Rome Must Fall

Although Maximus hesitated repeatedly about "whether to leave a defense" before the Roman army attacked, once he decided to fight Rome here, his commitment to the battle and action were quite high. After listening to the two In the words of the veteran, he decisively issued an order: "Go and tell Torrelugo immediately to let the second army attack forward! Uh... where is the third army?"

Maximus's last words were to the two veterans, because he realized that there was something wrong with the Third Army's array remaining in place after the Second Army's attack.

"Let Carminus lead the third legion to advance together and maintain the same front as the second legion, but do not attack yet to prevent the enemy from outflanking." Quintus added quickly, feeling a little ashamed in his heart. He was eager to let him go The Second Legion seized the opportunity and temporarily ignored the Third Legion. Instead, the young leader, who had never experienced a major battle, discovered the problem.

"Then let's do it!" Maximus nodded heavily.

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"Commander of the Tolerugo Army, the leader orders you to immediately lead the second army to attack!"

Hearing the order conveyed by Akago, Torrelugo was overjoyed. Although he had become the commander of the rebel army, the blood of a gladiator still flowed in his bones. He stood here stupidly and faced off with the Roman army for several times. Within an hour, he could no longer hold it any longer.

"Quick! Go and inform the captains, let the brothers attack forward!" Tolerugo urged the messengers around him.

The messengers rushed to each group. The reason why they did not use bugles to convey the attack orders was because the entire array of the rebel army was huddled in a small area. Each team had its own tasks. If the attack horn sounded If they penetrate the battlefield, the soldiers of the First Legion who originally stood on the river bank will misunderstand and abandon the favorable terrain and launch an attack, which will be troublesome.

The leader gave the order to the legion commander, the legion commander passed the order to the battalion captain, and the battalion captain conveyed the order to the centurion. The process was a bit cumbersome, but the strict training of Maximus's army in the past six months had an effect, and the entire order transmission process was smooth and error-free.

"Brothers...Brothers, listen to my order - move forward!..." Centurion Tinibazus shouted three times, raised his dagger and swung it in the air a few times, then swung it forward with all his strength, and at the same time directed towards Take a step forward.

The soldiers in the same column on the right followed closely, and the soldiers in the rear column followed immediately. A 25×4 hundred-man square began to move forward. The entire western front of the rebel army was composed of countless such hundred-man squares. The long wall composed of staggered arrays pressed against the Roman army.

"Don't panic! Stay close to your teammates! Maintain the formation!..." Tinibazus loudly reminded his subordinates as he advanced, with the sound of rumbling footsteps, the clash of swords and shields, the sound of armor rubbing, and rapid breathing. The sound soon enveloped his ears, causing him to subconsciously raise his volume again and again, and soon his voice was hoarse.

As the distance got closer, densely packed figures came into view in front of him, and his heart began to beat rapidly... He had not experienced such a large-scale battle before. The last time was in Asia Minor. Even though he had some experience, he still felt nervous. , because at that time he was just a humble spearman, and no one paid attention to his life and death, but now he is the leader of a team, with the life and death of hundreds of soldiers tied to him, and he has a heavy responsibility.

"TMD, if I had known better, I wouldn't have been this centurion!" Tinibazus cursed, but held the dagger tightly in his right hand, and his steps were getting bigger and faster.

They were less than 50 meters away from the enemy, but the Roman soldiers in front were hurriedly forming up. You could clearly see the nervous expressions on their faces, and you could even hear the shouts and pushing coming from the opposite side.

This is indeed a great opportunity to attack! ...Tinibazus breathed a sigh of relief, raised his dagger again, and shouted: "Brothers, charge with me!" After saying that, he kicked off the ground with both feet and ran forward.

The centurion is the most courageous of the team, so of course he must take the lead and charge forward.

Tinibazus had just taken two steps when a sturdy figure on the right overtook him. It was a good friend he met in the rebel army. He had been promoted several times and insisted on keeping him by his side to assist him. The centurion Samoras. This honest cowherd boy is not good at words, but he always silently fulfills his promise to "protect Tinibazus in battle", and this time is no exception.

Seeing his friend's generous back, Tinibazus' blood surged with passion and he shouted again: "Kill the Romans!"

"Kill the Romans!!!..." At this moment, the soldiers of the Second Legion of Maximus' Army, led by their officers, burst into a roaring roar, like a roaring sea wave, slamming into the hurried formation. of the Roman army.

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"Idiot! Idiot! Son of a bitch!..." The consul Clodianus kept scolding his legion commander Curius (the legion commander was temporarily assigned by him to command the army that crossed the river to attack the West). the rebel army outside).

The Stone Bridge attack was frustrated and retreated, and the northern attack was weak and unable to go ashore... This is somewhat understandable. After all, the enemy occupies a favorable location, so Crotianus pinned his hopes of victory on the west, but he did not expect Curius to do it. Smashed. Now the army to the west was in a chaotic formation and was suppressed by the enemy. It was unable to exert its true combat power and the advantage of large numbers, which made him difficult to let go.

After he vented his anger, an aide who usually had a good relationship with Curius said cautiously: "I didn't expect that this group of rebels is really fierce."

"Huh, just a group of desperadoes." Clodianus glared at the staff member. Although the performance of the enemy in front of him was beyond his expectation, he would never think that this shabby rebel army would be stronger than him. army.

Then Clodianus saw the sun that was about to fall to the top of the mountain in the west, and his heart became more irritated, and he vented his anger on his most capable subordinate: "Antonius, what is he doing! He has led the army He arrived on the battlefield, but instead of attacking immediately, he became an obstacle to disrupting friendly forces!

Bubrius, you rush to him immediately to convey my order, ordering him to immediately lead the army to attack the enemy's left flank to relieve the pressure on Curius. Otherwise, I will rush to take command myself! "

"Yes, Lord Archon."

…

After hearing the order issued by Clodianus, Antonius suddenly felt aggrieved: "Bubulius, it's not that I don't want to attack, but the soldiers are too tired! They landed in Castrum by boat last night, Without a good rest, I hurriedly finished breakfast early in the morning, marched for more than ten miles, then crossed the river and fought bravely, defeating the rebels in the west...

And because of the Archon's order, they rushed here without taking any rest. Some soldiers were too tired to hold up their swords and shields and collapsed directly on the ground. The performance of the Roman legionnaires was pretty good. The citizen soldiers from various towns fell behind one after another on the way and have not arrived yet. If they are not allowed to rest for a while and recover a little strength, it will be difficult for them to fight again!

If Curius hadn't been too anxious to attack and brought his troops over without consulting me, how could he have collided with my resting troops and caused chaos! "

On the surface, Antonius's last sentence was to blame Curius for his recklessness, but secretly he was tactfully criticizing the impatience of the consul Clodianus. He knew very well that although the legion commander Curius had mediocre military ability, he would not be able to do anything if he had mediocre military ability. It was not that Clodianus was eager to win. Even if he rigidly implemented traditional Roman tactics, he would not make such a big mistake.

Bubrius pretended not to hear the meaning of Antonius's words. He persuaded with gentle words: "The consul knows the hard work of you and the soldiers, and the consul also remembers the merits you have made." In my heart! But now that the battle situation has become like this, time is running out!

If we cannot defeat this rebel army and occupy their camp before nightfall as originally planned, then even if we retreat, we will have nowhere to rest! And if we can't fight for a long time, and the main force of the rebels comes to reinforce us, that will be the worst thing! Therefore, in order to solve our army's predicament and not let our army's previous victory be ruined, we must ask you to inspire the soldiers to fight again! "

Bubrius spoke sincerely, and Antonius listened. He glanced at the soldiers slumped on the ground around him, was silent for a moment, and sighed: "I will try my best. I hope the soldiers are still willing to obey my orders. I have some suggestions that I would like you to pass on to the Archon."

"Please tell me."

Antonius bent down and picked up a dry branch, and while gesticulating on the ground, he said: "I have sent people to check the entire battlefield before. The rebels were defending on the south bank of the Vomanus River, and they initially also deployed in the west. The defensive formation they put out was only because of Curius' mistake that they took the initiative to attack. It must be said that this army's ability to capture fighter opportunities is not bad. "

Bublius frowned slightly.

"But in this way, the entire defensive formation they originally set up has changed, and a big gap has appeared between the rebels on the south bank and the rebels on the west -" Curius came and poked the ground with a branch. The lines drawn on it: "If the Archon can mobilize troops and attack here, the entire battle situation should be improved."

"I also discovered this situation when I came here just now, but the troops led by Curius are being oppressed by the rebels. More than 10,000 people are crowded together and have lost their effective organization. If we want to move the troops in the rear It would be very difficult to remove the soldiers, and the reason why they are still able to withstand the rebels' attack may be because the formation is too thick for the rebels to attack. If the soldiers are removed and the thickness of the array is thinned, I'm afraid it will lead to the collapse of Curius's army!" Although Bublius did not lead troops, he still had some military knowledge, and he expressed his worries.

"It doesn't matter if we can't send troops from the west for the time being. We can go from the north."

"north?"

"You see, our army in the north has not been able to attack the river bank due to the terrain of the river, and I think the casualties seem to be greater than here. However, the rebels have always stayed on the river bank and did not launch a counterattack. So the army in the north The army can calmly retreat temporarily and re-form...

More than 10,000 soldiers are trying to cross the river in eight columns to attack the rebels. So far, it has not been effective at all. It is better to withdraw half of the troops and attack the place I just mentioned. It is best to deploy our Roman legions, which may Better results. "

"This... can be considered."

"I also hope that the consul can order the city guards of Mateninum to go out of the city and attack the rear of the rebels."

"There are not many soldiers in the city of Mateninum, so there is no threat to the rebels. If we venture out of the city to fight, what if the rebels take the opportunity to attack the city?"

"I think this rebel army may not have any more troops except those who are arrayed and fighting on the battlefield. Otherwise, if there is such a big gap here, why don't they send troops to plug it up!" Antonius He said with certainty: “The Mateninum people attacking out of the city can disrupt the rebels’ rear and lower their morale.

Even if they still have some spare troops, they will be restrained from joining the battle with us. Even if they attack the city of Mateninum because of this, they will still have to spend their troops to suppress the riots in the city, which will only be beneficial to our battle. As long as we win in the end, no one will say anything about it..."

Antonius said the last sentence vaguely, but Bubrius understood it clearly: Since the rebellion started last year, many towns in Italy have been captured and plundered. The Romans are used to this. Mateninum The life and death of a small town are not worth mentioning at all.

However, Bublius still looked embarrassed: "The consul should agree with your suggestion, but we had no plan in advance. The land route to Mateninum was blocked by the rebels. From the sea route Let’s go, there is no port nearby, so the messenger can only rush back to the city of Castrum, and then take a boat to Mattenum. This trip will take too long, and the battle may have been over long ago.”

"There is a way." Antonius smiled confidently: "Based on my many years of experience, every time the army goes to war, there will always be many businessmen following them, hoping to make profits after the army wins. This time our actions are extremely It was kept secret, so there were very few merchants who came with us in advance, but our battle was close to the seaside, and there was a busy shipping route nearby. I believe that there were already merchant ships approaching the river outlet to watch the battle, and they wanted to buy the spoils after we won, so we could ask them to give it to us. Bring the Archon's order to the city of Mateninum."

"This... you can give it a try."

"I have one last suggestion." Antonius' expression became serious and he said in a deep voice: "As you just said, the war situation is not very favorable to us. It's time for the consul to make up his mind! Send out the military law team , supervise the operations of the armies in the north and west, and even if the casualties are higher, we must put enough pressure on the rebels to prevent them from using their few troops to support other places..."