When they arrived at the city hall, Teris, who had already been notified by his subordinates, immediately came out and welcomed Midolades in.
After the two exchanged a few greetings, Midolades handed the Devers' warrant to Teris.
When they had just obtained Ostia, the Devers had only announced "granting freedom to the slaves, as well as Latin refugees, slave citizenship, and distribution of land … and a few other rights." Now, he requested Teris to implement the decree that he had announced to the civilians and slaves of Rome in the square of Rome in Ostia. At the same time, he would also hand over the nobles of Rome in Ostia to be escorted to the warships by Midolades.
After Teris finished reading, he said in a relaxed manner, "Following His Majesty's decree will make it easier to manage Ostia."
As he spoke, he called his subordinates to immediately escort the captives of Rome and the nobles among the civilians to the port according to the requirements and hand them over to the Third Fleet.
Then, he said to Midolades, "Last night, I heard from the merchants who returned from Rome about the decree that His Majesty announced in the square. I have already conducted a selection of these captives from Rome in advance. There are only 178 male nobles in Ostia, and those who meet the requirements to be escorted … I am afraid there are less than a hundred of them. So, you don't have to wait for long. They will be sent to the warships soon."
"Sir Teris is really meticulous! No wonder His Majesty would hand over such an important city to you! " Midolades complimented. He could not wait to immediately lead some of the warships south to Triene to recruit new fleet infantry. So, of course, he was happy to be able to spend less time in Ostia.
"There is still some time before my subordinates finish. General Midolades, can you tell me the details of how His Majesty and you led the army to break through the city of Rome?" Teris asked with a smile.
"My pleasure!" Midolades simply replied. He had long heard of this veteran from Sicily. Among the many veterans of Diónia who relied on their political achievements or some other special reasons to rise to the position of Turín, this burly middle-aged man was the only one who deigned to train in the Turín barracks for a long time. Through his own training and performance, he was promoted from a recruit of the legion's reserve team to the position of a captain of the reserve team. With this alone, he had won the respect of many military personnel, including, of course, Midolades himself.
Teris said happily, "It's almost time for dinner. Why don't we drink some wine? I'll get the chef to make a few more dishes. We can chat while drinking."
Midolades thought about it. He was about to lead his team south, which meant that he was already out of the battlefield, so he didn't refuse.
While the two of them were chatting, the guard officer at the door barged in and said anxiously, "Sir Teris, there is an urgent report from the scouts outside the city. They found the Roman army marching quickly towards Ostia. There are many of them, more than 20,000!"
Midolades was shocked.
Teris was also shocked, but he quickly laughed and said, "The Roman army came at the right time! Weren't you guys worried about not having a chance to go to the battlefield? Now that the military achievements are here, let's see if you have the ability to take them! Are you afraid, Kessilas? "
The officer immediately replied loudly, "Sir, my brothers and I can't wait for the Roman army to attack Ostia now so that they can have a taste of our strength!"
"Go and inform the three captains immediately. Let the soldiers start eating now. Then, according to the previous training, lead the brigade to their respective defensive positions."
"Yes, sir!" Kessilas immediately turned around and left.
Then, Teris called for his subordinate, Lucdarius.
Lucdarius was also a Latin citizen of Diónia from Enona. He was specially left behind by the Devers to act as an interpreter for Teris, who didn't speak the same language. In the end, Teris boldly gave him the position of his clerk and gave him suggestions when he governed the town. At the same time, he also gave him the position of the adjutant of the new brigade. He was responsible for organizing and training the 1230 slaves and Latin refugees of Ostia who applied to become a citizen of Diónia. Before this, he was just an ordinary citizen of Enona and an ordinary soldier in the reserve force. Naturally, he worked very hard when he was suddenly given such an important task.
Now, Teris ordered him to assist the captain. After dinner, he gathered the soldiers of the new brigade as the reserve force of the city's defense, ready to go into battle at any time.
After making the arrangements, Teris said to Midolades apologetically, "The damn Roman army interrupted your wonderful story. It seems that we can only finish this jar of wine after I defeat them and wait for you to return from Siritium."
"When that time comes, it will be my turn to listen to your story of how you defeated the Roman army." Midolades smiled and then took the initiative to suggest with a serious expression, "When I was in Rome, the Roman army outside the city was busy building their camp. They didn't look like they were going to attack the city immediately. I didn't expect them to secretly send troops to attack Ostia. Sir Teris, you must be vigilant. It is obvious that the enemy came prepared. Because Ostia is too important to our army in Rome! "
After hearing this, Teris nodded with a serious expression and asked, "General Midolades, has the Roman army surrounded Rome? Can the messenger I sent enter Rome smoothly? "
Midolades shook his head, "When I left, the Roman army had already set up camp outside the city. Only the east side hasn't seen the enemy, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to go around them!"
"It seems that it is safer to go by water …" Teris pondered and said, "General Midolades, can I ask you to send a fast ship to Rome immediately and tell His Majesty about the enemy's situation here?"
"That is my duty!" Midolades replied straightforwardly. He also reminded Teris, "It will take at least half a day to travel from here to Rome through the Tiber River. It will take longer to travel in the dark because there is a certain degree of danger in both towing and sailing. His Majesty will only receive the news of the attack on Ostia tomorrow. When he sends reinforcements, it will at least be tomorrow noon. You must be prepared."
Midolades paused for a moment. Seeing that Teris was deep in thought, he suggested, "I hope you can make some space at the port. I will let some warships dock at the port and let the sailors go ashore to help you fight. This will make up for the lack of soldiers, but you have to provide them with weapons and equipment."
Teris was surprised and grateful. He repeatedly expressed his gratitude and said, "General, you don't have to worry about the weapons and equipment. We have defeated the Roman army here. Other than selling some of the spoils of war to the merchants, the rest is piled up in the warehouse. It is enough to equip six to seven thousand people."
"Then I can rest assured." Midolades said. The sailors of the fleet under his command were not the infantry of the fleet. They usually trained at sea and were not good at fighting on land. However, they were young and strong, so it was not a big problem for them to defend the city.
The reason why Midolades took the initiative to help was that, as the senior general present, he left without providing any help when Ostia was facing a war. Once Ostia fell, he would inevitably be impeached by the censor of the Ministry of Military Affairs and criticized by his colleagues. Another reason was that he had discovered the importance of Ostia to the Third Fleet. If he could set up a military port here, the Third Fleet's control of the south coast of Italy could extend all the way to Etruria. Therefore, he hoped that when he got the approval of the King of Devers in the future, he could also get the active cooperation of the governor of Ostia. Therefore, it was important to win the favor of Teris.
… …
While Ostia was nervously preparing for its defense, the Roman army led by Titus set off from Prinister at dawn. They passed through the city of Rome, then south past Lake Alba, and then turned northwest. After marching for nearly 90 miles, they finally arrived at their final destination, Ostia, at dusk.
Titus immediately ordered the soldiers to eat their rations, put on their armor, pick up their weapons, and prepare to attack the city.
While the soldiers were resting, he ordered the ballista unit to push the remaining 20 ballistas to the front and bombard the thin walls of Ostia, which were less than four meters high.
The reserve soldiers of Diónia, who were extremely excited about finally being able to participate in the battle, watched as the Roman army came from afar like a winding dragon. They could not see the end of the army. Then, they split into hundreds and thousands of troops and gradually surrounded Ostia. Not only did they begin to feel nervous, but they even felt a little afraid.
Teris, who was also the commander of the Ostia army, also stood on top of the city wall, staring at the black mass of enemies below the city. He also felt a little nervous. This was the first time he was personally involved in an actual battle. However, in the past few days, he had repeatedly urged the soldiers to strictly follow what they had learned in the barracks to set up the defense. He believed that they could completely block the enemy's attack.
"Sir Teris, look! The enemy's ballistas!"
Even without his men's reminder, Teris could also see more than a dozen ballistas pushed to the front by the Roman army, but he did not panic at all.
In the ten years after the Southern Italian War, the Ministry of Military Affairs of Diónia had already studied how to use the ballistas and ballistas, which were originally used for attacking cities, to defend the city. For this reason, they asked their engineers to reduce the size of the ballistas, reduce their weight, and improve the firing method (the ballistas on the city wall were fired downward, so the stone bullets would easily slip off). They even designed a new type of fortress under the guidance of the Devers that could fully utilize the power of the ballistas and ballistas. They also developed a set of defensive tactics that combined the ballistas and ballistas.
After capturing Ostia, considering its importance, the Devers left behind ten defensive ballistas and five ballistas, and Teris placed them on top of the city wall.
A ballista stood on the walkway not far from Teris. Because it was too short of time to modify the city wall, large wooden planks were padded under the ballista so that its body could be higher than the battlements. Several boxes of stone bullets were placed next to it. There were two soldiers in charge of it. One was responsible for firing the ballista, and the other was responsible for reporting the parameters of the ballista.
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