Chapter 259: Heading South
The day after the wedding, the guarding mission was over, so the purpose of stationing outside Ravenna had been achieved, so there was no need for the legion to stay any longer.
As the princess's guard, Areobinders was ordered to assist Luca in completing the campaign against the Vandals who were entrenched in the province of Africa, so he naturally followed Luca south.
After nearly 20 days of long journey, the huge army crossed the strait and arrived in Syracuse. What Luca did not expect was that there were a large number of foreigners, that is, barbarians from the north. They used animal skins as outer robes and armor, and hung animal teeth on their chests. This was not a unique costume of the southern people. Luca knew without thinking that this was the masterpiece of Aetius. As for how to quickly expand the army and quickly form combat effectiveness, only a large number of mercenaries can solve such problems.
The large number of barbarian troops has always been a huge challenge to the city's public security. In order to maintain public security, the entire auxiliary corps under Malenius was used for public security. Of course, these pretty boys from Greece were naturally not in the eyes of those rough and muscular men. They had no so-called faith. The only thing they could believe in was the golden coins and other things that allowed them to drink fine wine and play with women.
In this city, Luca even met the newly appointed naval commander, Belialiu. This guy somehow fooled his old man and got ten old ships from his old man's fleet. Together with the Vandal warships captured at the beginning, the fleet has begun to take shape.
They went straight to the military camp, in a castle-like building in the city, where the military commander was located. This was where officers with a rank of at least able to command more than a thousand men, such as a centurion, could live. Luca sat in the carriage, and Tenaia sat next to him. The old woman Prasvia could not stand such a long journey, so she was placed by Luca in Aresio's house. This was the only safest place he could think of.
The carriage entered the city and stopped after driving for a while. Luga was curious, so he pulled open the curtain and asked, "What happened?" He never expected that the first person he saw was Belialiu. After some time of maintenance on land, his skin had become much whiter, although at first glance he still looked as dark as ever.
"Luga." Belia stayed in the carriage and looked at Luga and said slowly: "Follow me, Aetius and the old generals from the Eastern Empire are all here! They have been waiting here for some time, just to discuss with you the plan to recover the three southern provinces."
"Oh?" This surprised Luca, but it also saved him some time. He didn't have to wait for them at all, as they were all here. He ordered the driver to follow Belia, and the Luca team came to the stone castle in the city.
First, a bedroom was arranged for Tenaia to rest. Luca straightened his messy clothes and combed his messy hair with his hands. Because there were no tools for haircutting, he could only use a knife to cut off all the long hair. The rest was left hanging on his head. It didn't matter anyway, because everyone else did the same thing. If he made it fancy, he would be an outlier.
"Where are those guys?" Luga asked Belialiu who was following behind him.
"They have heard that your Excellency will be arriving soon, so they have just entered the prepared meeting room and sat down, waiting for your Excellency's arrival." Belialiu replied.
"They really gave me enough face, whether it was Aetius or the four commanders of the Eastern Empire." Luca muttered to himself as he walked.
Following a group of people, Luca went all the way up to the meeting room, which was an open stone room full of oil lamps for lighting. In the middle of the room was a huge table, and the dignitaries in togas were gathered around the table. When the door opened, everyone's eyes were focused on Luca, who came in first.
"Sorry, I'm late!" After going through so much, Luga felt that he could be more comfortable in front of so many dignitaries. He smiled and, led by the guards, walked leisurely to the side where the generals of the Eastern Empire were sitting, and sat down in the empty seat between them.
Areobinders, who came later, sat at the very edge. The six supreme commanders of the Eastern Empire were: Areobinders, Ansilus, Luca, Innobindes, Arintius, and Hermanus.
Opposite them were Aetius and a group of generals Luca had never seen before. Judging from their appearance and hair color, most of them were of Germanic descent. Luca even saw that the two at the edge looked somewhat similar to the Vandals. Without any guesswork, Luca could already infer that these two were Vandals.
It's ironic that half of the people at the Roman internal meeting were non-Romans. This looked more like a negotiation between the Romans and the barbarians than an internal discussion, but that's secondary.
"Since Your Excellency Aetius is able to sit here, I can conclude that Your Excellency must have made sufficient preparations. Am I right?"
In response to Luca's words, Aetius looked around at the barbarian generals around him, shook his head and smiled, and replied to Luca: "Yes, during the time when you were transporting the goods, I asked my acquaintances in Rome and other places to raise a lot of money, and hired nearly 10,000 mercenaries in Iberia and other places. In addition, I recruited 10,000 new soldiers, a total of 20,000 people."
"Then, everyone from the Eastern Empire!" Luka glanced at the five generals around him and asked, "At least let me know what kind of pomp and ceremony you are in."
"The combined fleet consists of 1,100 ships of all sizes, 40,000 sailors, and hundreds of thousands of rowing slaves." Hermanus said slowly.
"The Augusta Legion, ten field regiments, more than 5,000 men, 3,000 infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and 1,000 archers, has just arrived in Syracuse," said Areobinders.
"The 11th Gemina Legion, together with the Auxiliary Legion, has a total of 16 field regiments and more than 8,000 men, deployed in Trapani," Ansilas said.
"The Fourth Alexander Legion, twenty field regiments, a total of ten thousand men, is deployed in Trapani," said Innobindes.
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"I brought quite a few people!" Arintius said with a smile, "I brought forty field regiments, a total of more than 20,000 people, and more than 50 siege engines, the purpose of which was to attack Carthage."
"Ha, interesting!" Luca couldn't help but clapped his hands after listening to their report. "Including my thirty field regiments, more than 15,000 people, excluding the navy of Lord Hermanus, the land combat army has a total of nearly 60,000 people. Add Lord Aetius's property and that's 80,000 people. It is indeed a huge joint army. It seems that taking over the three southern provinces occupied by the Vandals is a must!"
Listening to Luca's analysis, the officers of the Eastern Empire nodded repeatedly. Only Aetius had a gloomy face and sat opposite Luca without saying a word.
(End of this chapter)