Chapter 581: Choice

"The Hun troops were found on the northern riverbank of Strasbourg. They attacked our outpost and killed all the garrisons in the outpost in a very brutal manner."

In the Roman Senate, Senator Odysseus held the arrow brought back by the scouts and showed it to Augustus Valentinian who was sitting there.

The elders could not make up their minds, mainly because Augustus would make the decision at the most critical moment. After all, if something went wrong, no one would be responsible except Augustus.

Valentinian sat among the elders. He knew very well that this group of people were just a bunch of old foxes, although they all looked at him at the same time.

This feeling was like a thorn in the back, as if the old guys behind him were like a pack of raw and bloodthirsty wolves, staring at Valentinian's back with eyes emitting faint green light.

Valentinian couldn't help but began to tremble. At this moment, he felt that the group of elders behind him were all beasts wearing togas, with sharp and deadly daggers hidden under their claws.

They would come at any time with begging eyes, hold Valentinian's purple robe with their hands, pretend to cry and pray pitifully, and hold Valentinian tightly so that he could not move. Then a group of people raised the daggers they had hidden long ago and stabbed him like a fishing net in a pool of blood, just like the high and mighty Caesar. Wait, what do they call themselves? "Caesar?"

Odysseus frowned, because seeing Valentinian sitting there absent-mindedly made him doubt whether Valentinian was listening to him carefully.

This call instantly made Valentinian, who was distracted, tremble all over as if he had been electrocuted. He was instantly pulled back to reality from the fear in his heart. The poor child gasped softly and looked around at the elders around him. They cast puzzled eyes on him, as if questioning why Valentinian was distracted and asked him to come up with a solution quickly.

It is in itself very unbelievable that a group of old people looked at a child who was probably only half their age and expected him to make the decision.

"What?" Valentinian looked up at Odysseus on the podium and the arrow in Odysseus's hand, his eyes revealing confusion.

"Make up your mind, Caesar. The Huns are about to invade. We have lost our last chance to negotiate with them. We must face Attila, this terrible demon." Odysseus spoke calmly, but Valentinian felt panic in his heart.

"oh oh!"

This was probably the first time that everyone placed their hopes and guidance on him, and Valentinian was a little uncomfortable for a moment. Wasn't this what he had always dreamed of? But at this juncture, he was at a loss for a moment.

When had he ever made his own decisions? He had lived under the rules of the Purple Room since he was born. He had never had the autonomy to decide what to eat and what to wear every day. He had no right to choose his own wife.

Now he has his chance, but he begins to hesitate and feel confused again. Yes, unimaginable confusion is before him, as if it is a thick fog that makes it impossible to see the road ahead, blocking his eyes and making it impossible for him to see whether there is a smooth road or a deep abyss ahead.

As the saying goes, the beginning is always the hardest. The hardest part is often when you are standing at a fork in the road and making a choice.

"Idea, what idea?" Valentinian was sweating profusely. He put his hands on his legs and tightly grasped the robe covering his legs. He raised his head and looked at Odysseus, his eyes were empty and lifeless.

"Forget it, Caesar is just a child."

At this time, one of the senators could not stand it any longer and stood up to mediate with those senators who wanted to wait or even put psychological pressure on him, hoping that they would not push too hard, otherwise Valentinian would not be able to bear the pressure and collapse.

When he saw that his voice successfully attracted the attention of all the elders present, they all turned around and looked at him with puzzled eyes. This guy cleared his throat and then said: "I propose that now is the most critical moment. The Rhine Defense Line has always been the territory of Flavius ​​Luca. Otherwise, let Augustus Flavius ​​Luca in the east come forward to solve this problem."

"Ha, Your Excellency means that you want to instruct Augustus to deal with this problem. Your Excellency has the courage to order Augustus to do so. Otherwise, the position of Augustus will be left to Your Excellency."

The elders in the front row used sarcastic words to humiliate the younger senator, which caused a roar of laughter. Among them, Valentinian was probably the only one who cast a grateful look at him.

"Please allow me to know your name, sir." Odysseus, standing on the podium, asked the young man.

"Petronius Maximus!" the senator replied.

"Oh, yes, Petronius, from Brindisi in southern Italy, an old family." Odysseus nodded and emphasized, "But I have to remind you again, sir, what you just said is very dangerous, very dangerous."

Maximus nodded slightly and then sat down, as if nothing had happened. This was not surprising, after all, all the elders present had a dream of Augustus, but no one dared to speak of it.

"Our current financial situation is not optimistic." Alessio said, "According to the Huns' practice, since they have tasted the sweetness for the first time, they will invade recklessly, just like what they did in Dacia. Attila will be even worse. We must recruit more soldiers to the long defense line of the Rhine River. Otherwise, it is hard for me to imagine that once Attila crosses the Rhine defense line, it will be an unimaginable disaster for the defenseless Roman hinterland..."

At this point, the nobles present were silent, because this really touched their bottom line, because Gaul was where they made their money, as the saying goes, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. This is a big deal, and they certainly won't give in in this regard.

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"This matter cannot be negotiated. We can only let Attila have a taste of our power!"

"For the sake of the Holy Roman Empire, I decided to fight to the end to prevent the free land from being ravaged by barbarians!"

"We can hire outstanding soldiers to deploy on the Rhine Line. Let Attila come and see if his warhorse can break through our solid walls!"

"We need outstanding commanders, and we need troops to fight for Rome!" The slogans of the senators were surprisingly unanimous. It was hard to imagine that such a large group of wealthy landlords who were determined to accomplish something would be able to unleash such amazing financial and material resources.

Alessio was overwhelmed by the shouts. He turned his head and said to Paul beside him, "It seems that I must write a letter to Luca. I believe that with his prestige and appeal, he can mobilize the soldiers of the entire Roman world to fight. We will drink blood with our spears and keep fighting until we win everything. God bless Rome!"

Similarly, Paul was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, sir, we need the Spear of the Empire!"

(End of this chapter)