ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 798: Attacking the City of Rome ([-])

But the Roman relief forces soon learned the hard way about the curved wall they had built because they could not speed up.

When the Dionian soldiers on the city saw this situation, they also urged their comrades below the city to speed up to the city.

Captain Kelkus of the Sixth Army's Light Armor Brigade is from Xiliting. He is not a later immigrant, but a native of Xiliting. More than ten years ago, he was an ordinary citizen of Xiliting and participated in the Battle of Ramato River. After the failure, he fortunately did not escape back to Siliting, but fled to Crotone. He was lucky enough to survive the South Italian War, and later became a citizen of Dionia and became the most trained person in the Sixth Army camp. He was one of the hard-working soldiers and made many military exploits in the conquest of Apulia.

After being promoted to captain, he wrote to the Ministry of Military Affairs several times, requesting to be transferred to the Eighth Army. The Ministry of Military Affairs never agreed because they were worried that this general who had a deep hatred for the people of Syracuse would go to Sicily. , would come into conflict with the Syracuseans.

But this time, as the commander of the raid, he was not worried when he saw the Romans attacking from both sides. He immediately ordered the soldiers on the city to send two detachments each to form a dense formation and block the walkways at both ends of the city wall.

The walkways in the Roman city were not wide, so Scipio was able to successfully block the Dionian soldiers who passed through the siege tower and reached the top of the city. Now Kelkus is also using this method to prepare for the subsequent troops. Going to the city to buy time is really tit for tat.

Even if more than 1000 people from the light armor brigade and the mountain reconnaissance brigade come up, Kelkus is not prepared to attack from the city wall, because the corridor is narrow and long, and it will take a long time to defeat the enemy. He has better means Choose, because in front of him there is a stone staircase leading down to the city.

It is precisely because of the remoteness of the southeast corner that the Romans built an uphill ramp here to facilitate soldiers to reach it quickly, but they did not expect that it would become an Achilles' heel that would be exploited by the enemy.

Marcus and Balbus quickly realized this problem, but the First Army and the Sixth Army were attacking more urgently during this period, obviously to cooperate with this force's sneak attack, so they had no troops to send.

Balbus had to immediately send someone to Scipio for help.

At this time, the Roman soldiers who had been fighting for a long time and were already exhausted, inspired by the belief of "defending their homeland", walked along the walkway of the city wall and headed towards the southeast corner menacingly.

But the Dionian soldiers who were arranged in a dense formation and had been recharging their strength before were like two boulders blocking their way forward.

The other Dionian soldiers went to the city very quickly, not only because of the 30 rope hooks, but also because the soldiers brought more ropes. After going to the city, they took them off from their bodies, tied them into long ropes, and tied them to the battlements. Or pull it with your hands and hang it down to the bottom of the city. Nearly a hundred soldiers climbed up to the top of the city at one time. Soon the densely packed Dionian soldiers crowded the southeast corner of the city.

Kelkus gave an order, and a thousand troops composed of light armored soldiers and scout soldiers quickly stepped down the stone stairs and finally entered the city of Rome.

There are three attack routes in front of them: the first one is along the northeastern city wall, close to Quirilno Hill, all the way to the north, either to support the First Army, or to directly attack the center of the Roman city, the Senate, but this The road is long and narrow and easy to be blocked; the second road is to go northwest, passing through the road between Quirino Mountain and Vimina Mountain, directly to the center of Rome, but the road is also narrow and easy to be blocked. Being blocked, and without knowing the inside of the city, it is taboo to go deep alone; the third route is Kelkus's choice, to move quickly westward along the southern city wall, first assisting the Sixth Army to defeat the defenders in front of them. military.

In fact, not far from the stone staircase is one of the gates of Rome, Porta Quillino, but the entire gate hole is filled with stones and soil.The Roman city wall is winding and has many gates (at least ten). There are not enough soldiers in the city to defend it. Therefore, the Roman Senate made a decision yesterday to mobilize the people to block all the gate openings to prevent them from becoming enemies. Breakthrough.

It would take a lot of time to clean it up and open the city gate, but now time is the most precious for the Dionian army entering the city, so Kelkus did not stop and led the troops to quickly move towards Head west.

The light armored soldiers and reconnaissance soldiers who have always been in an auxiliary position in the war took the lead in this important battle. Everyone was very excited and full of strength. They passed the Vimina Gate in a short time. When they saw the old man, women and children delivering supplies to the defenders in the city, the soldiers of Dionia entered the flock like tigers, easily knocked them down with leather shields, and the rest of them fled in horror, throwing arrows, javelins, oil The cans were thrown all over the floor.

When the defenders on the city saw this scene, they shouted in horror: "The enemy! The enemy has entered the city!!..."

There was a huge commotion immediately on top of the city. The panicked soldiers could no longer fight with peace of mind. A few soldiers even left their defensive positions and wanted to run down the city despite the dissuasion of their team officers.

At this time, someone shouted: "Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming!!..."

Scipio urgently sent 300 heavy infantry, which was all he had.

But this strength was not enough to pose a danger to the Dionian army entering the city. Kelkus made an immediate decision: let three companies rush up quickly to attack the enemy's reinforcements; the other two companies came from both sides of the Vimina Gate. Go up the stone ladder and attack the defenders on the city.

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"...The enemy has entered the city! The enemy has entered the city!!..." The people responsible for transporting supplies ran back to the square in panic, shouting at the top of their lungs, causing chaos in the square.

The faces of the senators in the square also changed.

"Go and detain them all, don't let them shout and cause chaos!" Maru Geneensis was so angry that he immediately issued an order to the guard captain responsible for maintaining order in the square.

Potitus, who had always been at odds with him, did not stop him. He was in favor of using tough measures in times of crisis.

"Could it be that...the enemy has really...invaded?!" Ambustus asked in a trembling voice what everyone was worried about.

"...Send someone over to ask in detail." Potitus seemed quite calm, but he was leaning on a cane and shaking slightly.

At this time, the messenger sent by Scipio rushed to the square, and the cruel facts spouted from his mouth made the senators panic.

"Didn't Scipio already send reinforcements?! These brave citizens... will definitely kill all the enemies who are lucky enough to rush into the city!" Plenius shouted, he wanted to disperse himself and his colleagues There was fear in his heart, but his tone seemed so unconfident.

"If Scipio was sure of repelling the enemy, he would not have sent a messenger to tell us..." Marugine Ensis sighed. He and Scipio were from the same clan, and he had been trying to support this man. The tribesmen with outstanding abilities naturally understand him better: "And we have no extra soldiers..."

In fact, the senators had been receiving constant battle reports from the defenders on the city. They knew that the situation was very serious, and Marugine Ensis's words only shattered the last bit of luck left in their hearts. leaving them in a terrible silence.

"Go to the Capitoline!" Potitus no longer had any panic on his face and said firmly: "Don't worry, everyone, just like when the Celts invaded, the Dionysians may be able to occupy the city of Rome. But it will definitely be impossible to capture our holy land! Compared with the last time, the situation this time is more favorable. Camillus is about to lead his army back, and this time the army is much larger than that of more than ten years ago, and it is also more well-trained. Yoususu! The Dionians will be driven out faster, and victory will eventually belong to Rome!..."

Potitus's calming words made the senators no longer so panicked.

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The Roman people in the square received instructions from the senators and rushed back to their homes in panic. They hurriedly packed up their belongings and carried food, preparing to flee to the Capitoline Mountains for refuge.

When people living near the embankment hurried back to the block, they saw a horrifying scene: Many slabs used to cover the sewers on the street were lifted up, revealing the dark and smelly sewers. On the street, hundreds of people wearing black leather A. Soldiers holding black shields and short swords are lining up with their backs to them and facing the Tiber River...

"It's the enemy!! They are coming in!!..." The Roman people screamed in horror, and some women even fainted because of too much fear.

Lizalu heard the commotion behind him. He didn't care about these old people, women and children at all, and he didn't even look back. Instead, he pointed the dagger in his hand forward, and shouted loudly in a passionate voice: "Mountain Brigade My warriors, the time has come to make great contributions, follow me and kill them!"

After saying that, he was the first to rush towards the Roman Shibashi Bridge, followed by the soldiers.

They chanted Hades' cries that alarmed the Roman soldiers who were struggling. The fierce attack of the first brigade of the Dionysian Third Legion had made it difficult for them to deal with it. They saw many people who were also wearing black helmets and black armor behind them. The soldiers rushed towards them aggressively, and the fighting spirit in the hearts of these Roman reinforcements, mainly composed of slaves, immediately fell to the bottom. They completely ignored Cassius' order to turn around and resist, and fled in all directions in an instant.

Their escape also shook the fighting spirit of the Roman soldiers who had been fighting hard until now.

At the bridgehead, the Dionian soldiers who were already very tired from attacking all the time heard the shouts of Hades coming from the opposite side. They all became energetic, and their sore arms seemed to be re-injected with strength, and the offensive resumed its ferocity. This became the straw that broke the camel's back.

(End of this chapter)