Chapter 830
Giogris brought four heavy infantry battalions and one light infantry battalion. He ordered 4,000 heavy infantry battalions to quickly form an arc-shaped defense line inside the breach of the wall. It was like a tough fishing net that trapped the Roman soldiers who rushed into the breach.
As more and more Roman soldiers rushed into the defensive circle, the space was compressed, and the number of soldiers became denser, which made it easier for the defenders to attack.
Many Roman soldiers struggled in the flames when cans of tar were smashed into the wall. The tragic scene at the breach of the western wall of Rome reappeared, but this time, the roles were reversed.
Coupled with the powerful attack from the Fifth Legion, the disorganized and extremely tired Roman soldiers were finally overwhelmed by fear, and they were defeated.
After Titus received the urgent news from his men, even though he was extremely unwilling and in pain, he still issued the order to retreat to avoid the enemy's counterattack along the wall, which would lead to more losses.
In fact, after the Fifth Legion rushed out of the breach, they continued to pursue the enemy, but they were counterattacked by the Etruscan coalition army.
Although they were intercepted, the Etruscan soldiers' attack was not strong and did not cause any damage to the Fifth Legion. After the cautious Gioclis received the news, he immediately ordered his troops to stop the pursuit. Because the situation outside the city was unclear at night, he was afraid of being ambushed by the Roman soldiers, especially when Prince Cloto Catax was in the team. Although the noble young man was sensible and had always followed orders, fighting at the back of the team, and did not cause Giogris any trouble, it was better to be safe than sorry. In the end, Giogris withdrew the pursuing troops back into the city.
… …
Not long after the battle in Ostia ended, the next morning came. The city hall of Rome held a public meeting in the square according to the Devers' suggestion.
The Devers commended the Roman civilian soldiers, led by Sextus, for their bravery in breaking away from the Roman army and defecting to Diónia. They were rewarded with more land, which further aroused the people's enthusiasm to join Diónia and to contribute to Diónia. Of course, it also deepened the resentment of the aristocratic families against the civilians of Rome.
During the meeting, the Devers received a report from the garrison on the city wall. There were movements in the Roman military camp outside the city, and there seemed to be signs of withdrawal.
Although the movement of the Roman army outside the city was the main concern of the Devers, he believed that it was more important to speed up the loyalty of the civilians in Rome. So he insisted on finishing the meeting before rushing to the south wall.
It was already noon. Most of the camps that the Roman army had worked hard to build yesterday had been demolished. Almost no one could be seen walking around.
According to the reports of the soldiers, throughout the entire morning, the camp in front of them was noisy, and there were even sounds of fighting.
And according to the news from the scouts, the Roman army was divided into several groups and slowly marching to the west.
Amyntas, Martonis, and several other legion commanders suggested that they should take advantage of the enemy's retreat and panic to send troops to pursue and even force the enemy to engage in a battle.
After careful consideration, the Devers did not accept this suggestion because he did not think that Camillus would be careless when the army retreated. Besides, he did not want the legions that had just experienced a war to fight the Roman army, even if they had already split up a lot of their troops and were greatly weakened. After all, the desperate soldiers of Rome were very likely to have a strong fighting force and cause the Dionysian Army to suffer heavy losses.
However, the Devers summoned the new captain of the Roman reserve force, Sextus, and asked him to select good Roman soldiers to ride on the horses collected from the city and follow the cavalry legion out of the city to carry out a special mission.
After issuing this order, the Devers needed to hold an emergency military meeting with Tornid, Printos, and the legion commanders to discuss the "large-scale reinforcement of Ostia." Judging from the direction of the Roman army, there was no doubt that their target was the small city at the mouth of the Tiber River.
At the same time, not far from the west of the city of Rome, two cavalry legions caught up with the marching Roman army. They lured away more than 1,000 Roman cavalrymen who were responsible for the flank defense. After that, Sextus led a few dozen civilians who were eager to make new contributions and rushed to the vicinity of the Roman army.
Then, the Roman soldiers were surprised to see these enemies dressed in the uniform of Roman soldiers. When they were within 20 to 30 meters of them, they began to shout, "Citizens of Rome, I am Sextus. I used to be a civilian of Rome, but now I have joined the Kingdom of Diónia. Why do you want to join them? Because the Kingdom of Diónia has given me more and better land in Rome, more luxurious and spacious houses, and more equal rights. These originally belonged to the nobles of Rome, but now they belong to us!
Civilian soldiers, don't hesitate anymore. Quickly leave this hopeless army and join us! Join Diónia! You will get everything you have longed for before! You will also be reunited with your families smoothly! Don't hesitate! Leave now … "
The shouts of Sextus and the others stirred up waves among the Roman soldiers …
… …
In the residence of the leader of the Abenilum, Gherni sat in the living room. His expression was solemn, but he was no longer as worried as he was a few days ago. His eyes were shining as he stared at the door.
Not long after, a few of his trusted subordinates arrived one after another.
"I have decided to follow the request of the messenger of Diónia and send messengers to the Hilpini tribes in other areas!"
Hearing this, the others understood that when Gherni said that he was going to send messengers, he was actually sending people to infiltrate other areas of the Hilpini tribe to spread the accusation that "Lescok disobeyed the agreement and rashly tore up the alliance and started a war against Diónia without authorization, causing the tribes to suffer heavy losses, and demanded that Lescok be punished for this". At the same time, he also spread that "the leader of the Abenilum, Gherni, can help the tribes redeem their captive tribesmen from Diónia".
After all, according to the decision of the Hilpini Tribal Alliance, the Abenilum had been excluded from the Tribal Alliance, and all Hilpini tribes were forbidden from interacting with them.
"That's great, leader! We've been waiting for you to make this decision! " Tadoni shouted excitedly, "We've had enough of this period of time. The Cautini, Penteni, and Caraceni tribes have frequently sent messengers to warn us not to act recklessly during the war! Bah, now it's time to let these guys who bully us taste the wrath of the Abenilum! "
"Leader, we really shouldn't wait for the war to end. Although the Samonai High Priest has sent messengers several times to say that as long as we support Lescok, our past mistakes will not be pursued. However, everyone knows that as long as they win this war, without the obstruction of Diónia, Lescok will definitely use force against us! For our safety, we must seize this favorable opportunity and strike them first! "Maioni also expressed his support for Gherni's decision.
"Of course I understand Lescok's plot and the dangerous situation we're in now." Gherni sighed, "The reason why we hesitated before is that if we do so, not only will we have a war with Lescok, but it will also worsen our relationship with the other tribes and the High Priest, which will lead to a bigger war."
Tadoni shouted again, "Do you think our relationship with the other tribes and the High Priest is good now?! Leader, do you remember when you were almost punished by them during the tribal sacrificial ceremony a few years ago? If there's a war, we can just wipe them all out, and then … and then you'll be our … the first great leader of the entire Samonai! "
As soon as this was said, the faces of everyone in the living room changed.
Gherni glared at him, "Don't talk nonsense! With our strength, it's difficult to even defeat Lescok, let alone the other tribes. What we need to do now is to provide help to Diónia in return for Diónia's help! " To be honest, Gherni was very envious of Tadoni's straightforward way of doing things, very much like when he was young. However, since he became the leader, he had suffered several setbacks. For the better survival of the tribe, there were many problems to consider, and it was impossible to do whatever he wanted.
Gherni's eyes swept across the faces of everyone in the hall. They all showed a kind of suppressed excitement. He took a deep breath and said loudly, "Since you all agree with me, then we need to reconsider the relationship between Abenilum and Diónia. You all know that a few years ago, the King of Devers suggested to me to 'let Abenilum become a free city like Potentia'. I didn't agree at that time.
Now, if we carry out Diónia's plan, it means that we will be enemies with Beneventum and the other Samonai tribes. This will be an extremely difficult war! We need the full support of Diónia to win, so I've decided to let Abenilum join Diónia and become a free city in this kingdom! "
As soon as he said this, the hall became silent.
This aggravated Gherni's worries. He coughed and hurriedly said, "If you don't agree —"
"Ha! Ha! Ha! " Tadoni laughed heartily. "Leader, you have finally made this decision. We are all relieved! When I participated in the Diónia rugby finals last year, the Gera players who played against us asked me strangely, 'Abenilum and Potentia are both free cities of Diónia. Why can the players of Potentia speak Greek, but most of you can't?' Now some city-states and forces see us as part of Diónia and are quite envious of us. This often makes us feel embarrassed because we are not. Now we can finally rest assured! "
。 Literature Hall.
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