Augustus Road

"His laws, like his force, are full of the smell of blood." - Historian comments on Charlemagne

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Although the chief battalion of the Sixteenth Legion and the Mattias were known for their hard work and hard work, and their commanders Cletus and Hansk were also first-class heroes, they were still trapped under the isolation and siege of the superior enemy. They were in trouble, but thanks to Otagilius's "delay in the peace talks" in advance, they occupied the only stream and built fortifications. They finally managed to persevere, but how long they could last was a big question.

Within one day, with an absolute advantage in manpower and material resources, Machius's five giant towers were initially built. Its height is also scary, almost the same as Latin Mountain. The three towers are aimed at this mountain. The soldiers were already arrogantly using stick throwers and smashing rockets and rocks into the Latin Mountain position, causing many injuries and shouts of challenge from morning to night. The half wall over there was almost on the verge of destruction and could not function as a connection or cover at all. The passage between the city and Latin Mountain was cut off.

As long as the siege tower is completely completed, Lelias will take the lead in launching a fierce attack on Latin Mountain, and then capture Salona City. For him, this plan is just a time process.

The city fell into an atmosphere of panic. Although the young citizens were brave and unyielding, it did not mean that they would not be discouraged. Many elders came to the municipal hall more than once to ask General Lepidus who was standing in front of the statue of Patina. "How to break the enemy's blockade and siege of the city?"

"We can select the bravest and most loyal young people to go to the city of Apollonia and ask for reinforcements from Lord Dictado," said an elder. But to his disappointment, Lepidus remained silent and actually refused. Probably the situation on Caesar's side was also very stressful. Lepidus had calculated that Caesar's current logistics supply line could not reach here, and he could only go to the south. Make some diversionary actions. In addition, Caesar could not move too far away from Apollonia and Dixacion, otherwise these two cities would be attacked at any time by the eager Pompeian naval army and lose again.

Over there in Brindisi. Antony and Teluleas are also in trouble. Due to the lack of ships and the joint blockade of Byblos and Libo, it is difficult for them to transport men and horses to the ocean in the short term.

"Then. We should organize the citizens and slaves again and rush to repair the wall, regardless of sacrifice." Another elder, with a trembling white beard, said sadly, but Lepida still shook his head. If this continues, Salo will be afraid It will collapse on its own before the enemy can fully attack.

"Four thousand people...there are already a thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry. We are holding on to the Latin Mountains, and there are only two thousand people left in the city. Although they are equipped with archers, they are scattered at various city gates, towers and cliffs. The Acropolis has a limited number of troops for raiding, and Cletus and Hansk were originally used to perform such tasks, but now they have been exposed prematurely and have lost their meaning, and it is impossible to save half the wall. It’s very difficult—that’s the tricky part,” Lepidus, who was still sighing at the statue of the goddess, murmured.

Phaobinas immediately understood what the acting commander-in-chief meant. He wanted to change locations and launch a fierce attack on Lelias's siege equipment, but he suffered from the lack of mobile assault troops.

"How about using the volunteers in the city?" Faobinas suggested, because in the era of classical warfare, the concepts of "youth" and "soldiers" were almost equivalent.

Who would have thought that Lepidus still looked embarrassed, even though the elders agreed, he left the palace alone, and personally boarded the front gate, looking at the black cloud-like siege team below the city, their military strength was almost four to one, because this During a period of time, more and more barbarians in Illyria surrendered to Pompey's camp. At this time, he remembered his former patron Tuna, "When Luculas confronted the King of Kings of Armenia, didn't the disparity in military strength still exist? More than this time? In that great battle, I followed the Patriarch all the time. His lightning-fast decisive skills that hit the vital points were not recorded in the battle history and formation diagrams he collected. , it can be seen that the battle of the Patriarch is always a combination of decisiveness and intuition, born out of established tactics, but not rigidly adhered to established tactics. "

Yes, yes! I should follow the patron, realize the glory he failed to achieve, and make up for his shortcomings in the world of this era. I am the chosen man, and I cannot let Tuna down. Lepidus, show your courage, this is Apart from wisdom, ambition and ability, what you need to cultivate most now is to be like a patron and like Caesar!

Afterwards, Lepidus hurriedly descended from the tower, hurriedly found the city magistrate, and asked two decisive questions: now, in the city of Salona, ​​what kind of crowd is the largest; in the past, in the history of the city of Salona, ​​where was the city wall? The most vulnerable.

After thinking about these two questions seriously, the city official answered: "As you know, Salona is a city that developed by relying on gold mining, so the number of slaves in the mines is the largest. This time As many as 3,000 people evacuated into the city; in addition, a certain section of the city wall at the east gate was very fragile due to the quality of the masonry, but we plastered the exterior with the same color plaster, except for Except for the slight difference in shape, the enemy cannot see it. Of course, you can also use your hands to consolidate and repair it now. Is this the purpose of the mine slave you mentioned just now? "

But the other party's answer was beyond the city councilor's expectations - free all the slaves in the mines, give them tools and weapons, and when the order is issued, destroy that section of the city wall to make it an assault port, rush out, destroy and burn the enemy's siege tower, and kill all the people on the tower!

This answer simply stunned the city councilor. Not only did they not maintain the city wall, but they also dug it up. What's the reason? But Li Bi Da explained briefly, "Why can't the city wall be destroyed? Is there no way to enter except the city gate? People's thinking is also so imprisoned by the wall. I have seen the place you mentioned. It is a more advantageous attack point than the city gate. It happens to be facing the gap between the enemy's siege towers on both sides. As long as the vanguard and reserve are used reasonably, this goal can be achieved!" Li Bi Da said confidently.

Then, the slaves who were originally placed in the abandoned dockyard, wearing shackles, slowly came to the square in front of the municipal hall under the leadership of the supervisor. Most of them had blond hair and were Gauls and Germans who were enslaved in the war. They were still strong for the time being, but it could only be said to be "temporary" because it was difficult for them to survive in the mines for three years. For the slave owners who dug the mines, these were "disposable" tools.

Many people started to shout after gathering, probably thinking that the Roman generals would reduce their rations because they had to defend the city for a longer time. (To be continued...)