Chapter 592: Exploratory War

Agrippina slowly recovered in a basically calm state, and did enjoy some peaceful development under the strong protection of the border defense line, but there were still many abandoned houses.

Even so, life is still moving in a good direction, and those who have survived the disaster have breathed a sigh of relief during this time.

What is always out of tune with the vibrant city is the dark side behind it, that is, the underground prison.

Here, the cruelty of human nature was released without reservation. The screams of the poor tortured lives were endless, which became the characteristic of this dark underground. Of course, the cruel criminal law methods were mainly aimed at barbarian spies and deserters.

"What's your name?"

"Hans, sir, my name is Hans."

"Why didn't we form a defense when the barbarians crossed the river and inform the nearest field regiment of the incident?"

"Oh, my lord, please have mercy on an old man like me. It is hard for you to imagine how many of them there were at that time, thousands and thousands of them, and they filled the entire river. The river was frightened and stopped flowing, and even made way for them to pass through." Old Hans was so scared that he knelt there and shrank into a ball. From the cell next door came the sound of whipping and the wailing of the beaten, which sounded over and over again. The old man was so scared that his body trembled with the whip.

His face was covered with tears, and his whole body was shaking like a sieve to remove the bran from wheat. "For the sake of the Virgin Mary, my lord, I beg your forgiveness. After all, I was so scared. Really, I, I don't know what I did at that time. Yes, there were too many of them."

Old Hans's plea for mercy did not receive any forgiveness from the officer who interrogated him. It could even be said that there was not a trace of sympathy in his cold expression.

"Hans, old man, I think you should understand your situation." The officer who interrogated him looked very calm, and his calmness made Hans feel that he had no humanity at all and had no compassion. "But as you know, although you are old, you are still a soldier. Because of your cowardice, you made a mistake, so you should pay the due price for your actions."

The judging officer spoke slowly, and the executioner beside him was also sharpening his shiny sword slowly. Although such a heavy thing was not very convenient on the battlefield, it was very easy to chop off a person's head.

Hans was an old man after all, and his rich experience made him accustomed to beheading. However, he watched others die under the chopping of the sword. This thing didn't hurt, at most he was frightened and trembled all over at the moment of chopping. Now it was different. When he realized that he was about to become the protagonist, the most terrifying thing in life was to know when he would die but be powerless to do anything.

“Bang!”

There was an impatient sound of a door being pushed open, and the dim room suddenly became bright. The interrogating officer turned around and was startled when he saw the man coming in. He then quickly stood up, stood aside, and saluted the officer who came in.

"Your Excellency the Duke," the officer said loudly.

Hans was so frightened when he saw the officer in gorgeous armor in front of him that he was speechless. He was not young anymore and could not say that he had ever met a provincial earl or something like that. However, he had met the duke of the city once. If what he expected was correct, then the man in front of him must be Catus, the defender of Agrippina.

"My lord, my lord." Seeing Catus coming in, Hans quickly stood up and looked at Catus in front of him with a trembling look.

"Um."

No matter how pitiful the old man acted, Catus only snorted coldly. He turned back to the officer who was judging and asked, "What are you going to do with this guy, my friend?"

"Execute him, sir," the officer in charge of the trial replied bluntly.

"No, no, no, now you have to change your mind, my friend." Catus shook his index finger at the Inquisitor. The expression on the Inquisitor's face at this time can be imagined.

"I don't understand, sir." The Inquisitor's face was full of disbelief.

"Now the plan has changed, my friend." Catus said, and walked slowly to Hans and whispered to Hans: "Look at you, an old man who is frightened of death."

Catus seemed to be an interrogator by profession, and was very good at scaring people. His tone was just normal, at least he thought it was normal, but when Hans heard it, a chill ran down his spine.

"You now have a way to survive, old man." Catus said coldly with a gloomy face, "Now the Duke of Ancus, the garrison in Belgian Gaul, has followed Augustus' orders to integrate several field regiments to teach the invading barbarians a lesson. Compared to the familiar environment, we need a reliable guide to lead our soldiers. Of course, the destination is not far away, it is the outpost where you were at that time. After all, the normal road is no longer accessible."

When Hans heard that he had to go back, he couldn't help but recall the time when the barbarians forced their way across the river, and he couldn't help but tremble. This was clearly a dead end. If he went back, he couldn't tell how many barbarians there were there. If he encountered a conflict with the enemy, he couldn't even think about what would happen next. But now sitting here, he couldn't help but look up at the giant sword that had just been polished. This sword hadn't been opened much. If he chopped it down like this, he would definitely die in an ugly way.

Old Hans swallowed, looked at Catus, and nodded heavily.

The soldiers of the field regiment who had retreated after being defeated by the barbarians regrouped in the town square and reorganized themselves there. They finally managed to gather an army of 3,000 people, but many of them had confusion and helplessness in their eyes.

After a brief stop, Catus said a few words that seemed to boost morale, and then he personally led this group of extremely reluctant guys on the road to the battlefield.

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The forest was freezing cold after the heavy snow. The howling cold wind was like the growl of a predatory beast slowly approaching. All that was visible was the endless forest and the vast expanse of snow.

The cold wind blew on my face, like a sharp knife cutting across my cheeks, causing painful pain.

"Form a dispersed formation!"

The officer in front called out to the soldiers. For fear of being discovered by the barbarians, the bugler could only wrap the bugle in thick sheepskin cloth.

Endless trees blocked their sight, making it difficult for them to predict what was ahead. There were also evergreen pine and cypress trees, whose messy branches blocked their sight.

"Oh my god, damn it!"

An officer following behind Hans cursed angrily, breathing heavily and rubbing his red, frozen hands.

The temperature in the woods in winter is terribly low, and it is difficult for anyone to withstand such cold.

"Don't give up, keep moving forward! Keep moving forward!" The officer walking in front kept shouting to encourage the soldiers behind him, but he didn't notice a pair of eyes moving from time to time in a pile of snow not far away, watching them.

(End of this chapter)