Chapter 388 The Banquet at Hongmen (Part 1)
"First, it was the Saxons who attacked our rear, and now it is the priest who wants to seize my power. The enemy is becoming more and more cunning and powerful, but our army is becoming more and more divided. It's difficult! Difficult!" Luca sat on a stool in the camp. He was very depressed, and the surroundings looked dead silent.
"Luga, I have to say this." Marenius came to Luga, his face solemn, he half-knelt in front of Luga, stretched out his hand to hold Luga's hand on his leg, his eyes full of tears, and said to Luga in a pleading tone: "Most of our people have been killed or wounded, all of them are children from the Peloponnese, they can't all die here." At this point, Marenius was already crying, and his actions made the soldiers passing by stop involuntarily. They were all soldiers of the Fourth Auxiliary Legion. Perhaps they had never seen their superiors like this, so they stopped and stared blankly.
"I know, I know!"
Facing Marenius's crying, Luca was also in a heavy mood, but he didn't know how to say it. Marenius's meaning was very clear. The soldiers of the Fourth Auxiliary Legion could not fight a meaningless war of attrition on the front line, otherwise the entire army would collapse for various reasons.
Luca couldn't let this happen. The Fourth Auxiliary Legion was his last trump card. Jiang Carlo had the centurions of the Ninth Legion firmly in his hands, so the soldiers were roughly under their control.
As the night gradually fell, Luga's eyes became as empty and cold as the cloudless sky. He understood that this time, he had to be serious.
The evening apology banquet for Luca was held in the city of Segantum. Not only Luca and his party attended the banquet, but also the surrendered female leader Maka and her Anglo nobles. Compared with Father Jiangkaro's party, they were very magnificent. Not only did they have Father Jiangkaro and his eight accompanying monks, but also all the centurions of the Ninth Legion, a total of more than ninety people. This group of people was enough to form a phalanx of one hundred people. They were all the best of the Ninth Legion and had great combat power.
The huge crowd gave Father Jiang Carlo a sufficient sense of security, which also made him stand up straight and proud. When they stepped into the banquet hall, this small house could not accommodate them at all. Only Father Jiang Carlo and the eight monks who accompanied him could come in.
"Why not hold the ceremony outside?" Father Jiang Carlo refused to enter the house. This was because he was cunning and realized the potential threat in the house. He couldn't be sure what Luca's intentions were towards him. He might have other intentions, or he might be admitting his mistakes sincerely, but the first possibility was more likely.
So he would stand with his centurions, because he did not believe that Luke could do any other harm to him.
Luca had no choice but to obey Father Jiang Carlo's request. He lowered his head and whispered to the female leader Maka: "Come on, let's go out together."
The female leader Maka nodded in response, and then glanced at Father Jiang Carlo standing outside the door. Without saying anything, everyone stood up and carried the table outside the door under Luca's command. At this time, Father Jiang Carlo had already ordered the centurions to light a bonfire in the open space outside. Luca understood what he meant. He instructed Andrew and the others to form a circle around the bonfire, and all the centurions and Anglo nobles took their seats. The young maid filled their glasses with wine and prepared rich food. However, they seemed to have no appetite for the delicacies on the table. Everyone looked at Jiang Carlo and Luca who were sitting opposite each other.
"Mr. Luca." Father Jiang Carlo said to Luca unhappily, "You don't seem to have sincerely confessed to the Lord. Even now, when night has fallen, the Lord in heaven is getting impatient. Is he really going to punish you? You won't have any chance at that time. This is my advice to you. Also, I am helping you. You should be grateful to me!
"More!" Father Jiang Carlo picked up the wine glass on his table and said to Luca, "We practitioners have already given everything we have to the Lord. We are pure in heart and desire nothing. How could we let the filthy sewage of the mortal world taint us!" As he said that, he waved the wine glass and the wine in it and threw it at Luca.
"You!" Andrew was naturally angry when he saw Father Jiang Carlo was so powerless. He stood up suddenly, but was grabbed by Luca.
"Yes, yes, Father Giancarlo."
Luca nodded repeatedly to show that he agreed with Father Jiang Carlo's words. He didn't care that his body was stained with a large area of wine stains. He picked up the wine glass, stood up and said to Father Jiang Carlo: "Father, my ignorance has caused my fault to the priest, and I should indeed atone for it. Well, since the priest is a sacred body and cannot tolerate being contaminated by worldly filth, let this dirty sewage punish my body and let me make the most humble atonement!" After that, Luca picked up the wine glass, tilted his head back and drank the wine in the glass.
This did not gain any recognition from Father Jiang Carlo. He looked at Luga with a sneer, because to him, Luga was like a grasshopper in autumn, who could not jump for a few days and had suffered such serious injuries. The Ninth Legion, which occupied the vast majority of the army, was in his hands. It was obvious who was the real boss.
But this Luca was very perceptive. He knew his situation and at least he could say something nice to make him feel better. Maybe when he was in a good mood, he could give the so-called adopted son of Augustus of the Eastern Empire a chance to live, and let him continue to be decadent, knowing that this was the Western Empire, and if he didn't do what he wanted, he would die.
As for what Pope Leo said, as the war supervising priest of the Ninth Legion, he naturally has absolute control over this army established by religion. Although the Pope did not say it explicitly, that is what he meant. This is the army of Christ, not the adopted son in front of him, so he just led them to fight, but now this guy's opponents are getting stronger and stronger, and they have also captured the city of Camlodulum, putting this guy in a situation of fighting on two fronts.
Because of the daytime battle, he had consumed a large number of soldiers from the Auxiliary Corps and the Fourth Auxiliary Corps. He did not have enough trump cards in his hand. What else could he do if he did not curry favor with Jiang Carlo, who controlled the Ninth Corps? Thinking of this, although Father Jiang Carlo looked very serious on the surface, he could not help but secretly tell himself in his heart that it was a very wise choice to win over the junior officers of the Ninth Corps early. Even if the Saxons counterattacked and defeated them, it was also because of Luca's poor command. How could he put the blame for the defeat on him?
"Lord Leo didn't say that we must take Britannia. Besides, the Purple Chamber has no idea or ability to retake this place, so why should our church help the Purple Chamber to gain prominence?" Jiang Carlo thought so, and became even more arrogant. "I don't care about winning or losing. I just need to do everything I can to bring the Ninth Legion back, so that I can become the bishop of Gaul or Italy. With the Ninth Legion in my hands, this is enough, and I will have more power to compete for the Pope. Therefore, Flavius Luca is just a chess piece in front of me, but he is no longer meaningful!"
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
(End of this chapter)