Chapter 765
At this time, the sentries in the city of Adi also heard the rustling footsteps, but they did not raise their guard. After all, Adi was far away from the center of the Latin city-state, and it was also far away from the Herniki, Ekwe, and Maxi in the east. In the past, except for some territorial conflicts with Wolsey, it had rarely been involved in major wars. Now, Antium and Saturnicum, which belonged to Rome, were blocking their way to the south. During this period of time, the war in the south had subsided. The Adians thought that they were very safe and did not think that they were enemies. They thought that the Roman army was mobilizing, so they did not send out any scouts to investigate the situation.
After the First and Third Legions of Diónia passed through the city of Adi, they began to approach the coast. This black army was discovered by the passing Latin merchant ships and caravans. They were shocked and hurriedly alerted the neighboring towns. There were even more vigilant merchant ships that turned around and headed south, ready to inform the heavily guarded Antium.
In fact, there was no need to do so. After more than two hours of restlessness on the city wall, Antium's General Paulus finally decided to send out a few scouts to venture out of the city to investigate the movements of the Dionysian Army.
At this moment, one of his men suddenly shouted, "General, there are fireworks on the port's lighthouse!"
Paulus was shocked and quickly looked back, only to see a straight plume of black smoke rising from the direction of the port.
An enemy attack from the sea?! Paulus' heart tightened again, and then he saw cavalry galloping out of the city, shouting at the bottom of the city wall, "General Paulus, countless warships and transport ships have appeared on the sea outside the port!!"
Paulus was shocked: did the people of Diónia want to repeat the last time they attacked Antium?!
"Immediately transfer 500 light infantry and 2,000 heavy infantry to the port for defense!" He ordered without hesitation to his adjutant.
"Yes, General!"
With that, Paulus quickly left the city, mounted his horse, and rushed to the port with the guards.
There was already panic in the city, especially at the gate leading from the inner city to the port. There was a serious traffic jam, and countless people at the port were scrambling to rush into the city. Some even shouted in panic, "The enemy is coming! Hurry up and run! … "
It took Paulus and the guards a lot of effort to squeeze out of the crowd. They rushed to the towering lighthouse on the breakwater without stopping.
When he got to the lighthouse, he was shocked by what he saw. It was already past noon, and the sea outside the port was sparkling. In the distance, there were endless shadows of sails, beyond his line of sight, connecting with the sea and the sky in the far distance. These sailboats all had one thing in common: their sides were glowing with a dazzling golden light.
Although the Roman navy was not strong, and they had almost never fought a large-scale naval battle, Paulus, who had served as a military and political officer several times, had rich war experience. He often humbly asked Camillus for advice, so he could judge that most of the terrifying fleet this time were troop ships. Troop ships had a characteristic. After the soldiers boarded the ship, they had to hang their shields on both sides of the hull. This not only freed up space in the ship, but it was also convenient to take them out. At the same time, it could also defend against the enemy's long-range attacks. It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone, so it had almost become a common tradition of troop ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
How many reinforcements did the Diónia send?! Shocked, Paulus asked with a slightly trembling voice, "Has the port … chain been lowered?"
"It has been pulled up."
"What about the watchtower on the breakwater? Are the soldiers in position? "
"Don't worry, General. The archers have boarded the watchtower. Tar, arrows, and rags are all ready."
"That's good!" Paulus was a little comforted. He said, "The army in the city will arrive soon. Don't panic."
"General." The person in charge of the port said, "According to the observation of the lighthouse sentinel, this huge fleet is not coming for Antium. It should be heading north!"
Paulus was stunned. He looked carefully at the distant sea again. Although the fleet was too far away to see clearly, compared to the ships that were fleeing to the port of Antium, the white sails only showed the side of the ship. Coupled with the flashing lights on the side of the ship, and the distance between the fleet and the coast did not seem to change much while they were talking. Obviously, the fleet of Diónia continued to sail north!
"Is the Diónia preparing to land on the coast north of Antium?" Paulus whispered with uncertainty.
The person in charge of the port reminded him, "General, it is better for the Diónia to land in the south than in the north. The last time they landed on the south coast, they finally occupied Antium."
Only then did Paulus remember that there was a low hilly area between Antium and Adium. Although it was still flat, it was obviously not convenient compared to the south, so …
When Paulus thought of this, his face suddenly changed. The Diónia were preparing to land on the coast further north, attack the Latin Alliance, and maybe even attack the weakly defended hinterland, and finally go straight to Rome …
Thinking of this, Paulus broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately thought that the Dionysian Army that appeared from the south in the early hours of the morning was probably there to receive this huge fleet. They had already passed through the blockade set up by Rome on the western border of Cornwall and entered the hinterland of the Latin City-State!
It was no wonder that Paulus did not think of this in advance. His mind was still filled with the original information, "Diónia's army in Wolsey is only about ten thousand men." He did not receive the news that Diónia had sent more troops to Wolsey (because the Third Fleet had completely blocked the sea route to the south of the Latin region), so he subconsciously thought that if an army with inferior numbers passed through the blockade and went deep into the enemy's rear, even if they could gain a temporary advantage, it would be difficult for them to escape the fate of being surrounded and annihilated. Such an ambush tactic was suitable for the swift and light mountain races, but it was not suitable for the regular Diónia army, which mainly consisted of heavy infantry.
Although he had been taught a lesson by the Diónia navy before, it was impossible for the former military governor of Rome, Paulus, who was used to traditional land battles, to release his imprisoned brain so quickly.
"Immediately send out scouts to track along the coastline, find out where the fleet has landed, and then report immediately!" Paulus hurriedly ordered, "Then send out messengers to inform the garrisons in Saturnicum and Villette that the Diónia army has entered the hinterland of the Latin region, and that their navy is going to land along the coast. Tell them to get ready to attack! And … send out messengers to Rome quickly, inform the Senate, and let them get ready! "
… …..
The combined forces of the First Legion of Diónia and Legio III passed through the small Latin city of Lavinium by the sea.
Although the city was small, it had a very important position in the hearts of the Latin people, because in the legends of the Latin people, they were the descendants of the hero Aeneas, second only to Hector in Troy, a powerful city-state in Asia Minor during the ancient Mediterranean era (it was said that he was a royal of Troy).
When Troy was occupied by the Greeks, Aeneas, with some of the Trojans, fled to Italy by ship, and landed in the region of Latin, where he was welcomed by the king of Latin, who gave him his daughter Lavigne in marriage. So Aeneas founded a new city on the coast of Latin, and named it after his wife. This is how Lavigne came to be. Later, their son built a new city called Alba Longa near Lake Alba, a volcanic lake to the north of Lavinium. This city became the center of the Latin people, until the twins born to Princess Silvia wandered into the wild and were raised by she-wolves. They built Rome and eventually destroyed Alba Longa.
Although Lavinium was the origin of the people of Rome, it was really a small city with low walls and a small population. When they saw the Diónia army swaggering through the city, the sentries at the top of the city trembled in fear, and the people in the city were even more terrified.
However, the Dionysian Army did not stop marching. They continued north along the coast.
"Lord Legion Commanders, the First Cavalry Legion and the Second Cavalry Legion have returned —" Before the scout could finish his sentence, the rumbling sound of hooves could be heard behind him.
"Amyntas, Lizaru, our cavalry legion has returned on time!" Ledes shouted from his horse.
"How's the situation?" Amyntas asked.
"At least before we left, we didn't see any troops from Antium or Saturnicum leave the city." Ledes patted his horse's neck and said with a slight smugness, "During this period, they did send out many scouts, but they did not escape our interception. What about you? Have you reached your destination? "
"We have already passed Lavinium. We should be arriving soon." Amyntas wiped the sweat off his face and waved his hand. He said with a slight grumble, "We gathered and set off before the sun rose, and we have been traveling non-stop. I'm afraid we have traveled 70 to 80 miles. Our brothers are very tired. If it wasn't for the fact that we have been traveling on a flat road, I'm afraid we would not have been able to complete the mission given by His Majesty."
"I think our brothers will not complain." Ledes looked at the tired soldiers passing by and said with relief, "They should be very excited to be able to participate in the war that is about to begin."
"Not only the soldiers, but we are also very excited!" Lizaru interrupted.
The few legion commanders looked at each other and laughed.
The Dionysian Army finally stopped advancing. Under the command and arrangement of the legion commanders, the 20,000 soldiers leaned against the silver, flat beach and slowly lined up in a formation that was four miles long and eight rows thick.
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