Chapter 9 The First Battle

Vibius's father felt that this was a good opportunity to accumulate political popularity and began to spend a lot of money to campaign for him. Last year, he finally impressed the consul Lucius Licinius, known as the "successor of Sulla's army" · Lucullus. Lucullus signed an executive order, making Vibias, who had just turned 30 and had only served as an assistant to the praetor for a few years, as the administrator of the large city of Capua.

Unlike his father, who was content to serve as an ordinary official throughout his life, Vibius always kept his eyes fixed on the Roman Senate. He even wanted to become a consul to highlight his family, so he took office less than a year ago. On the occasion of the founding day of Capua, a large-scale gladiatorial competition was held to entertain the people of Capua and to establish their own reputation. But who would have thought that just before the celebration was about to begin, a big mistake would occur - a group of gladiators actually launched a riot!

In Rome, the Senate would appoint a senator to supervise all gladiator schools. After all, this kind of activity with a large number of people training in the use of lethal weapons must be controlled, and because the system of Roman officials serving as local town administrators has not yet been implemented, By ten years, the management system had not been completely straightened out, and the rights and responsibilities in this regard were unclear, resulting in Capua's lax control over the gladiators...

But no matter what, the responsibility will eventually fall on Vibius. The angry Vibias severely whipped Batiatus who came to report the news, and decided to quickly send troops to eliminate this group of people. The audacious slaves must eliminate the influence as soon as possible so that the celebration of the city's founding day can proceed smoothly.

But the problem now is that although Capua has a garrison establishment, except for dozens of city guards, there is no ready-made army. He can only carry out emergency military mobilization. But by the time the people were gathered and the team was formed, it was already late at night. No matter how urged Vibius was, the Capua soldiers refused to leave the city in the dark, and Vibias had to postpone sending troops until the next day.

On the next day, Vibius hurriedly led his troops out of the city, and soon received a tip: the gladiators were still in the Temple of Flora.

He finally calmed down and asked the troops to slow down their march.

To be honest, he was not very satisfied with this army composed of Capua people. After marching in a hurry for such a short time, everyone was wheezing and the formation was scattered.

I think he also served as a soldier and had some war experience. At that time, Sulla led his army to land in Italy. The populist faction hurriedly assembled the army. He was forcibly recruited when he was not yet twenty years old. He followed the army in a decisive battle with Sulla outside Rome. The result was a rapid defeat. Vibius was in a panic. Fleeing home in panic. Because his family was insignificant in Roman politics, they escaped Sulla's liquidation.

The past is too painful to look back on... Vibias sighed in his heart and refocused his attention on the team he led: Although the quality of the soldiers in this team was not very good, they were at least well-equipped and large in number. According to that damn Batiatus, most of those gladiators were unarmed and should not be able to withstand his full onslaught... What we have to consider now is how to report the matter to the Roman Senate after winning, so as not to be criticized. Their accusations...

The procession began to deviate from Aniya Avenue and enter the oak forest beside the road.

Seeing this, Vibius called his staff and asked, "How far is the Temple of Flora?"

"It's just past this oak forest, about a mile away."

Vibias said cautiously: "Send all the cavalry out to investigate, make sure those gladiators are still in the temple, and pay attention to see if they have any ambush!" Although he doesn't have much war experience, he still has this common sense. .

The few cavalrymen galloped away.

By the time they rushed back and gave Vibias a satisfactory report, the team had already walked out of the oak forest. In the distance, a simple temple was located in an apple forest. It was early April, and the apple trees were covered with white or pink flowers, reflecting the warm sunshine, which was particularly beautiful.

Vibias obviously had no intention of paying attention to the beautiful scenery. He focused his eyes on the front door of the temple: seven or eight strong men in single clothes were sitting on the steps basking in the sun and chatting. When he noticed the arrival of the army, he hurriedly got up and entered the temple. .

"Get ready to attack!" Vibias shouted excitedly, and then the bugle sounded.

500 Capua citizen soldiers wearing leather helmets and armor, armed with square shields, spears, and daggers at their waists began to push and shout, changing from a marching column to a dense phalanx while advancing towards the temple. , the speed is very slow.

During this process, the door to the Flora Temple opened, and the gladiators quickly poured out...

Vibia's eyes suddenly widened: Some of these gladiators were wearing equipment similar to Capua soldiers, and some were wearing fancy gladiator equipment... Far more than a hundred people had weapons capable of killing people!

Damn Batiatus, how dare you lie to me! ...Vibius was furious, but he didn't panic too much, because he could see clearly from the horse: the gladiators were in a scattered formation, and behind them there were dozens of people without any armor and just holding wooden sticks. Sticks and kitchen knives are a complete bunch of rabble! Our own troops are twice as many as the enemy's and are well-equipped to crush them!

"Continue to advance steadily!" Vibias ordered coldly, and the trumpeter next to him blew the bugle rhythmically.

But the Capua soldiers in the front row were not as enthusiastic as before, and became a little timid.

It turned out that Spartacus, Cross, Enomui and other well-known gladiators in the Capua Arena had put on their usual gladiator equipment and stood in the team with great dignity. In the center of the front row, many Capua soldiers had watched their matches in the past. Seeing the majestic appearance of the opponent now, they remembered the horrific scene of them killing everyone in the arena, and their hearts suddenly became weak and their legs and feet became weak.

This was exactly the effect Spartacus wanted. He immediately shouted: "Brothers, kill!" He took big steps and rushed towards the enemy on the opposite side.

Cross, Enomui and other gladiators all roared and charged together. Although there were few people in the crowd, the momentum was fierce.

"Shield formation!" Vibias's face changed slightly.

In fact, a round of javelin projection at this time will definitely disrupt the charge of the gladiators. However, since Marius implemented military reforms and began to recruit soldiers decades ago, the citizens of various towns in Italy are no longer like their ancestors. In that way, Roman tactics were often practiced in order to respond to the call of the Romans and fight alongside them at any time. Therefore, the Capua citizen soldiers did not know how to throw javelins, a relatively difficult military technique.

However, Vibias felt a little relieved when he saw that the soldiers had put up their shields in time.

But at this moment, the gladiators led by Spartacus were like tigers, rushing in front of the array of Capua citizen soldiers. Before the opponent could stab out their spears, they slammed into the shield formation with their shields in hand.

In order to improve the victory rate of the gladiators, the Gladiator School provides plenty of food after heavy exercise training, so they are all fat and strong, much larger than the Capua citizen soldiers. Capua lacks training. The citizen soldiers were completely unable to compete in terms of strength. Even with the help of teammates behind them, they were still knocked around. The gladiators took advantage of the gap in the shield array and stabbed their opponents' bodies with the daggers in their hands quickly and accurately. Amidst the screams, the Capua citizen soldiers at the front of the square array fell to the ground.

The terrifying lethality of the gladiators shattered Vibias's pre-conceived battle plan. He was in the back row and subconsciously shouted: "Stay still! Hold still!..."

However, he was panicking, and the Capua citizen soldiers were even more panicked. Being the opponent of these murderous monsters already made them feel guilty. Now they heard the screams of their companions. Where are these Capua people who live a good life? Fighting with courage, they threw down their shields and spears and turned and fled.

Seeing that the defeat was certain, Vibias turned his horse around in a hurry and fled towards the city of Capua first.