The Mad Tycoon of Rome Chapter 219: Rome’s Counterattack 2

< 219. Ro’s Counterattack 2 >

When Marcus landed in Athens with his entire army, Ro was in a state of unprecedented anxiety.

No matter how far away it happened in Greece, it was shocking that an army of 200,000 had been annihilated.

It was especially shocking that Greece, which had a great influence on Ro’s culture, had fallen into the hands of the barbarians.

It was incomparable to when they lost Gaul.

Naturally, public opinion was furious with Sextus, the commander of the defeat.

So even shouted that he was a traitor who tarnished the na of his great father and ruined Ro.

The atmosphere of the Senate was not much different.

The aristocratic senators would have normally harshly criticized and demanded responsibility from the populist party, but this ti they did not even do that.

They just wrapped their heads in disbelief at this unbelievable defeat and kept silent.

Piso and Cicero, who had long held seats in the Senate, had no mory of ever seeing the Senate hall so silent.

“···So, are you all just going to keep silent like this? We need to co up with a plan.”

When Cato opened his mouth as if squeezing it out, a sigh of many senators filled the room.

The populist senators were still unable to say anything as they looked around, and Bibulus, a fellow aristocrat, answered with a frown.

“Do you have a clever idea? Caesar has moved his army to defend Dalmatia, so we can only hope that he will hold them off.”

Another senator asked with a worried face.

“Can he hold them off? The situation is very different from when he recovered the Rhine.”

“···It’s annoying, but we have to trust Caesar’s ability. If he breaks through that too··· then we’ll have to settle it diplomatically or flee to a place where those cavalryn can’t easily co.”

“Heh··· how did this happen.”

Settling it diplomatically was practically equivalent to saying that they would sign a surrender agreent.

The fact that there was no senator who got angry or opposed this humiliating remark showed how serious the situation was.

“If only Sextus had been a little more careful.”

“He could have won if he just held on, why did he have to go out and fight?”

Even the sa populist senators criticized Sextus’s rashness and raised their voices.

Of course, they also knew why Sextus responded to the enemy’s provocation and turned around.

He was the only one of the triumvirate who did not achieve any notable achievents in this war, so he must have been impatient.

Not to ntion that locking the door and defending it was tantamount to abandoning other cities that were not protected by walls.

It was not easy for young Patronus to ignore the anger of his clients.

Ultimately, even if he held on, he would eventually push back the enemy with Caesar and Marcus’s main force, so he couldn’t monopolize the credit either.

It was plausible that he went out and fought reluctantly.

But that didn’t justify the disaster that almost wiped out 200,000 n.

Ro’s way was not to harshly bla for defeat, but this was too much.

In fact, people related to Sextus were likely to be unable to set foot in Ro’s politics in the future.

Anyway, Gnaeus was exiled and Sextus died, so there was no one to actually suffer damage, but it was clear that there was an indelible stain on the reputation of the Pompey family.

Anyway, both the populist and aristocratic parties racked their brains to overco this situation, but no clever way ca up.

The conclusion drawn was that Greece must be regained at all costs.

And they had to appease the citizens and allies who were anxious.

Fortunately, just in ti, a letter from Marcus arrived at the Senate.

It did not contain the details of the operation, but it was a kind of declaration of war that he would use the fleet handed over by Sextus to reclaim Greece.

He didn’t say anything grandiose like trust or I will definitely win.

This rather gave more confidence.

The reason why they didn’t despair even though Sextus’s legion was annihilated was because they had another real legion they believed in.

Cicero and Cato went back on stage and raised their voices to calm down Ro in turmoil.

“Although we suffered a painful defeat and handed over Greece to the barbarians, there is nothing to worry about! Rember the war our ancestors fought against Hannibal.

Even though we suffered humiliating defeats several tis, we were Ro who won in the end! Ro has always had great heroes who risked their lives to protect Ro no matter how dangerous the situation was.

Scipio Africanus who made Hannibal kneel did so, and Marius who repelled the invasion of Germania did so.

And it’s no different now. Caesar, who drove out the Huns in Gaul, will guard Dalmatia, and Marcus, the hero of the East, has moved to reclaim Greece. Don’t worry! The great heroes of Ro and our proud citizens will unite and overco this crisis!”

Cicero’s fiery speech spread throughout Ro through the mouths of the citizens.

People regained hope when they heard that Marcus had moved with Caesar.

So were worried that if Marcus also failed, Ro would have no more strength left, but most people trusted Marcus.

All the citizens of Ro, the allied nations, and the senators of the Senate wished with one heart that he would overco this crisis.

If Marcus successfully reclaims Greece, who would dare to object to him taking Sextus’s inheritance?

According to Sextus’s will, Greece and North Africa, as well as Axum and Kush, would all fall under Marcus’s influence.

The balance of power that had been maintained until now would tilt to one side in an instant.

But even the senators did not worry about the future for now.

Anything would be better than losing the war against the Huns and surrendering in humiliation.

‘Just please win, whatever it takes.’

This was the common thought of everyone in Ro at the mont.

※※※

Marcus, who landed in Athens, knew well that the desperate wishes of the Roman citizens were focused on him.

He had set out bravely, but he was not without tension.

He had fought many wars before, but never with such pressure.

Strictly speaking, the wars he had fought until now always had a way out.

The Parthian War and the Arabian Expedition were wars that could be retreated from as long as he did not suffer a terrible defeat.

‘But not this ti. If I retreat from here, everything I’ve built up so far could go up in smoke.’

Of course, on the other hand, if he wins, he will rise to the top and get everything in one breath.

As he thought that far, Marcus bit his lips hard and composed himself.

‘Let’s not rush. There’s nothing to change by being impatient now.’

His arrival revived Athens, which had been in a gloomy mood.

The army of Bayatur, which had been besieging the city, also retreated and kept a distance from the city.

At the sa ti, scouts were spotted trying to keep track of the city’s movents.

Marcus could easily read Bayatur’s intentions.

Half of the Hunnic forces were heading west from Epirus to break through the route to Dalmatia.

And Altan, who had occupied Thrace with 30,000 troops, had stationed troops in three major cities and was focusing on stabilizing the local situation.

From these movents alone, he could guess what Bayatur was plotting.

Most of the major cities in Thrace were ports connected to the Black Sea.

If the Huns, who had control of Bosporus, stabilized these cities as well, the Black Sea would beco their front yard.

This was sothing that Marcus had to stop at all costs.

But if he tried to launch a landing operation with his ships openly, he would obviously be hindered by Bayatur’s main force.

The ships of this era were not very fast, so it was practically impossible to shake off the Hunnic cavalry.

And a commander like Bayatur would not be unaware of the fact that Marcus would try to reclaim the ports.

If he used a careless strategy, he would imdiately be counterattacked.

‘After all, I have to clash with him first. If I can’t even balance out the minimum strength, I can’t use any strategy.’

Judging by Bayatur’s movents, he was ready to engage with Marcus’s troops at any mont.

He had already annihilated Sextus’s legion, so it was natural that he had such confidence.

And Marcus also had no intention of avoiding a fight that ca his way.

Fighting 200,000 Hunnic cavalry on a plain would be crazy, but Bayatur’s army was still maintaining 70,000 troops.

He must have suffered so damage from the battle with Sextus, but it seed that he had filled in the gap with additional personnel from Altan’s force.

He probably thought that 70,000 was the optimal size for him to command alone.

And since Bayatur wanted a battle as well, Marcus also secretly saw this as an opportunity.

The legion led by Marcus consisted of 100,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry excluding Antony’s force that ca first. Compared to other Roman armies, it had an overwhelmingly high proportion of cavalry.

Many of them were elites trained by Marcus himself and ard with much better equipnt than other Roman troops.

The enemy troops were also elite among the Hunnic warriors, but still it was worth a try.

Ironically enough, both commanders thought that this was a favorable opportunity for them.

And this confidence was reflected in their movents.

Bayatur withdrew his troops from Athens and retreated to a plain near Thessalonica.

And he ordered Altan, who was in Thrace, to bring 12,000 troops to Thessalonica.

He made it clear that he would fight Ro here.

Marcus also responded by leading 150,000 troops northward.

He left Antony’s 50,000 troops behind in Athens under the pretext of defending the city.

When all the preparations were done, Marcus slowly led his legion out of Athens and headed north.

His marching speed was not fast.

He deliberately moved slowly to show the Hunnic scouts.

Of course, he did not neglect scouting in case Bayatur would call for reinforcents and launch a surprise attack.

Bayatur also did not move rashly, thinking that Marcus might be trying to lure him out.

Thus, the two armies slowly faced each other on the plain near Thessalonica, where the battle would take place.

This ti, Bayatur did not charge right away like he did at the Larissa battle.

He already knew that his opponent was not soone he could win with the sa tactic he had used before.

His sharp eyes looked at the Roman army across the plain.

The army, wearing shiny equipnt under the blazing sun, stood firmly in a long line.

He did not make the mistake of dividing his already scarce cavalry force in half like Sextus did.

Marcus gathered 50,000 cavalry in one place and placed heavily ard cavalry, his trump card, in the front line.

There were also slingers who could gain a clear advantage in range even though they were few and hard to fire.

As the mont of battle approached, the eyes of the Roman legion looking at the enemy beca more intense.

Even the horses seed to sense the imminent bloodshed, stomping their feet and neighing loudly.

The hearts of 220,000 people on the plain beat faster and their breathing beca rougher.

Publius and Surenas also swallowed their saliva nervously.

Spartacus seed to be the only one who kept his composure.

He calmly touched his spear and sword.

His attitude was calm, but his eyes were burning with an indomitable fighting spirit that could not be hidden.

Marcus, who judged that everything was ready, drew his weapon and raised his voice.

“Let’s go! Today we will punish those barbarians and reclaim our pride and land!”

At the sa ti, Bayatur also ran out towards the Roman army, aiming his scimitar at them.

“Let’s send all those Roman bastards to their ancestors who we killed before. Follow !”

The rough shouts and hoofbeats shook the plain.

The Hunnic cavalry’s maneuver was completely different from the Larissa battle.

Bayatur knew a lot about Marcus’s legion because he had participated in the Parthian War as a rcenary and saw and heard many things there.

The arrows with an unknown origin that boasted a much longer range than Parthia’s composite bows.

And heavily ard cavalry who could not be pierced by spears or arrows no matter how hard they tried.

Bayatur had already made sure that his subordinates knew about those weapons that they had never encountered before.

That’s why the Hunnic cavalry scattered widely as if they had agreed beforehand.

So of them fell off their horses, spitting blood from being hit by slingshots, but there were no warriors who panicked.

Bayatur had already warned them beforehand, and besides, there were only about a thousand slingers. They alone could not inflict much damage on the Hunnic army.

As soon as the vanguard of the front line fell off their horses from being hit by slingshots, the Hunnic army made a large flanking maneuver to target the rear flank of the Roman army.

Then Marcus responded by deploying all 50,000 archers of the Roman army except for the heavy cavalry. The Huns had no choice but to give up on breaking through the side.

Instead, they tried to lure out the Roman cavalry by deliberately retreating backwards. But this ti too, the Roman cavalry responded by maintaining their formation without straying too far from the infantry line.

In the end, the Hunnic army failed to inflict any significant damage on the Roman army with 70,000 archers.

The Roman army also could not inflict any damage on them because they did not narrow down the distance with their superior mobility.

The decisive weapon that would end this stalemate was ultimately heavy cavalry. This ti Spartacus himself led them on horseback and faced off against the Hunnic army.

But of course, the Huns did not fight head-on with Ro’s heavy cavalry.

Bayatur had set up a separate detachnt to deal exclusively with them and kept them at bay.

They avoided close combat and constantly harassed them with bows while taking advantage of their superior mobility. It was a feat that only those with exceptional riding skills among the Huns could show.

They even prepared spare horses to switch at any ti so that their horses would not get tired.

The heavy cavalry who wore full plate armor on their horses as well were relatively slow and could not roam freely on the battlefield.

No matter how good their defense was, they could not ignore their enemies completely and expose their backs. That was too risky.

Of course, there were exceptions among them.

Spartacus threw his javelin accurately at the heart of an enemy who was shooting arrows while keeping his distance.

He was not the only one who showed amazing skills.

Bayatur also easily knocked down a Roman cavalryman in plate armor.

He could not kill the enemy with his weapon, but the impact of falling from a running horse was transmitted to him.

The two of them, who were sweeping the battlefield as if to show off their power, finally t face to face.

The strong recognize the strong.

The bodies of the two n stopped abruptly as they exchanged glances.

There was no need for words or gestures between them.

Just by exchanging their eyes, their wills were conveyed to each other.

Bayatur’s mouth curled up in a smile.

Spartacus also felt his chest pounding with excitent for the first ti since he t Crixus, a formidable opponent.

“Bayatur.”

“Spartacus.”

They knew that the words that ca out of their mouths ant their nas, even though their languages and customs were different.

East and West.

They threw themselves into a fight for the single peak, representing their regions with their strength.

< 219. Ro’s Counterattack 2 > End