Rome Must Fall

The corridors of the city wall were filled with shouts and screams. Most of the people walking by the female wall were middle-aged and elderly civilians without armor. They all looked very nervous. Some picked up the few wood and stones on the ground and moved down the city. Smashing, some used iron forks to hold the wooden ladder and pushed it out...

The long and high-intensity battle made them tired and slow to react. From time to time, someone was stabbed by flying javelins and fell to the ground screaming. The people next to them showed no obvious sadness or fear. They seemed to be used to it. The civilians would be miserable. The injured were shouted and carried down to the city...

On the other side of the female wall, a row of fully armed soldiers sat neatly. They looked at the compatriots who were fighting in front of them with complicated expressions, holding shields and spears tightly in their hands...

Several bonfires have been lit in the center of the corridor, with large copper pots filled with water placed above them...

"Isn't the water boiling yet?" A middle-aged man with gray hair wearing centurion armor shouted sharply next to him.

"It's about to open! It's about to open!" the civil servants responded repeatedly.

"No need to wait any longer, pour it down quickly! We can't let those despicable bastards dig into our walls like rats! After pouring it down, let me burn it again!" After the centurion gave the order, he turned to Others yelled: "What are you doing standing there stupidly! Why don't you continue to pour oil down and burn these damn mice to death!"

"Andu Oaks, we've run out of oil!"

"Oh, damn it!" The centurion punched the battlements angrily.

"Captain Andu Oaks!" the city guard officer shouted: "I have recruited another group of soldiers for you!"

The centurion finally turned his head and looked over, his sharp eyes swept over Albazus and the others, and then said: "You finally did something practical. Now I just need enough soldiers to prevent the enemy from ascending to the top of the city. , Go and help me recruit some more soldiers!"

The city guard officer also saw the severe fighting situation at the top of the city. He did not refuse and immediately responded: "I will try my best!"

The centurion walked in front of Albazus and the others, stretched out his hand and said: "Divide into two parts from here. The people on the right rush to the other end and report to the centurion over there. The people on the left approach first. Rest on the wall and conserve your energy. The enemy will attack soon. Follow my command and fight. Do you understand?"

Since Albazus's men were all moved to the left, they did not respond immediately, but subconsciously turned their attention to Albazus, so their voices seemed weak.

The centurion named Andu Oaks looked at Albazus with some doubts, and asked sharply again: "Do you understand?!"

"I understand, I understand." Albazus explained with a smile: "Captain, they are all members of my caravan. We are from Latium, and we will try our best to obey your orders."

"It's not about trying your best, it's about having to!" Andu Oaks shouted sternly: If the city is captured, you will not be able to escape, and you may all become prisoners of the rebels! "

"I understand, we will obey your orders." Albazus changed his words.

Andu Oaks was still a little dissatisfied, but in the end he just snorted and turned around to urge others to defend the city.

Albazus looked at his figure indifferently, thinking that when the brothers attack, they must first kill the commander guarding the city to disrupt the enemy's defense.

Just as he was planning how to launch a surprise attack, he suddenly felt a vibration under his feet.

Someone not far away exclaimed loudly: "It's not good! The city wall... is cracked!"

"Go back quickly! Go back quickly!!..."

Amidst a burst of screams, a loud "rumbling" sound was heard, and the city wall not far from Albazus suddenly collapsed, instantly filling the sky with dust and mist...

When the dust and mist dispersed, a large gap appeared on the south wall. All the people on the wall and those under the city were buried in the ruins, including the centurion whom Albazus wanted to kill. .

The main reason for the collapse of the Canossa city wall was the long-term disrepair, and the fierce fighting between the two sides became the catalyst. In addition, Maximus followed the advice of Spukala, the deputy captain of the engineering team, and sent many soldiers holding a shield in one hand and a pickaxe in the other. , hiding under the city and constantly digging at the city wall (because it had not been repaired for many years, the outer city bricks were loose, cracks increased, and could be easily dug out), which also played a role.

The astonishing sight shocked the entire battlefield, but after a brief silence, the rebel soldiers below the city burst into cheers, and then rushed towards the gap like a tide. The defenders at the top of the city screamed in horror and desperately rushed into the city. flight……

The city is broken.

When the rebel army rejected the request of the Canossa envoy and announced that they would attack the city, the Canossa people had a premonition that the city could not be defended, but they did not expect it to happen so quickly. Although the people in the city were very panicked, many people They had already made an escape plan, especially the Canossa nobles. They fled early to the only northern city that was not surrounded by the rebels. There were river ports that could quickly escape the enemy and passenger ships that had been prepared...

More and more Canossa people fled to the river port. Eager to escape, they even clashed over the boats. Cursing, crying, and screaming were heard, and the port was in chaos...

The rebels seemed to have forgotten this place, which led to more and more Canossa people fleeing to the river port. However, when there were not many boats left at anchor, the Canossa people who arrived late at the river port fell into despair.

At this moment, someone stood up and told everyone that he had found another way to escape from the city. Because the enemy was busy looting after entering the city, there was no one guarding the gap in the east city wall. They could get there through remote alleys. , and then escape.

The Canosa people saw hope and immediately took action. As they said, they successfully escaped outside the city. However, they were later discovered by the enemies who entered the city and were forced to flee eastward along the river bank...

Since the enemy was always on the rear, the Canossa people fled day and night. On the way, they passed a village in Cannae, which was once the place where Hannibal of Carthage wiped out 80,000 Roman troops. The people in the village learned that there was a rebellion. When the army attacked, they also fled together. The fleeing team became larger and larger, but they were never caught up by the enemy. When they reached the mouth of the Orfidus River, the enemy finally gave up the pursuit and retreated...

The people of Canosa who were lucky enough to survive did not cheer. They were tired and hungry and urgently needed to find a place to rest. There was a large town not far from the mouth of the river, and it was closely related to Canosa. It was Sarapi. Ya.

Sarapia is a seaport town in Apulia after Bari, but its geographical location is actually much more advantageous than Bari.

It is bounded by the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Orfidus River to the south. Inland towns along the river, such as Canossa, transport grain to Sarapia via river transport and sell it through sea trade. To the north is a large There are lakes and navigable rivers leading directly to Sipotum, another seaside town in the north, so that merchant ships can more conveniently transport various fruits and high-quality sheep that are abundant on the Garganum Peninsula. The group was transported to Sarapia, and then sold to various parts of the Mediterranean through sea trade. In addition, Sarapia also has a coastal road that can go directly to Bari in the south... It can be seen that Sarapia is a land and water area in Apulia. transportation hub.

The fleeing Canossa people crossed the pontoon bridge at the mouth of the Orfidus River and arrived at the city of Sarapia.

The Canossa people who had fled by boat had entered the city of Sarapia first, so that the Sarapia people learned the news of the fall of Canossa City. After confirming that there were no traces of rebels nearby, Sarapia The Pia people welcomed the fleeing Canossa people into the city very friendly. But because there were so many people fleeing and they were in such a hurry, Sarapia could only temporarily place them in the square.

Late at night, when all the Sarapians fell asleep, the rebel soldiers who had mixed in with the refugees began to take action.

They were a hundred elite soldiers from Latium and Campania that Maximus drew from the first and second corps, and were accompanied by some old, young, women and children from the logistics department, so they could easily get through.

At this time, they pulled out the dagger hidden in the luggage, and under the leadership of the team officer, they went straight to the south gate of Sarapia according to the route they had surveyed during the day.

Although they were discovered by the patrol team set up due to the invasion of the rebel army on the way, the quick-acting rebel soldiers quickly killed the small number of city guards, opened the city gate, and stood firm at the city gate.

Maximus' army, which pretended to retreat during the day and then quietly returned at night, ambushed outside the city, immediately rushed to the city gate after receiving the signal.

At this time, the Sarapia City Guards, who had been urgently summoned, hurriedly rushed to the south city gate, but were violently attacked by the rebels and were quickly defeated.

After the rebels entered the city, they did not rush to capture the whole city. Instead, they quickly divided their forces. One part occupied the chief executive's residence first, while the other part rushed to block the port and prohibit ships from entering and exiting. Then a small number of soldiers were sent to occupy each city gate.

At the beginning, there was some resistance in the city, but the Sarapians were at peace for a long time and their fighting spirit was not strong. As the rebel army's subsequent troops entered the city one after another, the fighting soon subsided.

After Maximus saw that the army had occupied the whole city, he sent soldiers to shout loudly in various lanes, requiring the people of Sarapia to stay in their houses and not to go out. Any violation would be immediately executed.

The frightened Sarapians obeyed the order obediently.

Maximus sent a large army to surround the square and used force to quell the commotion of the Canossa refugees camping here.

At this point, quiet and order returned to the entire city of Sarapia.

In the morning, the rebel soldiers took a short rest and had a simple breakfast. Maximus ordered again: let the first and second brigade attack the rich area of ​​​​Sarapia.

Only then did the Sarapian nobles and wealthy people hiding in the mansion realize that they had been fooled, and hastily organized slaves to resist, but how could they be the opponents of the rebel soldiers. It didn't take long for each of the luxurious houses to be breached. The dignitaries were either captured or killed, and almost no one escaped.

In any case, they will eventually be executed, and their heads will be hung in the square, with notices of their crimes posted below. As far as the powerful people in any Italian town in this era were concerned, they occupied land, oppressed the poor, and abused slaves. There is always one of these three original sins.

If Maximus was kind-hearted when he first came to this era, and after more than half a year of hard work, he is now the leader of an army, responsible for the life and death of nearly ten thousand people, so when considering things, he often starts with the pros and cons. Become more rational and cold.

He knew very well that the friends of the rebels were slaves who suffered (not all slaves, even many slaves would desperately defend their masters) and poor Italian refugees who had lost their land and harbored resentments, while the superior nobles and the unkind rich were They were enemies of the rebels. Exposing their crimes and executing them would not only boost morale, but also attract more slaves and landless poor to join the team.

In addition, today's Maximus army is not engaged in production, and the consumption of nearly ten thousand people is huge. How to replenish supplies?

Of course, it mainly relies on looting, but to loot the vast number of civilians who don't have much property and are prone to resistance, it is more convenient to kill the rich and hated dignitaries and directly take their property as their own. , Maximus enjoyed such benefits when he was in Pompeii.

In addition, there is another advantage. Although the Sarapian dignitaries do not have large estates, they do not lack slaves, tutors, personal maids, cooks, gardeners, coachmen, carpenters, accountants, stewards... a wealthy dignitary. Families generally kept many slaves with various skills to meet the needs of family life and social interaction.

Moreover, the powerful people in Sarapia were mostly engaged in business and engaged in a certain industry, so they had some slaves with certain handicraft skills, which Maximus needed.

Of course, these slaves are different from serfs who live in harsh living conditions. Their lives are relatively comfortable. Many slaves have close relationships with their masters and lack the sense of resistance. Today, Maximus's attitude towards these skilled slaves is to include them all into the army regardless of whether they are willing or not. They will no longer have to follow their own volition as in the beginning. He believes that in this melting pot of the rebel army, will eventually assimilate it.

Under the concentrated attack of the rebels, the battle against the Sarapian dignitaries quickly ended.

Frontinus rushed to the chief executive's residence and reported the battle situation to Maximus: "... A total of two people in the first and second brigades were killed, four were seriously injured, and 13 were slightly injured... And in last night's battle, we No soldiers were killed and only 24 were injured."

"It seems that these lackeys raised by the rich are more vicious than the town guards." A stern look flashed in Maximus's eyes: "These lackeys who dare to resist will all be executed just like the rich. Not one of them will be killed." Keep!"

"Yes." Frontinus nodded. His attitude towards Maximus now was much more respectful than at the beginning, and he added: "We have seized a large amount of materials from the houses of these rich people. We have already Seal it and wait for you, leader, to send someone to check—"