But Megius was more cautious. He first reminded Paulus that it was when the Dionians landed that they were defeated by the attack and suffered a crushing defeat that Rome was in danger today. Therefore, he suggested: Because this reinforcement was the greatest hope of the Roman people in the city, the number of 8,000 soldiers was still insufficient, and more soldiers were needed to gather to defeat the Diorians in one fell swoop. This would not only save Rome, but also drive the Dionians out of the inland, so they should continue to march eastward to meet the reinforcements from the city-states such as Prinister, Gabi, and Bone.

Both sides have their own opinions, but are unwilling to divide the team into two, because that will only weaken the army's attack power and lead to the failure of their respective plans. In order not to delay precious time, they can only make decisions and let the soldiers make choices.

It doesn't matter that nearly 3,000 Latin reinforcements, but although more than 5,000 Roman militias had moved to three towns west of the Latinum region due to the distribution of their territory, there were relatives and friends they cared about in the city of Rome, and they knew in their hearts that there were not many civilians in Rome. If time was delayed and the city of Rome was captured, the land they had just owned would eventually be gone. Therefore, most soldiers were eager to defeat the siege of the Dionians, so they supported Paulus's opinion.

Meggus felt very sorry, but he sincerely wished Paulus and then led only a guard to quickly rush to the east.

Paulus quickly assembled the team. Although he was anxious, he remained awake. He knew that although the camp in Dionia ahead was still very simple, it might take a considerable price to break it. Now time and soldiers were the most precious to him, so he decided to bypass the camp and head straight to the city.

While the army was marching, they ventured to escape the blockade of the enemy cavalry. The reconnaissance cavalry who returned with injuries brought back bad news: five or six thousand Dionian infantry appeared in front of them, and many cavalrymen.

Paulus was shocked. He did not expect that while the Dionians were sieging the city, they also retained so many soldiers to defend.

But he immediately calmed down: the situation has developed to this moment, and there is no possibility of retreating. He can only lead the troops and attack without hesitation, and fight back against the enemy blocking the way. Only then can the city of Rome have hope!

He issued an order: the army stopped advancing and immediately began to line up.

Considering that the enemy opposite had many cavalry, the failure of the previous battle was due to the powerful cavalry of Dionia attacking the flanks. Therefore, this time Paulus learned a lesson. He cautiously shortened the length of the array and increased the thickness, and arranged more than a thousand light infantry in the Latin reinforcements in the center of the military formation, and was protected by heavy infantry... After the array was completed, the entire military formation was similar to an oval.

When the army of Dionians came into the sight of the Roman soldiers, the loud sound of warlocks came from the opposite side.

The Dionians actually launched an attack on the Roman army first.

The cavalry legion on both wings rushed in front, with thousands of horses galloping, and the sound of hooves was like thunder, stirring up dust and fog and filling the sky. A distance of hundreds of meters arrived in an instant.

Looking at the giants rushing towards them with strong power, the Roman soldiers on both wings felt fear in their hearts.

But in fact, this is just an illusion. The Dionian cavalry did not have the ability to break through the infantry formation on the front. When they passed by the two wings of the Roman formation, they threw out the short spear in their hands.

After all, these Roman soldiers had fought with the Dionian cavalry once before, and under the reminder of the squadron leader, they raised their shields to defend themselves.

At the same time, the light infantry in the military formation also shot arrows in their hands towards the galloping passing by the Dionian cavalry.

For a time, Roman soldiers were shot and fell to the ground and Dionian cavalry were caught in an arrow and fell off their horses from time to time.

Just as the Dionian cavalry passed by the flanks of the Roman army and rushed to the rear, Dionian infantry army was approaching, and the Roman squadron leader hurriedly shouted: "Be careful of the javelin and raise the shield to defend!"

Crotokataks followed his comrades around him and threw the javelin in his hands together, and then hurriedly threw the second javelin without any breath.

At this time, the screams from the other side made him excited when he first came to the battle formation, but before he could taste the so-called sense of accomplishment, the soldiers in front began to charge towards the enemy, and he and the palace guards followed immediately.

Even though the rain of javelin caused some chaos in the Roman army, when the Dionian soldiers began to charge, the Roman soldiers also raised their shields and held guns, and stepped forward.

One side is bravely moving forward with the belief of defending the homeland and driving away the invaders; the other side is shouldering the safety of the entire army and wants to block the invading enemy to the death. The two armies collided violently, and then each stabbed the spears and spears at the enemy.

At the same time, the cavalry of Dionia turned around and rushed to the rear of the Roman army.

"Turn back! Turn back!" Under the command of the Roman squadron leaders, the heavy infantry squadrons arranged at the end of the Roman army turned around, raised long shields in the face of the cavalry, and made a defensive posture. The Roman light infantry in the center of the army also turned around and bent their bows and arrows, and the javelins and arrows intersected in the air again...

……………………………………

Roman soldiers fought against the enemy in the city bloody battles, and the people in the city were not idle either. They were organized by the elders and kept transporting various consumed defensive materials to various sections of the city walls, and at the same time, they continued to carry the wounded into the city.

Seeing that their loved ones were injured or even died, the Roman people were sad, but they had no time to cry. They had to seize all the time and do their best to help the army defend their homes, because less than an hour after the enemy began to attack the city, the situation became a little serious.

"General Magus came to report that the enemy's offensive was fierce. In order to prevent the enemy from attacking the city, the soldiers suffered considerable casualties, hoping to get reinforcements!"

"General Sevius came to report that the army he led was defending the enemy's siege, but he could not stop the enemy from using siege equipment to continuously destroy the city wall. He hoped to send more soldiers behind the city to form a defensive formation to prevent the enemy from breaking through after the city wall collapsed!"

"General Pullo came to report that the enemy used warships to build many floating bridges on the Tiber River, so that their attacks could not be limited to the vertebrae bridge. Now the soldiers are defending the entire embankment with all their might, but the enemy's offensive is fierce and continue to fight, and the soldiers' physical strength cannot be supported, and they hope to get more support!"

...

The Roman Senate originally asked Scipio of Greater Scipio to be responsible for the defense of the entire city, but after the siege battle began, Scipio of Greater Scipio found that it was difficult for him to control the combat defense of the entire city, because the Roman city area was too large, the city walls were too long, and the roads in the city were tortuous, which took time to convey orders or send reinforcements. So he decisively handed over the command to the Senate and concentrated on dealing with the siege of the Dionians directly south.

The Senate quickly completed the handover of command. In order to more conveniently coordinate and organize the people of the city to defend the city, the veterans came to the Roman Forum to work. The military command was mainly handed over to several veterans such as Portitus and Marugine Encis who had served as consuls many times, not only because they had experienced seniority, but also because as consuls, they often had to lead troops to fight, so they had rich combat experience.

But even Portitus, who served as consuls five times and promoted Camillus on the battlefield many times, had never experienced or witnessed such a siege battle: countless powerful crossbows, huge siege towers, hiding wooden chariots and strange ways to fill trenches, terrible belly bows, warships to build pontoon bridges... What's even more terrifying is that the siege of the Dionian soldiers are not only well-trained, but also brave and powerful.

According to Portitus and his previous experience in siege: a big city like this is guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers, without more than one hundred thousand people, it is impossible to capture it without two or three months to six months.

But less than two hours after the war started, the defending army seemed to be unable to withstand it.

The elders were also panicked. At this time, they didn't care about the rights and interests of clans or private interests. They organized the slaves in their respective families, and at the same time they also informed their clans to take action. They summoned all male and slaves who could pick up the shield and spear to the Roman Forum. There were about 10,000 people in an emergency formation, distributed weapons, and then sent them to the urgently needed battlefield...

The old square in Rome, which was usually quite vast, was crowded and noisy at this time: on one side, the veterans were urgently organizing newly formed troops, and on the other side, the people were helping the wounded lying all over the ground.

Looking at the nearly 10,000 troops in the audience that were still quite dense not long ago, there were only more than a thousand people left. The slave soldiers were not very adaptable to wearing helmets, and they shook their heads from time to time, holding weapons and looking confused... Portitus suddenly felt a very uncomfortable feeling in his heart. He pulled the back of the chair with his hands and said with difficulty: "The last more than a thousand people should be sent to Great Scipio. Although he did not send anyone to ask for help, other troops encountered difficulties. It is impossible to defend easily in the south. I know Great Scipio. He must be doing his best to avoid making things difficult for us..."

"Alas, Rome has not experienced being attacked by the enemy for decades, and the people lack the experience of defending the city! What's more, the enemy is Dionia!..." Ambustus sighed regretfully: "It's just that we have only been focusing on expansion over the years and have not re-planned and repaired the city defense!"
Chapter completed!