Chapter 768
At this moment, the originally silent Diónia army began to move. The light infantries of the legions quickly rushed forward and launched the first round of attacks on the advancing Roman soldiers with javelins and arrows. The cavalry legions on the two flanks began to move forward and soon collided with the Roman cavalry.
After a while, the cavalry legion defeated the small number of Roman cavalry and continued to chase after them. The light infantries also successfully retreated to the rear of the army.
"Prepare the javelins!" The orders of the officers sounded one after another in the long battle formation.
The Roman soldiers who had some understanding of the Diónia's tactics raised their long shields in the face of the rain of javelins.
After two rounds of javelins, the Diónia soldiers charged forward and collided with the Roman soldiers.
The sound of battle became the only sound in this world.
Klotokatax felt as if he had stopped breathing. His eyes were wide open, and his vision penetrated through the pervading dust and mist. The scenes of the fierce battle were reflected in his mind. He looked a little nervous, but also a little excited at the same time.
Beside him were the kingdom's advisor Tormid, the court clerk Heniboris, the Legio IV legion commander Olivers, the Fifth legion commander Giogris, and so on. These generals who participated in this expedition were paying close attention to this battle. They all knew that the Devers attached great importance to Rome. That was why they came to watch this battle in advance to understand the combat strength of the Roman soldiers so that they could make the right judgment in future battles.
The heavy infantries in the front were still in a fierce stalemate. Scouts had rushed over to report, "Report! The First Cavalry Legion has completed the pursuit and is returning to attack the enemy's right flank! "
"Report! The Second Cavalry Legion is attacking the rear of the enemy's left flank! "
…
After listening to the report, the Devers gently patted the War Horse's neck and said, "Amyntas, after the Rome army is defeated, you must boldly chase after them. You must completely disperse them and drive them to the south so that they can't stop us tomorrow. If you can take down Lavinium, your troops won't have to build a camp anymore. You can spend the night there so that the soldiers can rest well. "
"Yes, Your Majesty." Amyntas bowed in response.
After the Devers returned the greeting, they turned their horses around and rode towards the beach.
The palace guards followed closely behind.
Crotocatax looked at the battlefield a few more times reluctantly before leaving.
Olivers and Giogris congratulated Amyntas before leaving in a hurry. From their point of view, the Legion of Dionysia had blocked the enemy's onslaught from the front and even had a slight upper hand. The cavalry had also circled around to the enemy's flanks. Under such a favorable situation, even if the battle was still going on, victory was not far away.
The truth was just as they expected. After the battle lasted for more than ten minutes, the Roman soldiers began to retreat, and it quickly turned into a rout.
The reason why the Roman army was so easily defeated was actually related to the origin of the soldiers. Most of the soldiers were born in the civilian class of Rome. They were assigned to the lands of Villette, Saturnicum, and Antium not long ago. In the past, they were used as light infantry to support the battle. It was only because of the reform of the military system in Rome and the generous assistance of Carthage that the Senate of Rome gave them heavy infantry equipment and began to train them as heavy infantry. However, it was obvious that the heavy infantry's combat skills and combat experience were lacking. Unfortunately, they encountered a strong enemy in their first battle as the main force.
… …
While Amyntas led the First, Second, Legio III, and two cavalry legions to chase after the routed soldiers, the King of Devers led the Fourth, Fifth, and Legio VI, which had assembled on the beach, to march north along the coast. His target was the port of Ostia. As the only port for Rome to conduct sea trade and obtain important supplies, seizing Ostia would not only cut off Carthage's assistance to Rome, but it would also provide a foothold for the Diónia expedition in the Latin region. It would also provide great convenience for the army's logistical supply and material transportation. It was a good thing to kill several birds with one stone. Before the Devers set out, they had already locked onto Ostia as their first target.
It had been decades since Ostia became a colonial city of Rome, but it was only in the past ten years that the Senate of Rome paid attention to it. Due to the establishment of a closer alliance with Carthage, in order to protect the various supplies Carthage provided to Rome, the Senate began to strengthen the defenses of Ostia and the protection of the port under the suggestion of Carthage. Especially after the war with Diónia, the Senate was wary of the strength of the Dionysian fleet, so they even sent more garrisons to Ostia. But they never expected that Diónia would lead the army to attack at this moment, bypassing Rome's defense system on land and directly attacking Ostia from the sea.
Therefore, when the Devers' army arrived outside Ostia, there were only 3,000 soldiers defending the city. They had already received news of the enemy's attack in advance. While they sent messengers to Rome for help, the soldiers were also ready to defend. But when they saw the large number of Dionysian Army outside the city, they could not help but feel terrified.
The defending general encouraged them loudly, "Citizens, it's getting late. The enemy's attack will not last long. Show your courage and repel the enemy's attack. Tomorrow, Rome's reinforcements will arrive! … "
His words greatly encouraged the Roman soldiers. It was already afternoon, and there was not much time left for Diónia to attack the city.
So when the three legions of Diónia entered their predetermined positions and quickly spread out, the Devers gave the order to attack without any delay.
Although the Devers brought a team of more than 500 engineers with them this time, due to the lack of time, they did not have the time to build large-scale siege equipment. The ready-made siege equipment was only a few dozen ballistae and countless scaling ladders that came with the ships. After the engineers quickly assembled them, these ballistae were pushed to the front of the formation and bombarded the city wall.
For a time, stone bullets whistled in the air, and the city wall roared continuously. Stone shards flew everywhere.
The Roman soldiers, who had never experienced such a situation, hid behind the battlements in fear. They did not dare to move, and their morale was low.
After the continuous bombardment for more than ten minutes, a loud bugle sounded, and the attack of the ballistae stopped.
As soon as the Roman soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and carefully poked their heads out of the city wall, they saw the black mass of Diónia's siege troops a hundred meters away from the city wall. Accompanied by a deafening roar, they were like a raging tide, roaring toward Ostia from the east and south.
"Citizens, the enemy has attacked. Their ballistae will stop throwing stones. Keep your spirits up, take your weapons, and teach them a good lesson. Let them taste the power of Rome!" The defending generals kept shouting to encourage the soldiers. The Diónia's ballistae did not fire any more stone bullets, which made them feel a little relieved.
"Archers! Archers, get ready to shoot! " The officers of the Roman team also began to give orders.
The reason why the ballista troops did not adjust the angle of elevation of the ballista mounts and let the stone projectiles fly over the city walls and bombard the city was that there were many port warehouses in Ostia. Dyvers was worried that they would be damaged and affect their future use.
The Devers sat at the back and watched the battle calmly.
Cloto Catax could not sit still. After getting his father's permission, he rode forward and got closer to the battlefield, so he could see more clearly. Of course, Martius and some of the palace guards followed him closely to ensure his safety.
Siege warfare was different from positional warfare. Although the scale of a positional battle was grand and the sounds of killing were earth-shattering, it was difficult to clearly see the casualties on both sides due to the obstruction of the line of sight. Siege warfare was different. Soldiers on one's own side fell from the top of the city wall, soldiers climbing the scaling ladders were smashed by javelins or stones and even the entire scaling ladders were pushed down … These scenes could be clearly reflected in Klotokatax's eyes. The continuous appearance of these scenes made him feel even more heartache. He tightly clenched his fists and repeatedly muttered in a low voice, "Charge! Attack quickly! Hades, please bless them to occupy the top of the city wall! … "
But Hades obviously did not respond to the prayers of his descendant. Cloto Catax was frightened for a while and did not dare to watch. He looked back at the Devers sitting still under the flag in the distance, and then his eyes swept to the Legio IV that was still in formation not far away. He could not help but ask doubtfully, "Why don't you send Legio IV to attack immediately and increase the strength of the siege?"
Martius explained, "Ostia is a small city. It can't accommodate too many soldiers to attack. If we send all of them, it will cause crowding and increase the casualties."
Cloto Catax was a reserve soldier of the legion, and he also worked in the Ministry of Military Affairs for a year. Of course, he knew that Legio IV was known as the best legion in Diónia. At this time, he could only stomp his feet anxiously. "If I knew this would happen, I would have sent Legio IV to attack first!"
Cloto Catax could question his father's military arrangement, but the loyal Martius certainly could not continue to say anything. He could only comfort him softly, "Attacking a city takes a lot of time. The battle has just begun. The defense of the Rome is still very tenacious. We can't be too anxious. I believe that His Majesty will have a clear tactical arrangement for Legio IV …"
"Really?!" Cloto Catax's eyes lit up.
"Of course, His Majesty never fights a battle that he is not sure of!" Although Martius did not know the specific battle plan, he was obviously full of confidence in the King of Devers.
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