Chapter 20: Only Battle! Begging for Life! The Path of Rebel Troops

The vast earth, a human purgatory.

At present, the empire had lost both the Laiyinhe and Danube rivers simultaneously; it was almost as if both the Yangtze and Yellow River defense lines were gone.

"The main force of the empire's remnants is being held back by the Huns' army."

"The barbarian tribes of Great Germania crossed the Laiyinhe to seize Upper and Lower Germania, pressing into the heart of Gao Lu. They have completely lost control over the region of later France."

A row of wooden stakes was nailed at the fork in the road ahead.

Looking from afar, crows were pecking, flies and insects filled the sky; they were all heads that had been cut off. A preliminary count showed there were about several hundred, long since unrecognizable. Judging by the facial contours, they looked a bit like slaves and serfs. In recent years, rebellions had occurred frequently within the empire. After the imperial treasury completely collapsed, they had to further exploit the bottom-level people, to the point of forcing slaves and serfs everywhere to revolt.

Roman Protector Aetius was a brave and battle-hardened famous general, but he didn't have much talent in domestic affairs and was always on the battlefield at the border.

If history didn't deviate too much, he would be murdered by the imperial emperor in a few years.

Rows of heads were pierced through.

These heads were nailed to both sides of the road like streetlights, one meter apart, and were over two hundred meters long. This was a cruel punishment left over from the Spartacus uprising. The Romans had always been cruel to slaves; rebellious slaves would be executed. After the Spartacus uprising failed, the entire road from Rome to Capua was filled with executed slaves, and about six thousand people were nailed to crosses.

A total of over four hundred heads were enough to build a 'monument made of heads'. Looking at these heads that couldn't close their eyes even in death, Deng Ken truly felt the cruelty of this era.

The barbarian invasion is here to plunder money, land, and people; those wretches at the bottom of society are truly living lives worse than pigs and dogs.

They would die if they rebelled, and they would die if they didn't rebel.

"It's the slave uprising of the Burgundians."

Anya, who was on the side, seemed to know more and said softly: "The Burgundians rebelled again, wrapping up a large number of slaves and serfs."

"Although they were suppressed by Aetius at the beginning, there were still many insurgent slaves who fled to other places."

"They often secretly incite slaves in large estates to rebel. Once discovered, they will be suppressed and executed, nailed to both sides of the road to warn others."

The massacre that suppressed the Burgundians was the prototype of the Germanic epic *Nibelungenlied*.

Aetius and the Hun King Attila had a close relationship in their early years. In his youth, he had been a hostage at the Hun King's place, a bit like Guo Jing and Tolui in the novel. Finally, with the help of the Huns, he forced the Western Empire to restore his power and became the commander of the Western Empire.

The history during this period was a bit like the Song Dynasty and the Mongols, because Aetius relied on Hun mercenaries to fight many battles in his early years. (The Huns were loose tribes; those who were defeated fled into the empire's territory, and even now, many Hun mercenaries still serve the imperial nobles.)

The most interesting thing was that after Aetius was murdered, it was his two Hun friends who avenged him. They stabbed Valentinian III to death when the emperor was reviewing the troops.

Not a single soldier in the military camp stepped forward, watching as the emperor was stabbed to death on the spot.

He who has strong soldiers and sturdy horses is Augustus!

Although Anya was a two-star white-board, from her mouth, Deng Ken further understood the current situation of the empire and was clearer about where the source of the successive rebellions in the Gao Lu region was at this time.

Bagaudae movement.

The rebellion that lasted for hundreds of years within the empire began in the 60s of the 3rd century AD, causing Roman rule in Gao Lu to collapse. It was suppressed in the 80s and rose again in the 5th century, dealing a heavy blow to the Roman Empire.

The scale of their uprising even far exceeded that of Spartacus. If it hadn't been suppressed by the empire's last famous general, Aetius, it would have been enough to subvert the entire Gao Lu region.

These insurgents were the marginalized people at the bottom of the empire, hiding in the mountains and forests of Gao Lu, and have not been completely wiped out to this day.

The group continued north.

As if seeing that Deng Ken was very interested in these things, Witch Anya explained in detail: "Three years ago, Aetius suppressed the Bagaudae of Armorica."

"It is said that he massacred tens of thousands of people."

"In one fell swoop, he defeated the main force of the rebel army and brought the entire Gao Lu back under the rule of the empire."

"However, soon because of the corrupt rule of the Roman bureaucracy, a large number of people chose to flee, and finally these insurgents became the exiled Bagaudae again."

Rebel troops?

Source of troops!?

After listening in detail to everything Anya said, this word immediately popped into Deng Ken's mind.

That's right, it was the source of troops.

The empire's rebel troops!

Those rebel troops who were oppressed, had no social status, and could only hide in dense mountains and forests were one of the best sources of troops in Deng Ken's eyes.

"Imperial camp, there are only two choices."

"One is Protector Aetius, and the other is the incompetent Emperor Valentinian III."

"I don't want to choose either of these two."

"Although Aetius is a famous general in history, he is ultimately just a fierce general, and the conflict with the imperial emperor has become increasingly irreconcilable."

"At the beginning, the future deduced by the law of causality."

"The human body, as the adopted son of Aetius's family, was actually severely injured on the battlefield and then died in the siege of the barbarians."

"I'm afraid this also has factors of internal political struggle within the empire."

"The empire is already deeply entrenched."

"Joining it is like entering a cesspit; instead, there is no way to show one's talents."

Deng Ken's thinking was becoming clearer and clearer.

"The Hun Empire doesn't need to be considered; nomadic peoples rely entirely on commanders. Once Attila dies, it will immediately fall apart."

"And their ruling class is mostly Huns."

"Barbarian tribes and the Visigoth Kingdom are also not very good; they rarely reuse outsiders."

"British Isles."

"The most important camp is the Celts and the Saxons."

"The Celts have their own kingdoms and many tribal leaders. Even if I help them, I may not be able to build a foundation."

"Then where does my basic foundation come from?"

An outsider.

Where does Deng Ken recruit his basic foundation?

He certainly doesn't want to swear allegiance to some king, chieftain, lord, etc. At most, he would be a mercenary. Moreover, in this era of 'the low-status overthrowing the high-status,' it's better to find a way to start from scratch.

Bagaudae!

With Witch Anya's unexpected reminder, Deng Ken soon thought of a special group.

——Imperial Rebel Troops.

As early as the late 2nd century AD, the Roman Empire's socio-economic situation had already faced a serious crisis.

Due to long-term possession of the vast resources of the Mediterranean world, the core population of the empire corrupted rapidly. Whether it was citizens enjoying bread in the city or retired soldiers receiving pensions and land, they were consuming massive amounts of resources at the fastest speed.

If it weren't for the convenient sea transport in various parts of the Mediterranean and the relatively efficient Roman management system, such a situation might have worsened in the early days of the empire's establishment.

But as the wealth gap continued to widen, the proportion of the destitute population began to grow geometrically.

However, the empire's ability to maintain welfare could not benefit every corner of its territory, especially in the western provinces lacking large cities, around plantations and farm settlements, where it was always easy to miss many marginalized people who couldn't bear the burden.

Coupled with the fact that the local economy often relied more on slave labor, it further caused the breakdown of the economic structure.

Thus, a large number of exiled people began to wander on the fringes of mainstream society and gradually developed into independent large groups.

The Romans called these marginalized groups by the name of Bagaudae.

The original meaning of this word was 'warrior' in the Gao Lu dialect.

This group gradually grew, joining a large number of bankrupt farmers, debt slaves, criminals, deserters, etc.

Around the 3rd century AD, the secretive Bagaudae group ushered in new opportunities for expansion.

Due to the Parthian War in the East and the southward movement of barbarians in the North, the Roman army began to face a serious shortage of troops. The emperor at the time, Marcus Aurelius, expanded the army on a large scale, incorporating a large number of gladiators, slaves, and bandits into the army.

But they were completely unable to withstand high-intensity training and discriminatory abuse by officers, often finding ways to escape to the nearby Bagaudae territory.

This was the root force of the first uprising.

The addition of gladiators allowed them to quickly possess decent combat power, turning the marginalized people at the bottom of the empire into rebel troops with combat power. (Note: This is a bit like the Spartacus uprising; gladiators played an important role in it.)

Finally, they broke out in a massive uprising.

For a very long time afterward, the Bagaudae were constantly suppressed, constantly revolting, and constantly in exile. If they succeeded, they would loot and massacre imperial nobles; if they failed, they would flee to deep mountains and old forests to break into pieces.

It wasn't until three years ago that Aetius suppressed and massacred tens of thousands of people, further suppressing the uprising.

Thinking of this, Deng Ken even wanted to lift Witch Anya high.

He had never been able to think of where his basic foundation was. Joining the empire still meant hugging a big thigh; without his own army, it was easy to die in political struggles. As for joining other camps, he still wouldn't have much status. In this chaotic world where mountains and rivers were broken, without his own army, he wouldn't have a shred of security.

But where would the army come from?

Where would the source of troops come from?

Reality is not a game after all; he couldn't recruit a few troops by passing through a village like in Mount & Blade, or recruit a few people by passing through a city.

Everything pointed to four big words——【Imperial Rebel Troops】!

Those marginalized people at the bottom of the empire, the low-status people of the empire with different identities—Gauls, Celts, Franks, Romans, Germanic barbarians, etc. —their origins included farmers, slaves, bankrupts, herdsmen, criminals, deserters, etc.

These people were the true low-status people of the empire!

The lowest of the low.

Most of them didn't even have identities. Only when they couldn't live anymore and broke out in an uprising could they possess the identity of a 'rebel'.

These people were the source of troops Deng Ken could most easily obtain in the future!

What empire? What barbarians? What Huns?

At present, only rebel troops were one of the camps where he had the best chance to rise rapidly.

………………

"There's a situation ahead!"

The cawing of crows came from mid-air, and Raven Queen-Triss instantly reined in her horse, turning to look at Deng Ken.

Unknowingly, Deng Ken had become the leader of this team.

The witch's reconnaissance range was greater. Triss seemed to be able to influence birds and beasts, but her reconnaissance had to be a major event, such as a battle with hundreds of people, or where there were many corpses, for it to be possible for her to discover it. If it were just small-scale looting bandits, it would be almost impossible for the witch to be aware of it in advance.

Deng Ken instantly picked up the Northern War Bow and concentrated his consciousness to enter the Dimensional Space.

Under the God's-eye view.

In the direction they were moving, at a distance of about ten kilometers, two armies were fighting on both sides of the dense forest road.

Strictly speaking, it couldn't be considered an army.

Because one of the troops even had farmers and herdsmen holding manure forks. Their equipment was extremely simple, with a scale of hundreds of people, and less than one-third held decent weapons, but most had no armor, meaning only a few people were equipped with simple leather armor, and the few people who looked like leaders wore old, tattered scale armor of the Roman border guards.

The other troop was well-equipped, dressed very close to the Roman field army, but clearly belonged to private soldiers, looking like mercenary soldiers within the empire. Their weapons and armor were close to regular troops, and they were also equipped with bows and crossbows, defending against nearly ten times the number of enemies with a force of dozens.

Of course, most of the enemies were farmers, serfs, and slaves. If they were really facing regular troops of such scale, they would have been defeated long ago.

——Bagaudae 【Exiles】 【Rebel Troops】!

——Imperial Private Corps (Estate Guards) (Foreign Barbarian Mercenaries) (Private Knights)!

The strength of the two sides in the battle was very disparate.

The corpses of the rebel troops were all over both sides of the road. They couldn't break through the wagon formation and were unwilling to leave, so they could only trap the enemy in the center of the road.

The private mercenaries in the wagon formation were completely fearless.

A person who looked like a leader even had the mood to let the soldiers under his command prepare wine and meat. They had been trapped here for several hours, and the soldiers needed to eat to replenish their physical strength after a fight. Moreover, the wagon train was trapped here, and the nearby towns and estates would definitely react. In a short while, reinforcements would arrive. As long as there were twenty or thirty cavalry reinforcements, they could easily charge and defeat these remnants of the rebel troops.

Two or three hundred Bagaudae rebel troops watched those private mercenaries eating meat!

The Bagaudae who were sallow and thin couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and some even crept over, wanting to go to the edge of the wagon formation, where the corpses were, to pick up the food scattered on the ground to eat.

*Whoosh! *

A barbarian mercenary soldier drew a strong bow, aimed at the Bagaudae, and shot an arrow, piercing directly through his chest. Blood foam overflowed from his mouth, and the Bagaudae fell to the ground, already breathing his last.

"Hahaha!"

"This group of low-status people who rebelled!"

The barbarian mercenaries in the wagon formation laughed, looking like their morale was very high.

In contrast, on the side of the Bagaudae rebel troops, many people looked unbearable, and their morale was very low. If it weren't for the fact that they really had no way to live, they would have collapsed long ago.

Their only advantage was that there were many of them.

But the last time they stormed the wagon formation, the barbarian mercenary leader actually dared to lead ten people to charge beside the wagon formation, hacking thirty or forty of them to death in one go, and then calmly retreated back into the wagon formation under the cover of archers and crossbowmen.

That fierce and cruel appearance didn't take them seriously at all.

There were three leaders of the Bagaudae rebel troops. One was killed by elite forest archers, another climbed onto the wagon formation and was hacked to death by chaotic knives. Now only one middle-aged man in his thirties remained, his face sallow and haggard, looking like a fallen military household, with the racial characteristics of a Gao Lu.

He was already planning to retreat, but if he retreated, many people here would starve to death, and the vast majority would not be able to survive until winter.

Even if they were lucky enough to survive until winter, without food and supplies, they would still die.

"Gather those with armor and come with me!"

Kveto gritted his teeth and said to his fellow villagers beside him: "Charge one more time! Otherwise, there will be no chance when the enemy reinforcements arrive."

He was planning to risk his life.

If they couldn't break through the wagon formation, these people would all die sooner or later, and hiding in the deep mountains and old forests wouldn't be enough to survive.

Two of the three leaders were dead, and now his blood was surging, just wanting to fight for his life!

Everything was just to survive.

Just then.

A sound of horse hooves came from not far away. Kveto's face changed, his expression terrified, thinking it was the enemy's cavalry reinforcements. These Bagaudae rebel troops were serfs and slaves, with no decent weapons or equipment. Even if they encountered a light cavalry, they would be defeated like killing chickens and dogs.

In the wagon formation, those barbarian mercenaries also looked disappointed. This clearly wasn't reinforcements; it looked like a team of travelers passing by.

Five people, five horses.

Two men and three women. One carried a bow and held a sword, his momentum fierce; one looked rugged, like a Gao Lu savage; and among the three women, two were quite beautiful. Just a glance from afar, and one could feel they were definitely beauties.

There were Bagaudae rebel troops around who were restless, but the other party were all riders, and they couldn't catch up.

Kveto immediately ordered his men to restrain themselves, and then sent someone to shout at the five riders, asking them to go around from other places.

For some reason, one of them made him feel uneasy, even if it was the old gladiator who taught him how to fight back then, he didn't fear him so much. Gladiatorial combat had long been disallowed within the empire, but some big nobles would still secretly keep gladiators to fight for fun. Gladiators were mostly low-status slaves, and occasionally they would be used for betting.

Gladiators in the empire were already very rare now; the only ones left were secretly kept by nobles, picking some slaves at random, training them for a period of time, and using them to fight for fun.

"You guys stay here!"

Deng Ken nodded slightly toward Raven Queen-Triss and rode out on his horse directly, approaching the direction of the battlefield.

His face was cold at this moment, as if he were a ruthless warrior, his momentum was truly compelling, scaring those Bagaudae rebel troops so they didn't dare to move forward, but instead scattered to the left and right.

These people were all serfs and slaves who couldn't live; how much combat power could they have?

If it weren't for the addition of gladiators in the Spartacus uprising, they would have been suppressed and massacred by the Roman legions in minutes.

Draw the bow and nock the arrow!

Forty-five-degree angle parabolic shot.

Deng Ken didn't get too close to those Bagaudae rebel troops. He shot an arrow, and a muffled groan came from above the wagon formation. Immediately, a barbarian mercenary clutched his throat and fell.

The hundreds of people on the scene were full of shock!

The barbarian mercenary leader was shocked and instantly picked up a shield to protect himself. In contrast, the Bagaudae rebel troops around were in an uproar. Deng Ken's move was undoubtedly a friend, not an enemy. Even Kveto couldn't help but look surprised, looking at the single person and single horse drawing the bow again in disbelief.

——Parthian Shot!

Another headshot in the wagon formation.

After all, it was just a wagon formation, not a city wall. There were gaps between the wagons, just surrounding a defensive terrain. A barbarian mercenary archer quietly poked his head out, but before he could draw his bow, a sharp arrow whistled through the air and exploded his head.

"Sharpshooter?!"