Chapter 262: Going out to fight

"Finally, something went wrong!" Luca sighed and put the parchment on the table.

Sitting next to him were five generals of the Eastern Empire, while the corresponding seats opposite them were already empty. They had been away with Aetius for too long and must have reached the Apennines by now.

"Luga," Areobinders beside him asked, "What on earth is going on? Why did the Western Empire's army leave and head north just when they were about to set out?"

"They think we are going to take over the Western Empire, don't they?" General Anlasis was impatient, and he was furious at the current situation. He slammed the table, pointed at the empty wall on the other side and cursed: "We came from afar to help these bastards, but they left as soon as they said they would! Are we so cheap that we are willing to be their slaves and running dogs? If they leave, we will leave too, and see who will suffer if Africa is lost!"

"Anlasis, you are not allowed to be so rude. Don't forget that you are a Roman nobleman. You must not lose your manners at this time!" Innobindes, who was beside him, poked him with his shoulder and reminded him: "Don't lose your temper so casually now. Don't forget that Mr. Flavius ​​Luca is still thinking. Don't interrupt or disturb his thinking at this time."

Anrasis, who was speechless, suddenly turned his head to the side and said nothing. Although he did not speak, it could be seen that he had great dissatisfaction with the current Western Empire and Aetius's actions.

"Huns!" When Luga said this term, everyone present was stunned. They all turned their heads to look at him in surprise, as if they did not understand what Luga was saying.

"I said, Aetius left in a hurry this time because the Huns came!" Luca sighed, put the parchment on the table and continued, "They are going to build a defense line north of the Tiber River, because the Huns looted a village in the southern part of Pannonia Province bordering the Roman territory. Their purpose is not clear, so they are going to protect the capital Ravenna and the safety of Augustus Valentinian III. There is nothing we can do about it."

"So, Master Luca!" Arintius spoke up and asked, "What should we do? Should we just let it go? After all, this drama is missing a lot of actors."

Everyone present, even the guards standing by, turned their eyes to Luca. They were all waiting for the adopted son of Augustus to make a decision.

Luca took a deep breath, as if he had mustered up his courage. God knows how many simulations he had done in private before making such a choice. He said, "We must go, even without Aetius' help. After all, this is Roman territory. As Roman soldiers, it is our duty to recover the lost territory."

"So what does your Excellency mean?" Although Hermanus asked, the result should be self-evident to everyone.

"Forget about Aetius. He said in his letter that we should not care about them. Let's go to war according to the original plan. We will fight quickly and attack Carthage directly!"

Everyone present looked at each other, as if they were still a little confused about this decision, but after a moment, they all looked at Luca and said "yes" in unison! Not long after, the huge army of the Eastern Empire was divided into two routes. One route set out from the port of Trapani, with 500 warships carrying 30,000 people.

Syracuse, on the other hand, had 650 warships and a force of more than 30,000 men, and with the navy, it was still a force of 100,000 men. With such a mighty army, Luca was naturally full of confidence and didn't care whether they could match the Vandals. It was probably impossible for them to form an army that could compete with them after all the men were mobilized. Everyone was excited and eager to teach those Vandals a lesson, but there was only one guy who was not very happy about this expedition, and that was Andrew. As everyone knew, he was very seasick.

After five days of sailing, Luca's fleet finally joined the army that set out from Trapani. The huge fleet of 1,100 warships stretched for a thousand miles.

"Lord Luca!"

Because they were on the flagship of the combined fleet, Luca stayed on the same ship with Hermanus and his son Belia. Of course, the officers who were in command this time were all

Of course, strategic deployment is necessary. Carthage is a coastal city after all. Should we attack from the dock or from the land? How to attack? How to deploy troops? These are all very critical issues. Luca dare not be careless on this point. After all, these are tens of thousands of lives, not a game that can be squandered at will.

"We will first land 20,000 people on the beach outside Carthage. We must ensure that they are not eaten by the Vandal raiding force when they land!" Luca said, pointing to a beach that looked slightly flat on the map, and then said: "The army on land is our very important siege team. They must be commanded by an experienced veteran and must contain as many Vandal troops as possible. Then we will select a thousand people to take over the port and disrupt the Vandal deployment in the city. We will land outside the city and take over the city wall. We will send down the cavalry in advance to make a detour outside the city to block all Vandals who want to escape from the city."

"Mr. Areobinders and Mr. Anrasis are capable of doing this job." The generals unanimously recommended them, and facing the expectations of the crowd, the two old generals nodded firmly.

"That's good," although Luca didn't know them well, he only knew that they were capable men under Augustus Theodosius II of the Eastern Empire.

Although this was all paper talk, Luca didn't know the detailed situation of Carthage. Perhaps such a simple plan would be of no use at all on the real battlefield, but he still felt that it was much better to make plans early.

None of them had ever seen what Carthage looked like, and they were all the same kind of guys, and no one looked down on anyone else. All the generals present nodded in agreement.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Then it's decided!" Luca seemed confident. He walked out of the cabin door and looked at the endless sea. The ship was still bumpy. As soon as he stopped, he heard the sound of Andrew vomiting outside the boat.

"Hold on a little longer!" Luka said secretly in his heart, "Everything will end soon!"

(End of this chapter)