Chapter 226 Aetius Arrives

Gaiseric retreated, but he did not intend to stop the war. He was very brave and directly ordered his tired soldiers to open up a large open space in the woods. Using the ready-made wood, a decent camp was built. It was only two kilometers away from Luca's camp on the hillside, which meant that the soldiers of both sides could clearly see each other's camp and see each other's every move.

Luca was recovering from his injuries and could no longer move, so Andrew, the captain of the guard, began to take charge of the construction of the camp. According to Luca's instructions, Andrew led the soldiers to bury their dead comrades and retrieve all the weapons that could be used. When Gaiseric cut trees, he also cut trees. When Gaiseric built a camp, he also built it, but he expanded it and connected the camp into a city wall. In any case, the camp was expanding day by day, and Gaiseric watched helplessly.

Did he not come to fight? No, of course he came to fight, but every time he did, Luca's Ninth Legion would either stay at home and let the soldiers under Gaiseric yell and curse outside the camp. The Vandals did not dare to approach the Roman camp, because if they did, they would be blocked by the oncoming rain of arrows.

After a month of this, the Vandals outside were exhausted. They were following Gaiseric's command, but Gaiseric had no way to deal with the Romans who refused to come out. Luca, who was in the camp, didn't know how long this would last. But the only thing he could be sure of was that he and his legion could withstand the protracted confrontation, but Gaiseric didn't know. Moreover, in the past month, Luca had openly transferred the auxiliary legion that stayed in Syracuse back to the military camp under Mount Etna in front of Gaiseric. The absolute advantage in numbers made Gaiseric dare not act rashly. Going forward, there was a joint legion of 7,000 to 8,000 people. Going backward, the defenders of Palermo had blocked all the Vandals' way to retreat westward. The surrounding woods were full of Roman scouts. As long as there was a slight movement in such a large army, the news would be transmitted to Luca's legion and the defenders of Palermo in the first place. It can be said that Gaiseric was surrounded, with no reinforcements and no supplies. The Romans did not seem to have any intention of sending out an attack to completely annihilate them. Luca's intention was obvious. He relied on the supply advantage of Trapani behind him to starve Gaiseric and his troops to death, so that he could win the battle without losing a single soldier.

In February, after more than a month of stalemate, Luca finally received an exciting piece of news: the Central Field Army in Italy had finally assembled and began to move south.

This was a major news that was almost like a comet hitting the earth, and Luca had to prepare in advance. As for Aetius, Luca didn't know what attitude he should use to greet this most familiar stranger.

The results are always unexpected, just like just two days after receiving the news, Aetius had already arrived at Luca's camp.

“Wuwuwu…”

The horn blew quickly, and the Lujia camp was in chaos. The soldiers who were busy with their own things hurriedly looked for their own centurions and then lined up on both sides of the Labran flag. Lujia was uneasy, and he even thought about how to greet this former boss.

The camp gate was about to be opened. Luca swallowed hard and turned to look at Andrew. Andrew's face was already wet with sweat. He closed his lips tightly, trying to keep himself calm. His eyes were dull and his whole body was shaking slightly. He was more nervous than Luca at this moment, probably because of the same reason.

"Andrew." Lu Jia turned his head and reminded him, "You better be easy-going, don't embarrass me!" Lu Jia sounded the alarm for him first, and Andrew was startled and nodded repeatedly. However, Lu Jia was still not at ease, but since things had come to this point, he could only bite the bullet and go ahead.

The camp gate was wide open, and a group of soldiers wearing brass muscle breastplates, purple cloaks on their shoulders, and white long-sleeved underwear with purple cuffs appeared. Their iron-horned helmets were particularly dazzling in the sun. They lined up in three vertical rows, carrying lances wrapped in ribbons on their shoulders, gorgeously attracting everyone's attention.

The soldiers on both sides followed the movement of the cavalry with their eyes, either envious or jealous.

"Here it comes, here it comes!" Luga kept reminding Andrew, which made Andrew nervously stand up straight with his chest held high, holding the Laban flag.

At the camp gate, the cavalry finally left, followed by a large group of infantry. They were wearing brass scale armor and red cloaks on their shoulders. They surrounded a carriage and walked slowly into the camp step by step.

"Aetius." Luca's lips moved slightly, and he whispered the name. Yes, that must be Aetius's carriage, exactly the same as the one that Luca escorted out of Ludinan. The only difference was that the knights guarding them were replaced by Levi, who had stolen his love.

Until he saw the carriage, Luca didn't know why his pounding heart calmed down. He felt calm for some reason, and the tension in his heart was gone, replaced by a little anticipation.

The team escorted the carriage to a stop in front of Luga. The man closest to the carriage, who looked like a guard officer by the looks of his clothes, put his face close to the window of the carriage.

"General, we're here."

Then he saw a slave wearing white linen clothes trotting forward and kneeling under the carriage. The door slowly opened, and Luca saw a leg stretched out from behind the door, wearing a red leather boot, stepping on the slave's back.

"Here it comes!" Luga told himself secretly, and his body straightened up involuntarily.

Next is his profile. Yes, it is Aetius, the actual controller of the Western Empire. He is wearing a golden laurel wreath on his head. Next is his body. He is wearing a bronze muscle breastplate and a red cloak. No, it should be said that except for the breastplate and laurel wreath which are golden, his whole body is red.

With the help of the captain of the guards, he slowly got down from the slave's back and held his head high, giving people a sense of nobility radiating from within, which made even a pure-blooded Roman like Luca pale in comparison.

"Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Aetius, the highest commander of this reinforcement."

Aetius saw Luca's masked smile. Although Luca was much younger than him, he was still very polite and bowed slightly.

Luca was greatly surprised by Aetius's expression and actions. It was as if they were meeting for the first time. He couldn't tell whether Aetius had really forgotten or was pretending not to recognize him. But when he thought about it carefully, it was almost two years after all. For such a small pawn who he had only met once, he would naturally forget it quickly.

"Luga, Orius Luga." Luga looked serious and saluted him, imitating Aetius's gesture. But his eyes were fixed on Aetius, because he wanted to see if this name would bring back some memories for him.

But Luca had to admit once again that he had probably failed, because Aetius still faced him with his signature smile, and did not hesitate even for a second because of the name.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Has he really forgotten?" Luga could not see through the boss in front of him who had betrayed him in the past. He had even thought about how to aggressively question him why he abandoned them on the banks of the Rhine. Now it seemed that there was no chance. Since he could not even remember the name of the person who was betrayed, how could he remember the unforgivable sin he had committed?

"Forget it, forget it!" Luka smiled bitterly in his heart. Is there really no way to question the past? Just bury it in your heart for a while, or maybe forever. He lowered his head and glanced at Andrew. He found that Andrew lowered his head and his body was shaking. If it weren't for the support of the Labran flag, he might have lost his balance and fell to the ground. Tears fell like raindrops on the wooden board under his feet.

"Welcome, Lord Aetius." Luca smiled and turned sideways to block Andrew so that Aetius would not see him crying, which would make the scene extremely embarrassing.

"Of course, Master Luca, no, Master Flavius ​​Luca."

Aetius smiled and walked into the main tent.

(End of this chapter)