ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 840 Betrayal
"Father, you are not in good health now, and the doctor won't let you go out! You have to believe that Titus and the others can handle this matter!..." Lucius held his father down and urged him eagerly.

While the two were arguing, Titus walked in.

Lucius happened to see him and asked in surprise: "Titus, why did you come back so soon?! Things in the camp have calmed down?!"

Lucius said, winking at him.

Titus was obviously not in the mood to pay attention. He looked tired, looked at Camillus on the couch with worry, and said eagerly: "Master Dictator, I rushed over as soon as I heard that you were awake. Wo The envoys of Erqi and Tarchuna came, they said that Keslera and Viai had fallen, and they asked to withdraw their troops to protect their city-state from being invaded by Dionia—”

"If Keslera and Weiai were occupied by the Dionians as these messengers said, how did they arrive at the camp? Titus, can you confirm that they are really the messengers of Volch and Tarchuna? ?!" Lucius immediately questioned.

"We all know the people who came, Messala, the consul of Volch, and Kauda, ​​the senator of Tarchuna. They took a boat to Adi, then disembarked, and rushed over. According to them, Dionia The warships did not intercept them."

Titus replied angrily: "As soon as they arrived at the camp, they spread the word about the fall of Keslera and Veai. The originally restless camp became completely chaotic. Not only did the Etruscan army want to leave, but The soldiers of the colonial city on the north bank of the Tiber River want to leave, and some Latin Allied armies also want to leave! Now, Quintus and the others are blocking the entrances of several camps with their troops. The Etruscans declare, 'They will not be allowed to leave again. , They are about to force their way in!' Now there has been a small-scale conflict between the two sides, so I rushed over to ask you for instructions!"

"This is all a conspiracy of the Dionians!" Lucius shouted angrily: "Damn Etruscans! Damn Latin city-states! And those Roman civilians who deserve to be crucified!... "

At this moment, Camillus calmed down, and he let out a deep sigh: "A fire in Ostia... burned away the hope of the soldiers to fight, and the fall of Caislera... and Weiai collapsed again. Our army... King Dionia... alas..."

Camillus suddenly stopped talking. He lay quietly with his eyes slightly closed.

"Father!"

"Your Majesty the Dictator!" the two of them shouted worriedly.

After a moment, Camillus asked: "Titus... have you asked them, even if... the Etruscan army breaks away from us... how can they go back?"

Titus immediately replied: "Ask. They said that after crossing the river from the upper reaches of the Tiber River, they would immediately go east into the mountains and bypass Veai. That mountainous area was still an area controlled by their Etruscans and was relatively safe. ..."

Camillus nodded slightly, his expression unchanged, and said intermittently: "Judging from the current situation... we can no longer force them to stay... otherwise... it will only trigger a civil war in the camp... no matter who wins. It will only be the Dionians who lose... and gain, and the friendly relations... between us... and Etruria... the colonial cities... and even the Latin allies... will be completely destroyed... In that case...it's better to let them go..."

"Master Dictator!" Titus said eagerly: "Since we returned from Herniki, we have been fighting the Dionians until now, plus the fleeing civilian soldiers, we have lost nearly 3 people! If the Etruscans, colonial citizens, and Latin Allied troops are allowed to leave, we may have less than 15000 soldiers left. Not only will we not be able to recapture Rome, we may also be attacked by the Dionians!"

"Titus!" Camillus shouted with great effort, and then said with self-reproach: "I made a big mistake before... As soon as I heard that Rome had fallen, I wished I could take it back immediately... That's why...the army suffered so many casualties...and got into such a big predicament...It's all my fault..."

"No, Mr. Dictator, it is not your idea to quickly retake the city of Rome. It is the urgent hope of all our soldiers!" Titus was not just comforting him, because what he said was also true.

"Now we all know that... quickly retaking Rome is... an impossible thing..." Camillus sighed softly, coughed a few times, and showed a trace of pain: "Attack an Os. Tia...is so difficult...then, what will happen when we really attack Rome?!"

Titus and Lucius could not refute it because it was the truth, so they remained silent.

At this time, Camillus opened his eyes, eyes flashing: "Titus, do you still remember how we defeated the Celtics?!... We attacked a branch of the Celtics The food collection team...attacked the raiding troops they sent out to attack other villages...victory after victory...let the Latins...the Etruscans...the Sabines who were tortured by the Celts... Join us...the team is getting bigger and bigger like a snowball...but the Celts were forced to stay in Rome...dared not to leave the city...in the end they were too scared to fight us head-on...they had no choice but to choose We retreated...but in the end we were overtaken and defeated!"

Camillus's voice gradually became more and more powerful: "That war...I remember it lasted for more than half a year, and next to deal with the powerful Dionians, we...we should also adopt such a strategy , only by persisting in a long-term fierce battle with the Dionians... can we finally win!"

Titus was a little moved, but he felt a little uneasy: "The Dionians are not the Celts who only know how to burn, kill and loot, they are more cunning than the Celts!"

"But... the original Celts did not have such a powerful enemy as Carthage... Samonai!" Camillus responded confidently.

Titus was convinced, and he immediately said: "I will convey your intention to Quintus and the others immediately..."

Although Quintus clearly opposed Camillus's decision, the Roman generals finally reached an agreement: the Etruscan troops were allowed to leave, but they had to accompany the colonial soldiers and ensure their safety Return home.

After this force left, the generals generously allowed the Latin Allied troops to return to their respective city-states. These Latin Allied generals did not leave in a hurry like the Etruscans, but rushed to the big tent one after another. A sincere expression to Camillus: As long as he calls, their city-state is always willing to continue fighting with Rome to drive away the outsider Dionia!
Watching the troops fighting side by side leaving one after another, it had a great impact on the Roman soldiers who were still in the camp. They would inevitably panic. The generals made great efforts to finally manage Calming down the chaos in the camp.

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

About 13000 coalition troops composed of Etruscan and Roman colonies marched eastward and arrived in the Tustron area in the evening. After resting in camp for a night, they arrived at Phedinae in the afternoon of the next day and passed through the pontoon bridge. crossed the Tiber.

Just when they left the river bank and prepared to go deeper into the mountains to the east, they found that the Dionian army was already arrayed in front, blocking their way. The panicked coalition soldiers had to prepare for a life-and-death struggle.

Just as the two armies were about to approach, the Etruscan armies in Volci and Tarchuna suddenly turned their shields and spears and launched an attack on the flanks of the Roman colonial soldiers.

The Roman soldiers did not expect the sudden betrayal of their allies, and were unprepared and fell into chaos.

The Dionian army took advantage of the situation and attacked from the front, and the coalition troops were quickly defeated.

Most of the Roman colonial soldiers were captured, except for a few who escaped by crossing the Tiber River and hiding in the city of Phedena.Soldiers from other Etruscan city-states also surrendered one after another, and the Dionysian army won a great victory with almost no losses.

It turned out that Printors led the mountain reconnaissance brigade to successfully attack the city of Keslera at night, but a small number of Keslera people escaped to the neighboring city of Tarchuna during the night.

The people of Tarchuna were shocked. The Dionians stayed in the city overnight, and their powerful force made them feel afraid. However, Tarchuna, which currently lacks young and middle-aged citizens, is obviously unable to resist the continued attack of the Dionian army. , so Tarchuna sent people to urgently notify the neighboring Etruscan city-state Volch, and at the same time sent envoys to Keslera to find out what was going on.

After Printors captured Casreira, he immediately sent people back to Rome to report the victory to Davos.

Davos was overjoyed and immediately dispatched two brigades of the Third Army to garrison in Keslera City according to his prior plan.

When the Tarchuna envoy arrived at Keslera City, Printors was busy. Not only did he have to quickly stabilize order in the city, but he also had to deal with the complicated affairs of the port in a timely manner, because King Davos repeatedly emphasized: Except for seizing the ships of Keslera and Carthage, do not plunder or invade the merchant ships of other city-states.

Regarding the arrival of the Tarchuna envoy, Printors simply told him that if he had any proposals or requests, he could go to Rome to discuss with His Majesty the King.

The envoy from Tarchuna felt a little more relaxed when he saw that the Dionian general who occupied the city of Keslera did not speak harshly or even threaten him with force, so he really rushed to Rome.

Not long after, Walch's envoy also arrived.

Davos received them very friendly and expressed the hope of the Kingdom of Dionia to ally with the Etruscan city-states to fight against the Romans.

　Today is Children's Day. I am going out to play with my children in the evening, so I will update in advance.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)