Chapter 206: The Beginning of the War 3
< 206. The Beginning of the War >
The shocking news of the Hunnic invasion reached the Roman Senate in no time.
At first, most of them scoffed at the idea of some nomads posing any threat to them.
Since Pompey had brought Rome to its peak, Rome had never lost to any external enemy.
Even when they received the report of a large enemy force appearing in Germania, the senators did not pay much attention.
Who was guarding Germania?
It was Caesar’s legion.
The invincible warriors who had conquered Gaul, Britannia, and Germania in eight years.
And Caesar was the unparalleled war hero who commanded them.
Even Cato, who hated Caesar, acknowledged his ability.
They expected that in a few days, Caesar would send a report of sweeping away the invading barbarians as usual.
Rather, the aristocrats were worried about how to deal with Caesar if he accumulated more military merits.
“Let’s think of some excuses to reject his request for a triumph if he repels the barbarians.”
But before they could hold a meeting for such a base motive, an urgent message arrived in Rome.
The annihilation of three legions in Germania.
And Caesar’s report that he would regroup the remaining legions and block the way for the enemy to enter Rome.
The Senate was appalled when they heard the basic outline of his defensive plan.
It meant that Caesar was giving up not only Germania but also Gaul.
“That Caesar gave up Gaul without even fighting?”
“Maybe he has some ulterior motive…”
“Who would willingly give up their own territory? This means that the situation is serious.”
“They say the enemy has 200,000 cavalry. 200,000! And they use saddles and their bows are not much different from ours.”
The Senate fell into chaos in an instant.
The populists and the aristocrats gathered in the forum every day to exchange information from various places.
The aristocrats collected detailed information by mobilizing all their influence around Cicero and Cato, and the populists also tried to find out the exact situation through Piso, Caesar’s father-in-law.
And as they learned more, they realized that the situation was as serious as Caesar’s report.
“At least most of the enemy’s army is cavalry, so they won’t be able to cross the Alps. It’s a blessing in disguise…”
Bibulus’s naive perception of reality made Cicero sigh and scold him.
“If most of them are cavalry, then they won’t be able to cross the Alps even if their leader is Hannibal. But even if that’s not the case, Gaul will be devastated. And Hispania might be breached as well. The damage will be unimaginable.”
“Well, that’s true but…”
Cicero immediately guessed what Bibulus had omitted from his speech.
But even if Gaul and Germania are destroyed this time, they are Caesar’s bases.
And Hispania was also largely under Caesar’s influence.
So if they can somehow end the war well, this could be a golden opportunity for the aristocrats.
Sextus had lost and weakened in the civil war, and Caesar would suffer a lot from this war.
Even if he somehow managed to recover, he could be held accountable for the fall of Gaul and Germania after the war and be pressured politically.
But Cicero had no intention of adopting Bibulus’s opinion at all.
Even Cato, who would go against Caesar at any cost, frowned and showed his displeasure.
“This is not the time to discuss such things. You seem to have a poor sense of reality. The enemy we have to face now may be more threatening than Hannibal in the past. Do you have any idea what kind of tragedy will happen if 200,000 cavalry enter Italy? What we have to do now is not petty party fights.”
Cato’s harsh criticism made Bibulus shut his mouth without a word of rebuttal.
Cicero also supported Cato this time.
“We have to communicate with the populists as much as possible and make quick decisions. What if Caesar successfully repels the invaders and asks for a triumph? How do we pressure him after this war ends? Let’s put aside these trivial arguments. Now we have to focus all our resources on repelling the enemy that threatens Rome.”
Cicero’s speech touched the hearts of the senators.
It was a clear fact that many of them were greedy and pursued their own interests.
But at the same time, it was also true that most of them regarded protecting the Roman Republic as their top priority.
It could be because they were patriots like Cicero or Cato, or because they thought they would lose their wealth if the Republic collapsed.
Or maybe they had a plan to take advantage of this crisis and gain more power.
Anyway, the sure thing was that the Senate could unite under the common goal of defending Rome, regardless of the populists or the aristocrats.
Cicero expressed his intention in the Senate meeting, where no one was absent.
In order to save Rome from the unprecedented crisis, they had to put aside their political ideologies and gather all the power of the nation.
The last sentence of his speech resonated with the senators.
“We are now being tested by a huge threat from outside. Just like our ancestors who faced Hannibal in the Punic War, please prove your loyalty to the fatherland!
This country has given me, a newcomer from Picenum, the opportunity to speak here.
I love Rome.
I am ready to do anything to overcome the crisis of our beloved homeland. I know that my fellow senators who are listening to my speech love the republic more than I do.
I am confident that we can easily overcome this crisis, as we always have, if all of Rome unites its strength. So I beg you earnestly. Please gather all your power and wisdom to overcome this national disaster.”
Cicero swore on his family name as if to prove his words.
He vowed not to hold Caesar accountable for this war in any way.
That is, he would not make an issue of the damage that had occurred so far, or the losses that would be incurred in the future.
The other aristocratic senators also agreed.
Even Cato, who was in a close relationship with Caesar, consented to this, and the populist senators no longer doubted the sincerity of the aristocrats.
Caesar’s father-in-law and the current center of the populists, Piso, declared that he would attend the meeting without distinction of factions from this moment on.
And Cicero and Piso passed one bill as Caesar requested.
It was absurdly insufficient to have only ten legions to defend against the Huns.
So Caesar decided to recruit soldiers beyond the limit of the legions he was allowed to command.
The governor-general could recruit legions beyond his authority for defense.
So Caesar asked the Senate to formally approve this.
He might have to fight in areas that were not allowed to him if the war with the Huns dragged on.
He swore in the name of God that he had no ulterior motive and that he would return this right as soon as the war was over.
Even Cato, who would have foamed at the mouth in opposition at any other time, did not raise any objections.
The Senate went one step further than Caesar’s request.
They did not limit it to Caesar alone, but officially announced a law that all commanders who fought against the Huns could gather as many legions as they needed.
In front of an unprecedented crisis that came after a hundred years since the Hannibalic War, Rome finally began to mobilize all its capabilities as a superpower.
※※※
Caesar did not completely give up Gaul while retreating behind the defensive line.
The messengers who received his orders risked their lives and traveled around every corner of Gaul, delivering orders to the tribal chiefs.
The Huns were too strong, so don’t confront them head-on and migrate for now.
He promised that Rome would spare no support for restoring the damage when the war was over.
Many tribes followed Caesar’s words and left their homeland for a while.
The coastal tribes near Britain boarded ships and fled, while others crossed over to Hispania and formed a defense line in the Pyrenees Mountains.
The tribes adjacent to the Alps went into the rugged mountainous terrain and hid themselves.
But the tribes in central Gaul were not so easy to move.
There were quite a few people who did not want to turn their backs on their homeland.
They said they could repel the invaders as they did when the Germanic tribes invaded.
The Arverni tribe, which lived near modern-day Lyon in France, was one of those tribes.
The chief of the Arverni tribe was pro-Roman, but his position became precarious as Caesar retreated due to the invasion of the Huns.
The Arverni tribe, who wanted to protect their homeland, deposed their incompetent chief and elected Vercingetorix, his nephew, instead.
Vercingetorix was a person who had loudly insisted that Gaul should maintain its national pride even after it fell into Rome’s hands.
In original history, he was a hero who served as Gaul’s first and last united tribal chief against Caesar.
Caesar, who had almost subdued Gaul, was pushed back to the brink of losing almost all of Gaul by Vercingetorix’s uprising.
If he had not achieved a miraculous victory in the final battle, Caesar would have fallen into ruin without fail.
This young Gaul with such talent and spirit judged that this was a golden opportunity for Gaul to break free from Rome’s hands.
Poison is subdued by poison.
If the invaders from the east and Rome fought each other and annihilated each other, Gaul might be able to return to its former state.
Vercingetorix hoped for that and did not listen to Caesar’s order to flee.
The area where the Arverni tribe lived was not an environment where they could easily migrate to another place.
He thought that if he caught the eye of the Huns, he could just bow his head and pretend to submit.
But this was Vercingetorix’s fatal mistake.
He, who was still lacking information, did not hear properly what kind of slaughter the Huns had committed in Germania.
So he ordered his tribesmen to appease the Huns if they came, and left his place for a while to look for other tribes to join him.
And after bringing in three other small tribes to his side, he returned to his village and saw a nightmare-like scene in front of him.
“What is this… How did this happen?”
Vercingetorix could not understand the sight before his eyes.
It was a place that was peaceful just a few days ago.
The other tribesmen who came with Vercingetorix were also stunned by the tragic scene they witnessed.
“How, how could this happen…”
Vercingetorix, who was shocked to the point of losing his soul, could not hide his bewildered expression.
One of the tribesmen who was standing in horror stepped forward and shouted in a trembling voice.
“Is there no one alive? Hey! If you’re there, answer me!”
There was no answer.
Instead, only the foul smell of something burning remained in their noses.
Vercingetorix swallowed the nausea that was rising up and headed to the center of the village.
He had seen piles of corpses before.
Most of the warriors who fought against Caesar had met a similar fate.
But it was hard to accept that those bodies were of women and children who had nothing to do with the battle.
They were the ones who had trusted and followed him, and showed him smiles just a few days ago.
What had happened here?
“Who are they? What bastards did this?”
“It must be those Huns from the east. Do they kill everyone without fighting? They seem so cruel.”
The conversation between the other tribesmen brought Vercingetorix back to his senses.
He moved his faltering steps and looked around every corner of the village.
The warehouse where food and wealth were stored was empty.
It was not an ordinary act of thieves.
Even though Vercingetorix had left his place, there were hundreds of warriors guarding the village.
The village’s defense was not weak enough to be taken by bandits.
And to take all the food, they must have brought enough people and carts.
What he did not understand was that he had instructed them to give them everything they wanted if things went wrong.
“They intended to kill them all and rob them from the start…”
He seemed to understand why Caesar had ordered him to abandon his land and run away.
They were different from Rome.
Rome never touched those who surrendered.
So he made a fatal mistake.
While moving with difficulty, something caught his foot.
It was the body of a child who died from an arrow.
He turned over the bloody body and checked his face.
Vercingetorix knew the faces and names of all the members of the village.
The dead child was Aco, who had sung that he would become a brave warrior like him someday.
He was able to collect the bodies of his wife and children soon after.
His eyes did not move properly.
Vercingetorix pressed his blurred eyes with his fingers.
A few drops of moisture stuck to his fingertips.
“I will make them pay… I will make them pay for this. I will kill them all without mercy and appease the souls of those who died.”
He wanted to treat the bodies with proper procedures if he could, but he did not know when the Huns would come back again.
He forced himself to shake off his sorrow and calm his mind coldly. Vercingetorix hid himself in the dark forest with those who followed him.
The footsteps of the warriors crossing the darkness were wet with silent tears.
The direction where the footsteps of the warriors burning with uncontrollable revenge headed was south of Gaul.
The Pyrenees Mountains where Caesar had urged him to form a defensive line.
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