Balrog, a town that has been massacred.
Duncan’s figure sat across the long table, and behind him was a group of ferocious generals and personal guards. The blood on their armor had not been wiped clean; remnants of flesh and internal organs were left in the seams of the scale armor, all of which belonged to the enemy, of course.
This scene made Molov, who walked in from the opposite side, tremble involuntarily, and the Barbarian Race chieftains behind him also showed a hint of reverence.
Too fierce!
It’s not just Duncan who is as fierce as a creature beyond human. The generals and personal guards he led were incredibly fierce too.
Molov had never encountered a commander with such an acute grasp of battle opportunities. It could be said that Duncan’s in-the-mont performance had amazed him like a god, almost making this ability incomprehensible, forcing him to believe Duncan was a naturally gifted general. If Molov had read Oriental military strategy, he might even use the term ’Military Formations’ to describe Duncan’s tactical command.
There are four schools of military strategy: strategy and power, military yin-yang, military formations, and military techniques.
To put it in the simplest terms.
Strategic power involves defending the nation with orthodox thods, deploying troops unexpectedly to attack, planning before battles, encompassing formations, incorporating yin-yang, and utilizing techniques.
One adjective: ’Strategist.’
Military formations involve thunderous action and swift movents, launching after preemptive steps, disbanding and reforming, changing direction unpredictably, using nimble asures to subdue the opponent.
Duncan’s tactical command abilities place him alongside figures like Xiang Yu, Huo Qubing, and Lu Bu. Duncan has the advantage of a god’s perspective, which cannot be compared to those without external aids; they are the truly gifted ones.
Military yin-yang adheres to timing, extends morality, coordinates combat and strikes, uses five victories, and borrows ghostly forces for assistance.
Representative figures include Zhuge Liang borrowing the east wind, those generals who favor using natural conditions.
Military techniques involve mastering hand and foot, adapting equipnt, accumulating chanisms, and benefiting from offensive and defensive victories.
Representative figures include the Mo Family and Qi Jiguang.
Generally speaking, all four military strategies are learned together, but so people excel in certain areas and may need innate talent. At this mont, Duncan gives the impression of excelling in tactical command. In comprehensive warfare parlance, he must be given an extra title of ’Tactical Master.’
However, he truly is unorthodox, trained through playing strategy gas.
But in military warfare, winning is all that matters, aligning closely with many of Duncan’s ideas.
Modern people learn quite broadly. Many believe they don’t understand military tactics, but what they’ve learned inadvertently is the battle thod of strategists—mostly ’Military Formations,’ which is tactical command ability.
Those with a bit of scientific or logical skills who like training soldiers are the military techniques types.
Therefore, even without external aids, modern people who sowhat integrate knowledge can activate a star of leadership ability without difficulty.
The issue is that most people are unaware of this.
Duncan currently exhibits a commanding ability that would earn attention from anyone. Even with their army greatly outnumbering the opponent, Molov couldn’t help but be weak in montum, unknowingly sitting below Duncan.
The opponent also holds the title of ’Governor of the Province of Britannia,’ a rank higher than many Barbarian Race kings. A slight display of weakness doesn’t affect one’s prestige.
However, Molov didn’t know that this appointnt docunt hadn’t truly taken effect, not having been approved by the Imperial Senate.
But Duncan led troops across the sea to aid during the empire’s crisis; since he arrived, the appointnt docunt had to be true, allowing no falsity, even the Senate or the emperor couldn’t go back on it.
In the hall, they took seats.
They were seated here to discuss the distribution of war loot. After all, the Frank cavalry also exerted a great effort; many of Charagan’s personal guard died in the charge. Luckily, Duncan restrained himself initially, not leading the general guard to confront them head-on, or else half the general guard might have perished.
Personal guards versus personal guards—these are battles to the death, fights that don’t withdraw until one side is almost entirely annihilated.
The gains from this battle were substantial.
It’s not just that they defeated the Huns’ army and only captured a few surrendered soldiers, warhorses, and supplies—that’s just a small part of the loot. The real major loot was the spoils from the Huns’ army ravaging all of Gaul, which they couldn’t take away post-defeat, all left to Duncan and Molov’s camp commanders.
The Huns plundered Gaul; they vanquished the Huns. The loot naturally belonged to them, impossible to return to Gaul’s civilians.
Duncan’s British Imperial Guard suffered heavy casualties; how to console the war dead without war booty?
Regardless of where it ca from, it was fought with their lives!
Molov’s thoughts coincided with Duncan’s, although the division was a hassle since the Franks’ cavalry also had a minor conflict with Duncan’s troops over loot.
These are real gold and silver, treasures scraped by the Huns’ army.
They had actually discussed once, but due to uneven distribution, there was so tension between them. With the battle imminent, they couldn’t let internal conflicts arise over a bit of wealth, so there were attempts made, essentially reaching compromise—waiting for the camp leaders above to make decisions.
Duncan sat at the main seat, imposing, giving off imnse pressure, Molov felt sowhat cultural deficit; if cultured, there’d be the expression, isn’t this the Hongn Banquet?
Behind him, generals glanced intensely, ferociously, as if just waiting for Duncan’s command to furiously fight the opponent.
At this mont, Duncan was exerting trendous pressure on others!
However, after Molov took his seat, he suddenly burst into laughter with a change of mood, rain turning to sunshine, and even took the initiative to pour wine for the other party, expressing his admiration for the Frankish warrior, and said in a low voice: "How about this."
"Take seventy percent of the Huns’ loot which is placed in Balrog’s hands first."
Such a good deal?
Seventy percent of the loot, that’s almost all the best items.
Priority in choosing loot in the army is crucial; what’s left after others pick is just trash.
Upon hearing Duncan’s words, Molov’s expression darkened, while the chieftain leaders behind him were full of joy, knowing this was real money allowing them to pick the loot first, aning everyone could make a fortune, and their soldiers could fill their pockets.
Yet Molov’s expression was quite serious; the opponent’s generosity suggested a great ulterior motive, not ordinary wealth.
Indeed.
Duncan’s tone gradually sank, giving a sense of imnse pressure, and he said in a low voice: "Our army has suffered heavy losses, and the soldiers are lacking armor and weapons; many riders don’t have warhorses."
"The great battle is near."
"How about you give these military resources and warhorses first? When we defeat the Hunnic army, there will be plenty of armants and supplies."
The motive revealed.
Duncan wasn’t after wealth; he was after military resources and warhorses, which are the keys to enhancing strength.
Molov’s expression was grim, and he remained silent. The chieftain leaders behind him were thoughtful, so agreeing that their allies’ strength must be bolstered given the impending battle, while others felt Duncan was asking for too much, wanting to devour all the Hunnic grassland horses, which seed a bit excessive.
But the opponent offered seventy percent of the loot first, allowing them to choose, which was already a very advantageous condition. To refuse would be to decline a drink offered in goodwill.
Take the wealth; leave the warhorses.
By the end of his speech, Duncan’s tone was irrefutable; his forces were the primary ones in this battle. Strategically, his request was sowhat excessive but not entirely unreasonable.
Ultimately, it depended on whether Molov could accept it, as Gaul was the Frank holand, losing this battle ant losing their ho.
Duncan banked on this because the war was not in Great Britain; the casualties would be Frankish people.
The air was dead silent.
Molov stared at Duncan with a grim expression, silently waiting, and suddenly laughed heartily: "Agreed!"
"Then my n won’t hold back."
He swallowed his pride.
Just as Duncan said, with a major battle imminent, the other side did need a cavalry unit, and monopolizing was for the sake of the coming war. Besides, Duncan had already made a considerable concession.
Still, Molov’s suspicion towards Duncan increased; he sought no gold or silver but purely warhorses and military resources. His ambition was significant!
Suddenly, it seed everyone was pleased.
This venture had the Franks strike it big, securing gold, silver, and various materials filling dozens of carts—a bounty unmatched in years. As for Duncan’s army, they retained whatever was leftover, but they significantly upgraded to firearms and obtained nearly two thousand grassland horses, with close to a thousand qualifying as inferior warhorses.
Other grassland horses could barely qualify as warhorses, suitable only for light cavalry since heavy cavalry had higher requirents for horses.
Only one-fifth of these captured horses were suitable as mounts for heavy cavalry.
The finest heavy cavalry horses were in the Western Gothic Kingdom, their tall horses had strong impact; Hunnic horses had superior endurance, ideal for long treks (the latter being akin to Mongolian horses, which are smaller).
In this battle, Duncan’s troops secured around two thousand horses, with innurable other military equipnt acquired, and nearly everyone had upgraded to leather armor.
As for army casualties, the British Imperial Guard had losses of four to five hundred n, other units had lighter casualties, but the Gaul Warrior Battle Group suffered significantly, leaving less than eighteen hundred n, although reinforcents would soon arrive due to Duncan’s burgeoning reputation in the Exile Camp.
Originally Severus intended to relocate exiles to the island of Great Britain, but now it was rely a change in thod, recruiting combat units of exiles on the spot.
Duncan recruiting them was akin to accepting defectors, directly clearing their identity, integrating them into the British Imperial Guard.
The replaced old equipnt was assigned to them, along with the influx of Gaul natives attracted by the major victory, Duncan’s forces grew increasingly large, reaching a scale of thirty-two hundred n.
Moreover, he recruited a batch of Hunnic rcenaries!
Not related to God’s Whip - Attila’s forces, but those scattered by the Hunnic army, originally loyal to other powers’ Hunnic rcenaries. The Roman Protectorate - Aetius commanded a highly capable Hunnic unit, organized loosely by tribe, defeated warriors leaving the grasslands seeking futures, many becoming rcenaries.
The Hunnic Empire declared war on the Eastern Empire, partly due to the latter harboring Hunnic criminal defectors.
Aside from these, Duncan also absorbed a small number of Hunnic nomads.
Little need to worry about their loyalty; they rely served as vassal troops, similar to the Hunnic Empire’s internal customs, following the strong to gain wealth and status through warfare. When God’s Whip - Attila unexpectedly died, the vast Hunnic Empire quickly fragnted, with Hunnic tribes fundantally loyal to the ’invincible’ Attila rather than the newly-established Hunnic Empire.
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