ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 846 Attack eastward
After summoning Publius, Davos immediately convened a military meeting. After discussions with the generals, he determined the strategy of attacking the Latium area of ​​"first east, then west, combined with negotiation".

The city of Phedena is located on the upper reaches of the Tiber River, only about thirteen miles away from the city of Rome. However, it is a town founded by the Etruscans. It is small in area and spans both sides of the Tiber River.During the gradual rise of Rome, it was the main bridge for the Etruscans to reach the south bank of the Tiber River.In particular, the city of Viai was very close to Fidenae, and Rome was frequently invaded through it.

For this reason, for decades, the Romans and the Viais repeatedly competed for this small city.Eventually, the Romans made Fredina its colony and made it a forward base for Rome's attack on Viai, which gradually fell on the defensive and was eventually occupied by Rome.

Fidenae, which became a Roman colonial city, was too close to the city of Rome, and most of its fertile riverside land was assigned to Rome, making this small city less populated than before.

When Rome was captured by the Dionians, the Roman people living in Fidenae were terrified. However, for several days, no movement was seen in the city of Rome. In addition, Camillus returned with his army, which made the Fidenae people Breathed a sigh of relief.However, the Roman army soon moved westward, and soon Viai suddenly fell, which made the Phedinians panic again.

A few days later, the Etruscan-Roman colonial coalition arrived, including the return of citizens who had previously been conscripted from Phedena.Just as the people breathed a sigh of relief, the coalition forces that crossed the river suffered a disastrous defeat. The people of Fidenae witnessed a large group of Dionysian cavalry chasing and killing the fleeing Roman soldiers along the river bank on the top of the city. Many people They knelt down and surrendered, and some jumped directly into the Tiber River, and were swallowed up by the river in the blink of an eye...

Although the victorious Dionysian army did not take advantage of the situation to attack Phedena, and the surrounding areas of Phedinai returned to calm in the following days, the Phedinaeans who were frightened by the tragedy of that day no longer believed that they It was safety, and many people strongly called for fleeing this dangerous place, fleeing to the Latin allies in the south, or heading west to find Camillus.

But it was hard to leave the homeland, and the whole city debated for several days, still unable to make a decision.

Early that morning, the sleepy Fidenai sentries boarded the city. They were stunned: dust and smoke billowed in the distance, and a black crowd was pouring towards Fidinai...

"The enemy is coming!! The Dionians are coming to kill!!!..." The alarm bells in the city rang, and the people panicked.

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Early the next morning after the military meeting ended, Davos sent a large army to attack Fidina.

The majority of the Third Army and the Roman reserves marched eastward along the north bank of the Taibo River. The Second Army, the Sixth Army, the four brigades of the Lucanian Reserve Army, the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, the First Cavalry Army, and a 500-man The engineering team marched eastward along the south bank of the Tiber River, totaling more than 3 people, and attacked the city of Phedina from the south and north at the same time.

The reason why Davos used such a large force to attack a small city with less than a thousand defenders was because he didn't care whether he was killing a chicken with a knife. He just wanted to use a swift and violent offensive to defeat more enemies in a short period of time and shock the Latin city-states. , to create a more favorable situation for yourself.

In order to stabilize the order in the city of Rome, Davos did not lead the army in person like last time, but he appointed a temporary commander-in-chief, but this person was chosen beyond the expectations of the generals-Printo, the staff officer of the Ministry of Military Affairs ers.

When the candidates were announced, since the First Army did not participate in the battle, the Third Army Commander Lizaru had a good relationship with Printors. Only the Second Army Commander Matonis raised objections: "Printors has never I have personally commanded military operations and have no experience as a commander..."

However, under Davos's insistence, Matonis, who was accustomed to obeying Davos's orders, had to reluctantly accept it.

3 people attacked a small town with less than 1000 defenders. Moreover, the small town was located on a flat terrain. It seemed that capturing it would be an easy task.

But this is not the case, because for decades Fidenae, as a strategic point in the struggle between Rome and Vienna, has evolved into a small military fortress with high and thick walls and a moat, which is easy to defend but not conducive to attack. According to the formulated According to the attack plan, the expedition troops must capture the city as quickly as possible without forming a long stalemate.

In order to repay the trust of King Davos and to prove himself, Printors carefully studied the situation of the city of Phedina and its surrounding terrain, and decided to take a similar approach as His Majesty Davos captured the city of Rome. Tactics: He asked the engineering team to modify a number of pack cars to carry five fast ships, which were transported by many pack animals and a lot of labor. By land, he avoided the attention of the defenders and bypassed the city of Phedena. Arriving at a low point on the upper bank of the Tiber River...

Faced with the Dionians' persuasion to surrender, the Phedinaeans neither agreed nor objected, but only said that they would consider it.

How could Printors allow the other party to delay? He immediately issued an order to attack the city.

With an order, the Dionian army launched a strong attack on the city of Fidenae from the south and north.

Just as the defenders of Phedinai were trying their best to resist the siege of the Dionian soldiers, more than 200 mountain scouts, fully armed, rowed five fast boats and rushed down from the upper reaches. When they passed the city of Phedinai, they happened to He was blocked by a pontoon bridge across the river and almost broke the pontoon bridge.

The current in the upper reaches of the Tiber River east of Phedena is so fast that it is not only impossible to swim, but also very difficult to drive a raft. In addition, the towns along the river further east of Phedena, except for Crustuerium, are Roman. Outside of the colonial city, everything else is the territory of the Sabines.This mountain race has never seen the sea, cannot make boats, and most of the people cannot even swim. Therefore, the Phedinaeans have never been attacked by enemies from upstream of the Tiber River, but they never dreamed that The Dionians would be imaginative and spend a lot of manpower to transport ships from land to the upper reaches of the Tiber River, so they were completely unprepared.

When the soldiers from the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade climbed onto the pontoon one after another and began to fight towards the southern city of Phedina, the panicked Fedenai people hurriedly squeezed out less than a hundred soldiers from the city head and rushed to the bridge to intercept them.

By the time they arrived, some of the soldiers from the mountain reconnaissance brigade had already set foot on the land of the southern city. They immediately launched a swift attack on the hurriedly arriving Fidenean soldiers, rushing into chaos the Fidenean soldiers who were trying to form an array. .

And in the melee, how could the Fidenai citizen soldiers be the opponent of the soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance brigade who had been trained hard all year round? Not long after they were defeated, the southern city was breached.

Soon, the isolated Beicheng also surrendered.

It was just in the afternoon when the Dionian army occupied the entire city of Phedena. From the attack to the end, it lasted less than four hours. Printors' command ability was initially recognized by the generals and soldiers.

The Dionian army previously occupied Rome, and now has access to the upper reaches of the Tiber River, which completely cuts off the Romans' connection with the north bank of the Tiber River.

After resting for a day in Phedena, the Dionian army marched eastward the next day. Their goal was Crustuerium, the last colonial city east of Rome.

Crustaium was originally a town founded by the Sabines, but its complicated relationship with Rome was established soon after the city was founded.

It is said that after Romulus founded Rome, he caused a lot of trouble because most of his followers were single men. In order to solve their marriage problems and allow these energetic men to settle down in Rome with peace of mind, Romulus After thinking of a way, he announced to the outside world that he would hold a Poseidon Festival celebration and invite surrounding forces to participate.

Some Sabine tribesmen believed it and came to Rome with their wives and daughters. As a result, Romulus and his followers snatched away all the Sabine women.

Half a year later, the Sabine people who had lost their loved ones gathered their troops to attack Rome. When the two sides were about to start a decisive battle, the Sabine women who had become the wives of the Romans appeared. They knelt down and begged both sides to cease the war.Inspired by family affection, the two sides reached a reconciliation, and Romulus even invited these Sabine tribes to move to Rome, and the two sides became one.

The town where these Sabine tribes lived was Crustaium.

Regardless of whether this legend heard from the Romans is true or false, it is a fact that Crustaium became a Roman colony during the Roman monarchy.Many Latins moved to this town at the call of the Roman king, but a few decades later it joined the Latin city-states in the war against Rome. After being defeated, it became a Roman colony again, and soon became a Roman colony against the Sabines. A forward base for human invasions, where the Romans defeated the Sabines several times.

Christauum is less than ten miles away from Ferdina. It is built on a hill near the Tiber River, overlooking the long and narrow riverside flat land washed by the mixed mud and sand of the Tiber River to the east.

Printors led the Dionian army to the city of Christaum quickly, but he did not attack immediately because Publius, who arrived later, said that he was sure to convince Christaum People surrender.

Sure enough, less than two hours after Publius entered the city, the people of Crustaium opened the city gate.

Christaium, which was adjacent to the Sabines, would have been difficult to resist the Sabine invasion without the support of Rome.Previously, the citizens sent out to join the Roman army ran back and told the people the news of the "collapse of the Roman army", which caused extreme unrest in the city. Then the Dionysians broke through the neighboring city of Phedena in less than a day, which made the city even more uneasy. The people of Christaium were frightened. At this time, the former Roman senator Publius, whom they were familiar with, came into the city to persuade them. The people of Christaium, who were surrounded by two major forces and were isolated and helpless, had no choice but to surrender.

(End of this chapter)