The Mad Tycoon of Rome

Chapter 212: Operation North of the Rhine 3

< 212. Operation North of the Rhine 3 >

212

Bayatur thought that the work of destroying and subjugating Gaul was going smoothly.

He stayed on the Île de la Cité, which corresponds to modern Paris on the Seine River, and distributed the pastures of Gaul.

He made most of the northern part into pastures owned by Supreme Senior Warrior, and divided the remaining small areas among various tribes.

He gave a considerable part of the south to Senior Warrior Altan, who had made a great contribution in the beginning, and decided to distribute the rest of the area to three other Senior Warriors.

He wondered if he could start moving his Gers and family from the Black Soil Plain after stabilizing Gaul for a few months.

But he only thought about it and did not actually put it into action.

Bartjargal, Bayatur’s lieutenant and one of the four Senior Warriors, seemed to have the same idea.

“It’s not easy to go from the Black Soil to Gaul. You have to pass through Germania, and if there are a few Roman soldiers ambushing in the dense forest, you can suffer a lot of damage. And there may be some rebellious Gaul tribes waiting for an opportunity.”

“Yeah. Fighting in the forest is not our specialty. After stabilizing Gaul completely, we’ll have to do something about Germania.”

“Altan would say to kill them all and burn them.”

“You never know if he’ll really do that, so don’t even joke about it. It’s no use conquering if you kill them all.”

No matter how much he tried to instill fear, it was unbelievable that such a slaughterer left Bosporus alone. He thought he would surely destroy it.

“He’s not stupid enough to not know which one is more profitable. If he was that dumb, I wouldn’t have left him in that position.”

“I see. Then do you intend to leave him in charge of southern Gaul for a while?”

“The enemy stabilized the defense lines of Hispania and Alps faster than expected. I didn’t underestimate Bokje, but he seems to be more cunning than I thought. I told Altan to reinforce his troops for now, so he’ll contact me soon.”

The swift response of Rome was unexpected, but not completely out of consideration.

As long as they made Gaul completely theirs and connected Germania and the Black Soil Plain completely, there would be no problem.

He heard that Rome’s army was advancing northward a few days later.

He quickly formed additional scouts and investigated, and an additional report came up that the enemy’s troop size was about 200,000.

Did the enemy finally come out for a decisive battle? He thought so, but soon realized that it was not.

The enemy’s army repeated only building fortifications as they ascended the Rhine River.

He couldn’t get a clear picture from the report alone, so Bayatur personally led 50,000 troops and went out to see for himself.

And what he saw with his eyes was Rome’s army digging trenches without rest across the river.

He tried to sneak up and see, but arrows rained down immediately and it was not easy.

He tried to fight them, but there were too many enemies and he had to give up for now.

“Summon all the troops that can be gathered for now. I need to see how they react.”

Two more troops led by two Senior Warriors joined.

But still, Rome’s army did not fight back and only strengthened their defense and kept digging.

One of the Senior Warriors, Otgonbayar, led his troops and bypassed the river to attack them, but their rear defense was also thorough and it was hard to attack.

Even worse, one of the impatient tribal chiefs approached recklessly and lost his life to the enemy’s surprise attack.

“This is ridiculous. Those cowardly bastards don’t even come out of their fortifications, so there’s no fight.”

Bayatur looked at Rome’s army working hard to turn over the Rhine River with a forceful momentum, and suddenly a possibility came to his mind.

“Bartjargal, send a messenger to Altan right now. Tell him to investigate in detail how weak the defense forces of Hispania and Alps are. And tell him to come and report himself.”

“You mean you’ll concentrate your troops and break through if they’re neglecting their defense there.”

“Yes. If either side has weak defense, we’ll concentrate our army and break through. If we use Gauls as shields, our damage won’t be too big.”

He said so, but Bayatur was half sure that Rome’s army would not leave their defense line weak.

If it was another commander, maybe not, but Caesar wouldn’t have made such a careless strategy that couldn’t see behind him.

Then Caesar’s intention naturally came to his mind.

It was only a suspicion at best, but he needed to think of a countermeasure.

Bayatur separately picked out messengers and sent them to the tribal chiefs scattered throughout Gaul.

Until the report of the messenger came back, Bayatur and the Hun cavalry maintained a certain distance and observed the actions of Rome’s army.

Whether there was a large force of Huns or not, Rome’s army did not care and silently dug trenches and erected stakes.

And a few days later, when the investigation was over, Altan came up and reported himself as ordered.

“Supreme Senior Warrior, I confirmed that the defense forces of Pyrenees and Alps are almost unchanged. It seems that they have mobilized a lot of troops this time.”

“The defense lines of Pyrenees and Alps are not weakened at all?”

Bartjargal, Supreme Senior Warrior’s lieutenant, read Caesar’s intention as soon as he heard Altan’s words.

“Supreme Senior Warrior! They’re trying to trap us!”

He had already expected that, but Bayatur nodded slowly.

“That’s probably it. They’re spending such a huge amount of resources so stupidly… no, surely. They must know that they can handle it.”

The faces of the four Senior Warriors gathered in one place hardened.

“This is… the power of the great empire.”

The other Senior Warriors also agreed with Otgonbayar’s murmuring as if talking to himself, and made a bored expression.

Bayatur glanced at the faces of his subordinates and casually threw a word without any hesitation.

“We’re retreating. We’ll give up Gaul and cross the Rhine River as quickly as possible and return to the Black Soil Plain.”

“What?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“Are you saying we’re just leaving here?”

The Senior Warriors, except for Bartjargal, opened their eyes wide in astonishment.

How could he give up Gaul so easily, when they had gained it?

Especially Altan, who had received the most pastures, was very dissatisfied.

“Even if they mobilized a lot of troops, isn’t it too easy to give up like this?”

“Are you objecting to Supreme Senior Warrior’s judgment?”

Bartjargal countered, and Altan flinched for a moment, but he did not back down easily this time.

“No, I’m just saying that he’s not even a general of the Middle Kingdom… We just have to trample on their pathetic defense line with our army.”

“Do you want to face 200,000 troops across the river head-on?”

“No, who said we should fight head-on? We should cross the river and hit their rear.”

“Do you think someone without a brain couldn’t think of that method? If you go back, most of that side is forested and it’s hard to operate a large army. You don’t know that? You’re saying we should attack 200,000 troops with a river in front and a forest behind, but are you in your right mind… tsk tsk.”

Bartjargal shook his tongue as if he was pitiful, and Altan’s face turned red.

He slammed the table with a loud noise and snapped.

“Shut up! I asked Supreme Senior Warrior for his opinion, not yours!”

“What? A lunatic who only has slaughter and arson in his head dares to…”

As the two were about to fight openly, Bayatur’s low voice settled in the Ger.

“Quiet.”

Altan and Bartjargal quickly knelt down and bowed their heads.

“We’re sorry, Supreme Senior Warrior!”

“We’re sorry. We showed you an ugly sight.”

“Get up. We don’t have time to argue right now.”

Bayatur looked around the tense Senior Warriors calmly and said calmly.

“We should have attacked before they built their fortifications, but unfortunately it’s too late now. They’re using the terrain as much as possible, so there’s no advantage for us. If we force an attack with our army, even if we win, our damage will also be enormous. It doesn’t add up no matter how I calculate it.”

“Well, if we end up annihilating each other here, it would only benefit Rome.”

Even if Rome mobilized a huge amount of troops this time, it was not all of their power.

There was still a large force led by Sextus and Marcus in the east.

They had to avoid unnecessary losses at this stage.

“Then do we just retreat and regroup in the Black Soil Plain? But they’ve set up their camp on the Rhine River like that, so it won’t be easy to enter Gaul again.”

“I don’t plan to come back to Gaul. The next place we’ll attack is right here!”

Otgonbayar’s concern was dismissed lightly, and Bayatur raised his baton and slammed it hard on the map.

The baton tore the map and stuck into the table, shaking slightly.

The Senior Warriors looked at each other and nodded as they confirmed the area below it.

“Greece…”

“Yes. The next opponent is the son of Namje.”

“I heard that Greece is as rich and prosperous as Rome itself. But will they fight us obediently? If they stay in their castles and only strengthen their defense, it won’t be easy to attack them.”

“We’ll make sure they can’t do that. I’ve already made a plan for it.”

The faces of the other Senior Warriors except Altan brightened.

As long as Bayatur said so, they just had to trust and follow him.

Only Altan, who hadn’t given up his attachment yet, cautiously raised his opinion.

“But if we retreat like this, won’t it affect the morale of our soldiers? And we won’t look good to those who joined us.”

“Why do you think it will affect morale? We haven’t lost anything in reality.”

“···Yes?”

“Think about it. In this war, we annihilated three legions of Rome’s army and took their equipment and flags.

And we looted Gaul and got a lot of supplies as a bonus. The ones who died fighting Rome were mostly slave soldiers we caught from Gaul and Germania, and our army had almost no losses.

On the other hand, Rome is pouring out such a huge amount of resources and struggling to drive us out. We would have lost if we were trapped in their trap, but that’s not the case.

“

Bartjargal nodded and added to Bayatur’s words.

“We got a satisfactory result from the first expedition. It’s undeniable that the enemy’s consumption was much greater than ours, and more importantly, we prepared a good bait for the next fight.”

“That’s right. So let’s return with pride. The enemy is a powerful country that is stronger than Hannara. I never thought we could overthrow them with one expedition.”

Bayatur came out of the Ger and got on his horse and grabbed the reins.

And he looked at Altan who followed him and smiled cheerfully and joked.

“You can stay in Gaul if you don’t want to go, or try to break through the Roman camp. Of course, if you don’t follow me now, I’ll leave you behind.”

“O-of course I’ll go! I, Altan, will leave this place with Supreme Senior Warrior right now.”

“Look at this. This is why I can’t help but like you. You show me such a cute reaction. Hahaha!”

There was probably only one person in the world who could call one of the Senior Warriors of the Huns cute, and that was Bayatur.

If anyone else had said that, he would have killed them on the spot, even if they were kings of any country, but Bayatur was an exception.

The loyalty that the Senior Warriors and the Hun warriors gave to Supreme Senior Warrior was tremendous.

They crossed the Rhine River and left Rome far behind as soon as the retreat order was issued.

It was a swift retreat, as they had prepared in advance for any possible situation.

Caesar thought about chasing them once, but he gave up because they moved so fast.

It would have been hard to inflict much damage even if he surprised them, and he thought it was more urgent to complete the defense line on the Rhine River, so he wasn’t sorry.

But he honestly admired Bayatur’s judgment, who immediately detected his trap and withdrew without any hesitation.

That’s why he needed to be more careful to prevent the cavalry led by Bayatur from crossing the Rhine River again.

Caesar encouraged his subordinates and finally built a defense line along the Rhine River, and officially declared that he had regained Gaul.

The Gauls, who had finally returned to their homeland after a long refugee life, shed tears of joy.

When they heard that they had driven out the Huns from the Rhine River, Rome also cheered and praised Caesar and his soldiers’ achievements.

But there were people who couldn’t smile honestly.

They were Caesar’s soldiers, who were called heroes and praised as heroes for saving Gaul.

“Tsk, we only did useless work and built ditches from the beginning to the end of the war. It’s ridiculous that they call us heroes of Gaul and Rome.”

“The saviors of Gaul? The heroes of Rome? Me?”

The protagonists who had achieved great feats listened to the praises poured on them, but they just felt dizzy.

“What should I say when I go home… I dug a ditch and the enemies ran away?”

The Gaul warriors who regained their land also showed their own reactions and expressed their agitation.

“The Huns were so fierce when they came, but they ran away without fighting?..Why? Is it true that they all ran away?”

“That’s right. They completely withdrew from Gaul and Rome calls us saviors of Gaul and heroes of Rome. I can’t believe it either…”

“Oh, anyway we got our home back! W-wow!”

“Wow! We won!”

The Gaul warriors and Roman legionaries both put down their weapons, or rather shovels, and hugged each other with tears of joy.

Those tears seemed more like relief than joy for getting back Gaul.

The cheers were a bit late, but Caesar looked at them with satisfaction and evaluated the efficiency of his strategy.

He even thought about building an infinite ditch defense line on the Elbe-Danube River and reclaiming Germania while he was at it.

Of course, this plan was vetoed by all his legates and centurions as soon as he mentioned it at the commanders’ meeting.

“Imperator! It’s not efficient to build a defense line in the forest where they won’t even come!”

“That’s right! They’ll probably target the east soon, so it would be better to strengthen the defense line on the Alps!”

“That’s right! We can restore Germania slowly after the war is over!”

Caesar looked at Vercingetorix for the last time, but he also avoided his gaze and pretended not to hear.

Caesar reluctantly gave up his appetite and postponed the Elbe-Danube defense line strategy for now.

But he didn’t forget to say one thing.

“The defense of the eastern Alps is a priority, so let’s postpone this for now. But building a defense line is something we have to do someday, so keep that in mind.”

This way, not only Gaul but also Caesar’s legionaries were saved and the preliminary war with a scouting nature ended.

But Caesar knew that this was not the end.

The fire of war was not completely extinguished.

It just moved from Gaul to another place.

And he could clearly see where it would flare up again.

‘I wonder if Sextus can handle him…’

Caesar’s anxious eyes looked at the far east, where Greece was filled with legends of gods and brilliant history of culture.

< 212. Operation Northbound on Rhine 3> End