Battle Room experiment "1681" Battle of Nova Hadrumetun
Within seconds, we were on the battlefield; we could hear cannon fire from all sides.
Julius then explains.
"We are near Fort Aljubarrota. The Portuguese built this fort in 1562, and we Romans took it from them during Vespasian's campaign in 1675. For the Portuguese, it was more than a duty to recover it. The Portuguese sent their elite army to retake Fort Aljubarrota; this also included the British army. The Dux Celsus Marcus Augustus, knew that the Portuguese would attempt to recover the Fort. That is precisely why he sent the 16-pounder cannons from Spain to defend against Anglo-Portuguese naval attacks, while he sent the cataphracts and the Purple Shirts to confront the Anglo-Portuguese army. Just follow the sound of the cannons and we'll reach Fort Aljubarrota, where we can destroy a galleon or ship of the line. What matters is that we manage to do it, and we'll earn points." Julius explains.
Paulus then said:
"Come on! We're just wasting time talking here!" Paulus said.
We then hurried towards the sound of the cannons and after walking for a few minutes, we found androids with their bodies torn apart.
Gustavus then said.
"They really don't mess around with historical accuracy; when the reinforcements arrived with the Spanish 16-pounder cannons, they found dismembered bodies. The experience is to replicate exactly what happened. " Gustavus said.
An android dressed in the clothing of a 17th-century Roman-tropical soldier spoke in late Latin.
"Copiae auxiliares nobis opus sunt! Lusitani et Britanni arcem Aljubarrota oppugnant!" said a soldier Roman-tropical in late Latin.
A cannon shot struck the android, shattering its body; that was the spirit of the Battle Room, to show battles as they truly were.
We entered Fort Aljubarrota and saw several Portuguese and British soldiers inside the fort fighting hand-to-hand with the tropical Romans; the clashing of swords was less theatrical and more visceral.
Kotaro picked up a rapier from a Portuguese soldier lying on the ground and said.
"It's time to eliminate these bastards! Face them!" Kotaro said.
Gustavus picked up a flintlock musket from the ground, Ibrahim picked up a rapier from the ground, Paulus picked up a flintlock musket from the ground, Julius picked up a flintlock musket, and I picked up a rapier from the ground.
Julius then explains the plan to eliminate the Portuguese and British invaders from Fort Aljubarrota.
"You three attack while we reload our flintlock muskets; as soon as we reload, you duck and we shoot the androids." Julius explained
The three of us agreed to Julius's plan and went to attack the invading British and Portuguese force. Kotaro eliminated one, Ibrahim another, and I eliminated yet another. Then Julius ordered.
"Get down now! That's an order!" Julius ordered.
We ducked down and three androids fell; the process was repeated for two hours, and the last invading soldier had his head cut off. Finally, Fort Aljubarrota was free from Anglo-Portuguese invasion.
Now came the hardest part: destroying a ship full of androids.
Julius then looked out to sea through a telescope and saw ships of the line, carracks, corvettes, galleons, all attacking the androids that were near the sea.
Then Julius said to us:
"It's time to use all the cannons we have here to destroy any ship, let's start with the Spanish 16-pounder cannons." Julius said.
Gustavus took a cannonball and placed it in the mouth of the 16-pounder cannon, Ibrahim placed a fuse in the 16-pounder cannon and aimed at a Portuguese carrack.
Paulus took a torch, lit the cannon's fuse, and fired at the Portuguese carrack, slightly damaging its stern.
Julius then pointed to the Portuguese carrack and explained.
"Our target is the Portuguese carracks; they are slower and have fewer cannons, unlike caravels, ships of the line, and galleons. There's only one way to complete our training: Destroying a Portuguese carrack. Focus on this objective, we've already earned the points for destroying the androids, so aim all cannons at the "Santa Luzia" Carrack!" Julius explained.
Kotaro grabbed the ramrod and began cleaning inside the cannon to prevent it from exploding. After that, the process repeated itself for several hours until something truly important happened.
The carrack "Santa Luzia" sank, and that was something that impressed us all.
Julius looked at us with an astonished expression.
"W-W-We did it, a Portuguese carrack was sunk, we are the best team." Julius said.
Then everything starts to change, and the previous atmosphere of the smell of brine and gunpowder disappears.
February 27, 2016, Augustopolis, Academy Military Legio Urbana, room No.10 "Marcus Augustus Felix" now...
The cadets were surprised, as something truly important had happened; it was no longer just a simple training exercise. The other teams were alarmed, as there was still an hour left before training in the Battle Room.
Captain Claudius entered the room, with a look of pride, and said.
"I interrupted the training in the Battle Room because I knew the other teams wouldn't be able to achieve what Julius's team had achieved." Claudius said.
Captain Claudius begins gesturing with his hands and says.
"Today, we achieved a great milestone; Cadet Stefanus Caracalla's team reached 1480 points, a landmark for training in the Battle Room. We have finally achieved something beyond mediocrity; from today onwards, our target is an average of 1480 points, not 860 points as it was until now. Therefore, you will have to follow the new rhythm that Stefanus Caracalla's team has put into the Battle Room." Claudius says.
Captain Claudius took some tickets out of his pocket and congratulated us.
"Congratulations, Caracalla team! You won tickets to the Augustopolis Annual Military Fair!" Claudius says.
Captain Claudius then came towards us and handed us the tickets, greeting each of us, and then returned to the center of the room and says.
"The other teams are dismissed; they urgently need to get closer to the new goal. As for the Caracalla team, come with me, the Annual Military Fair of Augustopolis awaits us." Claudius says.
First major triumph, and with a team no less, that will be really interesting. I'm curious to see what the Annual Military Fair in Augustopolis is like.
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Ongoing Roman-Tropical projects:
Project "Imperator Solis" (practical nuclear fusion): 45.9%, made in the secret underground base of Nova Istria.
Project "ConflictusTitanum" (neutron bomb): 43%, made at the Nuclear-Physical Engineering Center of Nova Chersonia.
Project "Fulminatrix" (first firearm designed for space): 31.7%, made at the Fabius Licinius Military Space Engineering Center in Saint Louis.