Chapter 197

The indifferent expression on Camelus' face did not change. He turned his head and asked, "Titus, what do you think of the current battle situation?"

"Lord Dictator." Titus looked solemn. He looked at the others, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I think... this may be a conspiracy of the Dionysians!"

As soon as these words came out, the other generals were surprised, but Camelus was the only one who remained motionless.

Titus explained with a worried expression: "Before, we sent reinforcements under the repeated pleas of the Gabi city messengers. Now that the troops of the Latin allies have gathered here, the Dionysians have not attacked Gabi city in a big way. Instead, the camp was being built and fortified, and it looked more like it was waiting for us to attack.

If the Dionians never attack the city of Gabi, it is likely to cause a long-term stalemate, and the situation will be unfavorable for us, because the soldiers of the allies will be dissatisfied with us; if we choose to attack directly, the Dionians will even Just sticking to the camp will put us at an offensive disadvantage, and don't forget the painful lesson that the attack on Ostia taught us! But if we retreat like this, we will lose our prestige in the Latin allies..."

"But...even if we knew at first that this was a plot of the Dionysians, we had to send reinforcements! Who told us that we are the leaders of the Latin Confederation, according to the Covenant, we have the responsibility to protect the safety of their territory, in the current predicament Next, we cannot lose the trust of these allies..."

Camillous sighed, the sullenness on his face made the generals unable to see the fluctuations in his heart: since the Dionysians attacked the Latinum area, the army he led has been passive and controlled every step of the way. , In fact, he has not had a head-on battle with the Dionysian army, and has already fallen into today's predicament. The king of Dionia is really a terrible person!

"Since the Dionians want us to take the initiative to attack, then we will attack, but with reservations..." Camelus said finally.

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"Your Majesty, the Roman army has been dispatched!"

"Quick! Immediately notify Amyntas, Olivers, Ryders, and Kochius, assemble their legions, wait for my order, and be ready to attack at any time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Also, send a quick horse to inform Prinister and Signia!"

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"Generals,

The Roman army has left Tustron and is coming towards us. "The words of Printols made several army commanders look happy.

"This big fish has finally taken the bait, and our hard work in the past few days has finally paid off!" Trotiras said excitedly.

"This time, we have to pay back the grievances that we were forced to retreat in Ostia!" Matonis was full of pride.

"It's best to leave the Roman army here completely, and the battle will be easy to fight!" Epithenes, the temporary commander of the reserve brigade, had a bigger appetite and thought further.

"Captain Sextus, do you have any suggestions?" Printols looked at the only silent general in the tent.

Calling Sextus as the captain, in fact, the number of Roman reserves composed of Roman civilians has exceeded 6,000. Sextus is the captain and does the work of the commander, but Rome The reserve team is only temporary, and will be cancelled after the war. Although Davos already had the idea of ​​building a legion in Rome, it would be impossible for Sextus to serve as a legion commander at that time, and even the legion commander would not be enough. After all, he didn't know Dionia. The military system and tactics need to be rebuilt in order to convince the soldiers.

"I have no opinion, please order the commander!" Sextus said in a deep voice.

Crotokatax, who was standing beside him, looked at the Roman, who was only a few years older than him. He could understand what Sextus was feeling at the moment, but just as his father said to him: only By getting these Romans to fight more, they can sever their ties to the past.

Printols coughed, then looked at the generals, and said loudly: "Generals, please follow the previous deployment to meet the incoming enemies!"

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Tustron was less than 30 miles away from the city of Gabi, but the Roman army's marching speed was not fast. They approached the Dionysian camp after noon. The defenders were greatly excited when they heard it: "Roman reinforcements are coming!!!..."

However, the Roman coalition did not immediately launch a violent attack on the camp. The army temporarily stopped advancing. The soldiers began to eat rations to replenish their previously consumed physical strength, and then the soldiers began to slowly approach the camp in a loose queue.

The Roman coalition soldiers walked cautiously, as if searching for traps on the ground. In fact, the Dionysian camp had no other defense facilities except for trenches, outposts, and wooden walls.

At the rear of the team, the interim commander-in-chief Titus repeatedly instructed the scout cavalry officers under his command: "Let your subordinates keep their eyes open, and report back immediately if you find anything unusual around the battlefield, especially in the direction of Rome! "

Half an hour later, the Roman coalition soldiers approached the trench, and the battle for the camp began.

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"Notify the troops and prepare to leave the city!" Davos, who was at the head of the city south of Rome, gave the order.

"Your Majesty, the messenger sent by Plintos just now said that the Romans' offensive was not violent, and they did not put the main force into the attack. Should we wait?" Tormide reminded.

"It's been so long since the Romans attacked, and I'm afraid it will be like this if we wait." Davos said with a firm expression: "What's more, there has been action over there, and it may be detected by the Romans at any time. , if this time is missed, the Romans will not be fooled again!"

"Understood, Your Majesty." When Thormid responded, the three army commanders, Amintas, Olivers, and Lizaru, had already turned to go down the city.

Davos looked at the last legion commander beside him and said solemnly: "Geogris, the security of the city will be handed over to you next, you must assist Asistes and control the city of Rome!"

"Please don't worry, Your Majesty!" Geogris put his legs together and slammed his right fist on his left chest.

Davos stretched out his hand, patted Georgris's shoulder hard, and then turned to go down the city.

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In the great tent of the Roman camp sat Camelus, Lucius, and Quintus.

At this time, Quintus was complaining to Camillous: "My lord dictator, I really don't understand, since you have decided to give up Gabi and withdraw your army, why are you going to attack the enemy's camp and let our precious Soldiers suffer in vain?!"

"We need to let the allies know that the Romans have not abandoned them and will still fight for them... Although it will cost us some casualties, it will be worth it..." Camillous explained.

"In fact, we still gave up on them!" Quintus was still dissatisfied: "When we withdraw Satnecum, Gabi City may soon be captured by the Dionysians. Are the other Latin allies? Don't you lose faith in us?!"

Camelus was silent for a while, and then said in a low voice: "... At least we have made an effort to give them some confidence... The Dionysians used their troops cautiously, and always attacked Rome with a large force. Towns, never scattered troops, looted everywhere... With our current strength, it is impossible to have too high expectations, we can only hold on to the three colonial cities of Vilitre, Satnecum, and Antium. , in order to wait for the situation to change, and then join the Latin allies and attack the Dionysians!  …”

"What change of situation?" Quintus frowned.

"Yesterday, Pantius at Antium sent me to tell me that a Phoenician fishing vessel had passed the interception of the Dionysian warship and entered the port with a message,' said the Carthaginian elder. The hospital has appointed Marco as the military commander, who will lead no less than 100,000 troops to attack Sicily again!'" Camelus said, his voice involuntarily increased.

"An army of 100,000!" Quintus was overjoyed when he heard the words, then frowned and said angrily: "Carthage sent an army to attack Sicily, but did not impose much on the Dionysians at all. Pressure, we were defeated, but caused us to make wrong judgments. We have fallen into today's situation, and the Carthaginians should bear the greatest responsibility! Now that the Carthaginians have launched an attack again, we should not rely too much on them. !"

Quintus' words made Camillous feel a pain in his heart. He should bear the main responsibility for his misjudgment of the situation at the beginning. Quintus was expressing his dissatisfaction with him in a subtle way.

Lucius did not allow others to criticize his father like this, and immediately said loudly: "Quintus, don't forget, you supported my father's proposal at the beginning, 'concentrate your forces and quickly destroy the Herniki people in a short period of time. ', you are the most positive one!... Now that the Carthaginians can attack Sicily again, isn't it good news for us?! Is there a better way for you to quickly change our predicament? And this time the commander of the Carthaginian army is Marco, he is an experienced Carthaginian general, and he hates the Greeks extremely, he will never show mercy to the Dionysians!  …”

"Okay, don't quarrel with the two of you." Camillous waved his hand: "Quentus is right, we can't blindly trust Carthage, we have to see the development of the war..."

"Now that the enemies of Rome have come out, our goal has been achieved, and it is time for the army to retreat." Camelus continued calmly: "Titus knows what to do."