"Take up arms, shields, fight for your freedom, fight for your tomorrow. www.biquge.info If you are lucky, you will be able to settle down in Rome, find a wife, find a job, and become a Roman freeman. ”

The quartermaster shouted as he handed out weapons to the freed hands of the legion's slaves. Human beings are sometimes very strange animals, they have been abused for a long time, and one day, this person suddenly does not abuse you, but feels that it is a gift from the master to him. Now, the vast majority of Roman and Gallic slaves had this mentality. Hearing the words and promises of Apis and Dennis that they would be free as long as they fought, they lost all dissatisfaction and hatred towards their masters, and in their eyes there was only hope for freedom.

……

"Tell me, Apis, why are you so sure that these slaves will not rebel against Rome while we are under siege?"

Five hundred Legion slaves lined up a short distance to hold their weapons, and Dennis stood beside Appis and finally questioned.

Last night, Appis's words were terrible, and this was not something that a young man in his early twenties would do, and he was so cold and decisive. Even Scipio the Younger, in the Punic Wars, showed his maverick edge at the age of twenty-five.

"They have no choice but to believe in Rome and in our promises. Once out of the camp, they carried weapons and shields, representing the Roman army. The Britons will not wait for them to explain before giving up the attack, and if they enter the battlefield and temporarily turn against them, then standing on the periphery of the phalanx, they will quickly become meat targets for our soldiers. If we divide them before the battle, they will not be able to gather together to discuss countermeasures, and no one will want to be the leader and cry out in the bloody battle, otherwise the first to be assassinated by the legionnaires will be the leading slaves. On one side is the threat of death, and on the other side is the dawn of freedom. Normal people would choose to play for Roma. Moreover, even if the barbarians accepted them and lived a completely primitive life, many Roman slaves would probably not be willing to defect to the Britons. ”

Before leaving, Apis explained in detail what might happen. Dennis relented and handed out weapons to each slave. But even so, there were only a little more than a hundred slaves who could fight, those Germanic slaves who had just been captured last year. This group of slaves with the strongest fighting power is also the most dangerous factor.

"Don't expect me to kill for you, the Romans burned down my house and forced my mother to kill herself, and now your people are counting on me to die for you and kill your enemies, I won't do that, I curse your people."

Quietly taking the weapon, Emma walked to her slave ranks, but when Apis walked over, the Germanic girl glared at Apis and questioned her. It's like a kitten full of wildness and completely untamed. The guards beside Apis wanted to slap Emma in the face, but Apis stopped them in time.

"Emma, you must understand that your anger is of no use here, you are no longer a Sucumbri, your name has been removed from their register, you can no longer return to your clan, forget the past, and perhaps you will be lucky enough to live the rest of your life freely. What's more, you have no choice in this battle, even if you choose to rebel against Rome when the army breaks through, the Britons will not know that you don't speak with them, no Britons understand what you are roaring, and as soon as you make a move, the legion's dagger is behind you...... Don't do stupid things, kids. No one will care about your life, you have to cherish it yourself. ”

Emma was in the ranks of slaves, and her words quickly attracted the attention of the other slaves, and Apis deliberately read them aloud in order to make them heard. They may all have the same hatred for Rome as Emma, but they don't have a choice at the moment. Their fate is in their own hands. Only by fighting with the legion can there be any possibility of survival and hope of freedom. This is what Apis was going to tell them.

……

"Ready?"

In the middle of the night, a light rain beat the armor and faces of the Roman soldiers. There is a small ticking sound.

The breakout was chosen to take place at night, probably the time when the British were at their most lax in defense, but in the Roman barracks, all the legionnaires were in high spirits, heavily armed, waiting for the final orders of their commanders.

"The soldiers are ready."

Sekras turned back and responded, behind him, more than a thousand legionary infantrymen and five hundred legionary slaves, pine oil torches flickering in the night, looking from the height of the camp like thousands of warships floating on the black sea.

"Let's go."

Appis gave a simple order, and the camp gate was quietly opened, but the Roman soldiers left the camp in a phalanx.

Five hundred slaves were arranged on the periphery of the phalanx, and they carried improvised round shields, spears, and short swords. Like the improvised gladiators in the arena, the ranks of slaves were placed on the periphery of the phalanx, the first of which was to prevent them from temporarily defecting, so that the daggers of the legionary infantry were behind them. Second, placing these men on the periphery of the phalanx would prevent the inexperienced slaves from escaping when the time came for the actual battle, and if that would allow the Roman soldiers to kill the fugitive slaves in the first place.

Under the cruel arrangement, the legion phalanx and the slave army appeared outside the camp at the same time, and the three hundred-man team led by Dennis at the forefront were the backbone of this breakthrough, the most elite legion veterans in the entire brigade.

In the center of the ranks were six ordinary phalanxes led by Apis, along with an army of five hundred slaves. At the back of the ranks were a number of Roman legion recruits, who were inexperienced in combat and prone to rout when attacked by barbarians like a flood of beasts. Appis deliberately placed them in the back when he left the camp, in case the rout of these recruits would affect the morale of the rest of the army shortly after the battle began.

Of course, in order to unify the management, Apis also made Sekras his assistant, responsible for monitoring the improvised slave army, especially the Germanic people who drank the blood of the hair.

Emma was placed in the middle of the Germanic slave army, becoming the youngest tribal warrior in the army......