Chapter 92: The Start of the Gallic War
Marcus kept his promise and provided the new armor and weapons to the centurions and soldiers of the 12th legion who stood in the front line.
The impression of the steel plate armor was so strong that they didn’t notice it at first, but the new gladius was also very powerful when they actually used it.
In battle, it was inevitable that the weapons of both sides would clash.
But the gladius that Marcus handed out either chipped or broke the existing weapons that collided with it.
If the weapons used by the regular Roman army were like this, there was no need to mention the weapons of the barbarians.
The soldiers felt like they had shed a huge burden and their faces brightened.
“Legate, we apologize for our rude attitude that we showed you before. We didn’t know that you cared so much about us.”
The senior centurion Lucius was the first to offer a polite apology.
His intention represented the whole of the centurions, and it was not an exaggeration to say so.
Marcus graciously accepted Lucius’s apology.
He displayed his rhetoric skills by raising his own stature without blaming the other party.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s rather your duty as a senior centurion to look at a legate who seems inexperienced with a skeptical eye. An incompetent legate can endanger the lives of the entire legion. I’m still not very experienced in the battlefield, so I plan to listen to your opinions as much as possible. I hope you will be a great help to me in the future.”
“Yes. I will devote all my abilities to assist you, legate.”
“We will also follow your orders faithfully, legate!”
“There’s nothing that has a bigger impact than the difference in equipment when a frontal battle breaks out. You have already achieved a great feat that will be engraved in the history of Rome, legate.”
The other centurions also followed Lucius’s lead and praised Marcus.
Marcus sat among them and smiled pleasantly, exchanging compliments.
It was a completely different atmosphere from a few hours ago.
Despite being intoxicated by praise, Marcus’s true feelings were not excited at all.
He observed the centurions with a cold eye and tried to figure out their tendencies.
He invested so much in the 12th legion not simply because it was his assigned legion.
Marcus planned to thoroughly militarize the 12th legion.
The soldiers who would risk their lives and gain experience for at least two years in Gaul were not of low value.
Especially if they were those who followed Marcus’s command from the beginning and continued to sync with him afterwards.
If he wasn’t going to take them with him all along, he wouldn’t have given them some of his new weapons, even if they were his own legion.
This Gallic expedition also had the character of a final adjustment for Marcus’s grand plan.
He intended to gain practical experience by commanding an army on the battlefield, and verify the data on how efficient steel was compared to existing weapons in real combat.
If he got unsatisfactory results, he might have to revise his original plan drastically.
Of course, there was no such possibility, but he couldn’t be complacent either.
Arrogance and complacency were always the vanguards that led to ruin.
Marcus gathered up his legion, which had reached its peak morale, and joined in the construction of defensive lines like other legions.
After half a month passed, the envoys of the Helvetii came back again.
As two more regular legions joined them, Caesar’s army now had a total of seven legions.
If one added another legion that served as auxiliary troops, it could be said that they had eight legions in reality.
Among those who joined them, Marcus saw some familiar faces.
Antonius, who applied for transfer as soon as he received Marcus’s letter, finally arrived in Gaul.
Caesar appointed Antonius as the cavalry officer of the 12th legion led by Marcus.
The defensive line was perfect and they had all the regular legions they had been waiting for, so there was nothing more to hesitate about.
Caesar firmly rejected the Helvetii’s request.
“We’ve discussed it for a long time, but we’ve decided that we can’t allow you to pass through our province. If you cross the Rhone River, we will consider it as a declaration of war against Rome and respond accordingly.”
“Despicable… You deceived us from the beginning to buy time! Is this how Rome does things?”
Realizing that they had been fooled, the Helvetii’s envoy spat out curses and returned to their camp.
The hardliners who argued that they couldn’t back down tried to cross the river.
But when they saw the Roman army’s defensive line, they sensed that they couldn’t break through and immediately turned back.
The only choice left for the Helvetii was to cross the west and head to their original destination.
They asked for mediation from the Haedui, the most powerful tribe in Gaul.
The Haedui tribe had a close relationship with Rome, and their leaders even had Roman citizenship as pro-Roman Gallics.
Dumnorix, a powerful man of the Haedui tribe who was close to the Helvetii, persuaded his tribe.
Eventually, the chief Diviciacus decided to avoid unnecessary conflict and convinced the Sequani tribe to let the Helvetii pass.
When the Haedui tribe contacted Caesar with this, he immediately led his legion and set up a camp on the border.
It was common sense that there would be friction with the surroundings when a population of over 350,000 moved.
As expected, a minor clash occurred as the Helvetii passed through the territory of the Sequani tribe.
The Helvetii used this as an excuse to start plundering the territory of the Sequani tribe.
The Haedui tribe, who received a strong protest from the Sequani tribe, realized the seriousness of the situation and asked Caesar for help.
“The Helvetii will pose a serious threat to Rome as well if they settle near your province. Please send your army to help us.”
It was one of Gaul’s long traditions to bring in external forces to their own disputes.
Caesar had no reason to refuse this offer and immediately marched his army into Gaul.
He didn’t need the permission of the Senate to move his army outside the province to defend it.
“Are you sure it’s okay without the Senate’s permission?”
“What do I have to worry about when I have you? This was a matter that required quick judgment, and you can prove to the Senate that there was no lie in my words.”
“True. But do you trust the Haedui tribe, Caesar?”
“Of course not. No matter how friendly they are to Rome, Gallic tribes can never be trusted allies. They are the ones who will hit us in the back of our heads whenever we show a gap. We have to assume this fact and make our plans accordingly. You should keep this in mind too.”
Caesar’s situation assessment was appropriate. Even though he sometimes showed excessive confidence, he never confused the essence of the matter.
The Roman army finally reached the Arar River, the boundary line between the territories of the Sequani and the Haedui tribes.
Four thousand Gallic allied cavalry, gathered under the leadership of the Haedui tribe, were waiting for the Roman army.
Caesar joined them and immediately sent out scouts to monitor the movements of the Helvetii.
Half a day later, the scouts returned to the camp and reported immediately.
“The Helvetii are currently trying to cross the river to the other side. From what I saw, about a quarter of them have crossed. They are still crossing the river, so I think they will finish by tomorrow.”
“I see, good job. This is a great opportunity for us. We can’t miss the chance to divide and conquer the enemy. Marcus, prepare for a surprise attack with four legions, including yours.”
“Yes. I will execute it right away.”
Marcus’s chest throbbed with excitement as he took charge of his first battle command.
It was different from the occupation war in the east, where there was no resistance.
Now it was time to fight a real war.
He led his legion out of the camp at midnight and felt the air of the battlefield on his skin.
His heart pounded and his lips dried up from the killing intent and tension that people emitted.
When the 25,000-strong Roman army reached the riverbank, three quarters of the Helvetii had already crossed the river.
There was no better situation than this to split and destroy the enemy.
Caesar immediately ordered an attack.
“They are potential threats to Rome! Don’t spare any of them and wipe them all out!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
The Roman legion poured out with a roar that shook the ground.
The Helvetii, who were trying to cross the river, couldn’t regain their senses from this unexpected attack.
“Ro, Roman army! It’s a surprise attack by the Roman army!”
“Stop crossing the river! Form a line and…!”
Thwack!
A spear thrown by Spartacus pierced through the face of the commander who was giving orders.
The Helvetii, who couldn’t form a proper line, couldn’t respond properly to the Roman army’s surprise attack.
The non-combatants and combatants were mixed up, which only hindered their fight.
On the other hand, the Roman army that formed a neat line and pushed forward swept away the Helvetii like an angry wave.
This battle was more like an annihilation than a battle.
The Helvetii on the other side of the river could only watch their compatriots being brutally killed.
Most of the Helvetii who remained on the riverbank died, and the rest were captured as prisoners.
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief at the first battle that ended more easily than expected.
It was perfect as a warm-up for the upcoming war.
The damage to his legion was minimal, while the enemy’s damage amounted to tens of thousands.
The morale of the Roman army, which was already high, kept rising endlessly.
Caesar took advantage of this momentum and ordered his engineers to build a bridge.
While the Helvetii were flustered, the engineers completed a bridge that could cross an army in just one day.
The Helvetii’s morale fell to an irrecoverable level when they saw this.
They realized with their eyes that there was an indescribable gap between their capabilities and those of their opponents.
The cornered Helvetii decided to send envoys to Rome again.
The envoy who had spat out curses and left last time came back with an awkward expression to find Rome’s camp again.
Caesar met him in his tent with Marcus by his side.
“So, you want to negotiate now?”
“Yes, as you said, legate. We will migrate to wherever Rome designates. So please stop fighting here. And we would like you to persuade other Gallic tribes not to be hostile to us.”
“But weren’t you guys who ignored the goodwill of Haedui and Sequani tribes and started plundering first? And now you ask them not to be hostile to you? That’s a bit shameless, don’t you think?”
“We, of course, will pay for plundering Sequani’s territory. We will compensate them with interest once we settle down and stabilize our lives. We don’t have much goods left right now…”
He unwittingly leaked important information and his face turned pale.
Caesar smiled satisfactorily and nodded his head.
“Good. Then I’ll make you a generous offer out of pity for your plight. You will complete your compensation for Haedui and Sequani tribes within two years. And you will consult with Gallic tribal leaders to decide where you will migrate. Lastly, you will provide your children of influential leaders as hostages to Rome. If you meet these three conditions, I will stop all hostile actions against the Helvetii.”
The envoy was speechless for a moment.
His expression was so bad that one could tell he was very upset.
Marcus knew well that this was a reasonable offer from Rome’s point of view, but it was an unacceptable demand from the Helvetii’s point of view.
For the Helvetii, providing hostages meant swearing to become the other party’s vassals.
As Marcus expected, the envoy bit his lips and shook his head.
“We can’t accept the provision of hostages. That’s an insult to us.”
“The hostages that Rome asks for are different from what you think. Rome never treats them negligently. They are guests who visit our country for friendship, not the concept of hostages.”
“That’s not possible. Even if Roma thinks so, the other people of our tribe will never accept it. And the other Gallic tribes will also see us as traitors who surrendered and swore allegiance to Roma. That’s an intolerable insult.”
“Insult? Asking for hostages and compensation from those who violated Roma’s borders and other tribes’ territories is an insult? Your way of thinking is very different from mine. Well, then we have no choice but to fight to the end… What do you say? Do you want to continue this?”
The Helvetii envoy slammed the desk and stood up from his seat.
“We have a custom of holding hostages, but not of sending them! You want to fight to the end? Fine! Let’s see how far you can go!”
The envoy snorted and turned around to leave, leaving Caesar with a dumbfounded expression. Marcus chuckled and said.
“This is how cultural differences show up. The Helvetii must have heard your demand as a request for absolute obedience.”
The way Roma dealt with the hostages from the Gallic tribes was far from being captives, as Caesar said.
Roma rather gave them all the sweetness of civilized life.
They let them enjoy all the luxuries they could, and subtly encouraged them to follow Roma’s culture.
Then they sent back the influential ones who were completely Romanized to make their tribes pro-Roma.
Caesar tried to use this method on the Helvetii, but the negotiation failed for an unexpected reason.
Now the only thing left was a full-scale war.
“Out of the 360,000 Helvetii, almost a quarter of them have been neutralized, so now there are only about 270,000 left. Of those, there should be more than 60,000 warriors left. Our legions are almost 50,000, so if we include equipment and training status, we have an advantage in strength. Even without the Gallic allies who are dubious whether they will help or not, the situation is like this. It’s surprising that they don’t bow down.”
“Even if they are not adult males, they can still fight somehow. They must have thought they could still win if they squeezed out more people.”
“We’ll have to make them realize that was a foolish idea.”
Caesar did not rush to attack even though he judged that his army had an advantage.
He kept a certain distance from the Helvetii who were passing through the territory of the Haedui tribe, and continued to pressure them.
His strategy was to make the impatient enemy attack first.
It was a flawless plan, but there was one thing he was worried about: securing supplies.
Gaul was a foreign land for Roma, so supply was not easy.
Caesar asked for supply from his allies, the Haedui tribe, to solve this problem.
But Marcus knew that the Haedui tribe would not provide supplies on time.
The most important thing in the battlefield was securing a stable supply line.
If this was not done, no matter how invincible an army was, it was impossible to win a war.
Marcus decided to prevent any possible variables in advance.
He advised Caesar to prepare in advance since there was a risk of delay in supply from the Haedui tribe, and used the reserve legions to buy supplies from other tribes besides the Haedui tribe.
Thanks to this, even though the supply from the Haedui tribe did not go well as expected, Roma’s army did not feel any food pressure.
Caesar praised Marcus’s merit at the commanders’ meeting, but he did not hold the Haedui tribe accountable.
He just subtly warned them that he already anticipated their actions.
From then on, the movements of the Haedui tribe became much faster than before.
The cavalry that had been fighting half-heartedly with the enemy also came to their senses.
Caesar ordered his main force to stick close behind the Helvetii, and his Gallic cavalry to roam around their flanks, constantly pressuring them.
Their supplies were running low and enemies were closing in from everywhere except the front.
The patience of the Helvetii reached its limit.
Finally determined to fight a battle, they turned their army around and approached Roma’s army.
Caesar did not hesitate and accepted their challenge.
“Scatter your cavalry and distract their attention while your infantry take over the high ground on the hill. All legions form ranks and follow the orders of your legionnaires and centurions faithfully. The enemy may be numerous, but they are nothing but untrained rabble. Trust your commander and yourself! You will not lose as long as you follow me. Roma invicta!”
“Uooooo! Roma invicta!”
As if responding to Caesar’s shout, Roma’s army roared like thunder that they would not lose. The fear of the battlefield turned into a desire and excitement for victory.
The eyes of the soldiers looking at the Helvetii who were rushing in sparkled with determination.
The spears of the soldiers in the front line tore the air and the arrows shot by the archers in the back line filled the sky.
Marcus’s legion also shouted and drew their swords and started to charge.
The real war had begun.
< 92. Start of the Gallic War > End
The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on fr(e)𝒆webnov(e)l.com