Chapter 67 The Origin of Gaul in the Mountains

Asisters took him to a map of northern Etruria on the table, pointed to the map and said: "At dusk, I received Hasdruba from Florentine. The messenger sent by the runner-up camp, where a large number of Gauls appeared, the exact number is not very clear, Hasdrubal estimated that it will not be less than 20,000. Immediately I received another dispatch from the Lucca army camp The messengers of , they also have Gauls there, and the number exceeds 10,000. Other than that, no other information has been received... This is the current situation."

"Didn't hear from the Aretium barracks?"

"Not yet."

Patroclus once visited the Frontier Corps to learn about the military qualities of the legionnaires. He believed that if Gauls appeared near the Arretium barracks, they would respond quickly, and it was impossible that even messengers could not be dispatched, so He pondered for a while, and then made his own judgment: "It seems that this time the Gauls invaded from the north of the northern border of Etruria, and it is likely that the Senones tribe of Gaul is again!"

"The possibility of the Zenones is very high, but there are also the Salvis tribes who have been harassing Etruria in the past few years. If the number of Gauls invaded this time is too large, the Salvis people cannot be ruled out. The possibility of being involved as well.”

Patroclus nodded.

Since Dionia entered the Latium region, Asistes and the others have started to collect a lot of information about the greatest threat to the kingdom in the north, the Gauls, and finally figured out the Gauls in Italy. origin.

The Gauls originally lived in the north of the Alps. Many years ago (the Gauls have no chronology, no writing, and no specific age can be determined). The Gauls north of the Alps were under the rule of the wise chief Abigailtus. The population was soaring, and the output of the original land could not support the excessive population, so Abigatus decided to let the excess population colonize the new land, and finally selected a few young promising of the youths as leaders, and draw lots to decide which places they will colonize.

Abigata's sister's son, Belovisus, was drawn south of the colonial Alps, which was undoubtedly extremely bad luck for the Gauls at the time, because the Alps were inaccessible and the roads were difficult to cross. It was a huge risk to take, not to mention that no one knew what the situation would be like south of the Alps.

Belovisus was young and courageous. Under his instigation, the young people of the six tribes he should lead were also not afraid of difficulties, and they resolutely went south. After going through all kinds of hardships, the famous Taurini Pass was discovered, thus crossing the Alps and entering the northern part of Italy. They drove away the original owners, the Etruscans, settled in Medeolan (modern Milan), called themselves "Salvisians", and gradually expanded outward. .

Years later, the Gallic tribes north of the Alps heard that Belovisus had a good life after taking people to settle in the south, and they were also a little excited. Then the Gallic tribes headed by the Knomani tribe settled in Etito. The leader of Vius also crossed the Alps into northern Italy, and settled eastward with the help of the Salvis, centered on Verona.

In the following ten years, these two large tribes rapidly expanded around, defeating the Etruscans in the north many times, forcing them to migrate southwards, which also led to the original Etruscan overlord in north-central Italy. People began to decline.

After more than ten years, another large Gallic tribe, the Senones, north of the Alps decided to migrate south and enter northern Italy, but at this time there was no more open space on the Po River plain. The upper reaches are occupied by the Ligurians,

The lower reaches were occupied by the Venetians, and the most expansive and fertile part of the land was occupied by the two major tribes of Gaul, the Salvis and Knomani, and the Senones had to cross the Po River and enter the southern part of the country. The hills and mountains drove the Etruscans in the mountains further south, and settled in the center of Boloma (bonoma, that is, modern Bologna).

In the years that followed, the Senones south of the Po River did not think about taking the lower Po River plain occupied by the Venetians as their own. They waged wars against the Venetians many times. They also seized some of the land of the Vineti, but in the end they could not do anything about the Vineti people. This is because the waves and the downstream swamps were all over the place, the water network was vertical and horizontal, and the land was muddy. The Gauls who were originally mountain races were here It is very uncomfortable to fight, and although the Venetians are not native to the Po River Plain, they have been over a hundred years since they migrated from Illyria on the other side of the Adriatic Sea, and they are already familiar with the environment here. After the Zenones suffered a lot, they finally decided to maintain peace with the Venetians for a long time.

The upper Ligurians are also said to be one of the Celts. They migrated to the Italian region along the coast very early, but they never achieved unity, and the tribes often fought with each other, but they also Extremely exclusive. The Salvis invaded many times, and they were stubbornly counterattacked. As a result, the Salvis found that these Ligurians were shorter than them, but as strong as they were, and more ferocious than them. After suffering several major defeats and finding the Ligurians to be easy to mess with, the Salvis finally had to restore peace with the Ligurians.

As a result, the Gauls looked around, and the best ones to bully were the Etruscans in the south.

At this time, after decades of development and the occasional addition of small Gaul tribes from the north of the mountain, the population of Gaul in the south of the mountain has doubled several times, especially for Senones who live in the hills and mountains As far as the tribes were concerned, they occupied less and more barren land, had a greater need to expand their territories, and their gathering places were closer to the Etruscans.

Therefore, around 390 BC, under the leadership of the great leader Brennum, the Senones crossed the continuous mountains, invaded the Etruscan territory, and defeated the main Roman force in the Battle of Arria. Captured the city of Rome, but then they fell into the quagmire of war. When Brennum finally decided to lead the people to retreat from Rome and return to their hometown, he was forced to engage in a hasty battle with the Latium coalition led by Camillous, who was in pursuit. , was attacked by the Etruscans all the way, and less than half of the ethnic groups fled back to their hometowns. The big leader Bronlum was also seriously injured. He died of illness soon after returning to Boloma, which caused the Thelonians not only to lose their strength, but also to fall into chaos for a period of time. After that, the northern border of Etruria was quiet for many years. a lot.

It is said that during that period, even if the Senones tribe wanted to loot the south, they would usually have to pull the Salvis tribe to support it, thus making the relationship between the two tribes in the southern Gaul become more intimate.

After more than 10 years of recuperation, the strength of the Zenones should have recovered a lot, so they have begun to strengthen the invasion of Etruria in recent years. The invasion of a Zenones alone did not worry Asistes, but if the more powerful Salvis were to join in, it would have to attract the attention of the kingdom.

"I believe that by tomorrow, we will get more news about the Gauls, which will help us formulate countermeasures. But what I am worried about now is that there are so many invading Gauls, and the frontier army led by Lord Hasdruba... Can we hold the barracks until our reinforcements arrive?" Asisters said with some concern, and he did not say something in his heart: Hasdruba is a relative of His Majesty, and he has just returned as a member of the army. The fact that the Carthaginians can directly serve as the commander of the legion shows that King Davos attaches great importance to him. If he loses his life in this Gallic invasion, it will probably attract the wrath of King Davos.

"Don't worry, my lord, the three military camps in the north are built as strong as fortresses, and the defense facilities are also very complete, no less than the Palagonia of the year. As far as I know, the Gallic siege ability is not strong, Even if they have a large number of soldiers, it will not be easy to break through the barracks, and Captain Hasdrubal will be able to hold on until our reinforcements arrive!" Patroclus said confidently.

"I hope so, but we must hurry up to send troops. How many people can the 14th Legion and the reserve soldiers in Rome gather together?" Asistes asked seriously.

"33,250." Patroclus said a number at once.

More than 33,000 people are enough to form 4 legions. This number is indeed amazing for a region that has not been incorporated into the Kingdom of Dionia for a long time. However, the Roman region (especially Rome) had a young and middle-aged population when it surrendered to the kingdom. A lot. At that time, it was easy to form an army of tens of thousands of people (Roman reserve brigade and Roman noble soldiers) to follow the main force of the Dionysian army. Later, Davos designated Ladium as a key area for the kingdom to develop, whether it was Newly transferred official citizens and newly-adult citizens of the kingdom are prioritized in this area, so the Roman area has been the fastest growing area in the entire kingdom in recent years.

As the chief executive of the region, Asisters was not surprised, he said ponderingly: "If all the allies give full support, about 50,000 to 60,000 people will come, and even if half of them come, there will be 20,000 to 30,000 people, plus Our own army, I think we can rely on our own strength in the Roman region to be able to... repel the invading Gauls, which is also what His Majesty wanted to achieve when he established the Dionian League in central Italy."