"My Lord, in accordance with your orders, I have placed strict control over this legion under my command, isolating all those who come into contact with the rebel soldiers, and have issued an order, 'Anyone who spreads and discusses this matter will be punished severely!' Now the situation is under control for the time being. Licinius reported to Camillus.

Without waiting for Camillus to speak, Quintus made a rebuke: "Licinius, you are embarrassed to say 'controlled', if it weren't for your poor management of the legion you led, how could you cause the explosion in the camp tonight!" Huge trouble for our entire army! Dictator, I think that Licinius should be punished in the first place! ”

"I don't manage the legion strictly?! Let everyone judge the reason, from the expedition to the present, who led the legion has always been criticized by the dictator because of military discipline! Licinius, of course, could not allow Quintus to splash dirty water on him, so he mocked: "You should be thankful that my legions happened to be under the trickery of the Dionians, so the camp did not cause great turmoil!" If it were your troops, I'm afraid the whole camp would be in chaos! ”

In fact, what Licinius said was not unreasonable, his legion was in the southeast corner of the camp, and the troops led by Quintus were in the center of the camp, and if Quintus's soldiers really knew about it, the news would soon spread in all directions, and it would be difficult to control.

But Quintus didn't think so, he thought that Licinius was humiliating himself, and immediately pointed his finger at Licinius and scolded angrily: "You damned commoner, I'm afraid you've been dissatisfied with us in your heart for a long time!" This time the damned Dioonians gave you a chance, so you deliberately let the civilians in the legion go so that they could return to Rome and rob us of our land and wealth! ”

In the face of such slander, Licinius was also so angry that his face turned red, so he did not choose to say: "Shut up, you thug in the mouth of the common people!" If it weren't for the greed and brutality of nobles like you, who cornered the commoners, how could they have been so easily lured by the Dioonians to defect from Rome! ……”

Two former military and political officials who had worked together and fought side by side together actually scolded each other in the big tent.

Seeing this situation, the generals in the tent all looked ugly.

"That's enough, shut up!" It was still a roar from Camillus that made the two stop arguing, Camillus rarely lost his temper, but tonight he was obviously angry by the irrationality of the two, he trembled his hands, and pointed angrily at the two: "It seems that the Dionian sowing discord has finally worked, and even you have quarreled because of this, and it is impossible to retake Rome!" ”

When Quintus and Licinius heard this, although they still glared at each other, they couldn't help but feel a little ashamed in their hearts.

At this time, Aulus asked worriedly: "Honorable dictator, the hateful Dionians are quite vicious in carrying out such measures in the city of Rome!" Once the news spreads, most of the civilian soldiers want to escape, and the noble soldiers are worried about their families in the city, and they may not obey our orders with peace of mind, what should we do?! ”

As soon as his words fell, Frius also said eagerly: "The news in Rome has not only reached the soldiers under Licinius, but also the people outside the camp, we can't completely block the news, and in a few days, I'm afraid it will spread throughout the whole army!" ”

"Forbid the soldiers from contact with the people, and try to persuade the people to live near the city of Prinister temporarily......" Camillus made a solemn decision, which was obviously contrary to the order he gave a few days ago, to which he sighed helplessly: "Even so, it can only be managed for a while, in order to avoid the mood of the army, we must lead the army out of the city of Rome!" ”

"Leaving Rome?!" As soon as Quintus heard this, he immediately raised his voice against it: "This can't be! The soldiers had worked hard to get back from Helniki, hoping to retake the city of Rome! The city of Rome is in sight, and you let them go, and I'm afraid no one will want to obey this order! ”

"If you don't leave, will you let them attack the city?! With the current state of the army, with the current state of Rome, we have no chance of taking the city of Rome at all! ”

Licinius's words gloomy the generals in the Great Tent, who had already learned from the civilian soldiers they had captured that the Dioonians had taken cruel measures against the nobles in Rome, the submission of the plebeians to them, and the fact that the senators had retreated to Capitoline Hill with only a small army, had basically taken control of the situation in Rome.

An atmosphere of sorrow began to permeate the tent.

At this time, Camillus said in a deep voice: "I want everyone to pay attention, although we secretly sent Titus to lead the army to attack Ostia, but such a large force is leaving, the soldiers should be aware of it, if the Dionians know this from the soldiers who fled into the city, then our plan to seize Ostia will be exposed, in order to prevent the Dionians from reinforcing Ostia, we must lead a large army out of Rome and go to Ostia, which can greatly prevent the soldiers from fleeing, You can also retake Ostia faster! Soldiers, despite their emotions, I believe that strict military law and your abilities will make them obey orders! ”

Commanders, you look at me, I look at you, although all of them are embarrassed, but no one has spoken out to object, and at this moment they all know in their hearts that this is probably the best way in the current situation.

"Now that you've captured Ostia, what's next?" Aulus then asked.

"After the capture of Ostia...... Negotiate with the Ionians or, as the case may be, besiege the Ionian army...... Then attack Rome with all your might. Camillus's tone was not entirely uncertain, and his expression was a little hesitant, indicating that he himself was also a little confused.

After all, the political measures taken by the Dioonians in Rome clearly showed that they did not just want to teach the Romans a lesson and plunder, but had a longer-term purpose, and that the withdrawal of the Dioonians from Rome was very unlikely to be reached. But attacking the city of Rome could divide the soldiers, and the Roman army could not afford a defeat today.

Camillus was good at military affairs, but weak at politics. Otherwise, he would have been easily expelled from the city of Rome when he had won great prestige after conquering the city of Vitae, which other Roman senators had not been able to capture for many years. During his last term as dictator, Marcus led the commoners in a fierce confrontation with the nobles, and he was unable to reconcile the contradictions between the two sides, and finally signed his name on the order to arrest Marcus when others avoided him, and finally acquiesced in the Senate's killing of Marcus, resulting in him being abused by the commoners every day for a period of time...... Now, when King Theoria used more drastic political means to intensify the conflict between the Roman nobles and the commoners, Camillus, who had suffered a lot in this regard, had to face this problem head-on, not only could not think of a good solution, but also a little fear rose in his heart.

"I hope that in the next time, everyone will treat the soldiers equally and not provoke conflicts again!" Camillus then insisted that this was the only way he could go, and his serious gaze swept over each of the generals in the tent, lingering on Quintus for a few more moments.

Quintus snorted, but didn't retort aloud.

Everyone heard the reluctance in Camillus's words, but in the face of the current situation of great difficulties, they also couldn't come up with a better way, so although they all remained silent, they also acquiesced in Camillus's plan in their hearts.

A guard broke in and broke the silence of the Great Tent: "Your Excellency, the troops stationed at the river port have sent messengers to report that dozens of boats have appeared in the upper reaches of the Tiber, lit with torches and loaded with soldiers, and are heading downstream!" ”

The faces of all the people in the tent changed color, and at the same time a word came to their hearts: The Dioonians really want reinforcements of Ostia!

…………………………………………

When Titus found that the city of Ostia was full of traps, he did not give the order to let the army continue the attack, but sent all the heavy infantry, armed with long shields, to brave the rain of arrows and stone bullets from the city, patiently clear the traps on the ground, and although he paid some casualties, he roughly cleared the traps in front of the trench when night fell.

Since Ostia was only a small city, and the Roman army only had to attack the east and south sides, and its walls were less than two miles long, Titus divided the whole army into five waves and attacked in turns, and when the first wave of soldiers attacked the city, the other troops lay down in the rear to rest, and recovered some of the physical strength consumed during the day as soon as possible.

When the Roman soldiers filled the trenches and rushed to the bottom of the city, while the defenders of Dioonia fought with all their strength against the besieging Roman soldiers, Titus had people drive pack carts to the front of the trenches, and then unloaded the tarmac from the carts and lit them with fire, and the fires lit here and there provided light for the continuous attack of the Roman soldiers.

In addition, Titus also thought of a clever trick: when a wave of soldiers attacked the city and had to retreat, he did not immediately send a second wave of soldiers, but quietly pushed the ballista forward, because those fires only illuminated the city, the wilderness a hundred meters away began to be shrouded in darkness, the Dionian ballistae at the head of the city could not see the distance, naturally could not carry out accurate bombardment, but the Roman ballista troops could see the situation at the head of the city, so they entered the firing range (200-150 meters from the city wall), Stone projectiles were fired, and although most of them hit the city walls, the splashed stone chips caused some damage to the dense defenders at the head of the city.