Chapter 220: The Tactic of Deceiving the Enemy

I always thought that Gaiseric would stick to the idea of ​​​​speed is of the essence in war, but reality always plays a joke on Luca that he can't understand, because this wait lasted until winter.

Gaiseric did not seem to be in a hurry. The assembled troops were still gathering in Trapani, and it was unknown how long they would take. If there were no snow in Sicily in winter, strictly speaking, there was no winter here. If it were in the northern Gaul region, I am afraid that Luca's troops would suffer unfair losses again.

The Vandals also sent scouts to investigate the area passing through Syracuse, but Luca had too many scouts, and they were always able to find the Vandal's hidden scouts, or drive them away or kill them alive. In short, the Vandals only knew that this road was very dangerous. On the contrary, the small plain below Mount Etna in the north leading to Palermo was much quieter.

The food was always provided by Syracuse. As a member of the same empire, their nobles were much more generous than those in the north, at least they did not let Luca's soldiers go hungry. However, waiting day after day really made Luca lose his patience. He could not understand why Gaiseric was so angry. He even planned how to attack Trapani, the town where Gaiseric was entrenched, in such a sufficient time.

In December, after three months of stalemate, the scout reported that Gaiseric's army had set out. Andrew was the first to receive the news, and he rushed into the tent and handed the parchment to Luca.

This was no small matter. Luca had waited so long and finally got a result! Opening the parchment, Luca read the contents of the paper carefully.

"He was frightened by the large number of scouts!" Luca slowly put down the letter in his hand, and took a long breath, finally showing a smile on his tense face. It was written very clearly on the parchment that the Vandals marched northwards and headed straight for Palermo.

"It seems that Gaiseric has finally lost his patience. He has also realized that if he continues to drag on like this, he may not even be able to hold on to the southern part of Sicily that he occupies." Andrew said from the side. It is not difficult to see that he, like Luca, is delighted with Gaiseric's current movements.

"Wait, Andrew."

At this moment, Luca called Andrew again. He quickly put away the smile on his face, and replaced it with a solemn expression. He continued, "Could this be Gaiseric's strategy of confusing the enemy with a veil? He wants his army to march north under the noses of Roman scouts. Who can prove that they are really attacking Palermo? If they stop at Mount Etna and we rush over aggressively, wouldn't it be a trap for the Vandals? Then no one will be able to come back."

"So what are your plans, Luca?" Andrew asked.

"I'll write a letter right away." Luca said as he picked up the pen on the table, found a piece of parchment, and wrote on it stroke by stroke. Soon, a parchment full of crooked letters was written.

"Andrew, here!" Luca carefully wrapped the parchment and handed it to Andrew, saying, "Call a fast horse to take this letter to Marenius."

"What does this mean, Luca?" Andrew held the letter and looked at Luca with a puzzled look on his face. "Didn't you ask him to lead the auxiliary army to garrison the Strait of Messina?"

"Yes, Andrew, the plan has changed." Luca stretched his body in his seat and explained, "If we don't mobilize this auxiliary army, then the strength of these three thousand people will be wasted. This is a very unnecessary loss."

"Well, Luca, can you tell me what your intention is?" Andrew didn't open the letter, but he was very curious about its contents.

"It's very simple, Andrew." Luca poured two glasses of wine. He picked up one of them, put his lips to the edge of the glass and took a sip. Then he said, "Let Marenius take the auxiliary legion all the way to Syracuse with great fanfare, but the speed should be as slow as possible."

"What's the purpose of this?" Andrew was even more confused. He had no idea what Luca was up to.

"It is clear now that Gaiseric needs a stimulus to advance. He certainly does not know how many of us there are. These three thousand people are the best evidence to expose our whereabouts. They must make a big fanfare and fly my flag." Luca said, turning his head to glance at the Laban flag, and then said: "Just fly this flag. I don't believe that the Vandals in the city will not believe it! Then Gaiseric might know that I went out for a swim and returned to Syracuse. I have no idea about his actions. What I want is to let him know."

After hearing this, Andrew turned around, walked to the flag, picked it up and held it in his hand, along with the parchment.

"Okay, I'll do it. Maybe your plan will confuse the Vandals." Andrew said, stepping forward to take the still full glass of wine.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait!"

Lu Jia quickly stopped Andrew and said, "This glass of wine is for you to drink after you finish your work!"

"Oh, okay, okay, Luca, damn it!" Andrew was so frustrated that he couldn't drink the wine in front of him. He said dejectedly, holding the flag and envelope and walked out of the tent.

"Okay, okay!" Luca looked at Andrew's back as he disappeared from the tent entrance, then slowly stood up and paced back and forth in the open space inside the tent. He kept rubbing his hands and thinking hard.

"This is the first time. I wonder if Gaiseric will be determined to attack Palermo." Luca is already impatient to get the result, but he still needs enough time to wait in the meantime.

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"Oh, done!" Andrew rushed in with a smile, and regardless of his heavy breathing, he grabbed the wine glass on the table and drank it all in one gulp, just like a drug addict who had endured torture for a long time and suddenly was able to experience the pleasure of the thing that made him addicted.

"Andrew." When Andrew finished his drink and was about to drink his second cup, Luga called him. When he turned to look at Luga, Luga said, "Please inform everyone when the time comes. I need to prepare enough siege engines during this period of time. They must be in the form of spare parts so that they can be easily transported."

"It seems that you are really planning to take over Trapani." Andrew laughed.

"That's right, I want to cut off Gaiseric's retreat. I don't know where he will run without Trapani!" Luca picked up the wine glass, raised his head and drank the wine in the glass. There was a hint of ferocity in his eyes, and he thought to himself: "It's time to go on a killing spree!"

(End of this chapter)