Chapter 78 Unfair Negotiation

Constantine was furious after his foederati had abandoned him at Saguntum and planned to return to Gaul. While it was true, this campaign was not going as well as he had initially planned, they were far from being defeated.

Or so he believed. Constantine’s plan was to fall back to the regions he had conquered and force every man capable of wielding a spear into his ranks. He had bled too much, and fought too long to lose Hispania after a series of protracted sieges. He swore he would be back with a Vengeance.

As for Hagen, he quickly gathered his Frankish Warriors and departed for the Pyrenees. There was nothing left in Hispania for him, and he intended to raid and ravage Constantine’s lands for all the wealth they had. Or so that was the plan, however the moment he and his army of a few thousand foederati arrived at the foothills they had passed through to get into these lands, they noticed a serious problem.

Standing guard across the mountain passes were large numbers of Roman troops, and these were not reinforcements. The way they were armored was vastly superior to Constantine’s greatest forces. Hagen was quite fearful of who this army belonged to, and what their purpose was. Had the Eastern Roman empire sent its forces to cut off Constantine?

No, that was not possible. Should the Eastern Roman Empire take such foolish action, they would be leaving their borders with the Sassanids defenseless. There was only one possibility for the existence of this army. Marcellus had raised his troops, and marched from Italia to end Constantine’s reign of terror once and for all.

This news honestly surprised Hagen. Shouldn’t Marcellus be back in Italia licking the wounds from his rebellion, and doing everything in his power to stabilize his reign? The Frankish chieftain could hardly believe the self-proclaimed emperor had the means to march such a massive and well-equipped army westward.

If Marcellus had so many soldiers guarding this one mountain pass, then they likely had others guarding the rest. At times like this, Hagen felt he should negotiate with the man. After all, fighting such a large number of Roman soldiers, and breaking through into the Pyrenees, was simply impossible for his warriors. Perhaps if they had not suffered such massive losses at Saguntum, they might be able to make a break for it, but such a thing was no longer an option. The Frankish Chieftain immediately called out to one of his nearby warriors.

“Fetch me a white flag. I wish to negotiate with whoever leads this army.”

The warrior immediately looked towards his commander with a hint of surprise on his face.

“We are not going to fight them?”

Hagen could not help but scowl at the man and his lack of intelligence. The only thing he could do was scold him.

“Do you think our paltry numbers have the ability to contend with the enemy in front of us? There must be at least ten thousand of them sitting there in that mountain pass! By all means if you want to scout the other routes back to Gual feel free to do so, but if they have come all the way to Hispania, only to stand guard at the Pyrenees then it is clear that they have sealed off all routes. They intend to trap Constantine here, between two armies, and annihilate the fool. I’d rather not die for Constantine after abandoning him to his fate…”

The Frankish warrior immediately felt like an idiot when he heard Hagen’s reasoning for negotiation. He was convinced there was a reason that the man was in charge of their troops, and it wasn’t just because he was the biggest and strongest of all of them.

“I’ll go get the white flag…”

Hagen merely sneered at the man in disdain before uttering his true thoughts.

“You do that…”

After a few minutes, the man returned with a white flag and handed it to Hagen, which the Frankish chieftain immediately accepted the gift before holding it proudly in the air as he fearlessly approached the Roman Army.

Ordius was the man tasked with leading the legions which guarded this sector of the Pyrenees and immediately noticed the large Frankish warrior approaching him with a white flag. From his observations, there were no romans among the ranks of the men behind the flag-bearer.

This could mean only one thing. Conflict had ensued between the usurper and his barbarian foederati, causing the Franks to desert. Because of this he did not order an assault, and instead grabbed a white flag of his own, flanked by soldiers he met the Frankish Chieftain in the field between their two armies. Hagen smiled when he saw that the Romans were willing to negotiate and called out to Ordius as he greeted him.

“I am Hagen, chieftain of the Franks, my I ask what your name is, and who you serve.”

Ordius had a stern expression on his face as he responded to the man’s question.

“I am Gaius Licinius Ordius, Legatus to the Emperor Titus Claudius Marcellus. I assume you are deserters, as I do not see the usurper or his men among your ranks. Would I be correct?”

Hagen was slightly perturbed by being called a deserter, despite its accuracy. However, he squashed his discontent for the sake of negotiations and answered the man honestly.

“Constantine, in his utter incompetence, has caused the deaths of thousands of my men. The loss at the battle of Saguntum was the last straw. We rejected his claim to the throne and parted ways with the usurper. Now it appears the fool has trapped himself in Hispania between two major armies.

He is doomed, and we want no part in it. I have no quarrel with you or your emperor. If you would allow us to peacefully return to Gaul, I promise to rule the territory that my tribe has been given in the name of this Titus Claudius Marcellus.”

Ordius did not trust a word that Hagen had spoken. Those who would so quickly desert their masters were worse than wild dogs. He had been dispatched to this area to protect the Pyrenees from Constantine and his forces.

Though these men may claim to be deserters, who was to say that once given safe passage they decided to bide their time, and strike Ordius’ legions while they were engaged with Constantine? It was because of this thought that Ordius would not allow these men passage through the mountains. Instead, he proposed a counter solution.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you pass through the Pyrenees. No offense, but I do not trust the words of a self-proclaimed deserter. You have two options: fight us, or lay down your arms and become our prisoners. Once we have dealt with Constantine, we will release you and your tribesmen beyond the borders of the Rhine.”

Hagen was displeased with these options. Being taken prisoner was an insult to the honor of his warriors, and on top of this, the Roman General had claimed that he and his men would be released beyond the Rhine. Meaning that the lands they had long since settled would be taken away from them. He could not help but protest this by gnashing his teeth and cursing Ordius.

“You bastard! We were promised lands in Gaul to settle, we will not return beyond the rhine. I would rather day here in Hispania than be forced out of my home by a bunch of filthy Romans!”

Ordius merely smirked when he heard this before commenting on Hagen’s claims.

“You were promised these lands by a usurper. As for the lands your people already settle west of the Rhine, you forfeited your rights to those lands the moment you sided with Constantine. It is the opinion of his majesty Titus Claudius Marcellus that the Franks in Gaul should be removed from Roman Lands and returned to Germania. I assure you we have the necessary power to achieve such a thing. Surrender or die, those are your only options!”

Hagen spat on the ground and walked away in silence. He would not accept such a deal. This Emperor Marcellus was even more unreasonable than Constantine. Hagen would not so brazenly attack this section of the Pyrenees. He did not have the men to succeed.

It would appear he would have to align with Constantine once more if he wished to break through the mountain pass. Hopefully, he could regroup with the fool and warn him of Marcellus’ plot to trap him before the Soldiers of Hispania could catch up to them.

As for Ordius, he would report this incident to Marcellus, causing the Roman under the man’s command to become much more alert. Once Constantine became aware of the trap that was set for him, his best course of action would be to attack a section of Marcellus’ forces, and break through before their enemies could encircle them. Only time would tell whose forces would be victorious in the foothills of the Pyrenees.