Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Coming to the town hall, Thelis, who had been notified by his men, came out immediately and greeted Midolades.

After the couple greeted each other, Midolades gave Daves' warrant to Thelis.

When he first obtained Ostia, Daphes just announced "giving slaves freedom, as well as several rights such as Latino refugees, slave citizenship, and distribution of land..." and now he asked Thelis to be in the Roman Forum yesterday The decree announced among the Roman civilians and slaves was also implemented in Ostia, and at the same time, the Roman nobles in the city of Ostia were also handed over to the warship by Midolades.

After reading Theis, he said easily: "According to His Majesty's will, it is easier to manage Ostia."

With that said, he called his men and asked him to immediately escort the captive Roman captives and the nobles of the people to the port and hand them over to the third fleet.

Then he said to Midolades again: "Last night, I heard from the businessman who returned from Rome about the decree announced by His Majesty in the square. I have already selected these Roman captives in advance. Ostia has only 178 here. A Roman male from a noble family who wants to meet the escort requirements... I am afraid there are less than a hundred, so I don’t need you to wait long, they will be sent to the ship soon."

"Master Tellis is really meticulous enough to do things! No wonder your majesty will leave such an important town to you to govern!" Midolades complimented. He wished he could lead some warships southwards to Trina immediately. Recruiting a new fleet of infantry, so of course he was able to spend less time in Ostia, of course he was happy.

"There is still a little time before my men can finish the job. Will General Midolades tell me a detailed story of your majesty and your army's attack on the city of Rome." Telis said with a smile.

"Very happy!" Midolades responded simply, he had long heard of anecdotes of this veteran from Sicily, among the many veterans who had become Dionysians by virtue of their achievements or some special reasons, This burly, middle-aged man is the only one who has long been condescending to the Turiyi Barracks for training. Through his training performance, he has been promoted from the recruits of the Legion Reserve to the position of Captain of the Reserve. Won the respect of many military personnel, including of course Midolades himself.

Thelis said with pleasure: "Now it's almost time for dinner. It's better to drink some wine. I let the chef cook a few more dishes. Let's drink and talk."

Midolades thought, he immediately led the team south, already considered to be out of the battlefield, so he did not refuse.

While the two were talking, the guards at the door rushed in and said anxiously, "Sir, Theris, the scout outside the city came to the emergency report and found that the Roman army was quickly marching towards Ostia. , A large number of people, more than 20,000 people!"

Midolades was startled.

Thelis was also surprised, but he quickly laughed and said: "The Romans came just right! Are you worried that you have no chance to go to the battlefield, and now the merits are sent, depending on whether you have the ability to get it! Are you scared?

The team officer immediately replied loudly: "Adult, my brothers and I can't wait for the Romans to attack Ostia now so that they can taste our strength!"

"You immediately notify the three captains, and now let the soldiers start eating, and then follow the previous training to lead the brigade to their respective defensive positions."

"Follow your orders, lord!" Xyllas immediately turned and left.

Immediately after, Thelis called his subordinate Luke Darius.

This is also a Latino Dionysian citizen from Enona, who stayed in Deverst to act as an interpreter for the illiterate Thelis, but in the end, Thelis boldly gave him as his secretary The position of the official, he advised when he governed the town himself, and also gave him the position of deputy officer of the new brigade, responsible for the organization and training of the 1230 Ostia slaves and Latino refugees who applied to join Dionysian citizens However, it was an ordinary citizen of Enona and an ordinary soldier in the reserve team who suddenly took on this important task.

Now, Thelis ordered him to assist the captain of the brigade. After dinner, the soldiers of the new brigade were assembled as a city defense reserve team, ready to enter the battle at any time.

After arranging these, Thelis apologized to Midolades: "The damn Romans interrupted your wonderful story. It seems that only after I have repulsed them and you return from the Silitian, you I can continue to drink this jar of wine."

"It will be my turn to hear you tell you how to repel the Romans." Midolades smiled, and then offered a serious expression to suggest: "When I was in the city of Rome, the Roman army outside the city was busy. Building a camp, there is no way to immediately attack the city, I did not expect them to quietly send troops to raid Ostia. Lord Theseis, you must be vigilant, it is obvious that the enemy is prepared, because Ostia is Our army in Rome is too important!"

After listening to this, Thelis nodded solemnly and asked, "General Midolades, has the Roman army surrounded the city of Rome? Can I send a messenger to enter the city of Rome smoothly?"

Midolades shook his head: "When I left, the Roman army was already camping outside the city. Only the east hadn't seen the enemy, but it would be difficult to get around!"

"It seems safe to go by water..." Thenis said in a deep voice, "General Midolades, can I ask you to send the Clippers to Rome immediately to tell your Majesty the enemy here?"

"This is my duty!" Midolades responded succinctly, and he also reminded: "From here to Rome through the Tiber, it will take at least half a day, and it will take longer to advance in the night, because no matter There is a certain risk of pulling fiber or sailing. Therefore, your majesty will not receive the information about the attack on Ostia until tomorrow. When the reinforcements are dispatched, at least it will arrive at noon tomorrow. You must be prepared."

Midolades paused for a moment, seeing Thelis thinking, and suggested: "I hope you will make room in the port. I will let some warships berth in the port and let the sailors go ashore to assist you in fighting to make up. The number of defenders is insufficient, but you have to provide them with weapons and equipment."

Thelis was both surprised and grateful, thanking him and saying, "General, you don’t have to worry about the issue of weapons and equipment. Previously we defeated the Romans here. In addition to part of the loot collected from the battlefield, it was sold to merchants and partly piled up. In the warehouse, enough to equip six or seven thousand people."

"Then I'm relieved." Midolades said. The sailors of his fleet are not fleet infantry. They usually train at sea and are not good at land combat, but they are young and defending the city after all. Still not a big problem.

The reason why Midolades is so proactive: On the one hand, as a senior general present, he left without any help when Ostia faced a war. Once Ostia fell, he was bound to be met The impeachment of the inspector of the Ministry of Military Affairs and the criticism of his colleagues; another reason is that he has discovered the importance of Ostia to the Third Fleet. If a military port can be established here, the Third Fleet will control the Italian south coast. It can be extended to the Etruscan region, so he hopes to get the active cooperation of the Chief Executive of Ostia in the future with the approval of King Daveus, so it is important to win the goodwill of Thelis.

………………………………………

Just as the city of Ostia was nervously preparing for defense, the Roman army led by Titus set out from Priest when the sky was bright, passing through the city of Rome, then south through Lake Alba, and then turned back Northwest, the march was nearly 90 miles, and finally reached its final destination-Ostia at dusk.

Titus immediately ordered the soldiers to eat rations, then put on armor, picked up their weapons, and prepared to attack the city.

While the soldiers were resting, he ordered the ballista units to push the remaining nearly 20 ballistas to the front, and bombarded the thin city wall of Ostiana less than four meters high.

The Dionian reserve soldiers who were so excited because they were finally able to take part in the battle watched the Roman army, which came from a distance like a long dragon and could not see the tail, arrived at the bottom of the city, and then divided hundreds of thousands. The troops gradually surrounded Ostia, and they not only began to feel nervous, but even a little bit afraid.

Thelis, who also served as the commander of the Ostia army, also stood at the head of the city, staring at the black crushed enemies under the city, and also felt a little nervous. This was his first time in actual combat, but in the past few days he repeatedly urged the soldiers to be strict According to what he had learned in military camp training in the past, he believed that this could completely block the enemy's attack.

"Master Thenis, look, the enemy's ballista!"

Without being reminded by his men, Thelis could also see a dozen ballistas pushed to the front by the Romans, and he was not panicking at all.

In the more than ten years since the Civil War of Dionysia, the Dionyan Military Department has already studied the use of ballistas and ventral bows that were originally used for siege, and for this reason they let engineers reduce the shape of ballistas. Reduced its weight, improved the launching method (the ballista in the city is launched downwards, so the stone projectile is easy to slip off), and even designed a full-fledged ballistic bow under the guidance of Davis A new type of fortress, and based on this, a set of defensive tactics combined with a ballista's belly bow was developed.

After capturing Ostia, taking into account its importance, Daveus shed ten defensive ballistas and five belly bows, and Thelis placed them on the head of the city.

A ballista is standing on the aisle not far from Thelis. Because the time is too short to transform the city walls, the ballista is covered with a large wooden board so that its cannon body can be higher than the battlement. Armed with several boxes of stone bombs, two soldiers were responsible, one was a ballista gunner who was responsible for firing, and one was an observer who was responsible for reporting parameters.