At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 655: Enemies in the Senate
There was not much food left on the battlefield, probably just enough for each person to eat half a steamed bun and a few bites of beef, but this was the best they had eaten since joining the army.

A soldier in this era sighed: "I didn't expect the food for soldiers in the north was so good."

"The Datong will distribute land and pastures in the north, so they will naturally have more food and better food."

This silenced the atmosphere on the battlefield. Over the years, the Roman lands had been annexed by the elders, and most of these soldiers were lower-class civilians, whose lives were worse than those of the former citizens. Black bread with sawdust had begun to appear in Roman bakeries. They had not expected that they would have to eat sawdust black bread after joining the army. But now, after such a comparison, these soldiers realized that in the north, they could not only eat white bread, but also beef.

A soldier said angrily: "We fight for those elders, but they are only willing to give us sawdust and black bread. We can eat sweet white bread and beef, and it is given by the Northern Army. What's this? We might as well surrender to the North so that we can eat better."

At this time, the old soldier looked in the direction of the military judge in the distance and shouted: "If you don't want to die, don't talk nonsense here."

"Forget it, forget it. He likes talking nonsense the most. Don't take it seriously."

Although they said they didn't care, the soldiers here still felt that it was not worth it to fight for the elders, and the soldiers' morale dropped significantly.

In the next few days, the fighting in the South became more protracted. The attack was like a turtle, and the muzzles of the guns were raised three times. When they encountered artillery shells and bullets from the Northern Army, they immediately turned around like the wind and told the officers in the rear that the enemy's firepower was fierce and difficult to defeat.

During meal times, some cooks in the North would still bring some food in iron buckets and leave them on the battlefield for the Southern Army to take away, and the number was increasing.

There will also be soldiers on the battlefield holding a large loudspeaker to launch a propaganda offensive against the Roman army in the south.

"Roman citizens, stop working for those corrupt senators. If you just go to the north, you can get land. Is that what the senators will give you?"

The southern soldier asked, "It is said in the south that you in the north gave the land to the Gauls and captured our Roman citizens as slaves and gave them to the Gauls. Is that true?"

At this time, the Roman soldier who was spreading the word was angry and said, "This is a lie told by the senators. I am a citizen of Rome and I also had a workshop in the past. But because the senators bought a lot of Chinese goods, my workshop went bankrupt and owed a large debt. My whole family became slaves of the senators. Later, I learned that the North was abolishing slavery, and then I found a way to escape to the North. Now I have become a Roman citizen again. The members of the Roman Pax Romana are all Romans. How could we treat our own people as slaves?"

When the southern soldiers heard the accent, they knew it was the accent of Rome, and thought that what he said must be true.

The Southern soldier asked, "The North said they would divide the land. Is this true?"

The other soldiers were also listening expectantly. The senators were also very good at public opinion offensives. They spread the word in Rome that Claudius was a Gaul, which was why he regarded the Gauls as more important than the Romans. They even spread rumors that the Gauls were Rome's brothers and that the so-called land distribution of the Pax Romana was to distribute land to the Gauls. As long as Roman citizens went to the north, they would be captured by Claudius's men and then sold to the Gauls as slaves.

The senators not only blocked the news from the north, but also distorted the news from the north. Even a genuine senatorial family like Claudius was distorted into Gauls. The Romans in the south naturally knew less about the news from the north. They had also heard that the north would divide the land, but the rumors that the north would turn the Romans into slaves and sell them to the Han people made it difficult for the Romans in the south to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

"Of course it will be divided. Every citizen who comes to the north can get two jugs of land. Our bank will also provide you with low-interest loans so that citizens can buy oxen and farm tools. In our north, as long as you farm for three years, you can live a rich life and eat as much bread as you want."

"Bang!" At this time, a southern Roman officer fired a shot towards the north. Then he shouted: "This is the incitement of rebellion. Don't listen to their lies."

Then the officer stared at the soldiers intently. If anyone dared to refute, he would shoot the bewitched soldier to death without hesitation. The soldiers also understood that they had to bow their heads under the eaves, so they dared not refute. But after the officers left, the soldiers around them snorted coldly: "Bah, the elders' running dogs."

July 50, 7th year of the Han calendar, Southern Army Headquarters.

Marcus asked his soldiers, "Have the artillery, ammunition, and additional troops been delivered to the rear?"

The military officer shook his head and said, "They haven't arrived yet, but the senators are very dissatisfied with our army's failure to capture Modena. They think we have achieved no results, but the military expenditure has exceeded the budget by five times. The senators said that you are the most expensive consul since the founding of Rome. Many senators even want to replace you."

Marcus said angrily: "Firearms wars are inherently more expensive than cold weapons. Since the elders can't afford it, why did they start this war? There is a shortage of munitions and poor logistics support, but I haven't complained yet, but they blame me."

Marcus was at the front and understood the fighting power of the North the best. They could barely hold their ground, but they were not strong enough to attack. For this reason, he asked the Senate to transport a large amount of weapons, ammunition, food and other logistical supplies before the war. The Senate was dissatisfied with the large amount, so they stopped.

He thought that with so many arms, it should be enough to fight this war, but within two months of the war, the arms he had stored for half a year were almost consumed, which even Marcus did not expect. After all, he had never really fought a war with modern firearms, and it was hard to imagine the consumption of military supplies by 100,000 musketeers and hundreds of artillery pieces. He thought that the arms were enough for a year, but without modern weapons, they were not enough in less than a month.

In particular, he had not expected the cruelty of firearm warfare and the advantages of trenches over firearms. After a month of fighting, the Southern Army suffered more than 10,000 casualties. Such a cruel war not only stunned him, but also frightened the Roman soldiers.

The Southern Army was no longer as brave as it was at the beginning of the war. He was helpless in this situation. There were only a few trenches but his army could not cross them. The only way he could think of to solve this dilemma was to use more artillery to hit the enemy's front line and use more muskets to destroy the enemy, but the elders dragged their feet and weapons and ammunition had not been supplied since the beginning of the war. With the war now in its current state, it was impossible for Marcus to have a quick victory. Both sides could only fight to the death.

Marcus looked at the sand table in the headquarters, which showed the northern defense line with Modena as the core. He looked at the trenches and said helplessly, "I didn't expect that these trenches, which were built in the era of firearms, would have a greater advantage than the city walls. Without more than five times the number of troops, it is impossible to conquer such trenches."

At this time, a corps commander entered the headquarters and said, "Sir, there is a problem on the front line. The North is luring our soldiers with food every day and promoting the North's policies. Now the morale of the soldiers on the front line is dropping very fast."

"Food?" Marcus asked curiously.

"Every day after the war stopped, the North would bring hundreds of barrels of white bread and some beef to our front line, while our soldiers only had black bread mixed with a lot of sawdust. The soldiers had long been very resentful, and now being lured by the North, they were even less willing to fight."

Upon hearing this, Marcus angrily said, "Why is there sawdust mixed in our army's bread?"

The command center suddenly fell silent, and the legion commanders did not dare to look at Marcus.

Looking at the expressions of these officers, Marcus understood something and shouted angrily: "Go, kill the supplier!"

The soldier whispered, "The supplier of food is from the Ugais elder family."

Marcus could only helplessly say: "From now on, all rations of our soldiers will be replaced with white bread."

The soldier said, "Sawdust bread is cheaper. If we change all of it to white bread, it will increase the cost threefold, and it will be even more difficult for our army to support it."

Marcus said angrily: "The enemy eats beef, and we can't even provide them with white bread. How can the front line have morale? Let's not fight this war."

The soldier could only helplessly say: "I will ask the quartermaster to replace all the black bread." The legion commander just now continued: "The North has been promoting their land distribution policy. Now the soldiers are attacking the northern positions with their guns raised very high. They will be defeated if there is any obstacle."

Marcus was helpless when he heard this. There was a territory in the north that was several times larger than the Apennine Peninsula. They could distribute the land to Roman citizens, but the Senate could not do it. Of course, they did not want to do so, otherwise this war would not have started.

Marcus said: "Send the supervisors to the front line, and when the propaganda is being carried out in the north, launch an attack to interrupt their propaganda."

After thinking about it, Marcus still felt unsafe and said, "I will also go to the front line to inspect tomorrow."

July 50rd, 7th year of the Han calendar, the front line of the North-South War.

The consul inspected the front line. The front-line commander of the southern Roman army was extravagant and sent 100 troops, 200 steel cannons, and mortars into the battle. As soon as the battle began, artillery shells bombarded the northern positions like a rainstorm. The density of the artillery was no less than when the war just started. Under the attack of thousands of artillery shells, the northern trenches were smashed into potholes, some low walls were blown down, and the battle line was full of floating dust and artillery smoke.

After the bombardment, the Roman soldiers in the south slowly approached the northern positions in a skirmish formation, but they were shot by northern muskets at a distance of 200 meters. After advancing to about 100 meters at a turtle's crawl, they dared not move forward any more. All the soldiers found a shell pit to hide their bodies, and then raised their guns and fired randomly. When the bullets were all fired, they quickly retreated. At this time, the Roman soldiers in the south turned around like the wind. In less than 10 minutes, all the soldiers retreated from the front line of the battlefield. The northern front also stopped the artillery bombardment and attack, and did not pursue these soldiers. The two sides seemed to have a tacit understanding that as long as the south did not attack the north, the bombing would stop.

Marcus looked grim when he saw the Southern soldiers' behavior. From what he saw through the telescope, the Northern Army's casualties were almost invisible, and should not exceed double digits. The casualties of his own side came out quickly, with 54 killed and 434 injured, which means that the casualties were less than 500. The army of tens of thousands of people lost morale and retreated. The fighting spirit of his soldiers dropped more than ten times compared to before the war.

Soon it was time for lunch again, and the Northern Army once again delivered food to the front line. Even Marcus could smell the fragrance, and his face became even uglier.

The legion commander beside him immediately said, "Shoot and kill all these rebels."

"Bang, bang, bang!" Hundreds of spears fired at the soldiers.

But the Northern soldiers had encountered such things several times before, and they quickly hid their identities and fled back to their own positions through the trenches.

Marcus said with a hint of anger: "Use artillery to blow up those barrels."

"Boom, boom, boom!" Although it was difficult for the Southern artillery to hit the soldiers in the trenches, their hit rate on the iron barrels placed on the positions was very high. Amid a burst of artillery fire, these iron barrels were blown to pieces.

The aroma of beef and the smell of gunpowder wafted through the battlefield, and the southern Roman soldiers looked at the wasted food with regret on their faces.

But soon the voices of northern soldiers began to appear on the battlefield again.

"Roman citizens, you are fighting us here, but have you ever thought about your families? If you die in battle here, will the Roman senators take care of your families? Not at all. I know them too well. They will only squeeze your family's last copper coin and then buy your wife and son as slaves. This is how I went through it. Don't work for those reactionary senators. Joining us in the north is your best choice. If you don't believe it, you can write to your family to ask if your wife and son are still alive. They may have become slaves of the senators."

Marcus said, "Where the sound of the bombardment came from."

"Boom boom boom!" The sound of artillery began to cover the voices of the propagandists.

He knew that he could not allow these rumors to continue to suppress the morale of his side. If this continued, his legion's morale would collapse. This was the nature of the Romans. The Roman soldiers in the south had no qualms about surrendering to the north.

Moreover, he felt a little panic in his heart. He knew the Roman elders. They only cared about exploitation, not morality, and even less about the overall situation, because they believed that they were the overall situation. If the families of soldiers really owed debts, they would really sell the families of soldiers. In fact, such things were too common. Roman soldiers were fighting in the front, and there were countless families in the back who sold land, children, and daughters because they could not pay taxes. Especially in recent years, life had become worse, and the family property of the soldiers he recruited was not as good as that of previous Roman citizens. They were more likely to go bankrupt.

For the next five days, Marcus stayed at the front line. Whenever there was any propaganda activity in the North, he would immediately try to stop it, but the effect was not very great. Soldiers kept fleeing the battlefield in these days, and he caught the deserters and asked them why they were running away.

"We want to go home and see if our wives and children are all there. If they become slaves, why should I work for the elders?"

This answer left Marcus speechless, and he could only shoot these deserters. He felt that the shadow of failure had already enveloped him, and he couldn't break free. Rome had already tried its best for this war, and if it lost the war, the elders would not let him go.

July 50, 7th year of the Han calendar. The Roman camp in the south.

A group of centurions walked carefully into a tent, while outside the tent there were several soldiers looking around.

After the centurions entered the tent, a disheveled Roman soldier said sadly, "I went to Rome. The senators deceived us. Our military pay has not been paid for half a year. My wife has to work as a prostitute to support my son. Many soldiers' families were sold into slavery by the senators. I saw all this with my own eyes."

Then he suppressed his anger and said: "We are here fighting for those high senators, but our families have become prostitutes and slaves in Rome. This is the reward those senators give us."

When the centurions heard this, their faces were filled with anger. No one could tolerate such a thing. The elders would not do this even if they were dogs, let alone treating them as human beings.

The soldier finally roared: "The enemy is in the Senate!"

"The enemy is in the Senate!" All the centurions roared in suppressed anger. After knowing the fate of their families, they completely broke with the Senate.

"Everyone, prepare your weapons, kill all the military judges, and fight your way back to Rome."

The army revolted quickly. These Roman soldiers did not trust the senators in the first place, and now they knew that their relatives had been sold. They no longer had any reason to continue fighting for these senators.

On the same day, the soldiers of the rebel army contacted the Roman army in the north. On July 7, an uprising broke out in the Roman camp in the south. Nearly 14 Roman soldiers participated in the uprising. The Roman officers led by Marcus ordered other soldiers to suppress the rebellion.

But the news from Rome had spread throughout the entire military camp. All the soldiers knew that they had been betrayed by the Roman senators. These soldiers killed the military judges and their officers and joined the rebel forces, or simply ignored the orders of their officers and watched coldly as Marcus and others were besieged by the rebel soldiers.

Although Marcus fought desperately with his personal guards, Claudius led the northern Roman army to support the rebel soldiers.

The two sides joined forces, and hundreds of thousands of angry Roman legionnaires overwhelmed the headquarters of the Southern Legion.

(End of this chapter)