Hyper-Dimensional Player

To clear the blocked retreat by Duncan, Torismund dispatched nearly ten thousand men from the Île-de-France back to the Central District, attempting to reestablish logistics supplies.

However, they never expected that this force of nearly ten thousand would be attacked by Duncan at dawn, resulting in a devastating defeat and retreat.

The battle left thousands dead or wounded, and the routed soldiers only reported seeing a sky full of cavalry.

It was only until this moment.

Besieging Paris, Torismund suddenly realized that the cavalry led by Duncan was not a small unit, but a legion of more than two thousand cavalrymen.

Such a formidable force of elite cavalry could charge directly at a force of even tens of thousands.

Now the retreat was cut off, and the Western Gothic army besieging Paris began to falter in morale.

East of Verden.

Torismund's central army camp was stationed nearby. They had been besieging Paris for nearly a week, but the British Legion relied on the city walls to hold out, and they were unable to capture it. Balton was also a veteran general of the imperial legion, who found it hard to achieve any surprising achievements in battle, yet he was a master at defending a city.

The commanders of the Roman Empire were all skilled at defending cities.

In earlier years, the Western Gothic army looted Rome through slaves opening the gates; historically, Vandals later breached the city by deceit and treachery, opening Rome's gates fraudulently.

Records of strong assaults breaching cities are rare.

With ten thousand men defending Paris, the infantry of the Western Gothic Kingdom assaulted the walls several times, only to be repelled each time.

"Your Majesty."

"Shouldn't we retreat?"

At this time, a Western Gothic general whispered within the camp, "The enemy has cut off our supplies, the tens of thousands of troops can't last much longer with our current eat and consume."

By retreating now, at least they wouldn't suffer from shaken morale due to lack of provisions.

Torismund's expression was exceedingly grim; he looked around at the others present and said in a deep voice, "Lyon can still send provisions."

"We can at least hold on for another month."

He had just ascended to the throne last year, and not long ago the Franks sought his aid, but leading his great army resulted in return without success. If he retreated easily this time, it would be an enormous blow to his prestige.

Launching a war can only satisfy all parties by obtaining benefits.

Moreover, until now, the Western Gothic Kingdom was in an advantageous position, having won three consecutive battles earlier, boosting morale significantly.

Torismund was unwilling to concede defeat.

He was not completely without chance; as long as he conquered Paris ahead, Duncan's deployment would laughably fall apart.

But the problem was right there.

The army of the Gothic Kingdom couldn't capture it!

Paris was not an impregnable fortress, but it was one of the few cities with stone walls in the entire Gaul Province, and he couldn't fathom how Duncan managed to launch the surprise attack and seize Paris, had he flown over the walls?

Molov was utterly incompetent.

To have cavalry breach such an important city.

"Hold on for another half month."

Torismund surveyed those present and said in a deep voice, "If we still haven't taken Paris in half a month, we will retreat."

The king's decision was made, and the others could only withdraw.

But bad news kept coming back one after another, Duncan suddenly split his forces, with Kulin leading a thousand elite cavalry towards Toulouse, while he personally led a thousand Frankish dragon cavalry and Lager knights to raid Lyon.

Soon, news arrived that a military town in Lyon was captured.

At this moment, Torismund was utterly at his wit's end.

What was happening?!

Why was it that the long-distance raiding cavalry forces, apart from disrupting the rear and cutting off supplies, were even able to capture a strongly defended town stronghold?

Did they fly in?

Torismund utterly failed to comprehend how the cavalry, without siege equipment or heavy equipment, managed to besiege the city?

They didn't even have shields, and a storm of arrows should have driven them back from the outpost.

This defies common sense!

It can be said that this was already a military miracle.

But at this moment.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came, a Western Gothic light cavalryman dismounted in a panic and rushed into the camp, exclaiming: "Your Majesty!"

"Enemy troops have been found in the Normandy direction, possibly numbering over ten thousand!"

Not good!

The reinforcements from the British Province have arrived; they've possibly reached the Frankish region through sea transportation.

Torismund immediately dispatched the cavalry forces, preparing to intercept the arriving British reinforcements, but no sooner had his orders gone out than another even more shocking piece of news arrived.

"Your Majesty!..."

A messenger covered in blood rushed in, his voice hoarse as he spoke: "Lyon has fallen..."

"The main British legion has entirely retreated back."

"They never ventured deep into Italy!"

These words hit Torismund like a bolt from the blue, leaving him stunned in place.

They fell into a trap!

Leading the Western Gothic army, from attacking the Île-de-France to besieging Paris, it was just over half a month's time, and the enemy never intended to destroy the 'Pseudo Emperor'; everything was planned against them. At this moment, with the entire Gaul Province as the center, Duncan's massive encirclement had begun to tighten.

Currently, his only chance was if the Pseudo Emperor Maximus could lead troops against the British legion's rear.

But did Maximus have the gall for it?

Could he command the imperial legion?

In fact, the entire Gaul Administrative Region's central battlefield has already concentrated on the Île-de-France, with the Picts, Gaels, and Britons led by Drest advancing from the Normandy direction, and Balton commanding the second and third-line troops, cooperating with the Frankish infantry, to block the enemy from breaking the encirclement from the Paris direction.