Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 788: The Siege of Rome (VI)

Chapter 788: The Siege of Rome (VI)

With worries in his eyes, Davos watched his son's back as he walked out of the tent. After standing for a moment, he turned around and saw some young officers showing envious expressions, making him smile and say, “Who else wants to participate in the battle?”
“Me!”
“Me!”
“And me!”
Several young officers hurriedly said.
Davos waved his hand and said, “Then hurry up and fight to your content!”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” These young officers of the army staff enthusiastically rushed out of the tent.
Davos smiled and said encouragingly to those that remained, “Those brats are too young to understand that the command tent is the brain of the entire army, and our work determines the success or failure of the entire campaign! So lads, let's continue with our job to win this battle!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Davos managed to soothe the restlessness in the officers' hearts temporarily.
“You are Kleonikis, an Amedolaran and serve the First Legion, right?” Davos pointed to one of the young men and asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The young man was pleasantly surprised.
“You will be in charge of receiving the battle reports and enemy information. Then report it to me promptly and accurately!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“You are Eleutherios from Roscianum and serve the Second Legion, right?”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
“You will be the one marking the map.”
“Yes!”
“You are Asinaros, a Crotonian from the Fourth Legion?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“You are responsible for recording and conveying my commands.”
“Understood!”
“And you…you…you…” Davos accurately called out the names of the other staff officers. Seeing their flattered expression, Davos smiled and said, “All of you would be responsible for recording and analysing the war situation. If you notice any anomalies or have any suggestions, feel free to bring them to my attention!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The officers who stopped their work due to the uproar caused by Tolmides and Crotokatax's departure started the intense and meticulous military work again, even working harder than before.
Davos' mood fluctuated as he watched them busy at work.
Suddenly, Henipolis, who had gone unnoticed, walked into the tent again and whispered to Davos, “Martius sent thirty palace guards to protect Croto's safety.”
Davos glanced at him while feeling at ease. He lightly tapped on the map and then exclaimed, “Asinaros, immediately send a herald to notify the engineering brigade, logistics camp…and all other supporting personnel in the camp to immediately go to the rear of the Second Legion and standby!”
“Yes!” Asinaros quickly left.
Although Davos had daringly taken out four brigades staying at the camp and sent them into battle, it was still risky since only two brigades remained there. And even though the two brigades were powerful, they couldn't fully defend such a large camp. Therefore, Davos issued this transfer order for safety reasons, especially for the engineers and skilled craftsmen he treasured.
Then Davos ordered again, “Eleutherios, check the latest information of Epiphanes, confirm his position again, and then calculate his current approximate position based on his speed.”
“Yes!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tolmides felt a massive headache after leaving the command tent, which naturally wasn't because he was about to command a force of nearly ten thousand soldiers. After all, even though he had never commanded a force of more than a thousand men in battle, he still had decades of abundant experience serving in the military. He had even worked hard to improve himself ever since he had joined Theonia and entered the Army Staff of the Ministry of Military by gaining a deeper understanding through Theonia's past battles, thoroughly familiarising himself with Theonia's military systems and tactics, and further efforts to envision military reform and development… Tolmides admitted that he wasn't as talented in military matters as Phrynthor, but he believed he was also worthy of his position in the army staff.
Instead, he was worried about Crotokatax, who was beside him. Even though Davos didn't say anything about taking care of his son, Tolmides knew that once the prince, who Davos recognised as his successor to the throne, was exposed to danger, injured, or…, he would no longer have a future in Theonia.
When the thirty palace guards arrived at Crotokatax's side, Tolmides immediately thought of something. Then with a serious expression, he said, “Your Highness, our mission to intercept the enemy is crucial to the success or failure of our entire campaign and the life and death of the entire army! Since you are not a member of other brigades, haven't trained with them and have no experience in battle, I will place you in the rear and not at the forefront of the military formation! But once the front cannot resist the enemy's attack or the enemy surround us from the flank, I will ask you to lead the palace guard to block their attacks and win time for our other troops!”
Although Crotokatax was quite young, he wasn't arrogant as he had long received Davos' teachings. Since he also knows that his sudden participation had caused worries to Tolmides, and what Tolmides said is also reasonable, he immediately nods and responds, “Yes, Commander!”
In the past, Tolmides had little contact with Crotokatax, so he didn't know much about him. Now that he saw how reasonable the young man was, he felt relieved and, at the same time, became much more fond of the prince.
The group moved straight out of the northwest gate of the camp and soon could hear the rumbling hooves of the horse behind them… The two Cavalry Legions quickly arrived as soon as they received their orders.
“Tol…Commander, the First(Second) Cavalry Legion had come after receiving the order!”
Tolmides looked at Ledes, who he usually joked around with, and swept a glance at Kurcius beside him. But at this moment, he had no desire to joke around. Instead, he said with a grave expression, “Two legates, a Roman reinforcement of about eight thousand soldiers, are heading towards us from the west. So His Majesty has asked us to intercept them so the enemy won't disrupt our siege! You should reorganise your troops first while we wait for the arrival of the other troops and then set off together.”
The two legates responded simultaneously. Although they both saw Crotokatax beside Tolmides and felt surprised, they didn't bother to enquire about him. Instead, they turned around to order the officers to gather and assemble the cavalry.
After a while, four heavy infantry brigades arrived one after another.
Crotokatax immediately became thrilled once he saw that among the senior centurion who came to report was the officer in charge of Adoris. Although he often heard his father say the phrase about brothers fighting together on the battlefield, he didn't expect to be able to fight together with his elder brother this time.
But on this occasion, Crotokatax naturally couldn't go and find Adoris again.
After gathering the troops, Tolmides immediately departed with the army. Not long after, they reached the southwest corner of Rome’s western wall and the two brigades of the Fourth Legion, which got informed by the heralds, also arrived shortly afterwards. There were now six infantry brigades in the army Tolmides' led, four of which were heavy infantry, and the other two were light-armoured brigades. Since the light-armoured soldiers had weaker defences and had a disadvantage in a frontal clash, several legates had left the light-armoured brigades in the camp.
Tolmides finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing from the scout that the enemy was still half a kilometre away. Fortunately, Theonia's main camp occupied a large area, forcing the Romans to detour around while he led his troops straight to the inner passage, so even though they set out later, they still managed to catch up to the enemy.
Tolmides began setting up the formation: First, he placed one heavy infantry brigade from the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions in the left, middle and right of the formation, another brigade from the Fourth and Sixth Legions just behind them, the Second Legion in the rear behind the middle phalanx, and the First and Second Cavalry Legions in both flanks while the whole length of the centre phalanx would lengthen or shorten according to the enemy's formation.
He decided to arrange such a simple formation because such a hastily assembled ten thousand soldiers, the simpler the formation, the more advantageous it was for them to fight.
While the infantry and cavalry quickly began forming under the command of the officers, Crotokatax and the palace guards were positioned in the second legion's last row. So in the process of forming up, Crotokatax saw Adoris, who was also surprised to see his brother here, but the brothers only met eyes for a moment and quickly followed the instructions given to them and went to the place where they should stand.
As soon as the Theonian army completed their formation, they saw the Roman army finally appearing in the distance. And without waiting for the Roman army to come, Tolmides directly ordered the entire army to advance.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yesterday, Paulus and Maegius led the army towards the east while passing through Satricum and Velitrae. Once they finally reached Lake Alba at dusk, they stopped their advance and began setting up the place while sending scouts to check the situation of Theonia. At the same time, Maegius led his men to visit all villages and towns in the area overnight, hoping that their Latin compatriots could support them in resisting the invaders and rescuing Rome.
The next day, many Latin warriors came to Alba one after another, and from Paulus and his men counting, there were a total of three thousand men. After all, this place was the first Latin area conquered by Rome and had the closest relationship with them, but this was already the best the Latins in Alba could do.
But the increase in their number to over eight thousand had led to a disagreement between the two generals.
According to many sources, the Theonians had already started their siege, and Rome was in danger, so Paulus thought to take advantage of the fact that the Theonians had sent most of their soldiers into battle but hadn't yet breached the city to launch an attack on the Theonians from behind!