Chapter 272:

Chapter 272:

The vanguard of 70,000 led by Surenas landed on the shore through the strait before Satavahana could even react.

It was only three days after the declaration of war had been delivered and the envoy had returned to Rome that the Roman ships appeared on the coast.

This meant that they had mobilized their army almost at the same time as they had sent the envoy for the declaration of war.

Some people denounced it as a treacherous and cowardly surprise attack, but who could they complain to?

The enemys army had already entered the kingdom and there was not enough time to respond.

How many are there in the enemys army?

We dont have an exact number. But the common opinion of the witnesses was that it wouldnt be more than 100,000.

That means we have to assume at least more than 50,000. How about our soldiers? Are they ready yet?

We are doing our best to organize them quickly. But it happened so suddenly

King Migaspati clicked his tongue at the pathetic sight of his flustered servant.

Satavahana, which possessed the strongest military power in India at the moment, was not a level that could be ignored.

If they mobilized their full strength, they could maintain a state with more than 100,000 infantry, thousands of cavalry, and hundreds of elephant corps.

But the problem was time.

It was not that they had no defense forces deployed in case of emergency, but most of them were concentrated on the northern border.

It was to conquer the Camba Kingdom that they were currently pushing hard.

Until now, Satavahana had hardly ever been invaded by foreign enemies through the western sea.

For them, the enemy always came down from the north or sometimes came up from the south.

So it was inevitable that they lacked a counter-strategy in case of an enemy invasion through the Arabian Sea.

How can they do such a thing as declaring war in the first place? And what is this invasion speed? How can they push in so fast?

There was no answer to the kings annoyed muttering.

Is there any additional report?

General Carnis is hurrying to form a defense force. But until then, it will be impossible to defend the southwest

But we still have to buy some time there. Even if we have fewer defense forces, we can use the terrain to slow down and drag out a large army!

That, thats the problem. The enemys army moves too fast to catch a gap. Its as if theyve been here several times before. They seem to be familiar with the geography of this area

The kings head throbbed with pain as he heard one gloomy report after another.

Those Roman bastards must have been preparing for war from the beginning.

He didnt know that Marcus could see a much more precise map than the people of this era.

He had no choice but to think so as a king who didnt know that fact.

They sent merchants to trade while making maps. Buying land to mine useless resources was a trick to deceive our eyes. They pretended to mine resources while scouting out routes for invasion.

How efficient and wicked was this method?

No matter how hard he thought, he couldnt come up with an effective solution in this situation.

There was no way to buy time until the army fighting with Camba Kingdom came down and joined forces with General Carnis defense force.

Theres no choice. Tell Carnis. If he cant finish forming the defense force in time, send some soldiers anyway and buy some time.

Yes!

The servant who received the order turned around and hurriedly left the royal palace.

He knew what this order meant.

It meant that since they were not ready to counterattack, they had to choose some people to sacrifice and buy time with their lives.

It was cruel but unavoidable.

Many people would die, but it would be better than losing their country.

In fact, if you think about it rationally, it was obvious that sending a few tens of thousands of defense forces wouldnt stop Romes advance.

But unfortunately, Satavahana only knew that Rome was strong, but they never had a chance to compare their strength indirectly with them.

Didnt they say the enemy was divided into two groups and moving north? Could it be that they read our movements and regrouped for a surprise attack?

No, Your Majesty. According to the report, our army suffered a crushing defeat by the monstrous force of the enemys 30,000 cavalry.

But even if their cavalry was strong, they shouldnt have been able to fight against our elephant corps head-on

Well, thats It seemed like the enemy had already prepared countermeasures for our elephant corps. According to a soldier who barely escaped, they easily cleared the path for the elephants charge and provoked them with arrows or aimed at the riders to induce the elephants rampage. They even scattered spikes on the elephants charge route. And judging by how their horses didnt fear the elephants, they must have been trained beforehand

A shock as if he had been hit hard by a hammer ran through the kings body.

Thats right.

He should have guessed that these people who had planned and attacked so meticulously would have thought of a way to deal with the elephants.

In fact, Marcus had airlifted elephants from Africa in anticipation of Indias elephant corps and trained his cavalry with them.

If he had known that fact beforehand, he could have fought a little better with his army.

But he was already at a disadvantage in terms of basic military strength, and the asymmetry of information was even more apparent. What could he do?

But how could our army be so easily disabled even if they neutralized the elephants? Was there such a big gap in combat power between our army and the Roman army? Or did we fall for the enemy commanders tactics?

I think its both, Your Majesty. First of all, the Roman cavalry wore rare armor that we had never seen before, and none of our attacks could penetrate their armor. On the other hand, their cavalrys charge attack was so powerful that our shields were meaningless and three or four of our soldiers were pierced through in one strike.

Ive never heard of such cavalry before.

Thats why there was more fear and confusion. The sight of the enemy rushing at us was like an eagle swooping down to catch its prey with its wings spread out. Even the soldiers who barely escaped have completely lost their morale and I doubt they can go back to the battlefield.

Only gloom surrounded the war room.

This defeat was not just a matter of failing to buy time.

The loss of faith in the elephant corps.

And the desperate gap in combat power between the enemy and us.

These two realities that he realized too late began to weigh down on everyones shoulders.

King Migaspati opened the letter that Surenas had sent him, which was full of arrogance.

He thought it was nonsense from a madman, but looking at the situation now, he felt uneasy that this might not be a bluff.

He might be able to hold out somehow if he gave up on frontal battle and locked up the city gates.

But what if Rome plundered several cities and left after losing a considerable amount of troops?

Rome would have achieved its purpose and suffered little damage, but Satavahana would lose its prestige as well as its growth momentum.

If only he could cut off Romes supply line, he could do something about it, but he couldnt even do that because Rome had complete control over the sea.

In the end, fighting here would only accumulate losses for Satavahana.

We have no choice but to accept their termsand sign a treaty.

Your Majesty! How can you endure such humiliation!

We have no choice. We knew too little about Rome. We have to bow down for now and avoid this crisis, then plan for later. It will be a bitter result, but we have no choice.

The loyal servants cried out as if they were shedding blood tears.

That was enough for him to confirm their hearts.

With such a foundation, there would be a day when he could strike back at Rome.

He wrote a letter saying that he would accept all the conditions and sighed deeply.

Its humiliating, but since we promised to pay them back several times for their reasons, they should send a delegation soon. Dont neglect the preparations.

A few days later.

A servant ran in a hurry and delivered a shocking news while gasping for breath.

Your, Your Majesty!

What? Is the arrival of the delegation delayed?

No, the enemythey refuse to negotiate!

The kings face, stained with disbelief and anger, twisted like a piece of tissue.

Aaaaaah! What the hell do these bastards want from me!

The End