Augustus Road

"The captive 'captured' her vicious conqueror and brought art to the Roman countryside." - Horace's comment on the "Hellenization" of the Roman Republic

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Sure enough, the two centurions on horseback followed Otacilius nervously, because they were afraid that if Salona really cheated, they would be the first to be sacrificed. As a result, when passing the Latin Hill, Otacilius pointed to many people in plain clothes on the hill and said that they were all preparing for the festival, "After the city surrenders, you can also participate and rejoice with the citizens." His words were disguised to be very real, and he was so bold that there was no flaw.

Then on the ridge between the mountain and the city, the two centurions only saw some miscellaneous trees and the road seemed to be a ditch washed by rain, and there was nothing unusual about the others.

Then they entered the city. Apart from the normal city garrisons, no strange phenomena occurred. Then the two centurions expressed to the city officials and the Council of Elders that they believed in the sincerity of Salona City for peace and were willing to report truthfully to General Laelius.

When the two returned to the camp, many fully armed soldiers came out of the caves on the cliffs behind the city and quickly occupied the towers and gates; the soldiers on the Latin Mountain, wearing civilian clothes, continued to quickly build fortifications with bricks and wood and dig trenches; the best hidden ones were the soldiers and citizens behind the ridge. They first placed the materials in the forest behind and dug the foundation shallowly according to the plan in advance. It looked like a natural trench line washed out by rainwater - after the enemy inspectors left. They held shovels and pickaxes. The foundation was quickly dug deep, and according to Pope's plan, sharpened wooden stakes were inserted horizontally and vertically, and connected with bristle ropes in the middle. Then the bricks and stones were piled up in "modules" according to the wooden stakes. Then, referring to the previous plan to defend the Acropolis of Ponticabia, iron plates, giant nails and sail ropes were used to reinforce the half wall at intervals. This half wall, which was one and a half stadia long, was completed around midnight.

But over there, Laelius was still hesitant, because he didn't know where the vague army in the fog was going now. Just in case, he let a thousand Tribal warriors stand at the front of the queue the next day, and light infantry and cavalry were placed on both sides as cover, and his main army was behind. On the seashore on the other side of Salona, ​​there were all Libourne's light boat fleets. Responsible for siege and surveillance.

The city seemed to really do what it promised before, even the half-naked Tribal people. Holding reverse-edged sickles, they stood within the killing distance of the city towers, but the enemy did not shoot. Even after Lailius ordered his archers and crossbows to shoot at the city, they remained silent, so the general relaxed his vigilance and ordered the entire army to cancel the formation and return to the camp to rest near sunset.

As soon as night came, Lepidus began to mobilize troops along the half wall to the Latin Mountains. When the third day came, Lailius sent the chief battalion of the Pan God Legion to the gate of Salona.

At this time, stone bullets and javelins were suddenly shot from the towers on the city. Without any prior warning, the chief battalion of the Pan God Legion thought that they would not encounter any resistance and easily accept the city, but many people were killed and injured in an instant, and other troops also retreated like a tide in the angry shouting. On the highest point of the battlement, golden flags of various legions were suddenly erected, with Lepidus on top. All the citizens of Salona, ​​regardless of gender, age or age, were cheering behind them.

"Damn it, I was deceived! I decided not to forgive this treacherous city. After the city is captured, all men and women will be sold as slaves. As for the original slaves, they will also be sold, and each one will be sold at a price one sestius higher than the citizens, so that this city will be forever degraded and humiliated!" Laelias was so angry that he almost lost his voice. He hurriedly used his skills in battle to adjust the formation of the infantry and archers, and then he shouted loudly "Marcius, Marcius".

Marcius was the director of engineering who was close to Pompey. His role was similar to Pope and Gabor under Lepidus. He was captured by Lepidus' cavalry after the Battle of Corfinium, but was released immediately. He brought Caesar's handwritten letter to Pompey, but it was useless. Later, he went to Spain to assist Afranius and was captured for the second time. However, Caesar only identified his identity and released him again with the other generals.

When the engineering director ran up, Laelias pointed at the city of Salona and loudly asked how to quickly capture the target. After careful observation, Marcius suggested that all soldiers form a shield wall and then build five wooden towers in the east of the city in an arc arrangement, "which can just isolate the city wall from the hill. Each tower will be garrisoned with a regiment of soldiers and equipped with fifty archers and slingers. After the mission is completed, we will concentrate our forces to capture the hill. We can directly build an earthen hill and a shed, pour the firepower of the catapult into the city, and break the city wall. In this way, we can capture Salona in three to five days."

"Oh. Then I'll listen to you. I'll ask Olicum's First Legion to come as a reserve for my siege." Laelius agreed to the plan, but on the same day, when he sent three battalions to monitor and contain the Latin Hill, the soldiers were surprised to find that a half-wall had been erected between the hill and the city overnight, and that there were enemies stationed there.

"Marcius, Marcius!" Laelius impatiently called him out of the machine workshop and told him about the sudden situation.

"Try to have the trebuchets fire a few shots at it." Marcius suggested. So the archers and infantry of the Pan Legion covered the two wild donkey trebuchets and approached the half wall under the firepower of the Lepidus cavalry cannons on the hill. After several rounds of shooting, Marcius found that although the stone bullets could easily dent the wall, the wall itself could stand firm, so the citizens of Salona behind them quickly repaired it. From this, he judged that there must be a solid support behind the wall.

"Go up to the Samontoga." This was the first time that Lepidus's soldiers had seen this thing, but it was Pompey's own invention. "Samontoga" means "thunderstorm". In fact, it was a multi-slot shooting device similar to an organ invented by Marcius, who absorbed the experience of Greek engineers. It was also controlled by wheels. There were eight slides on it, four on the top, west and bottom, all of which were ejected by the torsion of the bristle rope tendon. However, Marcius did not launch a heavy javelin this time, but used Illyrian cork, which the Libournes liked to use to build ships. They applied sulfur and asphalt on it accurately, and after igniting the top, they shot it like raindrops towards the half wall. During the flight, the cork encountered air friction and burned fiercely. It entered the wooden tower on the half wall one after another, and then burned wildly. The citizens and soldiers of Salona on it and behind were caught off guard, and many were burned to death or burned immediately. (To be continued...)