"Of course I understand what they think." Davers smiled confidently: "They want to be the heroes of Rome again, then I will give them this opportunity to see if this fantasy of theirs can finally come true!" ”

When Henipolis heard this, he immediately lost his worries, and he was eager to describe the situation at once as an important material for his biography.

Publius, on the other hand, was in mixed moods, rejoicing that he had fulfilled his promise and had fulfilled his heart, and on the other hand, he was also heartbroken by Davers's heart and arrogance, and had no hope for the struggle of the remnants of Rome.

In fact, what they didn't know was that Davers made this decision mainly because Davers took into account the following factors: first, Capitoline Hill was located in the city, and there were as many as five or six thousand people on the mountain, and if he really starved to death because of the lack of food, he was afraid that it would cause a plague, which would bring great trouble to the Dionian army during the war, and it would not be conducive to the rapid recovery of the prosperity of the city of Rome;

secondly, the death of several thousand people in the city was so tragic that not only Davers himself could not bear it, but also caused the Romans who had already submitted to Dionya to feel sad and desolate, thus affecting the perception of the Dionian kingdom and not conducive to their integration;

Thirdly, he had learned from Publius that the families of most of the noble soldiers in Camillus' army were now on Capitoline Hill, and that with them, Dionysia would be better placed to deal with the Roman army that had retreated to the city of Satnikum.

………………………………………

With Davers' consent, Publius went up the mountain again, and the two sides soon reached an agreement.

The next day, the people on the mountain were repatriated and the Roman senators allowed a detachment of Dionian soldiers to enter the mountain and supervise the whole process (mainly to see if the Roman senators had complied with the agreement, leaving only 500 men).

The Roman people who came to the bottom of the hill were escorted (and more often supported) by the Dionian soldiers to the designated place of captivity, and their faces were sad, but more of a relief, after all, the days of starvation were finally over.

The Roman commoners also came to the square to see the excitement, and when they saw these noble families whom they had envied in the past, now their faces were withered and trance-like, and they were happy at the same time, but they were also embarrassed.

Portitus, Marugirescis, and the rest of the Roman legions stood at the top of the cliff, watching their relatives enter the enemy-occupied city, until the entire Capitoline Hill was empty and silent again, and they still stood like stone statues......

It took a long time for the coughing of several old elders to break the deathly silence.

Scipio the Great shouted to the soldiers: "Citizens, we must defend this place with all our might!" Defend the temple of our Romans! Waiting...... Waiting for the final victory to come! ”

"Roar!! ......" The soldiers roared in unison, and the roar was more tragic.

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Aquilonia, one of the three major towns of Hirpini (the other two being Beneventum and Abenirum), is located more than 50 miles northwest of the city of Venosa in the Puchetti region of the Kingdom of Dioonia (this is only a straight line distance, in fact the distance is doubled on foot), and less than 50 miles southwest of Ascurum in the Daoni region, and it has benefited from it as a base for the advance of the Hirpini invasions of the Apulian lowlands on several occasions (including this one), It became the most powerful tribal union in the southeast of Hirpini's territory, and also became a powerful barrier to the southwest of the Hirpini tribe.

Its castle was built on a hill as high as 500 meters, and it was surrounded by mountains with an average height of about 300 meters, not to mention attacking, and it would take a lot of effort for the army to get there.

Since Alexis was determined to capture Aquilonia, he naturally made some careful preparations, he transferred the light infantry and light armor brigades of the 11th Legion, and then added the two heavy infantry brigades and light armor and light infantry brigades of the Tenth Legion, plus the engineering battalion, the medical battalion, the baggage battalion, and the mountain reconnaissance team, a total of more than 6,000 people, and there was a large number of pack teams, carrying food that could supply this army for more than ten days, and ten Abeniromi sent by Gherni as guides.

As soon as it was daybreak, he led his army from Venosa to the north bank of the River Ofanto, and then marched along the valley of the Ofanto River, and the march was relatively smooth along the way, and was not disturbed by the Samoneh.

Thinking about it, it is understandable that the Samonai were badly injured in the first two battles, and now they are concentrating on attacking the Campania League, how many young and middle-aged people can fight in the entire territory. Therefore, the smooth march of this road strengthened Alexis's confidence in taking Aquilonia

In the afternoon, the Dionian army arrived at a bay in the upper reaches of the Ovanito River, which happened to be the confluence of Ovantto and a larger tributary, so the terrain was relatively flat and the area was relatively open, and it was exactly ten miles south of the city of Aquilonia, which was also the camp that Alexis had chosen after learning the surrounding terrain from the guide of Abenirum in detail before setting out, because the north side of this bay also happened to face the narrow lowlands between the mountains (the height of this lowland was also tens of meters). Through it, it can be approached under the mountain range where the city of Aquilonia is located.

So he ordered his army to hurry up and build a camp on the south bank of the bend.

The soldiers of the whole army immediately began to act quickly according to the prior division of labor: the engineer surveyed the surrounding terrain and determined the area of the main camp; Soldiers used scythes and axes to cut weeds and trees in the area, then leveled the ground and erected wooden fences...... Most importantly, try to burn the thatch in the swampy area of the shore and smoke away the mosquitoes that hide in it. Luckily, the Ofanto River is not a large river and rarely floods, so the marshy area of the riverbend is small, but the smoke of the fire must attract the attention of the surrounding Samonai tribes, but in order to ensure that the soldiers have enough rest and health, and have enough physical strength and energy to cope with the difficult battle that follows, Alexis thinks it is worth it.

In order to initially build the camp and lay the groundwork for the next attack, Alexis also had fires lit around the camp at dusk to illuminate the soldiers' hard work.

The soldiers also knew that this was not another place, the terrain was strange and complicated, and there were not only wild beasts, snakes, insects, but also fierce enemies in the mountains, so they did not need the urging of the officers at all, and they were building camps regardless of fatigue, because they knew that only by building a camp could they sleep well in this dangerous mountain.

After the evening, the camp began to take shape: a wooden fence was built on the periphery, a simple circle of deer fences was tied outside the wooden fence, a patchwork sentry tower was erected in the four corners of the camp, and rectangular tents were neatly arranged in the camp, these tarpaulins sewn with animal skins were both strong and covered a lot, which could completely cover the space in the tent, not only to prevent snake bites, but also to shield from wind, frost, rain and snow. Each tent can accommodate a squad of soldiers to rest, just like the legion's barracks in the territory, so that extremely familiar comrades can relax and sleep quickly in the unfamiliar battlefield environment, and it is also convenient for the squad leader to manage.

One brigade occupies an area in the camp, and there is a large interval between the tent area of the other brigade, and the six brigades are arranged in a circle, enclosing the medical battalion, the engineering battalion, and the baggage battalion in the middle (usually because the pack beasts in the baggage camp smell heavy and noisy, so they are often arranged on one side of the camp, but this time because the camp is not perfect, the defense is weak, and it is very vulnerable to attack on the outside of the camp, and the battle in the mountains, the food transportation is difficult, and the pack beasts are very important), in the center of the camp is the commander's tent, A large brazier stood outside the tent, and the constant flame allowed the officers and soldiers in the camp to find the commander even in the dark.

While the soldiers were building the camp, Alexis arranged for a company to rest well, and when all the soldiers began to sleep, the company began to stand guard, sentry, and patrol the camp in the dark.

Raquelesis, a native of Mesapi, the flag-bearer of the Turii triumphal two years ago, is now a company commander. As the company commander on duty tonight, he asked the four detachments under his command to be responsible for standing guard in the four directions of the camp, east, west, north and south, and he also solemnly instructed the four detachment leaders: "Be sure to keep your eyes open, observe all abnormalities outside the camp, and report the situation immediately!" If anyone is careless or even lazy to sleep, I will definitely punish him by military law, and I will show no mercy! ”

After arranging the mission, he personally followed the first detachment to patrol the north of the camp, knowing that there was a high probability of the appearance of the enemy in this direction.

In the middle of the night, the soldiers had already fallen asleep, but there was no silence outside the camp, the wolf howl in the mountains and forests, the frogs by the river, the birds chirping in the swamp, the insects in the grass and the murmuring of water...... This is nature's most beautiful melody.

But this harmony was soon broken, and the waterfowl slapped the water in panic, the frogs stopped chirping alertly, and the noisy footsteps sounded on the other side of the river......

"Company Commander, there are enemies!" The soldier reminded from the watchtower.

"Don't be in a hurry, see how many enemies there are first!" Raquelesis calmly said that he could not disturb the commander's rest just because there were only a few enemies to harass him, that would only give Alexis the impression of incompetence.

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