Chapter 692
Camus had participated in the battle led by Camillus to repel the Celts ten years ago. The ferocious charge of the Celtic cavalry with their greatswords and chariots was indeed lethal, but these Black Knights with spears were obviously not Celts.
At that moment, he heard a few screams, followed by a soldier's panicked shout, "Be careful of the javelins!"
Camus instinctively raised his shield to protect himself. When he turned around, he saw a soldier not far away was stabbed in the right chest by a short javelin. The soldier was struggling and screaming on the ground. The Black Knights, who were only a dozen meters away from them, switched their spears to their left hand and held the javelins in their right hand. They slowed down their horses and circled around them, looking for the next opportunity to throw the javelins.
"Damn it! These enemies know how to throw javelins! "Camus was a little panicked. It was his first time encountering such a kind of cavalry.
'What should I do?' Camus thought anxiously. 'Should I continue forward? I'm ten miles away from the camp. I have to defend against the enemy's attacks and protect the wagons. It's not hard to imagine how slow I'll be. The soldiers have to stay alert for a long time. Their stamina is also a big problem! Should I retreat to the village and wait for reinforcements? The village is not far behind the troops. It'll be fast for me to return to the camp, but I'm not sure when the reinforcements from the camp will arrive. Besides, the enemy's cavalry is here, and there might even be infantrymen …
While Camus was hesitating, the captured Walsi soldiers took advantage of the fact that the soldiers were guarding against the Black Knights and could not help them. They quietly untied the horses from the wagons and drove them to break through the defensive circle of the Roman soldiers. Then, they took advantage of the chaos and sneaked out.
A few angry Roman soldiers chased after them.
"Idiot, come back!" Camus shouted anxiously.
However, it was too late.
A few Black Knights chased after them.
The Roman soldiers noticed that the situation was not right, but they did not panic. They raised their shields to block the enemy's cavalry and retreated with large strides.
Unexpectedly, a few more black cavalrymen charged at them from behind. They couldn't dodge in time and were knocked down by the horses.
At this time, the enemies in front of them had also arrived. The confused Roman soldiers did not even have time to raise their shields. The enemy on the horse lowered his body and stuck out his spear. Using the speed of the horse, the spear pierced into the body covered by the chainmail. After that, the enemy quickly let go of the spear to avoid being pushed off the horse by the strong recoil.
When the Rome soldiers saw the tragic state of their teammates and the skillful cooperation of the enemy cavalry, they were both angry and uneasy. Without the pack animals, it would be difficult to transport the looted goods back. Camus finally made up his mind. He gave up on the pack wagons and gathered the soldiers to form a more compact column. While guarding against the harassment of the enemy cavalry from time to time, they slowly moved toward the camp.
The same thing happened to every Rome squadron that went out to collect food. However, some squadrons took the same measures as Camus, while some simply returned to the village and waited for rescue …
… …
Camillus and Frius, who were at the camp, soon received news that the troops that went out of the camp were attacked by the Diónia cavalry. Camillus no longer hesitated and immediately made the decision that there were light infantry and cavalry in the police station. They were to immediately rescue the troops that were attacked and repel the Diónia cavalry.
Soon, the north gate of the Rome camp opened, and nearly 2,000 light infantry and more than 800 cavalry poured out of the camp.
In the beginning, the light infantry in the Rome army was filled by the fourth and fifth class civilians of Rome who were poor and could not afford heavy infantry equipment. However, since Camillus implemented the military reform, and with the help of Carthage, the civilians of Rome could also serve as heavy infantry. However, the equipment was provided by the Senate and would be returned after the war. As a result, the light infantry in the Rome army was mainly provided by the other allies of Rome.
At this time, the light infantry and the Rome cavalry spent a lot of time outside the camp before they were divided into more than a dozen groups. Under the leadership of the cavalry scouts, they rushed to their respective targets.
Camillus, who was in the main tent, received another shocking news. Seven to eight thousand Diónia soldiers were marching quickly towards the camp in Rome!
Frius looked at Camillus in surprise. "The Diónia have just arrived, and they already want to attack our camp?!"
Camillus pondered for a moment with a solemn expression. He then ordered, "Send out the cavalry scouts to the south to investigate the movements in the cities of Satia and Polevenam. Once you find any troops coming out, report immediately!"
Camillus did not believe that the Diónia would dare to attack his camp with only seven to eight thousand soldiers. Therefore, he had to closely monitor the movements of the Volsci. At the same time, he did not dare to let his guard down. He began to mobilize the soldiers to prepare for the defense of the camp.
… …
At this time, in the city of Polevenam, the Consul Katai Montalos received the news from the messenger of the First Legion of Diónia. He said in surprise, "The First Legion of Diónia is preparing to attack the despicable raiding troops of Rome to lure the main force of Rome out of the camp. They are attempting to engage them in a battle, and they are asking for our cooperation!"
"These Diónia are really impatient. They have just arrived and do not understand the situation, but they already want to fight the Rome," the general of Olonchi's reinforcement said in a strange tone.
"At least this shows that the Diónia are sincere in helping our Volsci!" The words of Thullus, the consul of Selce, made Oronchi and the general of the Sidi Ceni's reinforcements a little embarrassed. They had led their troops to Wolsey for almost half a month, but they had yet to engage in a battle with the Romans.
"But … the Rome army is very strong! Once our troops leave the protection of the city walls and fight with the Rome in the wild, if … if we lose, our Volsci will be in danger! " Teresina's Consul Toulouse said worriedly. He was the one who led the reinforcements to Villetree, but they were defeated by the Rome army, which eventually led to the fall of Villetree.
"As the most powerful kingdom in Italy, Diónia must have the confidence to defeat the Rome army if they dare to propose a battle with the Rome army!" Corunus, the former Consul of Antium, was eager to take back the occupied town. He shouted, "Besides, according to the tradition of us Volsci, how can we let our guests work so hard while the host stands by and does nothing!"
As the commander-in-chief of the Volsci army, Katai Montalos finally made up his mind. He called for the messenger of Diónia and said, "Please go back and tell Commander Amyntas that all the soldiers of Volsci are waiting for his order to attack!"
… …
Since the cavalry of Diónia was mainly concentrated in the west and north of the Rome camp, the scouts of Rome could relatively safely observe the movement of the Dionysian Army in the south of the camp.
An hour later, Camillus received news that the Dionysian Army was approaching the Rome camp!
When he came to the watchtower in front of the south gate of the camp, he could already see the rising dust in front of him.
Camillus was not nervous at all. He looked at the soldiers on the wooden wall who had already taken up their defensive positions, hoping that the light infantry and the Rome soldiers who were sent out to collect food would come back soon. Then he would not have to worry about anything. Fortunately, two or three squadrons of Rome had returned to the camp. It seemed that he did not have to wait too long.
After standing on the watchtower for a while, he was surprised to find that the dust was not getting closer to him. Instead, it seemed to be moving further away.
Just when he was puzzled, a scout from Rome rushed into the camp and reported to him, "Consul Camillus, the Dionysian Army has turned to the west of the camp."
'West?' Camillus was stunned. He pondered for a moment, and his expression suddenly changed. 'Is the Diónia trying to bypass the camp and attack the soldiers outside our camp?!'
… …
"Commander Amyntas, Commander Ledes sent me to tell you that the cavalry legion is running out of javelins. The light infantry of Rome is attacking fiercely. Some of the cavalrymen have been injured. He can no longer stop the Rome army from withdrawing to the camp."
Amyntas' face turned gloomy when he heard this. Due to the participation of the light infantry and cavalry of Rome, it had become difficult for the First Cavalry Legion of Diónia to carry out the plan of delaying the retreat of the Rome army. The combination of the light infantry and cavalry of Rome, in turn, posed a great threat to the scattered Diónia cavalry. So, under Printos' suggestion, he reluctantly let Ledes lead the cavalry to give up obstructing the other Rome squadrons and concentrate on obstructing the three Rome squadrons that were closer to them in the southwest. But he did not expect that the light infantry of Rome had also arrived here.
Was his battle plan going to fail? Amyntas was unwilling to give up. He said to the messenger of Ledes, "Go back and tell Commander Ledes, 'I … ask him to hold on a little longer. The First Cavalry Legion will be here soon. Your cavalry has worked hard for so long and paid a heavy price. You can't just give up like this!'"
Amyntas' request obviously moved the messenger of the First Cavalry Legion. The messenger hesitated and said, "I will pass on all your words to Commander Ledes."
After the messenger left, Amyntas' face was completely gloomy. He shouted, "Hurry up and urge the First Cavalry Legion! If they can't get here soon and let the Rome army escape, they will all be punished according to military law! … "
While Amyntas was cursing, his adjutant, Aristos, suddenly looked happy. He pointed to the south and shouted, "Commander, our soldiers are here!"
Amyntas immediately turned his head and looked back. He saw dust rolling in the distance, and the sound of footsteps was rumbling.
Amyntas immediately grinned. "It seems that if I don't scold them, they will not complete their mission properly!"
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