Chapter 221: Rome’s Counterattack 4
< 221. Rome’s Counterattack 4 >
Altan, who was thrown into confusion by the unexpected situation, recalled the order that Bayatur had given him.
He was told to defend Thessalonica in case of an emergency.
He had heard that Thessalonica was a strategic point that had to be protected at all costs.
That was why Altan, one of the Sunwoo, was guarding it himself.
From that point of view, it was right to defend it with his life.
But the nomadic people were not familiar with defending a city or holding a stronghold.
Fighting in a city would make it difficult for them to use their mobility, which was their advantage.
If he fought on the plains, he was confident that he could fight 50,000 enemy infantry with 15,000 elite warriors.
But if he fought in a place like this, he doubted if he could win against 30,000, let alone 50,000.
‘It looks like a sure death if I fight here…’
Altan’s eyes looked at the other side of the sea.
He saw the Roman army that was arriving at the port one after another.
It was time to make a decision, but it was not easy to make any.
The place where Bayatur was fighting was not far from here.
It was a distance that could be reached in less than a day if he ran with his full strength.
‘If I siege here and bring Supreme Senior Warrior… Can I hold out until then? But Supreme Senior Warrior is fighting with the Romans. What if he can’t spare any troops?’
No matter how much he calculated, he could not get an estimate of more than a few days.
The enemy was not only the Roman army.
If the residents of Thessalonica judged that the situation was turning against the Huns, they would open the gates without hesitation.
The Huns were not good at siege warfare while worrying about the enemy inside.
His subordinates were also restless and waiting for his command.
In the end, no matter how much he racked his brain, there was only one conclusion.
Defense was impossible.
If he tried to force it, he would only kill 15,000 precious cavalrymen in vain.
He felt like he could hold out for a few days if he desperately defended the walls, but Altan, who lacked experience, did not have the confidence to do that.
Then it seemed better to give up on defense and evacuate the city cleanly.
‘Yeah. I can’t be a commander who kills my subordinates for a city that I can’t defend anyway. Let’s just join Supreme Senior Warrior with this force intact. Bartzagal is not the only one who can think. I can also make such an accurate judgment.’
Altan admired his own insight that perfectly grasped the situation and gave orders to his subordinates.
“Gather all the troops right now and open the north gate. We’ll get out of there.”
“Are you giving up on siege and going out to hit the back of the Roman army?”
“No! I’m going to join Supreme Senior Warrior right away. There’s no time to hesitate, so follow me!”
“······Yes?”
The subordinates questioned him with a dumbfounded expression, but Altan had already mounted his horse and ran away far away.
In the end, the subordinates who had no authority followed his orders and got on their horses without hesitation.
They wondered if it was okay to give up on the city so easily, but what could they do?
It was true that there was a high possibility of being slaughtered meaninglessly if they stayed here.
If there was any problem, Altan would be responsible anyway.
The 15,000 cavalrymen emptied their heads and left behind the Roman army that was preparing for siege warfare and ran away far away.
The one who was dumbfounded by their easy disappearance was Antonius.
He had dismantled the equipment for siege warfare and loaded them on several ships,
But he lost even the opportunity to use them properly.
Unlike Publius or Surenas, who did not get a chance to participate in rotation, Antonius wanted to achieve some noticeable feats in this city conquest.
But he entered the city without any battle at all, so he was happy but also felt uneasy.
“Are they pretending to leave the city and trying to hit us from behind… No, that can’t be. How can they hit us from behind when they abandoned the city?”
The only possibility he could think of was that they gave up on the city and ran away because they had no confidence in defending it.
It did not make sense to abandon a strategic point like Thessalonica,
But if there was no chance of winning, it might have been the best decision to save the soldiers.
It was a move that did not make sense logically, but it actually happened, so what could he do?
Eventually, Antonius entered the city with the enthusiastic welcome of the residents of Thessalonica and looked around his subordinates who had not yet relaxed their battle stance.
He had emphasized that a bloody battle would follow, so he was embarrassed, but he had completed his mission.
Antonius raised his sword and shouted in victory.
“I, Antonius, have reclaimed Thessalonica in the name of great Marcus!”
“Oh, oh oh!”
The soldiers who were standing awkwardly reacted belatedly and raised their weapons high in the sky following Antonius.
A messenger quietly approached him as he celebrated his victory with his soldiers.
“Don’t you have to report to Marcus that you have reclaimed the city?”
“Of course. You should go right now… No, I’ll go myself.”
Antonius ordered the legionnaires to stabilize the city and mounted his horse.
He left the city to join Marcus, who was eagerly waiting for his report by now, after completing his mission much easier than expected.
His face was full of confidence and pride.
※※※
While the Thessalonica recapture operation was progressing unexpectedly, the century’s duel between Bayatur and Spartacus ended without a clear outcome.
The two exhausted fighters agreed to resume their battle tomorrow and left the scene for now.
Both of them were unhappy about not settling the score, but Bayatur was much more dissatisfied than Spartacus.
“Master Supreme Senior Warrior would have won if he had a little more time!”
“He was almost out of stamina, so he won’t recover fully in a day. It’s obvious that Master Supreme Senior Warrior will win!”
His subordinates said words that were either comforting or flattering, but Bayatur’s face remained stiff and grim.
‘How humiliating it is to say that the only advantage I had over him was stamina.’
His hand holding the sword was still numb and tingling.
It was natural after exchanging countless blows until they ran out of energy.
He was sure that his opponent was in a similar state.
The problem was that he couldn’t gain the upper hand even then.
‘He’s already at an age where it wouldn’t be strange if he retired from the army long ago… and he still maintained such a skill level.’
When Bayatur saw Spartacus’s battle for the first time in the Parthian War, he looked close to middle-aged.
He must have been past his prime even then, let alone now.
On the other hand, Bayatur was in his peak of strength and skill, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was now the best warrior in Rome.
He shouldn’t be proud of having a close fight with the strongest gladiator of Rome.
He should be ashamed of not being able to overwhelm him one-sidedly.
What if Spartacus had his prime level of skill?
He didn’t have to think hard to know the answer.
It was then.
A messenger ran up to Bayatur, who was lost in his bitter thoughts, and reported urgently.
“Trouble! A large number of Romans have been spotted landing in Thessalonica through the sea!”
“What?”
It was a shocking news that made him forget about the aftermath of the one-on-one duel in an instant.
He got up from his seat and approached the messenger to ask for more details.
“How many of them have landed?”
“Judging by the number of ships spotted, it could be anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000.”
“So they didn’t leave their rear forces for defense… Now I understand their mysterious movements.”
Bayatur hurriedly came out of his tent and glared at the plain where the Roman army was.
They looked calm and composed even though the battle was stuck in a stalemate.
“Thessalonica won’t last long. Master Supreme Senior Warrior, what should we do? Should we abandon our base and retreat to Dalmatia?”
“I ordered Altan to defend the city at all costs. The Romans are said to be bad at siege warfare, so it will be hard to hold the fortress against their attack, but they should be able to last a few days. The Romans still have to recapture Macedonia and Thrace, so they are more in a hurry than us. For now, we’ll pretend to confront them while sending some troops to Thessalonica.”
It would upset the balance of power if he split his forces while not being able to overpower the Roman army, but he had no choice.
Anyway, since everyone here was cavalry, they could just retreat at full speed if the Romans tried to fight them.
He just had to sneak out his cavalry without being noticed.
As he was looking for the best opportunity to avoid the Roman surveillance, one of his subordinates pointed at the opposite horizon and shouted.
“Master Supreme Senior Warrior! I see Altan Sunwoo’s flag over there!”
“…What? Don’t tell me Altan came here himself to ask for reinforcements?”
He wanted to believe that it wasn’t the worst-case scenario he was thinking of, so Bayatur couldn’t bring himself to look at the direction his subordinate was pointing at.
But the sound of the approaching horsemen was not something that a hundred or two could make.
Altan’s voice, who was waving his flag with a dragon emblem and yelling cheerfully, completely shattered Bayatur’s composure.
“Master Supreme Senior Warrior! I escaped the city before the Romans surrounded us from all sides and brought all the troops with me.”
“Ugh! You stupid bastard!”
Bayatur’s scream echoed across the barren Thessalonica plain.
Around the same time when such a commotion was happening in the Hunnic camp, Marcus was receiving reports of every detail of the enemy’s movements in his tent.
“A scout just contacted us. More than 10,000 enemy cavalry have joined their camp from a distance.”
Publius tilted his head in confusion.
“Did they bring more troops from Thrace? If they’re preparing for a full-scale attack, we should fortify our defenses right away…”
“No problem. They can’t break this stalemate with just 10,000. It’s better for us if they concentrate their forces here.”
“But there’s no guarantee that Antonius will easily break through the Thessalonica defenders. If they’re determined to hold on, we don’t know how long the siege will last.”
Surenas, who had been listening to the conversation, nodded confidently and answered.
“They won’t last long. The nomads are not good at siege warfare compared to cavalry. And it’s even worse if they have to defend a fortress. Besides, the residents inside will side with us as soon as they see that things are going well. I’d say it won’t take more than three days…”
“Marcus sir! Antonius has arrived at the camp.”
A soldier who entered the tent interrupted Surenas’s words.
Marcus asked incredulously, not understanding the messenger’s report.
“…Did Antonius send a messenger?”
“No, sir. Antonius himself has arrived. He’ll be here any minute.”
“No, how can he leave the city siege and…”
“Did he delegate his command to other legionnaires and come back?”
Publius and Surenas each uttered a word in disbelief.
Antonius, who entered the tent with a triumphant stride, laughed heartily and began to tell his heroic tale.
“The operation was a great success! Thessalonica was successfully captured and I ordered the soldiers to start the next operation right away as per your command, Marcus sir.”
“…You captured the city? In one day?”
“Of course. I led the vanguard and shouted ‘Let’s save Thessalonica! Mars’s glory is with us!’ The enemies were scared by my roar and ran away.”
“…”
“…”
Silence enveloped the commanders.
Everyone looked at Marcus, hoping that he would explain this incomprehensible situation.
Marcus cleared his throat and tried to sound calm as he opened his mouth.
“…Yes, as expected. It was one of the possible scenarios we considered beforehand that the enemy would abandon the city and flee if they had no confidence in their defense. We have successfully recaptured Thessalonica, so this is our strategic victory.”
Surenas quickly read the mood and agreed smoothly.
“Yes. Everything went according to plan! The first act of Greece’s recapture has been successfully opened. Now it’s time to reclaim Thrace.”
No one pointed out that he had just said that it would take three days to capture Thessalonica.
The legionnaires who were baffled by the unexpected victory celebrated their victory with awkward expressions.
“…A remarkable victory! It was obvious that this would happen when Marcus sir took charge!”
“To capture Thessalonica in one day… no, in less than an hour. What a brilliant strategy!”
Marcus accepted his subordinates’ admiration with pleasure, but reminded them that it was too early to toast.
The counterattack for Greece’s recapture had just begun.
The long moments of humiliation were over.
Now it was time to pay back everything they had received.
< 221. Rome’s Counterattack 4 > End
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