Chapter 70 Eagle Flag

I don’t know whether I should praise Chief Centurion Guy for his foresight or say that he has very sharp eyes. Just after the team gathered, a series of rapid horse hoof sounds came from not far away.

A cavalryman with a spotted horse and a dragon-headed flag in his hand rode up and stopped in front of the chief centurion Guy. The cavalryman rolled off his horse, pulled out a roll of parchment from his backpack, and opened it in front of Guy.

"Chief Centurion of the First Flag Guard Battalion of the Fourteenth Twin Legion of the Empire and all soldiers under his command, listen to my orders!"

The cavalryman had a very deep voice, and the parchment he brought was not handed to Guy in a mysterious manner like the messenger did yesterday, but was read out in front of all of us.

"Um "

The cavalryman cleared his throat and said loudly, "This is the military order of Aetius, the commander of the Roman legions in Gaul in the north of the empire: The 14th Gemini Legion is the main legion of the Gallic front approved by the Senate. It is now in the front of the battle with the 14th Auxiliary Legion under its command as the vanguard legion. It will give a heavy blow to the Burgundians. If it can win and show the strength of the empire, it will be awarded the eagle flag!"

“Eagle Flag!!!”

Almost everyone took a deep breath. The legion awarded with the Eagle Flag was truly an Eagle Flag Legion, the true darling of the empire. The soldiers were overjoyed. They raised their arms and shouted loudly, as if they couldn't wait to go to the battlefield right now, because it was a great honor for every soldier to serve in a legion awarded with the Eagle Flag. This was a manifestation of glory! Most importantly, it was basically impossible for a legion awarded with the Eagle Flag to go into battle. The Eagle Flag would not be sent out unless it was absolutely necessary.

"This is bound to be a long and tough battle." Andrew whispered beside me.

"Huh? Andrew, why do you say that?" I asked him puzzledly.

"Oh, Luca, the Eagle Legion is not awarded so easily." Andrew pulled me aside and whispered to me, "This must not be the title of Marshal Aetius!"

"If it's not Aetius's? Then whose is it?" I was even more confused, but this cavalryman clearly claimed that he was sent by Aetius. Moreover, this is the territory occupied by Aetius's troops. You say this is a liar, how could he casually convey Aetius's orders? On the other hand, this guy should not have the courage to deceive everyone like this.

"I think it belongs to the emperor!" Andrew said in a deep voice. Perhaps afraid that I didn't understand, he repeated it to me again: "The emperor of the Roman Empire, Valentinian III!"

"What does this have to do with Valentinian?"

The more I talk about it, the more confused I get. It's just a military order, but so many things have been woven into it.

"No, I'm just confused, because the Eagle Flag is an authority that only the emperor can exercise. However, Marshal Aetius is also a very important person to the empire and the emperor. It shouldn't be too difficult for him to authorize the Eagle Flag."

Andrew justified his own statement, and I couldn't help laughing. I thought that this guy must have been bribed by Aetius's benefits, and now he would not tolerate anyone saying anything bad about Aetius, no matter who it was.

Chief Centurion Guy took the parchment and took a quick glance at it. After he confirmed that the message was accurate, he waved to the bugler who was accompanying him and said to the cavalryman, "Have the other troops in the legion received this message?"

"Got it. The auxiliary legion is on its way. Since you just experienced a battle, Marshal Aetius asked me to notify you later so that you can rest for a while."

"No need, we can be on our way."

Guy waved goodbye to the cavalryman, turned and nodded to the bugler, who understood and blew the call for assembly.

"Come on, Luka, it's time for us to get going!"

Andrew said, waving his centurion with his left arm, and the team quickly followed. I turned around, pointed at the trumpeter, and waved.

Back on the battlefield, the vagrants nearby and the hungry wolves were plundering the remaining resources of the dead. The vagrants went in and out of the pile of corpses in order to find valuable jewelry and items to sell to supplement their family income, while the wolves were just trying to fill their stomachs.

On the main road, the bodies that were in the way had been moved to the side of the road, and the organized troops were marching on it. They wore simple chain mail, helmets without cheek guards, and held large oval shields and spears. They were of different races.

"I guess this is our auxiliary corps."

The age difference in this army was very serious. There were young boys who looked very young, and old men who looked old and wrinkled. Although they were not in their prime, they held their heads high and looked forward, without any influence from us who lined up on both sides of the road. These children and old men brought a kind of momentum that should not be underestimated.

Our group lined up on the side of the road, watching them pass by in silence.

"Follow me, follow me quickly!"

Guy blew the whistle and gave me loud orders. As the centurion of the 100th team, I had to take the lead.

"Centuria! Forward!"

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I shouted at the top of my lungs, and in my head I was desperately replaying how the centurions had trained their troops, and I was trying my best to imitate them. Although the centurion was only a junior officer, it was too difficult for someone who had no management experience in the army to manage a hundred people. The first few rows of the centurion team started walking, but after taking two steps, they looked at me with hesitation and stopped. What does this mean? I scratched my head and stood there looking at them stupidly.

“Woo!”

At this time, the trumpeter next to the centurion blew the horn, and the soldiers seemed to understand the meaning and lined up in a fairly neat team and came to the road. Then, the trumpeter held the French horn and blew the horn rhythmically. The soldiers immediately responded, step by step, following the rhythm of the horn and closely following the centurion of the auxiliary legion in front.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, because I was really not good at commanding a century. Fortunately, there was such a discerning bugler who saw my difficulty at a glance and solved the problem without making a fuss.

Only after the team had walked for a while did the bugle player stop blowing the bugle, because at this time the soldiers could walk well without the bugle blow.

"Hello!"

I rushed forward and called the horn player. When he turned around, I asked, "What's your name?"

"Brice, sir, my name is Briice, a Gaul."

The horn player said to me with a smile.

(End of this chapter)