Chapter 596 Second Contact

Spring always comes earlier than usual. Perhaps this is what the priests call a punishment from heaven. God uses the barbarians to punish the already fallen civilized world.

The snow was melting much faster than expected, and the streets of Augusta-Treville were crowded with the citizens of Treville and the carriages of the nobles. They stood on the street.

The air in early spring still revealed a hint of chill. A gust of cold wind blew by, and everyone present couldn't help but shiver. At this time, they snuggled up to each other, trying to feel warmth from each other.

Everyone's eyes were confused. They didn't know when to set out or where to go. They were just waiting for the order to retreat from the center of the city.

With Marenius leading ten field regiments as the vanguard, the massive retreat was finally about to begin.

All four gates of Treville were opened, allowing the citizens in the city to leave the city as quickly as possible.

It was no small matter for the citizens of a city to try to escape famine. For Luga at this moment, the last thing he wanted to encounter was the barbarians knowing too early that such a large group wanted to flee south.

First, from the north, a large amount of smoke and dust rose in the distance to the north of Treville, accompanied by the neighing of war horses.

The citizens who heard the noise were like rabbits startled by a hawk, screaming and escaping back into the city without paying attention to the bags they were carrying. Treville suddenly became a besieged city, with people outside wanting to get in and people inside wanting to get out.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

On the street at the north gate of Treville, fully armed soldiers pushed aside the citizens who were blocking the way in front of them, ran out through the city gate that had just been cleared, and gathered more than 300 meters outside the city to form a long line of defense.

Andrew led this team of 3,000 people, ready for battle in front of the thick smoke and dust in the distance, and they used 2,000 infantrymen to stack into four huge squares. They deliberately extended their spears over their shields, and the soldiers in the first row squatted down with their spears in both hands, aiming at the increasingly clear barbarian army in front of them.

"Alemanni."

A fully armed old soldier in the army was muttering in a low voice. He seemed to be very familiar with the barbarians north of the Rhine, and he also knew clearly what race the approaching barbarians were.

Perhaps it was because they saw the Roman soldiers coming out to defend, yes, they were actually defending outside the city, which was really surprising. This was what the leading officer of the Alemanni army thought.

"What are the Romans doing?" Stopping two hundred meters away from the Roman army, the Alemanni officer rode his horse to a high ground and looked into the distance, keeping a close eye on the citizens who were gradually hurrying out from behind the Roman army that was defending the city and bypassing the city wall to retreat southward.

"Are they running away? Cowardly Romans." The Alemanni officer showed a scornful smile on his face, but he was not in a hurry to let his hundreds of cavalrymen join the battle. They just dismounted and took off their sheepskins in front of the Romans, fastened their chain mail, and took off their warm hats, replacing them with iron barbarian helmets.

They must be preparing for battle, but why did they just brazenly march in front of the enemy instead of attacking? All these doubts lingered in the hearts of the Roman soldiers at this time.

Before long, a large number of barbarian infantry appeared behind the cavalry. They trotted all the way and were numerous, playing the main attacking force here.

"Quick, order the infantry to attack them from both sides!" The Alemanni officers commanded the soldiers forward, and the Alemanni infantry came to both sides of the Roman defense line with axes and shields.

"They want to double-team us, they want to double-team us!"

The soldier reported to Andrew, his words full of urgency. Andrew nodded continuously, then stretched out his hand and ordered: "The two field regiments on the left and right go back to defend and keep a close eye on the enemy who may attack at any time! The rest of the soldiers continue to defend, our purpose is to defend, not to attack."

Presumably having seen what the Romans meant, the Alemanni showed an even stronger desire to attack, and after a short rest, the infantry were ready to attack.

But the first ones to come up were the Alemanni slingers and javelin throwers, who were the guys the Roman soldiers hated the most, because the javelins and other weapons in their hands could always easily tear open their chain mail. In comparison, their chain mail was more like a piece of clothing with no defense, not to mention that a considerable number of soldiers had no armor.

Everyone looked very nervous, and everyone hid their voices behind shields made of wooden boards. One can imagine how weak their defense was.

"Get ready, boys, they're coming, show them some color, quick!"

Looking at the Alemanni javelin throwers holding javelins and raising their javelins in front of the Roman soldiers' defensive formation, the archers behind the formation drew their bows and aimed their arrows at them.

Dense arrows continued to cover the heads of the Alemanni. They defended themselves with small shields, but such defense always gave people a feeling of being stretched to the limit.

People kept falling down, and it seemed that advancing recklessly would not allow them to reach the desired location.

The Alemanni did not seem to have any intention of confronting the Romans. Their cavalry had already begun to move out, and the soldiers of the Roman field regiment kept a close eye on the cavalry in front of them and moved with them.

The Alemanni infantry rushed forward and charged directly towards the infantry on both sides of the Roman formation.

"Push it forward! Push it forward!"

The officers of the field regiment in the center called on the soldiers behind them. In order to maintain the existing front line, they had to block the attack of the barbarians. Therefore, in order to protect their allies on the left and right sides, they had to stand up and counterattack against the oncoming Alemanni.

“Huahuahua…”

Before they could stand firm, they were greeted by a pile of stones and flying axes. Such an attack was very dangerous for the soldiers with weak defense.

“Ka-ka-ka…”

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The dull sound of the axe sinking into the flesh sounded so frightening at this time. Several soldiers covered in blood fell to the ground wailing. Such flesh wounds could not kill them instantly, but not being able to die meant constant pain tormenting their bodies and minds.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

The Alemanni ran into the Roman army formation, and their fierce attack was blocked by the shield wall formed by the Romans.

The infantry continued to attack the Roman army, but the cavalry did not choose to cooperate with the infantry to continue the attack that tore through the Roman line.

Andrew kept his eyes fixed on the movements of the Alemanni and discovered that their commander was leading the cavalry and was actually preparing to bypass the battlefield.

"Oh no, their target is not us!" Andrew exclaimed, and hurriedly called on his cavalry to go forward to resist, but the number of the two groups of cavalry was too large.

"Sir, there are thousands of them, and we only have two hundred!"

"Don't worry about it, just rush forward and stand in front of the citizens!"

Under Andrew's command, the Roman cavalry was divided into two teams and rushed towards the two groups of Alemanni cavalry.

"Turn around! Turn around!"

When the Alemanni officer saw that the Roman cavalry was about to launch a suicide attack, he immediately signaled the cavalry and nodded. At this time, Andrew saw that after the Alemanni cavalry dodged, a large group of javelin throwers appeared, and he suddenly felt a sense of despair in his heart.

"Kill them! Kill them!"

The Alemanni javelin throwers roared and threw their javelins angrily at the oncoming Roman cavalry.

Today has been too full, so I can only update once. Also, thank you for your tips.

(End of this chapter)