Chapter 200 Persuading to Surrender (1)
After listening to Davos's words, Nemeli, the general of the Helniki army, no longer hesitated, and he asked: "Your Majesty the King, if the Aiqui and the Masi also request an alliance with you Dionia, Will you agree?"
Davos changed his mind. He remembered that last year, the Eques and Masi were lured by the Prinister rebellion, and they invaded Rome together with the Volsi and Herniki, but they were defeated by Camelus. Then, during the Roman army's conquest of the Herniki this year, these two races sent troops to the rescue, but they suffered another disastrous defeat and their strength was severely weakened... They hoped to form an alliance with Dionysus, probably to eliminate worries and guarantee The territory is safe. After all, the rumors that Dionia abides by the covenant have been confirmed by the Wolsey and Herniki people.
"I welcome it very much!" Davos smiled: "I not only hope that the Masi and Equa people can ally with Dionia, but also hope that other forces around Rome can also become allies of Dionia! "
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At the end of the battle, Davos did not invite the leaders of Voch's coalition into Rome to hold a banquet to celebrate. On the one hand, the Volsci were eager to rush back to their defensive empty territory to prevent the Romans from retaliation; on the other hand, Davos also took into account the feelings of the people in the city of Rome. So, he distributed most of the loot he got (mainly armor and weapons) to the Vorhe Coalition fighters, making them grateful.
In this battle, aside from some casualties from the Voch coalition, the Dionysian army suffered negligible losses, and the Roman army suffered not many casualties, but they had nearly 2,000 captured, the worst being the Latin The Allies, more than 4,000 of them were captured.
Most of the Roman soldiers escaped back to Vilitre smoothly. It seems that the loss of the Roman army was not very big, but the failure of this battle was another blow to the prestige of the Romans in the alliance, especially Dai. Onia also captured so many Latin soldiers, so after the battle, Davos did not let Plintos withdraw the siege troops to Rome, but also returned the Fourth and Sixth Legions to the Commonwealth. Under the command of Lintos, let him step up the attack on Gabi City and take it down as soon as possible.
Davos, who returned to Rome with the joy of victory, called Publius and gave him an important task: persuade the Romans on Capitoline Hill to surrender!
And also made a promise to him: If the Romans on the mountain dared to hurt him, Dionysus would let the whole mountain be buried with him! Regardless of whether he succeeds in persuading him to surrender, he will become the new senator of the Dionysian kingdom, and he will speak for the rights and interests of the Roman citizens of the kingdom in the senate.
To this end, Publius made some careful preparations. The next day, he climbed the Capitoline Mountain with anxiety. At the same time, he took a captured Roman noble living in the city of Weiai, and a The Roman soldier who was captured in yesterday's battle was also from a noble family.
After the Roman soldiers received the order,
The pass was opened, and Publius, who had been waiting at the foot of the mountain for a long time, stepped into the mountainside of Capitoline. The passing Roman patrol soldiers stared at him with strange eyes, and some even spoke insults. He was mentally prepared, pretended not to hear, and followed closely behind the leader of the soldiers, while carefully observing the surrounding environment.
The reason why the Romans used the Capitoline Hill as the Acropolis is because it is the highest hill in the city of Rome, with a steeper mountainside, but a flatter top, and lush trees. The Romans thought it was a gift from the gods. I must like to live in such a beautiful place, so I built the main temple on this top of the mountain.
However, after Publius went up the mountain, what he saw along the way surprised him: in less than 20 days, most of the trees in the mountains were cut down, and simple wooden houses and tents were erected everywhere on the bare mountains. The people were lying there, all with disheveled faces and dazed eyes.
Along the way, Publius recognized many acquaintances. They were all commoners who lived in Cirlio and the Verna hills, either the patrons of the great nobles, or some commoners who had settled in Rome a few generations ago. In the past, most of them were powerful helpers used by nobles to deal with other commoners, but now they are hugging and lying together with their wives and children. When they saw him, they just rolled their eyes and couldn't even wave or say hello. Waste... Seeing these tragic situations, Publius once again firmly believed that it was an extremely correct decision to lead his family to the Kingdom of Dionia!
When they reached the top of the Capitoline, the temples that were supposed to be solemn and solemn, their courtyards were also crowded with people who fled up the mountain, not only making the quiet and clean sacred courtyard noisy and dirty, but also filled with air. Unpleasant fishy odor.
Seeing this, Publius was filled with anger and a bit of sadness at the same time, so when some nobles recognized him and learned that he came to negotiate as a Dionysian messenger, they all treated him to him. They shouted insults and spit, and even rushed up to beat him, but these people who couldn't eat enough and were shaking when they walked could not break through the protection of the guards.
Publius didn't take them seriously at all, but returned with a look of pity.
Finally the soldiers took him to the apse of the Temple of Jupiter.
"Come in, messenger of Dionia!" The captain of the guard deliberately said the word "Dionia" very heavily, in order to show his contempt for Publius.
Publius took a deep breath and strode into the hall.
"You still have the face to come here, Publius Manlius, as the patriarch of one of the most glorious clans in Rome, you abandoned the glory of your ancestors, tarnished the reputation of your family, and shamelessly joined Rome. Your enemy, you dare to step into this sacred hall now, and the angry Jupiter will punish you severely!"
Publius heard that the person who said this was Marugineensis, if he had been very embarrassed to talk to this prestigious old man before, because he was the most determined person who demanded the execution of Marcus. The supporters, even with the dislike of the Manlius clan, sneered at every turn, but today Publius looked directly at him who was sitting in front of him and stared at him, but his mood was very calm: "Today, I am Dai. Onia's messenger, King Dionia sent me to discuss important matters with you, and there is no need to say other nonsense here."
"Bullshit?!" Marugine Ensis was even more angry, he stood up suddenly, and shouted at Publius: "Do you know why we let you in?! That's because we want to punish Marr like we did back then. Treat you as a traitor like Kus! Come on!"
With this shout, two menacing guards walked in.
Publius immediately felt nervous, he tried to calm himself, and shouted: "Kill me?! Then you must be ready to let everyone on this mountain and other Rome captured by Dionia. The nobles are preparing for my burial!"
There was a commotion in the temple.
"Publius, you don't have to threaten us! After your body falls off the cliff and turns into meat sauce, it won't be long before the Dionians you trust will be led by Camelus. If the army is defeated, we will return to the city below and rebuild Rome after the war, just like it was back then!" Abilius immediately stood up and shouted loudly to inspire people.
Publius laughed: "You are still dreaming of returning to Rome! I suggest you go and ask the two people I brought up the mountain, Desimus Julius Bruce, You are all very familiar. More than ten years ago, he volunteered to bring his family and move to Viai. This was a big news in Rome at that time. Now he will tell you, 'How the Dionysians easily captured Kai Sreira and Viai, and then took him captive'.
Another person, you are more familiar with Marugineensis, Domigius Cominelius Sheila, this is your young clan, who used to be the squadron captain in the army led by Camelus , he will tell you, 'How many times the army of Camillous has been defeated, and now these remnants will retreat to Satnecum, fearing that the Dionian army will attack them! '..."
As soon as Publius said this, the whole venue seemed to be fried, and the discussion suddenly started. It has been more than 20 days since Rome fell. Apart from the battle that evening, the city of Rome has remained calm since then. As time passed, the elders already had a bad premonition in their hearts, but they did not expect the situation to be so bad. .
"...A lie! This is a lie!..." Abilius hurriedly refuted, but he was obviously not confident enough.
"I don't care what happened outside, as a traitor, you should be punished the most severely!" Marujinsis said in a tough tone after experiencing the initial shock.
Publius avoided his threatening gaze and looked around at the Roman elders who were talking about it. The panic on their faces made him feel calm. He took a deep breath and shouted: "In this case, there is everything. The Roman nobles accompany me to die, I have no regrets, come on!" He waved to the two guards, then turned and walked outside the temple.
"Wait a minute!" Someone shouted among the elders.
Publius's nervous mood was suddenly relieved, and he slowly turned around.
"As the envoy of Dionia, what are you here to negotiate with us?" Portitus asked loudly.
Publius looked at him, looked at Marugineensis next to him, and the other elders who were looking abnormal, and then said calmly and loudly: "Looking at the current situation, Rome The city fell, and Cassreira, Viai, Phedina, and Gabi were also captured by Dionysus one after another. The 70,000-strong army led by Camelus may now only have more than 10,000 people, hiding in Saturn. The city of Qom lingers, whether now or in the future, Rome is no longer the Rome of the Romans!"