As the governor of the region, Assistes was not surprised, and he said in a deep voice: "If the allies are fully supportive, about 50,000 or 60,000 people will come, and even if half of them come, there will be 20,000 or 30,000 people, plus our own army, I think it is possible to ...... Repelling the invading Gauls was the goal of the Dioonian League in central Italy. ”

Having said this, Arcises looked at the young legion commander in front of him and said with a solemn expression: "Of course, Legion Elder Patroclus, you are now the supreme military commander of the Roman region, and the military decision is up to you. ”

"I also think that the forces of the Roman region alone will be enough to fight the invading Gauls!" Patroclus said confidently: "However, to gather such a large army to fight, it is necessary for Lord Asistes to provide sufficient logistics and weapons reserves. ”

"You can rest assured that I will do my best to ensure that the army fights." Seeing that the young legion commander not only agreed with him, but was also full of fighting spirit, Arcistrius was happy, and immediately promised: "Moreover, just now I have sent a messenger to Turriy to inform Your Majesty of the news of the 'great invasion of the Gauls', and I believe that it will not be long before the kingdom will concentrate more manpower and material resources to deal with this invasion of the Gauls, so you should not have any worries at all, first lead the army to stop the Gauls from invading our territory, and then find a way to repel them......"

………………………………………

In the following days, the Allied armies of the Holy Kingdom of Dioonia in the vicinity of Rome arrived, and the first to arrive in Rome were the Latin allies, who were closest to Rome and who had been poisoned by the Gauls at the time, so they sent an army of more than 10,000 people.

This made Patroclus very happy, because in recent years Dionia has used Rome, Viai and other towns to get closer and closer to the neighboring Latin allies through trade, transportation and other means, in fact, in the military training of the Fourteenth Legion, he will also ask the citizens of the Latin allies to join from time to time, and it has been carried out, so among these allies near Rome, the Latin allies army is the most familiar with the military tactics of Dionia, and their soldiers are the majority of the allied forces, which is convenient for Patroclus to command the battle.

They were followed by the Volsy and Helnikians, who behaved aggressively, but due to the heavy losses in the last war, their population could not change much in just a few years, and therefore sent less than 5,000 soldiers.

After arriving were the army of the Sabines, the Eques......

The Etruscan allies did not send troops, but hurried to get the population of their territories to withdraw to the city. While strengthening the city's defenses, they also sent messengers to Rome every day, urging Dionia to go north as soon as possible for reinforcements.

Although within a few days the Roman barracks had already gathered 30,000 Dionian soldiers from the Roman area, and there were also Latin Allied forces, Volsey Allied forces, and Helnian Allied forces...... Joining one after another, the total number of troops has exceeded 50,000, and Patroclus is still standing still.

However, Arcisstes could not sit still and hurried to the barracks: "Commander Patroclus, now there is news from the north that the Gauls have crossed the border defense line we have established, and the situation of the border army led by Lord Hasdruba is unknown. However, the Gauls quickly captured Florentia and then marched south, attacking Felathri and Fufluna, plundering villages and towns along the way, killing the Etruscans...... The emissaries of the Etruscan allies blocked the door of the regional administration hall every day. If you don't send troops north, I'm afraid that the Etruscan envoys will run en masse to Turriyi and report our case to Your Majesty! ”

It seems that Assistes had some resentment towards Patroclus, and even saved the honorific title of "Lord".

But after hearing this, Patroclus seemed calm, and he said unhurriedly: "Lord Asistes, judging from the current situation, the Etruscans' fear of the Gauls has gone deep into their bones, and they have completely panicked and lost their normal reason and judgment.

However, as the main force resisting the Gauls, we must remain calm enough, analyze the current chaotic war situation, and find a good enough fighter to attack again, instead of rushing north and engaging the Gauls in a hurry, otherwise once the attack is frustrated, it will undoubtedly greatly dampen our morale and affect the stability of Rome......"

After all, Assistes was born as a mercenary, and he followed Davers to fight in Persia in the early years, not because he didn't understand military affairs, but he had been engaged in government affairs for the past 20 years, and during this time, there was constant bad news from the front, as well as the constant harassment of Etruscan envoys, and he was inevitably anxious to get angry with the heavy responsibility of the entire region.

But Patroclus's words have a lesson, as a dignified district administrator and important minister of the kingdom, Asistes is a little unbearable on his face, if it is someone else, he may have to yell a few more words to save a little face, but sitting opposite is the son-in-law of His Majesty King Davers, who is very valued by him, so Assistes can only suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart, and after a while, he can hold back a sentence angrily: "What plan do you have?" ”

"Your Excellency!" Patroclus saw that Asistes was a little angry, he didn't care too much, although Asistes's official rank was higher, but the Fourteenth Legion was not under the jurisdiction of the district administrator, and Patroclus had been reminded by his wife Cynthia before taking office, and had always deliberately avoided being too close to Asistes, but considering that Acystes was a confidant who followed His Majesty when Dionya was established, and his qualifications were very high, he still made his tone a little softer: "Although there is no specific news coming out, But I don't think the Gauls were able to conquer the Florentian and Lucca camps in just a few days, and Lord Hastrema should still be holding on.

If the city of Florentisa had been able to carry out the defenses we had laid down before, the Gauls would not have been able to breach it. It's a pity that under the protection of our border legion for more than a year, they have lost their vigilance, and after receiving the alarm, they are still slowly opening the city gates to contain the fleeing people. When the Gauls bypassed the barracks, marched quickly on Florentia, and arrived at the city in a very short time to attack, they panicked and did not close the gates immediately, causing the Gauls to rush into the city with the refugees......"

After explaining the real reasons for the fall of Florentia, Patroclus sighed and said regretfully: "The Gauls have occupied Florentia, and they have a foothold in Etruscan territory, and they have a relatively sufficient supply of military rations. According to the information now available, the Gauls numbered about 40,000 men, and their morale was high, and if I had crossed the Tiber with my army at this time, and had the courage to rush to the northern part of Etruscan to fight against them, I would have suffered heavy losses if I had been able to win. It is better not to go north for the first time, so as not to arouse the vigilance of the Gauls, and at the same time wait for the convergence of the subsequent Allied forces, which have more material reserves......"

"You don't have to worry about military rations, Krotocatax has been working hard to prepare!" Assistes reminded in an accentuated tone, "But just keeping the army in the barracks and waiting for it is not an option. If the Gauls conquer other Etruscan city-states again, I'm afraid we won't be able to account for the Etruscan allies and other allies! ”

"The Fourteenth Legion is only responsible to Your Majesty and to the Kingdom!" Patroclus replied faintly.

When Arcistes heard this, he was a little angry: "But you are now the commander of the entire coalition army in northern Dionia!" The protection of the Etruscan allies is a responsibility entrusted to you by Your Majesty! ”

"Yes." Patroclus said solemnly: "That's why I have to be cautious, and I'm trying to wait for the opportunity!" Don't be in a hurry, Lord Asistes, you just need a big victory, and any accusations and resentments will be gone. ”

Seeing that he was so stubborn that he couldn't eat oil and salt, Arcistes was so angry that he threw down a sentence: "Okay, then I'll wait for your victory!" Then he brushed his sleeves and left.

When he returned to the administrative hall and waited for Croto Katas to report to him, Arcistes still talked about it with resentment, and said indignantly: "I usually deal with Patroclus, I feel that he is still a very good talker, how can he become so stubborn and can't listen to advice when it comes to such a critical time!" He's in control of the entire northern Dionya coalition, and I'm so worried! ”

After hearing this, Crotokatus comforted him and said: "My lord, you govern the huge region of Rome, and at the same time take into account the friendly relations with the surrounding allies, and the responsibility is so great, and now the invasion of the Gauls has threatened the safety of the people in the entire central region, and it is likely to destroy the stable order that you have worked so hard to establish here in the past few years, I see that you have not slept well during this time, so you can see how much pressure you are facing!"

As the commander of the legion, Patroclus looked young, but it was not because he was my brother-in-law that my father made him the commander of the Fourteenth Legion, giving him the right to command the coalition against the Gauls in an emergency, but because he was one of the most outstanding candidates of the younger generation of generals in the Dionian army.

In fact, he was under a lot of pressure. Every time I sent baggage to the military commander and went to see him, he was either assigning tasks to other generals, listening to the reports of the sentry detectives, or looking at the map alone, and he didn't have time to say a word to me.

It is understandable that Rome is the northernmost territory of the kingdom, and it is impossible for reinforcements to arrive in a short period of time, and the coalition led by Patroclus is the only force against the Gauls at this time, and if he leads his army to suffer a defeat in a battle with the Gauls, it may allow the Gauls to take the opportunity to rush into the Roman area...... So he's cautious, and I think it's understandable......"