Rome Must Fall

"Not yet," Valerius responded.

"Please rest assured! When the battle begins, I will stand behind the team here. Once the enemy approaches, I will send the soldiers to rush forward in time to block them. I will never let the enemy kill your soldiers!" Tolle Brother Lu solemnly made his promise.

"Thank you, legion commander!" Valerius beat his left chest with his right fist and performed a military salute to show his gratitude.

Tolerugo said seriously: "You're welcome. Although we have all trained together on the training ground, it is completely different on the battlefield. We need you and me to work closely together to complete the mission better and defeat the enemy."

"You're right." Valerius nodded again. ,

When Tolerugo turned to leave, he couldn't help but glance at the arm-shaped crossbows that the soldiers were stringing. He suppressed the urge to take it and play with it. He knew very well that even though he was the commander of the legion, these The crossbow soldiers would not give him the crossbows in their hands, because before the war started, the Ministry of War issued an order: the crossbow soldiers must keep every crossbow in good hands. Even if it is destroyed, it cannot fall into the hands of the enemy!

Watching Torelugo leave, Valerius breathed a sigh of relief: He had never fought with Torelugo before. He only heard that this man was generous and brave in battle. He didn't expect that he was also very meticulous and capable. Consider others and believe that the two teams can work well together.

While he was thinking about it, there was a commotion in the formation of the Second Army at the rear, and his eyes suddenly lit up: he saw small groups of sweaty soldiers running out from the gaps between the centurion squares, and they worked together to carry The wooden frame of a crossbow that is as tall as one person, with some people carefully holding the bow groove and spring arm...

The leader was Fortunius, a Marian veteran who joined the rebel army with Franticius. Since he had served as a crossbowman in the Roman legion, he was later appointed as the captain of the crossbow by Maximus. Although There was some discord between the veterans of Marius and Sulla in the rebel army, but Fortunius was more respectful when facing Valerius. He first saluted, and then said apologetically: "Brother, we are late, please come." forgive!"

"It's not too late at all. The enemy is still forming a team. You came at the right time." Valerius also politely reassured: "Can you first see if the place I chose is suitable for placing the ballista?"

Fortunius inspected it carefully and came back and said: "Brother, the place you chose is very good. The ground is relatively flat and not too high, which is conducive to exerting the power of the crossbow."

"That's good, hurry up and arrange your crossbows." Valerius said seriously: "I suggest you place your crossbows close to the rear of my troops, and my soldiers will cover you to avoid attracting the enemy. After all, when the enemy besieged our camp last year, we had a taste of the power of crossbows... After the enemy begins to attack, I will ask the soldiers to make way for you, what do you think? "

"Brother, if you are thoughtful, let's do it like this." After Fortunius finished speaking, he went to direct his men to place the crossbows.

At first, due to the long march to fighting, many of the crossbows in the rebel army were damaged. Only 5 crossbows were successfully modified, which played a significant role in the defense of the temporary camp. After the tribe was established and the ironworks workshop began to operate normally, the Ministry of War repaired and modified all the crossbows, so this time the crossbow team brought a total of 10 crossbows.

After the mounts were placed and the soldiers began to assemble them, Fortunius ran to Valerius again: "Brother, have you tested the range of the arm-opening crossbow here?"

"I tested it before in the middle of the array, but not here, for fear of being discovered by the enemy." Valerius had already thought about it, and he said without hesitation: "This place is more than ten meters shorter than the middle. I estimate that the arm Zhang Nu’s range is approximately one hundred to one hundred and ten meters.”

"One hundred to one hundred and ten..." Fortunius said thoughtfully: "If this is the case, the accurate range of our crossbow will have to exceed two hundred..."

"Fortunius." Valerius looked at him and said in a deep voice: I suggest you put the enemy closer before shooting, so as to prevent them from being frightened by the power of the crossbow and avoid us early, and run to Went somewhere else! "

"Brother, you're right! We finally have a chance to make a contribution, but we can't let the enemy escape." Fortunius was convinced. He thought for a while and said: "Then let's put it at 180 Meters... no, one hundred and fifty meters. The power of the crossbow can be maximized at such a close distance. Even if the enemy is frightened, it will not be easy for them to escape..."

…………………………………………………………………………

The armies of the four major Pannoni tribes did not have a unified offensive command. They had all discussed it in advance: whoever formed the formation first would attack first.

Broch's army was originally marching on the east bank of the Korana River and did not need to move elsewhere before forming an formation, so the formation speed should be the fastest.

This was indeed the case, but Brix delayed in issuing an attack order, fearing that his army would advance alone and be attacked by the enemy. It was not until the horn sounded from the middle that he let the buglers blow the horns.

"Woo!!!..." Accompanied by the thick and long sound of the horn, the Broch soldiers began to advance. Their marching speed was not fast, because although the two armies were only one mile apart, the terrain was undulating, so there was no need to move too early. consumption of physical energy.

The enemy was standing on a high ground in front. The soldiers clearly remembered what the leaders said before the formation: "...Our life was peaceful and peaceful originally, but after these evil enemies came, they invaded our territory and burned our territory. Home, killing our brothers and sisters, inciting slaves to revolt... Some of the tribes west of Broch are close to extinction, so we must do our best to defeat them today! Our families will be safe, and our tribe will be safe! Restoring peace! ..."

The warriors suppressed the hatred in their hearts, tightened the shields and spears in their hands, and accumulated strength as they advanced. However, they obviously forgot that the origin of this war was the Pannoni's invasion of the Ardei people. Caused.

Closer...closer...so close that the Broch warriors could look up and see clearly the enemy's face covered by the cheek-guard helmet, and could clearly see the enemy's shining breastplate exposed on the cover of the large shield...

Although the enemy was well-armed, the Broch warriors believed that their bravery and the numbers of their companions would be enough to overwhelm and overwhelm the enemy.

The soldiers closest to the river bank were a little surprised, because they saw that the enemies at the forefront were rarely wearing armor, holding large shields, and seemed to not even have weapons. What were these enemies doing?

While I was wondering, I saw these enemies starting to move left and right, revealing gaps. Behind the gaps stood an instrument that looked like it was made of wood...

What are these things for? ...Most of the soldiers were confused.

Only a handful of people who participated in last year's attack on the Knicks temporary camp saw this scene, and their painful memories were suddenly brought back. Their faces changed drastically, and they shouted one after another: "Everyone, be careful!... That thing will shoot terrible arrows, Avoid it! Avoid it!

At this moment, the leaders of the Brochi tribe began to shout in the team: "Revenge!"

Immediately triggered the response of countless soldiers, the voice of "revenge" resounded throughout the entire left wing, everyone's hatred was ignited, and their fighting spirit was instantly high. They held shields in their left hands, raised spears in their right hands, took big steps, and began to accelerate forward.

In this surging crowd, the warning voice of a handful of people is like a small wave, fleeting.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!..." Arrows in the shape of short spears carried the sound of the wind and flew at extremely fast speeds. They instantly penetrated the body of a Brocchi warrior, and then penetrated closely behind him. One of the warriors, and then plunged into the chest of the third warrior. The powerful momentum also brought down several warriors behind...

Ten narrow passages were plowed out by the surging crowd in an instant, but they were quickly filled with warriors rushing up from behind.

The soldiers who saw this shocking tragedy turned pale with fright, but amid the deafening roars and the pushing of their companions behind them, they had no choice but to continue moving forward.

"Crossbow ready!" Fortunius shouted, raising the colorful flag in his hand.

The crossbowmen turned the winch vigorously, pulled the bowstring to the end of the chute and fixed it, then inserted the thick arrows...

"Fire!" Fortunius waved the colorful flag vigorously, and the 10 crossbows fired again.

The whistling arrows plunged into the swarming enemies, causing shocking damage again.

However, the screams and exclamations were completely covered up by the shouts of thousands of soldiers. Not only did they not frighten them, but they accelerated their advance.

"Crossbows are ready!" When Fortunius raised the flag again, Valerius's voice sounded from the side: "Crossbowmen, prepare!"

When the crossbowmen heard the sound, they all turned to look at the leader of the team on the left, and saw a red flag being raised. So the crossbowmen in the back row quickly handed the crossbows that had been strung and loaded with arrows to the teammates in the front row. Then he picked up another crossbow placed beside him, pulled the string and loaded the arrow.

The crossbowmen in the front row took the crossbow and, as they had done countless times in training before, held the crossbow arm with their left hand, hooked the trigger with their right hand, stared at the sight, and pointed forward...

In fact, there is no need to aim carefully at all, because there are densely packed enemies everywhere under the mountain...

Valerius deliberately waited for the crossbow to be fired before waving the flag and shouting: "Shoot forward, let go!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!..." 300 crossbow arrows were shot out in unison, like a giant sickle being swung out. Countless screams rang out, and all the Brocchi warriors running at the front fell to the ground.

This immediately slowed down the forward momentum of Broch's warriors.