Augustus Road

"What do you expect a soldier who can't even walk to do on the battlefield?" - Scipio

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The moment they realized the instability of the enemy, the Etruscan veterans moved, whistles blew rhythmically from the regiment to the century, and then to the ten-man squadrons. The five regiments moved like a coordinated human body. The two regiments in the front immediately changed into a wide double-row formation and quickly approached the trench. The scattered soldiers in front and behind carried simple door panels and laid them down at the first trench for the veterans to step over.

Pope hurriedly ordered two crossbows to fire stone bullets at the same time, but the veterans in two rows, the front row half-knelt and held their weapons horizontally, and the back row stood up and held their weapons diagonally, forming a double shield wall, which deflected the stone bullets. Then they disbanded the shield wall and continued to move forward while the crossbows were changing their bullets. How could they be so coordinated and calm if they were not old guys with old bones?

With a few bangs, several long door panels of the skirmishers were placed on the first trench, splashing a little water. Then they took the lead in stepping on them and rushed over, carrying other door panels and setting them up on the second trench. The veterans also quickly changed their formation, and entered the narrow area between the two trenches from the door panels in a steady and orderly manner. The three subsequent regiments also calmly prepared to catch up.

But at this moment, the fortress suddenly revealed its "ferocious face". The soldiers under Karabis and Pope suddenly shook off the felt cloth behind the fence. The other four crossbows, which had been fixed in advance at angles and ranges, were fully armed and ready to fire. That is, the "hidden firepower" made a brilliant appearance, making a whistle of death and shooting a row of heavy pilum javelins!

It turned out that the old rebels' habitual thinking on the battlefield was to form a shield formation first to resist the flying throwing weapons, and then take the opportunity of the opponent to change bullets, jump close to the enemy, and get the opportunity for hand-to-hand combat. But Karabis and his men just took advantage of this thinking: first shoot with two inaccurate crossbows, and then make the old soldiers think that the enemy is changing bullets, which induces them to seize the "opportunity", stand up, and rush to the middle of the two trenches.

In this narrow place, it is enough to adjust the shooting parameters in advance without any aiming. In front of the javelin fired by the crossbow, the veterans were pierced, many of them were connected together, and were nailed into the water of the trench behind, turning up waves of blood-red waves. Those who were not pierced were also confused, holding shields, crowded together, and stayed where they were.

Before they could react, the two crossbows standing in the open had also completed the reloading torque and fired the second wave of javelins

But these two first attacking teams were composed of veterans after all. Although they suffered heavy casualties under the unexpected attack, they still made a timely and calm judgment. The centurion blew a sharp whistle. They did not retreat, because retreating at this time would be more seriously hit. Instead, they went forward and prepared to wade directly through the second trench. As long as they engaged in close combat with the recruits in front of the barrier, the barrier blockade line would be taken down effortlessly.

However, when the veterans jumped into the trench, they found that it was also a death trap. The trench was not very deep, only reaching the knees or waist of people, but the bottom was full of iron barbs, big iron nails, and sharp broken pottery. Their feet in the water were nailed to the ground and they could not move. They could only tremble on the water, twitch and float up and down, and the lower body submerged in the water was gurgling up the precious objects with crimson color. Many tenacious people just endured the cruel pain and moved their bodies, hoping to cross the trench and climb ashore.

But the four centurions on the defensive side also blew the whistle. The recruits may not be very proficient in fighting with swords, but they can still use javelins and shields as walls to push forward. They lined up and marched forward. Several veterans who had finally climbed up were "pushed" back into the trench alive before they stood up their wet bodies.

At this time, dozens of strong young recruits on the high platform of the rampart, all of whom were shepherds, lined up in a row, spinning lassoes in their hands rapidly, and then threw stones like rain. The six crossbows were also divided into two and four, pouring fire on the trenches without any interruption.

When the remnants of the two regiments of veteran rebels were taken back to the starting point, more than half of them had been killed or wounded, and more importantly, their morale and state had been weakened.

Catiline, under the banner of the Great Eagle, had a grim face. These veterans were his trump cards. He did not take this blockade line seriously at first, but now between the two trenches, the bodies lying in blood and flesh were all his most elite followers. On the rampart, the enemy's mocking and provocative shouts constantly stimulated his nerves. Behind the wooden fence, they were laughing and erecting various quick graffiti works made of wooden boards. There were "erotic scenes" of him and his daughter, and a picture of him kneeling at the feet of his creditor with an iron prosthetic hand, and "**", and there were also texts. Many of these big-headed soldiers were former hooligans on the streets of Rome. Their paintings were simple and bright, popular, and to the point, making people unforgettable.

"Catiline, you have to make a decision as soon as possible. Should we make a full effort to break through here, or turn back as soon as possible and find another way out? Neruda's legion is not far from us." Mannius reminded him next to him.

"Everyone, dig the soil, erect the ballistae, fill in the damn trench, and break this place as soon as possible!" Catiline, who was angered by the caricature, ordered with bloodshot eyes.

Thousands of Catiline's brave followers, whether they were citizens or slaves, risked their lives with stones and javelins. Some carried baskets and shovels, digging desperately, and the soil flew everywhere into the trenches. fill. Some were carrying wood and building simple ballistas. "Stop, stop, don't waste weapons on these people!" Milu raised his hand to stop all the soldiers from shooting, "Hold your javelins and spears immediately." Fighting swords, crouching down behind fences and wooden fences, everyone sticks to their posts, and no matter what happens, don’t run around.”

The offensive situation broke out almost instantly. When these thousands of people pushed the corpses of veterans who had died in the previous battle, mixed with soil and blood, into the trench, they made a landslide-like trumpet sound and held the simplest weapons. Weapons rushed over like an overwhelming force. The width of the pass was limited, which limited their numerical advantage. They could only fight hand-to-hand with the two regiments of soldiers stationed by Karabis under the barrier in a wheel battle.

The enemy's weapons are primitive and their combat skills are backward. Even newly recruited soldiers with little combat experience can easily withstand a suicide attack with the help of complete equipment and weapon protection, as well as the help of centurions and veterans of our own. impact. It seems that Catiline simply wanted to use so many fanatical followers as cannon fodder to continuously wear down the defender's physical strength, and then use the veterans to make a second attack to break the blockade in one go.