Asistes brought him to a map of northern Etruria on the table. Pointing at the map, he said, "At dusk, I received a messenger sent by Hasdrubal from Florentia's barracks. A large number of Gauls have appeared there. I'm not sure how many there are, but Hasdrubal estimated that there are at least 20,000 of them. Immediately afterwards I received a messenger from the camp of Lucca, who also saw Gauls, numbering more than ten thousand. Other than that, I haven't received any other information. That's the current situation. "
"You haven't received any news from Aretium's barracks?"
"Not yet."
Patroclus had once inspected the border legion and knew the quality of the soldiers there. He believed that if the Gauls appeared near Aretium's barracks, they would definitely respond quickly. It was impossible that they could not even send a messenger. So he pondered for a moment and made his own judgment. "It seems that this time, the Gauls are invading from the north of the northern border of Etruria. It's probably the Senonis tribe of Gaul again!"
"The possibility of it being the Senonis is very high, but the Salves tribe has also been attacking Etruria in recent years. If the number of Gauls this time is too large, we can't rule out the possibility that the Salves are also involved."
Patroclus nodded.
Ever since Diónia took over the Latin region, Asistes began to collect information about the biggest threat to the kingdom in the north — the Gauls. Finally, they figured out the origin of the Gauls in Italy.
The Gauls originally lived in the north of the Alps. Many years ago, under the rule of the wise leader Abigatus, the Gauls lived a peaceful and prosperous life. As a result, their population skyrocketed, and the output of the original land could not support the overpopulation. Abigatus decided to let the surplus population colonize new lands. In the end, he chose a few young and promising men as leaders and decided where they would colonize by drawing lots.
Abigatus's sister's son, Belo Visus, had drawn the colonial south of the Alps, which was undoubtedly an extremely bad luck for the Gauls at that time, because the Alps were inaccessible and the roads were difficult to traverse. It was a huge risk to cross it, not to mention that no one knew what the situation was like in the south of the Alps.
Belo Visus was young and courageous, and the young men of the six tribes he was supposed to lead, under his instigation, did not fear the difficulties, and resolutely went south. After many hardships, they discovered the famous Taurini Mountain Pass, crossed the Alps, and entered northern Italy. They drove away their original masters, the Etruscans, and settled in Mediolanium (modern Milan). They called themselves the Salvians, and gradually expanded outwards.
Many years later, the Gaul tribes north of the Alps heard that Belo Visus had led his people to settle down in the south, and they were tempted. Then, the Gauls led by the Cnomani tribe crossed the Alps and entered northern Italy. With the help of the Salves, they settled in Verona, the center of which was Verona.
Over the next decade or so, these two large tribes rapidly expanded in all directions, defeating the Etruscans in the north many times and forcing them to migrate south. This also led to the decline of the Etruscans, who were originally the overlords of central and northern Italy.
Another decade or so later, another large Gauls north of the Alps, the Cenones, decided to migrate south into northern Italy. However, there was no more space on the Po River Plain. The upper reaches were occupied by the Ligurians, the lower reaches by the Veneti, and the middle, the most extensive and fertile land, was occupied by the two large Gauls, the Salvians and the Cnomani. The Cenones had no choice but to cross the Po River and enter the hills in the south, driving the Etruscans further south and settling in Bonoma (modern Bologna).
In the years that followed, it was not that the Cenones south of the Po River did not think of occupying the lower reaches of the Po River, which was occupied by the Veneti. They waged many wars against the Veneti and seized some of their land, but in the end, they could not do anything to the Veneti. This was because the lower reaches of the Po River were filled with swamps, water webs, and muddy soil. The Gauls, who were originally a mountainous race, were not used to fighting here. Although the Veneti were not native to the Po River Plain, it had been hundreds of years since they migrated from Illyria across the Adriatic Sea. They had long become familiar with the environment here. Therefore, after suffering many losses, the Cenones finally decided to maintain a long-term peace with the Veneti.
The Ligurians upstream were said to be a branch of the Celts, and they had migrated along the coast to Italy a long time ago. However, they had never been able to unite, and their tribes often fought against each other. They were also extremely xenophobic. The Salves had invaded them many times, and each time, the Ligurians fought back tenaciously. As a result, the Salves found that although the Ligurians were shorter than them, they were just as strong and more ferocious. After suffering a few major defeats and realizing that the Ligurians were not to be trifled with, the Salves finally had to restore peace with the Ligurians.
As a result, the Gauls looked around and found that the Etruscans in the south were the easiest to bully.
After decades of development, coupled with the occasional addition of small Gaulish tribes from the north, the population of South Mountain Gaul had multiplied several times. This was especially true for the Cenones, who lived in the hilly and mountainous areas. The land they occupied was less and more barren, and the need to expand their territory was stronger. Moreover, their settlement was closer to the Etruscans.
Therefore, around 390 BC, under the leadership of the great leader Brennum, the Cenones crossed the mountains and invaded the Etruscans. They defeated the main forces of Rome in the Battle of Aria, and finally occupied the city of Rome. However, after that, they were caught in a quagmire of war. When Brennum finally decided to lead his people to retreat from Rome and return home, he was forced to fight a hasty battle with the Latin army led by Camillus. In the end, the Cenones suffered a crushing defeat, and along the way, they were attacked by the Etruscans. Less than half of their people managed to return home. The great leader Brennum was also severely injured, and he died not long after returning to Boloma. Not only did the Cenones lose a lot of their strength, but they also fell into a period of chaos. After that, the northern border of Etrusca was much more peaceful.
It was said that during that period, even if the Senonius Tribe wanted to plunder in the south, they would have to get the Salves Tribe to back them up. As a result, the relationship between the two major tribes in Shannan Gaul became closer.
After more than ten years of recuperation, the Cenones should have recovered a lot of their strength, so they began to strengthen their invasion of Etrusca. The invasion of the Cenones alone was not enough to worry the Asistes, but if the more powerful Salves joined in, the kingdom would have to pay attention.
"I believe that by tomorrow, we will receive more information about the Gauls, which will be more helpful for us to formulate a countermeasure. But what I am worried about now is that there are so many Gauls invading. Can the border legion led by Lord Hasdrubal hold the camp before our reinforcements arrive? " The Asistes said worriedly. There were some words in his heart that he did not say out loud. Hasdrubal was a relative of His Majesty, and the fact that he, a Carthage who had just surrendered, was able to become the legion commander showed how much the King of Devers valued him. If he died in the Gauls' invasion, he was afraid that the King of Devers would be furious.
"Don't worry, my lord. The three camps in the north are built as sturdy as fortresses, and their defenses are perfect. They are not inferior to Paragonia in the past. As far as I know, the Gauls are not strong at siege. Even if they have a lot of warriors, it will not be easy for them to break through the camps. Commander Hasdrubal will be able to hold the camp until our reinforcements arrive! "Patroclus said confidently.
"Let's hope so. But we need to hurry up and send out our troops. How many soldiers can the 14th Legion and the reserve soldiers in Rome have?" the Asistes asked seriously.
"33,250." Patroclus immediately gave a number.
33,000 soldiers was enough to form four legions. It was a shocking number for a region that had just joined the Kingdom of Diónia. But Rome (especially Rome) already had a large population of young adults when they surrendered to the Kingdom of Rome. At that time, they could easily form an army of tens of thousands (the reserve soldiers in Rome and the noble soldiers in Rome) to follow the main force of the Dionysian Army. Later on, the Devers designated Radym as the focus of the kingdom's development. Whether it was the new official citizens or the citizens who had just come of age, they were given priority in this region. So in recent years, the population of Rome had been the fastest growing region in the whole kingdom.
As the chief executive of the region, the Asistes was not surprised. He said, "If all the alliances go all out to support us, there will be about fifty to sixty thousand soldiers. Even if half of them come, there will still be twenty to thirty thousand soldiers. Together with our own troops, I think we can rely on the strength of Rome alone to repel the invading Gauls. This is also the goal that His Majesty hoped to achieve when he established the League of Diónia in Central Italy."
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