Published at 16th of September 2023 9:06 pm

Chapter 838: Flames Engulfed Ostia

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However, given his lifetime of experience on the battlefield, he swiftly adjusted his mindset. He knew that the current challenges they confronted didn't permit him to become excessively despondent.

Then, several generals, including Quintus, Furius, Licinius, Aurus, Titus and Servius, gathered in the command tent.

“Lord Dictator!” Everyone immediately saluted as soon as they saw Camillus enter the tent.

“What's the situation of Ostia?” Camillus directly asked Servius without responding to their greetings.

Servius quickly replied, as he was in charge of guarding against the enemy's surprise attack, “The Theonians have stationed many soldiers atop the city wall due to noticing the troops we have set up outside the city. However, they didn't dare to come out of the city to destroy our earthen rampart. Instead, they are using this time to repair the collapsed part of the wall!”

“So we must hurry in reorganising our troops and launch another attack!” Camillus immediately looked at Licinius with a hint of anxiety when he heard his words, “How's the progress of our earthen rampart?”

“We can definitely surround Ostia before dark!” Licinius answered positively, “It's all thanks to Ardea, Antium, and Satricum for sending many people to help us!”

“Excellent!…” Camillus exclaimed in praise, and the graveness on his expression eased considerably, “Licinius, you've done an excellent job! On behalf of all the soldiers, I thank you. With the earthen rampart we've built completely encircling the city of Ostia, not only do we not have to worry about the enemy sneaking out, but we can also send a substantial number of light infantry or even emulate the Theonians by moving our ballistae closer to attack the enemy atop and inside the city walls, providing our heavy infantry with the greatest assistance for their attack and help reduce casualties… By the way, have our allied Etruscan armies from Caisra, Volch, and Tarchna finally ceased their clamour to leave?”

Camillus directed his words to Titus, whom he had sent to appease the Etruscans.

“Lord Dictator, these Etruscans are only clamouring, but they won't dare to leave alone even if we really let them go!” Titus snorted with disdain, “With the Theonian fleet on the sea, their only way to cross and reach the north bank is the upper reaches of the Tiber. However, with their army of less than ten thousand and their meagre courage, without our company, do they dare march alone for forty kilometres and bypass the heavily defended city of Rome?! Still, they said they would refuse to participate in the next battle if they had to attack the city of Ostia as recklessly as before!”

“Refuse to join the battle?! Do they think they are only here to share the spoils?!” Quintus snarled, “Lord Dictator, we must position them at the forefront in the upcoming battle! I am eager to witness whether these Etruscans we had defeated could muster the courage to fight with all their might!”

“Quintus, refrain from becoming excessively agitated as it will only lead to a deterioration of our relationship with the Etruscans, which would also affect how our Latin allies perceive us,” cautioned Aurus.

“So should we have our soldiers rush to the front instead?! Our Roman citizens have suffered the most casualties in the past few days! Moreover, nearly five thousand plebeian soldiers have fled the camp and defected to the enemy! So can we still trust the remaining thousands of plebeian soldiers?! Currently, we have no more than fifteen thousand soldiers who are truly capable of fighting, and many Roman citizens of noble birth dying heroically at the base of the city wall with bitter hatred for the Theonians! If we don't let the Etruscan and Latin soldiers go at the forefront, I am afraid that our citizens will be almost wiped out once we recapture Ostia!” Quintus' sorrowful words made everyone in the tent gloomy and fall into silence for a while.

“Are the Theonians really willing to…negotiate with us once we recapture Ostia?” Titus broke the silence and hesitantly continued, “You should know what the Theonians did in the city of Rome…they turned us nobles into slaves!”

His words expressed the doubts and unease in everyone's heart, prompting everyone to look at Camillus.

Camillus didn't respond since the defection of the Roman plebeians and the tenaciousness of the defenders in the city of Ostia had shaken his confidence in the past few days, making it impossible for him to give a definite answer.

Instead, his son Lucius answered loudly, “We can only force the Theonians to make peace with us by beating them and threatening their safety with our bravery and determination! After all, the Theonians are fighting not only against us, but also against our allies, the Carthaginians! So what army would the Theonians use to fight against the Carthaginians once they have lost too much here?!”

“Don't trust Carthage too much! If they had used all their strength to attack Theonia, how could the Theonians send so many soldiers to attack us?!!” Quintus was filled with resentment when mentioning Carthage.

“We have no other choice than recapturing Ostia…” Aurus sighed, making the other generals gloomy.

“Everyone, there's no need to think about the future and instead do what's in front of us first.” Camillus finally spoke up, “Judging from yesterday's battle, we had made a lot of progress with our siege as the soldiers have all managed to enter the city and engage the Theonians in a melee, which has put a lot of pressure and casualties on the enemy. Now, we just need to…”

Camillus spoke in detail about the new plan for the upcoming attack and the improvements to the siege tactics. These were the outcomes of his meticulous observation of the battle and several days of deep contemplation.

Despite his calm tone, it carries a kind of power that can calm everyone down and make them listen carefully.

Seeing everyone listen attentively, Camillus glanced at Quintus and emphasised again, “To ensure our next siege goes smoothly, we must unite our allies!…”

Everyone, including Quintus, ultimately agreed with Camillus' advice and began discussing ways to improve the siege plan.

After seeing everyone off, Camillus finally relaxed slightly and suddenly felt weak. Due to his worries about the war, he had eaten and slept less as he felt anxious; even a young man's body couldn't withstand it, let alone an elderly man in his sixties. Thus, he had to lie down and rest.

His sleep lasted through the dusk until someone woke him up.

“The lookout atop the city gate of Ostia suddenly disappeared?!” Camillus, who had just woken up, rubbed his somewhat sleepy face as he pondered the meaning behind the Theonians' action.

But suddenly, the curtain was once again lifted as Lucius burst in, “Father, there's a massive fire engulfing the city of Ostia!”

“What?!” Camillus was startled, and with the help of his servant, he quickly left the tent.

The camp was already abuzz with soldiers emerging from their tents, gazing in shock at the blazing city of Ostia in the distance. The entire camp resounded with shouts and discussions.

Camillus felt dumbfounded when he saw this sight and suddenly shouted, “Terrible! The enemy is fleeing Ostia! Quick, send the troops! Charge towards the city, extinguish the fire, and capture the Theonians! Hurry up!…”

In the darkness, the Roman soldiers charged towards the burning city of Ostia.

Unfortunately, they were still late.

After receiving Davos' order to retreat, Theris ordered his officials to contact the ships of the various chambers in the port and the Theonian fleet cruising nearby to start an orderly retreat.

With the Theonians carrying out their evacuation in the small port facing the sea directly to the west, the Roman army monitoring Tiber's estuary failed to detect any movements.

And when the Theonian soldiers atop the city wall started their evacuation, Theris had the city and port, which had already been doused with tar, set ablaze.

Camillus felt suffocated and unable to utter a word upon learning they had failed to extinguish the fire and that the city and port of Ostia had burnt down, especially since they hadn't spotted the Theonians.

He now understood that the Theonians would rather burn the city than allow them to occupy it, which also demonstrated their determination not to compromise.

“Father, what's wrong with you?!” Lucius exclaimed as he saw Camillus clutch his chest and slowly collapse.

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

Despite being a Roman plebeian, squad leader Maecilus resided in Veii, where he owned land and his family stayed.

Due to the recent rumours about the Theonians granting special treatment to the Roman plebeians, word spread throughout the camp, causing some plebeian soldiers from Rome to start fleeing the camp. However, despite the excitement felt by Maecilius and many other Roman plebeians who had relocated to the colonial city north of the Tiber, they chose not to leave.

Yet despite their loyalty to Rome, they did not receive the rightful rewards they deserved and instead encountered hostility from the noble-born Roman soldiers in the camp.

From these rumours, the nobles and their followers learned that their families in Rome had been imprisoned, and the plebeians split up their lands, occupied their houses and seized their wealth. With the addition of the constant defection of the plebeians in the past few days…they certainly didn't have goodwill towards those plebeian soldiers who remained inside the camp, and the suspicion, ridicule and insults they hurl at them could still be considered relatively mild. During the siege, they blatantly used their authority to place the plebeian soldiers in the most dangerous positions without allowing them to retreat or provide assistance, which occurred more than once.

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