"The great battle is near."
"How about you give me these military resources and warhorses first? When we defeat the Hunnic army, there will be plenty of armaments and supplies."
The motive revealed.
Duncan wasn’t after wealth; he was after military resources and warhorses, which are the keys to enhancing strength.
Molov’s expression was grim, and he remained silent. The chieftain leaders behind him were thoughtful, some agreeing that their allies’ strength must be bolstered given the impending battle, while others felt Duncan was asking for too much, wanting to devour all the Hunnic grassland horses, which seemed a bit excessive.
But the opponent offered seventy percent of the loot first, allowing them to choose, which was already a very advantageous condition. To refuse would be to decline a drink offered in goodwill.
Take the wealth; leave the warhorses.
By the end of his speech, Duncan’s tone was irrefutable; his forces were the primary ones in this battle. Strategically, his request was somewhat excessive but not entirely unreasonable.
Ultimately, it depended on whether Molov could accept it, as Gaul was the Frank homeland, losing this battle meant losing their home.
Duncan banked on this because the war was not in Great Britain; the casualties would be Frankish people.
The air was dead silent.
Molov stared at Duncan with a grim expression, silently waiting, and suddenly laughed heartily: "Agreed!"
"Then my men won’t hold back."
He swallowed his pride.
Just as Duncan said, with a major battle imminent, the other side did need a cavalry unit, and monopolizing was for the sake of the coming war. Besides, Duncan had already made a considerable concession.
Still, Molov’s suspicion towards Duncan increased; he sought no gold or silver but purely warhorses and military resources. His ambition was significant!
Suddenly, it seemed everyone was pleased.
This venture had the Franks strike it big, securing gold, silver, and various materials filling dozens of carts—a bounty unmatched in years. As for Duncan’s army, they retained whatever was leftover, but they significantly upgraded to firearms and obtained nearly two thousand grassland horses, with close to a thousand qualifying as inferior warhorses.
Other grassland horses could barely qualify as warhorses, suitable only for light cavalry since heavy cavalry had higher requirements for horses.
Only one-fifth of these captured horses were suitable as mounts for heavy cavalry.
The finest heavy cavalry horses were in the Western Gothic Kingdom, their tall horses had strong impact; Hunnic horses had superior endurance, ideal for long treks (the latter being akin to Mongolian horses, which are smaller).
In this battle, Duncan’s troops secured around two thousand horses, with innumerable other military equipment acquired, and nearly everyone had upgraded to leather armor.
As for army casualties, the British Imperial Guard had losses of four to five hundred men, other units had lighter casualties, but the Gaul Warrior Battle Group suffered significantly, leaving less than eighteen hundred men, although reinforcements would soon arrive due to Duncan’s burgeoning reputation in the Exile Camp.
Originally Severus intended to relocate exiles to the island of Great Britain, but now it was merely a change in method, recruiting combat units of exiles on the spot.
Duncan recruiting them was akin to accepting defectors, directly clearing their identity, integrating them into the British Imperial Guard.
The replaced old equipment was assigned to them, along with the influx of Gaul natives attracted by the major victory, Duncan’s forces grew increasingly large, reaching a scale of thirty-two hundred men.
Moreover, he recruited a batch of Hunnic mercenaries!
Not related to God’s Whip - Attila’s forces, but those scattered by the Hunnic army, originally loyal to other powers’ Hunnic mercenaries. The Roman Protectorate - Aetius commanded a highly capable Hunnic unit, organized loosely by tribe, defeated warriors leaving the grasslands seeking futures, many becoming mercenaries.
The Hunnic Empire declared war on the Eastern Empire, partly due to the latter harboring Hunnic criminal defectors.
Aside from these, Duncan also absorbed a small number of Hunnic nomads.
Little need to worry about their loyalty; they merely served as vassal troops, similar to the Hunnic Empire’s internal customs, following the strong to gain wealth and status through warfare. When God’s Whip - Attila unexpectedly died, the vast Hunnic Empire quickly fragmented, with Hunnic tribes fundamentally loyal to the ’invincible’ Attila rather than the newly-established Hunnic Empire.
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