Chapter 44: The Most Important Enemy is in the West
The age of a Campione cannot be determined by their appearance. Hikigaya had no idea how long Uldin had been a God-slayer, but he was certain that Uldin had never entertained a hobby for reading after becoming one.
If he had read books, he wouldn't have equated the "Roman Emperor" with a "Roman Patriarch"—two completely different concepts. Heaven knows what era Rome's tribal system actually belonged to.
The advice given by Uldin's commander-wife sounded reasonable on the surface, but it was actually a pitfall. This was exactly why the Huns of history vanished so rapidly. If the problems of the Huns were to be solved, it was by no means as simple as transforming from a tribe into a kingdom.
Hikigaya didn't suspect the woman of being a traitor; it was more likely a result of limited information. Rome was indeed in decline, but its influence still held a leading position in the Europe of this era. The Huns and the Germans were both invaders and barbarians, yet their final fates were polar opposites—largely due to their different approaches after coming into contact with Roman civilization.
Ultimately, the kingdoms established by the Germanic peoples were called "Successor States," and their actions were viewed by the former Roman elites of those lands as mere coups d'état. Meanwhile, the Hunnic Empire was viewed as a pack of bandits, beasts, and invaders.
But conversely, to make everyone on a continent consider you a "disaster star" and have your name still used as a representative epithet a thousand years later is a kind of talent in itself.
Pannonia, geographically situated south of the Western Carpathians and west of the Danube, encompassed parts of modern-day Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Serbia. There was a reason the Huns chose this as their base in the "New World."
With the Altai Mountains as the boundary, the climate of the eastern Eurasian Steppe is harsh and the land barren, while the western part has sufficient water and lush pastures. Therefore, the migration direction of Central Asian nomads was generally from East to West. The Carpathian Basin, composed of the Pannonian Steppe and the Great Hungarian Plain, could be considered the heart of Europe, separated from the East European Plain only by the Carpathian Mountains—a plain that included the South Russian Steppes, a prolific breeding ground for nomadic tribes.
This was the route the Huns took into Europe. The Pannonian Steppe was not only economically suited to the Huns' needs but also strategically capable of serving as their base for advancing south across the Danube against Rome.
At Uldin's invitation, the Campione from the future, Hikigaya Hachiman, entered the Pannonian Steppe of this era. The tribal Huns never had a common sovereign, only a leader of the alliance. Currently, Uldin was the leader of all Huns on the Pannonian Steppe.
When the two God-slayers rode their Wyverns across the Danube and descended upon the plains under the sun's brilliance, they witnessed a magnificent sight. Tens of thousands of Hunnic cavalry were galloping across the steppe. Amidst earth-shaking shouts, the riders sometimes formed regular columns, sometimes dispersed, and quickly regrouped into loose formations. When they raised their glinting sabers, the steppe looked as if a forest of white steel had sprouted.
"They truly are a North Asian people..." Witnessing this from the air confirmed Hikigaya's judgment. The Huns were the real deal.
"How about it? Brother, the warriors of my tribe are quite fierce!" Uldin boasted to Hikigaya.
The Wyverns began to descend. As the shadows of the Divine Beasts swept across the grass, the Hunnic army below erupted in cheers. By the time Hikigaya and Uldin leaped down, the Huns had completed their assembly, standing in ranks awaiting their commander's inspection.
Contrary to what many in the future might think, nomadic peoples often surpassed sedentary civilizations—which appeared more "advanced"—in terms of military organization and management. Nomadic tribes moved with the water and grass; large tribes often numbered in the tens of thousands, and every migration was essentially a military exercise. Agrarian societies, however, would not expend massive resources to allow generals to gather ten thousand men for frequent drills.
Take the historical example of the Mongol cavalry annihilating the Polish knights: the Mongols routinely performed a tactical feigned retreat. This highlighted that the organizational level of the Mongols and the Poles were on completely different tiers. Because this tactic, which the Mongols had mastered on East Asian battlefields, was beyond the comprehension of the poor Polish commander, he ordered a pursuit—and was subsequently steamrolled by the Mongols as a matter of routine.
The same logic applied to the Huns. They were far inferior to the later Mongols, but their opponents were much worse than the Mongols' opponents. Thus, when Balamber led the Huns into Europe, their military capability exceeded that of all Germanic and Roman forces.
Currently, the Huns' military strength was declining, but with proper command, they could still look down upon their enemies due to the tactical execution skills honed through repeated large-scale migrations.
However, based on Hikigaya's observations, he believed the Huns were losing their advantage primarily because they failed to update their weapon systems. Looking at these ten thousand
Huns, he found no large-scale use of armor; weapons were mostly bows, arrows, and short blades, along with miscellaneous items like weighted nets.
The issue was that after being in Europe for so many years, even the Goths—whom the Huns used to crush—knew how to employ armored shock cavalry. The Huns, who built their reputation on cavalry, had failed to realize the importance of cultivating armored units on a large scale. One must remember that every famous Mongol tumen (unit of 10,000) was paired with a heavy cavalry mingghan (unit of 1,000).
But Hikigaya knew he didn't have the ability to make the Huns evolve into Mongols. And even for those Mongols, their combat power didn't last long; in East Asia where they started, they only stayed for a few decades.
"Which Germanic barbarians are nearby?" he asked.
"Why do you ask that?" Uldin clearly didn't get the point.
"Do you know where the Franks are?" Hikigaya asked again.
Uldin gestured, and a Hunnic warrior galloped over. "Where are the Franks?"
"In the West, Lord Uldin."
Uldin dismissed the warrior and looked at Hikigaya, waiting for an answer.
"Would you mind leading your tribe in a migration right now?" Hikigaya pointed West. "That way—that is the place suited for your future descendants."
"Brother, that isn't what I asked for your help with," Uldin shook his head. "The South is the good place. Didn't you say you had a way to train my people and make them stronger?"
"I intended to try, but as I said, I had to see your people first."
"Can they not be trained?"
"To be honest, they're a lost cause. So I suggest you strike while you're still strong and carve out a new territory for them. If you stay here, you'll eventually reach a dead end."
Hikigaya felt he was giving sincere advice. Western Rome was actually picked clean; there were too many Germanic tribes there. Historically, the Huns fixated on Rome, and in the end, the Germans were the ones who benefited. Transalpine Gaul—the land that would become modern France—was the "growth stock" of Europe in this era. The Franks built their empire on that land and endured into the modern age because of it.
However, Hikigaya did not know then that on that very land, the most important opponent of his life was about to appear.
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