ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 834 The Choice of the Etruscan Alliance
Outside the city of Ostia, Camillus repeatedly preached: as long as the small port city is recaptured, he can negotiate with the Dionians, and eventually he may return to the city of Rome peacefully...

Encouraged by this, the Roman soldiers who were eager to go home launched a fierce attack on Ostia for two consecutive days, but were repelled by the Dionysian army. , showing the brutality of the battle.

On the third day, the Roman army continued to attack.

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In the Roman Senate, Davos convened a meeting. In addition to all the senators in Rome, the participants also included the commander of the Third Army, Lizaru, the staff officers Printors, Tormid and diplomats. Tapirus.

"Gentlemen, Tapirus was entrusted by me to send an envoy to the Etruscan city-states of Keslera, Volci, Tarchuna and Fufluna on the north bank of the Tiber River. I hope that these Etruscan city-states, which were forced to be affiliated to Rome under strong military pressure from Rome, can tear up their alliance with Rome and join forces with us to attack the Roman colonial cities on the north bank of the Tiber River..." Davers said At this point, he sighed softly.

"Your Majesty, don't these Etruscans agree?" Lizaru asked hurriedly. As the commander of the legion responsible for guarding the Roman Vertebra Bridge and the newly built river port on the north bank, if the Etruscan city-states on the north bank could fall to Dio If we attack Nea and attack the Roman colonial city, the enemy's pressure on the north of the Roman city will no longer exist, and the third legion can be withdrawn and invested in other battlefields. This is why Lizaru was so concerned and was the first to interrupt. s reason.

Davos did not answer directly, but looked at Tapirus.

Everyone's attention immediately shifted to the diplomat. He swallowed slightly nervously and said: "I...after receiving His Majesty's order, I first took a boat to Keslera, not only because of it. It’s the closest to us, but also because... as far as I know, it is the Etruscan city-state that is the friendliest to the Greeks. In fact, they did receive me very warmly.

But... when I talked about Dionia's willingness to ally with them and deal with Rome together, the Keslera people politely refused. They said, 'Kesrela has been friendly with Rome for decades. They will never abandon this friendship easily, but they will not participate in this war and become enemies of Dionia,'

They also defended the Romans, saying, 'We have captured the city of Rome and have the upper hand. It is best to have a truce and peace talks with the Romans at this time, so that we can get more benefits and ensure that this land The trade order will not be seriously damaged...'"

"They say they won't be our enemies, but this Caislera man is actually defending the Romans in his words." Roman Administrator Asistes said with a frown.

"The people from Caislera made it very clear. They have been friendly with the Romans for decades, but they had never had any contact with us before. If I were a person from Caisrera, of course I would help the Romans!" Matonis Said bluntly.

Nicomachus looked at Tapirus and asked worriedly: "Since Keslera, who is the friendliest to the Greeks, is also biased towards the Romans, other Etruscan city-states may not support us, right?"

Tapirus nodded slightly and continued: "Then, I went to Volci and Tarchuna. These two city-states were attacked by Rome and were eventually forced to surrender to Rome. The Romans were still there. A colonial city was established in their territory. They expressed interest in His Majesty's proposal, but in the end they had no choice but to say, "The vast majority of their young and middle-aged citizens are fighting with the Roman army, so they dare not take any measures against Rome now." Any hostile action so as not to anger the Romans and endanger their own citizens on the campaign'..."

"It seems that the Romans are still very wary of these Etruscan allies!" Antrapolis, who was born in the intelligence department, sighed when he heard this.

"Then I went to Fufruna. A few months ago, Rome sent an army to try to conquer this city-state. But at that time, we had a war with Rome. The Romans withdrew the army that attacked Fufruna, which was equivalent to us. Saved Forfuluna." Tapirus continued: "But when the Forfuluna Council received me, they did not appear enthusiastic, and they did not seem to be very interested in our proposal. They said to me, 'If they want to unite with us and declare war on Rome, Fufruna cannot make a decision alone. It must also discuss with the Etruscan city-state alliance and reach an agreement before making a final decision. But before that, they Willing to establish a friendly relationship with us...'

But as far as I know, the Etruscan city-state alliance is a loose alliance and not very united. In recent years, Rome has attacked the Etruscan city-states. This alliance has not united all the Etruscans. It was a sub-city-state and played a role in resisting Roman aggression, so it was easier for Rome to conquer Volci and Tarchuna..."

"You mean... the Forfuluna people are just perfunctory with us and have no intention of forming an alliance with us?" Asistes interjected thoughtfully.

Tapirus nodded and said: "After meeting with the Forfuluna Council, I asked the translator who followed me to bribe the Forfuluna Councilors with money, and then I learned from them that although Forfuluna hates Rome, But they are also wary of us outsiders, and the power of Dionia makes them even more worried. At first, the Etruscans united with the Romans and drove away the Celts. As a result, the Romans only a few years later They led the army to conquer them, so they don’t want to make the same mistake again. I’m afraid they want to see both us and Rome lose. This is the best thing for them..."

"These Etruscans want to get good! Unfortunately, I think they will only regret it in the future!" Matonis said loudly.

"I'm afraid it's not just the people of Fufruna who think this way, other Etruscan city-states also have similar ideas. Even compared to us, they are more willing to trust the Romans who have been with them for hundreds of years." King Davos His brother-in-law Alcibiadas said seriously: "Since yesterday, the trackers and sailors of many of our cargo ships on the Shuo River have seen a small group of Etruscan troops in the distance on the north bank. Fortunately, there are They didn’t dare to get close to the cavalry regiment’s guards.”

"I also received a report from the cavalry, but I think they are just conducting reconnaissance and do not dare to have a direct conflict with us." Leders confirmed the news.

"Although they have not fought with us yet, they have already shown hostility. We must fight back, otherwise these Etruscans will think that we are weak and can be bullied!" Matonis said hatefully.

"Your Majesty." Asistes looked up at Davos, and said worriedly: "Because the Roman army is attacking Ostia, the cargo ships from the kingdom can only be pulled by the trackers from the north bank of the Tiber River to the city of Rome." , if the north bank is also attacked by the Etruscans, the waterway leading to the city of Rome will be cut off, and the exchange of personnel, the replenishment of soldiers, the delivery of materials, and the supply of military rations will all become more difficult , this is not conducive to our governance of Rome!"

When Davos heard this, he began to tap his fingers on the table, but his eyes gradually became sharper. He said in a deep voice: "It seems that my judgment about these Etruscan city-states was wrong. I originally thought that they were suffering from Rome." The threats should be happy to form an alliance with us, but I didn't expect that they each have other ideas! Since they don't accept our good intentions, then we will deal with them in another way, show them our force, and let them know , what terrible consequences will be suffered by being an enemy of Dionia! I decided-"

Davos glanced at everyone and said with emphasis: "Send troops to capture Keslera!"

When everyone heard this, some were excited and some looked sad.

"Your Majesty, will the attack on Keslera cause the Etruscan city-state to completely fall to Rome?" Asistes expressed his concern.

"Don't worry, Lord Asistes. As your Majesty said, these Etruscan city-states each have their own thoughts. Volci and Tarchuna were defeated by Rome, and their territories were divided. They harbored suspicions against the Romans. There is resentment, just because most of their citizens are in the Roman army, they dare not cooperate with us. And I am afraid that most of the city-states further away from Rome, such as Forveruna, will have a bystander attitude... Only Cesrella and Rome has close relations, but its location is too close to the banks of the Tiber. Seizing it will not only protect our waterway shipping, but also deter other Etruscan city-states, which will help persuade them to ally with us again!" Tapirus Analyzing with confidence.

"However, Keslera is a mountain city. The mountain it is located on is much higher than the Capitoline Mountains here, so it is not easy to capture. The current situation does not allow us to bring too many soldiers to attack. Once we attack for a long time, If not, our army will fall into a dilemma of fighting on two fronts!" Tormid reminded with a solemn expression.

"Although Kesrela is a mountain city, many of its citizens were in the Roman army's expedition to Herniki. A few days ago, the Third Legion captured some of their citizens. In fact, there are no citizens in Kesrela now. How many soldiers are capable of fighting? Your Majesty, I can quickly capture the city of Keslera with four brigades!" Epithenes shouted to fight.

As soon as he finished speaking, Matonis immediately refuted: "Epythenes, your troops have not even captured the Capitoline Mountains in the past few days, and you still want to attack Keslera, forget it! Your Majesty, Let us, the Second Corps, carry out this mission!"

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(End of this chapter)