ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 794 Storming the City of Rome ([-])

"The city wall has collapsed!! The city wall of Rome has finally collapsed!!!..." Amidst the cheers of the Dionian legionnaires in front of the trench, a small section of the wall in the southwest corner of Rome in front roared, accompanied by the ground There was a tremor, and a cloud of dust rose up, accompanied by the screams of Roman soldiers.

After a while, when the dust and fog dispersed, a large gap in the city wall suddenly appeared in front of everyone: it showed an inverted trapezoid, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The width of the lower opening was about four meters, and it was more than three meters above the ground. Stones and sand collapsed. After coming down, a slope naturally formed on both sides of the gap.

"Charge over! Attack the city of Rome!" The soldiers of the Fourth Dionysian Legion near the gap were very excited, as if they were full of blood, stepping on the bricks and rammed earth on the ground, regardless of falling, quickly Rushing towards the gap.

The city's defenders, who had just been shocked by the collapse, now came to their senses. They ran to the gap and smashed javelins, stones, and wood downwards, hoping to inflict massive damage to the enemy and prevent them from entering the city.

But this can't stop the high fighting spirit of the soldiers of the Fourth Army. When the soldiers in the forefront rushed through the gap one after another, they stopped involuntarily, because not far in front of them was a thick wall of spears, countless people in simple clothes The Romans were arranged in a dense array, and the spears pointed towards them shone with cold light.

"Stop! Stop quickly! Form a square formation quickly!..." The captain of the soldiers in the front row shouted loudly. However, in this battlefield with loud killings, extremely excited soldiers were shouting and pouring in crazily. The organizational order was already in disarray. They were unable to obey orders and instead pushed their comrades in front to face the spear wall.

The soldiers in the front line had to hurriedly raise their long shields to protect themselves and ran towards the enemy.

Soon the open space between the spear wall and the gap was filled by the continuous influx of Dionian soldiers. The dense spear formation composed of Roman landless poor was personally led by Servius Mucia, the garrison general of the western city wall. Command, this general came from a poor family in Rome, but because of his bravery in previous battles, he was promoted several times by Camillus. From a lowly auxiliary soldier, he became the prestigious Roman squadron leader. This time he happened to be in 3000 Among the soldiers left behind.

The reason why Scipio chose Mucia among dozens of squadron captains to be responsible for the defense line on the west side of the city of Rome was not because, like Camillus, Scipio had a vision and mind for employing people regardless of his origin or ability, but because In the critical situation where the army was pressing down and the Roman nobles and civilians happened to be in conflict, his helpless move was to hope that Musia could use his prestige among the civilians to unite the large number of people who lived in the west of the city of Rome. The power of the poor and slaves blocked the attack of the Dionians.

In fact, what Mucia has done so far has exceeded Scipio's expectations. He not only temporarily eliminated the dissatisfaction of the civilians and slaves, inspired their determination to join the war, but also effectively organized them to fight on the city. and the city's full defense against the enemy's attack, which led to the fourth and fifth corps of Dionia, a total of more than 1 elite soldiers, to attack this area at the same time, but no obvious progress has been made.

Although the spear formation temporarily formed by Mucia did not inflict great damage to the Dionian soldiers, it was not frightened by the enemy's fierce attack, but stubbornly blocked the enemy's breakthrough.

The greatest damage to the Dionian soldiers who rushed into the gap was the defenders at the top of the city. The Dionian soldiers under the city were so dense that every javelin and stone thrown down by the defenders could cause damage. , not to mention the kerosene, the unfortunate Dionian soldiers were doused and turned into flaming men, which would pose a great threat to the surrounding comrades.

Fortunately, so far in the battle, tar and olive oil have been used in large quantities to burn many siege equipment. There is not much left now. Otherwise, it will be a battle for the Dionian soldiers who rush into the gap. disaster.

The commander of the Fourth Army, Olivers, who was excited because the city wall was collapsed by a siege engine, stamped his feet anxiously after learning about the fighting situation in the gap: "Order the light infantry to approach the city immediately and attack the city violently. The enemy, relieve the pressure on the soldiers inside!"

"Let the brothers at the gap retreat quickly to make room for the soldiers inside, so that they can form a phalanx and fight against the enemy!"

"Assemble the mountain reconnaissance team for me and let them try to see if they can climb to the city from the gap and attack the enemy!"

The messengers accepted the order and rode horses one by one.

"Also...immediately inform the commander of the Fifth Army, Geogris, and tell him the predicament we are in!"

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After Georgris received the news about the unfavorable situation of the Fourth Army, he looked solemn. He looked forward attentively: Under the city wall a hundred meters away, among the soldiers who were working hard to attack the city, there were burned-out siege cities. The chariots and arrow-blocking vehicles were emitting thick black smoke, and among them there were three relatively intact siege vehicles lined up under the city wall, which were hitting the city wall non-stop, causing a "booming" vibration. The sound was heard even by Geogris who was behind.

He could even see the ever-increasing cracks on the wall, as well as the dust and stones that kept falling, almost burying the siege engine.

"Immediately notify the first brigade to withdraw to the trench and form a formation in front of the collapsing city wall! After the city wall collapses, don't be anxious. You must enter the gap one by one in a complete formation. Be careful that there is an enemy's spear phalanx behind the gap. !”

"At the same time, we warn other soldiers in the group that they are prohibited from entering the gap without permission. Anyone who violates the order will be severely punished!"

"Yes, Legion Commander!"

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While the Fourth and Fifth Legions were fighting fiercely under the city, not far to the west of them, the army led by Thormid was fighting fiercely.

Although the total number of the Roman army led by Paulus was smaller than that of the opponent, most of the soldiers under his command were heavy infantry. Their number was twice that of the heavy infantry led by Tormid. The frontal fighting gradually began. gained the upper hand.

If it weren't for the continuous attacks of the first and second Dionysian cavalry legions from the rear flank of the Roman army, which contained part of the Roman army, then the Roman army would probably have made a full frontal assault and forced the Dionysian array to retreat in large strides. .

But as time went by, Paulus became more and more anxious: he was charged with the important task of rescuing the city of Rome, but he was blocked here, unable to advance for a long time. If this continues, even if he finally repels the opponent, The enemy, I am afraid that Rome has broken the city, and he will also become a sinner of Rome.

Therefore, he finally got angry and ordered the Roman squadron behind the array: only a part of the squadron was left to guard against the Dionysian cavalry roaming around. Most of the squadron stopped paying attention to the threat of enemy cavalry and immediately spread out to the two wings. , and then turned to attack the enemy's flank.

Under his supervision, the Roman military formation began to extend its arms from the original oval shape to a "one" formation.

The two cavalry commanders Ledes and Curzius, who were behind the Roman formation, felt bad when they saw this situation.By this time, the javelins of the two cavalry legions had long been used up. They divided the cavalry into small groups and galloped back and forth behind the enemy in an offensive posture, just to force the Romans not to dare to attack with all their strength. But now the Romans became ruthless. The cavalry regiment could not allow them to achieve their goals.

"It seems that the only option is to attack..." Leders sighed. He knew that the cavalry's attack on dense heavy infantry would not be very effective even if the opponent was in motion. It would especially damage the horses and lead to a large number of cavalry attrition. .

On the other hand, the younger Cucius was full of fighting spirit: "Then let the Romans see the power of our Dionysian cavalry charge! Commander Ledes, you lead the army to attack the enemy's left side, and I will attack the right side!"

With that said, he turned his horse and was about to gallop south.

"Wait a minute!" Ledes stopped him, pointed to the Roman army behind the Roman formation, which was facing them in a horizontal line, and said in deep thought: "...even if we want to prevent the enemy from spreading their formation from both wings, these Roman soldiers I’m afraid they will also rush to both sides to intercept us.”

"That's for sure, but there aren't enough of them to stop our charge!" Curtius said confidently.

"Then - their departure will expose that place!" Following the direction of Ledes's finger, Curzius's eyes lit up: because that was the rear of the center of the Roman army, facing Dionia. The light infantry, which was a great threat to the cavalry, was gathering there, under the protection of these Roman heavy infantry.

Leders's voice continued to ring in his ears: "We called up the cavalry on both sides to attract the enemy's attention, but quietly sent some cavalry back, out of the enemy's sight, and then your and my cavalry regiments marched towards When the enemy launches an attack on both flanks, these heavy infantry will inevitably rush to both sides to intercept them. Our hidden cavalry can take the opportunity to charge at the enemy's light infantry. These light infantry will inevitably be unable to resist and will cause confusion, thus driving them to disrupt It seizes the enemy's front line in the center and creates an opportunity for our infantry in the center to win."

"Good idea! Commander Ledes, let's do it as you say!" Curtius responded readily: "When we summon the legion's cavalry to form a formation, we should widen the distance between the cavalry and block the enemy's sight. Then each sent four companies (the cavalry regiment’s company organization is 50 cavalry), rushed to the rear, and waited for opportunities to take action.”

Leders nodded, saluted solemnly, and said in a deep voice: "Time is very tight, so let's act. May Hades bless us so that we can succeed!"

Curtius immediately responded with a powerful military salute: "With the blessing of Hades, we will definitely succeed!"

　Thanks to Crazy Vegetables for the tip!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)