Chapter 591 Preparation for War

"According to the scouts' report, a barbarian army has broken through the Rhine defense line and now appears near Agrippina."

Marenius was holding a parchment letter. In front of him was a huge table with a map of the entire Rhine Line spread out on it, which recorded in detail the locations of the defense points and outposts.

"The Rhine defense line is too long. We have no way to take care of all the points. The defense line is too long and there are too few soldiers." Marenius pointed to the small red flag on the entire Rhine River. This small flag is equivalent to a field regiment.

Luga stood up from his seat nearby and looked down at the entire map. Every city and fortress on it was clearly marked in detail.

"The local garrison in Belgian Gaul is only less than 10,000 people, and they are border guards. These border guards are basically rebels who were left behind to open up the land. It is hard to say whether they are loyal or not, but they are definitely unreliable. Just look at their heroic deeds. The enemy has reached Agrippina, but there is no movement at the outposts along the way. You can imagine where they have gone!"

Luka looked very angry. After all, it was very rare for barbarians to cross the river in winter. Except for the previous few years when they migrated because it was too cold, was there really no other reason for them to cross the river in the gradually milder weather? No one could say for sure.

"Which tribe are these barbarians from? And whose banner are they flying? We must know their intentions clearly, otherwise we will not be able to make a good decision to deal with this problem."

Just as Luca said this, Andrew walked into the tent, carrying a roll of sheepskin. He walked straight to Luca and said to him, "Luca, this is the evidence provided by the front-line troops."

"What evidence?"

"The field regiment stationed in the east of Agrippina was attacked by them, but the commander of the field regiment was very brave and successfully repelled their attacks three times." Andrew said, opening the sheepskin and letting Luca see the Spada iron sword inside, even though the iron sword was full of gaps and rust.

"What is this?" Luga reached out and grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out, holding it in the air and looking at it carefully, unable to understand what this so-called evidence was.

"This is the weapon used by those barbarians." Andrew replied immediately.

"Barbarians, using Roman weapons." Luca looked at the Spada iron sword in his hand and couldn't help shaking his head. "So what about the field regiment?"

"More than half of the troops were lost and retreated. Not only this field regiment, but also the six field regiments in the east and west of Agrippina on the Rhine Line were hit and had to withdraw from the camp."

Luca drew a circle around the entire field regiment of Agrippina based on Andrew's dictation.

"Such a long area, are they marking out their territory? Or are they using our weapons?"

"I'm afraid this is not surprising, Caesar." Ancus, the first-class earl who succeeded Augustus Treville, answered Luca: "One or two hundred years ago, through trade, the Germanic tribes led by the Franks north of the Rhine had already equipped themselves with Roman army weapons. Moreover, selling weapons was not a prohibited thing. The warriors of the big tribes north of the Rhine were generally equipped with the same tone and equipment as our soldiers."

"So, these barbarians are just a barbarian tribe north of the Rhine. But they should continue to move forward if they are migrating for survival. Why don't they migrate after occupying such a large area?" Luga slid the stick on the map. After a while, he showed a smug smile and said, "I think I understand their intentions."

Then he looked up and asked the clerk in Belgian Gaul, "How many tribes are there south of the Rhine now?"

"Caesar, there are also Alemanni, Franks, and Lombards." The civil servant answered without thinking: "If they use Roman weapons, then they must be Franks."

"It's like this, Caesar, part of the Franks surrendered to Attila, and part of them migrated to Aetius..." Ancus paused here, as if he suddenly realized something, stared at Luca in surprise with wide eyes and said, "Could they be the part that surrendered to Attila?"

"That is to say, they braved the heavy snow to attack our defense line, so they must have occupied the position in advance and made adequate preparations for the subsequent landing of the army when the heavy snow made it inconvenient to move." Although Attila's intention was revealed in one sentence, Luga's brows did not relax at all. Instead, his expression looked even more solemn.

"The only problem now is to determine how many Franks there are. They occupied a section of the river in advance in the winter and dispersed our army. It is very likely that they will cross the river when the ice on the river freezes in winter. If this is possible, then in the spring, we will be attacked by the Huns in full force."

Luca hit Agripi hard with a wooden stick, making a very harsh sound to attract everyone's attention, and then said: "We must now launch an offensive against these lawless bastards. If we can't take back this line of defense, then we can only go south with our families."

"But now the heavy snow has blocked the road, which will affect the marching speed. We are not sure whether we will be ambushed when we arrive." Marenius pointed out the difficulties the Roman army is facing now. "This is not the southern region. We cannot ignore the difficulties brought by the heavy snow. After all, we cannot guarantee that the soldiers will not be frostbitten or frozen to death due to the cold weather."

"That's why Attila allowed the Franks to gain an absolute advantage before the snow accumulated. Now we can only watch them occupy our defense line and deploy in a swaggering manner. It is very likely that Attila's army is already waiting north of the Rhine and is ready to cross the river at any time."

Luga looked at the map and clenched his fists. He imagined what the consequences would be if he attacked rashly without knowing the enemy's bottom line. Failure or success was completely unknown. But if he just let it go, he would really be led by Attila!

"Who is the Duke of Agrippina's garrison now?"

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"Duke Cattus, Caesar."

"Very good. Then send out scouts and order Duke Catus of Agrippina to lead a part of the city defense troops and the retreating field army to regroup, and then attack the lost defense line. We must do our utmost to drive the Franks back north of the Rhine."

At this time, Ancus stood up and looked at Luca and said hesitantly: "Caesar, there are some things I have to ask, what if they fail? No, I have no other meaning, Caesar, Catus, after all, is my son, yes, I only have this one son."

This was indeed an extremely risky action. After all, it was dangerous for the defeated army to fight against the barbarians. Ankus' tone was more like a plea. After all, it was hard for him to imagine what a blow it was for the old man to see his son suffer misfortune.

Looking at Ankus, Luca sighed and replied, "I will not blame him. Your Excellency can rest assured about this. I just hope that Catus can at least dampen the barbarians' spirit. After all, the war will not end with this attempted battle."

(End of this chapter)