Chapter 792
"If our tens of thousands of young and strong citizens had not been transferred away, the Diónia would not have been able to attack the city. We could have fought in the field —" As soon as Plennius said this out loud, he was interrupted by Maruginense, "It has already happened. Let's not talk about it anymore. We should focus all our energy on how to defend Rome now!"
Potitus nodded at him approvingly. Although he and Maruginense often had disputes and disagreements because of power and interests, when Rome was in danger, the interests of the major clans were the same.
"It's already so late. I wonder if our reinforcements have arrived?" After being criticized by Maruginense, Plennius awkwardly changed the topic.
"Paulus, Mejus, and Pantius will never sit back and watch Rome fall into danger. The same goes for Wei Ai. I'm afraid they have already fought with the Diónia. It's just that we don't know about it." Ambrosius said loudly in an affirmative tone. His words reassured many senators, because everyone understood that based on the current offensive of the Diónia, reinforcements were the key to defending Rome!
… …
The senators on the square were worried about the safety of Rome. The people of Rome were busy treating the injured soldiers. The blood of the wounded converged into thin streams, flowed into the gutters, and then converged into the wide sewer along the gutters …
If the public official in charge of managing the sewer lifted the stone slab and entered the sewer, he would step on the narrow walkways on both sides of the sewer and follow the direction of the sewage flow. When he reached the residential area behind the northern embankment of Rome above the sewer, he would be surprised to find many strong figures crouching in front of him, filling the sewer to the brim.
After a night of hard work, the two hundred soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade finally entered Maxim's sewer.
After wrestling with the Tiber River, carefully climbing up, and squeezing through the dirty water into the iron fence, even the elite scouts who had been trained hard for a long time felt exhausted. Some of the team members who came in earlier actually fell asleep while sitting in the dark, damp, and trash-strewn sewer while waiting for the people behind them. They endured the unpleasant stench and fell asleep.
But as the commander of this secret operation, Y 'zam could not let them rest immediately. He had them wake up one by one and ordered them to take off their soaked clothes and wring them dry. Then, they checked their bodies to prevent them from catching a cold.
As for those who were scratched or bruised along the way, he and the last few soldiers who came in all carried a bundle wrapped in several layers of fur. Inside the bundle were clean linen and some prepared herbs that could be used to clean and wrap up the wound to prevent infection.
Then, he had to send someone to disguise the iron fence so that the Roman soldiers on the embankment wouldn't notice anything unusual the next day.
In addition, he had to arrange for the members to take turns on sentry duty. The sentry duty was not to detect the enemy, but to chase away the rats and snakes in the sewer to prevent them from biting the sleeping comrades. At the same time, when some of the teammates fell asleep and snored loudly, they had to be woken up in time. Although the top of the sewer was covered with stone slabs, it was not sealed tightly. There were still many gaps of various sizes. They had to be careful at all times to prevent being discovered.
The lives of two hundred people were on his shoulders, and at the same time, he had a difficult mission. Y 'zam was under a lot of pressure. So, after that, his mind was filled with thoughts, and he could not fall asleep. It was only when the sun was about to rise that he could not resist the urge to sleep …
After some time, Y 'zam was pushed awake. He opened his eyes in a daze and was immediately dazzled by the sunlight that shone through the gaps of the stone slabs. He covered his head with his hands and looked around. Many pairs of concerned eyes were focused on him. These were the soldiers that he had personally trained! Y 'zam felt a trace of warmth in his heart.
I'm getting old, and my body is not as good as it used to be! He sighed in his heart and struggled to squat down. He had his team members report their numbers in a very low voice. The sound of the numbers traveled from one side of the sewer to the other side. Two hundred was not too much, not too little.
"Is there anyone who isn't feeling well?" Y 'zam asked worriedly in a low voice.
Every member said that they were fine.
Y 'zam, of course, knew that these people's answers were not accurate, but at least it meant that none of them were seriously injured.
A smile finally appeared on his face. He then asked, "What's the situation outside now?"
He was from Campania and could speak Latin. He squeezed his way to Y 'zam's side and pointed upwards. He whispered, "Captain, Legio III has begun their attack. They first used the ballista to bombard us, but the Rome retreated to the top of us. After listening to their panicked voices, they found out that our fleet had used their warships to build pontoon bridges on the Tiber River. And the Legio III soldiers have already begun their attack on the embankment. The Rome soldiers have rushed to defend. It should be about …"
Cadullus looked around uncertainly. Some of the other members made a gesture of five, while others made a gesture of six.
"… About an hour or so," he finally said.
Y 'zam did not expect that the siege had already begun while he was sleeping. Just thinking about it made him shiver. Fortunately, it was not the best time to attack.
Just as he was about to speak, messy footsteps came from above and the voices of the Rome soldiers. These voices were amplified in the tunnel and echoed repeatedly. It made one's chest feel stuffy. Dust kept falling from the stone walls, but the members were like wooden statues. They did not make any noise and only looked at each other.
After a while, the sound above them completely disappeared, and the tunnel became quiet again. The team members took a deep breath. Even the dirty air was stronger than the sound that made them go crazy.
"What did the Rome soldiers say?" Y 'zam immediately asked Cadullus.
"Captain, I just heard a Roman say, 'I grew up with my master, took care of his daily life, and served as his scribe … I have never killed a sheep or even a chicken, and now you want me to kill someone?!'" He whispered as he laughed, "Captain, I just heard a Roman say, 'I grew up with my master, took care of his daily life, and served as his scribe … I have never killed a sheep or even a chicken, and now you want me to kill someone?!
Another person was laughing at him, 'Continue to cry, little cutie. When you face the enemy later, don't be so scared that you pee.'
Later, there was a commander who was probably scolding them, 'Stop talking, hurry to the bridge. If the enemy breaks through the blockade of the embankment, we will all become cattle for the enemy to slaughter!' … "
The members around him understood what he meant, and their eyes were all filled with excitement. "Captain, it seems that Legio III's attack is fierce, and the enemy is almost unable to hold on. Should we go out too?!"
Before Y 'zam could speak, one of the members in front exclaimed, "Look at the water!"
With the beams of sunlight that shone through the gaps of the stone slabs, they could see that the dirty water that was originally black and yellow with all kinds of filth was now gradually dyed red …
"Could it be that our army has already attacked from other places?!" A captain exclaimed.
"Quiet!" Y 'zam made a shushing gesture. Facing the anxious eyes of his team members, he had to make a decision.
He looked down at the bright red blood in the waterway, and then listened to the sounds on the street above. After thinking for a while, he finally said in a low voice, "No matter what the situation is in other places, the task given to us by His Majesty is to assist Legio III and the Third Fleet to break through the defense of the embankment and enter the city of Rome. Right now, the enemy's reinforcements have just passed, and the street above is still very quiet. It seems that Legio III is still fighting fiercely, so we still need to wait a little longer! "
Seeing that the team members next to him were unwilling to give up and wanted to say something, he immediately said, "However, since the people of Rome have also sent slaves who do not know how to fight, it shows that they do not have any extra troops. We only need to wait for a little longer, until these Rome reinforcements have entered the battle, and when they have no more strength left to stop us, we will go out and attack their rear! But first, we need to find a way out! "
"Captain, we have already found a way out in the early hours of the morning." Terentus raised his sheathed dagger and pointed it above his head. "As long as you use the dagger to cut off the stone mud between the stone slabs, you can push the stone slabs open, and then climb out."
"That's good." Y 'zam trusted the judgment of his subordinate. He said in a deep voice, "Let's fill our stomachs first. When I give the order, we will start immediately!" As he said that, he opened the small bag on his waist and took out a piece of beef jerky.
The team members also took out their dry food. The beef jerky that had been soaked in the river tasted strange, but the team members chewed it hard and enjoyed it very much.
… …
In the middle of the southern wall not far from the old square of Rome, the sounds of killing were deafening. The soldiers of both sides were engaged in a fierce battle.
Ladders were pushed down by the defenders at the top of the wall, and the Diónia soldiers on the ladders fell to the bottom of the wall. But after a while, more soldiers carrying new ladders came from afar. They crossed the trench and rushed to the bottom of the wall, setting it up on the empty section of the wall.
From time to time, the shielding vehicles in front of the trench were ignited by the fire arrows, but this did not affect the light infantry of Diónia to continue to hide behind the burning flames and continue to shoot arrows at the top of the wall. Their more accurate shooting skills were quite a threat to the defenders at the top of the wall. If it were not for the fact that most of the soldiers fighting in front of the battlements were heavy infantry, and if they could not hit the parts that were not covered by armor and cause greater damage, the defenders would not have been able to stop the soldiers of Diónia from climbing up the wall.
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