ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 786: Attacking the City of Rome ([-])
But starting from early morning, the battle situation was completely different from what Purlo Cassius had imagined.

The Dionysians launched ten ballistas on the other side and started firing stone projectiles. When the stone projectiles flew across the Tiber River and fell into the Roman array, causing casualties, Cassius had to order the soldiers to disperse and retreat to In a residential area 50 meters away from the embankment.

He believed that even if the Dionysians advanced through the Vertebra Bridge, the Roman soldiers would still have enough time to rush forward and intercept the enemy outside the city of Rome.

Dionia's ballistae no longer attacked the Roman soldiers hiding in the houses, but instead bombarded the four towers on both sides of the Shiba Bridge on the other side.

In every round of whizzing stone bullets, there were always two or three that could hit the tower. The roars really worried Cassius, and he had to urgently order the archers stationed on the tower to withdraw quickly. .

He is right to be concerned.

After more than ten minutes, the two crumbling towers closest to Shibashi finally collapsed... Then Dionia's ballistae team focused on the two outermost towers.

Cassius and the soldiers watched helplessly as stone bullets hit the towers one after another, causing the four towers to finally fall, making a mournful roar and stirring up dust. You can imagine the powerlessness in their hearts. They even I hope that the Dionians will attack immediately and engage in close combat with them, so that they will no longer have to hear and see this terrible stone bombardment.

However, when the Dionysians had used crossbows to completely destroy the towers, the high-altitude advantage occupied by the Romans, they stopped using crossbows.

The sudden silence on the battlefield puzzled the Romans.

At this time, the commander of the Third Army, Lizaru, who was standing on the opposite bank, was saying to Midorades, the naval commander of the Third Fleet: "Other legions have already begun to attack the city of Rome, and we should also start preparing."

"Don't worry, I will soon be able to build twenty pontoon bridges for your legion. The crew can't wait for a long time!" After saying that, Midorades immediately rushed to the west bank of the Shii Bridge.

Trenches were dug outside the river beach here, and earth ramparts and wooden fences were built. Inside were rows of tents, and 40 crow warships were parked neatly by the river, with their bows facing the river.

After Midolades gave the order, the crews of each warship boarded immediately and took their positions.

Then, the soldiers of the Third Legion also rushed over and worked together to push the warship into the river.

Immediately afterwards, these warships did not start rowing in a swarm. The first ship was close to the south side of the Roman Vertebra Bridge and rowed towards the other side with all its strength.

After the sailors of the second ship turned the warship horizontally, they tried their best to make the stern of the ship dock on the shore. For this reason, the siege camp specially made many long wooden poles for the sailors sitting on the left and right sides of the warship, so that they could move it It was propped to the bottom of the river to stabilize the impact of the current on the warship, keeping its bow facing the opposite bank, and its stern was immediately fixed to the bank with wooden stakes and ropes.

A small trireme in the sea was as big as a dragon on the Tiber River. The average length of the crow warship was more than 50 meters. Under the efforts of the sailors to paddle, the bow of the warship quickly touched the opposite side. embankment.

The operators on the deck immediately dropped the anchor, while the sailors on the right side of the ship quickly withdrew the oars, then pulled out the long wooden poles that had been prepared in the bilge, stretched out the oar window at an angle, and pressed hard against the river. end.

Since this section of the Tiber River is only a hundred meters wide at its widest, one of the two ships has its stern on the north bank, and the other has its bow on the south bank, so there is a natural overlap between the two ships.When the sailors of the second ship tried their best to move the bow closer to the stern of the first ship, the controllers on the ship saw the opportunity and lowered the drawbridge.

The spikes at the head of the suspension bridge pierced the stern deck of the first warship. Although it made the captain and sailors feel heartbroken, it connected the two warships together; the third warship and the fourth warship Follow the same procedure; the fifth warship and the sixth warship... Before long, nearly 20 "pontoon bridges" were erected on the Tiber River to the west of the Roman Vertebra Bridge. The suspension bridge close to the warships on the other side was lowered and built on the embankment, immediately connecting the north and south sides.

Lizaru watched the whole process from the northern bridge. He loudly applauded the Third Fleet for neatly completing the planned plan. Of course he knew: Yesterday afternoon, Midorades led a dozen warships in the river below the river port. Repeated testing and training have led to today's success.

Seeing some soldiers of the Third Army on the river beach quickly divided into twenty teams and already starting to board the ship, Lizaru felt a flash of regret in his heart: Unfortunately, the Crow Warship cannot pass the Shibashi Bridge because of its too-high mast, otherwise it could A "warship pontoon bridge" was also erected on the river east of the Shii Bridge, which could further force the Roman army on the other side to expand the width of its defense and add more weight to the army's smooth attack.

Lizaru just sighed for a moment and immediately turned his attention to the battlefield that was about to begin.

"Uraza!" Lizaru turned to the first captain of the Third Army and said in a deep voice: "You lead the first group to fight across this bridge and into the city of Rome. This is what I want from you!"

Ulazar, the former leader of a small tribe in Lucania and Bagul's childhood friend, had become a senator in the Senate like Kesima and Lizaru a few years ago, but he did not choose to go there. Instead of serving in the local area, he continued to stay in the legion. Compared with Bagule, who had served as the administrator of key towns in Dionia many times, and who won over Davos and the senators with his outstanding performance as the administrator of Copsa. Xima, who praised him, and Lizaru, who has served as the commander of the army and has made many military exploits. Ulazar is just a captain, and his light is too dim. The reason why he has stayed in this position for five or six years is that It's because he likes fighting and is only good at fighting.

After listening to Lizaru's order, Ulazar did not hesitate at all, but replied excitedly: "Legion commander, just watch, the first brigade will open the door to victory for the legion!"

Then, he faced the first group of soldiers who were already in formation and shouted: "Warriors of Lucania, the time has come to show your courage and ability to all the legions here and to His Majesty! Kill across the bridge and eliminate them. enemy!"

The troops of the Third Army mainly come from the Lucania region. The center of the Lucania region is in Grumentum, but the soldiers of the First Brigade mainly come from Niutum. As the earliest Lucania to belong to Dionia, In the towns of Cania, the Niutum people also followed Daves to fight early. Therefore, when the Third Legion was established, most of its officers were Niutum people, which in turn prompted more Niutum people to join the army. People are more active in joining the army and serving in the army, so they have the most veterans and the richest combat experience. As the most powerful brigade of the Third Army, the First Brigade naturally has to gather the best and strongest soldiers.

Under the orders of their Niutum commanders, these Niutum soldiers were inspired with strong fighting spirit. They shouted the name of Hades and formed a dense five-way column (the width of this Roman vertebral bridge was only It can accommodate five people abreast), stepped onto the Shii Bridge, and quickly rushed to the other side.

When Dionia's crow warship set up a pontoon, Cassius received an urgent return from the spies. Dionia's peculiar attack method greatly surprised him, and it also meant that Dionia Nia's army would no longer have the only way to cross the river to attack the Roman city from the north. He had to urgently summon the retreating Roman squadron and order them to rush to the embankment immediately for defense.

And when Roman squadrons left the shelter of the residential areas, faced the Tiber River, and walked into the open area, the ballistae team at the bridge on the other side immediately began to fire stone projectiles.

Although Cassius had expected this and had the army move forward quickly in a loose checkerboard formation, stone bullets still continued to fall into the center of the array. The horrific death of the soldiers who were hit caused quite a stir. confusion.

Cassius couldn't care less about the casualties caused by the ballista at the moment. He had already seen the Dionian soldiers on the other side rushing over like a black tide along the Shii Bridge. He shouted anxiously: "Speed ​​up." Forward! Accelerate forward!!..."

In fact, he did not need to be reminded. The Roman soldiers not only saw the Dionian soldiers running on the Vertebra Bridge, but also saw the enemies that began to appear one after another on the embankment... Their home was about to be invaded!Every Roman citizen, young and old, felt a strong crisis in their hearts at this moment. They accelerated their pace, braved the whizzing stone bullets, rushed over, and ran into the first Dionia who had just rushed to the bridge. The soldiers of the brigade also ran into other soldiers of the third Danionian Legion who had just stepped onto the embankment and barely lined up in one row, intercepting them on the bank of the Tiber River.

At this time, the ballista team had to stop firing, allowing the soldiers of the two armies to engage in a life-and-death fight on the other side...

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

In the Chinese army camp in Dionysia, the scouts and messengers from all walks of life hurried to the Chinese army camp, and then hurriedly left, summarizing the battle situations and enemy situations that occurred everywhere here, and adding new information. The order is conveyed...

"Report, the siege troops of the First Army have arrived at the city and have begun to attack!"

"Report, the five siege towers of the Second Army have been pushed down by the trench and are conducting long-range suppressive attacks on the enemies at the head of the city. One of the siege towers was set alight by rockets, and the surrounding soldiers are putting out the fire!"

"Report, the siege vehicles and Zhoushi chariots of the Fourth and Fifth Legions have been pushed to the bottom of the city and are destroying the city wall. The enemy has been restrained by the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Legions. So far, they have not attacked our siege equipment. Carry out effective destruction!”

"Report, the soldiers of the Sixth Army have crossed the trench and have begun to attack the city!"

"Report, the Third Army and the Third Fleet have..."

……

　Thanks to Sniper No. 11, Andong, and Yijian 68 for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)