Chapter 75 Raid on Pompeii (continued)

Once the night attack is successful, Maximus will not only obtain a large amount of urgently needed materials and scarce talents, but also his reputation will greatly increase, so that other leaders will no longer dare to underestimate his military talents. The gains will obviously outweigh the losses, so he dares to Make such a huge gamble. But when he stood in front of Pompeii, he couldn't help but feel nervous and began to worry about gains and losses. After all, this was the first real battle he personally commanded.

I still have too little experience... Maximus thought to himself, and simply found a flat piece of grass nearby, lay down on his back, closed his eyes, and tried to empty his mind...

The equally nervous soldiers imitated the same thing after seeing it, and the atmosphere in the entire team became a lot more relaxed for a while...

I don’t know how long it took, but Maximus was pushed awake by someone, and the excited shout of Pheasalus sounded in his ears: "Maximus, look! Carminus has captured the city gate!"

Maximus, who was in a daze, suddenly woke up. He jumped up and looked into the distance. He saw a torch shaking rapidly on the city wall...

"What are you waiting for! Let's rush in quickly!" Tolerugo shouted eagerly.

At this moment, Maximus calmed down, recalled his previous plan, glanced at the soldiers who were getting up one after another, and said loudly: "Brothers, don't be anxious yet, organize your equipment and pick up your weapons! Fei! Salus and Tolerugo, organize your troops immediately!”

His words temporarily stabilized everyone's mood.

A moment later, the two chief centurions shouted in unison: "We are all ready, leader, please give the order quickly!"

Maximus then said in a deep voice: "Brother Toleru, lead the brothers of the 2nd, 5th, and 8th Hundreds to rush into the city gate as quickly as possible, and then along that straight road, Go quickly to City Hall.”

"Yes!" Tolerugo grinned: "Just look at me. I'll catch Pompeii's chief executive later."

Maximus ignored him and turned around and said, "Frontinus, I have to trouble you to follow him with a military advisory team to help him control his team."

"Don't worry, leave it to us!" Frontinus said firmly, and glanced at Quintus. Ever since the Lucarians came to the supply camp, they, the former slaves of the Roman army, have felt the pressure of competition. Although there was no overt conflict due to Maximus, secret competition was everywhere, especially among Tonight's night attack, although it was a plan proposed by the Lucelias, and they were more familiar with the terrain in the city, Frontinus and the others were still determined to perform and show that they were stronger than the Lucelias. .

"Then please." Maximus responded with a smile. He was well aware of the ideas of Frontinus and others, and was happy to see all this, because competition can inspire people to advance.

Tolerugo, however, could not feel the undercurrent at all. He was not willing to be restrained by Frontinus and others. He raised the dagger in his right hand and shouted: "Brothers, charge with me!"

After saying that, he took the lead and ran forward. The soldiers were about to rush forward with cheers. Frontinus stopped him and shouted in unison with his companions: "Stop all!... The 2nd Centurion first Come on! … Try to maintain your formation, don’t mess up! … The 500th team is following! …”

Since Frontinus and the others have always been responsible for the military training of the escort, the soldiers are used to their reprimands, so as soon as they shout, the soldiers will subconsciously execute it, trying to maintain the formation of a hundred-man column, one after another , sprinting forward in sequence.

Quintus watched silently without saying a word.

Maximus saw that Torrelugo had led the team to run a long distance, and then he said: "Pheasalus, you lead the first, third, sixth, and seven hundredth team, follow me. Set off."

"Brothers!" Pheasalus couldn't wait any longer: "It's our turn! Just like they did just now, maintain your formation when advancing, and don't make people laugh!"

"Hoo!!...Hoo!!!..." The soldiers raised their arms and shouted excitedly. Although they had no armor or daggers, and held wooden shields, wooden guns, and even farm tools in their hands, their morale was high (although The rebels won a great victory on the Volturno River and captured thousands of pieces of armor and weapons. However, under the strong opposition of Cross and Elomui, the guards of the baggage camp did not benefit, and only half of them still had armor. and weapons. In order to ensure the success of the sea raid, and in order for the vanguard led by Tolerugo to withstand the enemy's counterattack, under the order of Maximus, the soldiers of the three centurions transferred their original armor and weapons. It was all given to them, and of course it had to be returned after the war was over).

Torrelugo was the first to rush through the city gate and saw Carminus standing by the doorway holding a torch. He immediately praised: "Hey, brother, you did a good job!"

"You came very quickly too!" Carminus replied.

"What's fast? It's much slower!" Brother Toleru turned around and waved with dissatisfaction: "Hurry up!"

Seeing that the soldiers of the 100th Army had passed the city gate, Carminus was completely relieved. He pointed at a middle-aged man next to him and said, "Valerius will be your guide and take you there." Go to City Hall.”

"I remember the location of the city hall clearly!" Tolerugo said, and did not refuse Valerius to join. He led the 100th team to march south along the road.

The road running parallel to the city and the port is mainly used for the transportation of goods, so it is relatively spacious and can accommodate six or seven people traveling in parallel. It is also relatively flat. Tolerugo led the team and the speed did not slow down much.

On the west side of the road is the city wall, and there are sporadic sounds of fighting on the city. It is the soldiers under Carminus who are chasing the remaining sentries at the top of the city.

There are rows of houses on the east side of the road, and the lights in the houses are lit one after another. The Pompeii people who woke up from their deep sleep peered through the windows at the rebel soldiers passing by the houses, with the sound of rumbling footsteps and noisy shouts. Make their hearts tremble.

The weak light in the room also illuminated the way forward. After Tolerugo led the team for a while, he saw countless figures shaking in front of him, and a voice shouted: "Citizens of Pompeii, drive out the robbers quickly. Protect our families!"

The people coming on the opposite side were city guard soldiers who had been urgently summoned by the mayor of Pompeii. Encouraged by the captain of the city guard, they roared and rushed towards Tolerugo's team.

Tolerugo showed no fear and shouted excitedly: "Brothers, kill me!"

Under his leadership, the 200th and the Pompeii Guards collided head-on, and the sound of fighting instantly tore through the darkness and resounded throughout the city.

No matter how wide the road is, there will be no more than eight people facing the enemy. The army cannot spread out, which immediately creates a congestion. Those in front cannot exit and those behind cannot get up. Fortunately, the three previous brigades kept a certain distance from each other under repeated reminders from the military advisory group. After encountering the enemy, Frontinus promptly stopped the blind pressure of the last two centurions.

"Can we go around here?" Frontinus looked at the houses along the road and asked the guide Valerius.

"Yes, there is the square not far ahead." Valerius replied.

"Then let's go around and attack the enemy's rear!" Frontinus suggested to the centurions of the fifth and eighth centurions.

The two officers were promoted by Maximus for their outstanding performance in the escort. Even though they both participated in the first battle against the Romans and the Vesuvian night attack, this was the first time they commanded an army in combat. But it happened to be a night battle that gave the commander a headache, and his immediate boss Tolerugo was still stuck in the battle and could not give them orders. At this time, the experienced instructor Frantinus gave advice, and the two of them did not hesitate. Without hesitation, he said: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Under the leadership of Valerius, the soldiers carefully crossed the paths between the houses. However, before the leading troops entered the square, they were discovered and intercepted by Pompeii soldiers. The soldiers behind continued to move forward, but were still intercepted. …

The Pompeii City Hall is located on the south side of the square, not far from the Temple of Apollo. The temple has a very high foundation. The administrator Cassius Cominian Silo stood on it, overlooking to the west. Rebel soldiers could be vaguely seen walking through residential areas.

"The enemy is heading towards the trail ahead again! Quick, quick, send troops to stop them!" Silo pointed forward and shouted anxiously.

Ever since this group of humble slaves succeeded in raiding the Roman army in Vesuvius and their power increased greatly, he began to worry that they would invade Pompeii, so he had been strengthening the defense in the city for the past two or three months. , let the enemy break into the city, hey, these cowardly and incompetent Pompeii people!

In fact, there was no need for Silo to give instructions. Pompeii citizens came to the city hall one after another to pick up weapons and equipment. After hurriedly dressing them up, they hurried to the battlefield. However, there were not many of them. This made him anxious and shouted loudly. Said: "Quickly, send someone to urge Areyus! Tell him that if he doesn't send reinforcements, the city hall will be captured by the enemy, and his luxurious home will be the enemy's next target!"

Just as Silo's entourage hurried to the wealthy residential area to the east, Maximus and Carminus had already met up after entering the city. After learning that Tolerugo's team was blocked in front, he listened to Quintus suggested that instead of rushing for reinforcements, he led more than 500 soldiers to rush eastward along the road beside the city wall. After reaching the Vesuvius Gate, they turned to the central axis road of Pompeii and scattered along the way. Some Chongbei citizens rushed to the square. Just as they reached the center of the city and were about to turn west again, they heard loud noises from the side and in front.

"It should be reinforcements organized by the rich people of Pompeii. They have many guards and slaves." Quintus reminded urgently: "We should separate some soldiers to stop them here!"

Maximus stared at the countless shadowy figures in front of him and listened to his advice again: "Carminus, take your people and block this intersection for me!"

"Yes, leader!" Carminus hurriedly summoned the soldiers of the 3rd and 600th troops.

Maximus was about to lead his team to leave when he suddenly remembered something and asked: That Areius Vitius should be among the supporting troops. Don't you plan to stay here with your people? ? "

Quintus said calmly: "The key now is the enemies in the square. As long as they are defeated quickly, the city will be taken. Since Areyus is not running away now, he will not be able to escape soon."

This old man is really calm enough on the battlefield and is worth learning from! ... Maximus admired in his heart, stopped talking immediately, and took the lead in running towards the west road.

Soldiers from the 100th, 400th, and 700th troops followed closely. Although they did not wear armor, they held wooden shields and wooden guns and ran from the ambush until now, a full three miles away. , everyone was a little bit out of breath, but after rushing out of the intersection, there was an open square in front of them, and a hundred meters away was a deadly battlefield. The excitement in the hearts of the soldiers overcame their fatigue. Under the leadership of Maximus, Kill directly towards the enemy who is desperately blocking them at the edge of the square.

Maximus led his army around half of the city and appeared on the south side of the square. Silo was overjoyed at first, thinking that reinforcements had arrived, but then he discovered that they were enemies and was very shocked. However, he had no soldiers to send at this moment, so he could only You can watch in horror as these enemy soldiers with crude weapons in their hands attack the citizens of Pompeii who are fighting...

He still had a glimmer of luck in his heart, hoping that the heavily armed citizens of Pompeii could block the attack from the rear.

However, the citizens of Pompeii were able to accept the call and participate in the battle in the dark night, which was their best effort motivated by defending their homeland. Facing the fierce attack of the rebel army, they lacked training and faced difficulties in frontal defense. At this time, a deafening roar came from behind, and some people suddenly became frightened and turned around and ran away before they could engage the enemy, causing a mass rout among the citizens of Pompeii.

The two rebel forces took the opportunity to reunite and turned to surround the Pompeii Guards who were defending on the road.

Subsequently, the Pompeii Guards quickly collapsed before the rebel army formed a complete siege, and its captain and some soldiers were captured.

By this time, Maximus had a deeper understanding of what Quintus said before the battle: the attack on Pompeii must be carried out quickly and defeat them as soon as possible. Otherwise, although the Pompeii people are timid, once time goes by and they begin to adapt to the battlefield, they are likely to form a stalemate under the incentive of defending their homeland. This will attract more Pompeii people to join the battle, which will be detrimental to the already small number of people. That would be a disaster for us...

"Report to the leader, we have occupied the city hall and the armory next to it, and also caught a big fish. This is the administrator of Pompeii!" Fesalus threw the man he was carrying to the ground.

Silo rolled to the ground and looked up at Maximus with a pleading look on his face, but he couldn't say anything for mercy.

There’s a dinner party tonight, so I’ll update in advance.