Chapter 215: The Whole of Greece 1 Sextus had welcomed the situation when the immigrants first fled to Dacia.
He did not like Dacia, which was slowly growing in strength, as he was responsible for Greece.
There was no need to be hostile to Dacia in the current situation, but it was easy to find examples of countries that grew into powerful nations by taking advantage of chaotic opportunities in history.
Dacia had high potential to become a troublesome enemy in the future, as each of its tribes was very brave.
It would have been a cause for celebration if the Slavs and Sarmatians had weakened Dacia's power.
He might have been able to easily destroy both sides if he intervened at the right opportunity.
So Sextus sent scouts regularly to collect information on how the war was going.
In the meantime, he heard unexpected news.
"The leader of the Hunnic cavalry seems to be a monster of the enemy."
"The leader of the Huns personally invaded Dacia?"
It was such surprising news that he repeated the report of the messenger.
When did the Huns retreat massively from Gaul?
It hadn't been long since then, but they had already recovered their army and attacked another country. It was not an easy thing to do.
"How big is it?"
"It's not certain, but it's estimated to be over 100,000."
"Of course, they're all cavalry… That's an enormous force."
In the original history, when Rome's Trajanus invaded the Dacian Kingdom, he mobilized about 150,000 to 200,000 legions.
Dacia, which could only mobilize about 40,000 soldiers, resisted Rome for five years.
Of course, it was partly because Rome advanced very cautiously, but if Dacia was not a powerful country, they would not have been so careful about the expedition in the first place.
Unfortunately, the situation was different now.
Dacia was just building up its power and did not have the national strength of the second century.
On top of that, they were attacked while they were fighting with the Slavic and Sarmatian refugees.
It was more strange that they did not fall apart.
"So, what's the current situation of Dacia?"
"It's practically annihilated. The 15,000 Dacian troops who tried to stop the Slavs were ambushed by 50,000 Hunnic cavalry and wiped out. The remaining soldiers hurriedly entered the capital and seemed to be preparing for a siege, but it's only a matter of time before they fall."
"What about the Slavs and Sarmatians who were fighting with Dacia?"
"They have already lost their morale and fallen into extreme chaos because of their previous defeat by the Huns."
That was inevitable.
They had been chased away from everywhere they fled from the Huns, and even in the last place they aimed for, they were attacked by those who had driven them out.
They could not make a rational judgment.
And that was also true for Sextus.
'What should I do…'
It was almost a foregone conclusion that Dacia would fall.
The problem was what the Huns would do next.
The Hunnic territory, which occupied the Black Earth Plain and Bosphorus as well as the Silk Road, was still large enough.
If they added Dacia to their holdings, they would be able to be self-sufficient even with their large size.
Would they be satisfied here and catch their breath, or would they still not be satisfied and invade Rome again?
Of course, Marcus, who knew the Huns well, sent a letter saying that the Huns would definitely resume the war and that he should strengthen his defense thoroughly.
Sextus also thought that it was more likely that they would do so. If he saw the attack on Dacia as preparation for invading Greece, it would make perfect sense.
Then it would be best for Sextus if Dacia fell as late as possible.
"Was there any contact from Dacia?"
"There was. The king didn't officially ask for it, but the influential people in southern Dacia are sending people continuously, hoping for Rome's salvation."
"Salvation army…"
"It's probably the same for Moesia in southern Dacia. They must think that they are next after Dacia falls."
It was obvious.
Moesia was located north of Macedonia, a province of Greece.
If the Huns wanted to attack Greece, they had to pass through Moesia.
And considering the way the Huns had acted so far, they wouldn't ask nicely to open the way.
Moesia had not yet been incorporated into Rome's provinces, so Sextus had no reason to send a rescue army.
But he also wanted to stop the Hunnic army from advancing any farther than Greece if he could.
"It's hard to make a choice without knowing the exact strength of the Hunnic army."
The Huns had shown remarkable strength so far.
The barbarians of the north had all been trampled under the hooves of the Huns without exception.
But that was only a story about barbarians.
Just now, the Slavs and Sarmatians had been chased away to Dacia without causing much damage to the Roman army led by Sextus.
Although three legions were annihilated in Germania, it was a battle that was too unequal in numbers from the start.
The reason Caesar gave up Gaul and retreated was also because the difference in numbers was overwhelming.
It was a natural result that Gaul was one-sidedly ravaged by the Hunnic cavalry.
But the Greek region led by Sextus was different.
He had enough time to build a defensive line thanks to Gaul being invaded by the Huns first.
He received military support and food from the African province, Aegyptus, and the Kushite dynasty.
He also gathered a lot of materials from the wealthy provinces of Greece and Macedonia, and conscripted soldiers from Thrace.
As a result, he was ready to intercept the Huns with 200,000 regular legions if they really attacked.
Of course, this was the result of squeezing all the provinces to their limit, so it was not a force that could be maintained continuously.
But he thought that the conditions would be similar for the enemy as well, since it would not be easy for the Huns to wage a long war with 200,000 cavalry.
In other words, he hardly thought that he would lose.
Sextus suddenly recalled the letter he had received from Marcus a few days ago.
'He said not to fight head-on with the Huns, but to defend thoroughly.'
If Rome, which had expertise in siege warfare, defended with 200,000 troops, there was no way that the Hunnic cavalry could break through easily.
That was a clear fact.
But then the Huns would naturally go around and plunder the cities where the defense forces were scarce.
Sextus could not help but have his reputation damaged.
So he naturally wondered what would happen if he formed a defensive line a little further ahead and stopped the Huns' advance.
Sextus calculated all possible scenarios without missing any.
The situation had already started to flow rapidly.
He had to make a decision within a few days at the latest.
The invasion of the Huns was approaching every moment.
Sextus sensed a fight.
The blood of a great strategist, honed day by day, kept sending him warnings.
They say that bad premonitions always come true.
In the end, Sextus's decision not to send reinforcements to Dacia proved to be correct.
Less than a month after mobilizing all available forces and stockpiling materials, an urgent report came in.
It was astonishing news that Dacia had given up resistance and come under the Huns.
It was an incredibly fast pace considering that most of it was flat except for Transylvania.
If Sextus had sent reinforcements, they would have been attacked by the Huns who had quickly occupied Dacia and been defeated separately.
For the same reason, he had no choice but to give up Moesia as well.
The time left to raise the defense line was too short.
Sextus immediately sent messengers to Gaul and Syria to request support and called Pompeius and Gabinius.
"I heard the news. Is it true that those Huns pushed Dacia aside?"
It took less than a few minutes for them to come in.
Their faces showed that they didn't expect the Huns to move so fast.
With the two surprised men in front of him, Sextus answered in a serious voice.
"Yes. And I just got a report that they are moving south at a frightening speed. There's Moesia in between, but considering their strength, it won't even slow them down."
"That's a scary speed. The reinforcements from Gaul and the East might arrive after they break in."
"I'm glad I ordered the mobilization in advance. The reason I called you two is because it's time to move the legions seriously."
Pompeius and Gabinius took a deep breath with determined expressions.
They didn't think they would lose to barbarians, but the scale of the troops involved in this war was different from before.
Even they had never seen a battlefield where hundreds of thousands of armies clashed.
It was natural to be nervous.
"So do we just stick to your plan and defend at the natural boundary line of the Peloponnese?"
"I think it's safer to proceed cautiously since we don't know the enemy's level yet. I believe my judgment wasn't wrong, since Marcus also told me to be defensive."
Gabinius nodded with a slightly subtle expression.
To be honest, he didn't like this passive defense. He didn't think Rome would lose to barbarians like that if they fought equally without being outnumbered.
But those were just his inner thoughts, and he didn't express any objections.
He thought it was right to trust Sextus if Sextus and Marcus shared the same view.
Having obtained the consent of his two confidants, Sextus immediately prepared to face the enemy by mobilizing all available forces.
And less than a month later, the Huns appeared in Greece through Moesia, proving that Sextus's decision was correct.
The number of enemies was 200,000.
It was almost the same size as when they attacked Germania.
"They must have split their forces in half. One to invade Dacia and the other to prepare for attacking us."
Judging by the speed of the enemy's advance, their target was Greece from the beginning.
He had prepared with that in mind, but the timing was still tight.
He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had been a little careless.
Of course, Bayatur, who led the Huns, was also impressed by Rome's swift response.
"They move fast. I heard that the son of the South Emperor was still a greenhorn, but was the information wrong?"
Bartjargal also scratched his head with a bewildered expression.
"Maybe he wasn't that stupid, since he inherited the blood of Rome's greatest general. Or maybe he had room to grow because he was still young."
"Either way, we need to adjust our evaluation of the enemy general a bit. Not that it will make any difference."
Bayatur smiled leisurely as he looked at the majestic defensive line of the Roman army in the distance.
He had nothing to gain from dragging things out here either. But he had no intention of rushing.
Bayatur kept a standoff with the Roman army and watched their reaction.
They had fortified their defenses and did not come out first, reminding him of Caesar's troops who had camped along the Rhine.
If they did that, it would be useless to pour in troops, as both sides would suffer heavy losses.
However, unlike in Gaul, Bayatur had several places he could attack.
"If the moles don't come out of their holes, we'll have to throw them some bait."
He had no intention of fighting a siege or taking on Rome's army in unfavorable terrain from the start.
Bayatur pretended to confront the Roman army while dividing his forces into two.
He took only Altan with him and turned toward Thessalonica with 100,000 soldiers, ordering the other three chieftains to go to Ephesus.
But Sextus did not fall for this provocation and held his ground.
The port city of Thessalonica was protected by sturdy walls, so it was not easy to capture it with cavalry alone.
Even though Bayatur's army surrounded the city on three sides, it was useless.
Sextus used his complete control of the sea to keep sending food to Thessalonica.
That didn't mean there was no problem at all.
It was good that he gathered troops from here and there, but as the number of troops increased, it became increasingly impossible for Sextus to control the legions perfectly.
There were complaints that they were stuck in the peninsula like cowards when they had so many troops.
Especially, the reinforcements from Kush and Aegyptus showed a bad sign when they saw the Roman army, which had crushed them so miserably, acting like this.
There were also complaints from Ephesus, which was being harassed by the Huns, and Thessalonica, which was besieged, asking how long they would continue like this.
The decisive blow was the flag raised by Bayatur as he besieged Thessalonica.
He displayed the aquila of the Roman legions he had annihilated in Germania as if to show off.
The aquila, which depicted an eagle, was the most important symbol in the Roman legion.
To exaggerate a bit, it could be said that it was Rome itself.
Therefore, Roman legions considered losing an aquila a disgrace, and they even destroyed it themselves if such a situation seemed likely.
Even in battles where Rome suffered defeat, soldiers risked their lives to protect the aquila.
This important symbol was in the hands of the Huns because Bayatur had deliberately tried to seize Rome's fighting spirit.
Of the three legions he annihilated in Germania, one destroyed its own aquila, but Bayatur managed to snatch two before they could do so.
Bayatur hid this fact until the decisive moment, when he needed to provoke Rome.
He had considered provoking Caesar's troops on the Rhine, but he predicted Caesar would not fall for it.
But it might be different for Sextus, who was still young.
Bayatur made sure the Roman army could see clearly, raised two aquilas at the front, and staged a show of force before Thessalonica.
He even went further, splitting his army in half and sending them to attack Thrace.
It was as if he didn't care about the Roman army of 200,000 right below him.
This outrageous provocation made Sextus's staff explode with anger.
"How dare these ignorant barbarians!"
"Sextus, are you going to continue to deal with this so passively after suffering such humiliation?"
"They are not only insulting us, but the whole of Rome!"
"The enemy's leader has only 50,000 soldiers! How dare he put on such a mad show against the invincible Roman army!"
The staff's angry shouts filled the commander's tent day after day.
Sextus was also losing his patience under the constant pressure from his subordinates and Bayatur's provocation.
Moreover, if he didn't act when the enemy was openly insulting the aquila, he feared it would become a serious political burden later.
"…I understand. They have definitely crossed the line we can tolerate, so we need to show them some action."
Eventually, Sextus decided to bring the hammer of judgment down on the arrogant barbarians.
And finally.
The Roman army, following the commander's order, began to advance toward Thessalonica.
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