Chapter 128 Sneak in the Night

"Yes, Lord Dictator! We must arrive in Rome tomorrow night!" Quintus and Licinius immediately stood up and made a loud promise.

"After arriving outside Rome, look at the battlefield situation clearly, don't attack rashly, but put pressure on the Dionysian army so that they don't dare to attack Rome with all their strength..." Camillous warned his men patiently. Then he said in a deep voice, "I will try my best to lead the army to arrive the night after tomorrow, join you, and fight the Dionysians to the death!"

When the generals in the tent heard this, their anxiety after learning the news turned into excitement...

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At night, when everything was silent, most of the Roman people in the city and the Dionian soldiers outside the city fell asleep. But outside the northeastern city wall of Rome, hundreds of soldiers quietly came out of the camp of the Dionysian First Army.

They wore black linings, black cloth towel to wrap their heads, leather shields and daggers tied tightly around their backs, and a small bag of beef jerky tied around their waists. On this dark night, they marched silently southwest, through the open Mars Square.

The square of Mars was originally a wide wetland caused by the long-term flooding of the Tiber River. The sixth king of Rome, Servius, drained and filled the wetland, and finally obtained this vast flat land and gave it to the area. The flat land was named Mars Square. In the name of the Roman god of war, it can be seen that this flat land was originally used for assembling the army, but later, it was also used as a voting place for the citizens' assembly. After all, there is no such a large open space in the city of Rome to accommodate all the citizens. But after the arrival of the Dionian army, the Romans retreated to the city, and Mars Square was left vacant because it was outside the northern wall.

When the group came to the edge of Mars Square, they saw the towering city wall in front, and the dark mountain behind the city wall—the hill that held an important position in the hearts of Romans—Capitoline.

After these people determined the position, they quietly followed the direction of the city wall and turned westward.

Not long after they walked, they heard the sound of rushing water, and the Tiber River was ahead.

These people dispersed immediately, groping for the river bank, and soon someone shouted in a low voice: "Captain, here!"

It was Izam, the leader of the mountain reconnaissance brigade, who was called the captain, and he hurried over.

Two sturdy wooden pillars were erected where the soldier stood. They were driven deeply into the ground, only half a person's height above the ground, and there were wooden boards between the wooden pillars, which led to the river, and then broke in the middle. , which is a ruined wooden bridge.

Izam turned his gaze forward,

Less than 20 meters from the river bank, there was a vague outline of land, which he knew was the island in the heart of the river, which the Romans called Tiberina, and the Romans withdrew before the Dionian army arrived in Rome. The inhabitants of the island, and destroyed the wooden bridges leading to it on both sides.

If the Romans on the island hadn't been evacuated, maybe we'd be able to find out about our actions at this moment... Izam just had a flash in his heart, and then whispered: "Bring the rope here and tie it to this wooden post!"

A dozen people carried a large bundle of ropes as thick as gun-barrels and tied one end of the rope to the wooden post.

"Is Terentus ready?" Izam asked in a low voice.

"Captain, I can't wait!" A strong soldier responded with a slightly stiff voice.

"Okay, it's up to you!" Izam hammered his sturdy chest with his fist, and turned to the other soldiers and said, "Tie him up."

The team members wrapped the other end of the rope around his waist. Instead of a leather shield and a dagger, he hung a rope hook, an iron saw, and a large iron pliers.

When the ropes were tied around his waist, the team members tugged and felt very strong.

Izam looked at the warrior from Messapi with anticipation, and encouraged, "Hades will bless you, go ahead and become a kingdom hero like Sekelian!"

Terentus gave a solemn military salute.

Izam and the players also solemnly returned the salute to him.

Terentus put the back sack made of inflated lamb belly under his arm, then grabbed the rope with both hands, and walked backwards into the river step by step.

The coldness of the river made his skin suddenly tighten, and the slippery bottom made him unable to stand up completely. During the day, the Tiber River, which seemed to flow smoothly, only felt its momentum when one walked into the river. How old, Terentus couldn't help rushing downstream, but fortunately the rope around his waist pulled his body, and his teammates were releasing the ropes little by little like a tug of war, which made him You can walk down slowly...

It didn't take long for him to see that the river bank ahead was no longer flat, but turned into a bank of seven or eight meters high, which stood upright beside Terentus.

Terentus, who had seen the terrain beforehand, knew that it meant that he had passed the Roman walls.

Although the man was still by the river, the river was getting deeper, and his feet couldn't step to the bottom at all. Fortunately, the buoyancy of the sheep's belly made him float on the river and slowly drifted downstream. And Terentus kept his eyes wide open, staring straight ahead.

It didn't take long for him to see the Roman vertebral bridge lying on the river in front of him, which had been emphasized many times by the captain, and his heart suddenly rejoiced.

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The ropes that the mountain scouts were holding were originally tight, but suddenly slackened.

The team members were also overjoyed: it should be here!

Izam's expression was always solemn, and at this time he asked in a deep voice, "How long is the rope?"

The team member next to him in charge of counting replied: "Nearly 250 meters."

"That should have arrived." Izam was so sure because he had learned in advance from Valks and several other former Roman citizens.

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At this moment, Terentus was holding the bridge column closest to the embankment, and turned his head to look at the embankment. By the thin moonlight of the crescent moon in the sky, he could vaguely see the embankment near the Shibashi Bridge, about four meters away from the river. There is a big black hole.

Terentus was overjoyed again, he knew that he had found the famous drainage system of Rome city - Maxim's sewer which the captain said.

So, he untied the pickaxe hanging from his waist, untied the tangled strip of cloth, and pulled the rope with the other hand constantly and frequently.

Soon, the teammates who got the signal pulled him back.

He took the opportunity to paddle hard with his hands and feet, and got close to the embankment.

After a while, the rope was lowered bit by bit, so that he was washed down by the current to the bottom of the sewer, which was easy to distinguish because of its unpleasant odor, and there were wet water marks on the embankment, covered with moss.

Terentus immediately raised his pickaxe and plunged it hard.

The sharp beak of the pickaxe plunged into the crevice of the stone.

He grabbed the pickaxe in one hand and pulled the rope hard with the other, telling his teammates to stop laying the rope and tug on the rope to keep him in this position.

Then, he patiently untied the rope hook on his body, grabbed the head end in his hand, estimated the distance, and threw it hard on his head.

He heard a crisp sound of "clang" from above his head, he secretly screamed badly, and hurriedly dodged, the iron hook stuck to his body and fell into the river.

so close! Terentus did not immediately pull up the rope hook that fell to the bottom of the river, but stuck to the embankment, carefully observing the movement on the Shibashi bridge, for fear of being overheard by the Roman patrolling soldiers.

But he obviously underestimated the Tiber. Although it looked calm, far from the turbulent roar of Sekelian when he crossed the Krati, the river hit the bridge pillars and embankments over the years, making a low and thick sound. , enough to absorb any thin sound produced in his vicinity.

After a while, seeing that there was no movement on the bridge and the shore, Terentus threw the rope hook in his hand again, and first heard a smaller crisp sound, followed by a low, muffled sound.

The rope hook didn't fall off! Terentus was overjoyed, stretched out his hand and pulled hard, the rope was very tight, and it seemed that the rope hook was firmly hooked.

He pulled out the pickaxe forcefully, hung it back on his waist, then grabbed the rope hook with both hands and slowly climbed up. This section of the embankment is the location where the sewage is discharged from the sewer, and it is relatively slippery. Terentus stepped on and slipped several times and slammed his body against the stone wall, but he held back and did not make a sound.

Finally, he climbed to the exit of the sewer, and grabbed the iron fence blocking the exit with both hands.

The Maxim sewer was originally a drainage ditch dug by the Romans to drain the flooded river in the lowlands between the hills. This project happened to be ordered by the last Roman king, Tarvin, and its original starting position was Roman Forum next to the Senate.

With the improvement of the city of Rome and the increase of the population, drainage and silt removal is no longer necessary, but the discharge of domestic sewage has become a problem of public concern, so every household began to dig a drainage ditch in front of their house, and the original large drainage ditch Connected, all kinds of sewage generated every day in the house are discharged into the Tiber River through the drains. Over time, the drainage ditches became more and more long, spreading all over the city of Rome, and their lines were extremely intricate.

The Romans continued to discharge dirty water, sewage, excrement and urine, and even all kinds of garbage, which often caused the drains to be blocked, smelly, and occasionally caused the outbreak of epidemics. Later, a member of the Senate named Maxime. The elders of Rome proposed a proposal: to establish a new department and to send specialized city-state officials to manage the drainage ditches in the city of Rome.

The proposal was passed almost unanimously. As a result, the drainage ditches were dug wide and deep, stone slabs were laid on the ground, and they were dredged regularly... From then on, the drainage ditches became sewers, and the Romans also created a god for this complex sewer system - Crow Goddess Sina (cloacina).

The exit of this sewer is one person tall and almost circular. The iron gate is firmly welded into the stone wall. Each iron rod is the thickness of an adult finger, but this iron grille is obviously old and rusted on it, especially Below the iron grid, there are pits and pits corroded by the sewage discharged every day, and the thickness is uneven.