Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 152: Fifty Thousand Troops! A Rabble

Europe is a strange place.

A power striving for European hegemony must be determined to single-handedly challenge a large group of enemies, and this is consistent with historical tradition. Napoleon expressed his views, and the German Empire also confirmed this. Even Attila, who had recently died in the Battle of Chalons, said that you are a group of people with no moral integrity. So many forces have united to attack me alone.

There is a reason why Europe is in chaos.

In the meeting hall, the others present gradually fell silent.

Duncan picked up a pen and drew a line between the Rhine and Danube defense lines. He said slowly, "This was the former territory of the empire, and it's also the best place to defend against barbarian invasions."

"The Hun Empire is crumbling, and the barbarians' advance southward will only accelerate."

At this point, Duncan drew a line through the middle of what would later become France. This area now occupied the Visigothic Kingdom. He said gravely, "The Franks haven't yet unified. While they have some strength, they're no match for us."

"But the Visigothic Kingdom must be on guard."

"They won great renown at the Battle of Chalons, and their heavy cavalry is unrivaled in all of Europe. They are a formidable enemy we must face."

Then, he marked the location of Carthage in the north and said thoughtfully, "Although this place is very far away from us."

"But the bigger the territory, the more people you have to feed."

"Carthage was once the granary of the empire. Now that it's occupied by the Vandals, it will have to be taken back sooner or later."

"If we take this place, we'll have a grain-producing area."

Located in the Tunisian region of North Africa, Carthage enjoyed exceptionally fertile soil and a favorable climate. The Carthaginians excelled in growing crops like wheat, barley, olives, and grapes. Their agricultural technology, particularly in grain production, was highly advanced, capable of supporting both the city's large population and its military.

If Carthage had not been lost, the empire could have had a chance to breathe. Later, the Eastern Roman Empire tried several times to regain the North African grain-producing areas.

Duncan drew a circle in the Mediterranean.

This circle happened to be the inland sea of the Mediterranean. He said with a serious expression: "If you want to dominate the Mediterranean, you must also conquer these places."

Severus frowned and said, "The defense line on the empire's border is too long."

If only there were no barbarian invasion, Duncan could concentrate on fighting his way down.

But the barbarian invasion was a historical trend, and he couldn't go to the barren land of Northern Europe, so he could only stay here and passively defend. In this era, even fighting back against barbarian invasions was a losing business. Unless Duncan burned, killed, looted, and sold people into slavery, there was a slight chance of breaking even.

Even the Germanic barbarians themselves despised that rotten land, otherwise why would so many people come south? Even if the British Kingdom conquered it, they couldn't swallow it all. They needed a more populous and economically prosperous area.

"Then wait for the opportunity."

Duncan finally made the final decision: "When the situation on the Italian peninsula changes, we will conquer Gaul first."

"Now that wars are raging everywhere, the empire itself will not be stable either."

Fighting is a good thing.

For Emperor Valentinian III and the Senate, the Hunnic Empire, one of the empire's greatest enemies, was crumbling, plagued by rebellions and uprisings on all sides, and the situation was beyond redemption. The Franks, who had invaded Gaul, were now at war with the British provinces, and there was the possibility of a war with another major enemy, the Visigothic Kingdom, in the future.

In this case, one of the two major enemies of the empire destroyed itself, and the other fought with the British province.

Some people want to do something, replace Aetius, and now is the best opportunity.

Duncan will also provide them with an opportunity to replace him.

The situation in Europe at this time is very delicate.

There were wars on all sides, but only the Italian peninsula remained relatively calm. The rise of the British province resisted the pressure from the west, and the collapse and rebellion of the Hun Empire withstood the pressure from the east.

For a time, no one could threaten mainland Italy.

Valentinian III felt that God was helping him. Once he regained control of the empire's military and political power, and with the support of the Senate, he could slowly deal with his other enemies. Furthermore, he had a close relationship with Duncan, the governor of Britain. If he could kill Aetius, he could try to form a marriage alliance with Duncan.

By then the army will be established and the empire's territory will be restored.

His prestige in the eyes of the Roman people was explosively high!
Duncan felt that he was not that close to Valentinian III, but the emperor of the empire did not think so. He always felt that Duncan was his potential helper because the information brought back by Quintus was asymmetric.

Quintus was used to deceiving his superiors and subordinates, and the emperor thought that the Governor of Britain was his strong supporter.

The emperor only wanted to control the rich areas around Italy. As for the more remote and poor Gaul region, he would definitely appoint a military commander he trusted to defend it.

He liked fame, but had no desire to lead an army himself to resist the barbarian invasion.

But there is no such good thing in the world.

The British Kingdom's grand strategic plan was quickly formulated. As the legions around London were assembled, Duncan personally led the army across the sea to fight.

Port of Calais.

According to intelligence sent back from the front, the Seventh Legion has reached the Ghent area. Further up, it will be the territory of the Netherlands in later generations, which is also the coastal border of Greater Germania.

"How come it's progressing so fast?"

After Duncan landed, he looked quite surprised and said to the advisor beside him, "Didn't I only mobilize two regular legions and two auxiliary legions?" A total of 4,000 troops.

According to his estimation, it would be great if they could capture the area around Calais, but now they have pushed to the mouth of the River Rhine.

The guard next to him also looked puzzled and said cautiously, "I don't know."

"Maybe the enemy is vulnerable!"

But even if it is vulnerable, it is impossible for it to advance so far, right?
The army only has 2,000 people at most, and the towns captured along the way still need to be occupied. How many people will be left after the troops are divided along the way?
at the same time.

At the mouth of the Rhine, a group of the barbarian chieftain's personal guards rode into view. Braid, the leader, looked excited as he pranced and whipped his horse, saying, "Ahead lies the military fortress the Empire had established in Germania Minor."

"Send someone to inform the Governor immediately."

"We have reclaimed the borders of Germania Minor."

When the general's guards returned, a huge army appeared in the distance. Their size was far greater than two legions, and behind them were many ragged militia troops holding simple weapons and shields.

These were exiles from the surrounding areas of Burgundy, numbering more than a thousand in total, including both men and women. The women were holding simple short spears, and some were dressed like slaves and peasants, without even a decent weapon.

No one expected that their army would grow larger and larger, and they were not forcing refugees to join, but they voluntarily asked to join.

Reputation and prestige are very useful.

Gaul was the headquarters of the exiled Bagaudae. After the war between Britain and the Franks broke out, exiles joined them along the way, and even the nearby slave estates erupted in rebellion. These people killed their lords and overseers, beheading all nobles, whether Frankish or Imperial.

Land, manors, and private property of the nobles were their tokens of allegiance. After these people were simply armed, they were recruited by the Seventh Legion.

As for the dead nobles, no one cares. It is clean only when they die.

The British Empire is poor.

Duncan ordered that the people should not be disturbed, but where would the army get its supplies and spoils?

Naturally, whoever has money will be robbed.

In this era, if you don't kill the local powerful and wealthy, where will you get the money? How much money can you squeeze out of the poor and miserable people? They can't even feed themselves!

An early feudal manor was comparable to a small town.

Only landlords have surplus food.

The Seventh Legion began garrisoning along the Rhine. A few days later, the Governor-General's order arrived, requiring the original British naval garrison to remain in place. Originally modeled after the Imperial Frontier Guard, they were returning to their roots. They re-established lines of defense along the Rhine, and with the reorganized refugees, they numbered around three thousand men.

These people were unable to fight and could only barely guard the border and cultivate land.

The Seventh Legion continued to move south to guard against the Alemanni, a branch of the barbarians who might invade at any time.

Port of Calais.

As the warships docked one after another, the British Imperial Legion led by Barton also arrived in Europe. Gaul was originally their garrison, and the old Imperial Legion soldiers who returned today had complicated expressions. They had never expected that just a year after establishing their roots in Britain, they would be fighting back again.

A spacious aristocratic mansion has now been transformed into a temporary meeting hall.

Duncan sat in the main seat, looking at the people below. Barton, Raymond and others were considered veterans of the Imperial British Legion, Severus and Cullin were Celts, Gaillard, Chatwin and others were indigenous chiefs in the Welsh area, Galavan and others were foreign legions of conquered barbarians, and Drest represented the Picts who had not yet been fully naturalized.

After more than a week, the main forces of the British Kingdom had all gathered in the Strait of Calais.

Duncan somewhat underestimated the influence of 'Invincible' on the army.

Even though he was not personally commanding the army, under the influence of his invincibility and military expansion, the British army was still in high spirits and fought very bravely, and the barbarian foreign legions made the real barbarians scream in pain.

The hall was quite quiet at this time.

Severus then stood up and said, "Merovingian is gathering a coalition of tribes to defend Picardy. He has already built several military fortresses and is said to have an army of 40,000 to 50,000 men."

"It looks like he intends to fight us on the plains."

Duncan knew why.

The exact size of Merovingian's hidden Frankish paladins is unknown, but the Frankish shock cavalry was also formidable. After the Battle of Chalons, the spoils were divided among the various factions. Not only did Duncan receive a large number of war horses, but all the other factions involved also received a considerable amount of captured goods.

When the Hun Empire fell, others became rich.

Forty or fifty thousand people?

Could it be that even the farmers and slaves were dragged out?

How big is the current Frankish tribe? Duncan absolutely believes that France in the future can easily mobilize tens of thousands of troops, but are you kidding me about mobilizing 40,000 or 50,000 troops in this era?
Even if we deduct the water content, all the living, breathing, and walking civilians are probably counted.

Duncan felt relieved when he heard about the 50,000-strong army. He thought Merovice was just bluffing, and maybe he could help him win an epic battle with legendary status.

………………

(End of this chapter)