Chapter 794
"Don't worry!" The Devers smiled and said, "The reinforcements from Latin City-State to the south of the camp are either fighting with the army led by Tormid in the west or advancing towards Legio VI. They won't have more soldiers to attack our camp. The light armor brigade of the Second Legion can defend the camp on their own."
Although the Devers said it casually, the staff officers still felt a little uneasy. One of the staff officers rushed out to pass the order, and the adjutant of the Second Legion arrived just in time.
"Martonis is requesting for more soldiers …" The Devers was slightly shocked when he heard that. He asked the adjutant of the Second Legion in detail about the situation on the battlefield and sighed softly. "This guy is also anxious!"
To be honest, according to the information that the Devers had received, the young and middle-aged citizens in Rome had been transferred to attack Helniki. There were only 3,000 soldiers left to guard the city. This was the reason why the Devers dared to lead the army to attack Rome. In his opinion, even if the people of Rome sent the elderly and women to defend the city, it would still be impossible for them to fight against more than 50,000 soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia who had advanced siege equipment, strong bodies, and rich combat experience. However, he did not expect that the battle would last for so long, and the legions would not make any significant progress.
Could it be that the people of Rome were so resilient?! He secretly clenched his fists tightly.
"Your Majesty … Your Majesty …" Heniboris saw that the Devers were in a daze, and he quickly called out softly.
The Devers immediately came back to his senses, and his face quickly regained its calmness. He said to the adjutant, "There are no more heavy infantry in the camp. Bring 300 light armor soldiers to support them immediately."
"Yes!" The adjutant respectfully saluted and turned to leave the tent.
The Devers glanced at the slightly worried staff officers and said confidently, "I still have more than 200 palace guards. They are not inferior to the heavy infantry of the legion. Together with the remaining light armor soldiers, there are a total of 1,000 people. You don't have to worry about the safety of the camp."
As he spoke, he pointed to the front with a confident look on his face. "Moreover, even if the enemy destroys the campsite, it's not a big deal. Because tonight, we're going to camp in Rome!" In fact, there was something else that he did not say. If the siege today failed, he would immediately lead the army back to Ostia, and this camp would be useless.
My army will conquer Rome today! Devers encouraged himself in his heart.
At this moment another report came in: "North of Rome Bridge, five miles away, about four thousand enemy troops are advancing rapidly towards the camp of Legio III."
"What?!" One of the staff officers exclaimed.
Devers's eyes suddenly shrank, and his right hand suddenly grabbed the back of the chair.
… …
At this moment, on the embankment on the west side of the south bank of Rome Bridge, the battle between the soldiers of Rome and Diónia did not look like a fight, but more like a contest of strength.
The soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia held their long shields with both hands against the enemy's shields and buried their heads behind the long shields to avoid the stabbing of the enemy's spears behind them. They used all their strength to push forward to gain a bigger foothold for their comrades who climbed up later. For this reason, they growled in a low voice. Their faces were swollen, and the veins on their necks were bulging. Every one of them looked so ferocious and painful because they were all doing their best to fight against the thick battle formation of Rome with a thin formation. Often, one person had to fight against the overlapping strength of five or six enemies. The reason why they could barely hold on was because their comrades behind them were squatting down and constantly stabbing the enemy's legs and feet, injuring the enemy's legs and feet. This weakened the enemy's combat effectiveness so that they could not push them into the river with all their strength.
Even though the soldiers of Diónia fought so hard and caused a lot of casualties to the enemy, the battle line between the two sides was still close to the embankment, zigzagging and intermittent.
Soldiers of Diónia were constantly pushed down the embankment and fell into the river. The soldiers of Rome who rushed to the embankment had to stop themselves, or they would fall into the river as well.
At this time, the Diónia soldiers who were lying on the suspension bridge used their long shields to protect their heads and used their short swords to attack the enemy's legs. Their attacks were often effective, forcing the enemy to retreat again and stand on the embankment again.
Therefore, this flat embankment had advantages and disadvantages for the soldiers of both sides. The soldiers of Diónia could not completely stand on the embankment and form a solid line of defense, while the soldiers of Rome could not destroy the suspension bridge and cut off the enemy's attack route.
Because the defenders of Rome did not expect the soldiers of Diónia to use warships to build pontoon bridges, they did not prepare any kerosene at all. After the fierce battle between the two sides, the kerosene could not be transported to the embankment through the thick formation.
Of course, there were Rome archers who shot the rockets into the river, but there were also sailors on the warships of Diónia who cleaned up the rockets in time.
More sailors were patrolling on the deck. When they saw the soldiers who fell into the river, they immediately jumped into the river and rescued them. Twenty pontoon bridges were equivalent to twenty life rafts. Even if the soldiers who fell into the river were unlucky and missed them, there were more than a dozen boats patrolling on the river downstream of these pontoon bridges. Therefore, although there were a lot of Diónia soldiers who fell into the river, most of them were still in good condition. After they were rescued, they could quickly return to the battle after a short rest on the warships.
The soldiers of Rome seemed to have the upper hand, but there were soldiers who were constantly injured and had to withdraw from the battle, so the number of soldiers who could fight was slowly decreasing.
… …
On the other hand, the situation of the battle at the bridge of Rome was completely different.
At the beginning of the battle, the soldiers of Rome blocked the enemy at the bridgehead in time, but they could not push the enemy into the river by relying on the strength of numbers like their comrades on the embankment. They could only face the enemy's attack head-on.
The first brigade of Diónia Legio III filled the entire bridge of Rome. The soldiers at the front used their long shields to block the enemy and stabbed with their short swords. The soldiers at the back used their bodies to push and stab with their bayonets. The soldiers at the back also threw javelins while pushing forward with all their might …
At the beginning of the battle, the two sides were still in a stalemate. Half an hour later, the Rome soldiers, who were mainly composed of the old and the weak and supported by their strong belief in defending their homeland, gradually could not resist the impact of the Legio of Dionysia soldiers who far surpassed them in physical strength, skills, and fighting spirit. They began to retreat little by little. Even when Cassius anxiously rushed over to supervise the battle, he still could not reverse the situation.
More and more Diónia soldiers rushed across the bridge, expanding the attack area of the first brigade. This increased the difficulty of the Rome soldiers' defense. If it were not for the timely arrival of more than 3,000 reinforcements, the Rome soldiers defending at the bridgehead would have been routed.
But even with so many reinforcements, Cassius' frown still did not relax.
This was because the citizens of Rome, old and young, had been receiving formal military training from Rome since childhood. Even if they were not strong enough or experienced enough, they could still rely on the whole to resist the attack of the Diónia soldiers. But these free people and slaves, even if they wore Rome -style armor and held long shields and bayonets, did not understand the tactics of Rome at all. Some slaves, especially, did not even know how to use shields and bayonets at all.
Because of this, the ones who suffered the most were the team officers who were temporarily in charge of commanding them. They had no choice but to shout loudly, reminding the recruits under them what to do in the midst of the battlefield filled with the sounds of killing. Very quickly, all of their voices became hoarse, but the formation of the newly added reinforcements did not change much. It was still scattered and disorderly.
Cassius was worried and began to blame in his heart. When the city of Rome was rebuilt, why didn't the Senate call on the people to build a wall on this embankment?! Otherwise, with the protection of the wall, even if these recruits had no combat experience, they could play a greater role.
At this moment, he vaguely heard the familiar sound of a bugle coming from the other side of the river. He suddenly became spirited. Are our reinforcements here?!
… …
A few minutes ago, Lizaru, the commander of Legio III, who was standing on the bridgehead on the other side of the river and watching the battle nervously, received news that Rome's reinforcements were coming.
As there had been news of "Rome's reinforcements gathering north of their camp" reported by the scouts, he was already prepared for this and did not appear to be panicking.
"There are only about 4,000 enemies. I think our troops guarding the camp can completely defeat them in the field!" Lizaru said confidently.
The commander of the Third Fleet, Midolades, said with some concern, "The soldiers guarding the camp have all gone out to fight. If there are more enemies coming —"
"Midolades, you have to believe in the ability of the scouts and mountain scouts of Legio III. Other than the Rome's reinforcements that are coming, they have not found any other enemies within ten miles. After our soldiers defeat them, they have plenty of time to return to the camp!" In order to dispel his concerns, Lizaru explained seriously, "I asked the troops to take the initiative to attack, not because I like to fight, but because the camp we built is too big. If it's just a simple defense, the soldiers will be at a disadvantage!"
Midolades understood what he meant. Yesterday, Legio III and the Third Fleet built two camps on the north bank of the Tiber River. One was at the bridgehead, and the other was at the river on the west side of the bridgehead. In order to accommodate more than 40 huge three-decker warships, and at the same time, to make sure that there was enough space between the warships to facilitate towing, entering the water, and to prevent fire, the camp by the river was long and wide, which resulted in the soldiers' defense area being increased. If they wanted to completely defend the camp, their military strength was slightly insufficient …
The reason why Midolades had so many concerns was that the soldiers could still escape, regroup, and fight again if they were defeated. However, if they let the enemy rush into the camp by the river, his warships would be tied to the river and connected to each other, and they could easily be burned. By then, the Third Fleet would be completely finished.
But after all, he had been on the battlefield for a long time. He knew that there was no room for hesitation at this critical moment, so he said decisively, "I agree with your opinion, and I will temporarily hand over the command of the fleet infantry to you!"
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