Chapter 138 Storming the City of Rome (10)

"Don't worry!" Davos laughed: "The reinforcements of these Latin city-states in the south of the camp are either fighting against the army led by Thormed in the west, or are now advancing towards the Sixth Legion, they can no longer be With more soldiers coming to attack our camp, the light armoured brigade of the Second Corps can defend the main camp alone."

Although Davos said it lightly, the staff members were still a little uneasy, and then one of the staff officers rushed out to give orders, just in time for the adjutant of the Second Corps to arrive.

"Matonis asked to send more soldiers..." Davos was slightly startled after hearing this, and asked the second legion adjutant about the battlefield situation in detail, and sighed in a low voice: "This guy is also in a hurry!"

To be honest, according to the information that Davos had obtained before, the young and middle-aged citizens in the city of Rome were all recruited to attack Herniki, and there were only 3,000 soldiers left behind. This was the reason why Davos dared to lead the army directly to attack the city of Rome. In his opinion, even if the Romans even sent old men and women to defend the city, they would not be able to compete with the more than 50,000 Dionysian legionnaires with advanced siege equipment, strong physique and rich combat experience. But I didn't expect that the battle lasted so long, and the various legions did not make obvious progress.

Is the resilience of the Romans so strong? ! He secretly clenched his fists.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." Seeing that Davos was a little dazed, Henepolis hurriedly shouted softly.

Davos came back to his senses immediately, his face quickly returned to calm, and he said to the adjutant: "There are no heavy infantry in the camp, you should immediately bring 300 light armored soldiers to support."

"Yes!" The adjutant respectfully finished the military salute and turned to leave the tent.

Davos glanced at the slightly worried staff and said confidently: "I still have more than 200 palace guards, they are no worse than the heavy infantry of the legion, plus the remaining light armored soldiers, there are a thousand people, Don't worry about the safety of the camp."

As he said that, he pointed his finger forward again, with a confident expression on his face: "What's more, even if the camp is destroyed by the enemy, it is no big deal, because the place where we are going to camp tonight is the city of Rome!" In fact, he still had something to say in his heart. Out: If the siege fails today, he will lead his army to withdraw to Ostia immediately, and of course this camp will be useless.

My army will surely capture the city of Rome today! ... Davos cheered himself up in his heart.

At this time, another battle report came: Report, north of Rome Shibashi Bridge, five miles away, about 4,000 enemy troops were moving fast towards the barracks of the Third Army.

"What?!" Someone in the staff exclaimed.

Davos' eyes shrank suddenly, and his right hand suddenly grabbed the back of the chair.

………………………………

now,

On the embankment on the west side of the south bank of the Roman Shibashi Bridge, the battle between Rome and the Dionian soldiers was less like a fight, more like a wrestling.

The Dionian Legionnaires supported the long shield with both hands, pressed against the opponent's shield, buried their heads behind the long shield, avoided the jabs of the enemy's stab guns in the rear row, and pushed forward with all the strength of the whole body, so as to protect the people who climbed up later. The comrades in arms earned a bigger foothold, so they roared in low voices, their faces were blushing, the veins in their necks were bulging, and their expressions were so painful and painful, because they were all trying their best to fight against Rome with a thin array. In a thick army formation, one person often has to fight against the overlapping strength of five or six enemies. The reason why he can barely support it is because the comrades behind them are squatting and stabbing daggers between their legs. Stab the enemy's legs and feet, weaken the enemy's combat effectiveness, and make them unable to push them into the river with all their strength because of their scruples.

Even though the Dionian soldiers fought so hard and inflicted a lot of casualties on the enemy, the line of engagement between the two sides was still close to the embankment, crooked, and intermittent.

Dionian soldiers were constantly being pushed off the embankment and fell into the river, and the Roman soldiers who rushed to the shore had to struggle to stop, otherwise they would also fall into the river.

At this time, the Dionian soldiers lying on the Raven Suspension Bridge covered their heads with long shields and attacked the enemy's legs with short swords, which often worked, thus forcing the opponent to retreat again and stand on the embankment again.

Therefore, this flat embankment has advantages and disadvantages for the soldiers of both sides. The Dionysian soldiers could not completely stand on the embankment and form a solid line of defense, and the Roman soldiers could not destroy the drawbridge and cut off the enemy's way of attack.

Because the Roman defenders did not expect that the Dionians would use warships to build pontoons, they did not prepare kerosene at all, and after the fierce battle between the two sides, the kerosene could not pass through the thick array to the embankment.

Of course, there were Roman archers throwing rockets into the river, but there were also sailors on the Dionysian ship who were cleaning up the rockets in time.

More sailors were patrolling the deck, and when they saw the soldiers who fell into the water, they jumped into the river and rescued them. 20 pontoon bridges are 20 life rafts. Even if some drowning soldiers are unlucky and miss them, there are more than a dozen clippers cruising the river downstream of these pontoon bridges, so although a lot of Dionysian soldiers fell into the water, most They were all in good health, and even after being rescued, they rested on the warship for a while, and soon they would be able to fight again.

The Roman soldiers seemed to have the upper hand, but there were many soldiers who were injured in their legs and feet and withdrawn from the battle, which caused the number of soldiers who could fight to gradually decrease.

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In the direction of Shiibashi in Rome, the battle situation was completely different.

At the beginning of the battle, the Roman soldiers blocked the enemy at the bridge head in time, but they could not push the opponent down the river by relying on the strength of the crowd like the comrades on the embankment, and could only withstand the enemy's impact from the front.

The first brigade of the Dionysian Third Army packed the entire Roman Shibashi Bridge. The soldiers in the front row used long shields and stabbed with short swords. While the soldiers pushed forward with all their strength, they also threw javelins...

At the beginning of the battle, the two sides were still in a stalemate. After half an hour, the Roman soldiers, mainly composed of the old and the weak, supported by a strong belief in defending their homeland, gradually could not resist these Dionys, whose physical strength, skills, and fighting spirit far surpassed them. The impact of the runner-up soldiers began to retreat little by little. Even if Cassius rushed to supervise the battle anxiously, he still could not restore the decline.

More and more Dionian soldiers rushed over the bridge, expanding the attack area of ​​the first brigade, and making the defense of the Roman soldiers more difficult. If more than 3,000 reinforcements arrived in time, the Roman soldiers defending at the bridge would probably be more difficult. already rout.

But with so many reinforcements, Cassius' brows still did not stretch.

Because Roman citizens, whether old or young, have been receiving formal Roman military training since childhood, even if they lack strength or experience, they can still rely on the whole to resist the attack of Diorian soldiers, but these free people and slaves are Dressed in Roman-style armor, armed with a long shield and a lance, but completely ignorant of Roman tactics, especially some slaves, they didn't even know how to use a shield gun.

To this end, the hardest part was the team officers who were temporarily in charge of commanding them. They had to shout loudly and remind their recruits how to do it on the battlefield where the sound of the killing sounded. Soon all the voices became Hoarse, but the formation of the newly added reinforcements has not seen much improvement, and it is still loose and messy.

Cassius was worried and began to blame: when the city of Rome was rebuilt, why did the Senate not call on the people to build a city wall on this embankment? ! Otherwise, with the protection of the city walls, these recruits can play a greater role even if they have no combat experience.

At this moment, he vaguely heard the familiar sound of bugles from the other side, and his spirit was suddenly lifted: Is it our reinforcements? !

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A few minutes ago, Lizaru, the commander of the Third Legion, who was standing at the bridgehead on the opposite bank and was nervously concerned about the battle situation, received the news that Roman reinforcements were coming.

Since there have been reports from scouts that "Roman reinforcements are gathering north of his camp", he is already prepared for this, and he doesn't seem panicked.

"There are only more than 4,000 enemies. I think the troops we left behind in the camp can completely repel them in the field!" Lizaru said confidently.

Midorades, the naval commander of the Third Fleet on the side, said with concern: "The soldiers in the defense camp have all gone out to meet, in case another enemy arrives——"

"Midorades, you have to trust the reconnaissance cavalry and mountain reconnaissance squads of the Third Legion. Apart from the incoming Roman reinforcements, they have not found any other enemy within ten miles, and our soldiers are defeating them. After that, there is plenty of time to return to the defense camp!" Lizaru explained seriously in order to dispel his concerns: "I asked the remaining troops to take the initiative to attack, not because I was belligerent, but because the camp we built was too large. Great, if it's just defense, the soldiers will suffer a lot!"

Midorades understood what he meant: Yesterday, the Third Army and the Third Fleet set up two camps on the north bank of the Tiber River, one at the bridgehead and the other by the river west of the bridgehead. In order to accommodate these more than 40 huge three-layer oar warships, and at the same time to allow enough space between the warships to facilitate the warships to be towed, enter the water and prevent fires, the camp by the river is long and wide. This has led to an increase in the defense area of ​​the soldiers. In order to fully defend, the troops are slightly insufficient...

The reason why Midorades has more concerns is because the soldiers can escape, regroup and fight again if they are defeated, but if the enemy is allowed to rush into the river camp, his warships are tied to the river, and they are connected into pieces. , it can easily be burned, and the Third Fleet will be completely over by then.

But after all, he has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he knows that there is no room for hesitation at this critical moment, so he said decisively: "I agree with your opinion, and temporarily hand over the command of the fleet infantry to you!"