"Didn't collect much. The Ostians had little grain stockpile, and no grain had been found in the port warehouses, but the soldiers had enough rations for two days, and by that time the convoy of grain should have arrived. ”

"It seems that all the food should be concentrated in Rome, after all, they are going to feed the Roman army attacking Helniki." Davers said with a deep groan.

"But we've collected nearly two hundred pack carts and a lot of pack beasts in the city, and we've found some forage, and we've found a lot of wood stored in the warehouse, and the engineers are using them to make siege ......equipment," Tolmid continued.

"That's good news." said that it was good news, but there was no trace of joy on Davers's face, and when he talked about tomorrow's war, his face was particularly solemn: "We must urge them to speed up the production of siege equipment, and if they build one more siege vehicle, we will have one more chance of victory!" ”

"Your Majesty, the more than 500 highly skilled engineers and carpenters you brought from Turiyi, plus the engineering battalions of the various legions, add up to a thousand people, and the soldiers are also assisted, they can make enough siege equipment to meet the needs of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow." Tolmid immediately said with relief.

"I hope so." Davers bowed slightly, quickened his pace, and walked into the town hall of Ostia.

"Your Majesty!" The three captains of Olivers, Gioglis, and Tenotiras, as well as Midorades and Izzam, were already waiting in the conference room.

"Your legions are all in place, aren't they?" Davers asked casually.

"Your Majesty, everything has been arranged, they are already eagerly waiting for the battle tomorrow and the day after tomorrow!" Oliver preemptively said.

"I think you can't help but want to fight." As he entered the chamber, the look on Davers's face turned to lightheartedness, and his teasing made everyone laugh.

In the midst of laughter, Davos walked to the top place, and Croto Katas stood quietly behind him, his eyes swept over Olivers, Giogris, Trotilas, and Izzam, who had followed him from birth to death since the Persian period, and his mood was inexplicably settled.

He glanced at the rudimentary map of Rome on the wooden table in the center of the room, drawn by the Ministry of War based on intelligence, and then said aloud: "Before we discuss tomorrow's battle plan, let a former Roman citizen give a detailed account of the current situation in the city of Rome, and everyone can ask him directly if they have any questions." ”

"That's great!" Oliver said happily.

Valks was called into the conference room with a confused expression, and he felt very nervous as he looked at the Ionian generals in bright armor and bright crowns around him, and King Davers in front of him.

But as he answered one more and more detailed question about the city of Rome, his nervousness gradually turned to shock: could it be that the Dionians were going to attack the city directly?!!

……………………………………

In the middle of the night, Krotocatax was awakened by urine, and after he had finished his dazed convenience, he was about to go back to bed, but the candlelight in the next room made his heart move.

He gently pushed open the hidden door, and saw Davers sitting at the wooden table, looking intently at the map of the city of Rome, thinking about something, and the corner of the map drooped down, and he could faintly see some dense annotations that had been added to Valquez's narrative before.

For as long as he can remember, Klotocatax has often seen his father still diligently handling government affairs in the study late at night, and this time he followed the expedition, and his father used this habit in military affairs, everyone said that his father was a wise king and a great commander, and they all thought that it was a gift from Hades, but they did not know the hardships and efforts that his father had paid for it over the years! …… Klotockatáx looked admiringly at his father's unusually tall back, and quietly closed the door.

Davers had no idea that his son had peeked outside the door, his mind was immersed in this map, and the strings of numbers on the map had turned into countless living soldiers in his eyes, and the battle would not begin until tomorrow, but at this moment thousands of troops had already begun to fight in his mind......

……………………………………

Corus, Portitus' henchman, received the order and immediately took two slaves and rode out of the city.

As luck would have been, Apleius had just conveyed the order of the Senate to the prefect of the city guard, Milucius, who had not yet had time to convey the order to the guards at the gates, allowing Corius and his party to leave the city without any problems.

Then the three of them sped to the southeast, and by the time they passed the Prenister, it was already evening, and the continuous gallop had not only exhausted the horses, but also made their buttocks ach faintly, and their inner thighs were also grinding blood.

"Corlius, we can't go forward, it's already dark, and there is no moon tonight, but we are going into the valley, the terrain will become more and more uneven, and we can't even see the road clearly, if we are not careful, we may fall off the horse, this is too dangerous!" A slave dissuaded Corius from proceeding.

Another young slave shouted, "We can light the torch—"

"Idiot!" Before he could finish speaking, the slave who had begun to speak interrupted him: "It is not only wild beasts that roam here at night, but also natives, and we who light torches will easily be spotted by them in the dark night and become the target of their attacks!" ”

Hearing his words, Corlius hesitated, after all, this slave was a Vistinian located in the east of the Aqueer people, and he was familiar with the terrain here, which is why Corlius brought him with him, he looked at the dark front, muttered for a moment, and reluctantly said: "Not far ahead, there should be a Roman military camp, we will rest when we get there." ”

The three of them grabbed the reins of the horses, controlled the horses, and continued to walk slowly for a while, when they heard "Woo! ......" let out a terrible wolf howl, and then a pair of green eyes appeared around him.

"Quick! Run back! ......," the slave immediately shouted nervously.

Corlius reacted quickly, and quickly turned the horse's head, and only the young slave was about to say something more, but the horse under his crotch neighed in panic, raised his front hooves, and threw him off the horse......

While the wolf pounced on the slave and the horse, the two Corlius rode their horses and galloped all the way to the city of Prinister.

………………………………………

When he woke up in the morning, the first thing Midorades did was ask the guards, "What weather is it today?" ”

"General, the weather is fine, it's not raining, and there's a light wind, it's a southeast wind!"

Midorades was so happy that he almost jumped up: "The old sailors in the harbor are right, there is indeed an east wind today!" Tell the lieutenant to give him the order to get the crew ready in half an hour, then assemble in the harbor and take a ship to Rome! ”

"Yes, General!" The guard turned to inform the adjutant.

"Wait! Well...... And the laborers and slaves in the port, don't forget to inform them to prepare for the relocation as well! ”

The Dionian fleet had never had any experience of pulling fiber since its establishment, after all, Turriy was close to the mouth of the sea, and the lower Klatty river was straight and wide, and the current was slower, so it was not too difficult to swim upstream, and the same was true of the lower Neto River. However, according to intelligence, Rome is more than 50 miles away from the mouth of the Tiber River, the river is tortuous, the water flow is rapid and slow, to go up the river from the port of Ostia to Rome, the ship needs to pull fiber, so under normal circumstances, the merchant ships are to the port of Ostia to unload, and then transported to Rome by land.

For this reason, a flat and wide road was built between Rome and Ostia, and it was now the Dionian army that walked on this road, which set out much earlier than the fleet.

Davers left three battalions of Turri's Legion Reserve soldiers stationed in Ostia (this force was supposed to be used to replenish the 1st and 2nd Corps in the event of losses), leading the 4th, 5th, 6th, Mountain Scouting Brigades, Engineering Battalions, Medicaid Battalions, and packees carrying siege equipment...... Relying on the fact that this was a plain area, the whole army was arranged in more than a dozen columns and marched eastward along the south bank of the Tiber River.

King Davers rode in the middle of the procession, surrounded by two hundred and fifty cavalry palace guards, more than twenty staff officers of the Ministry of War, as well as heralds, trumpeters, and even bands.

At this moment, the staff officer Tolmid was reporting to him: "Your Majesty, Amintas has sent scouts to report that they have set out with their army and will wait for us in Rome first. ”

"Amintas is very motivated, he wants to get to Rome before us!" Davers smiled and looked around: "Are we going to lose to him?" ”

"We'll get to Rome first!" Klotocatax and the young men of the staff shouted in unison, and the palace guards did not speak, but their eyes were blazing.

"That's good!" Davers said aloud: "Let the band play the March of the Battlefield and let the soldiers speed up the march!" ”

A high-pitched melody resounded through the ranks, lifting the soldiers' spirits and dispelling their still somewhat drowsy mood. I don't know who first sang the Ode to Hades, and soon the song resounded throughout the whole team, and the soldiers braved the morning light, stained with dewdrops, and stepped on the soft ground, striding forward.

………………………………………

It was impossible for the Dionian army to conceal the Roman spouts and spies, so before dawn the spies sent the news that the city of Ostia had been occupied by Theonia.