Chapter 924
"What did you say?!" Devers thought they had misheard.
"Your Majesty, we don't have to attack Saturnicum anymore. The people of Rome are about to surrender!" Hennepolis repeated joyfully.
The reason why the Devers lost their composure just now was because once Satnicum surrendered, Villeti, who had less than 3,000 soldiers, would not be able to defend the city alone. It was almost certain that Rome would be completely destroyed.
Devers felt like he was in a dream when he thought about how Rome, which had dominated the Mediterranean Sea in his previous life, would soon be destroyed by him. He pressed his hand on the hard table to calm himself down. Then he said in a deep voice, "Summon all the senior generals to the main tent. Let them witness the moment of Rome's surrender!"
Aulus was dressed in a white linen shirt with a fitted dark red leather armor. He also had a bright red robe draped over his shoulders. The corner of the robe was pulled over his left arm, and he held a papyrus scroll on a wooden spool in his hand. There was originally a short sword hanging from his waist, but it was removed by the guards before he entered the tent. Thus, he placed his right hand on his waist, raised his head, and walked resolutely into the Diónia tent.
As soon as he entered the tent, he saw nine people standing on both sides. Most of them were wearing black military uniforms and helmets with purple and red tassels. Aulus had led the army to fight for Diónia for several months, and he knew that those who wore such attire were high-ranking generals of the Dionysian Army. However, one of them was wearing the attire of a Roman officer, and he also had the appearance of a Roman. Aulus felt that this person was somewhat familiar, and he immediately thought that this person might be the commander of the Roman rebel army, Sextus, who was often scolded by the soldiers. He took a deep look at him.
Sextus met his gaze without avoiding it.
Aulus immediately collected his thoughts and focused his gaze on the center. The King of Diónia was also dressed in military attire, sitting upright on a wooden chair and looking at him with a serious expression.
Aulus immediately bowed and said in Greek, "Honorable King of Diónia, I am the envoy sent by the dictator of Rome, Camillus. I am the Commander of the Roman army, Aulus Comenenius Cossus. On the orders of Lord Camillus, I present you our letter of surrender."
The Devers were surprised. "Letter of surrender?! As for surrendering, aren't you going to raise some conditions and come to an agreement before surrendering? He surrendered just like that? "
"The reason is stated in the letter. You'll understand after reading it." Aulus raised the wooden scroll in his hand.
Heniboris quickly took the scroll and handed it to the Devers.
While the Devers were reading it carefully, Olivers suddenly chuckled and said to Giogris beside him, "Looking at the attitude of this envoy from Rome when he walked into the tent, I thought he was here to tell us that the people of Rome wanted to fight to the death with us. I didn't expect him to be here to surrender!"
Giogris considered the mood of the envoy from Rome and did not reply.
However, Matonis said, "That's right, it's really disappointing! The siege on the War Horse was about to begin, and the brothers were still looking forward to breaking the city and making contributions! "
…
Aulus turned a deaf ear to the mocking words between the high-ranking generals of Diónia. He only stared at the Devers in front of him while suppressing the nervousness in his heart. It was not that he and Mejus had not considered sending an envoy to negotiate first, raise some conditions, and finally come to an agreement to surrender. This would be more beneficial to them and would also be less likely to arouse the suspicions of the people of Diónia. However, the plague had spread too quickly in the city. In just one day of their negotiation, many soldiers had fallen sick, and using the method of negotiation would undoubtedly waste too much time. By the time the surrender agreement was reached, most of the people in the city would probably have fallen, and it would be impossible to hide it from the people of Diónia. Therefore, they chose to use the name of Camillus to write a letter of surrender. This could speed up the process.
"So that's how it is." The Devers placed the letter on the table, looked at Aulus, and said, "Your rations have run out, and many of the soldiers of Rome have lost their will to fight. They actually ran to Camillus's residence and caused a ruckus, demanding that the city gates be opened to let them go home … Aulus, is the situation in Rome really that bad?! From what I remember, the people of Rome are tenacious and will not surrender easily. When the Celts occupied Rome, didn't you also defend Capitolin for half a year? Why did you surrender so easily this time? "
"The invasion of the Gauls was completely different from this one. The brutality of the Gauls made all the city-states and races in Latin angry, but you people of Diónia …" Aulus glanced at Sextus and sighed unwillingly. "I have to admit, you people are able to make many city-states surrender to you, including a large number of civilians in Rome. Right now, we can only fight alone … I can't see any hope …"
Aulus' words came from the bottom of his heart. The Devers looked at him and asked, "How is your dictator, Camillus? I heard that he fainted during the battle, and he has already fallen into a coma. "
Aulus calmly said, "Lord Camillus is not in a coma. He is only paralyzed and bedridden, but his mind is clear. He can speak, give orders, and command deployments without any problems. This letter was written under his dictation."
Heniboris suddenly asked, "In the letter, you said that there is a shortage of rations in the city, but from your complexion, it doesn't seem like there is a shortage of rations."
Aulus raised his head again. "I have already introduced myself. I am the commander of the army. If the commander of the army is starving, how can I command the soldiers to fight?"
"Don't the generals of the Roman army suffer together with the soldiers?" Giogris couldn't help but ask.
"The Senate of Rome has such a rule, but it depends on the cultivation of the generals of Rome. This person belongs to the Cominius clan, which is the largest noble in Rome!" Sextus suddenly said.
"Ha, I really didn't expect there to be a Roman in the big tent of Diónia," Aulus said contemptuously. Aulus said contemptuously, but in his heart, he was grateful to Sextus for explaining for him.
"In this letter, Camillus believes that I can give the surrendered soldiers of Rome a good way out." Devers pointed at the letter, smiled, and said, "Since you belong to the Cominius clan, I believe you have heard from the families of Rome about how we deal with the surrendered nobles of Rome. For a large clan like the Cominius, it will be completely broken up and scattered to various places in the kingdom. Can you accept this?"
Aulus' expression changed, but he immediately said proudly, "I believe that the people of our clan can live well anywhere we go!"
Devers nodded slightly and asked, "About the surrender, have all the soldiers in the city already known and completely accepted it?"
"They … did not clearly express their opposition."
When Devers heard this, he no longer had any doubts in his heart. He raised his eyes and glanced at the generals around him. Then, he raised his voice and said, "Well, let us talk about how to accept your surrender and the arrangements after the war."
Aulus heaved a sigh of relief.
Devers left Tormid and Heniboris behind and began to discuss the surrender with Aulus.
After Matonis, Olivers, and the other generals walked out of the tent, they began to discuss the surrender of the defenders of Saturnicum. They all seemed to be regretful and excited. They were regretful because they could not personally lead the army to attack Saturnicum and completely defeat the Rome army. They were excited because the war in Rome was about to end, which meant that the army would soon move south to fight against the powerful Carthage army.
At this moment, Matonis saw Ketissus, the captain of his army, hurrying towards the tent. Behind him was Stesicordas, the head of the medical camp and an elder of the Senate.
Ketissus, who was anxious, also saw his superior. He hurried over and before Matonis could ask, he whispered a few words into his ears.
Matonis' expression changed drastically. He immediately looked at Stesicordas and asked, "Are you sure?!"
"There's only one person. I can't be completely sure," Stesicordas said with a serious expression.
"Come, follow me to see His Majesty!" Matonis said and rushed toward the tent.
Although the other generals did not know what was going on, they also felt that something important had happened, so they quickly followed behind him.
Aulus wanted to end things quickly, so the negotiations progressed very quickly. When everything was settled, he let out a sigh of relief and quickly stood up, preparing to bid farewell to King Devers.
Matonis quickly walked into the tent and rushed to the Devers' side. He whispered a few words to him, "Your Majesty!"
The smile on the Devers' face was immediately covered by a layer of frost. He knocked on the table with his fingers, making rapid and forceful sounds.
A moment later, he looked at Aulus with a sharp and dignified gaze. His voice was slow and powerful as he said, "Aulus, there's a plague in Saturnicum!"
"What?!" Heniboris, Tormid, and the others exclaimed in shock.
Aulus felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
It turned out that after Aulus, Mejus, and the others finished their conspiracy, they took into consideration that Aulus could speak Greek, so they made him the messenger. As a great noble of Rome, Aulus believed that even if it was a fake surrender, it could not tarnish the prestige of Rome. It had to be carried out according to the traditional etiquette of Rome. Otherwise, it would arouse the suspicion of the enemy. Therefore, he chose a group of soldiers who were checked to be healthy as his followers. He also strictly asked them not to talk about anything happening in Saturnicum after they entered the Diónia camp.
After these people were allowed to enter the Diónia camp, Aulus went to meet the Devers. The small group of Rome soldiers were left near the entrance of the camp. They were surrounded by many Diónia soldiers, which made them nervous.
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