Chapter 607: Siege of Orleans
Ever since Theodosius I once again established Christianity as the state religion of Rome, the world has witnessed the fate of the apostate Eugenius.
The fall of Eugenius was also a heavy blow to the "pagans" who believed in the Olympian gods. The subsequent purges and massacres made it even more difficult for this paganism to gain a foothold in God's kingdom.
The Lord of the universe is God Jehovah, and in God's kingdom there will be no room for anything else that goes against the will of Christ. Although their actions go against the will of Christ, the God in heaven will only look down on all living beings without saying anything.
God is silent, but humans are. Humans can hide behind the illusory veil of God and use the will of God to accomplish some bloody things and call it doing justice for God.
Under the rule of "doing justice on behalf of Heaven", all heresies that are contrary to the so-called will of God are gradually eradicated, and the concept of the so-called God in the mouths of those who do justice becomes more and more deeply rooted in people's hearts, so those gods have become concrete and sublimated to the supreme level.
This is what happened with Christ. Theocracy gradually became elevated. In the kingdom of God, people may not know the emperors of the mortal world, but they cannot be ignorant of the God of heaven.
Anenus, the bishop of Orleans and the count of Orleans, serves Pope Leo and Augustus in the mortal world, so he is the ruler of Orleans, but he seems to be in trouble now.
When Attila wreaked havoc in the Visigothic territory and advanced unstoppably, he had already realized the true nature of the problem. He also clearly predicted Attila's intentions and wrote a letter to Aetius asking for help.
At this time, at the border of the province of Great Sequanorum, Aetius came to the council tent with a letter and placed it on the desk next to Luca.
"Attila has concentrated his forces on the city of Orleans. We cannot sit idly by."
"I understand what you mean, Lord Aetius." Luca picked up the letter, took a quick look at it, and then came to the map.
"The army is too large now, chaos is inevitable, but Orleans." Luca kept drawing circles around the city of Orleans on the map and said to Aetius, "We can't give up here, but we can't get there in time for the time being. How long can the Duke of Orleans, the garrison, hold out?"
"It can last until mid-June at best."
"That's enough! That's enough!"
Luga used a wooden stick to indicate the distance between his location and Orleans. Although he still had a month and a half to prepare, the current rate of food consumption was always so alarming.
"We only have less than a month's worth of food left. It looks like we'll have to reduce the soldiers' daily food supply."
"I suggest maintaining the daily rations of the elite troops. After all, we can only rely on them to maintain our advantage on the battlefield."
"We still need more food, especially from the nobles." Then he said to Aetius, "We must spend some money to buy cattle, sheep and food from the nobles at the nearby pastures. Of course, it is their freedom to sell them at any price they want, but if they ask for an exorbitant price, such as a hundred solidus for a sheep, you should know what to do."
"This is not a difficult task, Caesar," Aetius assured Luca. "I guarantee that the nobles who have some pastures and farms will be happy to sell their food to supply the army."
At dusk, a rider appeared on the empty road north of Orleans. The man rode his horse hurriedly, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
"Open the gate! Open the gate quickly!"
The soldiers guarding the city saw the familiar figure and hurriedly called out to the guards stationed at the city gate to open the gate. The rider was so anxious that he rushed into the city on his horse before the gate was fully opened.
He pulled the horse to a stop suddenly, but heard a "thump" sound, and the rider on the horse fell off due to exhaustion.
The rider was so exhausted that his clothes were soaked with sweat. He lay there gasping for breath. The officer guarding the city hurried over and poured water from a wooden cup into his mouth. The painful expression on his face instantly eased a lot.
"The Huns, the Huns are coming!"
The first thing the rider did when he opened his eyes was to report to the officer. After all, Attila was about to arrive at the gates of the city, which was no small matter. Everyone was immediately panicked as if they were facing a great enemy. They couldn't help but tremble when they mentioned the Huns. "Quick, quick, tell the bishop, and get everyone to light torches on the city wall. Damn it, quick, the Huns are coming!"
The panicked soldiers rushed onto the city walls, muttering "Huns, Huns are coming." Holding torches, they ran to the city walls. Each person had different weapons in their hands, but they all stared with fear at the north, where the light was gradually dimming.
"It's hard to imagine, they are so close." A soldier on the city wall trembled. Although there was nothing in front of him except the gradually darkening and chaotic distance, but people are afraid of this unknown existence, right? At least for the soldiers of Orleans, it was like this.
When Anenus learned of this, he climbed up the city wall, which was already crowded with soldiers.
"Here comes the bishop, here comes Bishop Anenus!"
The soldiers turned around and looked at Anenus, watching him climb up the city wall.
"The Huns may appear under the city walls at any time. It is said that their numbers are too large. We..."
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"I have asked for help from Captain Aetius, and I hope his army can arrive in time while we are resisting." Anenus said meaningfully, but there was no confidence in his eyes.
"Order the soldiers to be on high alert and keep on duty all night." Anenus gave orders to his soldiers and returned to the Governor's Palace. He did not have an easy night. Everyone's mood was like the darkness after sunset, so heavy that it made it difficult to breathe.
At night, the sky was covered with dark clouds. The thick clouds blocked the starlight, leaving behind a city dotted with torches.
“Haha!”
There was a loud thunder outside the window, and Anenus, who was stunned, trembled all over, and the pen in his hand fell onto the parchment on the table.
The ink which had escaped from the tube had stained the parchment which lay on the table, and the paper was unusable, for not a single word was written on it.
"What a waste!" Anenus, who was still in shock, let out a long sigh. Then he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, picked up the parchment and threw it aside. Then he turned around to look for the wine glass beside him.
But at this moment, he was stunned. His eyes were fixed on the wine glass in front of him. He only saw ripples on the wine in the glass due to the vibration. The ripples kept shaking as if they were afraid of something.
Soon, under the lowering dark clouds, accompanied by lightning and thunder in the sky, torrential rain poured down recklessly on the city of Orleans, extinguishing all the stubborn flames.
Anenus stood in front of the window, looking at the heavy rain outside, but he couldn't see his hand in front of him. Somehow, he felt empty and uneasy in his heart.
(End of this chapter)