Rome Must Fall

"Dear colleagues, after more than a year of fighting against the rebels, I believe everyone is very clear that the enemies we face are not ordinary rebels. They are cunning, fierce and numerous. They have defeated us many times in the past. Therefore, the morale is high and the combat effectiveness is not weak. It is really a strong enemy. Only generals with strong military capabilities can win!

And according to the news we know now, the number of rebels has exceeded one hundred thousand, one hundred thousand! This cannot be dealt with by sending only one or two legions. We need more soldiers and more legions!

But over the past year or so, we have consumed a lot of gold and silver from the national treasury, and now I am afraid that we will not be able to come up with enough money to form enough legions in a short time, so we still need this general who leads the army to have a good ability. The ability to raise money can solve part of the military funds on its own and relieve the tension on the national treasury——"

At this point, Little Sulla emphasized his tone: "After listening to what I have said, it should be clear to everyone that the most suitable person to serve as the new commander-in-chief and go out to exterminate the rebels can only be - Marcus Licinius. Us Crassus!”

The senators followed the direction of Sulla's finger and looked at Crassus, who was motionless in the crowd. Their emotions were complicated: they were indeed disgusted and even a little afraid of this guy, but as Sulla said, they had no choice but to do so. Do not admit that Crassus is indeed the most suitable commander-in-chief among the Senate at this time.

"Crasus, Sulla recommended you, are you willing to lead the army to destroy the rebels?" Catullus asked in a deep voice.

Crassus stood up and said with a serious face: "Dear Catullus and colleagues, the Proclamation Army is raging in Italy and Rome is in danger. Every Roman citizen should contribute his or her strength at this time. ! I am willing to take over this important task! I am also willing to use my own money to support the army when the treasury is tight! But I have two conditions, and I hope the Senate can agree."

"What conditions?"

"First, because the rebels are so powerful, the army under my command must not be less than 8 regular legions; second, during the period from when I lead the army until the rebels are wiped out, the Senate cannot transfer me midway, let alone Do not interfere with any of my military operations."

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After the Roman consul Clodianus suffered a disastrous defeat on the Salaria Road, he followed Cassius, the governor of North Italy, and fled north in embarrassment. It was not until he entered the city of Verona, the capital of the governor, that he calmed down and then received the news. : The rebels continue to move north, and the vanguard has approached Rimininum.

Crotianus immediately asked Cassius to send troops to prevent the rebels from crossing the Po River to prevent them from escaping Italy, and at the same time buy time for Roman reinforcements to arrive in the northern Italian province.

Although Clotianus suffered successive defeats, he was still working hard to fulfill his duties as a consul.

But now Cassius was less pleased.

Originally, the dictator Sulla had decreed during his lifetime that "provincial troops are not allowed to go south across the Rubicon River." However, after obtaining the consent of the Senate, the two consuls asked him to lead his army south to participate in military operations to encircle and suppress the rebels. From Cassius's point of view, if a hundred thousand troops were to surround and suppress a group of rabble, victory should be within reach. He would be getting a piece of military exploits in vain, so of course he would be happy to obey.

Unexpectedly, when he led his army to Ascoli, he learned the bad news of the successive defeats of the two consuls. Then at the request of Crotianus, he had to fight the rebels on the Salaria Road. I lost everything.

At this time, Cassius was having a headache about how to rebuild the two legions. When he heard the news that the rebels continued to move north, he felt that he could not resist it, and thought to himself: simply let the rebels escape from Italy, which would reduce the pressure on them. The loss of the province of Northern Italy.

However, Clodianus persisted, and he did not dare to object after he resigned from the role of legal officer and became the governor of the province of North Italy. Otherwise, Clodianus would charge him with "indulging the rebels", and his political influence in Rome would be greatly reduced. My career has come to an end. Who calls me a consul?

In fact, the easiest way to prevent the rebels from crossing the river is to destroy the bridge and take away the boats. The Po River is the largest river in the North Italian province and even the entire peninsula. The widest part of the river is one mile long. Without bridges and boats, the rebels can only look at the river and sigh.

However, Cassius did not dare to do this, because in order to facilitate the rule of the northern Italian provinces, Rome successively built three avenues in northern Italy: Bobilia, Cania, and Emilia. In addition to the Bobilia Avenue, the main Using pontoons, the other two avenues were stone bridges spanning both sides of the Po River. Rome spent a lot of manpower, material resources, and a long time to build them.

The Romans' love for infrastructure was deep in their blood. At that time, King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Roman army one after another and led his army to march across the mountains along the Appian Way towards Rome. The panicked Roman people did not dig up the buildings. The highway came to block the enemy. If Cassius dared to destroy the bridge, he would become a sinner of Rome in an instant and be reviled by the people.

What's more, the Po River runs across northern Italy, stretching for nearly a thousand miles. In addition to these three avenues and three bridges, there are also many pontoons and dozens of ferries. It is impossible for Cassius to completely block the Po River in a short period of time. Of course, he is frustrated. He would not say it out loud. Instead, he would act actively and let Clodianus see that he was working hard.

He urgently recruited 2,000 citizen soldiers from Verona and nearby towns, and asked his generals to lead their troops to the mouth of the Po River, because the rebels crossed the Po River at Rimininum and along the Popilia Road along the coast. Undoubtedly the shortest path.

Soon, news came: the rebels were indeed marching north along the Bobiglia Avenue.

Cassius was also secretly proud of his correct prediction.

But a few days later, he received another report from the cavalry: the rebel army stopped moving north and turned south. Only an army of about 20,000 people marched northwest along Emilia Avenue.

The main force of the rebels no longer goes northward into the northern Italian provinces! ...This made Cassius relieved, but Crotianus was a little anxious, because the main force of the rebels turned south and would continue to ravage Italy and even threaten Rome, so he asked Cassius to recruit a large army as soon as possible. , go south to contain the enemy.

This time Cassius refused to obey, because the new resolution of the Roman Senate had reached Verona, and Crotianus was deprived of military command. Strictly speaking, his one-year consulship was basically over. , Cassius naturally lost his fear.

However, as governor, Cassius needs to let the Roman Senate see his efforts to make up for previous failures. At the same time, he also needs to be responsible for the people of the Northern Italian Province. After all, the Northern Italian Province is different from other provinces in that there are too many Many Roman immigrants. The main force of the rebels was gone, leaving only a partial army of less than 20,000. Cassius thought he could try to stop this rebel army on the north bank of the Po River that was looting and killing, and defeated it.

Cassius judged that the rebels were preparing to cross the river from Piacenza and then head to the mountain pass north of Milan. Because that was the easiest way to cross the Alps and go to Transgaul, he sent his horse to inform Milan and The chief executive of Piacenza and other nearby towns gathered citizen soldiers and prepared for defense. At the same time, he notified the troops who had arrived at the mouth of the Po River to turn around and speed up westward, rushing to the north bank of the Po River where Piacenza was located.

And he himself rushed there along the Via Postumia with the Guards (The Via Postumia is a road that runs through the province of North Italy, from Genoa in the west to Aquileia, Piacenza and Piacenza in the east. The two towns of Verona are also on this road), and prepare to summon the city guards of the towns along the way.

Maximus's army stayed at Bologna for half a day, and then continued its march along the Via Emilia at an extremely slow pace, making it look as if Torquevaldo's army was in the vanguard and his army was following. The main force behind.

On the third day, Maximus's army turned around and accelerated back to Bologna, then rushed northeast along the Via Cania.

A few days later, Maximus rushed to the south bank of the Po River. Sure enough, as the spies reported, there was no Roman defender on the other side of the river to intercept him. Only then did he feel relieved.

Then, his eyes were attracted by the sight in front of him: a long white dragon lying across the turbulent river. It was not a pontoon bridge, a wooden bridge, or an arch bridge, but a horizontal stone bridge. Although the river here was It is narrower, but still several hundred meters long, and the water flows quickly. However, the Romans used their superb infrastructure capabilities to build a long stone bridge connecting the two sides. The bridge deck was four to five meters wide, flat and solid, with a The driveway is lined with sidewalks, with railings and drainage holes... It is completely a road on land transplanted to the river. This was in ancient times BC!

Maximus noticed that the soldiers who were crossing the river were also shocked by the long bridge. Their morale was high because of their successive victories, but they were walking a little timidly at this moment. This is the power of civilization!

In just a few decades of his life, could he create a civilization comparable to Rome? ...Maximus felt both uneasy and hopeful.

The army crossed the Po River and headed north without any obstruction. Within a few days, they arrived at Padua, one of the busiest towns in the eastern part of the Italian province.

Maximus asked the army to stop for a while again and authorized a large-scale plundering. They wanted grain, livestock, horses, money...all were required, but they were not allowed to hurt people as much as possible, and killing was taboo.

When the army set off again, the number of pack cars almost doubled, which affected the marching speed. However, since Maximus ordered: "From now on, the army will no longer go out to collect food." Therefore, the time spent camping each day can be Being postponed until after dusk did not slow down the army's daily journey much.

When Cassius learned that the main force of the rebels had actually changed their marching direction, crossed the Po River, and arrived at Padua, he realized that he had been fooled by this rebel army.

But at this time, he was almost arriving in Piacenza, and there were endless messengers asking for help. It turned out that Torquevaldo led his troops to burn, kill and loot all the way, causing great panic among the people in the province. Cassius decided to ignore the east side for the time being. (In fact, he couldn't control it for a while), and concentrated all his efforts on dealing with this small group of rebels in front of him, but his behavior was extremely arrogant.

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The news that "the rebel army led by Spartacus successively defeated the Roman army" spread throughout the east coast of Italy, and of course also reached the ears of some interested people on the other side of the Adriatic Sea.

"Brother, Chief Maximus and the others really defeated the Romans! What he said in Sarapia has come true!"

"Yeah, when I learned that the Roman army surrounded the army of Maximus, I was sweating for him." Carlsipempas said with emotion: "But I never expected that , they not only defeated the armies led by the two Roman consuls one after another, but also wiped out the legions in the North Italian Province. No one could stop their way north. "

"That is to say, Chief Maximus will come with his army soon!" Onoma Baitis reminded in a serious tone.

"It's time for us to fulfill our promise." Kalsipempas nodded and said simply: "We must set off immediately and rush back to the tribe!"

Kalsipempas did what he said and asked Onomabatis to stay behind. He took a few of his men and left the island in a small boat that day, landed on land not far away, and trudged through the paths between the mountains. , crossing hills and rivers, finally came to a relatively flat place, where there was a large stockade surrounded by wooden walls.

The guards guarding the gate not only did not stop him, but actively welcomed him into the stronghold.

After entering the village, he went directly to the big house in the center, where the tribal leaders lived and held meetings.

Akupagos is the great leader of the Ardei tribe. He is over fifty years old. He is not only gray-haired, but also bloated. He has to stop to catch his breath after taking a few steps. But when he heard the arrival of Chalcy Pampas, he Still rushed to the door to greet him personally.

When Carlsipempas saw him, he was about to salute, but he caught up and hugged him, and slapped his back. He pretended to be angry and said loudly: "Calsipempas, last time you sent such a A lot of food has solved a big problem for our tribe! But you left in a hurry before we could properly express our gratitude. You came here today, but you must stay with me for a few more days, otherwise you will not be allowed to do so in the future. You come to me again!"

"Dear leader!" Kalsi Pampas responded seriously: "Actually, the savior of our tribe is someone else. I just spent some effort to carry food, and I returned to the tribe this time because of he."

"Oh?" Akupagos looked at the other people behind Kalsipempas and saw that they were all nodding, so he asked curiously: "Who is this savior?"