BXBX NOVEL Chapter 775: Seeing the city in person
Soon after, more than two hundred palace guards arrived on horseback, surprising the two legates, “Could it be His Majesty will arrive soon?!”
“His Majesty sent us as reinforcements as he was worried that the Romans would defend the granary and send troops from the city to fight you. The light infantries are also rushing this way,” replied Martius.
Ledes then pointed towards the top of the city wall and contemptuously said, “His Majesty is worrying too much. In fact, those timid Romans didn\'t even dare to leave the city!”
Soon afterwards, the sound of fighting and shouting inside the camp disappeared. Then once the gate opened, the cavalry immediately rushed in carrying sacks filled with soil.
When Ledes saw the senior centurion of the third brigade rushing over, he quickly asked, “How are our casualties?”
“…thirty-two brothers died and sixty-seven wounded, of which fifteen suffered serious wounds…” said the senior centurion of the third brigade, feeling upset.
“So many casualties?!” Ledes didn\'t expect his side to pay nearly a hundred casualties even after they vastly outnumbered the enemy, which distressed him. He knew that even though Thurii had dispatched soldiers to supplement their numbers after the First Cavalry Legion had sustained significant losses during the Battle of Setia in Volsci, they were still not at full strength.
“Where are the enemies inside?” He asked angrily.
“All dead; no one surrendered.”
Ledes no longer spoke and instead strode towards the camp.
Inside the gate, he saw a Roman soldier leaning against the wall, with sword wounds all over his chest and blood pouring out of him, staining his whole body blood red. He was like a sculpture as he remained motionless with his eyes closed tightly and his hand gripping his spear, with the top of his helmet adorned with a bright red plume, clearly indicating that he was an officer.
Ledes stopped in his track and looked at him.
Unexpectedly, the seemingly dead Roman soldier suddenly opened his eyes and glared at Ledes angrily while thrusting his spear with difficulty.
“Legatus, be careful!” The cavalryman behind him rushed over immediately.
“Stop!” Ledes waved his hand to stop them while standing still as he and the enemy soldier stared at each other with their sharp gaze.
Gaius, the Roman centurion, wanted to lift his spear, but the spear, which was usually as light as a feather, was now as heavy as a mountain. In the end, the little energy he had saved dissipated with the gush of his blood, and all he could do was glare furiously at the enemy leader, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Though he was unwilling and tried to roar, only blood came out of his mouth…
Ledes silently watched the despairing enemy fall towards the ground before leaving.
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Davos couldn\'t help but stop his horse at the sight of the great city standing in the distance: Rome, the centre of the first and only great empire in Western history that turned the Mediterranean into its inner lake, has had many thrilling stories circulate among the people for thousands of years, and many poems and articles praising and describing it written by men of literature! It was the dream in the hearts of countless ambitious Westerners of his previous life and present, a dream of unity…
In his previous life, Davos had yet to have the opportunity to visit the great city that could be called the starting point of Western European civilisation. Now that he had come, the thing he saw wasn\'t the bustling and historic Rome but a crude city-state in the early stage of the Republic and in the midst of its rise. Although he learned more about this city in detail from intelligence reports, it was still difficult for him to hide the excitement he felt.
“Forward!” Davos clamped his legs between the horse\'s belly, causing the horse to neigh and gallop forward.
“Your Majesty!!!” His action startled the people around him and prompted them to chase after him. However, they were soon relieved when a cavalry team ran into them. They were the palace guards that had gone out earlier and now surrounded Davos.
When he saw Martius, Davos asked, “Have they taken the river port and granary?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Martius replied, “The First and Second Cavalry Legions captured the river port and granary without much resistance from the Romans and extinguished the fire in time. Currently, the two legates, Ledes and Kurcius, are over there counting the supplies and will come report afterwards.”
“It\'s good that all went well!” Davos felt relieved as the successful completion of the first step gave him more confidence in capturing this city.
“Let\'s go and look at the city of Rome!” Davos said while pointing forward confidently.
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The Romans stationed on the western wall of Rome began to feel nervous upon seeing the rising dust that extended far beyond their sight. It is because they knew that the Theonian army had arrived.
Then, they saw hundreds of cavalry galloping towards them, standing a hundred metres away from the city wall. This unit held two large banners that shone with golden splendour, which was distinct from the Theonian cavalry\'s banners they had seen before. In the centre of the cavalry was a general with a golden helmet and armour, and atop his helmet were long plumes of feathers, which were particularly dazzling under the sun\'s rays.
“Perhaps the king of Thoenia is there.” One of the senators whispered uncertainly, to which no one objected as they gazed silently at the person they presumed as the king of Theonia below the city wall. This person began pointing in their direction while talking and laughing with the people around him.
The older Scipio spat and suddenly took the long shield of the soldier next to him, drew out his sword, struck the shield\'s surface and shouted, “Rome! Rome! Rome!…”
The soldiers also copied the city guard prefect as they rhythmically struck the long shield and shouted…
Soon, the senators also joined in…
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When Crotokatax saw how the city wall curved inwards and outwards and how the whole wall was crooked and uneven, he couldn\'t help but say, “What a terrible wall!”
Davos replied with a smile, “The reason they built the city wall so poorly was that after they had driven out the Celts to the north, they were so eager to rebuild the city to meet the needs of the Roman citizens at that time that they didn\'t even make any plan at all. For example-”
Pointing to the wall curving outwards on the left near the Tiber, “If I remember correctly, behind that would be Collis Aventinus, one of the Seven Hills of Rome. And this side-”
Davos pointed to a large section of the city wall that protruded outwards on the right, “Behind this section of the city wall should be the largest slum in Rome.”
“Did the Romans build the city without even thinking about how they would defend it in the future?!” Martius, who didn\'t know much of Rome, was surprised at their short-sightedness.
“But they built it so tall and dug the trench so wide…” Crotokatax looked at the towering city wall in front and judged its height might not be less than fifteen metres.
Tolmides suddenly interjected, “Your Highness, having a high city wall alone is useless as its curved shape would allow our soldiers to avoid the Romans\' concentrated long-range attacks. Additionally, it was not favourable for the Romans\' reinforcements since they could not reach their destination quickly. Although there is a trench in front of the city, they did not place an abatis and stockade, so once the trench is filled, we can easily push our siege equipment below the city wall…”
Although Tolmides didn\'t participate in battles over the years, he still had enough experience due to his decades of mercenary career and later serving in the Ministry of Military. Therefore, Crotokatax would listen to him attentively and ask for advice from time to time.
Davos didn\'t disturb them as he was carefully observing Rome\'s defence.
“Rome!!! Rome!!! Rome!!!…”
Suddenly, a thunderous shout rang out from the top of the city wall, giving Davos the feeling that countless Roman soldiers atop the city wall had been integrated into the wall.
He turned around and solemnly said, “Although the walls the Romans built weren\'t good, we might not have an easy siege battle judging from the situation.”
Tolmides, Martius and the others agreed.
At this moment, mounted scouts came rushing over, “Your Majesty, the three legates, Amintas, Matonis, and Litom, have arrived with their troops.”
Upon hearing this, Davos smiled and said, “Since we won, we should make Amintas pay up!”
Everyone laughed.
Davos looked at the approaching army in the dust behind him. Then he said, “Tolmides, immediately notify the legates of all the legions… err, and also Izam, the senior centurion of the mountain reconnaissance brigade, to gather here immediately!”
“Yes!”
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Despite the recent expansion of Rome\'s river port, it still only had five piers and wasn\'t very large, much smaller than the granary camp next to it. The only thing that interested Davos was the discovery of many wooden materials in the port\'s warehouses, “Once the legions are settled, take all the engineering brigade and have them set up camp or make more siege equipment.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Tolmides quickly asked his men to record the matter.
Davos gazed at the glistening surface of the Tiber as it flowed gently and deeply before him.
His gaze then shifted further into the distance, where the wide river surface made the opposite bank appear faint and hard to see. Then he turned his head and looked upstream. But to his disappointment, only the river was in sight, and he couldn’t see any bridge connecting the south and north banks.