Instinctive needs are satisfying and easy to do. It is precisely the rest of the needs that make us restless.

- Seneca (famous Stoic philosopher of ancient Roman times)

Needless to say, Scipio must have betrayed the covenant with Maxentius; Otherwise, how could their armies be united? Such a change was enough to frustrate all of Decius's arrangements and plans, and it was enough to destroy the entire Maxentius family and Maxentius's power.

You know, Marius is not a nostalgic person like Decius; Once Marius won the final victory, all those who had opposed or opposed Marius could not have a good end, and everyone present firmly believed this. Looking at the five legions slowly coming, the purple sea and the blue ocean converged; But it's so dazzling and bewitching.

The Roman nobles on the city wall were also looking at the army outside the city with pale faces at this time, and Decius had to pretend to be calm and ordered: "Sevious, you immediately lead the three thousand guards of the family to block the city gate, and you must not let a single soldier of Marius and Scipio enter the city of Rome!" Marcus, you immediately lead the family's 1,000 elite guards to the outskirts of the Casa Star to clear out Marius's 1,000 guards!

Ladies and gentlemen of the Republic, the Republic is once again at the point of its survival; Once Marius and Scipio's army entered the city of Rome, I am afraid that I don't need to say more, but you can imagine what the consequences were. I've taken out all of our family's guards and the recently expanded strength, and I hope you can gather all the warriors of your respective families as well.

We can only hope to survive if we defend the city of Rome well, and as for the reinforcements, you don't have to worry; Lord Oscar of the House of Augustus was already leading the Roman army of seven legions on the way back. As long as we can resist Marius' five-day attack, the victory will be ours! When the time comes, we will share the republic together! ”

Decius's words of encouragement and incitement were at least to save the morale of the nobles, and everyone really thought that Oscar's reinforcements would arrive in five days; So they hurried back to their respective family mansions to gather the guards. Looking at the nobles who had gone away, Sevios came to Decius's side after sealing the gates and asked:

"Father, Oscar's army is still in Sardinia. It is impossible to come back to us, how can you deceive the nobles who support us? Although this can provide a temporary morale boost, if Oscar's reinforcements don't arrive after five days; Their hard-earned morale will be blown away! What will we do then? ”

"Alas......" Decius sighed helplessly and said, "Do you really think we can hold out for five days?" Marius had no intention of attacking Rome at all. Otherwise, with the five legions he now commands; All it takes is one wave of shock for the entire city of Rome to fall in an instant. The reason why Marius did not take the initiative to attack was just to not destroy the supreme law of Rome.

He wanted not a Roman city without order, but a Roman city that was obedient and orderly; The reason why he threatened us with his strong military force was to get the other two forces in the city to surrender to him. If he really wanted to attack the city of Rome. There was no need to join forces with Scipio's army outside the city; Just let Scipio's army enter the city first, and the city of Rome would be within reach, so why bother? ”

Decius's explanation made Sevio even more confused: "Then father, you know that Marius will not attack the city of Rome, so why do you want me to close the city gates and let the nobles gather guards to prepare against Marius's army?" Isn't this an unwarranted increase in the atmosphere of fear in the city? ”

Decius had to go on to explain: "The reason why I want to gather my forces to prepare for the battle against Marius is to create a false impression for Marius; We want to hold on to the city of Rome. I sent Marcus to clear out the Marius guards of the Casa Star in order to rescue Prisca; Then tonight is our breakout night!

The ignorant betrayal of Scipio has made it impossible for us to survive in Rome; The winner is already Marius. We can only try to find a way to break out, and near the Latin port is our family's fleet; As long as we can make it to the port, we can go to Sardinia and go to Oscar. ”

Just as Decius explained the family's plans to Sevios. However, a sudden battle broke out in the Star of Casa; The little butler who had been deposed by the elder Carabes at the Oscar enthronement ceremony finally took revenge with hatred and anger. He had already hooked up with Marius, but found that the guards sent by Marius had only surrounded the Casa Star and had no other movement.

He has been silently patient, and today he was reprimanded by old Carabes because of his soullessness, and looked at the old Carabes, who reprimanded him; Unable to suppress the anger in his heart, he grabbed the stick in his hand and smashed it into the head of old Karabes. Old Carabes, whose face was covered with blood, immediately passed out in a coma, and the panicked traitor could only abandon Old Carabis and flee outside the Casa Star.

In order to be able to gain the trust of the Marius guards who surrounded the Star of Casa, but also to take revenge on the Augustan family; Immediately after he escaped, he lied to the commander of Marius' guards, falsely claiming that the Augustus family was preparing to force a breakthrough! The commander of Marius's guards did not suspect him, and immediately ordered a thousand soldiers under his command to attack the Star of Casa!

This battle was sparked because of betrayal. and did not get the desired result of betrayal; After only a brief period of surprise, Nusis organized the guards of the House of Augustus to begin a fierce counterattack. The sudden outbreak of battle caught the guards off guard, not to mention Prisca and Ares?

However, Ares would not let Marius's guards attack the Casa Star so recklessly; Thereupon. Ares led his five hundred Tragic Dead men to attack from the rear of Marius's guards. The clashing of daggers and the screams of warriors became the only melody of Casa's star, and Prisca and the awakened old Calabes were protected by a group of mysterious men who suddenly appeared.

This group of mysterious people is naturally the elite escort of the security department of the tragic dead man, and their number is not large, only more than thirty people; But they are all masters of fighting and swordsmanship, and their job is to keep old Karabes and Prisca safe. Although Prisca did not know the existence of the Tragic Dead, the elder Carabes knew a little bit of secrecy. There was no resistance.

Just when there was a scuffle on the Casa Star, Calle and Charles also brought together four thousand guards to support the Augustus family; It just so happened that Marcus also arrived with a thousand elite guards at this time. Although everyone doesn't know each other's identities very well, since they are all against Marius's guards, they must be friends and enemies; The Quartet joined forces very tacitly to start the battle.

The battle broke out only about ten minutes. A thousand soldiers of the Guardsmen of Marian were strangled; After Ares entered the Casa Star, he naturally came into contact with the people of the Ministry of Security, and his identity was also recognized by Prisca and Old Carabes. As for Marcus and Calle and Charles's army, it goes without saying that everyone is familiar with each other's identities.

Pressed for time. The crowd didn't have time to say anything, so they could only move to the mansion of the Maxentius family as quickly as possible; Everything in the Casa Star was left in its place, and the servants and attendants were disbanded one by one. Although the battle of the Casa Star ended quickly, the impact was very far-reaching.

Whether it is the thousands of corpses that no one has to pick up, or the fierce shouts of fighting; It was enough to terrify the citizens of nearby Rome. For the first time, the citizens of Rome felt that war was just one step away from them. When the mighty army of more than 6,000 guards arrived at the mansion of the Maxentius family, Decius had already returned to the mansion; Sevios had another priority.

The so-called priority was to organize the army of guards assembled by the nobles, and Sevious, after learning of Decius's plan, did not intend to let them fight, but only arranged for them to patrol the city walls; Although their combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning, they are superior to the huge number, which is an army of 30,000 guards!

Naturally, the changes on the Roman walls could not be concealed from the eyes and ears of Marius and Julianus, who soon learned of the 30,000 guards defending the walls; After hearing the scout's report, Julianus said uneasily:

"Your Excellency Marius, what if the Maxentius family relies on these thirty or forty thousand troops to fight to the death with us? Although we have an army of five legions, the total strength is less than 40,000; If there is a fight. We are the besiegers, and we may not be able to take the city of Rome with heavy casualties! ”

Marius just smiled indifferently, and then said, "Your Excellency Julianus, you can rest assured; Just come here tonight, and tomorrow morning the city of Rome will be our world, and now the tens of thousands of troops on the walls will also be our army, I can assure you! All you need to do now is just wait in peace and I'll take care of the rest! ”

With that, Marius turned his horse around and returned to the barracks; Yulianus thought about it, but he couldn't figure it out, so he took the soldiers of the two legions and stationed them on the spot. When Marius returned to the barracks, he was not idle. Instead, he summoned both Antony and Octavian into his tent; Marius looked at the two people who walked into the military tent and said with a smile:

"From what I know of Decius, the so-called defenders on the walls are nothing more than a means of bluffing him; Tonight he will surely gather his family's best warriors to break through from the West Gate to the port. We don't have naval power at our disposal, so we can only deal with them within the Latin provinces; Otherwise. Even if we usurped the power of Rome, it would be a misnomer.

It is my arrangement that each of you will lead a legion to secretly go to the west gate after nightfall to-day; As soon as the breakout army of Decius appears, you will immediately launch a fierce attack on them. With the background of the Maxentius family, the elite who can break through is about three thousand, and at most no more than four thousand; You two legions do well! ”

Antony and Octavian naturally did not refuse this opportunity to easily reap the merits of war, and accepted Marius's order very happily; Just when the two were about to go down and arrange the army. Marius spoke again: "In the night battle, it is impossible to see the face of the enemy, and with the lack of eyes of the sword and gun, it is reasonable that the members of the Maxentius family died in battle. ”

Hearing Ma Liu's understatement, the bodies of the two trembled slightly; Then the two of them walked out of the military tent firmly. Relying on these two people alone is not enough to completely reassure Marius, who trusts only himself; Therefore, the real main force arranged by Marius was not them at all, but the army led by himself!

In Marius's opinion, although the large army of two legions was enough to wipe out the breakout force of the Maxentius family; But after all, if the moon is dark and the wind is high, it is inevitable that there will be fish that slip through the net. Therefore, the safest arrangement for Marius is still himself; After nightfall tonight, in addition to Antony and Octavian leading their troops to the west gate of Rome to set up an ambush, Marius himself will also lead his army to set up an ambush on the way to the port.

If someone really escaped from Antony and Octavian's ambush circle in the dark night, then the ambush circle set up by Marius himself would also become his place of death! Marius's arrangement was indeed seamless, and the only miscalculation was the breakout force of the Maxentius family; This breakthrough force will also become the biggest variable in this war! (To be continued.) )