At this moment, the originally quiet Dionian Army moved, and the light infantry of each legion quickly stepped forward and used javelins and arrows to strike the first round of the advancing Roman soldiers. The cavalry corps on both wings had already begun to march forward, and soon collided with the Roman cavalry...
After a while, the cavalry legion defeated the small number of Roman cavalry and pursued it, and the light infantry also smoothly retreated to the rear of the army formation.
"Prepare the javelin!" The orders of the officers sounded one after another in the long army formation.
The Roman soldiers, who already knew about Dionysian tactics, raised their long shields in the face of the speeding rain of javelins...
After two rounds of javelin, the Dionian soldiers charged forward and collided with the rushing Roman soldiers...
The sound of fighting became the only sound in this world.
Clotokatax felt that his breathing seemed to have stopped. He opened his eyes wide, and through the diffuse dust and mist, he brought the intense battle scenes into his mind. His expression was a little nervous and mixed with excitement. .
And next to him are Kingdom Staff Officer Thormid, Palace Secretary Henepolis, Fourth Legion Commander Olivers, Fifth Legion Commander Georgris... etc. These generals who participated in this expedition They are all paying close attention to this battle. They all know that Davos attaches great importance to Rome. Therefore, they must come to see this battle in advance and understand the fighting strength of the Romans, so that they can make correct judgments in future battles.
The heavy infantry fighting in front of the army formation was still in a fierce stalemate, and reconnaissance cavalry had already rushed over to report: "Report! The first cavalry regiment has completed the pursuit and is returning to attack the enemy's right flank!"
"Report! The Second Cavalry Corps is attacking the rear of the enemy's left flank!"
…
After listening to the report, Davos patted the neck of the war horse lightly, and said, "Amintas, after the Romans are defeated, you must pursue boldly, completely disperse them, and drive them to the south. Go, so that they can't hinder our actions tomorrow. If you can take Lavinim, your troops will not need to build a camp, but stay there tonight so that the soldiers can rest well."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Amyntas responded with a salute.
After Davos returned the salute, he turned the horse's head and galloped toward the beach.
The Palace Guard followed closely.
Krotokatax looked at the battlefield with some reluctance, and then left.
Olivers, Giorgris and the others congratulated Armintas before leaving in a hurry. In their opinion, the Dionian legionnaires blocked the enemy's onslaught from the front and had the upper hand, while the cavalry had detoured to the enemy's flank. not far.
The fact was just as they expected, after the battle continued for more than ten minutes, the Roman soldiers began to retreat, which soon turned into a major rout.
The fact that the Roman army was easily defeated is also related to the source of the soldiers of this army. Most of its soldiers were born in the Roman civilian class, and they were only assigned to Vilitre, Satnicum, The land of Antium, and they used to be auxiliary as light infantry, but in recent years because of the reform of the Roman military system, coupled with the generous assistance of Carthage, the Roman Senate has allocated heavy infantry to them Equipment, and began to train heavy infantry, but obviously they are insufficient in terms of combat skills and combat experience of heavy infantry, but they encountered a strong enemy in the first battle as the main force.
… … … … … …
Just as Amyntas led the First, Second, and Third Corps and the two cavalry corps in pursuit of the routed troops, King Davos led the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Corps that had assembled on the beach. Marching north along the coast, his goal was the long-established port of Ostia. As Rome's only port for foreign maritime trade and important supplies, capturing Ostia would not only cut off Carthage's aid to Rome, but also gain a foothold for the Dionysian expedition in the Latinum area. It can provide great convenience for the army's logistical supply and material transportation, which is a good thing that kills several birds with one stone. Davos has already locked the first target on it before he set off.
Ostia has been a Roman colonial city for decades, but it has only been nearly ten years since it was valued by the Roman Senate. Because of the establishment of a closer alliance with Carthage, in order to protect the various materials that Carthage aided to Rome, at the suggestion of the Carthaginians, began to strengthen the city defense of Ostia and the protection of the port, Especially after the war with the Dionysians, because they were afraid of the strength of the Dionysian fleet, the Senate also sent an additional garrison to Ostia, but they never thought that Dionia would lead the army at this moment. Attacked, and bypassed the Roman defense system on land, and attacked Ostia directly behind from the sea.
Therefore, when Davos's army arrived outside the city of Ostia, there were no more than 3,000 defenders in the city. They had already received the news of the enemy's attack in advance. When they sent messengers to ask Rome for help, the soldiers also They were ready for defense, but they were horrified when they saw the large Dionysian army outside the city.
The defending generals encouraged them loudly: "Citizens, it's getting late, the enemy's attack won't last long, show your courage and repel the enemy's attack, and reinforcements from Rome will arrive tomorrow! … "
His words gave the Roman soldiers greater encouragement, because it was already afternoon, and there was indeed not enough time for the Dionysians to attack the city.
So after the three legions of Dionia entered their predetermined positions and deployed quickly, Davos issued the attack order without any delay.
Although Davos went out this time and brought a team of more than 500 engineers, due to the rush of time, it was too late to build a large-scale siege equipment. The ready-made siege equipment was only dozens of ballistas and After countless cloud ladders were quickly assembled by the engineers, these ballistas were pushed to the front of the formation and blasted against the city wall.
For a time, stone bullets roared non-stop in midair, the city wall roared constantly, and the stone flakes flew around.
The Roman soldiers, who had never experienced such a Hittites battle, hid behind the battlements in fear, barely daring to move, and their morale was demoralized.
After more than ten minutes of continuous bombardment, the high-pitched bugle sounded, and the ballista's attack stopped.
The Roman soldiers just breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously stuck their heads out of the city wall, when they saw the dark Dionysian siege team 100 meters below the city accompanied by a roaring sound, like a raging roaring tide, from the east and south. Both sides roared towards the city of Ostia.
"Citizens, when the enemy is attacking, their ballistas will stop throwing stones, raise your spirits, take your weapons, teach them a good lesson, and let them taste the power of our Romans!" The defenders The general kept cheering the soldiers loudly, and the Dionian ballistas did not fire any more stone bullets, which calmed them down a little.
"Archers! Archers ready to shoot!..." The Roman officers also began to give orders.
The reason why the ballista troops did not raise the elevation angle of the ballista brackets, so that the stone bullets went above the city wall and bombarded the city, was because there were many port warehouses in Ostia city, and Davos was worried that they would be destroyed and affected. usage of.
Davos sat firmly in the back, watching the battle calmly.
Clotokatax could not sit still, and after getting permission from his father, he rode forward, getting closer to the battlefield, so that he could see more clearly. Of course, Martius followed him with some of the palace guards to keep him safe.
The siege battle is different from the positional battle. Although the battle is grand in scale and the sound of killing is loud, it is difficult to see the casualties of both sides in the fierce battle due to the obstruction of sight. The siege battle is different. The soldiers fell down with javelins or stones, and even the entire ladder was pushed down... These pictures could clearly catch the eyes of Clotokatax, and the continuous appearance of these scenes also made him feel a lot of heartache, and he was very nervous. Pulling his fists, he kept muttering in a low voice: "Rush up! Hurry up and attack! Hades, please bless them and quickly occupy the city!"
But Hades obviously did not answer the prayer of his descendant. Clotokatax was frightened for a while, but he was a little afraid to look at it. He turned to look at Diver, who was sitting still under the military flag in the distance. Si, then his eyes swept to the Fourth Legion that was still lining up not far away, and he couldn't help asking doubtfully: "Why don't you send the Fourth Legion up immediately and increase the strength of the siege?"
Martius explained next to him: "Ostia is a small city and cannot accommodate too many soldiers to attack the city. If all of them are sent, it will cause congestion and increase casualties."
Clotokatax is a soldier in the reserve army of the Legion, and he also worked in the Ministry of Military Affairs for a year. Of course, he knew that the Fourth Legion was called Dionysian's most capable siege legion. At this time, he could only He stamped his feet anxiously: "I knew earlier that the Fourth Army should be sent to attack the city first!"
Clotokatax can question his father's military arrangements, of course Martius, who is loyal to his duties, can't go on, he can only comfortably say: "Siege siege is very time-consuming, the battle has just begun, The Romans' defense is still very tenacious, we can't be too anxious, I believe that His Majesty will have a clear tactical arrangement for the Fourth Army..."
"Really?!" Clotokatax's eyes lit up.
"Of course, Your Majesty never fights uncertain battles!" Although Martius did not know the specific battle plan, he was obviously full of confidence in King Davos.