Chapter 737 The Lion and the Wolves A

month and a half had passed. Despite repeated requests for help from Ravenna, Valentinian turned a deaf ear to the imminent crisis in Rome.

Valentinian has abandoned Rome!

Such remarks had already spread throughout the streets of Rome. Everyone's face was filled with solemnity as they worried whether they could survive this imminent catastrophe.

After all, because Augustus Flavius ​​Luca was in Rome, and Gaiseric outside the city repeatedly refused the Roman Senate's negotiations, he wanted to have a head-on battle with Luca, even though his strength was far superior to Luca's, although he did not know the specific situation in Rome at this time.

Luca watched helplessly as siege towers rose from the ground in Gaiseric's camp. They would become siege weapons in Gaiseric's hands, and would send the young generation of Vandal soldiers, who were shouting and fighting fiercely, onto the walls of Rome.

The Romans wanted time to pass slowly, but the Vandals were the opposite. They were eager to see everything ready, then break down the strong walls of Rome and rape the entire city.

What could be more insulting than looting a city that was a symbol of the nation? The Romans knew this, but their rulers had long been numb to such insults.

They are good at using money and beautiful women to cover up the angry voices, and using gorgeous togas to perfectly conceal the bloody facts inside.

"A just war is worth less than a peace maintained by humility."

This sentence was highly praised in the Purple Room at that time. Both Augustus and the senators believed in it as the truth. Now they just needed to put it into practice as the truth.

Valentinian has abandoned Rome!

The parties involved are often confused, while the bystanders can see things more clearly. When the citizens of Rome loudly cursed Valentinian's immorality and incompetence, only Luca remained silent, because he knew what Valentinian was thinking.

After all, when he trusted Luca the most, Luca played a huge joke on him. Later, when he was most likely to become Augustus of the entire Roman world, Luca stood against him. Just as Valentinian insisted, Luca was a thief who stole his position as Augustus.

Luca didn't care about it at all. He had even anticipated this happening when he walked out of the gate of Constantinople. After all, Valentinian had tried to assassinate him before, but he survived because of his luck.

It is hard to say whether God will be able to stand by his side this time to dispel the scythe of the god of death. Perhaps Luca has already thought of a suitable way for himself to die.

After all, he had already been exhausted by the endless headaches.

This is a bit like Hemingway, who shot himself because he couldn't bear the torture of the disease. Although this is a very later story, it is very relevant to Luca's heart at this time.

Mencius once said, "Anyone who is good at fighting will eventually die by the sword."

Luca rose from the war, and likewise, his life would end in war. This is at least the most noble way for a general who commanded thousands of troops to die.

Obviously, Luca was waiting for this moment, and so was Gaiseric, who was even more impatient than Luca.

On the morning of a new day, the front of the Vandal camp was crowded with Vandal soldiers. Not only that, there were also many mercenaries brought from Africa. Just as Gaiseric had replied, he was so poor that he didn't even have the money for tribute, because that money was used to hire soldiers who could fight and forge sharp weapons.

The Vandals were unprecedentedly large, with their number estimated to be over 10,000 people, not including the soldiers on the warships floating on the sea. With such a large scale, it was natural that they would turn the city of Rome upside down.

On the other hand, Luca, except for half of the Ninth Legion under his command, had no more than 5,000 soldiers capable of launching a battle. The citizens and pardoned slaves gathered together, and there were no more than 2,000 people. After all, most people were still taking a wait-and-see attitude, and no one was willing to go to the battlefield in person.

The armory in the city of Rome was reopened, and the rusty spears and armor were taken out one by one and distributed to every soldier present.

Fear was written all over their faces. After all, they had long been accustomed to a comfortable life and thought they were long away from war. Now they were thrown back into the war. It was hard to imagine what a nightmare that was.

"First of all, we must understand how to skillfully use the weapons in our hands!"

The old soldiers who served as instructors held spears and admonished the new recruits, but the faces of the new recruits were filled with confusion and helplessness. They simply could not understand the simple weapons in their hands.

Although the numbers are similar, both are armies of 10,000 people, it can be seen from their quality that although Luga has 10,000 people, only more than 5,000 of them can play a role.

"The time we are given is running out." Luca paced back and forth at the door of the church, while Pope Leo behind him followed Luca's movements with his eyes.

"Caesar!"

At this time, Vokrik, who was serving as a guard, trotted to Luga's side. Because he repeatedly asked to follow Luga's footsteps, he was left behind to face this battle with little chance of victory together with Luga.

Vokrick came to Luca with a blueprint of the city defense in his hand and said to him, "We have deployed nearly 1,500 soldiers on the city walls and gates. They will cooperate with the Roman defenders, totaling 5,000 people. The others will be deployed on the city streets. This way, when the city walls fall, we can do our best to block the Vandals' attack on the streets."

Putting away the blueprint, Vokrik hesitated for a moment, looked at Luca, and whispered: "Caesar, there is a question I have always wanted to ask you."

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"Go ahead."

"As for the reinforcements from the Roman headquarters, can they come?" As Vokrick spoke, his voice became smaller and smaller, as if he was asking a question that should not be asked, fearing that this would anger Luca.

But the result is often contrary to one's wishes. I thought Luca would be furious, but unexpectedly he just sighed softly and replied: "I hope so, Vokrik, I hope so."

Such a helpless tone made Vokrik smile bitterly. He nodded slightly to Luga, probably because such an answer did not satisfy him. He had to at least give his subordinates an explanation, an explanation that could stabilize the morale.

“Hurry up, hurry up!”

With shouts, a large number of soldiers rushed to the top of the city wall. They drew their bows and arrows, staring at the Vandals who were getting closer and closer.

It seemed that the Vandals were determined to attack the city. Siege towers were seen slowly approaching and soon exceeded the range of the trebuchets.

"Fire! Fire!"

“Ka-ka-ka…”

On the city wall, eight catapults roared at the same time, and eight stones flew through the air and fell straight into the Vandal army. As a stone bullet fell, large groups of soldiers fell down, but this could not stop the Vandals from advancing.

(End of this chapter)