Chapter 45: Twin Legions (Part 2)

Outside the city, soldiers in charge of cleaning up the battlefield piled up the bodies on the ground into piles, separated them with wooden boards and set them on fire. There were carriages of all sizes parked on the wasteland, filled with bodies of all sizes, all soldiers who died in the siege of Ludinan. The Burgundians defending the city were not so relaxed, as evidenced by the wolves gathered around them. The bodies of the Burgundians were pulled out of the city and thrown into the wasteland for the hungry wolves and wild dogs to feast on.

The Roman bodies were burned and buried on the spot, while the flesh and blood of the Burgundians became food for wolves and wild dogs, leaving behind only a pile of bones.

"Let's go, Luca. We don't have so much time to appreciate such a holy act." Andrew urged me in front, "We have to report to the military camp quickly. I heard that the troops are about to set off!"

"Damn, no rest at all?"

"There's no time. I heard that the rebellious slaves in Bagauda are making trouble again. If we don't quickly defeat the Burgundians and clear the way, it will be difficult to deal with them if they gather together!"

We walked down the dirt road full of corpses for several hundred meters and stood in front of the military camp again. The camp was quite lively, but the people coming in and out were all wearing various kinds of armor. They sat in groups of three or four on both sides of the road outside the camp, chatting and laughing with each other. The strange thing was that there were indeed several fully armed gatekeepers standing at the camp gate. They turned a blind eye to such a chaotic situation and let them walk back and forth.

"That look? A Goth!"

Andrew stood beside me and exclaimed, gritting his teeth and glaring at the people coming and going in front of him. I don't know how much hatred he had, as if he would really rush over to kill people if there were not so many people. I suddenly remembered that it was destroyed by the siege of the Goths a few months ago. The old hatred has not been wiped out. Now there are quite a few Goths in front of me. This is probably the reason.

"They are mercenaries."

Passing by them, the equipment they wore was truly of international brands, but their gestures and movements were mixed with a hint of ruthlessness. They were a hundred times stronger than those people we had in Akwe-Sextia who had come here temporarily with money and could only brag.

Walking slowly on the road, I unknowingly arrived at the gate of the military camp.

"Stop and report your identities."

Andrew took off the lead badge on his chest and handed it to the gatekeeper. I followed his example, took off the lead badge that marked my identity and handed it to the soldier.

"Well, you're new here, right?"

The soldier looked at our lead cards from head to toe, then handed them back to us and said, "You are reporting here at this time. If I am not mistaken, you are the mercenaries who attacked the city yesterday."

"Yes, that's right."

"Okay, turn left and keep going until you find the largest tent and report in."

After entering the camp gate, it was even more chaotic. The soldiers were busy packing up the tents and other things used for the march. The scene was extremely crowded. It seemed that Andrew was right. The troops were indeed going to march. Andrew and I did not dare to neglect it any longer. We quickened our pace and finally found the largest tent that the gatekeeper mentioned. There were also many soldiers on guard there.

We hurriedly showed our military badges, and the soldier guarding the tent did not stop us too much. Instead, he let us pass and entered the tent.

The tent was not actually very big, but the lack of things made it look quite empty. The first person we saw was a middle-aged man with golden hair, wearing a red shirt and leather armor. He was lying on the bed reading a parchment. Beside the bed stood five elderly men, also in military uniforms. The six of them looked like statues in front of us, not saying a word.

"Hey, you better be more respectful later!"

Andrew whispered to me and pointed to our right. There was a legion flag with two golden children holding hands. The meaning was obvious. The most important thing was the gold medal under the flag.

"SPQR"

The symbol of the Roman Senate surprised me a lot, because as far as I know, the end of the Senate should be when the Roman Empire was established. What I didn’t expect was that it still had such a huge influence in the later years of this empire.

"Oh, you two are new here too?"

The man noticed us and sat up from the bed. At this time, he stood up. The five old men at the head of the bed, no, it should be said that they were five old soldiers, they turned their heads and looked at us at the same time, their faces expressionless.

"I've heard of you."

Before we could introduce ourselves, the man got up from the bed, walked over slowly, looked at us and said, "You are the soldiers escorting the flag of the Gemina Legion. It's such a long distance from Narpang to Ludinan. You must have suffered a lot on the way."

"Oh, uh... yes..."

"As long as I serve the Empire! As a soldier of the Empire, I am willing to eat bugs!"

Before I could say anything, Andrew next to me got excited, and he solemnly performed a "Roman salute". Bah, the Roman salute, which was also a raised hand salute. This was originally a salute belonging to the Romans. Well, without further ado, I saw Andrew holding his head high and chest out. He had never been so serious before.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Loyal to Rome, loyal to the Senate!"

Damn, I was stunned watching this guy. The officer in front of him looked happy and nodded repeatedly.

"Very good, soldier, I see your loyalty." The officer smiled faintly, which made me feel very unnatural, as if he was hiding some secrets. He continued, "Let's make it short. Let me introduce myself. I am Gnaeus Forveus Antonius. I am currently the deputy commander of the 14th Roman Gemini Legion. The five people behind me are the knight officers of our legion." After the introduction, the five old men and knight officers nodded slightly to us.

"Well, welcome, new members of the Gemini Legion."

As he spoke, the deputy legion commander named Anthony shook hands with each of us. Although it was a symbolic handshake, it was indeed a great affirmation of us. I was also confused. You said that we were just ordinary soldiers, but you let the deputy legion commander, who was also a member of the Senate, meet with us alone. "Well," Anthony held our backs and whispered to us, "We are very happy that you have joined us. After discussing with you two, who should have been full of military merits, we think we should give you a satisfactory position."

Anthony lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Then I'll assign you a centurion and place you in the first brigade, how about that?"

When he heard about the official position, Andrew's eyes lit up and he looked like he had no future. It seemed that his psychological defense line had collapsed. But I know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Although this is an almost insignificant official position, there must be some interests behind it.

"No merit, no reward, Mr. Anthony," I said to him calmly, "You must have something to ask us, tell me!"

I have some urgent matters these two days, so I only wrote one chapter. Please understand.

(End of this chapter)