Chapter 309: Containment

This year passed unnoticed in endless preparations. Luca mainly established defenses on the roads from Visentio and Atuganlatm to Augusta-Treville and on the temporary demarcation line in order to prevent the restless Bagauda elements from going south to plunder and damage the rights and interests of the nobles and civilians of the Great Sequanoron.

Of course, the forward-thinking financing plan proposed by Luca and the beautiful promises to the nobles were easy to attract people's hearts, and they expressed their willingness to support the governor's plan. A large amount of funds arrived at Luca's warehouse, and Luca would naturally not embezzle the money. He first paid the soldiers of his legion, and then spent a lot of money to invite excellent engineers and workers to cast siege weapons. He also provided bread to the refugees living on the streets and recruited them to join the army. Soon, ten well-organized field regiments were formed. Luca sent Andrew and some capable centurions in the legion to train them, and he followed Aresio and Sebastianus to analyze the current situation and lobby for more money.

It looks prosperous now, but the Great Sequanorum Province is a poor place after all, which is why Augustagara Placidia just casually gave it to Luca. Because Luca is the duke of the province, and in this province without a governor, he was recognized by the Purple Chamber as the one who holds military power and naturally became the governor here.

The whole winter was spent in busyness. Of course, Luca's hard work was rewarded, because in the spring of the second year, he had a reorganized new legion of more than 5,000 people join his team. He named the new legion the Fifth Legion "Skylark". This was once a legion under Caesar, but it was defeated and completely removed in the subsequent power struggle. Luca named it this way because he wanted to inherit Caesar's will and conquer these lawless barbarians. Even if Spartacus was resurrected to lead these barbarians, Luca would still trample him under his feet.

Of course, the Eastern Empire was not so lucky, because the army sent to attack the Vandals arrived in Athens, and as soon as they got off the ship, they headed north without stopping and were deployed on the front line with the area occupied by the Huns.

Theodosius II was now ambitious, because he had enough troops in his hands, so he had the capital to compete with Attila the Hun. In addition, the gold he owed the Huns over the years had reached 2,800 pounds. The long-term arrears was not because Theodosius II could not afford it, but because he had enough troops, he had the idea of ​​defaulting on the debt. Anyway, his army had returned, and if Attila wanted to attack, he had to consider whether he had the ability to compete with the huge Roman legion.

In the early spring of 443 AD, envoys from the Eastern Empire traveled thousands of miles to the governor's palace in Luca, the province of Great Sequantrum, and handed over a handwritten letter from Augustus Theodosius II of the Eastern Empire.

Luca took the letter, opened it, and read the words carefully.

"Why?" Alessio asked, "Your adoptive father, Augustus of the Eastern Empire, sent an envoy from afar. What does he want you to do? Or does he want you to go back and fight against the Huns with him?"

"No!" Luca put down the letter and shook his head, then continued, "Even if we set out on such a long journey back now, the war has already been fought, so Augustus sent an envoy last year. He wanted me to send troops north to station in the south of the Rhine River facing the Huns, and it would be best if we could repel a few Hun tribes. In this way, as long as the Huns pass the news to Attila, Attila will naturally not fall into the embarrassing situation of fighting on two fronts, and will naturally not start a war impulsively!"

"Luga, you have to think carefully. If you choose to do this, if Attila directly leads his troops westward, you with a mere 20,000 people will not be able to stop them. By then, not only Sequanorum, but also Ludugan Gaul and Narpan Gaul will fall under the iron hoof of the Huns. Don't forget that the Huns have learned our Roman siege methods and the manufacture of siege weapons since they followed Aetius to fight." Aresio reminded seriously, which made Sebastianus beside him nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Aresio's statement.

"That's not the case," Sebastianus retorted. "Don't forget the role of the field army in Thrace. They can defend and attack. Attila and his brother Burrus can't split the army into two to fight on both sides. Maybe if we pin down one of them here, the Eastern Empire's offensive army will have swept all the Huns' land in the east. This is a loss-making deal. Attila and Burrus must have considered this issue."

"So what about our battle plan against Bagaudah?" Alessio said dissatisfiedly, "We have been preparing for this for more than half a year. We have put all our efforts into preparing for this war. We have the nobles and civilians of the entire province of Sequanorum watching us. If we dispatch troops casually, you have to ask the nobles in the city and the subjects of Rome what they think!"

No one could persuade the other, and they soon fell into a stalemate. Not only the two of them, but even Luca was in a difficult situation. After all, this order came at a very inappropriate time!

The envoy of Theodosius II was right in front of him. Hearing Aresio's words of dissuading Luca, he naturally frowned. He stood in front of Luca and reminded him, "Sir Luca, I think you should not forget that you are the adopted son of Theodosius II Caesar. When facing national affairs, Caesar still hopes that you will advance and retreat together with Caesar's will."

"That's right, that's right!" Luca smiled and nodded to the messenger. After thinking for a moment, he said to the messenger, Alessio and Sebastianus, "This is what I think. My adjutant Malenius will lead two auxiliary legions to the south of the Rhine. I will give him orders on how to act. Don't be too conservative or too radical. As long as it attracts the attention of the Huns, it will be fine. Your Excellency should also understand that I want to recover the land of Belgian Gaul in order to open up the port to Britain, so that the fleet docked in Iberia can bypass it. I don't want them to wait too long."

"Sir Luca," the messenger said solemnly, "I have no say in your strategic deployment. I just want to see you carry out the instructions given by Augustus, so that I can go back and report."

"That's right, that's right!" Luca smiled and nodded to the messenger, but Alessio and Sebastianus could not laugh, because such a temporary decision would divide the already small army into two parts again, making their strength even weaker than before. So what should Luca do in the face of countless Bagauda members?

Thinking of this, they both turned their eyes to Luga who was sitting in his seat, trying hard to guess what was in Luga's mind.

(End of this chapter)