Rome must fall.

Chapter 59 Careless Cassinius
  The Volturno River, which originates from the Abruzzi Mountains in the Samnite region, was once called the Mother River by the Tyrrhenians, the indigenous people of northern Campania. Its clear water irrigated a fertile wilderness and produced Italy's finest wine. wheat grains. The Tyrrhenians founded twelve new towns in their basin, with Capua as their capital. Hundreds of years have passed, the Tyrrhenians have become history, and only the Volturno River still flows quietly.

Cassinius led the main force of the Roman legion, starting from Suisa under the scorching sun, walking out of the mountains and onto the plains of Campania. They marched continuously for five or six hours and arrived at the banks of the Volturno River in the afternoon.

It was the hottest time of the day. The tired and thirsty soldiers looked at the clear river water flowing, but they couldn't walk.

Not only the soldiers were like this, but Cassinius, a veteran, was also a little weak. You must know that he had been urging the soldiers to go on their way in the past few days. His physical strength and energy were about to be exhausted. He thought to himself: Capua will be here anyway. It's not far ahead, so it's better to take a break here to restore morale.

However, the water in this section of the river where the stone bridge is located is deep and the banks are high. Cassinius had to lead the troops westward along the river and made several turns. At one place, the river was wide, the water flow was slow, and there was a large river beach. where it stopped.

When Cassinius announced the disbandment, the soldiers rushed to the river to grab water. Some soldiers took off their armor and jumped directly into the river...

Cassinius, who also drank water and washed his face, found a shady place to lie down. The soreness and discomfort in his thighs and waist were greatly relieved by the support of the solid earth. He closed his eyes comfortably...

Most of the cavalry of this Roman legion served as the rearguard. Under the leadership of the legion commander Valerius, the remaining cavalry squad was all assigned to the vanguard for reconnaissance and pathfinding. The legion in the middle The main force did not have cavalry, but Cassinius was not too worried about this. Not to mention that they were far away from Vesuvius. Capua was not far ahead, and even if the slaves made some changes, , Furius will also send cavalry to inform.

But he didn't know that while he was leading the main force of the legion to rest by the river, the leading troops had suffered a disastrous defeat. The defeated soldiers hid in the city of Capua. It was considered good to escape with their lives, so why did they think of informing the main force of the legion? , only a few cavalrymen still kept their mission in mind, but when they ran back along the road and passed the Volturno River, Cassinius had already led the team down to the riverside. The river was winding and the banks were covered with green trees. They were in a panic. The Roman cavalry did not notice it and continued heading north. Therefore, they missed it and were quietly discovered by the rebel cavalry who wanted to explore.

Cassinius was lying on the soft grass, half asleep and resting. Suddenly he felt a vibration coming from the ground, as if thousands of drum hammers were beating on the ground. It was extremely chaotic, but increasingly louder and louder. The clearer...

Cassinius, who has rich battlefield experience, immediately realized that the shaking sound on the ground could not be caused by the vanguard of only more than 2000 people, and they were running in the direction where he was!

Cassinius suddenly stood up and shouted: "All the troops!"

At this time, he discovered that while he was taking a nap, the soldiers completely herded the sheep and everyone took off their clothes and took a bath in the water. Some people thought it was too crowded and even went downstream to find a better place. Bathing area.

The soldiers who heard his shout just looked at him in shock and did not take any action.

Cassinius ran over quickly, picked up the copper trumpet that the trumpeter had thrown on the river beach, and blew it hard.

"Woo! Woo!... Woo! Woo!..." The assembly bugle sounded, and the hard training for the past two months had an effect. Although the soldiers nearby were reluctant, they subconsciously went ashore and wiped it in a hurry. body, then put on his tunic, put on his armor, picked up his baggage, and gathered towards Cassinius…

The flag-bearer in the simplest clothes first held up the eagle, and the trumpeters who were not wearing armor took over the brass trumpets first. Only then did Cassinius have a chance to speak again. He shouted urgently: "Put on your armor quickly and take the Draw your weapons, prepare for battle!"

A soldier asked dissatisfiedly: "Sir Cassinius, do you want us to train here?!"

"Idiot!" Cassinius yelled: "An enemy is coming!"

"How can there be enemies here?" The soldiers were disapproving and thought Cassinius was joking.

"Look over there!" The flag-bearer stood on his toes and suddenly pointed to the southeast. A group of figures appeared on the avenue in the distance, and their armor was extremely dazzling in the sun. "That's our troops." The soldiers laughed, thinking that Cassinius was dazzled.

"Idiot, that's the enemy!" Cassinius didn't bother to explain to them in detail, and said to the messenger: "Quick! Go and call the others to gather with me, otherwise you will be punished by military law!"

The messenger was threatened by him and did not dare to neglect, and immediately ran downstream.

"Oh my god, how come there are so many people?!" a soldier exclaimed.

What was on the avenue was no longer a group of soldiers, but a long dragon. This long dragon began to leave the avenue, stepping on the wheat fields, and walked towards this side. People continued to join behind it, until the distance in the field of vision was filled with dense figures. …

The soldiers couldn't laugh anymore. No matter how stupid they were, they understood that the vanguard did not have so many soldiers.

Seeing this, Cassinius calmed down and shouted: "Don't panic, follow me!"

Cassinius's words did not reduce the nervousness of the recruits by half. They hurriedly put on their armor and followed Cassinius closely as they walked downstream.

Under the guidance of Oakmar, Spartacus, who was about to arrive at the Volturno River, saw at a glance the Roman army a few hundred meters away from the avenue, located on the south side of the river, hidden by grass and wheat fields. The enemies scattered in disorder were beginning to gather. He was a little anxious and shouted loudly: "Brothers, rush up with me, don't let the enemies have time to form their formation!"

As he spoke, he jumped into the wheat field first, followed closely by the soldiers of the first group. They ran wildly in the wheat field, regardless of the dense wheat leaves. Even if they stepped on the heavy wheat ears into the soil, they did not care about many things at this moment. .

Spartacus went through the wheat fields, took a shortcut, and pursued them nearby. He saw a Roman army arrayed on the river bank. Although they all had their square shields erected, many of them had drooped breastplates and wore their helmets crookedly.

The segmented armor structure of Roman legionnaires is a bit complicated. It takes some patience and time to wear it well. Therefore, Roman soldiers generally march wearing armor because they are worried about encountering enemies during the march. But this time they took off their armor and went to the river to take a bath. Under the pressure of the enemy's approach, it was extremely difficult to put on the armor smoothly.

Spartacus also saw enemy soldiers running towards the right side of the enemy's formation and downstream of the river, wanting to integrate into the formation.

Spartacus immediately shouted: "Go around them first and kill the loose ones!"

Under his leadership, the soldiers of the first group turned a corner and rushed to the right side of the Roman formation.

Cassinius was anxious when he saw this situation, but he did not dare to act rashly, because enemies were constantly rushing towards him in the wheat fields ahead. If he divided his troops to rescue him, not only would he be able to beat the dog with meat buns, but he would also be able to form a defensive array with great difficulty. It will also be disrupted, and then everyone will have no chance of survival.

Looking at the large group of heavily armed and murderous enemies, Cassinius already understood that Furius might have suffered a disastrous defeat: Damn the Senate! Damn Valerius! This is not a group of weak and ignorant slaves, it is simply an enemy army with high morale! Damn Valerius! Ten years of comfortable life have made you relax your vigilance, and your wrong decision to divide your troops has led to these young people's death!

Valirius blamed himself in his heart, but he encouraged loudly: "Soldiers, quickly put on your armor and prepare for defense! There are many enemies and we have been surrounded. Only by fighting bravely can we win There is a chance of survival! Commander Valerius is not far behind. When he gets the news, he will definitely find a way to rescue us!"

(End of this chapter)