Barbarian Foreign Legion! (Two Thousand Subscription Bonus Chapter)

Isle of Wight.

The Isle of Wight had not yet been developed much. The Saxon Pirates stationed there numbered only two or three hundred, and there were practically no elite troops among them.

The only troublesome thing was a small military fortress built by the Empire.

Under God's Eye View.

Duncan observed the enemy. One glance was all it took for him to know this battle was in the bag.

There was only one Two-Star unit on the entire Isle of Wight, marked "Saxon Pirate Chieftain." The rest were basically blank slates, and there were only three One-Star combat units.

"Nothing but militia, old men, the weak... and even wounded, crippled pirates?"

Whoosh.

Duncan seized an opportunity and fired an arrow, killing the Two-Star pirate chieftain atop the battlements outright. He then sent the captured Saxon Pirates to persuade them to surrender. In less than half an hour, the Saxon Pirates surrendered. They had no choice but to do so. The walls of this small military fortress were only a little over three meters high, about the height of a single-story building. They could be climbed over with ease.

"Leave a hundred men behind to guard the prisoners."

Duncan decisively led his troops back to Southampton. The battle had gone far too smoothly. By afternoon, the army had regrouped and prepared to besiege Portchester Fortress in Portsmouth.

This was a military fortress renovated by the Roman Empire in the third century, once used to guard against Saxon Pirate invasions.

"This will be a tough battle..."

Duncan looked at the military fortress ahead and decisively ordered his forces to surround it without attacking. He had no siege equipment, and his chances of taking it by force were not high.

A town could have its gates seized. A military fortress was far more difficult.

This military fortress was not very large to begin with. The slightest disturbance would alert its defenders, and with the enemy holding the high walls, even Duncan could easily be surrounded and killed if he infiltrated. There were also many shooting towers around the fortress. A frontal assault would come at a great cost, and many lives would have to be thrown into the breach first.

After observing for a while, Severus said in a low voice, "Should we try persuading them to surrender?"

There were more than a thousand of them.

Could they really be persuaded to surrender?

After pondering for a moment, Duncan said, "Wait a little longer. Wait for the main force to gather."

"Put psychological pressure on them by making them think we vastly outnumber them."

"Then persuade them to surrender!"

Duncan carefully observed the enemy forces under God's Eye View and found that they all bore three negative markers: "Shaken Morale," "Consecutive Defeats," and "Encountering a Powerful Enemy." Some of the enemies who looked directly at Duncan even displayed the negative statuses "Terror" and "Ghosts and Gods." They were likely deserters from the earlier rout and had already developed a psychological shadow toward Duncan.

The troops under his command gradually arrived. Even the surrendered Saxon auxiliary troops were driven to the front of the fortress.

These Saxon auxiliary troops had gone hungry for a day. They were only given a full meal after arriving before Portchester Fortress. Most of their equipment had been removed, and the auxiliaries were left with only shields and weapons. The British Legion stood behind them, along with a small elite supervision squad holding the rear.

Duncan had captured rather too many prisoners by now. Keeping them under control alone was not easy. If he truly launched a frontal assault, he would definitely drive the auxiliary troops forward first to attack the walls and wear down the enemy.

If not for his far-reaching reputation and the Legendary Points he possessed among the Germanic Barbarians, incorporating these prisoners would have been a great deal of trouble.

Just then.

The auxiliary commander Duncan had appointed earlier hurried over. Panting heavily, his face filled with reverence, he dropped to one knee and said, "My lord."

"Let me persuade them to surrender!"

You?

Duncan looked down at the Saxon Elite Spearman before him. He did not even know this man's name. Under Duncan's pressure, the auxiliary commander gritted his teeth and raised his head. "Most of those stationed in this fortress are Jutes."

"They may not be willing to defend it to the death."

Now that the brothers Hengist and Horsa were both dead, the Jutes had no leader. They could either submit to an Angles chieftain or a Saxon chieftain.

If the Jutes did not choose a side, they would sooner or later be wiped out entirely.

Duncan sat atop his warhorse and looked down at him for a moment before asking in a deep voice, "What is your name?"

The Saxon Elite Spearman replied, "Galawin, my lord."

Duncan nodded. "If you can persuade them to surrender, then in the name of the Lord of Southampton, I will knight you!"

Galawin's face lit up with joy, and he immediately led some men forward to persuade them.

Duncan waited where he was for a moment.

Whoosh!

A volley of arrows shot from the walls, one striking Galawin's shield directly. It seemed the attempt at persuasion had failed.

Galawin retreated in a sorry state with his men.

Yet there was actually a trace of delight on his face. He returned to Duncan's side, glanced around, and said in a low voice, "My lord. It's done."

Hm?

If Duncan had not seen wrongly just now, this man had nearly been shot dead by the archers. Why was he suddenly saying it had succeeded?

Galawin lowered his voice. "My clansmen are inside the fortress."

"When I approached the wall just now, I communicated with them using coded hand signals."

"Tonight, they will definitely find a chance to open the gates."

So confident?

Duncan wore a skeptical expression. Using God's Eye View to observe, he actually discovered a small number of neutral targets among the enemy forces, all of them One-Star units.

--Saxon Elite Spearman (One-Star) [Neutral].

Amid the mass of red hostile markers, those three to five neutral-marked units stood out conspicuously.

Galawin hurriedly said, "My lord, trust me just this once!"

"I guarantee it with my life!"

"If anything happens tonight, send men to seize the city gate immediately."

Without God's Eye View, Duncan truly would have had no way to trust him. After all, this man had nearly been shot to death just moments ago.

But now, Duncan did not mind waiting.

Night fell.

Galawin looked composed on the surface, but inwardly he was incredibly tense. He had wagered his head on this. If nothing happened tonight, Duncan might chop off his head at dawn tomorrow to sacrifice to the banner.

But Duncan knew the matter was settled.

Because after nightfall, those neutral-marked units secretly gathered for a brief while before turning into green-marked units.

Immediately afterward, they split up, and another twenty to thirty men became neutral units.

It was nearing midnight.

Under God's Eye View, these neutral units quickly assembled in secret. After cutting down several Saxon spearmen, they all turned into green-marked units.

"Attack!"

"Take the city gate!"

The moment these infiltrators made their move, Duncan immediately commanded the army to attack. As a cavalry force charged into the city at full speed, the British Legion following close behind swiftly seized control of the eastern gate.

Gallagher led more than ten men in a bloody charge to reinforce them. After killing around ten enemies, they joined up with the infiltrators, and these Saxon spearmen knelt on one knee to show their submission.

Duncan's reputation was simply too great across Britain Island!

The wise submitted to the times. Moreover, he was of Roman origin, and Rome had always maintained the tradition of recruiting Barbarian Mercenaries. If Duncan had been a traditional Celtic lord, they might not have surrendered so readily.

As everyone knew, the true legacy of the Empire lay with the barbarians, and Barbarian Mercenaries guarded the Empire's last shred of glory!

By now, the enemy had already collapsed on a massive scale.

Duncan led a cavalry unit in a charge and slew a Saxon commander who was frantically trying to assemble his troops. Before long, he had taken over more than half of the military fortress.

Only then did he have time to examine Galawin and the people behind him.

Five or six of them were actually One-Star units.

This meant that although they had not been born as noble warriors, becoming One-Star elite spearmen still required ruthless effort. Perhaps their fathers had also been veterans, meaning they possessed a certain degree of family inheritance.

Duncan reined in his horse and stopped, saying approvingly, "Very good."

"You performed well. As agreed, I will knight you!"

But Galawin shook his head. He directly led the others to kneel on one knee before Duncan. This barbarian elite even cut open his palm with a dagger and swore in blood, "My lord!"

"Please allow us to become a Foreign Legion loyal to you!"

"In Odin's name!"

"We will become your sword and shield! Your most loyal followers!"

What was this?

They wanted to become my Barbarian Mercenaries?!

Romans were Romans, and Britons were Britons.

Galawin made that distinction very clearly.

They had not been defeated by weak Britons, but by one of the Empire's bravest newly risen lords. With the barbarians' proud and unruly nature, they accepted Duncan as a man, but they refused to accept defeat at the hands of the British Legion. They looked down on Duke of Tintagel even more.

If Lord Duncan commanded them, they could have directly hacked their way through all of Britain Island head-on!

History had its legacy.

From the end of the third century AD onward, Barbarian Mercenaries had guarded the Empire's borders and defeated its powerful enemies time and again.

They had a poor reputation and loved burning, killing, and plundering, but their loyalty was not low either!

At the very least, they were better than the Imperial Guard that came later.

According to the traditions established after the Empire's military reforms, every Eagle Banner Legion was bound to have a considerable number of Barbarian Mercenaries beneath it. Their Jutes were also one branch of the Germanic Barbarians, so why could they not seize this opportunity to become Lord Duncan's Barbarian Mercenary legion?

Britons?

They were merely enemies they had defeated before.

Galawin's goal was clear. What Duke of Tintagel? They had nearly cut that bastard to death several times.

Barbarians revered only the bravest warriors!

What they wanted was to draw a clear line between themselves and the Britons, cast off their lowly status as auxiliary troops, and become another armed force directly under Duncan's command.

—The Barbarian Foreign Legion!

With this century-old tradition in place, and Duncan being Roman by birth, there was no way this lord would fail to understand its significance.

"This man has talent!"

Duncan thought of the same thing at that moment. Looking down at Galawin before him, he pondered for a moment, then drew Oathkeeper from his waist and placed it on the other man's shoulder. In a deep voice, he said, "In the name of the Norse Gods!"

"I accept your allegiance!"

"Good."

"From this day onward, you will be the commander of the Foreign Legion."

"I permit you to recruit reliable men from among the prisoners."

As Duncan's words fell, Galawin and the others' status changed at once. They were no longer prisoners, nor were they auxiliary troops. They had become the "Barbarian Foreign Legion"!

These men became an independent third armed force.

They had nothing whatsoever to do with the forces on Britain Island, and they did not give a damn about Duke of Tintagel. They pledged loyalty to Duncan alone!

Galawin had won this gamble.

In one leap, he became a legion commander second only to Kevito, Clegane, and the others.

The Germanic Barbarians were truly wild and unruly. They utterly looked down on the weak Britons, but serving a lord of the Empire—a supremely powerful military commander—was something they could fully accept.

Galawin had staked everything on pledging loyalty to Duncan himself.

History's boomerang struck once again—the true legitimacy of the Empire really lay with the barbarians!