Chapter 211 Departure

"My name is Fulvius Beliarius, nice to meet you!"

Just as Luga was about to start a killing spree, the little bastard in front of him crossed his arms and introduced himself.

Why the hell didn’t you say something earlier! Luka was so angry that his veins popped out. His trembling right hand had to loosen its grip on the reins from the hilt of the sword. At this moment, Luka had completely lost his temper.

"I recognize you." The guy looked at Luga seriously, "My father asked me to come here to await the visit of Your Excellency Luga." Then he stepped aside and motioned for Luga to pass.

"Damn, what kind of reception is this?" Seeing this bastard named Belialiu's rude welcome ceremony, Luga secretly thought that he should go to see this kid's father first. After all, discussing the next course of action is the most important thing.

Not bothering to return the greeting, Luga rode his horse forward, leading his huge army past Belialiu.

"snort!"

Belialiu deliberately snorted loudly so that Luga could hear it and tell Luga that he would not submit even if he had thirty field regiments under his command.

The huge team poured into the crowded dock. The busy workers and slaves naturally did not dare to block Luca's way. No matter how crowded it was, they kept retreating to make a path for Luca and his legion.

Fulvius Hermanus, the supreme commander of the Eastern Empire's joint fleet stationed at the port of Athens on the Aegean Sea, led a huge fleet to station here because he received the order from Augustus to wait for the newly formed Roman expeditionary force. Of course, on this day, he waited.

"General!"

The messenger outside the door hurriedly boarded the ship and walked into his cabin.

"The expeditionary force has arrived."

These few words made Hermanus jump up from his seat. He stared at the messenger and asked, "Is everything you said true?"

"It's true, General!" The messenger lowered his head and continued to say to him, "The commander of the legion, His Excellency Luca, is waiting outside."

"Then we must not keep him waiting for too long!" Hermanus stood up without saying anything, picked up the red cloak hanging on the hanger beside him and put it on his shoulders, then quickly walked out of the cabin and came to the deck.

The warship he was on was close to the shore. It was a huge five-row warship, equipped not only with rams, but also with crossbows and catapults. The combatants on the ship could carry two hundred-man teams, lying across the shore like a huge fortress. At this time, Luca was standing on the land below the "fortress".

"Hey, Master Luca, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. For God's sake, please forgive me this time!"

Hearing his voice before seeing the person, Luca looked up and saw a middle-aged man wearing a brass muscle breastplate and a red cloak. The man's hair was a little gray and his face was full of wrinkles. His age and position could be seen at a glance.

"Excuse me, Your Excellency is the naval commander I'm looking for, right?"

Facing the man who was walking down the stairs in small steps, Luca did not dare to be careless. After all, he was an ally with whom he was going to fight. Luca tried his best to be polite and saluted respectfully until Hermanus came to him.

"I have received an order from His Majesty Augustus to wait for your arrival here." Hermanus said in a friendly manner, "You have only been here for three days. We have just made preparations and you have arrived. It seems that God is supporting us this time, allowing us to have such a tacit understanding..."

"Okay, okay, sir, there's no need to be so formal." Luca could tell that this was such a blatant flattery, so he could only wave his hands repeatedly to signal Hermanus to stop talking. "Sir, I'm here to ask you something important, so I think we should skip these daily conversations."

After saying that, Hermanus looked around, then put his arm around Luca's shoulder and said, "It's not convenient here, let's get on the boat with me."

Luca turned around and called to Andrew to follow him, and ordered the soldiers behind him to stop and prepare themselves at the dock.

After getting on the ship and entering Hermanus' cabin, the first thing Luca saw was a large wooden table covered with a huge parchment. The parchment detailed the territory of the Western Empire in the Mediterranean region, with emphasis on the many small black flags planted in the southern corner of the Greater Sicily.

"As you can see, Lord Luca!" Hermanus let go and walked to the opposite side of Luca, pointed at the Great Sicily Island and said to Luca: "The Vandals have broken away from the rule of Rome, and now their leader Gaiseric is trying to seize the Great Sicily Province, and then intend to get involved in the central Italian mainland. Your Excellency also understands that there are not many troops in the Italian mainland. Facing the impact of the Vandals, the result will only be that Rome will be captured again. Even Augustus Valentinian III is in danger."

"And what about Aetius? Where is he now?"

"Where is Aetius now?" Luca asked. "He can't just ignore the enemy now."

"Sir Aetius is trying his best to gather enough troops in the Italian province. You should know that it was difficult to gather troops in Italy more than 30 years ago, and then because of the personal grudge between Aetius and Boniface, they turned their swords against each other. All of these have dealt heavy blows to Italy, which already has a scarce military force."

"So what you mean is that this time it is up to us in the Eastern Empire to provide assistance, but it may be difficult for us to rely on our own strength." Luca felt that this issue needed to be considered very much, because after all, it was a long-term battle, and the logistics of such an expedition would be difficult to keep up, not to mention raising supplies and troops from Sicily. If Sicily could allow Luca to get enough supplies and troops, I'm afraid Gaiseric would not attack so boldly.

“No, no, no, Lord Luca.” Hermanus waved his hands and said to Luca: “It’s not us, it’s you.”

"Me? What do you mean?" Luca asked back, but he had a bad feeling in his heart. Could it be that this guy didn't intend to join him? "Oh, sorry, I mean, you may have to fight alone!" Hermanus smiled at Luca apologetically, and what he said was really hard for Luca to believe his ears.

"Fighting alone? You mean leaving me to face the Vandals alone?" Luca was a little angry. If he set out like this, it would be tantamount to suicide. "If you do this, I can completely refuse to send troops."

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"Sir!" Hermanus looked at Luca seriously and said, "Our order is only to transport supplies for you, but no one can tell how long it will take."

"What's the difference between this and leaving me there?" Luca thought to himself and sighed.

"Father!" After hearing a familiar voice, Luca and Hermanus turned around and saw Belialiu, the boy who had just blocked their way.

Belialiu was not too surprised to see Luca, but walked into the house calmly and came to Hermanus' side.

"Come, let me introduce you to my son, Belia, who is also my military escort. He is here for training, and of course it would be best if he could take over my position in the future."

"Of course, a good father will have a good son." Lu Jia responded with a few words.

"My son knows you, and your excellent service in Edessa. Indeed, he says he will follow your example and become a loyal defender of the Empire and Augustus."

"Father, I didn't say that." Belialiu whispered to Hermanus, but was quickly interrupted by Hermanus.

"When are we leaving?" Luca now had a fearless spirit of facing death. At this moment, he suddenly understood the meaning of Sebastianus' words, but once on the boat, there was naturally no turning back. It would be better to go to Greater Sicily and see the situation.

"If your Excellency is willing, we will leave today!"

I spent another day peeling garlic.

(End of this chapter)