Chapter 54 Learning in Combat

"Don't be anxious." Maximus said to the three of them calmly: "The main reason we come out this time is to continue to apply what the brothers have learned in daily training into actual combat. We can't just mess around like before. …”

Tolerugo was quite happy: "Okay, I'll listen to you. Give me the order on what to do."

Maximus turned around and shouted: "Ballista in position!"

The ten crossbow gunners at the end of the team immediately lifted two crossbows from the carriage, placed them at the front of the array, and assembled them under the guidance of the military advisory group.

"The target is the wooden door of the farm!" After Maximus's order was given, two lead pellets were ejected and hit the courtyard wall near the wooden door, making two dents, causing the enemies in the courtyard to yell.

Then two more rounds of lead shot were fired, but still failed to hit the wooden door, but caused many cracks in the nearby courtyard wall.

"The sound of this crossbow is quite scary, but its power is not very good. It is better to let the brothers attack directly!" Brother Toleru couldn't help shouting.

Before Maximus could speak, a member of the military advisory team next to him said first: "They have only been training for a short time. It is normal for them to shoot inaccurately. Why not let us go over and operate."

"No, we have plenty of time. If we don't train them well at this time, how can we make them useful in a big war in the future!" Maximus said loudly on purpose.

The crossbow gunners who heard him spoke became more focused and serious. The next two rounds of bombardment not only hit the wooden door, but also brought down the nearby courtyard wall, causing a large gap to appear in the front of the farm.

Maximus ignored the chaos in the farm and gave the order seriously: "Pheasalus, you lead the first squadron and attack the main entrance."

"Yes!" Pheasalus responded excitedly.

"Wait a minute!" Maximus then asked: "If you approach the gap and the enemy keeps throwing javelins from the courtyard wall, what will you do?"

Pheasalus thought for a while and replied: "We will form a turtle shell formation and rush in."

"Then let's do it. I want to see if your first squadron's turtle formation is proficient." After Maximus finished speaking, he looked at Tolerugo and Carminus: "The second and third squadrons The soldiers first went to the carriage to get the long ladder, and after the first squadron attacked to attract the enemy's attention, the first squadron climbed on the wall in front of the farm, and the third squadron went around to attack behind the farm. "Tolerugo, you are still injured, so go ahead." Stay behind and take command, don’t follow to attack.”

"Don't worry, Maximus, I'm not stupid, I still want to live for a few more years." Tolerugo laughed.

Three centurions sprang into action.

Not long after, three hundred soldiers shouted and rushed towards the farm a hundred meters away. Their running figures were scattered in the flat fields, creating a lot of momentum and giving Maximus a feeling of scolding Fang Qiu. Pride.

Of course, although the baggage battalion was in charge of supplies, not all of the three hundred soldiers were fully armed. More than half of the soldiers in the third squadron were still wearing single clothes and holding wooden guns, so Maximus arranged for them to attack from the rear. to reduce unnecessary casualties.

There was no way. The number of rebels increased too fast, and the weapons and armor in reserve were no longer enough. As the leader of the supply camp, if Maximus only focused on meeting the needs of his own team first, he would inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of other leaders. However, after today's battle, the equipment of the soldiers of the Third Squadron should be greatly improved.

The battle was over quickly. In fact, when the ballistae smashed through the gate and the heavily armed escort soldiers began to attack, many enemies in the farm were already frightened. However, the three squadrons seriously practiced the tactics arranged by Maximus and simply ignored them. They surrendered until they broke into the village and captured them all.

After receiving the news that the army had occupied the farm and only five people were slightly injured, Maximus was not complacent, but asked Frontinus: "What do you think of this battle?"

Frontinus replied seriously: "The tactics you laid out and the entire execution process by the soldiers... there were no problems, so the battle went smoothly and there were no casualties. But -" Frontinus The conversation changed and Kao Jia said: "You are attacking only a farm. The enemies are just some farm guards. They can't cause you any trouble. But if this is a small town and there are hundreds of Roman soldiers guarding it, our light ballistae is What will you do if you can't break through the city gate?"

Maximus immediately said: "It is definitely unwise for three hundred people to attack a small town guarded by a hundred people. I will give up the attack. I will not be willing to give it a try until at least the number of people increases to a thousand."

"What if you had 1,000 soldiers?" Frontinus continued to ask.

"I will build the camp first..." Maximus said thoughtfully: "...Although there are no heavy ballistae, there is a construction team in the supply camp. Can we make siege vehicles?" When he said this, his He looked at the other members of the military advisory group.

Frontinus nodded.

"Can a siege tower do it?"

"It can be done, but it will take a lot of time." Frontinus reminded.

"That doesn't matter, we can use this time to do something else." Maximus said, stamping the ground with his feet: "The soil here is soft, and some soldiers can be sent to dig tunnels quietly to reach the city. , knocking down their walls.”

"An experienced soldier is never defenseless."

Maximus said calmly: "But they must allocate manpower to defend. One hundred people are not many in the first place, and it is impossible to completely defend the walls of the entire small town. I will bombard the city head with light ballistae first. Destroy the enemy's morale, and then use siege vehicles and siege towers to attack the city gates and walls from the front to contain the enemy. The remaining soldiers use long ladders and ant towers to siege the city, and at the same time play the role of tunnels in secret... Such a general attack, Can the enemy hold on?"

Frontinus was silent for a moment and said: "Push all your troops up. What if the enemy has reinforcements?"

"Look, you have made it more difficult for me. Originally I just attacked a small city, but now with reinforcements, my food route may be cut off after a while... How could I win with you as the enemy's internal agent? Maximus said jokingly.

Frontinus said seriously: "I think you have learned very well, all you lack is experience."

"It's rare for an instructor to praise someone, which makes me a little proud." Maximus laughed, waved and said, "It's time for us to go to the farm to accept the fruits of victory. Volenus, you go in first and count the supplies."

"Okay." Volenus walked to the farm, followed by Akago, Cassius, Marcus and other teenagers. These children listened to Maximus's lectures every night and practiced in the warehouse during the day. His arithmetic ability has improved by leaps and bounds, and he can already provide some help to the baggage camp.

"We should go do our business."

The next thing Maximus had to do was to publicly try the prisoners in front of these newly freed farm slaves, and then the guilty were handed over to the slaves, who were often killed by the angry slaves, so that the vast majority of slaves would Voluntarily join the rebel army, and some of them will take the initiative to be assigned to the supply camp because of their favorable impression of the supply camp.

This is what Maximus did these few times he came out to plunder, and the effect was very good.

When the public trial was over, Volenus finished counting the supplies. After listening to his report, Maximus frowned: "Such a big farm, so many people, only such a small amount of food?!"

"This is normal." Volenus, who is familiar with farming, said: "The wheat outside is already ripe and can be harvested immediately. There is new grain to eat, so they don't need to store more old grain."

Maximus thought for a while and said: "How about we stay here for one more day? Let the soldiers take the slaves to harvest these wheat fields, harvest the grain and then transport it back."

The reason why the convoys of the heavy supply camp were allowed to plunder by the leaders these days was because the sudden increase in the number of rebels led to a shortage of food, and all the troops were sent out to collect food.

"We are too far away from the camp. What if the enemy attacks while the soldiers are harvesting?" Volenus said worriedly.