Chapter 726
After a series of fights, Capus transferred him to the military department as the adjutant. He had taken on a lot of work over the past few years and had lightened the burden on Capus a lot. Ever since he became the acting chief, Alpines had been as steady as usual and had not made any mistakes. Only then did the Devers feel relieved.
At this time, the Devers comforted him. "Don't worry, the food problem will be greatly improved soon. The Turií merchants organized by Sostatus and the Ligim merchants organized by Senator Alcibidas have purchased a large amount of grain from the Yoke Galaxy and Egypt. The grain will arrive soon. In addition, the second batch of grain provided by the Pharaoh of Egypt will also arrive soon. These grains will be used as rations for the military. "
"That's great!" Alpines finally smiled.
"What do you think about Rome's attack on the Helniki?" The Devers turned to the Minister of Military Affairs, Hilos.
Hilos, Hieronymus, Felicius, and Alpines looked at each other and said with a serious expression, "Your Majesty, after some discussion, the Ministry of Military Affairs felt that although Rome is our enemy, they have changed the direction of their attack this time. They have shrunk the defense line on the side of the sea and attacked the Helniki inland. This is indeed a good strategy. It has rendered our third fleet useless. At the same time, the Romans also stationed a lot of soldiers in several towns near the sea. This made the allied forces of us and the Woersi not dare to attack them forcefully. That would cause more casualties to the already small number of soldiers in the allied forces. This way, the Rome can attack the weak Helniki with all their strength. Even with the help of the Walsi, we believe that they will not be able to resist the attack of the Rome. Unless the Acquis and the Massi send reinforcements, the Helniki will be in danger. Therefore, Amyntas has written a letter to request for reinforcements. "
"Your Majesty, we have just signed an alliance agreement with the Helniki," Felicius interrupted.
The Devers nodded and stared at the area where the Helniki lived on the map. They did not speak for a while.
The others kept quiet and waited for the Devers to make a decision.
Just then, Aristiras, the herald, pushed open the door and rushed into the meeting room. "Your Majesty, a report from the Latin region."
Devers took a look at the scroll, and his eyelids twitched. He then passed the scroll to Cyros.
Hilos hurriedly took it, and after reading it, he was shocked, "The Acquis and Maxi organized a coalition of more than 10,000 people to attack the Latin city-state, Bolae, in an attempt to attract the Roman army that was attacking Helniki to return. In the end, they were ambushed by more than 20,000 troops of the Roman army that quickly departed from Rome, and suffered a crushing defeat!"
"How did Rome get another 20,000 soldiers?!" The others were also shocked when they heard that.
Aristiras replied calmly, "It's probably the army from the Rome Colony City and the Etruscan allies north of the Tiber River."
"It seems that this time, the Rome had planned this!" The Devers sighed and said, "Camillus's trick of 'baiting the enemy' is good."
The others in the meeting room were all veterans, and they understood what the Devers meant. Camillus had placed the Roman army at the frontline, and deliberately left the rear undefended. In fact, he had already hidden his army in Rome. The coalition of the Acquis and Maxi did not dare to confront the Roman army head-on, so they used the method of ambushing the rear in an attempt to force the Roman army to return. In the end, they were ambushed by the well-prepared Roman army. After all, Rome was only 50 miles away from Bolae.
Felicius leaned over the map again and carefully studied it again. His brows furrowed together. "Your Majesty, the Acquis and Maxi have suffered a crushing defeat this time. I'm afraid they will no longer be able to rescue the Hernici. The Rome can rest assured and attack them boldly. Here —"
Felicius pointed to the camp of the Roman army and said in a deep voice, "There were already more than 40,000 Roman soldiers, and with the addition of more than 20,000 soldiers, the reinforcements of the Hernici and Wolsey are far from being able to resist. I believe that the Romans will soon destroy the Hernici forces, and then attack the Wolsey towns in the east, or …" Felicius drew a long wooden stick on the low ground between Mount Lepini and Mount Ausoni, his face full of worry. "Then lead the army west and attack the Wolsey in the coastal plain from the east. At that time, even the First Legion will not be able to stop so many Roman soldiers. If the defenders of the Roman colonial towns in the southwest also attack, I believe that the Wolsey will soon be destroyed, and the Rome will completely conquer the Latin region!"
At this moment, Hilos also interrupted, "Your Majesty, you asked us to pay attention to Rome before, but to be honest, we did not pay much attention to it. But now, it seems that its military potential is amazing! You see, it attacked the Hernici with more than 40,000 soldiers, and defeated the allied forces of the Acquis and Maxi with more than 20,000 soldiers. It is reported that Antium, Villette, and Saturnicum each have about 10,000 soldiers. This means that it can at least organize a huge army of 100,000 soldiers. Assuming that these troops are not as strong as the Roman army that fought against the First Legion, it will still cause us a lot of trouble! "
The other officials of the Ministry of Military Affairs also expressed their agreement with Hilos.
"The huge army of Rome is indeed a big problem." The Devers looked around at them and said in a deep voice, "But the biggest problem is their dictator, Camillus! Although Carthage is powerful, their ruler, Hanno, obviously has no experience in war, and he does not understand the meaning of this war. The generals and troops that he sent out are like playing games. But Camillus obviously knows that the war with us is related to the life and death of Rome, so he has used all his strength from the beginning.
I have received information that he has even proposed and passed the proposal in the Senate of Rome to distribute the newly conquered land to the landless poor, and to actively absorb the refugees of Latin and Etruria as Rome citizens. In this way, not only will it be possible to alleviate the fierce conflict between the nobles and the civilians in Rome, but the number of Rome soldiers that can be gathered will also increase rapidly. Everyone, Rome is not creating a big problem for us, but a real threat to our Kingdom of Diónia! "
The words of the Devers made everyone's face turn gloomy. Even Hieronymus, who usually did not like to talk, could not help but scold, "This Rome! Not only did they steal our military system, but they also copied our political system from Diónia! "
Whether Rome's military system was created by itself or learned from Diónia was a topic that the officials of the Ministry of Military Affairs would occasionally talk about when they were free. But at this moment, no one present was in the mood to discuss this issue. Everyone stood next to the three-dimensional map, staring cautiously at the city that was both familiar and strange at the same time on the bank of the middle reaches of the Tiber River.
Suddenly, Tormid said, "Your Majesty, I have an idea. If the people of Rome destroy Helniki and attack the towns in the mountains to the east of Wolsey, then their sphere of influence will be bordering the Samonians. Based on the habits of the Samonians, will they live in peace with such a powerful new neighbor? As long as we think of a way, maybe we can make these two forces have a fierce conflict, and then — "
"The Samonians can't be that stupid, right?" Felicius questioned. "They have just finished a war with us, and now the people of Rome are fighting a war with us. Don't they know that the enemy of their enemy is their friend?"
"Of course the leaders of the Samonians know, but the warriors and people of the Samonians living on the border of Rome may not necessarily listen to them for the sake of their own interests. Once the conflict gets out of hand, it will not be something that the leaders can control …" Tormid argued.
As he was speaking, Aristiras, who had just left not long ago, entered the conference room again. He said to the Devers in a hurry, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military report from the Downey region!"
The Devers opened the report and looked up at the curious eyes of the people. He said slowly, "There is no need to discuss the possible conflict between the Samonians and Rome anymore. This morning, the Samonians invaded our Downey region! "
"What?!" Everyone's expression changed drastically.
Hilos hurriedly took the report from the Devers' hands, and the few of them rushed to read it.
"The Samonians have successively raided the cities of Ausculum, Vibinum, and Gerunum in the Downey region. Only Gerunum is located at the border of Vrentani, and because the Vrentani have always been on good terms with us, Diónia, they did not take any precautions and were captured. The citizens of the other two cities have repelled the enemy's raid, but they are now surrounded. Your Majesty, the Samonians have declared war on us! "Felicius said hoarsely as he read the report.
"Isn't that great? We don't have to worry about when the Samonians will betray the kingdom every day. Since they are stupid enough to leave the mountains that give us a headache and come to the plains to fight, it will give us a chance to completely eliminate the big problem that is the Samonians!" The Devers' calmness was not an act. The attack of the Samonians more than ten years ago had made him nervous, but the powerful strength of the Kingdom of Diónia had given him enough confidence. Even if there was a drought, he was confident that he could completely defeat the evil wolf that was blocking the path of Diónia's expansion in the north. It could even be said that the betrayal of the Samonians was the result of his deliberate manipulation.
The relaxed attitude and confident words of the Devers were like a cup of cool water for the people in the room, calming them down.
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