Chapter 445 Facing the Enemy

"What? How, how could this happen?" Upon hearing the news, Fitanius couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. He turned his head to look at Luca, and seemed to be at a loss for a moment, not knowing what to do.

"What is coming will come!" Unlike Fitanius, Luca did not show much surprise when he heard the news. He looked very calm and asked the panting soldier in a very gentle tone: "Vandal, how many people have come?"

"Thousands, sir, thousands of them!" The soldier who delivered the message panted, "The fishing village outside the city is being attacked. They are landing in the rain. The Roman people are suffering losses, sir!"

Luca did not panic, but asked Marenius very calmly: "Which army is closest to there?"

"The Fourth Skylark Legion," Marenius replied, "They have 500 men stationed there, but because they are not clear about the situation, they are on guard and have not moved out."

"Five hundred people will not be able to stop the Vandal landing troops unless they defend inside the fortress!" Luca's face was heavy as he analyzed bit by bit.

"This is impossible!" Fitanius loudly questioned the soldier, "The King of the Vandals, Gaiseric, has signed an agreement with us. Augustus has recognized his rights in Africa, Numidia and other places. He considers himself an ally of Rome and it is impossible for him to invade so easily!"

"What?" Luca glared at Fitanius and asked, "When was Numidia divided into Gaiseric's territory? Why didn't you tell me about such a serious matter?"

"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry, Lord Luca!" Fitanius lost his spirit now. He was like a wilted leaf, powerless in front of the furious Luca. Looking at the angry Luca's red eyes, Fitanius knew that if he continued like this, the situation would only get worse. He had to confess that the Vandals had already broken the treaty.

"Sir Luca, the Senate, the Purple Chamber, and perhaps Augustus himself have gradually realized that the province of Africa is difficult to recover, and that taxes from Numidia and other places are difficult to pay. So the court officials unanimously agreed that assigning Numidia and other places to Gaiseric, and then having Gaiseric increase taxes on Ravenna as an ally is also a very favorable option, at least for us. After all, Numidia has completely lost its ability to resist."

"So this is what you got!" Luca interrupted him directly, and then he continued, "I just killed the Vandal envoy recently. I originally wanted to use Numidia as a buffer zone to annihilate the Alans in Iberia first, but sir, what you did put me in a passive position!"

Luca was so angry that he jumped up from his seat and walked back and forth in the hall.

"John, John!" Luca kept calling out. John Antiochus quickly stood up and asked, "My lord, what is the matter?"

"Where are the envoys we sent out?"

Upon hearing this, John Antiochus quickly explained, "They haven't come back yet, and there's no news at all. Because the journey is so long, there might be some delays, so I thought I'd wait a little longer."

Luca sighed, shook his head and said, "No, no, there is no need to wait any longer. I can basically see what their fate will be."

John said nothing, bowed his head slightly, and stepped aside.

Luca took off his loose toga, put on his armor in front of Fitanius, turned around, looked at Fitanius and said, "Your Excellency should also understand my current situation. I am afraid that this farewell will end so hastily. After all, judging from the current situation, Your Excellency can no longer leave. Not only can you not leave, but you have to face the traitors together with us."

Fitanius didn't say anything, his Adam's apple moved up and down, as if he wanted to say something but stopped. He just stood there and watched Luca walk out of the hall with his followers.

The army in New Carthage had begun to assemble. The first to arrive were two cavalry units, a total of 500 cavalrymen, who were waiting outside the Governor's Palace.

Marenius said to Luca: "Sir, the situation is too urgent. It will take a long time for the soldiers to gather!"

"Five hundred cavalrymen are enough." Luga couldn't wait to see them pack up their equipment and assemble. After all, they were an army defending the city and couldn't be expected to go out and fight.

Luca asked Marenius to organize the army in the city, and then took Andrew and the 500 cavalrymen who had just been assembled and quickly passed through the streets and alleys and out of the gate of New Carthage.

A large group of cavalrymen were galloping along the narrow road, and their roar could be heard from a long distance away. But the sound of horse hooves could not cover up the shouting and killing in front of them. The sound was getting closer and closer, and soon filled everyone's ears.

"Too late! Too late!" Luca kept complaining as he ran, "The Vandals have already gained a foothold. They are such impatient guys that they couldn't wait to attack as soon as they landed!"

As soon as they finished speaking, they came to a higher slope. Located at the forefront of the army, Luga naturally occupied the best viewing position here.

At the moment, the Vandal warships were scattered all over the ocean, stretching all the way to the end of the sea. Near the coast, large and small ships were busy transporting batches of soldiers to the fishing villages on the shore.

The fishing village no longer looked the same as it once was. Wherever the brutal Vandals passed by, they left behind a field of corpses. The blood had dyed the soil red. The following troops stepped over the deserted corpses and came to besiege the newly built fortress behind the fishing village.

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This fortress was built when Luca came. It used wood and earth filling as the city walls. Although it was far less solid than stone, it was indeed a solid fortress in terms of resistance and protection.

The soldiers defending the city relied on the relatively solid city walls to resist the Vandals who kept coming. The archers behind the city walls raised their bows to the sky and used the rain of arrows falling from the sky to cover the attacking direction of the Vandals.

"The Vandals are eager to gain a foothold, and they are eager for a quick victory," Luca analyzed.

"How is this possible? Luca!" Andrew frowned, looking at the Vandal army's attack without caring about the losses, and said to Luca: "They know we don't have such quick support, but they still attack so fiercely, as if everyone of them can grow wings and fly to the city wall. What on earth is Gaiseric thinking?"

"Or maybe they want to use this stronghold as a bargaining chip to force us to compromise. After all, they already know how we treated their envoy, that rude bastard!" Luca's eyes were cold, and he cast his sights on the warships not far away. He couldn't help but sighed: "It's not surprising that the Vandals attacked in the rain. What's surprising is that they actually restored their naval strength in such a short time. I really don't know how to compete with them."

(End of this chapter)