Chapter 35

On the coastline.

Kveto stepped onto the land of the island of Britain with excitement. He bowed to Deng Ken and said, "My lord, the first batch of two hundred people have all arrived."

At this time, he was wearing the scale armor of the Roman field army, wearing an iron helmet, holding a large shield, with a heavy short sword at his waist, and javelins on his back. He looked much stronger than when they last met, and there was even a circle of fat on his belly. It should be because he had been eating and drinking well recently, and his training had kept up, so his physical fitness had returned to his previous state.

These first batch of recruited private soldiers all looked in good spirits and no longer had the sallow and emaciated look they had at the beginning.

Deng Ken nodded, patted his shoulder, and said, "Very good."

"Come with me."

After speaking, he walked in the direction of Cligan. After seeing that Sarmatian knight, Kveto's heart skipped a beat, because Sarmatians were crucial in the Imperial army; they were excellent mercenaries and indispensable cavalry units in the army.

Early Roman cavalry had always been a weak point, but after absorbing the Sarmatians, the cavalry units became strong.

Deng Ken stared at Cligan and said in a deep voice, "This is Kveto, the commander of the private legion. You will be responsible for assisting him in training this unit."

Hearing Deng Ken's words, Kveto couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief; he had thought his position had been snatched away again.

Cligan nodded in a deep voice and said, "Yes, my lord."

He was from an elite cavalry background. Although he was also good at infantry combat, he couldn't be used to command infantry; he was just helping to train for the time being. It was best to use Sarmatians to form cavalry units.

—Refugee Private Legion (High Morale) (A New Beginning) (Trained) (Poor Discipline)!

From his god's-eye view.

This reorganized legion had multiple annotations. Training had about three levels: Untrained (Rabble), Trained, and Well-Trained. Discipline also had three levels: No Discipline, Poor Discipline, and Strict Discipline. Above this were elite troops, but they were not considered conventional arms; they were on par with Spartan heavy infantry, Roman Praetorian Guards, Imperial Eagle Legions, etc.

Generally, troops with high training levels wouldn't have too poor discipline.

Except for barbarian berserkers.

This mixed legion had more than two hundred people, and there were also traditional Celtic warriors recruited by Severus.

The burly guard following Deng Ken was a Celt who had migrated from Gao Lu.

—Gaulish Oath Warrior (Two-Star)!

This was the only two-star unit recruited by Severus. The name was Cú Chulainn. "Geis" is something that often appears in Celtic mythology, translated as a taboo, restriction, or oath. It occupies a quite important weight in Celtic mythology, but it is also the most secret part.

There is a weapon called the "Sword of Victory Oath," and Cú Chulainn was a Celtic warrior who made an oath.

When the early Empire conquered Gao Lu, it was these Gaulish oath warriors who caused significant losses to the Imperial heavy infantry legions. They could be considered top-tier infantry units with some special abilities.

Deng Ken turned his head to look at Kveto beside him and instructed, "I remember that among the refugees, there are still more than thirty people who are Gaulish warriors, right?"

"Hand them over to Cú Chulainn, and let him reorganize them into an assault infantry unit."

The composition of the refugees was quite complex.

People of different nationalities were mixed together, and their unified identity was "bankrupts." Most of them could be reorganized into Imperial private legions, but a small number of people, those with barbarian heritage, could be mixed into special units.

Deng Ken was busy until noon before settling these people near the village by the sea.

In the afternoon.

The rider named Jill brought a team over, and they delivered some supplies. This was squeezed out from the Duke of Tintagel's teeth. He was also recruiting indigenous warriors, intending to counterattack and recover some of the lost territory.

The island of Britain was actually not short of food, because the population was small, with only two or three million at its peak, and now it was estimated to be only one million or so. After the Empire abandoned the province, many Romans migrated away, and the Saxon pirate invasion killed many more people.

The island of Britain now was sparsely populated, and surrounded by the sea on all sides, the fishing industry was also okay, so there was no need to worry about starving to death, but it was a bit short of other supplies, especially ironware and armor, which had to wait for Anya's merchant fleet.

Jill dismounted and walked over quickly. His expression towards Deng Ken was full of awe as he lowered his head and said, "Lord Deng Ken, the Duke has already re-recruited more than a thousand people, preparing to recover the Devon area."

"He sent me to deliver some supplies to reward the legion."

Don't look at the fact that Deng Ken only brought two hundred people; in Britain at this time, he was already a small warlord. In the early days, there were more than a dozen kingdoms on the island of Britain, which were actually chieftains of indigenous tribes. If they pulled out all their family assets, it would be estimated to be only one or two thousand people, and most of them were at the training level of militia.

The Duke of Tintagel had lost a battle and urgently needed to restore his prestige, wanting to take advantage of the civil strife in the Kingdom of Kent to recover some of the lost land. The Cornwall area was a bit poor, and like Wales, it was a poor and remote mountainous area.

If Deng Ken hadn't shot the King of Kent earlier, he would have been completely defeated.

"Counterattacking so soon?"

Deng Ken's expression was solemn as he said in a deep voice, "Too hasty. How much combat effectiveness can those temporarily recruited indigenous soldiers have?"

Indigenous people referred to Celts who were not completely Romanized; the indigenous people around London were already Romanized.

Jill lowered his head and said, "Scout riders discovered that the Saxon garrison in Devon is withdrawing."

"Recovering that piece of land shouldn't require much fighting."

The island of Britain had more mountains and forests the further east you went. Cornwall was a mountainous area, but to the west, there were more plains. The Empire built paved roads in the province of Britain in the early days and set up more than a dozen tribal-level administrative districts and more than thirty towns, just to facilitate urbanization management and military deployment.

A tribe was roughly a small kingdom, approximately equal to the territory of a county.

After taking Devon County, pushing towards London, one had to face large-scale legion battles, and it would be easier for the Saxon barbarians to mobilize troops.

However, it was even harder to defend after taking the plains.

The essence of the entire island of Britain's land was around the Thames in London. The Empire had developed it for hundreds of years, and all large towns were concentrated in this area. There was even a university in London, but it wasn't the kind of university we know, but an adult school built by the Empire, serving only the nobility to facilitate the assimilation of the indigenous ruling class on the island of Britain.

Assimilate the nobility first, and then let the nobility guide the assimilation of the commoners.

"It wouldn't be because I killed them into a full-scale retreat, would it?"

Deng Ken felt there was a possibility.

After all, the barbarian troops were not many, and it was easier to defend by abandoning some remote areas.

If Deng Ken really killed a dozen people every day, their garrison would collapse in morale automatically before long.

The enemy's combat troops were actually only a few thousand, and it was estimated that the militia and servant troops were only more than ten thousand.

Let the Duke of Tintagel recover Devon County if he wants; Deng Ken was not prepared to act for the time being. The refugees he recruited had not finished reorganizing, and he needed at least four or five hundred people to fight a head-on war.

The place where the refugees were stationed was an abandoned village called Tilham.

Deng Ken asked Kveto and Cligan to assist in training the army, while he himself prepared to recruit some more people from the Britons to expand into three squads of one hundred.

Troops should be elite, not numerous.

With his current family assets, he couldn't afford to support too many people.

Night fell.

A sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded outside the garrison camp, and then Kveto ran in quickly, his expression pleasantly surprised as he said, "My lord."

"Someone outside wants to see you."

Hmm?

Deng Ken stood up, followed by the Gaulish guards. Several riders arrived outside the camp. The leader's skin was bluish, as if it had been painted with some kind of dye, looking like a terrifying totem tattoo.

—Horned Land Noble Rider (One-Star).

—British Hunter.

—Canti Auxiliary Infantry.

Canti meant "horned land," mainly referring to the indigenous British people living around the Kent area, who later spread to other places. They were the most unfortunate branch of the British people, because the Kingdom of Kent was established on their home turf.

There were not many people in this team, just twenty-seven: six cavalry and twenty-one infantry. Their equipment was simple, some were in rags, almost like savages, and only half of them were equipped with leather armor.

The noble rider who was the leader wore chain mail. His eyes looked at Deng Ken, seemingly surprised by his appearance, and he couldn't help but look carefully through the firelight.

The rumors about Deng Ken had been getting more and more intense recently, and he was almost praised as a legendary hero.

"Are you the Deng Ken who shot the King of Kent?"

The noble rider's expression was slightly arrogant, and he seemed a bit disbelieving, because Deng Ken's physique didn't look as exaggerated as the rumors, and Cú Chulainn and Cligan standing next to him were more like the legendary warriors of the indigenous people.

Simply put, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, burly physique, fierce momentum, looking like a beast.

Such people were more in line with the hero image in the eyes of the indigenous people.

—Intimidation (Special Ability)!

Under the firelight, Deng Ken narrowed his eyes slightly, his eyes deep as an abyss, and a compelling murderous aura emerged. The surroundings seemed to be blown by an invisible gloomy wind, making the burning bonfire flicker and dim.

The noble rider's warhorse was startled, and he was also captured by Deng Ken's momentum, falling from the horse's back in a panic.

At this moment, he seemed to have a hallucination, seeing heads rolling in the darkness and blood like a river.

When this person looked up again, his expression was already a bit panicked, but he still stiffened his neck and said, "You are not quite the same as the rumors, my lord."

Deng Ken smiled when he heard this and asked, "What do I look like in the rumors?"

The noble rider hesitated and said, "In the rumors, you are mighty and majestic, like a giant, able to subdue a fierce horse with your bare hands, fight tigers and leopards, your archery is unpredictable, and you can eat a whole cow in one meal."

Have the rumors become so outrageous?

Deng Ken smiled and said, "Why have you come?"

The noble rider's expression was hesitant. He gritted his teeth and said, "We heard the legend of you, my lord, and intend to come and join you to fight against the invading Saxon barbarians together."

"However..."

"The rumors are too exaggerated, so I still want to see for myself; otherwise, I can't make my subordinates convinced."

Speaking of this, he continued, "We still have more than three hundred people."

"Temporarily staying by the valley."

It turned out to be a small exiled lord. No wonder he was a bit arrogant, actually wanting to test Deng Ken's strength.

Deng Ken just wanted to stand up when Cú Chulainn, the burly barbarian warrior with totem tattoos on his chest, stood out and knelt on one knee, saying, "My lord, leave it to me."

After seeing Cú Chulainn stand out, the Celtic warriors on both sides couldn't help but look disappointed and retreated again.

The news that Cligan had been knighted had long spread throughout the camp.

Others were naturally eager to move. Although Deng Ken hadn't recovered his territory yet, the title of a knight also made Cligan pull away from the others. Especially Kveto, who was even more envious and jealous. If he had known, he would have followed to the island of Britain.

I was the one who came first!

Although the Celtic warriors led by Cú Chulainn were few in number, they also had their own ideas. They were indigenous people and were more eager to make contributions on this land.

Cligan was now waiting to form a small cavalry team and then take people back to his hometown to find a way to recruit some Sarmatian riders who had integrated with the indigenous people. He also had fellow villagers and playmates who grew up together. It was no problem to recruit some squire riders in the name of a knight.

Not returning home after achieving success is like wearing brocade in the night.

First establish a career with military exploits, then return to his hometown to show off, and by the way, bring some people out to enrich his personal guards.

A set of smooth moves, and he also increased his own foundation.

Outside the camp.

Deng Ken glanced at him and nodded slightly.

Cú Chulainn's expression was excited. He didn't even draw his weapon, just held the scabbard and gestured to the other side.

This is too humiliating!

The noble rider from the Horned Land was furious and drew his sword and shield, rushing towards Cú Chulainn's burly figure. He still had some strength; looking at his posture, he had been trained since childhood, but it was more about horsemanship, and infantry combat was at a medium level.

Clang!

Clatter!

In a one-on-one fight, the strength of a two-star powerhouse was fully revealed. The noble rider's one-handed sword was blocked by Cú Chulainn with his scabbard, and then he slammed into him, easily flipping the opponent over. Before he could even raise his shield, the whole person had been turned upside down. Just as he looked up with unwillingness, the scabbard was already resting on his neck.

This person's lower body was unstable, and his horsemanship might have been stronger.

"With this level, you dare to challenge Lord Deng Ken?" Cú Chulainn's expression was slightly disdainful.

He was a traditional Gaulish oath warrior, a first-tier elite heavy infantry unit that could fight against the Imperial elite guards. In the era before Christ, he dared to charge the Spartan heavy infantry phalanx head-on, and was one of the very few infantry units capable of breaking through the Spartan phalanx.

To be honest, the noble rider from the Horned Land was not worth looking at in front of him. If he charged on horseback head-on, he would have the ability to counter-kill.

Severus didn't recruit many people, but their overall strength was very strong.

Of course, the real elite troops hadn't arrived yet; the old temple guards of the polytheistic religion recruited by the Raven Queen, Triss, were the real highlight.

Deng Ken stepped forward and took the initiative to reach out and pull up the noble rider who was full of shame and anger.

He glanced at Cú Chulainn beside him, and Cú Chulainn immediately retreated with an expression of awe, no longer having the arrogance and disdain he had at the beginning, and returned to the team of Celtic warriors.

This guy is quite good at acting.

Deng Ken patted the noble rider on the shoulder and said, "What is your name?"

The noble rider said respectfully, "Talon Sari."

Deng Ken pondered for a moment and said, "Bring the people from the valley over, reorganize and train them. It won't be long before my fleet transports more food and weapons from North Africa."

Starting a business still has to rely on Anya.

The rich woman is truly fragrant.

Talon's troops actually only had one-third with combat effectiveness, and the others were at the militia level, which could only be mixed into auxiliary legions. After the reorganization of Deng Ken's army, there were less than three hundred people who could truly be regarded as regular infantry, and more than two hundred were auxiliary troops who couldn't fight hard battles.

Everything today seemed to be a signal. When more than ten people came on the third day, Deng Ken finally realized something was wrong.

"Is my reputation that loud?"

"How did hundreds of people come to join me all of a sudden? And there are Welsh archers?"

The morning of the third day was even more incredible.

Most of the people who came in the first few days were refugees who had lost their land and whose homes had been ravaged and occupied by Saxon pirates, mainly refugees from the Canti, Brigantes, Venta, etc. They were indigenous tribes, branches of the British people, who were forced to flee to the mountains after being defeated and were determined to take back their homes.

And today, when Deng Ken saw more than ten one-star "Welsh Archers," he finally realized the huge impact of legends on himself.

The Wales region hadn't been occupied by barbarians; they were purely here for Deng Ken's reputation!

That was King Uther's territory.

The captain of the Welsh archers was also very confused. Facing Deng Ken's inquiry, he answered honestly, "I don't know either..."

"The Druid priest said that if you want to deal with the invading Saxon barbarians, come here and join Lord Deng Ken!"

"So we came here together."

They mainly wanted to make contributions. Life in the mountains was not good, and they also wanted to rely on military exploits to complete class leaps.

Druid?

Avalon in the mist?!

Deng Ken thought of the fairies guarding Avalon in the first place. During this time, he had also heard some outrageous rumors about himself, many of which had some connection with Avalon. Because of this, among the indigenous people who still maintained traditional faith, they came to join him one after another, suddenly increasing the scale of the legion to nearly six hundred people.

The legend Deng Ken possessed seemed to not only act on the strengthening of the dimensional space, but the influence brought by the legend in the real world was also gradually revealed.

In just half a month, his name had spread throughout the entire Britain region.

………………

Is Avalon helping me?

Deng Ken recruited these Welsh archers and reorganized them into a long-range unit of nearly one hundred people. They all brought their own dry rations, and weapons, leather armor, arrows, etc., were all brought by themselves.

British hunters were considered second- or third-line archer units, and after reorganization, they became "British Auxiliary Archers."

The more than three hundred people brought by the Horned Land knight Talon were mostly farmers, herdsmen, and militia, directly mixed into two squads of one hundred, and after reorganization, they became "British Coastal Militia."

"Logistics are a bit tight."

When Kveto walked over with the account book, Deng Ken realized that with so many people eating and drinking, his family assets couldn't hold on anymore.

Anya, where are you?

I miss you so much!

Don't look at the fact that there are only a few hundred people; it's hard to support them. Just the daily eating, drinking, maintenance, and training would cost about a hundred gold coins a month. This is without paying military pay. If the troops were supported according to the Imperial standard legion, this expenditure would increase several times. A squad of one hundred Imperial field army would cost nearly a thousand gold coins a year.

The Imperial field army is known for its high military expenditure, far exceeding the military expenditure of other forces.

Of course, these are regular troops, belonging to the main combat soldiers. The Imperial auxiliary legions couldn't spend that much money at all. The Imperial army usually issues salary once a quarter. The expenditure of a standard field army squad is about three hundred and fifty gold coins, which is actually not much when averaged out, and even a bit tight, so it must rely on spoils of war and rewards to maintain.

The barbarian troops' military pay is only half of the Empire's, but they have spoils of war and land distribution.

The troops recruited by Deng Ken don't need to be paid for the time being, but daily chewing is indispensable. Five or six hundred big men eating every day is a considerable expense. With Deng Ken's style, it's impossible to let them eat chaff and vegetables every day. At least one meal of meat (fish) a day must be provided even if it empties the family assets.

Because there were many people eating, it even attracted nearby British residents, forming a small market outside the camp, and fishermen also sent their catch to exchange for some household money.

Deng Ken also had to prepare weapons and equipment for them. After spending money on various things, the money bag was almost squeezed dry, but many people still had no armor and could only use simple shields.

The bag of gold Anya left behind was slowly spent clean like this.

"Can't wait any longer!"

"Train troops through actual combat."

When Deng Ken realized that his money bag was almost empty, he decided to take the initiative without hesitation.

Scout cavalry, gather intelligence!

Cligan and Talon each led a team of scout cavalry, totaling about twelve people. Deng Ken had only so many cavalry under his command. He still had to rely on robbing people to get warhorses; he really couldn't afford to buy horses.

Those indigenous chieftains and lords all had their own guard riders, while Deng Ken only had a team of Celtic warriors fighting on foot. His foundation was still much worse than theirs.

The Duke of Tintagel had already recovered most of the land in Devon County, and even Exeter had been taken down.

Now his troops were in a stalemate with the enemy near Dorset.

To describe it in common language, the Duke of Tintagel marched forward triumphantly, having recovered a county's territory, and was testing each other with Saxon pirates in the next county, both wanting to find an opportunity to wipe out the enemy in one go.

A day passed quickly.

Just as Deng Ken was preparing to take action.

"Fleet!"

"A fleet is coming!"

A cheer came from the direction of the coastline, and Deng Ken stood up instantly, rushing towards the direction of the harbor.

Anya's fleet!

The dear witch Anya had finally returned.

There was no decent port nearby, so docking took a little time. Anya's fleet had a total of six cargo ships and three small boats, none of which had deep drafts, mainly running Mediterranean trade. The coastline around Britain was still under the control of Saxon pirates, so it was a bit dangerous for them to come over, but fortunately, they didn't encounter any trouble.

Anya stood on the deck, in a gorgeous court dress of a Roman noble, looking like a proud peacock!

In recent years, the Church's influence had become greater and greater, and Roman traditional clothing had also changed. Anya was wearing the noblewoman's clothing from the early Empire, a bit like the noble long dress in Spartacus, slightly revealing, looking beautiful and moving.

After the Church was established as the state religion, Imperial clothing changed, the arena was closed, the Olympics were stopped, and the atmosphere gradually became conservative.

Everyone used small boats to transport things from the cargo ships, including shields, javelins, heavy short swords, and other military equipment, as well as food, cloth, wind-dried meat, and other supplies. The cargo ships were all full.

Anya stepped onto the coastline, raised her head proudly, looked at Deng Ken, and smiled charmingly, "I sold all my family assets in North Africa at a low price."

"From now on, I can only rely on you."

"This is the first batch of supplies transported. It will take some time to sell the manor land in Rome."

Truly exhausted the family assets.

Although Anya had all the old problems of a noble, she had the courage that far exceeded other men.

The supplies transported this time solved Deng Ken's urgent need. The only regret was that there was no armor, even if Anya couldn't get the standard armor and protective gear of the Imperial field army.

However, there was leather armor on one of the ships, which could barely arm many people.

Deng Ken didn't speak, just gripped Anya's palm tightly, interlaced his fingers, and then raised her hand high, signaling to the others beside him. Soon, cheers rang out one after another.

Under the cheers of the crowd, Anya's beautiful face was slightly excited and flushed, as if she extremely enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention.

"I also brought you some people."

When returning to the camp, Anya leaned into Deng Ken's ear and said softly, "They are former Imperial camp followers."

"Unneeded spoils of war can be sold to them."

—Camp followers.

—Imperial mercenary guards.

Deng Ken had already seen it, because their guards were dressed like Imperial private legions, and some were holding crossbows.

The Empire started by relying on war.

As early as the BC era, the Imperial legions would be followed by a large number of camp followers, who could buy spoils of war at a discounted price and transport supplies needed by the legions from other places, to some extent replacing many of the duties of civilian laborers.

Of course, all of this was for profit.

Camp followers were a highly profitable profession, also considered making money with their heads tied to their belts. The spoils of war they acquired could have more than double the profit when transported to other places, and these spoils of war converted into cash were usually distributed by the entire legion according to military exploits.

Everyone was a beneficiary. As long as the legion generals didn't embezzle, the spoils of war would be distributed, and a victory would make the legion soldiers' pockets bulge.

The Roman foreign wars often brought huge benefits. The war against Carthage received huge war reparations, completing the hegemony of the Mediterranean. The war against Macedonia alone had war reparations as high as 120 million, and after that, there were huge tributes every year, which was almost equivalent to the national tax revenue of three years at that time.

From the BC era until now, camp followers have developed slowly like this. They even helped handle the spoils of war after the barbarian Huns plundered the Empire.

As long as there is money to be made, they dare to do anything!

Inside the camp.

With Anya's return, the clerks of her merchant firm immediately took over the logistics of the army. Not many of the British people could read or count, but the Romans were generally well-educated. Anya's merchant firm could maintain the trade routes between Carthage in North Africa and Alexandria in Egypt, and managing the logistics of five or six hundred people was no problem at all.

Before leaving the tent, Anya's little finger suddenly hooked in Deng Ken's palm, and a subtle little expression of asking for a reward appeared on her beautiful face.

Having been running around and exposed to the wind and sun for this period, Anya was truly starved.

The Raven Queen, Triss, turned a blind eye, just looking at Anya twisting her waist and hips like a full moon as she walked away, her eyes deep, not knowing what she was thinking.

Her meeting with Merlin hadn't gone that smoothly.

Or more bluntly, Merlin belonged to the centrist faction, leaning towards the Church, unwilling to get involved in these troublesome matters, and had no obligation to help her.

Deng Ken knew that the trip hadn't gone that smoothly after seeing the Raven Queen, Triss, not even mentioning Merlin after she returned. Whether Merlin helped or not, it didn't matter to him, because the other party wasn't in Deng Ken's plan to begin with.

In such chaotic times, you can only rely on yourself!

………………