Chapter 796
"The wall has collapsed! The wall of Rome has finally collapsed!!! " Amidst the cheers of the Legion of Dionysia in front of the trench, a small section of the southwest wall of Rome in front of them roared and the ground trembled. A cloud of dust rose up, accompanied by the screams of the Roman soldiers.
After a while, when the dust dissipated, a large gap on the wall suddenly appeared in front of everyone. It was in the shape of an inverted trapezoid, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The width of the gap was about four meters, and it was more than three meters from the ground. After the stones and sand collapsed, it naturally formed a slope on both sides of the gap.
"Rush over! Attack the city of Rome! " The soldiers of the Diónia Legio IV near the gap were very excited. They stepped on the bricks and rammed earth on the ground, ignoring the fact that they might fall, and quickly rushed to the gap.
The defenders on the city wall, who had just been shocked by the collapse, also recovered at this moment. They ran to the top of the gap and threw javelins, stones, and wood down. They wanted to kill the enemy and prevent them from entering the city.
But this did not stop the high fighting spirit of the Legio IV soldiers. When the frontline soldiers rushed through the gap, they could not help but stop because there was a thick spear wall not far in front of them. Countless Rome people dressed in simple clothes were lined up in a dense formation, and the spears pointed at them were shining with cold light.
"Stop! Stop! Get into a square formation! " The captain of the frontline soldiers shouted loudly. However, in this battlefield filled with the sound of killing, the extremely excited soldiers were shouting and rushing in crazily. The order of the organization had long been in chaos. They could not obey orders, and instead, they pushed their comrades in front of them to meet the spear wall.
The frontline soldiers had to hurriedly raise their long shields to protect themselves and collide with the enemy.
Soon, the open space between the spear wall and the gap was filled with the continuous influx of Diónia soldiers. The dense spear formation formed by the landless poor of Rome was personally commanded by the defending general of the west wall, Servius Musia. This general was born in the poor of Rome, but because of his bravery in the past battles, he was promoted several times by Camillus. From a lowly auxiliary soldier, he became a well-known platoon leader of Rome. This time, he happened to be among the 3,000 soldiers who stayed behind.
The reason why Scipio The Great chose Musia from dozens of platoon leaders to be in charge of the defense line on the west side of Rome was not because Scipio The Great was like Camillus, who had the foresight and breadth of mind to employ people regardless of background and ability. It was because in the critical situation where the army was pressing on the border and the conflict between the nobles and the civilians of Rome happened to occur, he had no choice but to take action. He hoped that Musia could use his prestige among the civilians to be able to unify a large number of poor people and slaves living in the west of Rome to stop the attack of Diónia.
In fact, what Musia had done so far had exceeded Scipio The Great's expectations. Not only had he temporarily dispelled the discontent in the hearts of the civilians and slaves, but he had also stimulated their determination to participate in the war. He had also effectively organized them to defend against the enemy's attack from both the top and bottom of the city walls. This was the reason why the fourth and fifth legions of Diónia, a total of more than 10,000 elite soldiers, had attacked this area at the same time without any significant progress.
Although the spear formation that Musia had temporarily set up did not cause much damage to the Diónia soldiers, they were not frightened by the enemy's ferocious attack. Instead, they stubbornly blocked the enemy's breakthrough.
The ones who caused the greatest damage to the Diónia soldiers who had rushed into the breach were the defenders at the top of the city walls. The Diónia soldiers below the city walls were so densely packed that every javelin and stone thrown by the defenders could cause damage to them, not to mention the kerosene. If the unfortunate Diónia soldiers were doused with kerosene, they would be a great threat to their comrades around them.
Fortunately, tar and olive oil had been used in large quantities to burn down many of the siege weapons. There was not much left. Otherwise, it would have been a disaster for the Diónia soldiers who had rushed into the breach.
Olivers, the captain of Legio IV, who was previously excited about the collapse of the city walls by the siege vehicles, was so anxious that he stomped his feet. "Order the light infantry to immediately approach the city walls! Attack the enemy on top of the city walls! Reduce the pressure on the soldiers inside!"
"Order the brothers at the breach to retreat quickly and make space for the soldiers inside. Let them form a phalanx and fight against the enemy!"
"Assemble the Mountain Reconnaissance Team. Let them try and see if they can climb to the top of the city through the breach and attack the enemy!"
The messengers accepted the order and rode off one by one.
"Also … immediately inform the Fifth Legion Commander, Giogris, and tell him about the predicament we are in!"
… …
When Giogris received the news that Legio IV was in a disadvantageous situation, his expression was solemn. He focused his attention on the front. Under the city walls a hundred meters away, the soldiers who were trying their best to besiege the city were burnt siege vehicles and shielding vehicles, emitting thick black smoke. Among them, there were still three relatively intact siege vehicles lined up side by side under the city walls. They were constantly hitting the city walls. The "boom boom" sound of the impact could even be heard by Giogris who was at the back.
He could even see the increasing cracks on the wall, as well as the dust and stones that did not stop falling, almost burying the siege vehicles.
"Immediately inform the First Battalion to retreat to the trench and form a formation in front of the collapsing wall! After the wall collapses, don't rush. Enter the breach in a complete formation. Be careful of the enemy's spear phalanx behind the breach! "
"At the same time, warn the other battalions not to enter the breach without orders. Those who disobey will be severely punished!"
"Yes, Legion Commander!"
… …
While the Fourth and Fifth Legions were fighting under the city walls, not far from their west, the army led by Tormid was engaged in a fierce battle.
Although the total number of the Roman army led by Paulus was smaller than the enemy, most of the soldiers under his command were heavy infantry. Their number was double that of the heavy infantry led by Tormid, and they gradually began to gain the upper hand in the frontal battle.
If it weren't for the continuous attacks from the First and Second Cavalry Legions of Paulus from the flanks of the Roman army and restrained part of the Roman army, the Roman army would have launched a frontal attack and forced the Diónia army to retreat.
But as time went by, Paulus became more and more anxious. He bore the heavy responsibility of rescuing the city of Rome, but he was blocked here and could not advance for a long time. If this continued, even if he managed to defeat the enemy in front of him in the end, he was afraid that Rome would have fallen, and he would become a sinner of Rome.
Therefore, he finally made up his mind and ordered the Roman platoon at the back of the formation: only a part of the platoon was left to guard the Diónia cavalry that was patrolling around, and the rest of the platoon ignored the threat of the enemy cavalry. They immediately spread out to the flanks, and then turned to attack the enemy's flanks.
Under his supervision, the Roman army began to stretch its arms from the original oval formation, transforming into a "one" formation.
The two cavalry commanders, Ledes and Cucius, who were at the back of the Roman army, had a bad feeling when they saw the situation. At this time, the two cavalry legions had long run out of javelins. They divided the cavalry into small teams and galloped back and forth behind the enemy, assuming an offensive posture, just to force the Roman army to not attack with all their strength. But now that the Roman army had made up their minds, the cavalry legions could not let them achieve their goal.
"It seems that we can only attack …" Ledes sighed. He knew that the cavalry's attack against the dense heavy infantry would not be effective even if the enemy was in motion. It would especially damage the War Horse, causing a large number of cavalry casualties.
The younger Cucius, on the other hand, was full of fighting spirit. "Then let the Roman people see the power of the Diónia cavalry charge! Commander Ledes, you lead the army to attack the enemy's left side, and I will attack the right side! "
With that, he turned his horse and galloped south.
"Wait a minute!" Ledes stopped him and pointed to the Roman army behind the Roman army that was stretching horizontally towards them. He said in a low voice, "Even if we stop the enemy from spreading their formation on both sides, these Roman soldiers will probably rush to the sides to stop us."
"That's for sure, but they don't have enough people to stop our charge!" Cucius said confidently.
"Then, their departure will expose that place!" Following the direction that Ledes pointed, Cucius's eyes lit up. It was the rear of the Roman army's middle line. The light infantry that posed a great threat to the Diónia cavalry was gathered there, and they were under the protection of the Roman heavy infantry.
Ledes's voice continued to ring in his ears, "We will gather the cavalry on both sides to attract the enemy's attention, but we will quietly send some of the cavalry to retreat out of the enemy's sight. Then, our cavalry will attack the enemy's flanks. These heavy infantry will inevitably rush to the sides to stop them, and our hidden cavalry can take the opportunity to charge at the enemy's light infantry. These light infantry will not be able to resist, and there will be chaos. Then, we will drive them to the front of the enemy's middle line, and create a chance for our infantry in the middle line to win."
"Good idea! Corps Commander Ledes, let's do as you say and do as you say! " Kuzius replied straightforwardly, "When we gather the legion's cavalry into formation, we widen the gap between the cavalry and cover the enemy's line of sight. Then, we will each send four companies (50 cavalry companies) to the rear and wait for an opportunity to act."
Ledes nodded and solemnly saluted. He said in a deep voice, "Time is tight. Then let's act. May Hades bless us and let us succeed!"
Cucius immediately saluted back, "With the blessing of Hades, we will definitely succeed!"
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