Chapter 221 Whistleblowing

Under the fierce attack of the rebels, the Roman army was beaten back steadily.

Seeing this situation, Oakmar, who was in the rear, immediately followed Spartacus's pre-war battle plan and led more than 1,000 cavalry to attack the left flank of the Roman army.

Crassus, who was at the rear of the military formation and did not participate in the battle, soon learned of the news and sent nearly 3,000 cavalry under his command to meet the enemy.

Although the Roman infantry were at a disadvantage, they did not collapse, but were desperately resisting. The horror of the eleven-stroke law had been deeply implanted in their minds. Death by the enemy's sword was just a loss of life, but if they suffered this The punishment of every law will also be deprived of one's own glory.

Because of this, although the Roman army was beaten back step by step, it never collapsed. On the contrary, Oakmar's cavalry faced the far superior Roman cavalry. Although they fought hard, they were eventually defeated. He himself He fell from his horse and was trampled to death by the horse's hooves.

The battle continued into the afternoon, when the left wing of the Roman army, which had the smallest number of troops and the thinnest array, finally could no longer withstand it and began to collapse.

However, before the soldiers on the right wing of the rebel army cheered, the sound of military trumpets was heard from the opposite side. The defeated Roman soldiers automatically ran to both sides. The Roman reserve troops who had been recharging their strength in the rear came up to block the attempt. Rebel soldiers in pursuit of victory.

This reserve force is the three most elite legions under Crassus. Today, Crassus is no longer the commander-in-chief who only had 8 legions at the beginning. During the year of competing with the rebels, he recruited many Magna Graecia. citizens, bringing the number of its soldiers to 80,000, and rigorously training them during the construction of the wall.

On the contrary, due to the destruction of Attumus's army and the attrition of breaking through the long wall, the number of warriors at the time of the battle had been reduced to less than 70,000, including some family members.

Crassus used miscellaneous troops recruited from Magna Graecia to form the left wing, which greatly consumed the vigor and physical strength of the rebel soldiers. Then he sent in his own elite troops, which not only quickly stabilized the front, but also began to gain the upper hand.

Not long after, the Roman cavalry chasing the defeated rebels returned and began to circle the right flank of the rebels.

The already tired right-wing fighters of the rebel army finally collapsed in the face of the enemy's fierce attack.

The victorious Roman left-wing infantry and cavalry took the opportunity to suppress the defeated troops and attack the center and left wing of the rebel army.

The left wing of the rebel army was shaken and eventually collapsed. Only the center, because of the presence of Spartacus, still fought tenaciously even though it was surrounded.

The battle continued until evening. Hamilcar, who was so tired that he could not even hold his dagger, was chopped to the ground by the Romans. Spartacus, who was covered in wounds, roared angrily and wanted to save his closest comrade.

The Roman soldiers fighting around him were shocked by his bravery. When they heard the roar, they subconsciously retreated to defend themselves.

Just when Spartacus was about to reach out and pull up Hamilka, a Roman auxiliary soldier in the rear saw a gap in front and took the opportunity to throw his javelin.

Spartacus, who had been fighting fiercely for a day, was exhausted from his physical strength and his reaction became sluggish. He watched helplessly as the sharp spear point penetrated the tattered armor and pierced his chest.

At that moment, he felt no pain, but what came to his mind was the warm picture of his tribe in the past...

Spartacus died in the battle, the rebel army was completely defeated, and Crassus finally won the battle.

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Crassus finally breathed a sigh of relief. During this period, he had been tense. He was afraid that after more than a year of hard work, it would be in vain. The various armies were still chasing the defeated troops. Crassus had returned to his military tent and had a rare sleep. A restful sleep.

He slept until the afternoon of the second day, and then listened to his subordinates report the subsequent battle situation to him. One of the messages caught his attention: "Is there a rebel leader who wants to see me?"

"This rebel is called Cleonis. He is one of the main leaders of the rebels. He once had more than 10,000 rebels under his command. He said he wants to tell you an important secret about the rebels."

"Oh, the important secret of the rebels?!" Crassus suddenly became interested.

As a result, Cleonis was soon taken into the military tent. This leader of the rebel army had led his army to fight the Romans many times. He also said boldly at a meeting of military governors, "We will stay in Italy until we are completely defeated." "Roman", at this moment, like a frightened quail, he immediately fell to his knees after timidly entering the tent: "The sinner Cleonis pays homage to the great General Crassus!"

Crassus didn't even look at him, and said coldly: "Tell me, what secrets do you know about the rebels' tricks?"

Cleonis swallowed, did not dare to raise his head, and bravely said: "General...if I tell this secret...can you reduce my punishment?"

Crassus's face darkened: "You are worthy of bargaining with me! Someone is here, take him down to me, hang him at the gate of the camp, and give me five whips every hour until he dies completely!"

"General, spare your life!" Cleonis was so frightened that he quickly begged for mercy. Once a person's knees are weak, his waist can no longer straighten up: "I say! I say! I say everything!"

Crassus waved his hand to stop the guards who were about to catch Cleonis.

"General... General, you are brave and good at fighting. You first wiped out the army we left in the Regim area, and then defeated our main force here... But we have another army that has been hiding for a long time, and you haven't noticed it yet!" Clionis gritted his teeth. Even though he was in danger now, he didn't want Maximus to have an easy time, so he emphasized his tone and said, "This army has more than 20,000 people. Its leader is Maximus, who is also a gladiator from Capua. This man is very cunning. He led his army to capture Pompeii and Sarapia. Later, when we went north to Rimini, he was unwilling to follow the decision made by everyone and stay in Italy. Instead, he led his army alone through the northern Italian province and entered Entered Gaul——"

"I thought you were talking about some big secret, but it turned out to be this." Crassus laughed and said disdainfully: "You probably don't know yet, the rebels you are talking about never escaped from Italy. Cassius, the governor of the northern Italian province, has already annihilated them. The victory report reached the Senate as early as last year."

"How is this possible!" Clionis was puzzled: "A few months ago, Maximus sent a pirate ship to Regim and told us that he was living well in the north! ——"

"Shut up! A lowly rebel dared to question the words of my noble master, don't you want to live!" Quincus, the confidant slave standing beside Crassus, shouted harshly.

"But, Maximus is real——" Clionis was eager to explain, but with a look from Crassus, Quincus immediately drew out his dagger and pierced Clionis' chest with one sword.

Clionis fell to the ground and died in shock.

The guards entered the tent and dragged the body out as usual.

Crassus looked at the closed tent and waved his hand, and Quincus came forward immediately.

"Go back and give some money to the two soldiers outside the tent, and tell them to shut up." Crassus' voice was light, but his face showed a sinister look: "Then send someone to keep an eye on them. If they dare to talk nonsense everywhere, you will--"

"Yes, master, I will arrange it now!" Quincus said knowingly.

Soon Crassus was the only one left in the tent. He stood up and poured a glass of wine. Looking at the red wine in the glass, he sneered and murmured: "Escape to the Gaul Mountains? No, all the rebels have been eliminated, the war is over, and victory belongs only to me!..." As he said, he drank most of the glass of wine in one gulp.

The reason why Crassus was willing to lead his army to quell the rebellion was because he wanted to win triumphal glory for himself through the victory of the war, so as to further obtain the supreme power of Rome.

To this end, he even abandoned his best skill - using money to bribe the enemy and induce civil strife. Although it would be easier to win in that way, the Roman Senate has always killed all the rebellious slaves and disdained any compromise and negotiation. If he did that, he would not only be criticized by many elders, but also lose his command.

Therefore, relying solely on frontal battles undoubtedly increased the difficulties. Fortunately, he finally defeated the main force of the rebels through the battle and killed the leader of the rebels. Seeing that victory was within his grasp, how could he allow complications to continue to prolong the war that should have ended and affect his subsequent plans.

However, a piece of news the next day made Crassus furious: more than 5,000 rebel soldiers fled north and happened to encounter Pompey's army heading south, suffering a devastating blow. Pompey, who had already won the Spanish War, obviously wanted to add another record to his military exploits, so he immediately sent a war report to the Senate, claiming that he had wiped out all the rebels.

In the following days, Crassus's guards often heard curses such as "Pompey is a liar! A thief!..." from the military tent.

In order to vent his anger and show the world his majesty as a true victor, Crassus erected countless crosses along the road leading to Rome and nailed more than 6,000 captured rebel soldiers to the crosses, who died miserably in the wind, rain, sun and hunger...

In June, Crassus led thousands of soldiers he had carefully selected and who had performed well in the rebellion war to station 20 miles south of Rome.

Pompey's camp was not far away, but the two commanders had no intention of interacting with each other, so the soldiers on both sides had to turn a blind eye to each other.

The report applying for a triumphal ceremony had long been sent to the Senate. After more than 10 days of waiting, the Senate finally sent an envoy to Crassus' camp.