A great battle.

Duncan actually captured twenty to thirty thousand people. It seems Molov really mobilized all the forces he could muster. However, the proportion of militia and tenant farmers was too high, which instead quickly shattered the morale of the elite troops. If Molov only gathered about ten thousand elites to face Duncan, they might have achieved some results, but with just that few people, Duncan might as well descend like a god and directly charge into the enemy ranks.

No kidding, with around ten thousand in scale, he truly dares to charge in and decapitate the enemy commander among thousands of troops.

"Galavin, advance and deploy along the Laine River, be wary of the Alamanni."

"Severus, lead the third, fifth, and sixth legions to attack towards Normandy, and capture the Normandy plain area in one go."

"Everyone else, stay and incorporate the prisoners."

Duncan stayed for only half a day, then led several hundred elite cavalry back to Paris. Although the Frankish Salian tribe was defeated by him, they were not completely conquered yet, with their tribal communes still around Normandy, Champagne, and the Rhine River area.

Especially Normandy, this is a fat piece of meat that must be annexed and thoroughly digested.

Let's put it this way, Duncan conquered both Upper and Lower Germania, yet the land available for development is not as good as around Normandy. The climate is suitable, the land is fertile, it's high-quality natural pastureland, and it's also the horse-producing region of France in later generations.

In game terms, 'obtaining a high-quality horse-producing area' greatly reduces the cost of recruiting and forming cavalry.

This area primarily produces Europe's tall horses, belonging to the first-tier horse-producing region.

The later rise of the Frankish Kingdom had many factors; the bravery and belligerence of the Franks was just one of them. The fertile land of France, high grain yields, and possession of quality horse-producing areas, allowing them to form Europe's top cavalry, was also one important factor.

The strategic significance of capturing here is great, akin to the Song Dynasty never having a strong cavalry force.

In many strategy games, the Britain Kingdom has a negative status, which is the lack of horse-producing areas. The land there is not fertile enough to sustain many knights, leading to the future full development of English longbowmen.

France's territory is different; it has long been the overlord of all Europe.

Duncan led his troops in a raid, almost making a large circle around Frankish territory. When he arrived outside the city of Paris, he immediately saw the army of the Western Goth Kingdom besieging the city walls.

The foundation of the Western Goth Kingdom is indeed strong. Even after the Battle of Sharon, they still had so many elite troops.

They occupied the Iberian Peninsula, facing North Africa across the Cape of Good Hope. Their territory and population are much larger than the Franks, and the Iberian Peninsula outputs gold mines, which used to be an important mining area of the Roman Empire.

Flags fluttered, and Western Goth Kingdom soldiers seemed to have launched an attack.

Fortunately, they did not prepare siege machinery in advance. The original plan for this battle was to combine with the Frankish elite to crush the southward-moving Britain Kingdom by superiority in numbers, but they did not expect Duncan to fight so fast and even take down Paris in a raid.

A horn for retreat sounded.

When Duncan appeared with the cavalry unit, cheers erupted inside Paris, and the Western Goth Kingdom's army in the distance immediately noticed, quickly retreating while deploying cavalry to move along the plains, covering infantry as they withdrew from the battlefield.

The heavy cavalry of the Western Goth Kingdom is unparalleled in Europe, having just finished the Battle of Sharon, no one dares to clash head-on with them.

"What a pity."

"Torismund reacted quickly, otherwise, I could have charged again."

Duncan saw Prince Torismund's position through the strategic map, who is now the King of the Western Goths, surrounded by many elite feudal knights, many of whom were veterans of the Battle of Sharon.

The last time they met, the two were partners, with many Western Gothic heavy cavalry charging alongside Duncan's black Dragon Banner.

Duncan's bravery earned their admiration and respect, yet made them wary, and those fearless Western Gothic heavy cavalry left a deep impression on Duncan, showing him the terrifying suppressive power of heavy cavalry on the battlefield in this era.

It's a pity that this time when they meet again, they are already opponents on the battlefield.

The mounted infantry led by Clegane arrived quickly, reaching Paris before the Western Gothic army. If not for his timely arrival, Duncan's two hundred men left behind wouldn't have been able to hold out.

Not long after.

A Western Gothic knight, whose appearance seemed vaguely familiar, rode up, and Duncan slightly raised his hand to signal the other cavalry to stop, then advanced to meet him accompanied by the general's guard.

"Lord Duncan!"

Even at this moment of battlefield confrontation, that Western Gothic knight still expressed respect for Duncan, humbly bowing his head, "Prince Torismund hopes to renew good relations with you and coexist peacefully."

In the eyes of political animals, only interests exist.

Without a doubt, Prince Torismund has grown very fast, and upon realizing the fall of Paris, he immediately deduced the direction of the entire war.

It is highly likely that Frankish Molov was attacked from the rear and had his home base captured by the enemy. If they could capture Paris in time, there would still be a chance to aid their Frankish allies, or even to seize the lands around Paris. But at this time, Duncan led elite cavalry back, likely indicating that Molov had already suffered a major defeat.

The large army of the Western Goth Kingdom is destined to return without success.

They could only strive for superficial peace; Torismund did not dare to face the victorious Duncan head-on, and besides, they were insufficiently prepared and might not have a great advantage anyway.

Torismund is a formidable person as well.

Duncan remembers when he charged into the camp of the Huns, and if not for his subordinates' desperate rescue, he might have died inside.

A breeze blew past.

Duncan was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed heartily, "That is natural."

"Torismund and I have a deep personal relationship, and in the future, we should indeed renew good relations and coexist peacefully."

He himself didn't believe what he was saying.

The Franks and Western Goths had been in conflict for centuries, both eager to conquer the Gaul Region of the empire. Their wars continued into the future until the rise of the Franks forced them into the future region of Spain.

Duncan's swift conquest of the Belgian Gaul Province required time to digest the territory.

The Western Goth Kingdom was severely weakened by the Battle of Sharon, and had not yet fully recovered. This war was also undertaken due to Duncan's pressure, without sufficient mobilization of troops. For Torismund to confront Duncan in battle, he had to concentrate all the elite cavalry of the kingdom to stand a chance.

They set out hastily, bringing only the troops from the Gaul Region, while Spain's forces were too late to mobilize.

Historically, although Torismund successfully ascended the throne because of the Battle of Sharon's prestige, he only ruled for two years before being assassinated by his own brother.

This guy died even earlier than Aetius, under many strange circumstances.

The Western Goth knight respectfully bowed his head and said, "Very well."

"I will convey your intentions to His Majesty the King. The Western Goths Kingdom's envoy will arrive in Paris shortly."

Duncan watched the departure of that feudal knight.

The feudal system of the Western Goths emerged from the disintegration of Rome's slave system and the Germanic clan communities, with the king, nobles, personal soldiers, and Christian Arian clergy becoming early feudal landlords.

From the perspective of faith, they were gradually abandoning belief in the Norse Pantheon and converting to church faith.

But Torismund was still a polytheist at present.

The Western Goths quickly retreated, and Duncan did not pursue, instead leading his cavalry back to his loyal Paris.

The people of Paris welcomed the arrival of the new king.

From Duncan's perspective, he had some affection for Paris, after all, studying would surely involve learning about the French Revolution, where Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine.

The Frank Kingdom could no longer exist.

After defeating Molov's army, the Britain Kingdom's forces advanced along the Laine River, reclaiming military strongholds lost by the empire and even reaching future Dutch territories. Duncan took half a month to completely take over the Franks' border, although there were still some lands occupied by the Western Goths Kingdom.

The Frank Salian tribe was completely annihilated, and Torismund could not return empty-handed. Before the envoy arrived in Paris, he captured several important Frank towns to give an account to the domestic nobles.

Although we came to help, before we could arrive, Molov was already defeated. It's not our fault; taking several towns was part of the promised rewards in the alliance.

Molov was dead, so there was no evidence, and no one knew what he promised at that time.

In response, Duncan held his peace.

No problem.

What you've taken from me, sooner or later you will have to repay me double.

The territory of future France was larger; at present, he didn't have the capacity to occupy so much land and needed some time to transition. Torismund's snatching a piece of meat from his mouth only proved his sharp sense of warfare.

And his courage was significant!

Undoubtedly, upon returning to his country, Torismund immediately prepared for war, transferring elite troops from the Spanish region to the Gaul Region, with heavy forces stationed at the border of the two countries.

Governor's residence in Paris.

Upon hearing footsteps, Duncan raised his head, looking at Severus who entered from outside, and asked in a deep voice, "How is the situation?"

Severus slowly said, "The Frank chieftains near Normandy have already submitted."

"But the Western Goths Kingdom took the opportunity to occupy Blois and Orléans."

Goodness.

They seized two counties' worth of territory in one go, truly akin to stealing food from a tiger's mouth.

The Western Goths Kingdom's army did not rest even during the retreat, capturing Frank territories along the way, and deployed heavy defenses around Orléans City — the place Attila, God's Whip, besieged for two months without success.

That place is indeed a tough nut to crack.

If God's Whip hadn't spent too much time on that city, Aetius wouldn't have had the chance to unite various forces to besiege the Huns, and naturally, the Battle of Sharon wouldn't have occurred.

"This guy intends to rely on the high wall city to guard against our expansion."

Duncan's fingers landed on the map, his brows faintly furrowed as he said, "It truly is a tough nut to crack."

"But just because Attila couldn't take the place doesn't mean we can't as well."

The Huns were never good at sieges.

But Duncan's side; do you think the mathematicians of the University of London are just doing nothing? Come, bring me the weighted catapult (Revolving Cannon).

This stronghold blocked the fifty thousand strong army of the Huns for two months.

If Duncan wants to take it, it won't last more than three days before it falls.

.........

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