Chapter 736: Siege

Outside the European Gate in the west of Rome.

The Vandal king Gaiseric was standing on his chariot holding a cross scepter stained with blood. On the tall Roman wall opposite him, people were surging. The panicked militia were standing on the top of the city wall holding various weapons, staring at the oncoming Vandal army with wide eyes in horror.

A breeze blew by, gently lifting the flags held by the Vandals, and the huge army formed into a huge square formation and rushed towards the walls of Rome one by one.

"Quick, take up your weapons! Take up your weapons!"

On the city wall, the officer guarding the city shouted orders to the soldiers who were hastily preparing. Under the order of their superiors, these hurried guys climbed up the city wall and held bows and arrows on each battlement.

Some soldiers were hurriedly setting up catapults and transporting stones onto them, ready for battle at any time.

Everyone was working hard under the orders of their respective officers. Even though they were extremely tired, they would grit their teeth and continue working after looking at the Vandal soldiers who were approaching.

Looking at the busy Roman soldiers on the city wall, Gaiseric was not in a hurry to attack. Instead, he commanded his soldiers to set up camp outside the city of Rome.

Such a bold act is indeed rare, but it is not surprising. After all, the barbarians had discovered the secret of this vast empire more than a hundred years ago.

The extremely powerful Roman legions were stationed at the border of the empire. In the face of the barbarians, they were an invincible force and an insurmountable wall.

But such a powerful country is like a giant turtle. Once you penetrate its solid shell, what remains is its delicious and soft internal organs.

The so-called heart of the empire, the Eternal City, was even more fragile and vulnerable. After all, the always arrogant Roman rulers would never think that these barbarians would be able to get past the indestructible shield of the imperial legions.

The barbarians gathered into super legions and invaded on a large scale, which was unprecedented. Just like every Roman king, they all showed contempt and ridicule about this matter. However, the Germanic people, who they had always thought were not worth worrying about, became a major concern for the empire in later generations. Look, they are outside the city.

Gaiseric led his soldiers to cut down trees and build camps, and his cavalry galloped back and forth around the city of Rome.

Wielding Germanic iron swords, they plundered village after village, brutally killing the villagers who had no time to escape. All that was left were the spoils of war. The food and women in those villages were all their plundered objects.

All I saw were women tied to horseback, crying and screaming. The heart-wrenching sounds could be heard clearly even from far away on the city wall.

In order to show off their own merits, these hateful Vandals deliberately carried these poor women beyond the shooting range of the Roman soldiers to show off their power, and used the cries of these women to torture every Roman soldier who was present and witnessed it.

The cries of women and the obscene laughter of the Vandals filled Leo's ears. He closed his eyes tightly, trying not to look at the sins happening in broad daylight.

Leo held a cross tightly in his left hand and kept using it to indicate his chest, muttering something, which roughly meant praying to God to have mercy on the women who were taken as trophies.

Leo could only do this now, he was powerless to do anything else. It was said that we should believe in God, but many times it was nothing more than praying in the most dangerous times or finding an excuse for ourselves when we were powerless.

Luca stood beside Leo and turned his head to look at Leo who was praying. He could understand what kind of torture the Pope was enduring in his heart while he was praying.

"Look at them, these Arians, true heretics. Even God cannot make them shed their barbaric skin. They are all beasts, beasts with brains." Luca said slowly. He was a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time. Naturally, he understood Gaiseric's intentions. He said this to Leo just to comfort this poor guy who was tortured by the tragic scene before his eyes.

"Gaiseric is a smart guy." Leo stopped praying, slowly opened his eyes, looked ahead and said, "He is torturing each of us with his methods. He wants to arouse our fear, make us hesitate and indecisive. In addition, we cherish our lives, so driven by fear, the Romans are easy to agree to any request from their enemies. As long as they can keep themselves alive, they can satisfy anything. This is what Gaiseric wants."

"So you have already prepared to negotiate with these barbarians." Luca responded coldly: "If you walk out of this city wall, all the bishops who believe in God will laugh at you. The heretics of Arius have been waiting for this moment, and Gaiseric also wants to be treated the same as Attila."

"The Monophysite sect does have many problems. They are too extreme." Leo nodded slightly and said, "Although we have avoided and suppressed them before, they have always been able to revive. But now the gap between us is too great. We have no way to guarantee that the walls of Rome can stop their attack."

"Perhaps you will eventually find them to negotiate." Luca lowered his head and was silent for a long time before he slowly spoke, "That was when they broke through the walls of Rome and approached the door of the church. I was powerless to stop them."

After hearing what Luca said, Leo looked up at Luca and said with a puzzled look: "Caesar, have you also lost your absolute confidence? I have never seen such a solemn expression on your face."

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"Yes, yes!" Luca nodded repeatedly. "The first time was in Carthage, where I watched helplessly as the results of my best efforts went to waste. The second time was in Gaul, when I faced Attila. I don't know how long I could hold out on the battlefield at that time, but I know that battle made both us and Attila bleed. The third time was here, on the city of Rome. I was like a lion that was too old to stand. I no longer had the sharp eyes and endless power I had back then. If I really fail, I hope you can save the last dignity of Rome."

After saying that, Luca looked into the distance. Leo could see a kind of helplessness in his eyes. Under the blood-red reflection of the setting sun, Luca and the lion skin he was wearing blended together, which made Leo have the illusion that Luca was really a lion.

If Luga is an aging lion, then Gaiseric is an equally aging hyena. However, standing behind Luga are a group of shivering sheep, while standing behind Gaiseric are a large group of young and strong hyenas. They are grinning and liquid keeps flowing out of their bloody mouths.

Leo took a deep breath, faced Luca's back, and solemnly gestured with the cross on his chest. He seemed to understand something, and seemed to fall into new confusion.

Which side is God on? Even he who thinks he is closest to God cannot know even a little bit.

(End of this chapter)