Aetius, who had no idea what was going on in Italy, saw the autumn harvest season approaching a month after Litollo set out.

Due to the cold climate, the wheat harvest in Gaul and other places is not only low but also ripe late, so maintaining the livelihood of the region has become the primary problem for all regions.

"Flavies. Luga is now in a much worse position than we are. Looking at the slaves harvested in the fields, Aetius thought to himself that this was what he had planned.

The people at the bottom suffer from hunger, the hungry people, the rulers who cannot act as rulers, and this balance is like a stone pillar with cracks at the bottom, and as the days of hunger increase, such conflicts will become bigger and bigger, and the conflict between the commoners and the rulers will become more and more intense.

If you want to appease hundreds of thousands of hungry and angry civilians, you must have a military force strong enough to make them fearful.

Unfortunately, Luga had such power, but he had to face an angry populace. This military force left him with no time to take care of, so as long as Litollo took the Italian field army and dealt with the problem of being isolated, it would not only greatly damage Luga's vitality, but also allow him to defend Great Sicily and Iberia without the army he could dispatch.

In this way, Aetius was able to declare Luga to be Rome's enemy, defeating Luga as if he had defeated his former rivals, becoming Rome's only captain of soldiers.

Inheriting the lands laid down by Luga and becoming the preeminent power of Western Rome, Valentinian was nothing more than a puppet, and Aetius was willing to wait for his death.

"I have to admit that you're smart, Flavis. Luga. Aetius, who had led the army out of Ludinand, looked north, his expression full of banter. You must be torn between placating the civilians, but you won't have peace of mind when you follow your orders in the city of Rome! ”

Because of the number of 15,000 people, Aetius is so confident, everything is like his past, like a script that has been written for a long time, he has it step by step according to the script, and everything is so smooth, I am afraid that the most climactic and thrilling is that he gathers the Italian army to attack the recalcitrant "traitor".

The army traveled south along the Agrippa Boulevard, resting at the town of Alerat, and then south along the Giulia-Augustus Boulevard to Rome, where all roads led to Rome and a simple road system connecting the various cities of Rome.

"At the end of the road is Rome, what happened to Litollo over there?" Aetius still did not trust Litolho, not because of his disloyalty, but because it was unknown whether he would be able to impress the Praetorian Guard with his aristocratic rhetoric and cultured speech.

He needs the strength of the Central Field Army, which is also the basis of his strength. Walking here, passing through towns along the way, it is necessary to draw a field regiment of soldiers from the defenders inside to join the expeditionary army.

By Genoa, his army had reached more than twenty-five thousand, and the sheer size of his army slowed Aetius more and more slowly. However, the increase in numbers did not make Aetius confident, but made him more and more nervous and uneasy.

"Litollio, don't make any mistakes!" Aetius prayed in his heart, and this time, as he drew closer to Rome, his heart trembled even more.

Finally, trembling, he led his army to Luna, a junction road to Florence to the east, Ravenna to the east, Pisa and then Rome to the south.

With it so close at hand, Aetius was eager to let his men grow their wings and descend on Rome at dawn the next day.

"Litollio, don't miss the time, be sure to wait for me in Rome!" Thinking about it, his hand clenched the hilt of the sword, and his heart was even more mixed, twisted into a ball.

When I got close to Luna, I saw that the gates of Luna City were closed, and the soldiers guarding it drew their swords and unsheathed them, waiting for them. This is not a welcome, at least in the face of the soldiers, they should open the gates and stand on both sides of the road, and bow their heads and tremble in the face of the soldiers' car.

But look at his subordinates, the soldiers who should have obeyed his command turned their weapons on him, and no one of them could tolerate it.

The sharp guards on the city wall were no more than a few hundred, and there were more than 25,000 people behind him, so such a huge army was naturally his confidence, and he dared to hit a stone with an egg.

"Well, even if it's an event to Rome, it's a greeting to the rebels guarding Rome, so that they can see what happens to my army against those who betray Rome!"

Thinking so, Aetius waved his hand violently, and the guard officer beside him immediately turned around and shouted at the army behind him: "Prepare for war!" Prepare for battle! ”

The 20,000 soldiers immediately moved to the sound of rumbling horns, and they assumed an offensive posture, because there were no siege weapons, they could only push out trebuchets and scorpion crossbows, aiming at the walls that could not be shaken at all, which was also a terrifying posture, and what really allowed Aetius to win was the inner fear of the soldiers defending the city.

"Squeak!"

As Aetius had expected, they opened the gates, but instead of the panicked nobles who had come to make amends, they were greeted by groups of Roman soldiers, all armed, their armor not without their ornateness, their towering iron horns glistening in the sunlight.

They advanced step by step, and the vanguard soldiers lined up outside the city with huge square shields, and almost at the same time, the horn sounded, "Boom! ”

The shield smashed into the ground and formed a wall with countless "black ears" (Χρ) symbols.

The follow-up soldiers followed, standing behind the "wall", the second and third columns were armed with spears, and the follow-up soldiers drew their javelins and held them on their shoulders, waiting for them.

Thousands of troops poured out of the city, and the soldiers who had been guarding the walls retreated and replaced them with heavily armored soldiers in chain mail jackets and scale armor, armed with compound bows, and pointed their arrows on the strings and aimed at Aetius.

Where is it to negotiate or surrender, they are clearly ready for battle, and the target is Aetius and his army in front of them.

"Your Excellency." Thereus came to Aetius's side, his brow furrowed, as if he couldn't understand such a move, and no one knew why. "Their armor is very unusual, and it is impossible for an ordinary soldier to have such an armament."

"Of course, Theris, they're certainly not ordinary troops." Aetius gritted his teeth and explained, "They are the Praetorian Guard, the First Italian Legion, the real workhorse of the Empire. ”

"What?" Therius felt incredible, it turned out that the army that Aetius wanted to win over was the extremely well-trained field army in front of him, they were so well-trained that they were not used to fight against foreign enemies at all. It is worthy of the army defending the capital of the empire, and thousands of people have taken out the momentum of tens of thousands.

At this time, I only saw the "city wall" at the front of the army open like a city gate, and a group of cavalry rode out unhurriedly, led by a man wearing a white toga robe, followed by a general wearing heavy armor and a bright red vertical horse decoration on his head.

"No, it can't be!" Seeing the man in white slowly approaching, Aetius's eyes widened and he exclaimed.