Rome Must Fall

Maximus said seriously: "It is always better to be well prepared and to have fewer brothers killed or injured."

"Maximus, you are right. We are not short of time. It is absolutely fine to wait a little longer." Attumus quickly interjected.

Maximus looked at him, then at his subordinates, and his expression became solemn: "Chief Attumus, I hope that after capturing Canossa, you can abide by your promise and restrain your Men, don’t harass and plunder the people in the city.”

As soon as these words came out, Attumus knew that something was going to happen. Sure enough, before he could respond, several of his subordinates shouted: "Chief Maximus, your request is too much! From when we enter Samona Until now in the mountainous area, you have been asking us not to do this or that, and we have all obeyed one by one. However, the endurance of the brothers is limited. After the city is conquered, we cannot let them do nothing again, and we I can’t restrain them!”

"That's right! Chief Maximus, you have to make it clear that our leader is Brother Attumus, not you! These days, we have given you a lot of face, don't ask for too much, otherwise --snort!"

"How dare you guys speak to my leader like this, shut up!" Tolerugo immediately shouted dissatisfied: "This is something the two leaders have agreed upon, what right do you have to express opposition here! "

"If you hadn't followed the advice of Chief Maximus, would you have reached here through the Samnai Mountains so smoothly?!" Pheasalus said in a sinister way: "I'm afraid you are still confused in the mountains with Sarmonai. Monet is playing hide and seek, he really forgot about his mother after drinking the milk!”

"Don't make any noise!" Maximus and Attumus shouted almost in unison.

Quietness returned to the military tent, but the leaders of the two armies glared at each other, and the atmosphere seemed tense.

Maximus looked at Attumus solemnly and asked softly: "Have you not discussed this matter with your subordinates?"

Attumus replied with some shame: "I discussed with them for most of the night yesterday, but most of them believed that the soldiers' patience has reached the limit, and it is impossible to prohibit them from eating fat when it reaches their mouths. I... ...I originally wanted to tell you about this today, but before I could...just..."

Attumus knew very well: It was not that it was too late, but that he was worried that Maximus would change his mind, so he did not plan to say anything. He wanted to wait until the city was breached and it would depend on the situation...

Maximus looked at Attumus quietly, until his face turned red, and then he sighed softly: "So that's it, it seems that my demands are too high... Since you can't do it, I Don’t force it…”

When Attumus heard this, he felt anxious. Just when he was about to defend himself, he heard Maximus continue: "We are all poor brothers, and Rome is our common enemy. We should not quarrel over such a trivial matter." ! Chief Attumus, our previous agreement remains unchanged. After we capture Canossa, this city will belong to you——"

"Chief! -" The captains of Fesalus and Toreligo were about to object, but Maximus raised his hand and they all shut up.

Seeing this situation, Attumus was a little envious: Although Maximus was young, he was able to make his subordinates obey. However, even though these guys around him had shared the joys and sorrows with him for more than ten years, in just half a year, they After becoming the leader of hundreds of soldiers, he started to give himself a headache...

Attumus only thought for a moment in his mind, and then showed a very grateful look: "Chief Maximus, this is really... Look, it's better to divide the weapons and food we get after we capture the city in half. ——”

"Chief, you can't-" Several of his subordinates tried to stop him again, but Attumus shouted angrily: "Shut up!"

They roared so much that they were stunned on the spot, and their stunned look made Pheasalus couldn't help laughing.

Maximus coughed twice and said earnestly: "Chief Attumus, your army is short of supplies and urgently needs to be replenished, but we are not short for the time being, so I accept your offer, but really No need!”

Maximus's sincere words moved Attumus so much that he didn't know what to say. Even several of his men stopped shouting at this moment and lowered their heads to look at the ground.

Maximus then said: "Chief Attumus, do you want to go back to the camp and prepare for the siege? When the Canossa envoy arrives, I will send someone to inform you."

Attumus quickly got off the slope and said repeatedly: "Maximus, you are right, we have to prepare again."

He left in a hurry with his men, and Tolerugo then complained: "Attumus and the others can't abide by the agreement and still get so many benefits. Chief, you are too generous!"

If Torrelugo had just joined Maximus's team, his accusation would probably have been unpleasant to hear. Now he has expressed his dissatisfaction very tactfully, which is enough to show that Maximus's leadership status has been obtained by him. Fully recognized.

Looking at the dissatisfied captains, Maximus explained with a smile: "I'm not being generous. You all know that Salapia is our goal. The reason why we are with Attumus We have an agreement, hoping that after capturing Canossa, if Arttumus’ army can treat the people in the city well, perhaps other towns will not resist our attack tenaciously after learning the news...

This is actually just an additional request. Canossa will definitely give it to Attumus, and his team must also be supplemented and strengthened. Only in this way can they help us share the pressure and prevent us from falling behind in Apli Only when we are alone can our own development and growth become smoother...

To be honest, from the time we went south, Attumus was able to follow my advice and restrain his army so that we could reach here smoothly. This was beyond our expectations! Think about it, if it was Cross, or Enomui, or even Altonix, and if their armies followed us southward, would they possibly follow our advice? Will our journey south be so easy? … So Art Tumus has done his best and we can’t ask for more. "

These words of Maximus alleviated the dissatisfaction of Toreligo and Pheasalus.

Canossa really sent envoys to the camp. Of course, they could not produce the huge supplies required by the rebels, but they wanted to delay time through negotiations. Little did they know that this was just Maximus and his friends trying to paralyze the other party. On this pretext, he ignored the envoy's entreaties and declared war on Canossa.

When the envoy hurriedly returned to the city, the high-pitched brass trumpet sounded throughout the rebel camp.

Attumus's army mainly attacked the west of Sarapia, Maximus's army mainly attacked the east, and the south of Canossa mainly consisted of a feint attack by Attumus's army and the assistance of Maximus's army (A The number of Tetumus's army was about 12,000, which was twice the number of Maximus's army). Only the north of the city of Carosa was not attacked because it was close to the Orfidus River and it was difficult to launch an offensive force. .

Maximus was riding a horse, looking at the soldiers forming a formation about a mile away from the east wall: at the front were five ballistas, followed by the third, fourth, and fifth brigades in a loose formation. Open, every hundred people carry a wooden ladder. Then there are the first and second brigades that serve as reserve teams.

The reason why Maximus asked the two most elite brigades to serve as preparations was that on the one hand he was reluctant to let their strength be consumed, and on the other hand he needed to preserve strength for the next military operation.

He also transferred about 200 soldiers who were good at throwing javelins from these two brigades to assist in the attack.

In addition, his other elite brigade, the escort brigade, was sent to the south of the city.

At the end of the siege array were the medical team responsible for rescuing the wounded and more than 300 poor Apulian people who had only joined the army after entering the Apulian region. Each of them carried sacks filled with soil. Compared with the excited soldiers in front, they seemed very nervous, but there was no way. Maximus told them before the war that as newcomers who had just joined the army, they needed to prove their courage and loyalty.

Although this was not the first time Maximus commanded a siege, it was the first time he fought far away from the main force, without rear or support. In order to ensure victory, he sent almost all his soldiers. There were only a hundred cavalry and more than a hundred young soldiers stationed in the camp. Once the siege failed, the consequences would be disastrous, so Maximus was under considerable pressure.

However, when the troops were all in formation, Maximus delayed in giving the order to attack the city.

Quintus couldn't help but remind him, but he said softly: "Don't be anxious yet. Let's attack again after a fierce attack starts over there."

Quintus understood: Maximus wanted Artemus' army to attack first, attracting Canossa's defenders to the west and reducing the pressure on his own side of the attack.

Quintus had no objection to this approach, but the young leader who had previously talked about how to help Attumus's army in the military tent was completely different at the moment, which made him a little confused...

Maximus did not see any conflict between helping Artemus capture Canossa and reducing the casualties of his own soldiers, and he firmly believed that Artemus and his men were eager to capture the city of Canossa. It must be very violent.

that's the truth. Attumus gathered 9,000 soldiers, and as soon as they formed their formation under the city, they hit the western wall of Canossa like a tide.

About half an hour later, Maximus finally gave the order to attack.

The entire siege force moved forward slowly, and stopped about 200 meters away from the city wall, and the ballistae began to fire.

Maximus still owned the light ballistae that he had captured from the Roman legion. After capturing Pompeii, he collected a lot of lead ingots and asked the blacksmith to melt them into lead shot. Now the ballistae team still has sufficient ammunition.

It's just that light ballistae is generally used to kill enemy arrays rather than attack city walls. However, Maximus does not have heavy ballistae for siege, so he can only use light ballistae to bombard the top of the city wall to scare the defenders. I hope that the scattered stone chips will pose a threat to the enemy.

However, when the fired lead shot continued to bombard the city wall, large swaths of stone skin began to fall down, which not only made the defenders nervous, but also surprised the rebel soldiers.

In fact, since the Marsi War, the walls of Canossa have hardly been repaired in the past 20 years. One of the main reasons for this is common among Italian towns: all Italians are already Roman citizens and are placed under the jurisdiction of Rome. Under the rule and protection of Rome, and with Rome's powerful military power across the Mediterranean, no force dared to take the initiative to attack its base camp - Italy. Therefore, the Canossa people enjoyed their peace and had no motivation to repair the city.

Another main reason is that the administrator sent to Canossa from Rome never took the initiative to propose repairing Canossa's defense facilities. On the surface, he claimed that he was unwilling to waste Canossa's manpower and material resources. The real reason was that Marci During the war, Canossa was an important force in the rebel army in the Apulian region. In order to better rule southern Italy, Rome needed to take precautions.

The lack of repairs for many years has resulted in the erosion of the city wall by wind and rain, and some gaps have appeared. The appearance of the city wall looks dilapidated. At the same time, the 4-meter-deep and 4-meter-wide moat surrounding the city of Canossa has been left unmaintained for a long time. Silt accumulated and the banks collapsed, making some sections of the river inaccessible to water.

Now Canosa people are paying the price for more than a decade of neglect.

After five rounds of ballistae bombardment, the siege troops began to advance slowly. The soldiers at the front were fully equipped and marched quickly to the moat when they heard the team officers shout: "Raise your shields!!"

They immediately raised their square shields above their heads and hid their bodies under the shields.

After a while, the soldiers guarding the city dropped their javelins. Some fell into the air, and some plunged into the square shields. Only a few screams were heard.

Facing long-range attacks, the rebel soldiers neither advanced nor retreated. They stopped in front of the moat and endured the rain of javelins.

"Stop attacking! Stop attacking! The enemy is consuming our javelins!..." The defenders realized this, and the javelin throwing quickly stopped.

"Chief, it's time to start." Seeing this, Quintus reminded.

Maximus nodded and waved to Akago, who was serving as the herald.

Soon the order was conveyed to the newly joined Apulians.

"Brothers, it's our turn! Don't panic, follow the people in front, run to the river and throw the sacks into the river before retreating. Remember!" shouted a newly appointed centurion.

"Everyone, be brave. If I see someone embarrassing us Apulians, I will never spare him when he comes back!" Another centurion said fiercely.