Outside the city of Ostia, Camillus repeatedly preached that if he recaptured the port city, he could negotiate with the Dionians, and eventually regain Rome peacefully......

Encouraged by this, the Roman soldiers attacked Ostia for two consecutive days, but they were repulsed by the Dionian army, but the city was full of corpses, the ground was dyed red, and the walls collapsed in many places, showing the fierceness of the battle.

On the third day, the Roman army continued its offensive.

…………………………………………

In the Roman Senate, Davos convened a meeting of all the senators in Rome, including the commander of the Third Army, Lizarus, the staff officers Printors, Tormid, and the diplomat Tapirus.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Tapyrus has been appointed by me to send the Etruscan city-states of Kesrela, Volch, Tarjuna, and Fufluna on the north bank of the Tiber River, and I had hoped that these Etruscan city-states, which had been forced to be subordinate to Rome under the strong military pressure of Rome, would break their alliance with Rome and join us in attacking the Roman colonial cities on the north bank of the Tiber......" Davos said this, sighing lightly.

"Your Majesty, don't these Etruscans agree?" Lizaru hurriedly asked, as the commander of the legion responsible for guarding the Roman vertebral bridge and the newly built river port on the north bank, if the Etruscan city-states on the north bank could fall to Dioonia and attack the Roman colonial city, the enemy's pressure on the north side of the Roman city would no longer exist, and the third army could be withdrawn and thrown into other battlefields, which was why Lizaru was so concerned about the first interjection.

Davers didn't answer directly, but looked at Tapilus.

Everyone's eyes immediately shifted to the diplomat, who swallowed slightly nervously and said, "I...... After receiving His Majesty's orders, I sailed to Kesreira, not only because it was closest to us, but also because it was ...... As far as I know, it was the most Etruscan city-state friendly to the Greeks. In fact, they did receive me very warmly.

But...... When I spoke of Dionia's willingness to form an alliance with them against Rome, the Cyrellas politely refused, saying, 'Desrela has been friendly with Rome for decades, and they will not easily turn their backs on this friendship, but they will not participate in this war and become enemies of Dionia.'

They also defended the Romans, saying, 'We have taken the city of Rome and have the upper hand, and it would be best to be able to negotiate an armistice and peace with the Romans at this time, so that we can reap more benefits and ensure that the order of trade in this land will not be greatly disrupted.......'"

"They say they won't be our enemies, but the people of Kesrera are defending the Romans." Asistes, the Roman administrator, frowned.

"The Kessreira have made it very clear, they have been friendly with the Romans for decades, but they have never had contact with us before, if I were a Kessrela, of course I would help the Romans!" Mattonis said bluntly.

Nicomarcus looked at Tapyrus and asked worriedly, "Since Kesreira, who was the friendliest to the Greeks, is also biased towards the Romans, I'm afraid that the other Etruscan city-states will not support us, right?" ”

Tapirus nodded slightly, and continued: "Next, I went to Volch and Tarquna, both of which had been forced to submit to Rome because of the Roman attack, and the Romans had established colonies in their territories. They expressed interest in His Majesty's proposal, but in the end they all reluctantly stated, 'They have the vast majority of their young and middle-aged citizens who are fighting with the great Roman army, so they dare not take any hostile action against Rome now, lest they provoke the Romans and put their own citizens in danger ......'"

"It seems that the Romans are still very wary of these Etruscan allies!" Antrapolis, who came from the intelligence service, heard this and sighed.

"Later I went to Forfruna, a few months ago Rome sent an army to try to conquer this city-state, but it happened that then we had a war with Rome, and the Romans withdrew their army to attack Forfruna, which is equivalent to us saving Forfruna." Tapirus continued: "But when I was received by the Council of Pheufruna, he did not appear to be enthusiastic and did not seem very interested in our proposal, and they said to me, 'If you want to join us and declare war on Rome, Phophruna cannot make a decision alone, but must consult with the Etruscan city-state federation and reach an agreement before the final decision can be made.'" But until then, they are willing to have a friendly relationship with us......

But as far as I know, the Etruscan city-state alliance is a loose alliance, not very united, in recent years Rome has attacked the Etruscan city-states, this alliance has not played a role in uniting all the Etruscan city-states against Roman aggression, so Rome will be easier to conquer Volch, Tarquna ......"

"You mean to say...... The people of Forfruna are just perfunctory to us and have no intention of forming an alliance with us? Assistes interjected with a deep groan.

Tapirus nodded and said, "After meeting with the Council of Forfruna, I asked the translators who followed me to pay off Councillor Forfruna, and I learned from them that although Forfruna hated Rome, they were also wary of outsiders, and the strength of Dionya made them even more worried. The Etruscans, together with the Romans, drove out the Celts, and within a few years the Romans led their army to conquer them, so they didn't want to make the same mistake again, and they probably preferred to see us lose both sides with Rome, which would be in their best interest......"

"These Etruscans want to be good! It's a pity, I think they will only regret it in the future! Mattonis, exclaimed.

"I'm afraid it's not just the Phophrunas, but the other Etruscan city-states who think similarly, and even more than we do, they prefer to trust the Romans, with whom they have been in contact for hundreds of years." King Davers's brother-in-law, Alcibidas, said with a serious expression: "Since yesterday, the slender men and sailors of many of our cargo ships going up the Shuo River have seen a small Etrunian army in the distance on the north bank, but fortunately they have not dared to approach because they are guarded by cavalry regiments. ”

"I've also received a report from the cavalry, but I think they're just scouting and don't dare to confront us head-on." Rides confirmed the news.

"Although they have not yet fought with us, they have shown hostility, and we must fight back, or these Etruscans will think we are weak!" Mattonis said hatefully.

"Your Majesty." Asistes looked at Davers and said worriedly: "Since the Roman army is attacking Ostia, the cargo ships from the kingdom can only be pulled from the north bank of the Tiber River to the city of Rome by the slender man...... It will be more difficult, and it will not be good for us to govern Rome! ”

Hearing this, Davers began to tap his fingers on the table, but his eyes gradually became sharper, and he said in a deep voice: "It seems that I have misjudged these Etruscan city-states, I originally thought that they were threatened by Rome and should be happy to ally with us, but I didn't expect them to have other ideas!" Since we do not accept our kindness, let us deal with them in a different way, show them our strength, and let them know what terrible consequences will be suffered by being an enemy of Dionia! I decided—"

Davers glanced at everyone and said in an accentuated tone, "Send troops to capture Kesreira!" ”

When everyone heard this, some of them were in high spirits, and some of them were embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, will attacking Kesrera cause the Etruscan city-states to fall completely to Rome?" Arcisstes expressed his concerns.

"Lord Assistes, don't worry. As His Majesty said, these Etruscan city-states had their own agendas, and Volch and Tarquna were defeated by the Romans, and their territories were divided, and they had a grudge against the Romans, and only because most of their citizens were in the Roman army, they did not dare to cooperate with us. And most of the city-states like Forfruna, which were farther away from Rome, would have been a bystander...... Only Kesreira, who was close to Rome and was too close to the banks of the Tiber, would take it not only to protect our waterways, but also to deter the other Etruscan city-states and persuade them to ally with us once again! Tapirus analyzed with confidence.

"However, Kesreira is a mountain town, and the mountains are much higher than the Capitoline Mountains here, and they are not easy to conquer. The current situation does not allow us to bring too many soldiers to attack, and once we can't attack for a long time, our army will fall into the dilemma of fighting on both sides! Tolmid reminded with a solemn expression.

"Although Kesreira is a mountain city, it has many citizens in the army of the Roman expedition to Herniki, and the Third Legion also captured some of their citizens a few days ago, in fact, there are not many soldiers in Kesreira City who can fight. Your Majesty, I will be able to take the city of Kesrela in no time with four brigades! Epitenis shouted for battle.

As soon as he finished speaking, Matonis immediately refuted: "Epitenis, your troops haven't even captured Capitoline Mountain in the past few days, and they still want to attack Caisreira, forget it!" Your Majesty, let's let the Second Legion carry out this mission! ”

。 Museum of Literature