Rome Must Fall

Only then did Spartacus realize that Cross had not changed his mind at all. After thinking about it for a while, as he knew him better, he roughly guessed Cross's intention.

Spartacus, who was feeling a little sad, quickly cheered up. He did not follow Altonix's suggestion and sent cavalry back to search for Cross's army. Instead, he ordered all the troops to gather as soon as possible and set off north.

When leaving the camp, he stopped to look back for a moment, wishing good luck to Cross, a friend who had fought together with him.

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Cross was unwilling to lead his troops north, but that did not mean that he would be foolish enough to fight the incoming Roman army alone.

He formulated a plan: to follow Spartacus's large army first, to confuse the approaching Roman army, and to create the illusion that all rebels were withdrawing northward. Then when his army was encamped along the road and at the foothills of Cape Galganum, he would lead his troops to sneak into the mountains of Cape Galganum while no one noticed him at night...

He felt that the Romans would be attracted by Spartacus's large army and thus would not notice the disappearance of his army. After the Romans caught up with Spartacus's troops and fought, he would lead his troops back. The south is undoubtedly more stable and safer.

Cape Garganum is located in the northeast of Apulia, jutting into the Adriatic Sea. On a map, the promontory looks like an outstretched thumb. Its interior is full of raised mountains and there are no towns.

Even with the guidance of a guide, Cross's army did not dare to go deep into the interior of the Cape. They finally found a slightly flat valley. More than 30,000 soldiers, plus non-combatants, and nearly 40,000 hedgehogs gathered in the valley and hurriedly set foot in the valley. Lower camp.

Three days later, the sentry responsible for detecting the news suddenly came to report: "Chief, Romans! The Roman army is approaching us!"

"What!" Cross was surprised. He thought that his plan was thorough enough and his troops' actions were secretive enough. How could he be discovered by the Romans? !

Little did he know that the Roman consul Publicola had long been eyeing him and had been paying close attention to the movements of his troops. No matter how secretive the movement of 40,000 people was, it was impossible to completely hide the traces.

Since the plan failed, Cross was a little frustrated and put it behind him: he would have to fight the Romans sooner or later anyway, and since they are coming to his door now, let's kill them!

Cross immediately summoned his team, took the initiative to go out to fight, lined up on a gentle slope at the foot of Cape Garganum, and placed the most equipped warriors at the forefront.

The Roman army under the command of Publicola arrived soon after and quickly arranged their formation. After a short rest, they took the lead in attacking.

At first glance, the two sides have similar formations and the same equipment. Those who don't understand the situation may think that the same army is conducting drills, but in fact the battle is quite fierce.

Half of Cross's army were Gauls. They were fierce in nature, and Cross worked hard to collect weapons and armor and equip them with them. This offended Enomui, but it also reduced the combat power of these Gaulish warriors. At a higher level, they are also more loyal to Cross, and they are not afraid of death under his leadership.

Although other rebel soldiers were afraid of the Roman legions, they were now in a desperate situation. If they did not fight, they would die. This in turn inspired their hatred of the Romans, and they all fought bravely.

The army led by Publicola was as high as 50,000. The number of soldiers was far more than that of the other party, but not all of them were Roman legions. When he set out from Rome, he only led 4 legions, totaling more than 24,000 people. He later exercised consulship along the way. He had the right to recruit city guards from various towns and equip them with weapons and armor from the Roman legions to form a mighty army, which indeed frightened the rebels. However, the actual combat effectiveness is uneven. After more than half a year of rigorous training, the Roman legionnaires have greatly improved their combat effectiveness. However, the citizen soldiers in various towns are far behind. Therefore, Publicola uses the Roman legion as the main force and takes the lead, and other troops as preparation.

The rebels occupied a favorable location and fought bravely. Although their weapons and equipment were at a disadvantage, they gradually gained the upper hand in the battle.

Publicola could only continue to send out his large number of reserves, or increase the thickness of the array to prevent the enemy from breaking through; or increase the attack on the flanks of the rebel army to weaken the enemy's impact on the front...

The battle lasted for a long time, and just when the soldiers on both sides were exhausted, an eagle flag suddenly appeared on the hillside behind the rebel array...

After Publikola had determined the location where Cross's army was hiding, the reason why he only launched an attack on it on the fourth day was because he had to make some preparations: he sent the most elite legion group along the Garga The coastline of Cape Noum went around to Merinum, the easternmost seaside town of the Cape, and then they painstakingly climbed over the mountains and ridges, and quietly arrived at the rear of the rebel army...

The inland mountains of Cape Garganum are rolling hills. Except for shepherds grazing their sheep, few people come here. The rebel soldiers did not expect that Roman reinforcements would appear behind them at the most critical moment of the battle.

This recharged Roman brigade launched a fierce attack from top to bottom towards the rear of the rebel array...

In the end, the rebel army was defeated, Cross fought hard and died, more than 20,000 soldiers and non-combatants died, and the rest of the defeated troops fled into the mountains...

Publikola was sitting in the military tent in the rebel camp. Outside the tent, the wailing of the old man, the screams of women, and the crying of children kept coming. He didn't seem to hear it, but carefully fiddled with a piece of paper handed over by his subordinates. With a head, he then said: "It is said that this Cross has a high winning rate in the gladiatorial arena in Capua, and the gladiators who were defeated by him were either dead or injured. The audience called him the Gallic Wolf. Look at this The face is indeed very vicious.”

"No matter how ferocious the thug is, in front of you, my lord, they are just a chicken and a dog." The subordinate quickly complimented.

"No, this Cross should not be underestimated. Their poor equipment actually caused thousands of casualties to me. If I hadn't planned it in advance, this time maybe..."

Publicola was still frightened, and solemnly said to his subordinates: "You take this head and rush back to Rome immediately to tell the people the news of this victory, but to the Senate, you must tell the truth about the difficulty of this battle, and you must Let them know that these thugs are not easy to eliminate, and this will make our victory appear hard-won!”

"clear."

Publicola looked at another subordinate: "This Cross is so difficult to deal with. It will be even more difficult to defeat the Spartacus rebels who are more powerful and more numerous than him! You rush to the north immediately, Find Clodianus and remind him not to fight these thugs alone, but to hold on to the camp until I arrive with my troops, and then we can destroy them together."

"yes!"

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The rebel army passed through Apulia and entered the Forentani region. It entered the hilly areas from the plains, and the difficulty of marching suddenly increased.

Although it would be smoother to march along the seaside road, Spartacus knew that it would be very dangerous to march entirely on roads in enemy territory, so he adopted a march that was different from that of the vanguard Maximus and others. The strategy is to divide the main force into two parts. The team composed mainly of baggage battalions and non-combatants will take the seaside road, and the combat team will trek through the hills.

As a result, the marching speed undoubtedly slowed down a lot, but the pursuit speed of the Roman army in the rear was not too fast, and Spartacus and other leaders were not too anxious.

However, the food problem had to attract their attention. The main force of the rebel army was large in number. Keeping their subordinates well-fed when stationed in camps in the Calabria region had always been the chief concern, but at that time it was basically possible. solve. After the army was ready, the rebel army's demand for food increased greatly, and food supply became tight.

Fortunately, it is already May. Although the wheat is not yet mature, most of it has been slurried and is barely edible. Although the Forentany region is hilly, it has crisscrossed streams and a lot of farmland. Not to mention there are many wild vegetables and fruits in the mountains and forests. Wild beasts are also in active season... Therefore, after discussing with several leaders, Spartacus strictly controlled the food consumption carried by the team, and set up camp early every day, so that the soldiers could collect food nearby to satisfy their needs.

This approach naturally harms the interests of the Voluntani people, but the Voluntani people may be intimidated by the mighty rebel army. As long as the rebel army does not attack their towns, they will allow the rebel soldiers to harvest them. farmland, and took away various items from the houses outside the city...without committing any hostile acts.

Maximus's army, serving as the vanguard and marching along the seaside road, had a relatively comfortable life.

The Florentani people on the coast have always been inextricably linked with the Adriatic pirates. There is even a town built on a cliff, Ortona, where the pirates conquered the Florentani people. Built with the consent of the Romans, the pirates' residence was pieced together from the remains of wrecked ships. The Romans once despised it as "the people living in this town are simply a bunch of beasts."

After capturing Sarapia, Maximus's army developed good relationships with some Adriatic pirates through sea trade, especially Chalcy Pempas. With their help, Maximus made an agreement with these Florentani seaside towns not to take any hostile action against these towns. In return, these towns would sell food and other urgently needed supplies for Maximus' army to camp during the march. Supplies...

Maximus' army took the lead in crossing the Atnum River and entering the Umbria region.

Umbria only had one foot out to the Adriatic coast, and most of its areas were inland. Therefore, the troops entered the Picenum area within two days of marching.

The Pisenum area is still a hilly area, and there are many ethnic groups living here, including the Pisentini, Vestinians, Marsi, Pelligni, and Marussini. Large, but not lacking in courage, making Picenum the most alienated from Rome of all Italian regions.

The Roman League War decades ago was first started by the Marsi here. The leader was the Marsi Pompedius, and they also decided to replace Rome with Corfinium, the capital of the Pelligni. They were renamed Italica, which shows the ambition of these races. Therefore, this alliance war was called the Marsi War. Unfortunately, they failed in the end and received special treatment from the Romans. These years have not been easy.

When the people of Pisenum saw the insurgents coming like a tide, they behaved in the same way as the Forentani people, but they did not have so much fear. Instead, they had some expectation deep in their hearts.

Maximus led the army and had just arrived at Matrinum, the first seaside town south of Pisenum. The cavalry captain Hagchus, who had been responsible for leading the scout cavalry to explore the road ahead, hurried back.

"Chief, we have detected a Roman military camp near the Port of Ascoli in front of us. The military camp has been extending westward to the city of Ascoli Piceno. Since there was a Roman horseback patrol in front of the camp, we did not dare to observe too closely and cannot judge. The number of Romans."

Hagux didn't look depressed. He pointed to a farmer he brought over: "When I came back, I met this guy. He said he knew the origin of this Roman army and was willing to join us. Fight the Romans."

"Oh?" Maximus looked at the farmer with interest: he was short, wearing a shabby linen single coat, and it was stained with dust. It could be seen that his life situation was not good, but his clear-cut brows showed that With high-spirited and unyielding momentum.

The farmer just lowered his head slightly, and then said in a loud voice: "Hello, my name is Demorius, a native of Mars, and the nephew of Pompedius! -"

Pompedius... Maximus was a little surprised and glanced at Quintus next to him, because he had just heard of this name when he listened to the staff officer describing the history of this area and Rome. Seeing that this young farmer was quite interesting He looked proud, obviously admiring his deceased relative.

"...Because of the war decades ago, Rome has been very unfair to our people in the Picenum area, and everyone is holding their breath..."

Anger appeared on Demorius's face. He took a breath, and when his emotions calmed down, he continued: "We heard about you last year and were very happy that you dared to resist the Romans, so we have been We are paying attention to you just because the Roman officials who have been wary of us all these years suddenly strengthened the control of the towns in Pisenum, preventing us from meeting you earlier——"

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Maximus couldn't help but ask.

"The people of Picenum who want to join you and fight the Romans, including me!" Demorius straightened his chest and pointed at himself: "It's just that they can't get away for the time being, and I'm trying my best. Just slipped out to see you."