Chapter 470 Military Governor
After two and a half months, Luca, Andrew and others traveled all the way to Thessalonia in Macedonia, where the defeated Thracian army regrouped.
"Captain of the army from the west, Augustus' adopted son is here!"
In the ruined city, dejected soldiers were attracted by such news. They sat on the ground in the street, day after day. God knew how long they could sit there. Fortunately, there was enough food and military pay to maintain their stability in name only.
"Captain of the Army? Augustus's adopted son?" Strange titles appeared in every soldier's mind. They were very curious. They hadn't seen anything like this for a long time. They gathered on both sides of the road. They were covered in dirt. They were obviously white people, but there was no trace of skin color on their faces. Only the eyes had a little white on their faces. The constantly moving eyeballs could not move these lifeless faces at all. They were untidy, and it was impossible to tell what relationship they had with the army of civilized countries. This was the consequence of the rout.
Lujia's convoy passed through the middle of the road. They were not many in number, with a total of 200 guards. They wore scale armor that had been cleaned beforehand, and the silver or golden scales on their chests were particularly dazzling under the sunlight. They were shining stars, walking forward with their heads held high on the street. The soldiers around them could only look at them with doubts and even a little numbness on their faces. No one knew what the man sitting in the carriage escorted by this guard could bring to them? Because he was a little tired after the long journey, Lujia lazily leaned his head against the wall of the carriage, and slightly lifted the curtain hanging on the window with one hand. As the carriage moved forward, he had a panoramic view of the soldiers on the roadside.
"Look at them, they look like a bunch of beggars, are they all soldiers of the field legion?" Because he had not stayed in Eastern Rome long enough, Luca could not be sure, and was afraid that the tragic scene in front of him would blind his eyes. He had to confirm with the accompanying envoy whether what he saw was a lie to him.
"Yes, I saw their flags." The messenger confirmed again and again and finally nodded. The messenger looked very cautious and even a little fearful when he looked at Luca. He didn't know what the adopted son of Augustus would feel when he saw such a mess. He might even get furious.
“I see…”
The envoy was surprised by Luca's weak appearance. He asked hurriedly, "You are supposed to lead them to resist the invasion of the Huns. Seeing this, you are like this. Do you really have no confidence in the resistance?"
"A ruined city, soldiers as weak as beggars, incomplete weapons, rusty swords, could there be anything worse than this?" Luca asked the messenger, which indeed made the messenger speechless. "It is no exaggeration, sir." Luca raised his head proudly and said to the messenger in an extremely arrogant manner: "Bring my army in Iberia, I promised it with full confidence. But now, you said that only I need to come, fortunately I brought my guards, otherwise, I really can't imagine what kind of glorious military exploits I can make with these beggars? I have already realized this when I saw the city wall from afar."
As soon as Luca finished speaking, the carriage stopped and the driver outside the carriage said, "Sir, we have arrived at our destination!"
"We're finally here! Oh, damn it! I've suffered enough along the way!" Luca complained, stretched his limbs, and then got off the car.
The administrative district of Thessalonia was in front of him. The soldiers guarding here were wearing leather armor and looked quite presentable. On the stairs stood several nobles in noble robes. Luca took a closer look and felt that they looked very familiar.
"Sir Areobinders! And Sir Anlasis, I didn't expect to see you two here!" Luga greeted them with a smile. Many years had passed, and these old comrades who had fought side by side hugged each other again.
"We are all loyal to Rome and Caesar!" Areobinders said, "Augustus misses you, Lord Luca. After all, you are his one and only son and an outstanding general. Now that the war is approaching, he has no choice but to summon you."
Perhaps the perfect words were still a little short of perfection, Anlasis smiled and added: "Yes, from Greater Sicily to Carthage, the fear you brought to our enemies made us loyal Romans a little afraid. You left a deep impression in the hearts of the soldiers, Master Luca."
After talking for a long time, it was all compliments, which Luca hated to hear the most, because it was of no help to the current actual situation.
"Let's get to the point, you two!" Luca interrupted their praise. "Now let's talk about the situation here. I want to know the situation of the Macedonian province and the surrounding field legions. Oh, I forgot, this is Eastern Rome, and I am the captain of the soldiers in Western Rome. It seems that I don't have actual power in Eastern Rome. I must confirm how much power I have. Don't even mention giving me a legion, then I can't do anything."
"Don't worry, Mr. Luca." Areobinders smiled and shook his head at Luca, then said, "You are Augustus's adopted son, so you have enough political capital here. Moreover, we have Augustus's promise to appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the Thracian field army, replacing your heroic predecessor who died in battle."
"Thracian Field Army?" Luca lowered his head and thought for a moment, then turned around and pointed at the group of so-called "beggar soldiers" standing on both sides of the street behind him and asked Anlasis and Areobinders, "Such a large group of guys, where are the field armies from?"
"Oh, God bless, they are all Thracian field troops!" Areobinders' smile looked weird. It was like a bolt from the blue that made Luga stunned!
"You want me to lead these defeated guys to face the existence they fear again?" Luca's voice rose eight degrees. He completely ignored his elegant posture and complained to Areobinders and Anlasis, two old guys who were several decades older than him! "Please, please, do you want to kill me? Look at their appearance. I really want to drive them into the river and clean them up. Oh, dirty guys!"
"Oh, my God, Augustus gave you such right, you can drive them into the river! This is your power, Lord Luca." Faced with the angry Luca, the two of them not only did not comfort him, but made fun of Luca, which made Luca so angry that his face turned blue and red.
"Hey, Captain of the Western Roman Empire!" Who knew that at this moment, a shout suddenly came from behind, and it was an extremely disrespectful title, which made Luca a little curious. He turned around and saw a soldier walking out from the side of the street. Although he was covered in dust, his eyes were firm. Although he had a scruffy beard, Luca could naturally see that his cheeks were bulging because of gritting his teeth.
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"Oh, this dusty guy actually still has ambition!" Luga snorted coldly, turned around and looked at the soldier who stood up.
(End of this chapter)