Chapter 472: I Am The Greatest!

"Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans"

-        Eugène Edine Pottier, L'Internationale

"Advance! Advance! Advance till the very end!"

No one is keen to offer anymore suggestion after Julian said these words, while his second in command rolled his eyes and thought to himself. "Of course, you would not care about the destruction of these unites, but I was the old officer commanding of that unit stuck inside, they are my men…." 

Finally, after a grueling one hour of searching and hunting, the five hundred plus Roman infantries inside finally seized the entire fortress with an overwhelmed casualty rate. Of all the one thousand men engaged in this operation, there is a staggering two hundred and twenty direct or indirect deaths, and another two hundred plus men injured. This is a casualty number that is way too high for any commanders standing here meaning that there's a whole company being wiped out of existence. Although Julian have already had a mental preparation for this, his heart still dipped when he saw the final casualty count. 

Julian sighed and looked up at the horizon of the east. By now the sky is already showing signs of a brand new day, from the pitch darkness of the night sky there came the clear illusion of the twilight coming up beneath the horizon. The sun has arrived, bringing back the vibrant colours chasing away all walks of evil beings and shining onto all the wonders that has been hidden under the velvet of the night, and at the same time finally allowing Julian to have a proper look on the full scale of the doom and destruction they have created. 

The outer wooden structure of the fortress has been completely demolished, with the keep wide open and several holes on the walls. The flag of the white horse and the flag of the Sanjek that is still flying on the towers a few hours ago has been thrown off and burnt. There are bodies everywhere, mostly the Ottoman conscripts. Fire has already stopped burning inside this fortress being replaced with dark fumes and a gross scent of charcoal and gun powder. 

A few soldiers returned, covered in ashes and blood stains. They climbed to the highest peak of the fortress, kicked down the very last flag representing the influence of the Ottoman Sultan, and replaced it with the flag of the red lion. 

A series of applause and cheers exploded outside the fortress behind Julian, even inclusive of the commanders. A soldier cautiously approached Julian with his head lowered, asking. "Sir, would you not want to go into the fortress and claim the trophy of another victory by you?" 

"No, it is not my victory, I do not deserve it." Julian plucked that long sword out from the Earth, sat down on the grass patch and began wiping it clean. "Everything is done by the thousand soldiers who have went into this hell and fought the war without falling back, all the credit goes to them, I have nothing to claim for myself. I could think of tens of methods to bring down this fortress with much less casualties and yet I adopted the worst method out of them, I am guilty." 

The soldier does not know what else he can say, for he is just a trooper and definitely has no interest in hearing the wobbles and struggles between these higher ups. 

Julian did not enter the fortress, and so did the rest of the troops making them all stand outside the gates as if they are being punished, forming a strong contrast with the officers that are waiting for their commanding officer's entrance inside the fortress. Seeing this the second in command of Julian had to take up the initiative and went into the fortress on behalf of everyone else to do the job. He left a hundred men in guarding the entrances and towers to defend against a possible Ottoman counter attack, and told the rest of the soldiers who have light wounds to go back to their starting positions with their pals who are injured badly, where there are adequate medical supplies. 

The troopers returned in pairs and groups staying within their unit, worn out of all energy and covered in tiny bruises on their skins like snakes. Some of them have bandaged on their forehead, while some, if looked at carefully, is limping or trudging against the ground due to cuts on their legs. Julian got up on his feet to welcome his gladiators back home as they passed by them, some of the troopers struggled to stop and salute their commander by bunching their fist against their chest as they go past him out of respect and love, while some troopers gave nothing but a cold humph and some vulgarities out of the feeling of getting cheated and betrayed, but most just plainly went past Julian, they are too numb and drained to give any reaction, and Julian did not seem to mind at all either, he just stood there firm as a statue, saluting back to everyone going past him, no matter what kind of reaction they have towards him.

Meanwhile back on that tower, Antonius is still there watching over the entire process. Indeed Julian is right, his Caesar has been there all the while overseeing his army without moving.

"Your majesty, it is time for breakfast."

"Leave it for later."

"…But it shall get cold before…"

"Then just reheat it."

"…Yes, your majesty."

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The servant backed off.

Antonius continued watching as the sun came out behind his back, casting him in a sacred light.

Although he could not have a clear look from this distance which even the fortress his men are trying to take looks no larger than a box in his eyes, but with only instinct and experience in military he already knows that his warriors have brought him another victory. Though this seems to be a little realistic to him when he observes the war from here, it is just like he is observing through a screen, he cannot see the splashing of blood, he cannot see the bodies piling up, he cannot see the exchange of blades and tossing of limbs. All he can know is the result and the casualty report.

"Send a few medical teams, with escorts and replenishments, they are going to need it." Antonius ordered to his guards, the later acknowledged and wanted to summon the messenger standing by downstairs. But apparently the Caesar is not in a good mood today as he turned back and roared. "All of you! Now! Go! Spread the message! At once!"

The surrounding guards are shocked in their ears from their usually calm Caesar suddenly roaring at them, they quickly responded and scattered off the tower to do the job themselves, leaving only the Caesar himself and another guard whom everyone knows in secrecy that has a special bond with the supreme leader.

The special guard, who is of course Anna, placed her hands on the shoulders of Antonius after everyone has left the place. "You are starting to become more and more impatient and edgy recently." She said before his ears. "If I am to put it in better words… You are behaving more and more like a king, a feudal monarch, like those kings recorded in The Histories by Herodotus."                                                                                                                                                     

"Well, I guess that this is not a good sign isn't it." Antonius sniffed as he rested his head on the hands of Anna.

"Well depends on how one looks at it… It might be a good sign, it might be a bad sign, but only the historians centuries later shall truly know." It seems like Anna do not want to continue on this topic and concluded it pretty quickly. The tower went back to its usual silence, Antonius closed his eyes giving people the impression that he has fallen asleep, but Anna knows that he is not.

"If Anna, if I am going to become a king… Don't look at me I know I am a Caesar, but that is only an honorary title that do not mean anything. If I am going to become a king… Or even an emperor, do you think that I shall be recorded down as a good chap, or a tyrant?"

"I do not know." Anna hesitated and replied shaking her head. "I am no historian, but if you are doing things in the future like what you are doing now, I can guarantee that you shall be recorded as one of the brightest and the most brilliant monarch in history under the quill of the historians, or maybe you shall be referred as the monarch of the people!"

"The monarch of the people…" Antonius chuckled like a kid with satisfaction as he leaned back again and closed his eyes.

"…"

"Leave this aside, I am hungry."

"Okay, okay, just wait a later longer…"

"I am hungry!"

"Okay, fine, fine, fine…"

"I am hungry!"

"Fine, fine, lets go…."

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