ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 920 Terrible Diseases
From their mouths, the defending soldiers learned that Antium had been captured by the Dionian army, and that Satnicum became the only Roman town still resisting. This caused fluctuations in the hearts of the soldiers. .

It was under such circumstances that Quintus took it upon himself to hide it from Camillus and regardless of the opposition of other generals, secretly led 4000 soldiers out of the city in the dark in an attempt to attack the Dionian camp, hoping to gain a Victory boosts morale.

As a result, not long after leaving the city, he was discovered by the hidden sentry posted by the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade outside the camp.

Davos quickly mobilized troops to encircle and suppress them.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Quintus hurriedly ordered a retreat and personally led his troops to block the pursuing army. He was eventually killed on the battlefield. Nearly half of his troops were killed, wounded or captured. The failure of this sneak attack had a great impact on the morale of the Roman soldiers. After a big blow, they began to waver in the words of Camillus, "...as long as we hold on, our turn will come..." These words that they believed in before were shaken.

In the harvest month of September, when the people of other city-states were rejoicing, the city of Satnicum seemed lifeless. The sentries at the top of the city rarely patrolled back and forth, and more often they leaned against the city wall, leaning or sitting in a daze. He's thinking about his own thoughts, and rarely even talks to his teammates.

On the streets in the city, you can see filthy vomit everywhere and soldiers lying on the roadside in twos and threes. Outside the injured barracks in the square, there are even more people. They ignore the pungent stench and the flying mosquitoes and flies. Insisting on seeing a doctor, their heart-wrenching coughs almost echoed throughout the square...

In the bedroom of the city lord's mansion, Camillus suddenly opened his eyes in a nightmare.

The confidant slave who stood restlessly in front of the bed immediately shouted joyfully: "My lord, you are awake!"

Camillus moved his neck with difficulty, looked around, and whispered in a hoarse voice: "...water...water..."

The slave hurriedly picked up the water jug ​​that had been prepared, then held his head up with one hand and fed him water.

After drinking some water, Camillus felt better and asked in a low voice: "...How long did I sleep this time?"

"Two...two days." The slave said with a slightly depressed expression.

When Camillus heard this, his face turned gloomy: the time he spent sleeping was getting longer and longer, and he seemed to feel that the organs in his body were beginning to decay, which gave him a sense of urgency.

"What's the situation outside?!" As soon as he said this, he realized that he was confused. How could the slave know this? So he changed his words and said, "Where is Lucius?"

"Lord Lucius is ill." The slave's body trembled.

Camillus was stunned. At the moment, he was more concerned about the city of Satnicum than his son, so he continued to ask: "Go and call...Titus."

Titus temporarily took command of the army on his behalf, so he often reported to him on the battle situation.

"Master Titus is also sick. He hasn't been here to see you for two days." The slave said eagerly, his face already turning a little pale.

"Titus is sick too?!" Camillus was stunned again. Decades of war career made him a little alert. He immediately asked: "Who else is...who is sick?!"

"Lord Licinius! Lord Servius! I heard that there are still many soldiers! Sir, could this be... could this be..." There was a look of panic on the slave's face, and there was a look in his eyes. Fearful, but never dared to utter the word.

Camillus's face was horribly livid, and he said in a deep voice: "Go and call the generals who are not sick immediately...ahem...all of them!"

.......................................

"Do you suspect it's a plague?!" Hearing the word coming out of Majors' mouth, Camillus suddenly widened his cloudy eyes, and his dry throat made the loudest sound since he woke up, even though he had already had a hint of doubt before, I still don't want to believe this is true.

"Your Majesty the Dictator..." Mejius, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, looked very hasty at the moment. He said in a trembling voice: "... In my decades of military career... I have also seen one or two plagues. ...and this time...this time is very similar to the previous one...the same symptoms include fever...headache...vomiting...diarrhea...general weakness...and soldiers continue to show such symptoms..."

Camillus closed his eyes in pain, and the generals such as Majorus and Aulus did not speak anymore. They all focused their helpless eyes on the old man who had completely lost his ability to move.

After a long time, Camillus slowly opened his eyes and stared at the roof, his face full of sadness. He murmured: "Great Jupiter!...You are giving up...giving up on Rome. ?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the generals in the room shed tears.

Camillus turned his head with difficulty and looked at the generals gathered around his bed, with a terrifying and calm expression: "Surrender to Dionia..."

The generals headed by Aulus and Majors were shocked when they heard this, and subconsciously expressed their opposition loudly: "Your Majesty the Dictator, we must not surrender! We can still continue to fight..."

Camillus sighed and said in a low voice: "While the plague has not spread throughout the city... Surrender to Dionia... At least some people's lives can be saved... This is me... Camillus, as the Roman dictator...his last order..." After saying that, he closed his eyes, and two lines of turbid tears slowly flowed down the criss-crossing ravines on his face.

There was silence in the room.

After a while, the generals walked out of the bedroom, each thinking about their own thoughts, and walked out of the city lord's mansion in silence.

"Do we really want to obey the dictator's order and surrender to Dionia?!" A general finally couldn't help but asked loudly.

"What else can we do if we don't surrender?! We are trapped in the city with nowhere to escape. In the end, we will only be infected with the plague, and our souls will not be able to find peace after death!" Another general couldn't bear the pressure in his heart and lost control of his emotions. He actually raised his head, looked up at the sky, and loudly asked the gods he usually worshiped devoutly: "Jupiter, aren't you the patron saint of Rome! Now Rome is about to perish, and where are you?!"

When the others heard this, no one stopped their colleagues from this blasphemous behavior, but their faces became even more sad.

At this time, Aulus suddenly said: "The plague can infect our Roman soldiers, and of course it can also infect the Diorians! We can take the opportunity of surrender to make the Diorians also suffer from the plague. Perhaps this is the reason why Rome A turning point!"

Majors and others were startled, and then their eyes shone brightly: The main force of the Dionysian army was under the city. If they were also infected with the plague and most of the soldiers died, would they still be able to control the newly conquered Latium area? !

.......................................

In the big tent of the Dionia camp, Davos was looking at a battle report just sent from Campania, and soon a smile appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty, did Alexis send you the good news?" Henipolis asked softly with some curiosity.

"The great leader of Pentney sent an envoy to Alexis, requesting an armistice and peace! The Cavutini also sent an envoy to Zantiparis, expressing the same meaning." Daves took the letter lightly. He clapped his arms and sounded brisk.

"No Karacheni?" Henepolis asked.

"Among the four Samoni tribes, the Karacheni are the most conservative and stubborn, but they are also the weakest. Their losses this time are not small. They think they are hiding in the mountains and there is nothing we can do to them. Hum, don't forget , if there is no assistance from other tribes, other neighboring mountain races, such as the Masi people, the Helniki people... will be very willing to settle old scores with them." Davos smiled contemptuously: "By then , the Karacheni people will take the initiative to come to us."

With that said, he handed the battle report in his hand to Henipolis, and then asked Croto Catax next to him: "Cloto, what do you think should be done with Cavutini and Pentney?" Samoni tribe?"

Since Davos had already talked about his preliminary defeat and plan for the four Samoni tribes last time, Crotoka Tax had also thought about it carefully these days, so he faced Davos's test here. He said with some confidence: Father... the Samnites used to be our allies, but they tore up the alliance, provoked wars, and arbitrarily plundered the people of the kingdom and allies... So this time we must increase our control. The intensity of punishment and control of the Samnite race will prevent them from rebelling again in the future!
My suggestion is that the great chiefs of Puntney and Kautini must go to Thurii to be severely punished, and that the other chiefs of the tribes should be punished accordingly, and that each tribe should also give hostages.

As your father said before, the Punteni and Cavutini tribes must become completely vassals of the kingdom. The land of Cavutini that we currently occupy will all belong to the kingdom. Cavutini will only retain Voltu. The land north of the No River serves as a buffer between the kingdom and mountain races such as the Sidisini and Oronchi. The new chief of the Kautini must be selected from the original Naconian tribe.

We have not captured much land in Pentney now, but Pentney must cede the mountainous land adjacent to the Downey area so that we can build a city there...

Also, these two tribes must not restrict the kingdom’s priests from building temples in the mountains, and must not restrict trade between the kingdom’s people and the Samonite people…”

"Your Majesty, His Highness Croto said it very comprehensively and considered it very carefully!" Tormid praised repeatedly.

Davos nodded with a smile: "It seems that after the last school examination, although you have been busy with me in Latium these days, you have also been thinking about how to deal with the Samonite tribe. In this suggestion, you I have considered the problem completely from the perspective of the kingdom’s interests, and the plan I gave is more detailed, specific, and operable, which is great!”

(End of this chapter)