Chapter 222: Rome’s Counterattack 5
< 222. Rome’s Counterattack 5 >
Unlike the Roman camp that was engulfed in cheers, the Hunnic camp was dispirited by the sudden news that came.
“Thessalonica has fallen into the hands of the Romans!”
Bayatur had tried to keep it a secret from his subordinates, but such a rumor was impossible to hide.
In no time, the rumor spread and his followers could not conceal their anxiety.
If the city behind them was in the enemy’s hands, it would not be strange to be attacked from both sides at any time.
In a makeshift tent that served as the commander-in-chief’s office, Bayatur racked his brain to analyze the current situation.
In his grand strategy, Thessalonica had more than just a simple base.
It was a strategic point that corresponded to the middle ground between Greece and Thrace.
As long as he held it, Rome could not easily enter the Thrace region.
And that meant he could take away the entire Black Sea from Rome’s hands.
The Huns did not have the ability to fully utilize the sea power of the Black Sea, but it still had meaning to make Rome lose its sea power.
But now that Thessalonica had fallen into the enemy’s hands, it had no meaning anymore.
The Huns, who had no ability to use the sea, had now lost their ability to defend the major cities of Thrace that were adjacent to the sea.
“No matter how I think about it, I can’t find a way out. I have to retreat my army.”
“What?”
Several tribal chiefs widened their eyes in astonishment at the unexpected remark.
“Are you going to return to Thrace now that Thessalonica has been captured?”
“No. I can’t hold Thrace anymore. I can pretend to defend it, but if it goes on for a long time, I’ll inevitably lose it to them. It’s better to join forces with the other troops in Dalmatia than to waste my soldiers in a futile siege.”
“How can you give up on a region that you’ve taken…?”
Mournful voices flowed from here and there.
He had given up on the region he had taken smoothly in Gaul, and now it was no different.
Moreover, he had given up on the region without losing a single battle twice.
Especially, he had conquered the Greek region with an unprecedented victory.
He couldn’t keep it for even a few months and had to give it back entirely, so he was furious.
Altan, who had become the culprit of this situation, could not utter a sound and just listened to other people’s words with his head bowed.
Bayatur glared at Altan with displeasure and then shook his head.
“I should have given up on the siege from the beginning and concentrated all my forces on one place to fight with the Romans. It’s not your fault, but mine. Altan’s judgment was regrettable, but he had never done a siege before, so I think he couldn’t help making such a decision.”
There was no point in blaming his subordinates for their mistakes in an irreversible situation.
Bayatur decided that it was his fault for devising a strategy that was incompatible with the characteristics of a nomadic people in the first place.
He should have explained more details to Altan as well.
Altan, who was prepared for punishment, bowed his head deeper at Bayatur’s consolation.
His eyes were slightly filled with tears of anger and shame at himself and regret for his compatriots, but other tribal chiefs pretended not to see his appearance and spared him.
Bayatur also thought about fighting one more battle with the Roman army, but soon concluded that it was impossible.
Now that Thessalonica was in their hands, there was no reason for the Romans to engage with the Huns.
The Roman camp was quietly retreating back and facing the coast.
If the enemy was determined to defend themselves, it would be futile to try to break through them and only harm themselves.
‘This expedition may have more losses than gains. I didn’t expect it to end like this… Did I underestimate Emperor Marcus too much?’
In practical terms, the Huns did not suffer much damage this time.
They had fought with Sextus and Marcus in succession, but their losses were negligible compared to those of the Romans.
After all, they had almost annihilated 200,000 of the enemy’s forces.
Not only that, they had also plundered temples and resources from major cities in Greece.
If you look at this alone, losing Greece was not a big loss either.
But the real problem was not that.
The loss of troops or damage scale was secondary.
The problem was the strange sense of defeat that infiltrated his subordinates.
It hurt to have the impression that they would eventually be pushed back by the enemy even if they attacked them vigorously.
More than anything, the biggest problem was that they could not overwhelm the enemy in their confident cavalry charge.
Of course, Bayatur’s army was only 70,000, which was less than half of the total force, and faced Marcus’s 150,000 army.
But Marcus also did not pour out all the forces he could mobilize.
No matter how he calculated it, it did not seem easy to overpower the Roman army in the future battles.
Especially, now that the entire Greek region would fall into Marcus’s hands, it would not be easy to cross Greece as before.
In this regard, it could be said that this expedition was not very profitable for the Huns in the long run.
Bayatur admitted that the situation had become difficult.
If he did not see the reality properly, he would end up going into the abyss of ruin himself.
‘Emperor Marcus… I wonder what kind of person he is. I want to see him in person once.’
Before leaving, Bayatur made one last offer of negotiation to Rome.
He did not really intend to make a treaty.
He just wanted to see Marcus in person and gauge his personality.
But perhaps his intention was read, for the answer that came back from the Roman army was ‘don’t talk nonsense’.
They also added that there would be no negotiation until the Huns paid back all the damage they had done to Rome, and that if they wanted to negotiate, they should come back after that.
It was a statement of their will that they would not talk to them until the Hun army was annihilated.
Still, there was some harvest from this.
He could tell how deep Marcus’s anger was, and that he had no intention of compromise at all.
He seemed more aggressive than he had expected.
‘Is he showing such an attitude to lower our morale, or is it his original personality…’
He was not sure yet, but one thing was certain.
Even if the Huns retreated from Greece, Rome would move this time.
And if he dealt with it poorly, he might suffer a fatal blow.
Bayatur felt the urgent need to finish planning his future strategy before joining his main force.
※※※
Once the Huns made a decision, as always, they quickly withdrew their army.
The Roman army lacked mobility to chase the Huns who were determined to flee.
Even if they pursued with 50,000 cavalry under their command, it would be too much.
Rather, they would be lucky not to fall into the enemy’s ambush and be attacked in reverse.
Marcus did not intend to rashly touch the Hun army that was escaping to the west.
Instead, he went straight to the northwest to cut off and eat the small number of Hun cavalry that were guarding Thrace.
Unfortunately, the Hun scouts who were guarding the Black Sea coast went up north as soon as they heard that the Roman army was coming and left Thrace behind.
He failed to actually reduce the enemy’s forces, but he still achieved his initial goal perfectly.
Marcus took back all the cities that had fallen into the hands of the Huns by touring the western coast with Thessalonica as his base.
The cities in western Greece also rose up together when they heard the news that Thessalonica had been liberated.
The anti-Roman factions who had sided with the Huns were beaten by the citizens and killed or exiled.
The city gates opened automatically and the citizens poured out onto the streets every time Marcus visited a city.
His every move was met with enthusiastic cheers and praises from the people.
The people of Greece sincerely welcomed and rejoiced at the visit of the hero who had liberated them again.
And their fanatical support reached its climax when Marcus, who had recovered Greece, Macedonia, and Thrace, returned to Athens again.
“Marcus! Marcus!”
“Glory to the gods for the great Mesopotamicus!”
Almost all of Athens’ citizens ran out to the city gate and shouted his name until their throats tore.
Even children waved flags crudely imitating Marcus’s legion emblem and tried hard to get a better look at the hero’s face.
There were few occasions when such a large crowd of people gathered in Athens.
Even when the Olympics were held, people did not gather like this.
It was a crowd reminiscent of when Pompey, who had almost eradicated pirates, visited Greece.
The fear that Greece had for the Huns was indescribable.
The Huns were completely different from the invaders that Greece had faced so far.
They showed no respect for Greek culture at all, and if they resisted, they killed men and made women slaves.
Even pirates only plundered the wealth of temples, but Huns destroyed temples and raped priestesses if cities did not listen to them.
And they did not even speak their language, and their appearance was completely alien, so the fear of Greeks multiplied several times more.
It was almost like Earthlings being invaded by aliens in modern terms.
The fact that Sextus’s Roman army, which they had trusted, was easily annihilated by them made them unable to resist even more.
Marcus easily drove them away again and brought them back to their previous lives.
It was natural for Greeks who were in despair to see Marcus as a god.
And he was also somewhat familiar to Greeks.
He was none other than the one who had participated in pirate hunting under Pompey, who is still legendary in Greece today.
When that story spread again, Greeks began to regard Marcus as Pompey’s successor in fact.
The old ones who remembered Pompey’s glory raised their voices until they tore their throats.
“Long live Governor Marcus!”
Someone’s shout became a fuse, and from then on everyone waved flags and shouted long live governor.
Strictly speaking, Marcus was not governor of Greece, but that fact was not important.
In the hearts of Greek citizens, Marcus was already governor of all Greece.
“Long live Governor Marcus! Long live!”
Marcus entered with dignity amid the hot applause that seemed to deafen his ears.
His procession, riding a white horse and arming his subordinates with splendid armor, was reminiscent of a parade.
He went to the temple of Athens to report his victory to the great gods and thank them.
By capturing the hearts of the Greeks completely, Marcus stayed in Greece and Macedonia for a while and cleaned up the aftermath of the war.
He also sent a request to the Roman Senate to entrust him with the reconstruction of Greece along with a report that he had successfully carried out the operation.
Of course, he did not wait for an answer.
It was because he had an excuse to prevent the re-invasion of the Huns.
“I will restore Greece to its former state within a year. Dear citizens, please rest assured and resume your livelihood. The dark night is over now.”
As if to prove his words, Marcus rebuilt the temples and cultural assets of Greece that had been destroyed as a top priority.
He also repaired the public facilities that had been burned down and provided food support to those who had lost their homes until they could settle down again.
Greece began to regain its vitality.
The only thing that people were anxious about was one thing.
Marcus leaving Greece and returning to Asia Minor.
The eyes of the citizens waiting for the ship from Rome naturally sharpened.
If the Senate sent a silly answer, there would be riots all over Greece at once.
And perhaps because they read that atmosphere, or because they were afraid of the Huns, but the answer from Rome was exactly what the Greeks wanted.
<Marcus Mesopotamicus is granted additional jurisdiction over four provinces: Greece, Macedonia, Epirus, and Thrace. The governor shall focus on creating an environment where Greece can engage in commerce as before and prepare for the invasion of the Huns. The term is unlimited until the threat of the Huns disappears and Greece stabilizes.>
They made it clear that it was a temporary measure because of the Huns, but it was still the same as granting him an indefinite term as governor.
Greece was engulfed in a cauldron of cheers when they received the desired result.
Priests, merchants, and local leaders who were active in Greek-speaking areas lined up to visit Marcus and establish some connection with him.
But even in this excited atmosphere, he calmly did what he had to do.
He did not hurry or relax because he was impatient.
A massive counterattack against the Huns did not end with just recovering the lost areas.
It’s not worth it if we shed too much blood on this side.
‘At least we have to pay them back as much as we suffered. But we can’t rush it. If we show our intentions, we might miss it.’
Marcus’s eyes shone coldly.
He did not hear the flattery or cheers mixed in people’s applause in his ears.
He was just waiting for an answer to his proposal he sent to Caesar.
And that would be the moment when this long war came to an end.
< 222. Rome’s Counterattack 5 > End
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