation sent by Mars himself.
“O great warrior. If it weren’t for you, we would have all died here. I bow my head sincerely and thank you. Oh, are you not familiar with Latin? I’ll call an interpreter.”
The man who held hands with the legion commander nodded lightly.
“There’s no need. I’ve been able to speak Latin since I was young.”
“Oh, you are proficient in Latin as well. You are truly a friend of Rome. I will send a report to praise your deeds to the homeland today. What is your name? My name is Cornelius Tullius Aurelius.”
The man who felt awkward in an unfamiliar situation of receiving sincere gratitude from a Roman took off his lion skin stained with enemy blood and revealed his name.
“Vercingetorix. Vercingetorix of Arverni.”