The Great Arcanist Who Traveled Through the World of American Variety Shows.

Chapter 598: We are ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty flee first?
The army set out, and Richard led the central army behind. After reorganization, the Gaul province now had three legions.

Two Rhine Corps and one Frank Corps.

This time Richard led the Frantic Legion and thousands of militiamen.

The Frankish legions were equipped with armor, iron shields, and javelins or hand axes. Many Gauls were good at using hand axes.

Regular Roman legions would be equipped with three javelins and shields. There would basically be only three opportunities to throw javelins in a war. In addition to these, each person would carry three days of dry food, and the logistics baggage troops would distribute food every three days.

The Rhine Legion, which was improved by Richard, has gradually eliminated javelins and started to equip bows and arrows on a large scale.

The bow and arrow he improved could penetrate armor at a distance of sixty meters, and its killing range far exceeded that of the javelin.

Weapons like javelins, which consume more energy, have a short range and low accuracy, will gradually be eliminated. The Franks' hand axes are also in the range of being eliminated.

Of course, if the soldiers strongly request it, Richard will also equip them.

In addition to these legions, Richard also vigorously developed cavalry. The Roman Empire's heavy infantry phalanx was still strong in this era, but the times were progressing, especially the Huns' light cavalry tactics. If they were in an open area, according to the Huns' tactics, they could completely drag down the Roman heavy infantry phalanx.

Compared with infantry, cavalry holds the initiative in the war. They can fight when they want to and retreat when they want to. Even if it is a heavy infantry phalanx, as long as the cavalry surrounds and harasses them on the battlefield, even if they cannot cause much damage, the heavy infantry will eventually collapse.

A set of armor for heavy infantry weighs dozens of kilograms, and coupled with the tense atmosphere on the battlefield, their physical strength is greatly consumed. There is no need for the cavalry to charge the formation, as long as they keep consuming it, they can exhaust the physical strength of the infantry.

By then the cavalry will have too many ways to divide them.

There were very few heavy cavalry at this time. After all, heavy cavalry was too expensive, and heavy cavalry needed to gather a certain number to be lethal. Given the current financial situation of the Roman Empire, there were not many light cavalry.

Just as Richard led his army towards Rome, Italy had already fallen into war.

The Protector Aetius, who was driven out by the Roman emperor, stationed his troops in the north of Italy, but did not send troops to stop the Huns' advance.

The number of troops under Aetius was not large, and most of the troops were still in Rome. However, the Roman emperor did not trust Aetius, so even if he asked Aetius for help, he was still unwilling to restore all of Aetius' power.

This made Aetius very dissatisfied, so he refused the emperor's order and stayed where he was with his army.

Attila seemed to be aware of the conflict between Aetius and the Roman emperor, so he did not lead a large army to attack, but only left a part of the cavalry to monitor Aetius.

Led by a guide, Attila bypassed the Alps and entered Italy. At that time, Italy could be said to be the most prosperous place in the world except for the ancient East.

After the Hun army arrived here, they began to plunder. They did not attack the big cities with strong walls and tight defenses, but targeted the small cities, which could not withstand the Hun tide's attack.

Tens of thousands of Hun cavalry rushed into Rome, and one Roman city after another was captured.

The Roman emperor ordered his army to gather in Achyrea, a major military town in northeastern Italy, relying on the defense facilities there to try to stop the Hun army.

This important military town during the Roman Empire was one of the few strategic locations in Italy. During the rise of Rome, it helped the Romans to block attacks from the north time and time again.

But the problem is that after the decline of the Roman Empire, their enemies were basically from Gaul, and this important military town was not taken seriously for a long time.

In addition, the empire's financial constraints meant that the city's defenses had long been outdated. It was no longer the military stronghold they had imagined, and the defenses of this town were only slightly better than those of an ordinary city.

But they could not stop the Hun army at all.

This time, the Hun army learned the lesson from the last attack on the Paris area. The Huns were not good at attacking cities. The last time they attacked Gaul, the Huns faced the walls of Paris and Orleans and had a very difficult time.

So when attacking Rome this time, Attila was already prepared. Soldiers from the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Alans attacked the city and fought a siege.

The Huns only sent out light cavalry archers to provide cover.

The Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Alans both had rich siege experience. After all, these two kingdoms had fought against the Eastern Roman Empire many times before, and had accumulated a lot of siege experience.

This time, under the cover of the Hun army, the soldiers of the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Alans had to carry various siege equipment to launch an attack on Achyri.

The city walls of Aquili had been in disrepair for a long time, and the general commanding the army was not a famous general. Under the suppression of the Huns' archers, he could not even raise his head.

The Hun archers were so skilled in archery that even the Romans, who had the advantage of their city walls, were suppressed by the Huns.

The Ostrogoths and Alans below also rushed up with various siege weapons. The defenders of Aquili could not withstand the attack of the Huns, and soon sections of the city wall were captured.

In order to undermine the morale of the Romans, after capturing Achyrius, Attila directly ordered the destruction of the entire city.

After a lot of looting and killing, the entire town of Aquili had become a devastated mess. At this time, along with Attila's order, the entire city was set on fire and the city walls and houses were demolished.

Soon the entire Aquileia was reduced to ruins, and the military fortress was completely destroyed.

After destroying Achylia, Attila the Scourge of God sent messengers to other cities to tell the Romans that if they resisted, Achylia would be their fate. This ruthless style frightened many Romans, and the entire city was razed to the ground. The invasion of the Huns caused a large number of Romans to flee.

Even the emperor of the empire, Valentinian III, was shocked when he learned that the important military town of Achyrea had been completely destroyed.

Only then did he realize what kind of enemy he was facing.

"Where is Aetius? Has Aetius arrived?" Valentinian III asked hurriedly after coming to his senses.

Everyone was silent.

Valentinian III asked angrily, and finally one of the ministers said carefully: "Your Majesty, the Duke Protector did not come."

"What!?" Upon hearing the news, Valentinian III felt dizzy and his body swayed slightly. He was about to fall down. Fortunately, the female slaves next to him quickly supported him.

Valentinian III struggled to get up and asked, "What happened? Why didn't he come back? Where is he now?"

The minister said, "Your Majesty, the Lord Protector of the Country said that you did not restore all his power, so he can only hold on in the north."

"Bang! Clang!"

Valentinian III angrily smashed a silver cup in his hand onto the marble floor and shouted, "I am the emperor of the empire!"

"Damn it! How dare he disobey my orders!"

"Immediately give another order and ask him to lead the army back to Rome immediately!"

"Pass the order down and restore all his powers!"

Valentinian III said through gritted teeth.

When the attendant heard the order, he immediately stepped out and went to pass on the message.

At this moment, a dusty soldier rushed into the palace in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, it's bad. The Hun army has crossed the Po River. It will only take a few days for them to reach Rome."

Upon hearing that the Hun army had reached the Po River, Valentinian III was immediately frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. You know, the Po River can be said to be the last line of defense in northern Italy.

The importance of this river to Italy is like that of the Yellow River to the Song Dynasty.

The current situation is that the Jin soldiers have crossed the Yellow River.
Upon hearing the news, Valentinian III's face changed suddenly. At this time, he no longer had time to wait for Aetius' rescue.

If we wait any longer, perhaps the Hun army will conquer Rome before Aetius arrives.

Thinking of this, Valentinian III immediately ordered the Guards to escort him out of Rome and flee to other places.

Valentinian III even considered how to escape from Italy.

This area of ​​Italy has almost no strategic depth. Once the northern passage is cut off, Italy can only escape by sea transportation.

Valentinian III, escorted by soldiers, attempted to flee Italy by ship.

But as the emperor of the empire, if he abandoned the city and his people and fled, once exposed, his career as emperor would basically be over.

Valentinian III fled Rome and came to a port, but he did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he had the ship prepared.

He had already made plans. As long as the Huns continued to attack here, he would board a ship and flee to Gaul.

The emperor of the empire has always believed that Richard is loyal to him, and as long as he can reach the province of Gaul, he can continue to be the emperor of the empire with the support of Richard.

Valentinian III's escape was very secretive, for fear of being discovered by the citizens of Rome. He did not even notify the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

In the end, it was the commander of the Guards, Trigius, who went to inform the Pope.

The Pope was shocked when he heard that the Roman emperor had fled. At the same time, he also understood that he had to defend Rome. The current monotheism was no longer the monotheism of a few years ago. Once Rome was conquered, the Roman Catholic Church would be severely damaged.

How will they then fight against the Attius and the Gnostics?

In addition to the Pope, the nobles of the Senate were also completely dumbfounded. The Emperor of the Empire fled.
This was not good news for the Senate, which supported Valentinian III in his confrontation with Aetius, but did not want Rome to perish.

(End of this chapter)