Outside Ostia, Camillus repeatedly proclaimed that as long as this small port city is regained, one can negotiate with the Dionians, and eventually, it may be peaceful to return to Rome...

The Roman soldiers who were eager to go home were inspired by this and launched a fierce attack on Ostia for two consecutive days, and were all repelled by the Dionysian army. However, the city was covered with corpses, the ground was dyed red, and the city walls collapsed in many places, which showed the fierce battle.

On the third day, the Roman army continued to launch an attack.

…………………………………………

In the Roman Senate, Davers held a meeting, and in addition to all the veterans in Rome, the participants also included Lizaru, the commander of the Third Legion, Printoles, Thormede, and the diplomat Tapirus.

"Everyone, Tapirus was appointed by me to serve on the Etruscan city-states Kesrera, Walch, Tarchuna and Fufluna on the north bank of the Tiber River. I hoped that these Etruscan city-states that were forced to belong to Rome under the strong military pressure of Rome could tear up their alliance with Rome, join forces with us to attack the Roman colonial city on the north bank of the Tiber River..." Davers sighed lightly when he said this.

"Your Majesty, do these Etruscans disagree?" Lizaru asked hurriedly. As the commander of the Legion responsible for guarding the Roman Bridge and the newly built river port on the north bank, if the Etruscan city-state on the north bank can turn to Dionia and attack the Roman colonial city, the enemy's pressure on the north side of the city will no longer exist, and the Third Legion can be pulled out and thrown into other battlefields. This is why Lizaru is so concerned about the first interruption.

Davers did not answer directly, but looked at Tapirus.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the diplomat. He swallowed with a little nervousness and said, "I... After receiving the order from His Majesty, I took a boat to Kesrera, not only because it was closest to us, but also because... As far as I know, it is the most friendly Etruscan city-state to the Greeks. In fact, they did receive me very enthusiastically.

But... When I talked about Dionyla's willingness to form an alliance with them and deal with Rome together, the Casera people politely refused. They said, 'Casera has been friendly with Rome for decades. They will never easily turn against this friendship, but they will not participate in this war and be enemies with Dionyla,'

They also defended the Romans, saying, 'We have seized the city of Rome and have the upper hand. It is best to be able to hold a truce with the Romans at this time, so that more benefits can be gained and the trade order on this land will not be greatly damaged...'"

"It is said that it will not be an enemy of us, but the Kesrera people are defending the Romans in their words." Roman Chief Executive Ascesters said with a frown.

"The Caserera people made it very clear. They have been friendly with the Romans for decades, but have never had any contact with us before. If I were the Caserera people, of course I would help the Romans!" Martonis said bluntly.

Nicomarcus looked at Tapirus and asked worriedly: "Since Kesrera, who is the most friendly to the Greeks, is also inclined to the Romans, other Etruscan city-states may not support us, right?"

Tapirus nodded slightly and continued, "Then I went to Walchi and Talchuna, both of which were previously attacked by Rome and were eventually forced to surrender to Rome. The Romans also established colonial cities in their territory. They expressed interest in His Majesty's proposal, but they were ultimately helpless to say, 'They had the vast majority of young and middle-aged citizens fighting with the Roman army, so they dared not take any hostile actions against Rome, so that they would not inflict any anger on the Romans and put the citizens who went on the expedition in danger'..."

"It seems that the Romans were still very cautious about these Etruscan allies!" Antrapolis, who was born in the intelligence department, sighed when he heard this.

"I went to Fofruna again. A few months ago, Rome sent troops to conquer the city-state, but it happened that we had a war with Rome. The Romans withdrew the troops that attacked Fofruna, which was equivalent to saving Fofruna." Tapirus continued: "But when the Foxruna Council met me, they did not seem enthusiastic, and they seemed not very interested in our proposal. They said to me, 'If we want to unite with us and declare war on Rome, Fofruna cannot make a decision alone. We must discuss with the Etruscan Federation of City-Constitutions and reach an agreement before we can finally make a decision. But before that, they were willing to establish a friendly relationship with us...'

But as far as I know, the Etruscan city-state alliance is a loose alliance and is not very united. In recent years, Rome attacked the city-states of Etruscana. This alliance did not play a role in uniting all Etruscan city-states to fight against Roman invasion, so Rome easily conquered Walch and Tarchuna..."

"You mean...the Fofrunas are just perfunctory and do not intend to form an alliance with us?" Asisters interjected.

Tapirus nodded and said, "After meeting with the Council of Fofruna, I asked the translator who followed me to bribe the Council of Fofruna with money, and learned from them that although Fofruna hated Rome, they were also wary of us from outsiders. Dionia's strength made them even more worried. At the beginning, the Etruscans joined forces with the Romans to drive away the Celtics, but the Romans led their troops to conquer them within a few years, so they did not want to make the same mistake again. They probably hoped to see us and Rome suffer losses, which would be the best for them..."

"These Etruscans want to get good! Unfortunately, I think they will only regret it in the future!" Martonis said loudly.

"I'm afraid that it's not just the Fofruna people who think so, other Etruscan city-states also have similar ideas. Even compared to us, they are more willing to trust the Romans who have been with them for hundreds of years." King Davers's brother-in-law Alsibidas said with a serious expression: "Since yesterday, we have many cargo ships that have come up from the River Schorhe and sailors, who have seen a small group of Etrusan troops appearing in the distance of the north shore. Fortunately, they have the guards of the cavalry, so they did not dare to get close."

"I also received reports from the cavalry, but I think they are just reconnaissance and dare not have a head-on conflict with us." Ledes confirmed the news.

"Although they have not fought with us yet, they have shown hostility and we must fight back, otherwise these Etruscans will think we are weak and can be bullied!" said Matonis in a hatred.

"Your Majesty." Ascestes looked at Davers in the upper head and said worriedly: "Since the Roman army is attacking Ostia, cargo ships from the kingdom can only be pulled from the north bank of the Tiber River to the city of Rome by boaters. If the north bank is also attacked by Etruscans, the waterway leading to the city of Rome will be cut off. The exchange of personnel, the replenishment of soldiers, the transportation of materials, and the supply of military rations... will all become more difficult, which is not conducive to our governance of Rome!"

When Davers heard this, his fingers began to tap the tabletop, but his eyes gradually became sharper. He said in a deep voice: "It seems that I have a wrong judgment of these Etruscan city-states. I originally thought that they were threatened by Rome and would be happy to form an alliance with us. I didn't expect that they each had other ideas! Since we did not accept our kindness, we would deal with them in a different way, show them our force, and let them know what terrible consequences would be suffered by the enemy of Dionia! I decided-"

Davers glanced at everyone and said in a stressful tone: "Send troops to seize Kesrera!"

When everyone heard this, some were excited and some looked embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, will the attack on Kesrera completely bring the Etruscan city-state to Rome?" Yassistus expressed his concerns.

"Don't worry, Lord Ascesters. As His Majesty said, these Etruscan city-states each have their own ideas. Wolch and Tarchuna were defeated by Rome, and their territory was divided. They had resentment towards the Romans, but because most of their citizens were in the Roman army, they did not dare to cooperate with us. And most of the city-states farther from Rome would probably have an onlooker attitude... Only Kesrera was close to Rome, and its location was too close to the banks of the Tiber River. Seizing it would not only protect our waterways, but also shock other Etruscan city-states, which would help convince them to form an alliance with us again!" Tapirus analyzed confidently.

"However, Kesrera is a mountain city. The mountains located in it are much higher than the Capitolin Mountain here and are not easy to capture. The current situation does not allow us to lead too many soldiers to attack. Once we can't capture it for a long time, our army will fall into the dilemma of fighting on both sides!" Thormid reminded with a serious expression.

"Although Kesrera is a mountain city, it has many citizens in the Roman army expedition to Helniki. A few days ago, the Third Legion captured some of their citizens. In fact, there are not many soldiers who can fight in Kesrera. Your Majesty, I will lead four brigades to capture Kesrera soon!" Epitians asked for a fight loudly.
Chapter completed!