Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 19: Fighting! Begging for Life! The Road of Rebellion
The vast earth is a purgatory on earth.

The current situation of the empire is that it has lost both the Rhine and the Danube rivers, and almost lost its defense lines on the two major rivers of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

"The remaining main forces of the empire were pinned down by the Hun army."

"The barbarian tribes of Greater Germania crossed the Rhine, seized Upper and Lower Germania, and advanced into the heart of Gaul. They had completely lost control of what would become France."

There was a row of wooden stakes at the fork in the road ahead.

From afar, crows pecked at food, flies filled the air, and all they saw were severed heads. A preliminary count put them at several hundred, their faces completely disfigured. Their facial features resembled those of slaves and serfs. In recent years, the empire had been plagued by rebellions, and after its finances completely collapsed, it had been forced to further exploit the lower classes, forcing slaves and serfs everywhere to revolt.

The Roman Protector Aetius was a famous general who was brave and good at fighting, but he did not have much talent in domestic affairs and spent most of the year on the battlefield on the border.

If history had not deviated significantly, he would have been murdered by the emperor in the next few years.

Rows of heads were pierced.

These skulls were nailed to the sides of the road like streetlights, one every meter, stretching over 200 meters. This was a cruel punishment left over from the Spartacus Rebellion. The Romans had always been cruel to their slaves, and any rebellious slaves would be executed. After the failure of the Spartacus Rebellion, the road from Rome to Capua was completely littered with the remains of executed slaves. Approximately 6,000 people were crucified.

There were more than 400 heads in total, enough to build a Jingguan. Looking at these heads of people who died with their eyes open, Duncan truly felt the cruelty of this era.

The barbarians invaded to rob money, land and people, and the untouchables at the bottom of society were truly living a life worse than pigs and dogs.

They will die if they rebel, and they will die if they don't rebel.

"It's the slave revolt in Burgundy."

Anya, standing by, seemed to know more and whispered, "The Burgundians have rebelled again, taking with them a large number of slaves and serfs."

"Although they were initially suppressed by Aetius, many rebellious slaves still fled to other places."

"They would often secretly incite slave rebellions on the estates. Once discovered, they would be exterminated and executed, and nailed to the sides of the roads as a warning to others."

The massacre that suppressed Burgundy was the prototype of the Germanic epic poem "The Song of the Nibelungs".

Aetius had a close relationship with the Hun emperor Attila in his early years. When he was young, he was held hostage by the Hun king, a bit like Guo Jing and Torre in the novel. With the help of the Huns, he finally forced the Western Empire to restore his power and became the commander-in-chief of the Western Empire.

The history of this period is somewhat similar to that of the Song Dynasty and the Mongols, as Aetius relied on Hun mercenaries to fight many battles in his early years. (The Huns were a loose tribe, and the defeated fled into the empire. Even today, many Hun mercenaries still serve the imperial nobility.)
The most interesting thing is that after Aetius was murdered, it was his two Hun friends who avenged him. They stabbed Valentinian III to death while the emperor was reviewing the troops.

None of the soldiers in the barracks stepped forward and watched the emperor being stabbed to death on the spot.

The one with the strongest army and horses is Augustus!

Although Anya was a two-star blank, Duncan learned more about the current situation of the empire from her, and was more aware of the source of the rebellions in Gaul at this time.

Badagao Sports.

The rebellion that lasted for hundreds of years within the empire began in the 3s of the 60rd century AD, causing the collapse of Roman rule in Gaul. It was suppressed in the 80s and rose again in the 5th century, dealing a heavy blow to the Roman Empire.

The scale of their uprising was even greater than that of Spartacus. If it had not been suppressed by the empire's last famous general, Aetius, it would probably have overturned the entire Gaul region.

These rebels were the marginalized people at the bottom of the empire. They hid in the mountains and forests of Gaul and have not been completely wiped out to this day.

The group continued north.

As if seeing Duncan's keen interest in these matters, the witch Anya elaborated further, "Three years ago, Aetius suppressed the Bagaudae people of Almorica."

"He is said to have massacred tens of thousands of people."

"In one fell swoop, the main force of the rebels was defeated, and the entire Gaul was brought back under the rule of the empire."

"However, due to the corrupt rule of the Roman bureaucracy, a large number of people chose to flee, and eventually these rebels became exiled Bagaudae people again."

Rebels?

manpower!?
After listening to everything Anya said in detail, this word immediately popped up in Duncan's mind.

That’s right, it’s the source of soldiers.

Rebels from the Empire!
Those rebels who were oppressed and had no social status and could only hide in the dense mountains and forests were one of the best sources of soldiers in Duncan's eyes.

"The Imperial camp has only two choices."

"One is the Protector of the Realm - Aetius, and the other is the incompetent Emperor Valentinian III."

“I don’t want to choose either of these.”

"Although Aetius is a famous general in history, he is ultimately just a fierce general, and the conflict between him and the emperor is becoming increasingly irreconcilable."

"The future derived from the original law of cause and effect."

"As the adopted son of the Aetius family, the human form was severely injured on the battlefield and then died under the siege of the barbarians."

"This is probably also due to the internal political struggle within the empire."

"The empire is beyond repair."

"Joining this is like entering a cesspool, and you can't really do anything."

Duncan's thoughts became clearer and clearer at this time.

"Don't even think about the Hunnic Empire. Nomadic peoples rely entirely on their leaders. Once Attila dies, it will fall apart immediately."

"And their ruling class is mostly Hunnic."

"The barbarian tribes and the Visigothic Kingdom aren't very good either. They rarely make use of outsiders."

"The British Isles."

"The most important factions are the Celts and the Saxons."

"The Celts have their own kingdom and many tribal leaders. Even if I help them, I may not be able to lay a foundation."

“So where does my base come from?”

A stranger.

Where does Duncan recruit his base?
He certainly would not be willing to swear allegiance to a king, chief, lord, etc. At most, he would be a mercenary. Moreover, in this era, it is better to start from scratch than to rebel against the powerful.

The Bagoda people!

With the unexpected reminder from the witch Anya, Duncan quickly thought of a special group.

——Imperial rebels.

As early as the late 2nd century AD, the Roman Empire had already encountered a serious social and economic crisis.

Due to the long-term possession of the vast resources of the Mediterranean world, the core population of the empire was rapidly corrupted. Whether it was the citizens who enjoyed bread in the city or the retired soldiers who received pensions and land, they were all consuming huge resources at the fastest speed.

If it were not for the convenient sea transportation throughout the Mediterranean and the relatively efficient Roman administrative system, this situation might have worsened in the early days of the empire.

However, as the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has begun to increase exponentially.

However, the empire's ability to maintain welfare cannot benefit every corner of the country, especially in the western provinces where there are no large cities. Many marginalized people who are overwhelmed by the burden are always missed around the plantations and farm settlements.

In addition, the local economy is often more dependent on slave labor, which further contributes to the breakdown of the economic structure.

As a result, a large number of exiles began to wander on the fringes of mainstream society and gradually developed into independent large groups.

The Romans called these marginalized groups Bagaudae.

The original meaning of this word is warrior in Gallic dialect.

This group later grew and was joined by a large number of bankrupt farmers, debt slaves, criminals, deserters, etc.

Around the third century AD, the secretive Bagauda group had a new opportunity for expansion.

Due to the Parthian War in the east and the barbarian invasion in the north, the Roman army began to be seriously short of manpower. The then Emperor Marcus Aurelius expanded the army and recruited a large number of gladiators, slaves and bandits.

However, they were completely unable to withstand the high-intensity training and discriminatory abuse by officers, and often tried to escape to the nearby Bagauda territory.

This was the root force of the first uprising.

The addition of gladiators quickly gave them a significant fighting capacity, transforming the marginalized at the bottom of the empire into a powerful rebel army. (Note: This is somewhat similar to the Spartacus uprising, in which gladiators played a key role.)
Eventually, they launched a massive uprising. For a long time thereafter, the Bagauda people were repeatedly suppressed, repeatedly rebelled, and repeatedly went into exile. When they succeeded, they plundered and slaughtered the imperial elite; when they failed, they fled to the mountains and forests and broke up into small groups.

It wasn't until three years ago that Aetius suppressed the uprising by massacring tens of thousands of people.

Thinking of this, Duncan even wanted to lift the witch - Anya up high.

He had never figured out where his base lay. Joining the Empire still meant he had to cling to the Empire's influence, and without his own army, he could easily die in political struggles. As for joining other factions, he still had little status. In this chaotic world of shattered mountains and rivers, without his own army, he felt completely insecure.

But where does the army come from?

Where do the soldiers come from?
After all, reality is not a game. You can't recruit a few troops when you pass by a village, and then recruit a few more people when you pass by a city like in Mount and Blade.

Everything points to four big words - [Imperial Rebels]!
Those marginalized people at the bottom of the imperial society, the imperial pariahs of various identities, Gauls, Celts, Franks, Romans, Germanic barbarians, etc., their origins included farmers, slaves, bankrupts, herdsmen, criminals, deserters, etc.

These people are the real imperial pariahs!
The lowest of lows.

Most of them don't even have an identity. Only when they can no longer survive and start an uprising can they have the identity of a "rebel".

These people are the easiest source of soldiers for Duncan to obtain in the future!
What empire? What barbarians? What Huns?
Right now, the rebels are the only camp that has the best chance of him rising quickly.

………………

"There's a situation ahead!"

The cry of crows was heard in the air, and the Raven Queen - Triss immediately reined in her horse and turned to look at Duncan.

Unknowingly, Duncan has become the leader of this team.

The witch's reconnaissance range was even greater, and Triss seemed to be able to influence birds and beasts. However, her reconnaissance had to be for major events, such as a battle involving hundreds of people or a large number of corpses, in order for her to be able to detect them. If it was just a small-scale robbery, it would be almost impossible for the witch to detect it in advance.

Duncan instantly picked up the Northern War Bow and concentrated his consciousness to enter the dimensional space.

From God's perspective.

In the direction they were advancing, about ten kilometers away, two armies were fighting on both sides of a dense forest road.

Strictly speaking, it cannot be considered an army.

Because one of the troops even had farmers and herdsmen holding dung forks. Their equipment was extremely simple. Among the hundreds of people, less than one-third had decent weapons, and most of them had no armor. Only a small number of people were equipped with some simple leather armor. A few of them who looked like leaders were wearing the worn scale armor of the Roman border guards.

The other troop was well-equipped and dressed very similarly to the Roman field army, but was obviously a private army, looking like mercenaries within the empire. Their weapons and armor were similar to those of the regular army, and they were also equipped with bows and crossbows. They used only dozens of men to resist an enemy that was nearly ten times their number.

Of course, most of the enemies were farmers, serfs and slaves. If they had faced a regular army of this size, they would have been defeated long ago.

——The Bagaudas [Exiles] [Rebels]!
——The Empire’s private army (manor guards) (foreign barbarian mercenaries) (private knights)!

The strength of the two warring parties is very different.

The bodies of the rebels were scattered on both sides of the road. They were unable to break through the chariot formation in front of them. There were at least dozens of corpses on the roadside, and many people who were injured by arrows were wailing. They attacked several times but were repelled. Their morale was obviously broken, but they still did not retreat. Many people stared at the food and supplies on the carriages.

These rebels look pale and thin, as if they have been malnourished for a long time. There are only a few dozen of them who can really fight, and most of them are cannon fodder.

The Empire called these untouchables the Bagaudas, while they called themselves 'exiles'.

It means people who don't have any land, house or property.

They are truly bankrupt.

The empire has suppressed countless rebellions over the centuries, but the rebellions have never stopped because there is a steady stream of lower-class people within the empire who become bankrupt. The empire's exploitation and oppression of the people is endless, and the long-term wars have further drained their bones and marrow. In the end, the bankrupts have only two ways out.

One is to become a slave and a serf.

The other is to become an exile, flee to the West, and become a marginal person wandering outside civilization.

As long as the empire exists, the untouchables will continue to become 'exiles'.

Duncan is actually an exile.

The village of Bran on the border of the empire was massacred by the defeated soldiers, and he fled to Gaul. He had no land, no house, and no place to settle down. He was a complete refugee and was about to start a rebellion.

It's just that he used a cheat, had great strength, and fought his way out of a bloody situation.

As for the other exiles, they were not so lucky. They joined the rebels and were suppressed and massacred by the Roman Protector Aetius a few years ago. The remaining survivors continued to flee westward. If it were not for the massive invasion of the Hun Empire, they would probably have continued to be besieged by the barbarian foreign mercenaries.

These exiles were completely dispersed. They fled to the deep mountains and forests. Some of them became bandits, while others retained their rebel organization, building strongholds deep in the dense forests. When they could no longer survive, they came out to plunder.

It is not known whether it was due to the influence of the Spartacus Uprising, but after these exiles looted the estates of the imperial nobles, they would also provide some relief to the poor. Therefore, the serfs and slaves at the bottom of society actually supported them secretly and even provided some intelligence.

Their early slogan was 'Turn slave owners into slaves', and they were suppressed and massacred many times.

"Beggar Army!"

"These people are simply born beggars!"

Duncan thought of an army during the Five Barbarians Invasion Period.

This is a group of people trying to survive in the cracks.

Duncan looked at those pale and skinny exiles who had been completely crushed, no matter in terms of equipment, weapons, military skills, or personal physical fitness. They kept rushing forward, leaving behind more than ten corpses, then retreated, rested briefly, and rushed forward again, leaving behind more corpses.

They were unable to break through the chariot formation, but were reluctant to retreat.

These people just want to survive, just to survive!

They were facing a cruel and chaotic world, no less brutal than the Five Barbarians' Invasion in the Central Plains. The untouchables had no choice but to submit and be oppressed to death by the empire, or to resist and be treated as rebels and massacred.

Since it's a dead end, we might as well start a rebellion with great fanfare!

This is how the Exile Rebel Faction came about.

Duncan knew what to do next.

How many soldiers he has depends only on how corrupt the empire is and how many people are forced to live!

Whether he was taking root in the British Isles (immigrating) or rebelling in the western part of the empire, he needed such a group of people, a group of people who were fighting to survive!

In this turbulent era, human life is worthless.

Only the 'Beggar Army' could truly be loyal to him, a foreigner who came from a humble background and rose from humble origins!
Fuck the Empire! I'm going to start my own business with the help of rebels.

………………

[Note 1: The exile rebels, the untouchables of the western fringes of the empire, rebelled against their fate. They faced oppression from the empire, barbarian invasions, and the threat of the Huns. Compared to other factions, the rebels were disorganized, undisciplined, and poorly equipped, primarily composed of peasants, serfs, and slaves. However, they were the easiest to recruit; all they needed was a way to survive and a meal.]

[Note 2: These exiles were a mixed bunch, numerous and eventually absorbed by the Franks, contributing to the rise of the Frankish Kingdom and providing a large supply of young and strong labor and soldiers.]

[Note 3: One of the branches of causal reasoning, the human body becoming Aetius's adopted son, stems from the Roman Empire's tradition of adopting sons, which was equivalent to replacing one's identity and escaping one's pariah origins. If the emperor of the empire had no suitable offspring, he would adopt an heir as an adopted son. Seven of the 17 early Roman emperors were adopted sons.

The same is true for aristocratic families. If there are no male offspring or the offspring are not outstanding, the adopted son will take the lead (usually through marriage and marriage of daughters) and inherit their power, status and political legacy. The adopted son has legal inheritance rights.

In the imperial tradition.

When a person is adopted as a member of a family, no matter what his previous identity was (a barbarian or a pariah), his current identity will be consistent with that of the family that adopted him.

These adopted stepchildren will not be treated any worse than their biological children.

When a noble adopts a child, he or she will usually choose another woman from the family to marry him or her. The adopted child will inherit the family name, the political legacy, and will be recognized by society and the law.

The death of the human body in that branch meant that one of the legitimate heirs chosen by the Protector Aetius had died suddenly on the battlefield.

Duncan didn't know at first that his adopted son had such a high status. Later he realized that the death of his adopted son was not much different from the death of his biological son.

Because the empire's political aristocrats would only select outstanding descendants whom they valued and adopt as their sons.

Another point is that Roman tradition required adoptions of adult males. Trajan was adopted at the age of 45 and designated as the heir to the empire, and he went on to establish the largest territory in the history of the Roman Empire.

In the late empire, adopting children was similar to Ding Yuan's adoption of Lü Bu as his adopted son. This was more for political purposes, but the status of adopted children was still very high.

(End of this chapter)