fter feeling the iron gate thoroughly, Tyron Tuss had a plan. He untied the rope from his waist, tied it securely to the iron fence, and then pulled the rope hard. After receiving a response from his teammates, he grabbed an iron bar with one hand, squatted down, removed his tools, took out a hacksaw, and used it to saw off the iron bar below.
While he was busy, Izam, having received the message he transmitted back through the rope, suppressed his excitement and immediately sent out another scout. Grabbing the already connected rope, he smoothly reached the bottom of the sewer from the broken bridge, easily climbed to the exit, gave Tyron Tuss a hand gesture, and without saying a word, directly took out his tools and did the same thing as his teammate—sawing the iron bar and then breaking it with iron pliers.
And so it continued for more than 20 minutes, finally creating a gap under the iron fence large enough for a person to crawl in and out of.
Tyron Tuss took off his belongings and threw them through the gap in the iron bars. Then, lying down, he clung to the slippery moss and foul-smelling sewage, laboriously crawled through the gap, and then leaned his sore and numb body against the stone wall with a sigh of relief, too exhausted to care about the dirty garbage clinging to him in the sewer.
His teammates quickly crawled in as well and vigorously pulled on the rope tied to the iron fence.
Izam, who had anticipated this on the riverbank, finally couldn't help but feel excited at this moment and said in a low voice, "Success! Success! Brothers, follow me into the city of Rome!"
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
In the morning, Davos was awakened by Crotoc Cataks.
Last night, Davos had been busy and thinking about the siege matters for today until late at night when he received the information sent back by Izam, then he felt relieved, unable to resist sleepiness, and slept until now.
When he was awakened, Davos was still a little dazed and blurted out, "Is there anything abnormal?"
"No, Father, the legion commanders are waiting for you to issue the order to attack!" Crotoc Cataks quickly replied.
Davos realized that he was a little out of sorts. He patted his face with his hand, feeling a little clearer, and then stood up: "Bring me the armor!"
The servant immediately brought the armor and helped Davos put it on, and Crotoc Cataks also helped from the side.
"Don't worry! Don't panic!" Davos comforted his son and asked, "How is the weather?"
"Father, it's a sunny day!" Crotoc Cataks replied briskly.
"This is a good sign!" Davos smiled.
He took the helmet from the servant and put it on, then unhurriedly straightened it before saying, "Let's go, let's meet the protagonists of today's siege!"
Saying that, he strode towards the large tent next to him.
"Your Majesty!!" The generals in the tent immediately stood up and saluted, then looked at Davos with bright eyes as he walked to the main seat.
First Legion Commander Amyntas, Second Legion Commander Matonis, Third Legion Commander Lizalu, Fourth Legion Commander Olives, Fifth Legion Commander Geogris, Sixth Legion Commander Trollees, First Cavalry Legion Commander Lydes, Second Cavalry Legion Commander Kucius, Third Fleet Naval Commander Midolades… Davos' gaze slowly swept over them, and every face, roughened and scarred by years of battle, was now filled with excitement and anticipation.
At this moment, in Davos' eyes, the shining stars in the tent gave him more confidence, and he smiled: "It seems that everyone is full of confidence, so what are we waiting for, prepare to attack!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The generals also responded with a smile.
"Lizalu and Midolades, your Third Fleet and Third Legion will begin attacking half an hour after the other legions attack!"
"Yes!"
Davos only specifically instructed this sentence, and then said decisively: "Everyone, be sure to capture the city of Rome before dark! I am here waiting for your victorious news!"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the Capitoline Hill in Rome, in the magnificent Temple of Jupiter, the priests were conducting a sincere prayer to the gods under the auspices of the High Priest Cato Julius Yulus. Kneeling behind them were many Roman senators, as well as some senior officers led by the City Guard Commander Scipio.
The Roman sacrificial ritual was relatively simple. After the prayer quickly ended, the augur priests came out. They held a rooster with a red crown on its head and mostly red feathers on its body. A priest sprinkled a handful of black beans on the ground, and then released the rooster.
This rooster, which had been listless (having not been fed from yesterday afternoon to this morning), immediately widened its eyes when it saw the black beans on the ground, its legs kicking quickly, its wings flapping non-stop, and it pounced over like lightning, and then kept pecking, making the people next to it dizzy.
In the blink of an eye, a handful of black beans was eaten clean, not a single one left. The rooster was still not satisfied and wandered around the temple, looking for new food.
Seeing the holy rooster's performance, the onlookers all looked happy. Without the priest making a final conclusion, everyone's faces showed joy: This is a good omen!
At this time, the priest who performed the bird divination outside the temple also completed his task (the most important method of divination for Roman priests, the bird divination priest divided the sky into four parts, and then looked at which part of the sky abnormalities appeared, such as dark clouds, flocks of birds, showers… They would decide whether these abnormalities were auspicious or ominous), and after entering the temple, he loudly announced: "Great luck! It's great luck!"
Cheers immediately rang out inside and outside the temple.
The people and soldiers at the foot of the mountain heard the cheers from the mountain and immediately felt more confident.
At this moment, "Woo!…" A high-pitched bugle call came from outside the city, and the faces of everyone on the Capitoline Hill suddenly changed: Had the Daunians begun their attack?!
Scipio strode to the edge of the cliff and looked northwest: He saw that many figures had already appeared in front of the enemy's camp in the distance (this was the camp of the Daunian First Legion) and began to line up.
Scipio remained calm and turned back to the generals and said: "The Daunians have begun to attack. You each return to your own defense area, command the citizens, and defend Rome!"
"Yes!!" The generals replied powerfully.
Scipio led them down the mountain in a hurry. Most of the people crowded at the foot of the mountain were women and children. They took the initiative to make way for the generals and wished them victory and drove away the enemy.
After the emergency mobilization the night before and yesterday, the city of Rome had recruited approximately 25,000 soldiers. Scipio divided the troops into four parts based on the Daunians' encampment outside the city: 5,000 soldiers to defend the northeast section of the city wall, 5,000 soldiers to defend the western city wall, 10,000 soldiers to defend the southern city, corresponding to the large Daunian camp outside the city, and the remaining less than 5,000 to defend the Roman Sublicius Bridge to the north.
In charge of commanding the defense of the northeast city wall was Marcus Atilius, originally the cavalry commander of the 3,000 elite soldiers stationed in Rome. He came from a noble Roman family and was a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time. Therefore, Scipio entrusted him with an important task, handing over the northeast section of the city wall, which was the longest in defense range and the farthest from the center of Rome, to him. So after going down the mountain, he didn't need to walk far and immediately went to the top of the city wall next to the Capitoline Hill.
Some Roman soldiers immediately surrounded him: "General, the enemy has begun to attack!!"
Surrounding him were some teenagers under the age of 18. Excitement and tension were intertwined on their immature faces. They had already grabbed their spears and leather shields in their hands and looked at Marcus with the same affection as children looking at their parents.
"Don't panic, our city wall is so high, and the moat is so deep, the enemy can't attack! Jupiter has given us a good omen, the holy rooster has eaten all the feed, the Daunians will be defeated! Jupiter will bless Rome!"
After listening to Marcus's encouraging words, the soldiers cheered.
Marcus squeezed out of the crowd, found his adjutant, and said in a serious tone: "Go and notify the centurions, manage their soldiers, stick to the positions they should stick to, and don't run around, or they will be punished by military law!"
The adjutant immediately went to carry out the military order.
Marcus saw a row of soldiers sitting against the outer wall, their weapons and even their helmets were placed on the ground beside them. Looking at them, almost all of them had gray hair. They were talking to each other in a relaxed manner, seemingly unaware that the battle was about to begin…
These were all Roman citizens over 50 years old. Although their strength had declined due to their age and their muscles and bones were no longer strong, it could almost be said that each of them had experienced hundreds of battles. Therefore, compared to those young soldiers who had not yet experienced battle, Marcus trusted these veterans in the true sense more. This was also his helplessness, because in his team, in addition to the elderly and the young, there were only some civilians and slaves left. In his heart, these people who almost caused a riot yesterday were not worthy of his complete trust.
Marcus held the battlement with both hands and looked into the distance.
The Daunian siege army had advanced to a distance where he could see clearly: The Daunian siege army was divided into groups of a dozen heavy infantry, holding a long and wide wooden board on their heads, forming loose columns, the intervals between the columns were relatively wide, approaching the city wall unhurriedly.
"Sound the bugle, let the soldiers prepare for battle!" Marcus ordered.
The bugle sounded quickly, and the Roman soldiers quickly put on their armor under the command of the centurion, picked up their weapons, stood in their defensive positions, and watched the approaching enemy under the city, ready to attack at any moment; the older citizens acted as auxiliary soldiers, bringing bundles of javelins, arrows, jars of asphalt, and even stones and wood, placing them on the designated walkways…
The foremost Daunian soldiers were less than 150 meters away from the city wall. This was already within the range of the archers on the city wall, but Marcus did not order an attack, but sparse arrows were still shot from the city.
Seeing this, Marcus immediately shouted, "Follow orders, do not attack randomly!"
"Don't shoot arrows!! Don't shoot arrows…" The messenger ran along the city wall walkway, conveying Marcus's orders as he hurried.
In Marcus's view, the front ranks of the Daunian siege forces were heavy infantry, and arrows posed very little threat to them. Moreover, they were holding wooden boards over their heads. Since they could hardly achieve any results, why waste arrows and expend the soldiers' energy?
The Daunian soldiers had already reached the trenches, only 20 meters away from the city wall. They put down the wooden boards they were holding over their heads and placed them on the ground in front of the trenches.
Just then, Marcus gave the order to attack and took the lead in throwing a javelin. The Roman soldiers, who were already prepared, fired javelins and arrows at the enemies not far below the city wall.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the Daunian soldiers put down the wooden boards, they immediately turned and ran back, causing most of the ranged attacks to miss.
While these heavy infantrymen ran back, strange formations in the distance approached the city walls.
"Testudo formation?!" The Roman soldiers on the city wall were in an uproar. Since the Roman army reforms, this most practical tactic for capturing cities and fortresses in the past decade or so had actually appeared in the enemy's ranks. Although they had previously heard citizens who had fought against the Daunians say that 'Daunian tactics are very similar to Roman tactics,' when it actually appeared before Marcus and the Roman soldiers, it still made them feel a sense of trepidation.
When these Daunian heavy infantrymen arrived in front of the long wooden boards, they quickly dispersed the testudo formation, and then quickly formed a shield wall slanted towards the city wall. Their movements were so fast, as if they had undergone countless training sessions, that the Roman soldiers on the city wall had not yet reacted when they had already completed the formation conversion.
Then, under the protection of the shield wall, seven or eight unarmored Daunian soldiers squatted on the ground, shouting slogans together, and pushing one end of the wooden board together, trying to push the wooden board across the five-meter-wide trench, so that the other end of the wooden board could be placed on the other side of the trench, forming simple wooden bridges.
How could the Roman soldiers let them succeed so easily? A rain of arrows and javelins poured down, hitting the shield wall, creating a constant "ding-ding-bang-bang" sound. Occasionally, javelins pierced through the long shields, wounding the soldiers' arms, or arrows passed through the gaps in the shields, injuring the soldiers' unprotected thighs, but they still endured the pain and maintained the integrity of the shield wall.
Soon, more than twenty wooden bridges were erected over the trenches, and the Daunian soldiers helped up their injured teammates and began to retreat, quickly completing the transformation of the shield wall into a testudo formation during the retreat.
The enemy's skilled formation conversion ability, their ability to maintain the stability of the shield wall in the face of strong ranged attacks, their rapid retreat, and their ability to take care of the wounded… This is definitely a highly trained and battle-hardened team! Marcus knew that he had met a formidable enemy.
But at this moment, he had no time to feel panicked: "Fire the rockets, burn those wooden bridges!" He pointed to the wooden boards on the trenches below the city and ordered urgently.
The auxiliary soldiers immediately wrapped the arrowheads with tar-soaked cloth strips and handed them to the archers.
While the Daunian soldiers below the city were retreating, more soldiers formed larger testudo formations and advanced towards the city walls. Behind these testudo formations followed nearly a thousand unarmored soldiers, some with bows slung over their shoulders. They were arranged in a looser formation and were about to enter the range of the arrows.
"They are Daunian light infantry!" The Roman centurions on the city wall quickly made a judgment and decided to give them a head-on blow to prevent them from reaching the city and posing a threat to the defenders on the city wall.
When the Roman soldiers aimed their bows and arrows at them, these Daunian light infantrymen stopped 150 meters away.
Marcus saw some people in the Daunian light infantry constantly waving their arms, and was a little puzzled for a while. Soon he saw countless black dots whistling through the air, most of them hitting the city wall below the Roman soldiers, making a "Crackling" sound.
"Ah!" A soldier not far from Marcus suddenly screamed and fell to the ground, with blood flowing from his brow bone.
The soldiers picked up the offending object and handed it to Marcus.
It was a small black lead bullet, smaller than a chicken egg. Marcus weighed it in his hand, and it was quite heavy.
Slingers! These are the Daunian slingers that Camillus spoke of! Marcus suddenly recalled the battle report that Camillus had made in the Senate.
That's right, this is the First Legion's special unit - the Rhodian slingers, and the only remaining one in the entire Daunian army. After the first throw, they adjusted according to the landing point, so when they waved their slings again and threw the lead bullets, this time the throw was obviously much more accurate, and most of the lead bullets fell on the city wall.
The Roman soldiers hurriedly held their long shields over their heads, while the archers had no protective gear and could only dodge to the side of the heavy infantry. A scene of panic appeared on this section of the city wall where Marcus was located.
At this moment, the Daunian testudo formation had reached the wooden bridge, and they quickly unfolded, revealing two siege ladders hidden in the formation. Six soldiers each carried a 20-meter-long ladder and quickly rushed across the wooden bridge towards the city wall in front.
The heavy infantrymen held their swords and shields and followed closely behind, also crossing the trenches.
The Roman juvenile soldiers on the city wall also began to play their role. Some threw stones and wood down, some poured thin oil and threw torches down, some brought freshly boiled water and poured it down, and some used knives and swords to chop at the junction of the siege ladder and the iron hook…
The light infantry of the Daunian First Legion also arrived under the city and threw arrows and javelins at the city. Those Roman soldiers who attacked downwards but exposed their bodies outside the battlements became their main targets…
"Brothers, you did a good job, you have reached the city safely without suffering much loss!" Amyntas had already arrived behind the slingers, less than two hundred meters away from the city wall. This allowed him to observe the battle situation and facilitate command. He was very satisfied with the progress of the siege so far, so he said to Printors beside him: "This is all your credit!"
Davos was worried that Amyntas, who was attacking the city alone, would be too adventurous and cause the First Legion to suffer too heavy losses, so he sent Printors, considering that their cooperation was still pleasant.
Printors said modestly: "The main reason is that the First Legion led by Commander is well-trained!"
"Yes, the First Legion has the strongest combat power! And the reserve soldiers that were replenished before did not shame the citizens of Thurii, and are not inferior to the veterans at all! It's a pity that His Majesty did not give us the siege towers, siege vehicles, crossbow cannons… these siege weapons to use, otherwise the enemies on the city will suffer even more!" Amyntas complained loudly.
Printors did not respond. When he came, Davos had already warned him: this time the First Legion is serving as an auxiliary attack. The First Legion has suffered a lot of losses in previous battles, so there is no need to do their best in this siege, in order to be of great use in the subsequent battles.
As the Deputy Chief of Staff, Printors actually understood in his heart: His Majesty Davos had another consideration that he did not say, that he could not always let the First Legion be the main force and make meritorious service in battle, but also give other legions the opportunity to make meritorious service in battle. This is both a balance and conducive to training the combat effectiveness of other legions and improving the overall combat effectiveness of the Daunian army.
"However, even without those siege equipment, our First Legion can still break through the Roman city before the other legions!" Amyntas said confidently with great pride: "Printors, in another half an hour, I will send the remaining three battalions to put more pressure on the Romans!"
Printors was taken aback and hurriedly persuaded euphemistically: "Commander, the siege has just begun, shouldn't we observe the enemy's defense situation first before making a decision? And it is still uncertain whether Rome's allies will come to help, we must always pay attention to the reports of the scouts, so these three battalions as reserves, it is best not to move them lightly for the time being!"
Amyntas glared his eyes and was about to get angry, but he quickly held back. He was able to hang out in the Daunian army for so many years, and his mind was much more delicate than his rough appearance: Before the war, His Majesty Davos sent Printors to the First Legion, what was he here for? Then, didn't he say these words at the behest of His Majesty?
Amyntas suddenly didn't want to speak, just put his hands on his hips and kept staring at the battle situation in front, without looking at Printors again.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
The Greater Scipio stood in the middle of the south wall, which was the closest place to the center of Rome. Since the rear of the walls on the left and right sides was close to the Esquiline Hill and the Celius Hill, even if the Daunians broke through those two sections of the wall, they would not be able to quickly advance into the city due to the obstruction of the hills behind, so this would be the focus of the Daunians' attack.
The Greater Scipio felt that his judgment was correct, because after he heard the bugle call from the enemy camp outside the city, he saw many enemy soldiers pouring out of the camp and starting to line up, but then he did not see the Daunian soldiers approaching the city wall, but rectangular wooden boxcars, without the traction of pack animals, lined up in columns, automatically rolling towards the city wall…
At first glance, Scipio Africanus and his soldiers were startled, thinking it was a miracle!
But Scipio Africanus quickly understood and had his guards shout, "There are people inside the carts!! There are people inside the carts!!…" thereby dispelling the soldiers' panic.
Scipio Africanus and his soldiers watched helplessly as nearly a hundred wooden carts entered the range of their arrows, unable to do anything about them.
After a while, the leading wooden carts stopped in front of the trenches, and the carts behind closely followed and connected, one after another, end to end, quickly forming five columns of wooden carts, each hundreds of meters long, extending beyond the archers' range.
Behind them were parked many pack carts, laden with sacks of earth made by the Daunian soldiers yesterday. Countless Daunian soldiers without armor formed a line, passing the sacks hand to hand, while the soldiers who had pushed the carts from inside the wooden carriages did the same. Soon, sacks of earth were continuously thrown into the trenches.
This peculiar method of filling the trenches astonished the Roman soldiers on the walls, but it also made them feel more tense.
Although Scipio Africanus initially didn't know what these wooden carts were for, he instinctively ordered his soldiers to fire rockets at them. However, the tops of the first dozen or so carts were covered with a thin layer of soil and wrapped in wet linen, making them not so easy to ignite.
At the same time, many shield carts, with wide wooden boards erected in front, advanced side by side in the gaps between the five wooden cart columns. It was the light infantry of the Daunian Second Legion who were pushing them. With the wooden boards blocking, the arrows could hardly harm them.
These shield carts were pushed to the front of the trenches, forming a somewhat discontinuous wooden wall. The Daunian light infantry fired arrows at the Roman soldiers on the city walls through the gaps between the wooden boards.
Adonis was inside one of the wooden carts, and like his other comrades, he was not wearing armor in order to conserve energy and carry out the task more quickly.
In fact, Adonis didn't know how many sacks he had passed forward, but he still felt very energetic.
At this time, the squad leader in front shouted, "Brothers, pay attention, push the carts forward!"
Because the officers had told the soldiers the plan of action before the siege, Adonis knew that the trenches in front had been filled, and the wooden carts in front would be moved over the trenches to compact the ground, and then planks would be laid on top, so that the siege equipment could pass through the trenches.
Although the wooden carts were large, they were hollow inside except for the wooden planks laid on the top and sides, so they were not very heavy. Moreover, the wheels of the wooden carts were double wheels,
so that they could jam the cart walls without long axles connecting both sides, ensuring that people and objects could pass through the middle of the wooden carts without being obstructed.
Adonis and his comrades pushed the wooden cart forward together, and soon it was connected to the wooden carts in front and behind. Long wooden planks were quickly passed from behind, and after passing through Adonis's hands, they were finally laid on top of the trenches.
Then, the officers organized the soldiers in the wooden carts to retreat quickly and orderly.
When Matonis learned from his subordinates that "Adonis is safe and sound and has retreated with the other soldiers," he breathed a sigh of relief and ordered his adjutant, "Let the heavy infantry attack!"
"Good work, brothers, it's our turn!" the legion soldiers who brushed past Adonis and his comrades said spiritedly.
"May Hades protect you!" Adonis and his comrades offered their blessings to their comrades, and then began to put on their armor, while looking with some envy at the fully armed legion soldiers: some carried ladders, some held shields and spears, and formed a double column, quickly entering the passage made up of wooden carts, and then quickly appeared under the opposite city, and the siege began.
When Matonis saw the ladders hanging all over the city walls in front and the soldiers of the Second Legion huddled under the city, he couldn't wait to order again: "Let the siege towers attack!"
Under the loud shouts of the messengers, many more soldiers rushed forward. Their task was to push the wooden carts in front into the trenches, so that they could provide more passages across the trenches for the follow-up troops to siege the city, and at the same time, clear the obstacles for the large siege equipment to be pushed to the city.
Because some of the wooden carts had been set on fire by rockets, the soldiers had to spend more effort to push them away. After the wooden carts were pushed away, what was revealed was a road to the city wall that had been compacted very smoothly.
Scipio Africanus directed the soldiers to attack the Daunian heavy infantry who were clinging to the city below, and at the same time, to attack and defend against the Daunian light infantry behind the shield carts in front of the trenches. Therefore, he had neither the ability to stop the Daunians from pushing away the wooden carts, nor did he feel confused by the Daunians' seemingly redundant actions.
Before long, he saw five tall, huge wooden buildings appearing in the distance. They seemed to be taller than the city walls and were slowly approaching the city walls.
He and the surrounding soldiers were shocked. In his long military career, he had participated in many sieges. The most difficult one was undoubtedly the siege of Veii, which lasted for nearly ten years. Although it was difficult, it also enriched his experience in siege and defense. But today, so far, the Daunians' novel siege methods have made him feel a little nervous, and now the super siege towers have completely shocked him and the Roman soldiers. After all, the military technology of the surrounding forces he had faced in the past was either behind Rome or equivalent to Rome, and the Kingdom of Daonia was obviously completely crushing Rome in this regard. This reflected the gap in civilization, which made Scipio Africanus feel a sense of powerlessness in his spirit, but he quickly cheered up and shouted loudly: "Prepare the rockets! Burn it down!"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The Daunian engineering team was able to manufacture five siege towers in one day, not only because there were many people involved in the production, but also because Davos had considered the needs of the siege before departure, and had them pre-make some key components of the siege equipment and carry them with the army, such as: the most difficult to manufacture wheels, axles, pulleys, L-shaped iron frames used to fix the wood connections… This allowed the engineers and carpenters to save time and complete the production task in the past day and a half.
Moreover, compared with the Syracusan siege tower, this siege tower is very different. Its front width is less than three meters, which is exactly the same as the width of the wooden cart, so it can smoothly pass through the several sections of the trenches that have been leveled. Its rear slopes downwards, presenting a right-angled trapezoid. The wooden ladders are placed on the outside, allowing soldiers to enter the various floors of the siege tower smoothly and quickly.
During the pushing of the siege tower, the wooden window on the second-to-last floor has been opened, and a belly crossbow placed inside has been drawn, an iron arrow has been placed, and the soldier presses the trigger, and the iron arrow whizzes and flies to the top of the city in an instant, piercing the chests of several Roman soldiers and taking them together to fall behind the city.
The power of the belly crossbow made the Roman soldiers facing the siege tower feel terrified. They had to distract themselves to guard against this terrible killing weapon, so naturally they could not fully attack the Daunian soldiers who were climbing the city. If it were not for the mobile troops deployed on the city by Scipio Africanus to arrive in time, the Daunian soldiers would have almost climbed the city.
Before the Roman soldiers had time to catch their breath, the Daunian light infantry on the top of the siege tower began to throw arrows at the defenders on the city who had entered the range.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
At the same time as the Second Legion attacked, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion, located to the east of the Second Legion, led by their commander, Troilos, also adopted the siege method of the First Legion and launched an attack on the eastern section of the Roman southern city wall, forcing the defenders there to deal with it with all their strength and not dare to divide their troops to aid Scipio Africanus.
On the western section of the southern city wall, the Fifth Legion led by Giórgos and the Fourth Legion led by Olivos concentrated their attack on the protruding southwest corner of the Roman city wall.
Dozens of crossbows have been bombarding this section of the city wall since yesterday afternoon. Up to today, as many as one-fifth of the damaged crossbows have been damaged, but the two legion commanders do not hesitate to order them to continue attacking from dawn, and they are concentrating on attacking the lower part of the city wall.
After being hit by stone bullets for a long time, the stones on the outer wall of the city wall shattered and fell off in large pieces, and some places revealed the thick rammed earth layer inside.
Then, the crossbow team concentrated the target of the live ammunition bombardment on the uppermost part of the city wall. Although some stone bullets therefore crossed the city wall, the stone bullets that hit the city wall caused stone chips to splash, posing a danger to the defenders on the city, and they had to retreat backwards.
The Daunian heavy infantry took the opportunity to carry thickened long and wide wooden boards to the front of the trenches, lay them on them, and the follow-up heavy infantry carried ladders, stepped on the wooden boards, crossed the trenches, and began to siege the city, and the crossbow attack also stopped.
Among the tide of attacks were also mixed siege vehicles and sea lion vehicles, which were carefully pushed by soldiers across the wooden bridges and rolled towards the city walls where the rammed earth was exposed…
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The entire city of Rome was surrounded by tall city walls, and there was only one place without city walls, that is, the Roman Sublicius Bridge on the north side and the distance of more than one mile to the left and right. However, it was blocked by the wide Tiber River in front, and there were steep embankments of seven or eight meters high as barriers, so the Romans regarded it as the safest place.
In the two wars with Veii, Rome's biggest enemy in the Tiber River basin decades ago, the Romans repelled the enemy's attack by guarding the Sublicius Bridge.
This time, when the Daunians occupied the opposite bank of the Sublicius Bridge, Pullo Cassius, the former patrol captain in charge of the defense of the northern part of Rome, was still prepared to adopt the same tactics.
But from dawn onwards, the battle situation was completely different from what Pullo Cassius had envisioned.
When the Daunians deployed ten ballistae on the opposite bank and began launching stone projectiles, causing casualties as they flew across the Tiber River and landed in the Roman ranks, Cassius had no choice but to order his soldiers to disperse and retreat to the residential area fifty meters away from the embankment.
He believed that even if the Daunians advanced across the pontoon bridge, the Roman soldiers would still have enough time to rush up and intercept the enemy outside the city of Rome.
The Daunian ballistae ceased attacking the Roman soldiers hiding in the residences and instead turned their attention to bombarding the four towers flanking the pontoon bridge on the opposite bank.
In each volley of whistling stone projectiles, two or three would hit the towers, and the booming sounds genuinely worried Cassius, forcing him to urgently order the archers stationed on the towers to quickly retreat.
His concern was justified.
After more than ten minutes, the two towers closest to the pontoon bridge finally collapsed with a resounding crash... Then the Daunian ballista team concentrated on the outermost two towers.
Cassius and his soldiers watched helplessly as stone projectiles bombarded the towers one after another, causing all four towers to eventually collapse with a mournful roar, stirring up dust. The sense of powerlessness in their hearts was unimaginable. They even hoped that the Daunians would attack immediately and engage them in close combat, so they wouldn't have to hear and see the terrifying bombardment of stone projectiles.
However, after the Daunians had completely destroyed the Romans' high-altitude advantage—the towers—with their ballistae, they stopped using them.
The sudden silence on the battlefield puzzled the Romans.
At this moment, Lizalu, the commander of the Third Legion, standing on the opposite bank, said to Midolades, the naval commander of the Third Fleet: "The other legions have already launched attacks on the city of Rome. We should also start preparing."
"Rest assured, I can quickly build twenty pontoon bridges for your legion. The sailors have been waiting impatiently!" After saying that, Midolades immediately rushed to the west bank of the pontoon bridge.
Here, the outer perimeter of the river beach was dug with trenches, and earth base and wooden fences were built. Inside were rows of tents, and 40 crow warships were neatly parked on the riverbank, their prows facing the river.
After Midolades issued the order, the crew members of each warship immediately boarded the ships and took their positions.
Then, the soldiers of the Third Legion also surged over, working together to push the warships into the river.
Immediately afterwards,
these warships did not start rowing in a swarm. The first ship was close to the south side of the Roman pontoon bridge, and it rowed towards the opposite bank with all its strength.
After the sailors on the second ship turned the warship sideways, they tried their best to dock the stern on the shore. For this reason, the siege camp specially made many long wooden poles for the sailors sitting on both sides of the warship, so that they could prop them against the bottom of the river to stabilize the impact of the water flow on the warship and keep its bow facing the opposite bank, while its stern was immediately fixed on the shore with wooden stakes and ropes.
The small trireme warship in the sea was as big as a dragon on the Tiber River. The average length of more than 50 meters of the crow warship, under the sailors' vigorous paddling, the bow quickly touched the opposite embankment.
The operators on the deck immediately dropped the anchor, while the sailors on the right side of the ship quickly retracted their oars and pulled out the long wooden poles that had been prepared in the hold, extending them obliquely out of the oar windows and forcefully resisting the bottom of the river.
Since the widest part of this section of the Tiber River is no more than 100 meters, with one ship's stern on the north bank and the other's bow on the south bank, there is naturally an overlap between the two ships. When the sailors of the second ship tried their best to bring the bow closer to the stern of the first ship, the operators on the ship seized the opportunity and lowered the drawbridge.
The sharp nails at the head of the drawbridge pierced the deck of the stern of the first warship, which made the captain and sailors feel heartache, but it connected the two warships together; the third and fourth warships also operated in the same way; the fifth and sixth warships... Before long, nearly 20 "pontoon bridges" were built on the Tiber River to the west of the Roman pontoon bridge. It only needed to lower the drawbridge of the warship close to the opposite bank and place it on the embankment to immediately connect the north and south banks.
Lizalu watched the whole process from the bridgehead in the north. He cheered loudly for the Third Fleet's clean and neat completion of the established plan. Of course, he knew that Midolades had led more than a dozen warships to conduct repeated tests and training in the river section below the river port yesterday afternoon, so there would be today's success.
Watching a part of the soldiers of the Third Legion on the river beach quickly divide into twenty teams and begin to board the ships, a trace of regret flashed in Lizalu's heart: It is a pity that the crow warship cannot pass through the pontoon bridge because of its high mast, otherwise a "warship pontoon bridge" could also be erected on the river surface on the east side of the pontoon bridge, which would force the Roman army on the opposite bank to further expand the width of the defense and add more bargaining chips for the smooth attack of the army.
Lizalu only sighed slightly and immediately turned his attention to the battlefield that was about to begin.
"Uraza!" Lizalu turned to the captain of the First Battalion of the Third Legion and said in a deep voice: "You lead the First Battalion, kill across this bridge, and kill into the city of Rome. This is my request to you!"
Uraza, the former leader of the Lucanian tribe, Bagule's childhood friend, as early as a few years ago, he and Xima and Lizalu became senators of the Senate, but he did not choose to take a local position, but continued to stay in the legion. Compared with Bagule, who has served as the administrative officer of Daunian key towns for many times, and Xima, who has won the praise of Davos and the senators for his outstanding performance in the position of administrative officer of Kopsa, and Lizalu, who has served as the legion commander and made many military exploits, Uraza is only a battalion commander, and his light is too dim. The reason why he stayed in this position for five or six years is because he likes fighting and is only good at fighting.
After listening to Lizalu's order, Uraza did not hesitate at all, but replied excitedly: "Legion Commander, you just watch, the First Battalion will open the door to victory for the legion!"
Then, he shouted to the soldiers of the First Battalion who were already in formation: "Lucanian warriors, the time has come to show all the legions here, to His Majesty, your courage and ability! Kill across the bridge and eliminate the enemy!"
The source of troops for the Third Legion mainly comes from the Lucanian region. The center of the Lucanian region is Grummtum, but the soldiers of the First Battalion mainly come from Niumtum. As the earliest Lucanian town belonging to Daonia, the Niumtum people also fought with Davos early on. Therefore, when the Third Legion was established, most of its officers were Niumtum people, which in turn prompted more Niumtum people to actively join the army and serve, so it has the most veterans and the most combat experience. The First Battalion, as the strongest battalion in the Third Legion, naturally has to gather the best and strongest soldiers.
Under the command of their Niumtum officers, these Niumtum soldiers were inspired with strong fighting spirit, shouting the name of Hades, and formed a dense five-column formation (the width of this Roman pontoon bridge can only accommodate five people side by side), stepped onto the pontoon bridge, and quickly rushed to the opposite bank.
When the Daunian crow warships built a pontoon bridge, Cassius received an emergency report from the scouts. The Daunians' peculiar way of attacking was beyond his expectations. At the same time, it also meant that the Daunian army would no longer have only one way to cross the river and attack the city of Rome from the north. He had to urgently summon the retreating Roman squads and order them to rush to the embankment immediately to defend.
And when squads of Roman soldiers left the shelter of the residential area, faced the Tiber River, and entered the open area, the ballistae team at the bridgehead on the opposite bank immediately began to launch stone projectiles.
Although Cassius had expected this and ordered the army to adopt a loose checkerboard formation to move forward quickly, stone projectiles still continued to fall into the center of the formation, and the terrifying deaths of the hit soldiers caused no small chaos.
Cassius could not care about the casualties caused by the ballistae at this moment. He had already seen the Daunian soldiers on the opposite bank rushing over the pontoon bridge like a black tide. She shouted anxiously: "Speed up! Speed up!!..."
In fact, without his reminder, the Roman soldiers not only saw the Daunian soldiers rushing on the pontoon bridge, but also saw the enemies that began to appear constantly on the embankment... Their homes were about to be invaded! Every Roman citizen, young and old, felt a strong crisis in their hearts at this moment. They quickened their pace, braved the whistling stone projectiles, rushed over, and collided head-on with the soldiers of the Daunian First Battalion who had just rushed to the bridgehead, and also collided head-on with the other soldiers of the Daunian Third Legion who had just stepped onto the embankment and barely lined up in a single row, intercepting them on the banks of the Tiber River.
And at this time, the ballistae team had to stop firing, allowing the soldiers of the two armies to engage in a life-and-death battle on the opposite bank...
...........
In the Daunian central army camp, scouts and messengers rushed to the central army camp, and then rushed away, collecting the battle situation and enemy situation from all over the place here, and then conveying the new orders...
"Report, the siege troops of the First Legion have arrived under the city and begun to launch an attack!"
"Report, the five siege towers of the Second Legion have pushed to the edge of the trench and are conducting long-range suppression attacks on the enemies on the city wall. One siege tower has been set on fire by rockets, and the surrounding soldiers are putting out the fire!"
"Report, the siege vehicles and boat lion vehicles of the Fourth and Fifth Legions have been pushed under the city and are destroying the city wall. The enemy is being restrained by the siege of the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Legions. So far, they have not effectively destroyed our siege equipment!"
"Report, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion have crossed the trench and have begun to attach to the city!"
"Report, the Third Legion and the Third Fleet have..."
Davos sat in the center of the large tent, with a large wooden board in front of him, on which was drawn a detailed map of Rome. Tolmid led the young staff officers, recording the battle situation reported by the scouts, and then marking it on the map with icons and numbers.
"Your Majesty, the scouts have discovered four to five hundred Roman soldiers about ten miles east of Rome, presumably from Fidenae..."
"Your Majesty, there are troops from the Latin city-states gathering 15 miles southeast of Rome, with about a thousand soldiers already..."
"Your Majesty, a Roman army of about 5,000 men has appeared southwest of our camp..."
"According to the messenger sent by the Third Legion across the river, their scouts have discovered that the Roman colony of Veii has sent nearly two thousand Roman soldiers. In addition, several Etruscan city-states such as Caere and Tarquinii have each sent two or three hundred reinforcements, and they are now heading to Veii..."
...
Davos listened to the staff officers' reports, his eyes fixed on the map: the map was covered with red and black dots, red dots representing the Roman army and Roman reinforcements, black dots representing the Daunian army. Each dot marked a thousand men. It could be seen that the red dots were concentrated in Rome, and the black dots were concentrated outside Rome, surrounding the red dots. Outside the black dots, several red dots would increase over time, slowly converging into a larger encirclement, gradually surrounding the black dots... This was a battle of encirclement and counter-encirclement, concerning the life and death of both sides.
Davos's expression remained calm throughout, while the young staff officers, including Clotokatax, became somewhat nervous as the news continued to arrive. Even Tolmid was a little restless. He stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, judging from the current battle situation, our Second Legion and Fourth and Fifth Legions have the best offensive, and they are likely to be the first to climb the city walls, but... Roman reinforcements are constantly arriving, especially this Roman army—"
Tolmid first pointed to the pattern on the map southwest of the Daunian central army camp, a flower-like pattern formed by five red dots clustered together, and then moved his finger to the three or four red dots connected together north of the Third Legion's camp on the north bank of the Tiber, saying: "And here, I am afraid it will become a big trouble for our siege army! Should we take action first and eliminate this Roman army to alleviate our limited defensive forces?" Tolmid's hand finally landed on the flower-like pattern again.
Davos nodded slightly, and then slowly said, "Tolmid, your view is correct, but we must first find out the movements of this Roman army before we can take the correct response. Let's not panic, it is the enemy who is panicking, because we are in control of the initiative in this battle."
Davos's tone had a hint of instruction, but Tolmid was reminded, and his expression immediately relaxed a little. The somewhat solemn atmosphere in the tent also began to dissipate.
The staff officers recorded the data and discussed something in a low voice. Hynipolis observed everyone and described the scene in the tent with a pen. Tolmid also communicated with Davos about some plans for the next battle, while Clotokatax stood in the tent, ready to welcome the arrival of the scouts at any time.
And this time, the intelligence brought by the scouts shocked him: "Report! The number of Roman troops on our southwest side has increased to... about eight thousand!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Davos said in a deep voice: "Don't panic."
Davos's encouraging smile stabilized Clotokatax's somewhat panicked emotions, and he immediately replied: "Yes!"
The staff officers also exclaimed after hearing this: "8,000 people?!"
Tolmid carefully examined the map, and then said with a slightly nervous expression: "Your Majesty, it seems very likely that it is the reinforcements sent by the Latin city-states of Tustulum, Aricia, and Bovillae. They have joined the Roman army!"
Davos's expression remained unchanged, and his words were still calm: "The place where this Roman army is located is close to Lake Albano. That area has always been the center of the Latins. Although the city of Alba Longa has long been destroyed by the Romans, it is said that the annual festival of Jupiter, worshiped by the Latins—the Latin Festival—is always held on Mount Albanus, so there are many Latin tribes living near Lake Albano. It seems that they still have the strength to send reinforcements... But that's good, the fish are all gathered, just right for us to catch them all in one net!"
Davos's confident tone reminded Tolmid of something. His mood calmed slightly, and he sat back in his wooden chair. After thinking for a while, he still said with some worry: "Now, I am worried that this Roman army will continue to march eastward and join the Latin reinforcements in the southeast. In that case..."
"In that case, we would simply mobilize our troops to the southeast to intercept the enemy, but for the Romans, it would mean that they have clearly reached the outskirts of Rome, but they would have to spend more time preparing and waiting. Would those Roman citizen-soldiers who are worried about their homes have this patience?" Davos said unhurriedly.
"Your Majesty, are you saying that... this Roman army is likely to launch an attack on us immediately!" Tolmid asked eagerly.
Davos was about to answer when Clotokatax's voice rang out again: "Report, the Roman army of 8,000 men southwest of the camp is bypassing our camp and marching north!"
As soon as Tolmid heard this, he stood up immediately, saying with both nervousness and excitement: "Your Majesty, you were right! This Roman army seems to be launching an attack on us, and their target is probably here!"
Tolmid pointed to the southwest corner of the Roman city wall on the map, where the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Legions were besieging the city. Behind them was a huge gap between the Daunian central army camp and the western camp (i.e., the Fourth Legion's camp). The Romans could quickly pass through this place and directly attack the Daunian army that was besieging the city.
Davos also made the same judgment, so he no longer sat firmly on the Diaoyu platform, but immediately issued an order: "Tolmid, I appoint you as the temporary commander, immediately lead a battalion of the Fifth Legion, a battalion of the Second Legion, two battalions of the Sixth Legion, and the First and Second Cavalry Legions, to go there and intercept the enemy! At the same time, I will send messengers to notify the two garrison battalions of the Fourth Legion to go and join you!"
Six infantry battalions plus two cavalry legions, close to ten thousand men, in terms of strength, already exceeded the attacking enemy, but Tolmid's face did not show joy, but worriedly expressed his opposition: "Your Majesty, you only have two battalions of the Second and Fifth Legions left to protect you, it's too dangerous! And two thousand soldiers cannot defend such a large camp—"
"Don't worry about my safety, and don't worry about the safety of the camp. The more soldiers you take, the faster you can resolve the battle, and the faster you can return, reducing the pressure on the entire battlefield!" Davos said unquestioningly, and then a smile appeared on his face: "Or are you worried that you will not be able to command so many soldiers, so you are finding reasons for me to reduce some for you?"
Tolmid knew that this was Davos's attempt to provoke him, but he also understood that this meant that Davos was not prepared to change his mind, so he stopped persuading him, and saluted Davos in place, responding forcefully: "Yes, Your Majesty! Please also take care of your safety!"
Davos nodded.
Tolmid turned to leave, when Clotokatax, who was on the side, couldn't help but say loudly: "Father... Your Majesty, I request to participate in this battle!"
The tent suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes focused on this young prince. Even Davos himself was a little surprised. Before he could speak, Tolmid hurriedly advised: "This won't do! Prince, it's too dangerous! The Roman army is rushing to rescue, and they must be determined to fight desperately. Our troops seem to be more numerous than the enemy, but half of them are cavalry, and it is disadvantageous to confront the enemy head-on! Prince, please stay here and assist His Majesty in commanding the entire battle and ultimately win the victory of capturing Rome!"
"Is it dangerous for me, but not dangerous for other soldiers!" Clotokatax said loudly, his face flushed: "I am a Daunian citizen! Also a soldier in this army! I must contribute my strength to the entire battle, instead of sitting here, watching others fight, bleed, and even sacrifice!"
Clotokatax was speaking from the bottom of his heart. At this moment, he was thinking of his older brother Adoris and his comrades who had trained in Thurii in the past. At this moment, they were all fighting in the front or were about to join the battle. He could not allow himself to be a spectator like a coward. This idea had actually been brewing since he set foot on this land, so his tone seemed a little trembling because it was too impassioned.
Davos looked at his son, saw the stubbornness in his eyes, he only hesitated slightly, and then said simply: "Go."
"Your Majesty—" Tolmid wanted to persuade him again, but Davos waved his hand and said: "Clotokatax is right, although he is my son, he is also a Daunian citizen. Other people's children have to serve in the army and go to the battlefield, and of course he has to too!"
"Thank you, Father!" In addition to being excited, Clotokatax was also afraid that Tolmid would continue to persuade him, so he loudly reminded: "Commander, if you don't leave, the enemy reinforcements will arrive at the city!"
Seeing that Davos's expression was serious and he had no intention of changing his mind, Tolmid had no choice but to salute again and said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty!"
Davos certainly understood what he meant by "rest assured," and at this time, Clotokatax also quickly saluted him and hurriedly followed Tolmid away.
At this moment, Davos finally watched his son's departing figure with worried eyes as he exited the main tent. He stood there for a moment, and when he turned back, he saw some of the younger staff officers looking at him with envy. A thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately smiled and said, "Who else wants to go and participate in the battle?"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"And me!"
Several young men hurriedly spoke up.
Davos waved his hand: "Hurry up and go, and fight well!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The young staff officers rushed out of the main tent, elated.
Davos smiled and said encouragingly to the staff officers who remained in the tent, "These young fellows, they're too young and don't understand that this place is the brain of our entire army. Our efforts will determine the success or failure of the entire campaign! So, young men, in order to win this victory, let's continue our work!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The staff officers' restless hearts were temporarily calmed by Davos.
"You are Claunisus, an Amendolarara, from the First Legion?" Davos pointed to one of the young men and said.
"Yes, Your Majesty, your memory is truly remarkable!" The young man felt pleasantly surprised.
"You will be responsible for receiving battle reports and enemy intelligence for me, and reporting them to me promptly and accurately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"You are Ilithesus, a Castronian, from the Second Legion, correct?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"You will be responsible for marking the map."
"Yes!"
"You are Asinarus, a Crotonian, from the Fourth Legion?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"You will be responsible for recording and conveying my orders."
"Understood!"
"And you… you… you…" Davos accurately called out the names of the other staff officers. Seeing their flattered expressions, he smiled and said, "You will be responsible for recording and analyzing battle situations. If you discover any abnormalities or have any suggestions, you can bring them up to me at any time!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!!"
The staff officers, who had been stirred up by the departure of Intorimedes and Cloto Catacus, resumed their tense and meticulous military duties, even more earnestly and diligently than before.
Davos watched their busy activity, and his heart was somewhat moved.
At this moment, Hynepolis, who had gone out at some point, re-entered the main tent, came to Davos's side, and whispered, "Martius has sent 30 palace guards to protect Cloto's safety."
Davos glanced at him, and his heart was completely at ease. He gently tapped the map with his hand, and then said loudly, "Asinarus, you immediately have a messenger notify all the auxiliary personnel in this camp, such as the engineering battalion, the logistics battalion… to immediately transfer to the rear of the Second Legion to await orders!"
"Yes!" Asinarus strode towards the outside of the tent.
Although Davos boldly transferred the four battalions stationed in the main camp to participate in the battle, it was indeed a risk. With only two battalions remaining to guard the main camp, even if their combat power was strong, they would not be able to completely defend such a large encampment. Therefore, Davos issued this transfer order as a precaution, especially to prevent any harm from befalling those engineers and highly skilled craftsmen he treasured.
Then, Davos issued another order: "Ilithesus, check the latest news about Epitenes, reconfirm his position, and then, based on his marching speed, estimate his approximate current location."
"Yes!"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Tormedes left the main tent, feeling a bit of a headache. This was certainly not because he was about to command a force of nearly ten thousand troops. Although he had never had the experience of commanding a force of more than a thousand troops before, he did have decades of rich military experience. Moreover, since joining Daonian and entering the staff department of the Military Affairs Department, he had been working hard to improve himself: deeply understanding Daonian's past battle examples, familiarizing himself with and thoroughly understanding Daonian's military system and tactics, and further striving to envision future military reforms and developments… Tormedes admitted that he was not as talented in military affairs as Plintorles, but he believed that he was also worthy of the position of staff officer.
What worried him was Cloto Catacus beside him. Although Davos did not say "to take good care of his son," if the publicly recognized prince, who would inherit Davos's throne in the future, experienced danger, injury, or… he did not think he would have a good life in Daonia in the future.
By the time the 30 palace guards arrived at Cloto Catacus's side, Tormedes already had an idea. He said with a serious expression: "Your Highness, this time going to intercept the enemy is related to the success or failure of this entire battle, and related to the life and death of the entire army, so it is very important! You are not a member of the other battalions, you have not trained with them together, and you don't have the tacit understanding of combat, so I will not place you in the front ranks of the military formation, but rather in the rear ranks. Once the front ranks cannot withstand the enemy's attack, or the enemy bypasses from the flanks, I will have you lead the palace guards to block their attack and buy time for the other troops!"
Although Cloto Catacus was very young, he had been carefully taught by Davos for a long time. He was not arrogant, and he also knew that his sudden joining had caused Tormedes some concerns, and what Tormedes said made sense, so he immediately nodded in response: "Yes, Commander!"
Tormedes had little contact with Cloto Catacus in the past and did not understand him. Seeing that this young man was so reasonable, he breathed a sigh of relief and at the same time had a great increase in his goodwill towards this prince.
The group went straight out of the northwest gate of the camp, and soon the sound of rumbling hooves rang out behind them… The two cavalry legions, having received their orders, had quickly arrived.
"Torm… Commander, the First (Second) Cavalry Legion has arrived under orders!"
Tormedes looked at Lydes, with whom he usually joked, and glanced at Kouchius beside him. At this time, he was in no mood for joking, but said with a serious expression: "Two legion commanders, a Roman reinforcement force of 8,000 men is coming from the west. His Majesty has ordered us to go and intercept them, and we must not allow the enemy to disrupt our siege plan! Please reorganize your troops first, and set off together after the other troops arrive."
The two legion commanders repeatedly agreed. Although they both saw Cloto Catacus beside Tormedes and were surprised, they did not ask, but turned back to order the company officers to gather and assemble the cavalry.
After a while, four infantry battalions arrived one after another.
Cloto Catacus was overjoyed to see that the battalion commander who came to report was actually Adoris's superior. He couldn't help but be delighted: I heard my father say the phrase "father and son fight side by side" before, but I didn't expect that this time I would be able to fight with my elder brother!
But on such an occasion, Cloto Catacus certainly could not go looking for Adoris.
After the troops gathered, Tormedes immediately led the team to set off. Before long, they arrived directly west of the southwest corner of the Roman city wall, and the two garrison battalions of the Fourth Legion, having been notified by the messenger, also quickly arrived. Now, the army led by Tormedes had six infantry battalions, of which four were heavy infantry battalions and two were light armor battalions. After all, the light armor soldiers' defenses were weaker, and frontal attacks were more disadvantageous, so several legion commanders had the light armor battalions stay in the camp.
Learning from the scouts that the enemy was still a mile away, Tormedes breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Daonian central army camp occupied a large area, and the Romans detoured from the outside. He led the troops directly along the inner line. Although he set off later, he still caught up ahead.
Tormedes immediately began to deploy the military formation: he had one heavy infantry battalion each from the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Legions located on the left, middle, and right routes of the front line of the military formation, with another battalion each from the Fourth and Sixth Legions located in the rear ranks, and the battalion from the Second Legion located in the rear rank of the middle route. The First and Second Cavalry Legions were located on the left and right flanks, and the length of the entire middle route formation would be determined by the enemy's military formation, whether to lengthen or shorten it.
Tormedes arranged a simple formation, but for such a hastily assembled force of ten thousand troops, the simpler the formation, the more conducive it was to their battle.
The infantry and cavalry quickly began to deploy under the command of the company officers. Cloto Catacus and the palace guards were located in the last rank of that battalion of the Second Legion. During the formation process, he saw Adoris, who was also surprised that his younger brother had appeared here. However, the brothers only exchanged glances slightly, and soon followed the instructions and went to the position where they should stand.
Just as the Daonian military formation was completed, they saw the Roman army appearing in the distance. Tormedes did not wait for the Roman army to come, but directly ordered the entire army to advance.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
Yesterday, Paulus and Mejus led the army all the way east, passing through Satricum and Velletri, and entered the Lake Alba area at dusk before stopping their advance and letting the army set up camp. While sending scouts to investigate the situation of the Daonians, Mejus led people to visit all the villages and towns in the area overnight, hoping that the Latin compatriots in this area would support them, resist the invaders, and rescue Rome.
The next day, many Latin warriors came to the Alba area one after another. According to the statistics of Paulus and his men, there were as many as 3,000 people. This place was indeed the earliest Latin area conquered by Rome, and its relationship with Rome was the closest, but this was also the greatest effort that the Latins of Alba could make.
The Roman reinforcements, whose numbers had increased to more than 8,000, caused the two generals to have disagreements.
Paulus believed that, according to various intelligence reports, the Daonians were already fully attacking the city, and Rome was in danger. They should take advantage of the fact that the Daonians had invested most of their soldiers in the siege, but had not yet broken the city, and launch a fierce attack on the Daonians from the rear. They would definitely be able to defeat the enemy's offensive and save Rome!
But Meius was more cautious. He first reminded Paulus that it was the hasty attack by the Daunians upon landing that led to the disastrous defeat, resulting in Rome's dangerous situation today. Therefore, he suggested that while this reinforcement was the greatest hope of the Roman people in the city, the number of 8,000 soldiers was still insufficient. More soldiers needed to be gathered to have a greater chance of defeating the Daunians in one fell swoop. This would not only save Rome but also potentially drive the Daunians out of the mainland. Therefore, they should continue marching east to join the reinforcements from Prinieste, Gabii, Bone, and other city-states.
Both sides held their own opinions but were unwilling to divide the troops into two, as that would only weaken the army's offensive power and lead to the failure of their respective plans. To avoid wasting valuable time, they could only make a decision by letting the soldiers choose.
The nearly 3,000 Latin reinforcements didn't care much, but the more than 5,000 Roman citizen soldiers, although they had already migrated to the three towns west of the Latium region due to the allocation of land, still had relatives and friends they cared about in Rome. Moreover, they were well aware that there were not many citizen soldiers in Rome. If they delayed, and Rome was captured, the land they had just acquired would also ultimately vanish. Therefore, most soldiers were eager to defeat the Daunian siege and supported Paulus's opinion.
Meius felt regret, but he sincerely wished Paulus well and then led a guard to quickly head east.
Paulus quickly assembled the troops. Although he was anxious, he remained clear-headed. He knew that although the Daunian camp ahead was still rudimentary, breaking through it might come at a considerable cost. And now, time and soldiers were the most valuable to him. Therefore, he decided to bypass the camp and head straight for the city walls.
Just as the army was marching, a scout, who had risked dodging enemy cavalry and returned wounded, brought back terrible news: five or six thousand Daunian infantry and many cavalry had appeared ahead.
Paulus was shocked. He had not expected the Daunians to retain so many soldiers for defense while launching a full-scale siege.
But he immediately calmed down. With the situation developed to this point, there was no possibility of retreat. He could only lead his troops to attack forward without hesitation, defeat the enemies blocking the way, and only then would Rome have hope!
He issued an order: the army would stop advancing and immediately begin to form ranks.
Considering that the enemy opposite had many cavalry, and the failure of the previous battle was due to the Daunian's powerful cavalry attacking the flanks, Paulus learned from the past. He cautiously shortened the length of the formation, increased its thickness, and placed more than a thousand light infantry from the Latin reinforcements in the center of the formation, protected by the heavy infantry... After the formation was completed, the entire formation resembled an oval.
As the Daunian army came into the view of the Roman soldiers, a loud military horn sounded from the opposite side.
The Daunians had actually launched an attack on the Roman army first.
Charging at the forefront were the cavalry legions on both wings. Thousands of horses galloped, their hooves thundering like thunder, stirring up dust and mist that filled the sky. The distance of several hundred meters was covered in an instant.
Looking at the huge creatures charging with powerful force, the Roman soldiers on both wings felt fear in their hearts.
But in fact, this was just an illusion. The Daunian cavalry did not have the ability to directly break through the heavy infantry formation. As they brushed past the flanks of the Roman formation, they forcefully threw the short spears in their hands.
These Roman soldiers had, after all, fought the Daunian cavalry once before. Under the reminder of the centurions, they raised their shields to defend.
At the same time, the light infantry in the formation also shot the arrows in their hands at the speeding Daunian cavalry.
For a time, Roman soldiers falling to the ground after being shot and Daunian cavalry falling off their horses after being hit by arrows were not uncommon.
Just as the Daunian cavalry brushed past the flanks of the Roman formation and charged towards the rear, the Daunian infantry formation had already approached. The Roman centurions hurriedly shouted, "Beware of javelins, raise your shields to defend!"
Clotho Katakos followed his surrounding comrades and threw the javelin in his hand, and then hurriedly threw the second javelin almost without breathing.
At this time, the screams coming from the opposite side made him feel excited as he entered the battlefield for the first time, but before he could carefully savor this so-called sense of accomplishment, the soldiers in front began to charge towards the enemy, and he followed with the palace guards.
Even though the javelin rain caused some confusion in the Roman formation, when the Daunian soldiers began to charge, the Roman soldiers also raised their shields, held their spears, and strode forward.
One side, with the belief of defending their homeland and driving away the invaders, bravely moved forward; the other side, bearing the safety of the entire army, had to desperately block the attacking enemy. The two armies collided fiercely, and then each stabbed their spears and lances fiercely into the enemy.
At the same time, the Daunian cavalry turned around and charged towards the rear of the Roman formation.
"Turn back! Turn back!" Under the command of the Roman centurions, the heavy infantry companies at the rear of the Roman formation turned around, faced the cavalry, raised their long shields, and assumed a defensive posture. The Roman light infantry in the center of the formation also turned around, bent their bows and nocked arrows, and javelins and arrows once again intersected in the air...
......
The Roman soldiers were fighting bloody battles on the city walls, and the people in the city were not idle either. They were organized by the senators to continuously transport various consumed defensive materials to the various sections of the city walls, while continuously carrying the wounded into the city.
Seeing their relatives injured or even dead, the Roman people, although sad in their hearts, had no time to cry. They had to seize all the time and do their best to assist the army in defending their homes, because the situation had become somewhat serious less than an hour after the enemy began to attack the city.
"General Marcus reports that the enemy's offensive is fierce. In order to stop the enemy from attacking the city, the soldiers have suffered considerable casualties and hope to receive reinforcements!"
"General Severus reports that his army is fully defending against the enemy's attack, but cannot prevent the enemy from continuously destroying the city walls with siege equipment. He hopes that more soldiers can be sent behind the city to form a defensive formation to prevent the enemy from breaking through after the city walls collapse!"
"General Pullo reports that the enemy is using warships to build numerous pontoon bridges on the Tiber River, so that their attack is not limited to the Cestius Bridge. Now the soldiers are fully defending the entire embankment, but the enemy's offensive is fierce. Continuing to fight, the soldiers' physical strength cannot support it, and they hope to get more support!"
...
The Roman Senate originally had Scipio Africanus in charge of the entire city's defense, but after the siege battle began, Scipio Africanus found it difficult for him to control the combat defense of the entire city, because Rome's urban area was too large, the city walls were too long, and the roads in the city's various districts were winding and uneven, making it more time-consuming to deliver orders or send reinforcements.
So he decisively transferred the command to the Senate, and concentrated his energy on dealing with the Daunian attack on the south side. The Senate quickly completed the handover of command. In order to better coordinate and organize the city's people to defend the city, the senators came to the Roman Forum to work. Military command was mainly handed over to Potitus, Marugine Ensis, and other senators who had served as consuls many times, not only because of their seniority, but also because as consuls, they often had to lead troops to fight, so they had more combat experience.
But even Potitus, who had served as consul five times and had promoted Camillus on the battlefield many times, had never experienced or witnessed such a siege: countless siege weapons, huge siege towers, assembled wooden carts that could hide people, and unique trench-filling methods, terrible belly bows, warships building pontoon bridges... Even more terrifying was that the Daunian soldiers attacking the city were not only well-trained, but also brave and strong.
According to Potitus's past siege experience: a big city like this, guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers, could not be taken down without hundreds of thousands of people, and without attacking for two or three months to half a year.
But less than two hours after the start of the war, the defending army seemed to be unable to hold on.
The senators were also panicked. At this time, they could no longer consider clan rights and personal interests. They organized the slaves in their respective families and notified their clans to take action, summoning all the men and slaves who could pick up shields and spears to the Roman Forum, about nearly ten thousand people, urgently formed them into teams, distributed weapons, and then sent them wave after wave to the battlefields that needed them...
The usually vast Roman Forum was now crowded and noisy: on one side, the senators were urgently training the newly formed troops, and on the other side, the people were rescuing the wounded lying all over the ground.
Looking at the nearly ten thousand troops under the stage that were still relatively dense not long ago, soon only a little over a thousand people remained. Those slave soldiers were not used to wearing helmets and were constantly shaking their heads, holding weapons with blank eyes... A very uncomfortable feeling suddenly surged in Potitus's heart. He tightened his grip on the back of the chair and said laboriously: "Send these last thousand or so people to Scipio Africanus. Although he didn't send anyone to ask for help, the other armies are all encountering difficulties. It is impossible for the defense on the south side to be easy. I understand Scipio Africanus, he must be doing his best to avoid making things difficult for us..."
"Alas, Rome hasn't experienced being besieged by enemies for decades. The people lack experience in defending the city! What's more, the enemy is Daonia!..." Ambstus sighed regretfully: "It's only because we have been focusing on expansion in recent years and haven't properly re-planned and repaired the city defenses!"
Upon hearing this, the senators next to him all felt the same way: If the winding Roman city walls were removed and rebuilt into straight lines; if the bricks and stones of the city walls were pieced together more tightly, and the stone gaps were filled with stone slurry; if city walls were built on the embankment north of Rome; if deer fences had been placed on both sides of the moat; if the streets in the urban area had been planned to facilitate traffic early on... I am afraid that defending the city today would not be so difficult!