Pannonia Plains.
In 14 BC, the empire conquered this place and established it as a province. The general area of Pannonia province includes parts of today's Hungary, Romania, and Serbia, considered the central part of Europe.
"It looks like the Empire's Danube defense line is almost untenable."
Duncan gazed at the desolate villages in the distance, barely inhabited, his brow slightly furrowing. If Pannonia province also falls, the enemy can drive straight into the Empire's heartland.
The Roman Empire has the longest and most complex borders in ancient history, with three major river defense lines being particularly important: the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates. The Euphrates is in eastern Syria, considered the boundary line of the Middle East. The Rhine defense line faces numerous Germanic tribes, and during the Empire's peak, it conquered most of Great Germania. The Danube is the most difficult to defend, the weakest place, facing a variety of Barbarian Race enemies, and it is the only major river that freezes during winter.
This might not be very intuitive, another way to put it—
The Barbarian Race has already crossed the Yellow River.
The Empire is now almost like it has lost the natural barriers of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, leaving the Central Plains wide open, allowing the enemy to drive straight in.
The cawing of crows rang out.
Beside Duncan, the witch gazed into the distant forest and whispered, "It looks like this place has been plundered."
No egg remains unbroken under a toppled nest.
Although the historical trajectory of this parallel world differs, the declining fate of the empire is unchangeable. The border defense line near the Danube is manned by Barbarian Race armies, with more than half of the soldiers in these armies being of Barbarian Race origin. Over the years, the Barbarian Races integrated into the Empire, unable to endure oppression, have risen in revolt, and military insurrections have become common occurrences.
"Accepting Catus's invitation was clearly not a wise decision."
Duncan feels that joining the Barbarian Race has more prospects than joining the Empire.
He turned to look at the witch half a horse's length behind him, and said in a deep voice, "Where is the guide you mentioned?"
To traverse the continent and reach the British Isles, a guide is necessary, especially now with battles raging across the Empire—one wrong move and they'd be caught up in them. As a man, Duncan could get conscripted by the military force; however, as the Crow Queen—Triss—a woman of unparalleled beauty, it's unimaginable what she might face.
In such troubled times, just traveling alone, she would encounter countless troubles and dangers.
"Gaul."
The witch answered, "He is a Druid of the Gauls, having traveled extensively, and now lives reclusively in a village near the Alps."
Just as Duncan was about to speak, his brow suddenly locked in a frown, and he said in a deep voice, "Careful!"
"Something is wrong up ahead!"
He picked up a quiver and tossed it to the witch beside him, then took down the Northern Land war bow, his eyes fixed on the distant forest. At a position in the forest near a fork in the road, the cawing of crows rang out, followed by startled flying birds and beasts.
The sound of horse hooves approached from afar.
Separated by several hundred meters, over a dozen riders appeared in view. Upon seeing Duncan and the witch from afar, they cried out excitedly and drove their horses to encircle them.
"Prepare for battle!"
From an overhead view, Duncan saw clearly what these cavalry looked like.
They were short and stout with round, large heads, broad faces, high cheekbones, flat noses, thick beards, each wearing a single earring, a tuft of hair on the top of their heads with the rest shaved, thick eyebrows, and eyes like protruding almonds.
Among the enemies, many wore knee-length loose robes split open at the sides, with short fur cloaks draped over their shoulders. They wore leather hats, had pants fastened at the ankles with a leather strap, and quivers tied to their waists.
"Damn! Xiongnu?" Duncan's expression changed.
He couldn't be mistaken, as the enemy had distinctly non-European facial features, and their attire was very much like that of the nomadic tribes from the Western Regions, standing out from the others in the group of riders.
Crow Queen—Triss also looked solemn, saying, "They are Huns."
"They are very skilled mounted archers!"
Unlike the previous enemies, this small unit of enemy riders surprisingly had quite a few marked with one star, and even one two-star silver-gray leader unit.
– Alan vassal army.
– Gothic vassal riders.
– Hun nomadic riders.
– Hun elite mounted archers [One Star]!
– Hun Eagle Shooter [Two Stars]!
These enemies were more difficult to deal with than the Pamitia rangers encountered earlier, with more than half of the Hun cavalry being one-star units, and the Hun leader marked as an Eagle Shooter was especially well-equipped, wearing a hard leather hat, chain armor, nomadic boots with leather bindings, a saber at his waist, a war bow on his back, and two quivers by his side—one for heavy, short-range arrows, and the other for light, long-range arrows.
One could say that except for the slightly inferior helmet, this guy's equipment could rival that of the Mongol cavalry of hundreds of years later during their Western expedition.
The Eagle Shooter is the most elite sharpshooter of the Huns.
From "Records of the Grand Historian," Book 109, "Biography of General Li": The Xiongnu massively invaded the Upper Commandery, and the Emperor dispatched a eunuch to learn military tactics from Li Guang to fight the Xiongnu. The eunuch, leading dozens of cavalry, encountered three Xiongnu and fought them. The three Xiongnu turned and shot arrows, wounding the eunuch and nearly killing all his cavalry. The eunuch fled back to Guang. Guang stated, "These must be Eagle Shooters."
This passage translates to: The Xiongnu launched a massive invasion into the Upper Commandery. The Emperor sent a eunuch to follow Li Guang in military learning to resist the Xiongnu. The eunuch led dozens of riders galloping and met three Xiongnu, engaging them in battle. The three Xiongnu turned around, shooting and injuring the eunuch, nearly killing all of his cavalry.