Published at 19th of August 2023 8:12 pm

Chapter 826: Dilemma

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Licinius gave his report, “Lord dictator, I followed your order in isolating all those who had contact with the rebel soldiers and issued an order that we will impose severe punishment on those who spread and discuss this matter! Thus we managed to take control of the situation for now.”

But Quintus spoke out to place the blame on him without waiting for Camillus to speak, “Licinius, do you still have the nerve to say that you now have it under control?! If it weren't for your lax management, how could a revolt occur in the camp tonight that caused great trouble for our entire army?! Dictator, we should punish Licinius first and foremost!”

“I was lax in managing my legion?! Let's have everyone judge which legion lord dictator criticised the most because of lack of discipline since the start of the war!” Licinius naturally couldn't allow Quintus to place the blame on him, so he said sarcastically, “You should feel grateful that it was the legion under my command that had suffered from the Theonians' scheme, allowing us to contain the revolt immediately! If it had been your troops, the entire army would have been thrown into chaos!”

Licinius' words were not without reason, as his legion was positioned in the southeast corner of the camp, whereas Quintus' army occupied the centre. So words would quickly spread in all directions once Quintus’ soldiers became aware of the news, making it harder to control the situation.

But Quintus thought Licinius was humiliating him, prompting him to point his finger at Licinius and curse angrily, “You damned plebeian, I knew you were dissatisfied with us in your heart for so long! Now that those damn Theonians gave you a chance, you had deliberately let go of the plebeians in your legion so they could return to Rome and seize our land and wealth!”

Licinius finally turned red in anger in the face of such swearing that he said without hesitation, “Shut your mouth! You are just a thug in the mouth of the plebeians! If it weren't for the greed and cruelty of nobles like you that forced the plebeians into desperation, how could they have been so easily tempted by the Theonians to rebel against Rome!…”

In the command tent, the two former military tribunes, who had once fought and worked together side by side, had started cursing each other.

Seeing this situation, the expression of the rest of the generals in the command turn turned unpleasant.

“Enough!” Finally, Camillus' shout made the two stop arguing. Despite rarely losing his temper, Camillus was clearly infuriated by the irrationality of the two tonight. Then with his trembling hands, he pointed at them angrily, “It seems the Theonians' scheme to sow discord has finally worked that even you two had started quarrelling. If this situation continues, it will be impossible to recapture Rome!”

Quintus and Licinius continued to stare at each other but inevitably felt ashamed hearing Camillus' words.

Suddenly, Aurus asked worriedly, “Lord dictator, those Theonians are vicious for implementing such measures within the city of Rome! Once the news spread, most plebeian soldiers would want to escape, while the noble soldiers would worry about their families in the city and might not obey our orders! So what should we do?”

Once he finished his words, Furius also eagerly said, “The news regarding the situation inside the city of Rome has not only reached the soldiers under Licinius' command but has likely also reached the civilians outside his camp. It is nearly impossible to entirely block the information from spreading, and I fear that it will have spread throughout the entire army within a few days.”

“We will forbid the soldiers from coming into contact with the civilians while persuading the civilians to reside near the city of Praeneste temporarily…” Camillus finally decided with a grave expression, which was contrary to the orders he had given a few days ago. Thus he could sigh helplessly, “Granted, it would only last for a while. Thus to stop the army's morale from dropping, we must lead the army to leave the city of Rome!”

“Leave Rome?!” Quintus immediately expressed opposition when he heard that, “That's simply impossible! Having exerted immense effort to return from Hernici to recapture the city of Rome, I fear the soldiers would refuse to comply with our command if we were to order them to leave at this crucial moment when the city is within arm's reach!”

“So we will just let them attack the city?! With the current situation of the army and inside the city, we have no chance of winning!”

Licinius' words made the expression of the generals turn grim as they had already learnt from the mouths of the plebeian soldiers they had captured earlier about the brutal measures the Theonians had taken against the nobles within the city of Rome, the submission of the plebeians to them, and the fact that the senators had retreated to Mons Capitolinus with only a handful of soldiers. Now, the Theonians had basically taken control of the situation within the city of Rome.

Thus a sorrowful mood began to permeate the command tent.

Then Camillus said, “I also want everyone to note that despite covertly sending Titus to lead an army to attack Ostia, the soldiers should be aware of the departure of such a large force. Once the Theonians learned about this from the soldiers who fled to the city, our plan to capture Ostia would be exposed. Thus we must lead the army to leave Rome and go to Ostia to prevent the Theonians from sending reinforcements while preventing the soldiers from fleeing and recapturing Ostia faster! Now, the Theonians had basically taken control of the situation within the city of Rome. And despite the soldiers' feelings, I believe the strict military laws and your abilities can make them obey orders!”

The generals exchanged glances with one another, and despite feeling somewhat embarrassed, none of them voiced any opposition. At this moment, they all understood that this was the best solution to the current situation.

“Then what should we do next after we capture Ostia?” Aurus asked again.

“Once we capture Ostia…we will negotiate with the Theonians, or depending on the situation, besiege the Theonian army here…before attacking Rome with all our strength.” Camillus' tone lacked certainty, and his expression revealed a hint of hesitation, showing that he himself wasn't sure.

After all, the measures implemented by the Theonians in Rome clearly show they weren't just trying to teach the Romans a lesson or plunder them harshly but rather had a long-term goal. Thus, it is unlikely that the Theonians will withdraw from Rome through a peace negotiation. While attacking the city of Rome risked dividing the soldiers. However, the current Roman army could no longer withstand defeat.

Despite his exceptional military prowess, Camillus proved to be weak in politics. Otherwise, he would not have been so easily expelled from the city of Rome after successfully capturing Veii, an accomplishment that other Roman senators failed to do for many years and earned him immense popularity. And when Marcus led the plebeians against the nobility during his previous term, he could not reconcile the contradictions between the two sides. Finally, when the others began shunning Marcus, Camillus had actually signed his own name on the order to arrest Marcus and even acquiesced in the Senate's execution of Marcus, leading to a time when he suffered from the plebeians' daily insults… With the king of Theonia employing increasingly aggressive political tactics to fuel the conflict between Roman nobles and plebeians, Camillus, who had already experienced considerable hardship in this regard, now found himself confronting this issue head-on. Not only was he unable to devise a viable solution, but he also felt afraid.

“I hope everyone should treat the soldiers equally and not provoke conflicts!” Camillus emphasised as this was the only way he could think. He then looked at all the generals in the command tent seriously and paused at Quintus for a while.

Quintus snorted but didn't speak out to refute.

Everyone could hear the reluctance in Camillus' words, but they couldn't find a better solution in the face of the current problem. So despite keeping silent, they had already consented to Camillus' plan.

Suddenly, a guard burst in and broke the silence, “Lord dictator, a herald from the troops stationed at the river port, has reported the sighting of dozens of ships in the upper reaches of the Tiber. These ships are illuminated by torches and filled with soldiers, making their way downstream.”

The expression of everyone inside the command tent turned pale as a thought popped out of their minds: The Theonians are going to reinforce Ostia!

.............

Titus no longer ordered the army to continue attacking after discovering the traps all over the city of Ostia. Instead, he had sent all the heavy infantry, armed with long shields, to brave the rain of arrows and stone projectiles to clear the traps on the ground patiently. Although he had paid some casualties, he managed to clear the traps in front of the trench by nightfall.

Considering the small size of Ostia, Titus divided his soldiers into five groups, directing them to launch successive waves of attacks on the eastern and southern sides of the city. This strategic approach was possible due to the relatively short length of Ostia's walls, which spanned less than a kilometre. Meanwhile, the other soldiers would lie down on the ground to rest in the rear to recover some of their strength consumed during the day as soon as possible.

As soon as the trenches were filled, the Roman soldiers immediately rushed to the base of the city wall while the Theonian defenders attacked the approaching Roman soldiers at full strength. Meanwhile, Titus ordered some of his soldiers to bring wagons to pass through the trenches one by one and have them unload the tarred woods and set it ablaze, providing much-needed illumination to sustain the ongoing assault by the Roman soldiers.

Furthermore, Titus thought of a wonderful trick: Once a wave of soldiers retreated after getting repelled, he didn't immediately send the second wave of soldiers. Instead, he had quietly pushed the ballistae forward since the flame only illuminated the base of the city wall while the area a hundred metres away began to be shrouded in darkness. Since the Theonians artillerist couldn't see from afar, they were naturally unable to make accurate bombardments, while the Roman ballistae unit could see the situation atop the city wall. So once they had entered range* they began firing stone projectiles. Although most of the projectiles hit the city wall, the splashed debris caused some damage to the defenders crowding atop the city wall. (Two hundred to one hundred fifty metres away from the city wall)

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