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Chapter 776

The people of Rome quickly calmed down under the atmosphere of a common enemy. Once again, they enthusiastically signed up to defend the city. The Roman cavalry also galloped in the fields outside the city, urgently informing the people in the villages to evacuate immediately. More than a dozen messengers also galloped out of Rome in all directions to ask for help from the colonial cities and their allies.

… …

Ostia was more than 50 miles away from Rome, and there were no other city-states in between. Rome was also nearly 30 miles away from the nearest ally. This was the result of the strong expansion of the people of Rome over the past hundred years. They constantly defeated the nearby city-states, and then moved their people into Rome. Rome was constantly growing, and the land under its direct control was increasing. However, it left an empty area of dozens of miles around it, allowing the two armies of Diónia to march smoothly without any hindrance. It was unknown whether the people of Rome regretted their short-sighted and tyrannical actions in the past.

In particular, the two cavalry legions of Diónia galloped all the way to the forefront of the whole army.

At this time, they saw smoke rising in the distance.

"Damn it! It must be the people of Rome burning their granaries! " Ledes remembered the order given to him by the messenger sent by the king of Devers last night: Tomorrow morning, after the whole army sets off, the first and second cavalry legions must rush to the river port on the Tiber River outside the city of Rome as fast as possible. Seize the granaries at all costs!

Ledes could not help but feel anxious. He shouted, "Hurry up! Prepare to fight the fire! "

The anxious Ledes actually ordered the bugler to blow the horn to charge, and took the lead to lead the soldiers to gallop.

The river port of Rome was built after the people of Rome captured Ostia. It became another channel for the people of Rome to communicate with the outside world. Due to the continuous influx of people in Rome at that time, there was no extra space in the city to accommodate the port, so it was built outside the city.

In the first few decades, the facilities of the river port were extremely simple. It was not until the last decade that the aid and trade of the people of Carthage to Rome promoted the development of the river port. The expansion and improvement of the river port also allowed more and more merchant ships to transport goods through the river. At the same time, the granaries of Rome were also built next to the river port. This was because Rome had frequently waged wars in the past ten years, which consumed a lot of food. Sometimes, it could not supply enough food. So, Carthage provided assistance. The grain was basically transported through the river and unloaded at the port. After experiencing a fire, the people of Rome learned their lesson. They no longer transported the grain into the crowded city, which was prone to fire accidents. Instead, they parked the grain near the port, which was convenient and safe. After that, they also stored the grain collected from other allies here. Then, when the army went to battle, they would collect the grain here and transport it to the camp.

When Ledes arrived with the First Cavalry of Diónia, he saw a large rectangular camp in front of him. It was surrounded by a three-meter-high stone wall, and there were several towers built inside the wall. Thick smoke was billowing from the camp, but no one could be seen or heard. The walls of Rome, which were less than 200 meters away, were full of soldiers, and the gate was closed.

Ledes immediately jumped off his horse, drew his dagger, and ran to the gate of the camp.

"Commander, be careful!" A few guards at the side immediately pulled him back and placed the cavalry shield in front of him. "Bang! Bang!" Two sharp arrows pierced into the shield.

Ledes was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately calmed down and looked at the granary. He saw many figures moving on the walls of the granary. He thought for a moment, and then shouted, "First Brigade, use your javelins to attack the enemy inside! Second Brigade, get off your horses and see if you can break the gate open! The other brigades, go around this camp and climb the wall! "

"Yes, Commander!"

After a series of shouts and neighs, the cavalry of the third, fourth, and fifth brigades began to gallop around the camp, while the soldiers of the second brigade ran directly to the camp gate. This forced the Rome soldiers on the wall to show themselves and attack the approaching Diónia soldiers with javelins and arrows.

The second brigade of Diónia cavalry, who was ready, immediately attacked the enemy on the wall with javelins.

The wall was not high, and there were no trenches or barricades. The Diónia cavalry could attack the enemy at close range. Although the Rome soldiers had a higher ground, they were at a disadvantage when it came to long-range attacks.

At this time, the other brigades of cavalrymen had reached the other sections of the granary camp. They jumped off their horses, put their shields on their backs, left their spears on the horses, and hung their daggers on their waists. Each of them stood close to the wall. One of them squatted down, and the other stepped on the other's shoulder. Both of them slowly stood up straight. The stone wall was three meters high. When the two of them overlapped, the soldier on the top could put his hand on the edge of the wall. The soldier on the bottom could push his shoulder up, and the soldier on the top could climb up the wall. After a while, hundreds of Diónia soldiers were standing on top of the wall.

They saw that many of the dozens of large round barns in the granary were on fire. A dozen Roman soldiers were running between the barns with torches and tar in their hands. More than half of the soldiers immediately ran down the wall to put out the fire. The rest of the soldiers followed the walkway on top of the wall to kill the Rome soldiers who were fighting fiercely.

… …

The soldiers on the west wall of Rome could see the situation in the granary camp because of the height of the wall. They were anxious when they saw their compatriots in danger.

"General Scipio, Gaius refused to retreat to the city in order to completely burn down the granary. They are the heroes of Rome. We should go out of the city to save them!"

"There are less than two thousand Diónia cavalrymen, and most of them jumped off their horses to fight. They are wearing light armor. If we send our troops out of the city at this time, we will definitely be able to inflict heavy damage to the Diónia cavalrymen!"

Compared to the pleading of the soldiers, the suggestion of the senators made the chief of the city guard, Scipio The Great, a little tempted.

Now, not only were Rome's militia standing on top of the city wall, there were also some senators. They were a little curious about the aggressive Diónia soldiers. After all, this was the first time they were facing the army of Diónia. Of course, their arrival had also brought some trouble to Scipio The Great.

Initially, Scipio The Great's plan was to "transport all the grain in the granary into the city, then burn the granary." According to the previous report from the scouts, the Dionysian Army was still on the way, so Scipio The Great thought that there was enough time to complete this plan. For this reason, he organized nearly ten thousand people and many pack-carts to go out of the city to transport the grain. He thought that this task could be completed before the arrival of the Dionysian Army.

However, not long after the grain transport team left the city, he received another report from the scouts: the Diónia cavalrymen were galloping towards Rome, less than 30 miles away from Rome.

The speed of the Diónia cavalrymen's march was completely beyond Scipio The Great's expectation. Not only could he not complete his previous plan, but he also had to withdraw the grain transport team into the city immediately. In order to ensure order and prevent the people and pack animals from blocking the city gate due to chaos, he did not immediately burn the granary. However, it took a lot of time for the grain transport team to evacuate. By the time the people had basically entered the city and wanted to burn the granary, the Diónia cavalrymen were already very close to Rome. And according to the report from the scouts, they were heading straight for the granary.

At this time, the platoon leader Gaius, who was originally guarding the granary, and 120 soldiers under him voluntarily chose to stay in order to complete this task.

The bravery and tragedy of this Rome platoon had magnified Scipio The Great's mistake, and it was clearly seen by the senators on the city wall. How much this would affect his political career in Rome in the future? Scipio The Great did not have time to think at this moment. Therefore, if his colleague's suggestion could be implemented successfully, not only would he be able to deal a blow to the Diónia cavalrymen, but he could also restore his image.

Just as Scipio The Great was thinking about how to send troops out of the city for a surprise attack. "The Diónia cavalrymen! The Diónia cavalrymen are coming!! " The screams of the soldiers made him look up and see a cloud of dust in the distance. Countless Diónia cavalrymen in black helmets and armor could be vaguely seen in the cloud of dust. Looking at the situation, there was definitely a large number of them.

When he saw that there were about 2,000 new Diónia cavalrymen approaching the city, Scipio The Great hesitated. The number of Diónia cavalrymen did not give him the confidence to finish the battle in a short period of time. After all, he only had 3,000 elite soldiers, and he could not send all of them out of the city for a surprise attack. However, he was worried that the soldiers would not be able to handle the situation if he sent the new recruits formed by the elderly and children out of the city to fight the cavalrymen in the wilderness.

But soon, he did not have to hesitate anymore. The screams of the soldiers made him see the cloud of dust in the distance again. Hundreds of Diónia cavalrymen in bright armor and red cloaks had arrived at the city and joined the attack on the granary!

The arrival of the Diónia cavalrymen gave Scipio The Great the illusion that the Dionysian Army was coming here at the fastest speed, and he could not send his troops out! Otherwise, not only the soldiers would be in danger, but Rome would also be in danger!

He was not the only one who thought so. The elders and soldiers on the city wall probably had the same idea. So the pleas and pleas that rang out earlier were gone. The surroundings were very quiet. But when they heard the screams coming from the granary camp from time to time, they looked extremely pained.

… …..

The second to arrive at the granary was the Second Cavalry Regiment of Diónia. The regiment commander, Cuccius, quickly found Ledes, who was supervising the battle. He bowed to the former commander and said, "Master Ledes, what do you need us to do?"