ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 885
"Does the dictator know about your return?" Titus was obviously a little dissatisfied with Quintus's arbitrary assertion, so he asked in a questioning tone.

"I really wanted to report to the dictator, but he seemed to be in poor health. Lucius didn't let me come in to disturb him." Quintus showed a look of disdain on his face and said with emphasis: "Titus, This is very worrying! Can Camillus still command the army well and lead us to defeat the powerful Dionians and retake Rome?!"

"As long as the dictator is alive, he will be the commander-in-chief of our entire army!" Titus said firmly.

Quintus became a little anxious and blurted out: "Is Camillus really worthy of your trust?! Since we returned from Herniki, the recapture of Rome has been blocked! The recapture of Ostia failed! The rescue of Gabi was narrowly avoided! After that, there were turtles here, watching Tustron, Aresia... One by one, the allies turned their backs on us, but did not take any action! Now the Dionian army is almost approaching the city, and we have already There is no way to escape, isn’t it Camillus’s fault!”

Quintus's voice was so loud that everyone around him heard it and began to whisper.

Titus immediately felt angry and spoke less politely: "Quintus, you and I are both experienced combatants. We should know that from the invasion of the Dionians to the present, the dictator has not commanded the battle and has not failed. If anything goes wrong, I wouldn't be able to do better if I replaced you! What's more, in the current predicament, only a dictator can unify the entire army and stabilize morale! And we must unite together to be able to resist The Dionian attack brings hope of victory! Therefore, any attempt to create chaos is absolutely not allowed!" Titus looked directly at Quintus with a pair of sharp eyes.

Quintus's face changed slightly, and he understood that Titus was warning him.

During this period, Quintus was dissatisfied with Camillus's conservative strategy and privately persuaded Aulus and Servius to put pressure on Camillus to change his combat strategy.As a result, Camillus, who got the news, transferred him to Antium in advance to ensure the unity of the army.The reason why Quintus violated military orders and returned privately was because he was certain that Camillus did not dare to punish him. When he came back, he first targeted Titus for persuasion because of Titus's prestige among the soldiers. Very tall, he can be regarded as the second-ranking figure in this army. With the support of Titus, he can force Camillus to make concessions and even gain command of the army.

But before Quintus could fully express his meaning, the shrewd Titus had already made his position clear and blocked Quintus' mouth.

At this time, Quintus felt anxious in his heart, but had nowhere to vent, and hit the battlements heavily with his right fist: If it weren't for the fall of Rome, the news was cut off, and the senators didn't know whether they were alive or dead, so they couldn't play a role. Otherwise, he would have been able to rely on him. Due to his noble status as the leader of the Dius clan, he had already accused Camillus of "passively avoiding war", thereby depriving him of his command authority.But without the support of the Senate, his prestige in the army is not high. Except for citizens and diners belonging to the Claudius clan, I am afraid that no other citizen soldiers are willing to obey the command. Otherwise, how could he be humiliated here? How angry is this little nobleman Titus!
"Unity?!" Quintus sneered: "You are willing to accept the command of Camillus, who has lost his courage, and watch Rome slowly disappear, but I will not! Absolutely not!"

Quintus' angry roar silenced the surroundings.

Titus watched him striding away with a layer of worry in his heart.As the actual commander of these battles with the Dionian army, he knew very well that Camillus did not want to adopt a more proactive strategy during this period, but even if the Dionians were in an offensive state, they did not Relax your vigilance, not only are there Dionian reconnaissance cavalry cruising around Satnicum, but there are always tens of thousands of troops guarding the flanks of the siege troops.In order to avoid falling into the trap of the Gabi War again, Camillus had to resort to forbearance in order to preserve his limited strength and wait for a turnaround.

But will a turnaround really come?Titus looked at the sweating soldiers in front of the city, thinking of the powerful Dionysian army and their terrible king, and his eyes became a little more confused...

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In the city of Satnicum, Servius found Licinius, who had become an alderman.

Licinius had been questioned by the generals headed by Quintus because of his civilian status, and he almost lost the power to command the soldiers in combat.But after returning to Satnicum, precisely because of his civilian background, the dictator Camillus appointed him as the alderman of Satnicum, because Satnicum was a newly established Roman colonial city. , the people in the city are mainly Roman civilians who have migrated. Now that the army has been stationed for a long time, and most of the soldiers are citizens of Roman clans, conflicts will inevitably occur and lead to dissatisfaction among the people of Satnicum. Licinius not only acts steadily , and his prestige among Roman civilians can also make the people of Satnicum obey better.

This appointment of Camillus was obviously well thought out, and from the moment the army was stationed, even though the Dionysian army was approaching, the city of Satnicum has remained stable. It can be seen that Licinius played a key role in it. play a role.

Licinius and Servius were relatives. Licinius's son Stolo took the youngest daughter of Ambustus as his wife, and Servius married Ambustus's daughter. The eldest daughter is his wife, and both parties are brothers-in-law.But the relationship between the two parties is not very good, and there is little contact between them.Because Servius was a noble, arrogant, flamboyant, and contemptuous of the common people, he had the same interests as Quintus. When Quintus questioned Camillus's battle plan, he clearly supported him. In the end, Camillus Quintus was sent to Antium, and Servius was put in charge of the wounded camp in the city, quietly depriving him of his right to lead troops.

"Licinius, I hope to get your help." Servius said straightforwardly.

"Please tell me what you need me to do." Licinius said politely, but he was a little dissatisfied: Is this the tone of asking for help? !

Servius obviously did not have the habit of observing other people's faces. He complained loudly: "The dictator asked me to manage the wounded soldiers camp, but it was not only a wounded soldiers camp, it was simply hell! Nearly 3000 seriously injured soldiers were crowded in a small In the square, not only was the ground covered with blood, groans were constantly heard, and the stench was overwhelming, but one-third of the people had no tents to cover them, and flies and mosquitoes were flying everywhere. It was very disgusting! It rained heavily the day before yesterday, and as a result, some wounded soldiers were injured He was caught in the rain and died of fever..."

Servius looked sad: "These are Roman warriors! They fought bravely for Rome, how can we abandon them easily? Mars will punish us! So I hope you can spare some time for these wounded soldiers." Build some houses and send more manpower so that they can get better placement and better care!..."

Seeing Servius' pitiful look, Licinius just wanted to feel sick. He clearly remembered: when Camillus appointed Servius to manage the wounded camp, the noble general was secretly He became angry and even jumped up and cursed, saying things like "I will never care about those dead people!..." Later, after everyone's persuasion, he reluctantly accepted the appointment.As far as he knew, he rarely inspected and managed the wounded barracks these days. Now he actually thought of playing nice? !
Licinius looked embarrassed and sighed: "You are right. These Roman warriors should indeed be well taken care of, but it may be difficult to free up houses for them..."

Hearing this, Servius' face sank.

Licinius seemed to have not seen him, and continued: "Well... you also know that I have spent a lot of effort to place our more than 13 troops in the city! The entire residential area in the west of the city The residents have all been moved out to accommodate the troops, but they can only live together with the residents of other urban areas. The people in the city have expressed dissatisfaction with this, and we have finally calmed them down. If we have to provide housing for the wounded soldiers now They are looking for new accommodation, and I am afraid that many residents in the city will have to relocate again. This will inevitably arouse the anger of the people and cause unrest in the city! In the face of an emergency situation that is about to fight the Dionians, it is best to stay in the city Stability of order!”

Servius immediately straightened his face and loudly accused: "Licinius, for the benefit of the civilians, you completely disregarded the life and death of the wounded soldiers, and you couldn't bear to let our warriors wail in the wind and rain. If you want to die, are you worthy of being a Roman general?"

Licinius was furious when he was accused in public. He knew that if he did not fight back and allowed these words to reach the ears of the soldiers, it would inevitably lead to resentment among the soldiers, so he immediately said sharply: "Servius Si, since you took over the wounded barracks, have you inspected the wounded barracks! Have you consoled the wounded soldiers who are groaning in pain! Have you directed your men to build more tents to improve their living environment!... You keep saying that Saying that you are doing it entirely for the benefit of the wounded soldiers is just a lie! The real fact is - due to your negligence, the camp for wounded soldiers was not well repaired, resulting in heavy rain and the death of some wounded soldiers! You should be held responsible for this Have important responsibilities!..."

"You...you!..." Servius did receive some criticism because of the heavy rain, and after Quintus came back, he also reminded him to take care of the wounded soldiers. After all, the huge number of wounded soldiers and the army's Soldiers are more or less related to each other, and taking good care of them will naturally win military morale.

(End of this chapter)