This coast, where fierce and bloody battles were fought in the past, is gradually returning to calm.

Roman reinforcements no longer landed, and the Brutus defenders in the city were dead.

Antigone figured that the time was ripe for an attack on the city of Apollonia. He summoned all the generals to a meeting to discuss, and at the meeting they all agreed that the city should be attacked as soon as possible.

Captain of the Guards Cavalry Arianos:

"The Brutus family is running out of reinforcements, and the Scipio family is struggling.

The enemy's navy was also scattered and fled by us, and could no longer organize a resistance. We should attack while they are exhausted. ”

Aloyos:

"General Arianos is right. Now take advantage of their temporary recovery and conquer Apollonia in one fell swoop! Completely uproot enemy outposts.

After that, counterattack Rome! ”

Admiral Phillips:

"Our navy has taken control of the Adriatic Sea, and our naval brothers can safely send their land forces to the Apennines. And to give you continuous logistics and transportation support. ”

Antigones:

"Our army attacked the city three days later.

Go and get Damasos ready with three siege engines, which must be delivered by tomorrow evening.

During the siege, the 4th Army took the lead in the attack, and the 1st Army of Damasos stood by in the battalion as a reserve.

I don't care how strong Tiberius' fortifications were, and how many defenders he had.

Declare the belief that the city will be broken with one blow! Even if we are one-on-one, we must rush forward, and even if we are defeated, then let the First Army continue to rise, and in any case we must clear the enemy forces in the city and completely destroy the enemy's bridgehead. Generals go back and prepare! Give your men a morale boost. During these three days, the food should be improved, and the soldiers should eat enough to kill the enemy. ”

Everyone went back to the team and arranged closely.

On the other hand, in the city of Apollonia, most of the Roman soldiers were yellow and thin, and the city's supplies were insufficient. Morale is low and there is a lack of supplies in all aspects.

Coupled with the riots of the inhabitants of the city, the Romans were desensitized. Recently, they have not received local aid for half a month.

Not only did no reinforcements arrive, but even the supply ships did not arrive. The fighters felt abandoned by their homeland.

Worse still, there are successive urban riots, which are irritating. The day before yesterday there was a wave of riots suppressed, yesterday there was a small upheaval, and just now a new rioter was executed.

The inhabitants of Apollonia were fed up with the repressive policies of Brutus, and they began to rise up in revolt. This bothered Tiberius the most.

He sent one message after another asking for help. Because the Macedonians outside the city were unusually quiet these days, his years of experience and intuition told him that a storm was coming.

Brutus' native forces no longer have a surplus of men other than to retain enough guarding troops.

They appealed to the Scipio family for help, and the leader of the camp, Cornelius Scipio, saw the letter and understood that the situation at the front had deteriorated. He hesitated for a long time, and after two or three days of hesitation, he decided to send Julianus Scipio to lead his own army to reinforcements.

But it was too late for General Tiberius Brutus, who did not see this last help from his allies.

Three days later, early in the morning. The sky was still bright. One gloomy morning, there was an oppressive smell of an approaching storm in the air.

Antigone was the first to mount his horse and cross the barracks, and he commanded the Fourth Legion to the outside of Apollonia. The troops lined up in the order in which they entered the city to fight.

The king looked at the guards who had survived the fight against death, which phalanx, which squadron was not a steel warband forged by a desperate struggle. They are now an invincible division with experienced combat experience.

He felt an infinite amount of power surging behind him, and they would become invincible.

"My esteemed soldiers!"

Antigone said,

"Today we finally have a decisive battle against the local counterattack. We finally have the opportunity to completely drive the invaders out of their homes.

The city of Apollonia has always belonged to the Greek world. And now, the cruel Roman Brutus forcibly took possession of her.

Listen! The cries of fellow Greeks in the city, the sound of the swords of the Romans suppressing them.

Soldiers, it is our duty to save them. Because they are our compatriots, Apollonia is our city.

Today in this battle we will completely crush the enemy on the shores of Greece, and we will bury them in this land for the last time. Because in the future we will have to make the Romans suffer from the siege. This will be the starting point for our counterattack on Rome! ”

The soldiers cheered.

"This is a fateful moment! Let's throw off the shackles, form the perfect front, and move forward!

We have to prove that we are indestructible and that we can defeat anyone. That's what we want to do, and to repay the gods for their protection!

Valiant warriors! Don't be afraid of having too many enemies.

You can count on me, I have a reputation for winning battles. I don't think anything today can change all that.

Today is a good day to make a contribution, so that we can make a name for all! In the future, whenever people sing the praises of courage, our names will be mentioned!

Today, we are pursuing feats that are comparable to the great feats of Hercules! This is a big cause, and we have enough skills to take it on!

We are the largest of the troops that our country has sent. Therefore, the people expect us to accomplish great deeds. We are the ones who do great things!

I am very proud to command this army! For at this very moment, two-thirds of our army awaits my orders, and I have confidence in each and every one of you. I know that when we stick together, we can win this battle! ”

The fighters shouted again in greeting.

As soon as Antigone spoke, he ordered the siege of the city. The Romans built a number of arrow towers, and at the same time, the wooden fence walls were heightened and thickened.

The first echelon of the Macedonian siege began to push the siege vehicles forward, and no arrows or javelins could stop their advance.

The archers also lined up and shot arrows into the city.

As soon as the ranged troops of the two sides clashed, they showed no mercy, and the rain of arrows was as fierce as a dump. But soon the defenders ran out of arrows.

After a while, the siege soldiers made three gaps in the eastern wall. So the infantry immediately took up their spears and marched into the city.

The Roman youth army standing within the walls began to throw javelins, and then used the human wall to hold up the gap to prevent the Macedonians from entering. The Roman light cavalry also came up from behind.

The Macedonian Greek-style pikemen withstood the first javelin blows, then kept the guns in place and pushed into the city. The pikemen stabbed with their spears, while the Romans protected themselves with shields and slashed with their swords.

Antigone ordered all his infantry to join the battle and rush into the city. The Macedonian infantry rushed into the city in a super-dense formation.

The Roman light cavalry rushed over to no avail, falling under the spears. Seeing that the city could no longer be defended and that the defense had lost its advantageous position, Tiberius ordered his troops to withdraw to the city.

The Macedonian infantry also advanced into the city. As a result, the Macedonians went to the left of the city and the Romans to the right of the city, and the two sides eventually met in the narrow streets in front of the square.

Despite the difficulties faced by the Roman troops, this force was still the main force of General Brutus's position, and with some of Scipio's soldiers, they were very effective. Since they had met a year ago and were tied at the time, the old rivals are finally meeting again.

This time, it was a non-scoring victory. Today, this place is the frontier of life and death for the Roman expeditionary corps and the fourth legion of the Macedonian king.

This is a street in front of the central square of the city of Apollonia and a large open space with it.

The Macedonian troops were in the clearing, surrounded by houses and buildings, with three streets set aside between the houses.

Part of the Roman troops were in the square, and the rest of the main forces came from the edge of the city, right on the streets.

The Macedonian side rushed over with only five pikes, two archers, and a squadron of light cavalry.

Seeing this, the front-line commander Perry immediately turned a phalanx of militia guns and a conscription gun toward the Roman army.

The remaining three Macedonian phalanxes were facing the street entrance on the other side to prevent the enemy from taking sides.

The archers were in the middle of the clearing, and the cavalry was guarding the rear junction.

Seeing that the forces on the front side were weak, the Romans rushed through the street together, trying to directly confront the stuns. The first to come up were the light infantry, and after a round of javelins, they drew their swords in close combat. But they were held back by spears, and could not advance. This was followed by the Roman youth army approaching little by little with their shields.

The Macedonian side was numerically inferior, but in an advantageous position. When the phalanx commander Perry set up the formation, he deliberately made the enlisted spear phalanx stretch to the same width as the street, leaving a distance of a longitudinal phalanx; Let the militia gun phalanx swing sideways against a house, the muzzle of the gun facing the side of the clearing.

The spear extensions of the two phalanxes are perpendicular to each other.

That is, only the soldiers who rushed towards the enemy would see a phalanx of spears on their flanks facing them, and they would be forced to be attacked on both sides.

The Macedonian phalanx took full advantage of their position and slaughtered the Roman infantry that came up.

Tiberius saw the weakness of the two phalanxes in front of him, and he immediately rushed to the edge of the phalanx with his guards and his generals Amrius and Pabrius. Three squadrons of Roman light cavalry followed. The heavy cavalry of the Roman general's guard were tall and large, equipped with shields and chain mail, and were very capable of fighting. This large group of cavalry rushed up, and the phalanx at the corner of the street was immediately broken through the line.

But instead of taking half a step back, they desperately tried to kill and wound the enemy with their spears. As soon as the archers saw that the front line was about to collapse, they immediately retreated. And the Macedonian light cavalry fought hard to directly fill the gap in the infantry battle line, and confronted many enemy infantry and cavalry.

The actions of the hussars saved the entire frontal front. Perry quickly turned the three Macedonian phalanxes around. Two of them were placed side by side behind the original phalanx, and the other diagonally blocked the gap between the two vertical phalanxes, increasing the number of frontal spears.

The spearmen who were surrounded in front could not withdraw, but they continued to fight with the weapons in their hands. The phalanx soldiers in the rear had already begun to stab the enemy cavalry hard. The battle was a stalemate. When the Roman cavalry finally broke out of the first line of infantry and found that there was a second, denser line of extra-long spears, they felt tired and were poked by the spears before they could react quickly.

The fighters on the front line fought with all their might, killed, and fought.

The Macedonian follow-up infantry arrived, and they mounted their spears on the guns in front, creating a denser forest of guns.

The street entrance has been slaughtered with a river of blood, and it is unbearable to see. After the phalanx was strengthened, the Roman cavalry began to fall in pieces, as did their infantry.

The Macedonian side instantly became an advantage.

The Roman general Tiberius was in front, dressed differently and with a different crown of feathers on his head. See! He fought with great courage and agility, but unfortunately he was stabbed off his horse with a spear, and Amrius and Pabrius were also stabbed to death. The Roman army began to retreat, shouting loudly and retreating to the central square.

The phalanx soldiers in the front row were relieved from the tense fighting state. They stood ankle-high in rivers of blood, with layers of corpses or wounded soldiers who were still breathing but unable to move. The Macedonian soldiers who had just been on the front line had been covered. The first phalanx soldiers to enter the city were less than two-fifths of their personnel. The follow-up troops are still moving forward in a steady stream.

The Romans were compressed into a corner of the central square, and it was clear that the defeat of the defenders was assured. The Roman warriors stubbornly refused to surrender.

The general deplored the warriors on both sides, but war is war. The enemy refused to surrender, and the archers took their positions and fired their arrows in unison. A rain of arrows mercilessly engulfed the Roman soldiers in the square. The bow unit ran out of arrows.

The Macedonian phalanx, grieving the sacrifice of their comrades, opened their guns and surrounded the remnants of the enemy in the square.

Macedonia conquers Abronia. The occupation of the city was announced.

In this way, Rome was in a very passive position. And the Macedonians won the conditions for an attack on Rome proper.