Podarérios returned to Rome and began to personally arrange for the delivery of reinforcements and food to the front.

A few days later, the officers and men of the main army were refreshed and had completed their rest. The follow-up auxiliary corps and reservists were replenished, and everyone prepared enough food and grass.

The reconnaissance was completed, and it was determined that the Romans had no spare forces to counterattack.

As soon as Podarerios gave the order, the legions immediately rushed to their respective destinations according to their predetermined plans.

The Ninth Roman Legion, led by Leo Charis, marched to Ubria, where it joined up with the auxiliaries on the southern border and captured Arimiron. It was the second largest city of the Julius family, an important port city.

Thessarus led the second ace division, the Roman legions, bypassing the city of Aretion and stationed in the plains outside the pass, waiting for an opportunity to defeat the fortified legions of Decius, with the cooperation of the Aegean Naval Regiment. It was attached to an auxiliary regiment, the commander of which was Alexander Sades. General Polype, who was stationed on the north bank of the river, had long received an order to be ready for military action.

There was also the Campania Legion, commanded by Ducarros. His mission was to besiege Arettien and storm the enemy capital when feasible or necessary. The auxiliary legions attached to it were relatively strong, and they were specially arranged in the direction of the siege, under the command of Xenocratis Morgantina, a general from Greece.

Enthusiasm was high and victory was in sight, and the troops of Thessaros and Ducarus were soon deployed to their intended positions and settled down for battle.

The tranquility before the action was surprisingly quiet. It makes people feel dull and palpitating.

The Romans, of course, felt this unusual atmosphere at the same time, mentally calculating when the enemy would attack.

Leochrics led the Ninth Roman Regiment eastward, the farthest of his marches. According to the plan, after entering the territory of Ubria and bypassing this section of the Apennine Pass, the corps turned sharply south to attack the Arimillon field line with auxiliary forces.

According to information provided by the auxiliary general Hieronim, Arimillon had a main army to defend, and the main forces were on the Arimillon Line. However, when Leo Charles led his troops to quickly advance behind the defensive line, he found that there were less than a thousand defenders here. They quickly cleared the line.

Leo Charles complained that the friendly forces were auxiliary reserves, and there was no sense of intelligence at all. Hieronim was not satisfied, as he had tried to attack this line from the front, leaving him with a serious psychological shadow. So much so that Hieronim did not dare to face up to these tight fortifications. The Romans took advantage of this mentality and pinned them down for a long time with a small number of troops, and the rest of the troops had already withdrawn to the city to prepare for the city defense.

Leo Charles blamed his teammates for delaying the plane, and Hieronim, as an auxiliary force, had to obey the command of the commander of the main army, and he had to admit his mistake.

"I will lead the cavalry troops first, reach Arimillon quickly, and seal the city. And you have to catch up as soon as possible to support us. ”

"Yes, sir."

Thus, the various fronts were laid out in this way.

Both Roman cities were extremely developed. Its tall walls are intimidating. The scale of such a large city is close to that of a giant city. It is no exaggeration to say that it is not enough to deal with it with siege alone, it is okay to hold out for half a year or even a year.

So Podarre Rios gave the siege order. However, he repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to prepare before the siege, not only to understand one's own strength, but also to understand the enemy in every possible way. It is necessary to know the information of the commander of the city in advance, the more the better, his cronies, who are the officials in charge of conveying and informing, and the names of the doormen's staff. Then there is the deployment of troops when the enemy is on defense, to test where the enemy's defense is focused.

After all, these two cities are extraordinary and need to be taken seriously. Now, the enemy has lost the ability to counterattack, but they can rely on the fortifications to consume a large number of besiegers. Therefore, it is necessary to strive to break the city in one fell swoop.

Arethion

Since previous battles had made full use of long-range firepower to weaken the enemy or destroy enemy fortifications, the biggest problem facing the siege forces now was the shortage of siege equipment. Stone catapults must be repaired after many uses, some can be repaired, and some are simply scrapped. And it also takes time to collect and replenish ammunition. When Podare Rios learned of this, he immediately mobilized new catapults and sent them to the front.

It's been half a month since the siege of the city, and the enemy can't get out, and the Macedonians can't get in. Everyone counted on their fingers, the deadline given by the commander was one month, and now that half of the time has passed and there is no progress, I can't help but be a little anxious.

In charge of attacking the enemy's capital of Aretion in the middle were Ducarros and Xenokratis Morgantina, Ducarus was strong in management and had mediocre military talents, and Xenocratis Morgantina had always held the position of lieutenant and acted recklessly.

In this operation, everyone felt that time was a little short, but they did not dare to ask Podare Rios for leniency. Therefore, Xenokratis Morgantina and the main commander Ducarus suggested attacking the city. At the strong suggestion of the lieutenant general, and because of the reason that he was carried away by the recent succession of victories, he agreed to play.

However, at this time, the defenders of Aretion were determined to defend the city, and the Macedonian side still did not have enough siege engines. After a few more days, the siege equipment was put together, so Ducarus gave the order to attack.

The siege began, and the battle was not engaged. The drawbacks of a hasty attack were already exposed, as the lack of stone bullets and the high and heavy walls of the city meant that the besiegers only opened a gap in the wall and a nearby tower. In this case, even if you force an attack, one entrance alone is not enough, and the other side is threatened by the arrow tower. Then the only way to climb the walls was to use ladders and siege towers on the other side.

Ducarus saw the disadvantage and he intended to withdraw his troops. Xenokratis Morgantina hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and he said that since he had come to the city, there was a reason to withdraw? Then lead your auxiliary legions up.

Roman long-range archers stand on the wall and shoot at the incoming enemy. Xenoch led his troops forward, and many soldiers fell on the way. He divided his troops into two routes, one directly to the gap, and the other to climb the city wall with straight ladders and siege towers.

The battle gradually entered a white heat, and the Macedonian army suffered a clear loss. I saw that the soldiers who climbed the ladder were thrown down by the Romans with large stones, some were poured with hot black oil, and some of the siege towers were burned and damaged. The soldiers who followed behind finally rushed over in the rain of arrows, and saw that three of the five companions around them had died, but there were still such high walls to climb, and they had to fight with the dense Roman warriors to fight short knives when they went up.

The situation at the breach was not much better, they were fired with javelins and stones from the top of the city, and there was a large number of infantry in front of them blocking the way into the inner streets.

Ducarus wisely did not know what was wrong, but he did not want to see his allies slaughtered and not come to his aid. He sent both archers and light infantry to cover friendly forces.

(End of chapter)