Chapter 216: The Whole of Greece 2
Chapter 216: The Whole of Greece 2
Marcus and Caesar immediately sent reinforcements upon receiving Sextus’s request for support.
The relief force that departed from Asia Minor consisted of 40,000 led by Antony.
The legion that departed from Gaul consisted of 30,000 led by Labienus, making a total of 70,000 troops.
If 70,000 were added to the 200,000 that Sextus had mobilized, it would be almost impossible for the Huns to conquer Greece.
If Marcus and Caesar’s main forces slowly tightened the encirclement, the Huns would have no choice but to retreat.
But this deployment of reinforcements made Sextus more determined to go out and fight.
He decided to leave the 70,000 soldiers who would arrive soon to defend Athens, and he himself led his entire force to march out to rescue Thessalonica.
‘The enemy is dispersed and we have a fully prepared army of 200,000. If we fight in a proper formation, there is no way we can lose.’
He didn’t just fall for the provocation and rush out recklessly.
In fact, from Sextus’s perspective, he had no choice but to take this action.
Unlike Marcus and Caesar, he had virtually no achievements in this war.
Stopping the Slavs and the Sarmatians was nothing to boast about compared to the feats of the other two.
Caesar drove away the Huns’ army of 200,000 and reclaimed Gaul, and Marcus even annihilated 60,000 enemy cavalry.
In this situation, if Sextus stayed in the Peloponnese peninsula and watched Greece being ravaged, what would happen?
He would lose the hearts of the few remaining clients, and it would haunt him for a long time after the war was over.
He could win everything if he won this war, but if he lost, he would lose everything. He couldn’t afford to lose.
Sextus did not advance blindly even though he led his entire force out.
His commanders said that they should go to Thessalonica as soon as possible and kill the enemy’s leader, but he had to consider the possibility that this was a trap.
“If their goal is to lure us in and attack us from both sides, we might fall into a trap. We need to scout widely and move slowly.”
“But we might just give them time to return by doing that.”
“We can end this war by killing the enemy’s leader in Thessalonica in the shortest time possible. And you will be remembered as the great hero who saved Rome in this war. You can’t miss this opportunity.”
Sextus was not swayed by Gabinius and Pompey’s impatience.
He was no longer a novice commander without experience.
He had planned to go out and fight anyway, but he wanted to avoid as much risk as possible.
If the enemy’s 100,000 cavalry in Ephesus showed signs of returning, he intended to retreat to his base immediately.
He would punish them if they were careless enough to split their army, but there was no reason to fall for it if it was a trap.
“If they had planned from the beginning to lure us out, we wouldn’t be able to catch up with them no matter how fast we are. Think about the speed difference between us and the enemy made up entirely of cavalry. We will only be caught from behind if we rush to Thessalonica.”
“…That’s true, but…”
“So we’ll go as safely as possible. Anyway, they won’t be able to capture a large city surrounded by walls in a short time, so there’s no need to hurry.”
Sextus’s words were reasonable enough that the commanders couldn’t argue any more.
They actually wanted to say that even if the enemy’s 100,000 in Ephesus came back, they could just defeat them all at once.
But Sextus remembered the letter from Marcus that emphasized never to face the enemy head-on.
Hadn’t he tasted bitter defeat before for not listening to his advice not to fight Caesar head-on?
He decided not to repeat the same mistake and listen to his advice this time.
And even without Marcus’s advice, he had a rough idea of how powerful a nomadic army made up entirely of cavalry was.
If he fought head-on with an equal number of troops against them, even the powerful Roman army would have a high chance of danger.
His father Pompey always emphasized the importance of cavalry.
‘I can have everything if I win this war, but I will lose everything if I lose. I can’t afford to lose.’
Sextus released as many scouts as possible and did not miss any details of the enemy’s movements.
But while the Roman army focused on the Huns’ movements, Bayatur showed no different movements than before.
The only thing that changed was that he recalled 20,000 of the 50,000 soldiers he had sent to Thrace.
The 100,000 in Ephesus still showed no signs of returning and only plundered various cities.
Altan, who crossed over to Thrace, was also focused on attacking the trade city of Byzantium, and showed no signs of joining Bayatur.
This arrogant military operation made the Roman army more angry.
“We have to punish those arrogant bastards thoroughly.”
“Let’s start by breaking the enemy’s leader who is attacking Thessalonica and then head straight to Byzantium. Once we drive out the enemy’s general there, what can the remnants in Ephesus do?”
“Gabinius is right. Luckily, the enemy is now complacent. This is your chance to secure victory and become the hero who saved Rome.”
Sextus had no choice but to act when the enemy showed such a gap.
No, in fact, he also realized that the enemy was really cunning in this situation.
How many times had there been someone who showed such a mad attitude in front of the invincible Roman army?
It was always Rome’s role to face the majority with a minority.
The only exception would be the battles they lost to Hannibal, but no one in the Roman army thought that the barbarian leader was comparable to Hannibal.
“Our strength is 130,000 legion infantry, 40,000 allied infantry, 20,000 archers, and 10,000 allied cavalry, making a total of 200,000. The enemy is about 70,000 or so…”
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine losing.
Sextus, who had decided to go out and fight, kept his scouts watching the direction of Ephesus and increased the speed of his troops.
This news soon reached Bayatur, who was besieging Thessalonica.
“The Roman army is coming north?”
“Yes, everything is going according to your plan.”
“Good, it’s finally time.”
A faint smile of bloodlust crossed Bayatur’s cold face.
It was something to clap and cheer for him.
If the Roman army stayed put and fought a siege battle, it would be almost impossible to break through even for the Hun army.
Normally, he would have surrounded the city and starved them to death, but almost all of the large cities in Greece were ports without exception.
Even if he surrounded them on three sides, they could still get supplies through the sea, so it was impossible to starve them out.
So he couldn’t inflict much damage if the enemy didn’t come out like this.
Bayatur didn’t operate his army in such a way out of arrogance.
From capturing aquilas and provoking the Roman army to attacking Ephesus and Thrace at the same time, everything was part of a carefully planned scheme.
But of course, there were some voices of concern.
Four of the seonwoo were absent and Bayatur only led 70,000 out of the 200,000 cavalry.
One of the chiefs cautiously suggested an opinion.
“Seonwoo Cheontae, don’t you think you should at least call back Seonwoo Altan who is attacking Byzantium?”
“Are you nervous?”
“N-no. How dare I doubt your actions. I just thought that we might need more troops on our side to crush the enemy more surely.”
“If we do that, they might give up the battle and retreat. And there is nothing to worry about with a threefold difference. I didn’t even intend to bring the 20,000 troops that belong to Altan in the first place. I just brought them to reassure the other seonwoo.”
Bayatur’s confidence made the chiefs’ mouths gape open.
But soon their faces were filled with trust instead of astonishment.
Who was Bayatur?
He was the leader who unified all the tribes of the Huns who were divided and opposed to each other in a short time, and made all the other nomads kneel down as well, creating an unprecedented golden age of the steppes.
If he said it was possible, it was possible.
Bayatur looked around at everyone’s faces that were filled with fighting spirit and smiled satisfactorily.
“As long as I use the name Bayatur, I need to show deeds worthy of that name. You all know that, right? My ancestor defeated Han Gaozu’s army of 320,000 with only 40,000.
Rome might be much stronger than Han Gaozu’s army, but so are we. The ones I’m leading now are the strongest warriors in Hun history that will never come again. I trust that you will perform as well as I expect.”
“Leave it to us!”
“We will dye the whole plain with Roman blood!”
Bayatur lifted the siege of Thessalonica and began to move south with his warriors who had boosted their morale with old stories.
Their steps were truly unstoppable.
There was not a single lie in what Bayatur had said.
Han Gaozu’s ancestor Yu Bang had suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of Bayatur known as Moudun Seonwoo and made a humiliating peace treaty with him.
It was called a peace treaty, but in reality it was an unequal treaty that gave Han princesses to the Huns’ great seonwoo and provided huge amounts of silk and food every year.
If he won against Rome this time, he would be closer to victory as he did with Han before.
The Hun warriors chatted about having fun with Roman women as their concubines.
On the other hand, Bayatur ignored his subordinates’ talk and calmly checked his strategy.
He had told them old stories to boost their morale, but of course he didn’t base his actions on such old tales.
The soldiers that Bayatur was leading now were indeed the strongest force that the Huns had.
They were the best elite cavalry chosen from among all the warriors, and they were armed with the best equipment they had.
They said 70,000, but in fact, the 50,000 cavalry that Bayatur had originally planned to lead could show more than 100,000 in strength.
And the Roman army they were facing was the weakest of all the Roman armies that Bayatur had seen.
The strongest was undoubtedly the Roman army that Marcus led in the Parthian War.
The equipment of those he saw at that time was different from the ordinary Roman army.
On the other hand, the Roman army led by Sextus was not even as good as Caesar’s legionnaires that he had encountered in Germania.
He calculated all these conditions carefully and came to the conclusion that 70,000 was enough.
He didn’t act on a vague feeling or baseless confidence.
“Let’s go, my warriors! Show them who was the arrogant one.”
An eagle that lost its claws could not avoid the sharp teeth of a wolf.
The place where the two armies met was a large plain near Larissa, halfway between Athens and Thessalonica.
The decisive battle that would determine the fate of Greece would be decided here.
※※※
“What, Sextus led his entire army north?”
Marcus was stunned by the shocking news that came one after another as soon as he sent his reinforcements.
“I told him to avoid a frontal battle and wait for my support, but he didn’t listen?”
“W-well, the situation was such that…”
Marcus bit his lip in anger and frustration after hearing the whole story from Sextus’s messenger.
This was clearly a trap set by Bayatur and Sextus fell for it neatly.
If it were Marcus, he would have ignored what his clients said and fortified his defense until the reinforcements arrived, but Sextus didn’t know how strong the nomads were in the plains.
“Damn. I should have spoken more strongly.”
He never dreamed that his allies would trip him up when he was about to complete a surefire strategy.
Marcus was more angry at himself than at Sextus, who ignored his advice.
‘I should have cracked down on my allies before watching the enemy. It was my complacency that caused this trouble.’
He blamed himself for a moment, but soon he shook off those thoughts and composed himself.
There was no point in regretting it for a hundred days.
Now was the time to move assuming the worst-case scenario.
Greece was the core area responsible for Rome’s Mediterranean economy.
If this place fell, it was possible that the economy would collapse.
The war that he thought he had won might tilt.
‘Sextus might change his mind and retreat now, but Bayatur won’t let him. He is not someone Sextus can handle, with his ability to unify the steppes in an instant.’
The worst-case scenario was that all the ports of Greece would fall to the enemy in one battle.
The provinces of Greece and Asia Minor were so close that they could touch each other’s noses.
It was only 3 km by boat to land.
The Huns might not be able to operate large ships, but it was a huge threat just to think that they could cross over.
As he thought of that, Marcus immediately got up from his seat, summoned all his officers, and gave orders.
“Immediately build a defensive line at the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles Strait. And gather all the available ships and troops.”
“Huh? That means…”
“As soon as we’re ready, I’ll go to Greece myself.”