Rome Must Fall Chapter 25: Start the war

There was a tense atmosphere in the kitchen. Maximus only stayed in it for a while and had to exit in order to avoid getting in the way.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a little confused: he came to this era and wanted to change the fate of himself and the Spartacus rebel army's final destruction. However, when it came time to actually fight the Roman army, he could only watch on the sidelines. , waiting for the result of the battle, without using any strength at all.

If only I could command an army to fight! ...Such an idea suddenly arose in Maximus's mind.

Just as Maximus was thinking, several figures flashed in front of him. He immediately came back to his senses and shouted: "Argo, Cassius, what are you doing?!"

"Old...teacher, we want to help in the kitchen." Akguo stammered in reply.

The title of "teacher" was given to them by Maxim. Of course, judging from his efforts in teaching children knowledge, he indeed deserves this title.

"Didn't I tell you that at this special time you can't run around and you must stay with Uncle Vorenus! This way if something happens, I can find you at any time, do you understand? Maximus said with a serious expression.

"We also want to do something..." Cassius explained in a low voice beside him. Maximus glared at him and immediately lowered his head.

"Teacher, we were wrong. We are going back now. Don't be angry!" Nasuya quickly admitted her mistake, and other children quickly agreed.

Maximus nodded with a gentle expression: "This is your first offender, I will forgive you this time."

The children respected Maximus very much and did not want to make him angry, so they all turned around and returned to the main building.

Maximus followed and came to the front yard, where he happened to meet Pygris.

"Captain, do we still need to move everything to the carriage like yesterday?" Pigris asked eagerly as soon as he saw him.

"Of course." Maximus answered without hesitation. Seeing that he was a little confused, he then emphasized: "We have to prepare for the worst and expect the best results."

After what he said, Pigris calmed down a little and led his men to carry the supplies.

Maximus went to the roof of the main building. After a while, he saw the people in the kitchen pushing wooden carts filled with steaming food out of the farm gate. In the past, at this time, the soldiers Everyone came to grab the food and blocked the door, but this time they did not show up, and the food truck was successfully pushed to the camp.

This seems to be a good thing, but Maximus is a little uneasy. He actually hopes that today will be like usual. This shows that the soldiers were not affected by the arrival of the Roman army yesterday, but it was rare for him to think about it last night. Giving lectures to the men in the baggage train team, it seems that everyone is a new recruit with the same nervousness and anxiety about the real war.

Realizing this, Maximus tried his best to calm down, because as the captain of the baggage team, his every move would affect the emotions of his men.

After Maximus had breakfast, he ordered Sexippus to drive the cattle and sheep to the back hill of the farm, and then gathered the other baggage team members in the farm.

It was already bright at this time, and the sun was slanting in the clear sky.

"Woo! Woo! Woo!..." The copper horn sounded rapidly in the camp.

The Romans are coming? ! ...Maximus went to the top of the building again and looked ahead.

In the distance, heavily armed Roman soldiers lined up in an orderly manner out of the camp just built yesterday, and lined up directly in the fields...

About half an hour later, the Roman legions had formed a traditional three-line formation, and behind this formation were a denser array of auxiliary troops. The auxiliary troops were followed by ten carriages, and there were 50 cavalry on each side.

The brass trumpet whistles.

The Roman army began to slowly move towards the rebel camp.

It seems that this time the Romans are really going to attack! ...Maximus felt nervous and moved his gaze closer.

As the Roman soldiers came out of camp to form formation, the rebel troops also began to take action. In fact, after breakfast, the rebel soldiers were already waiting in the camp. Due to what they had experienced yesterday, although the team was still noisy and chaotic, the formation speed was much faster. Just when the Roman army was approaching the bottom of the mountain, the rebel soldiers The army was already in formation... This made Maximus feel a little relieved.

Then he saw Spartacus, who was at the front of the formation, walking to the front of the formation and saying something loudly. Then, the gladiators at the front of the formation waved their swords and spears and roared in unison. The recruits were also affected by this and started shouting one after another. Finally, the entire rebel army roared...

Although most of the slaves who joined the rebel army were still wearing single clothes and holding hoes, pitchforks, and wooden sticks in their hands... their hatred for the Romans had been aroused, which made them face the well-equipped Roman army at the foot of the mountain. There was no longer trembling and fear, but anger blazing from their eyes.

Even Maximus, who was at the rear, felt this change in morale and couldn't help but feel more hope of victory.

The Roman army stopped advancing at this time. They began to adjust their somewhat disordered array at the foot of the mountain, and three or four soldiers jumped out of each carriage. They each carried a wooden frame through the gaps in the military formation. The wooden frame was placed in front of the military formation, and then the work began around the wooden frame.

"What is that thing they put in front of the formation?!"

"Why don't these Roman dogs attack?!"

……

The soldiers behind Spartacus were talking quietly.

"That's a Roman ballista!" Spartacus loudly explained to the soldiers to avoid their suspicion: "It's like a slingshot played by children. It can shoot stones, but it's not accurate. If you want to hit, The goal is difficult..." None

Spartacus looked very relaxed in both his expression and tone, but he began to feel uneasy in his heart: How could I forget that the Romans would use this move in battle!

"Report to the commander of the legion that all the ballistae have been installed and are waiting for your orders!" Widenius saluted and reported to Grabo.

"I understand." Grabo looked at the military camp commander who was over fifty years old in front of him. This was a veteran he appointed against all objections. He was once a centurion under Sulla and had a record of success in the war in Asia Minor. outstanding. ~IndoMTL.com~ In the period from when Videnius took office to now, whether it is marching, training, camping, military discipline... he has arranged all military affairs in an orderly manner, repaying Grabo's trust in him.

"According to the previous plan, let these ignorant slaves experience the horror of war!" Grabo pointed contemptuously at the rebels on the hillside.

After receiving the order, the Roman crossbowmen began to turn the handle, the double-layer spring arm was stretched backward, and then was caught by the metal hook, and then a lead shot was put into the slide rail.

This is a small lead shot that only weighs half a talent (a standard ballista lead shot weighs about one talent, or about 26 kilograms). This is to allow it to fly farther, and Different from the usual lead shot, it was wrapped with a layer of oilcloth. After being ignited, the crossbow gunner quickly pulled the trigger, and only heard the sound of "Hoo! Hoo!" as the ten fireballs ejected and flew towards the hillside. , one after another passed over the rebel array one mile away.

Most of the soldiers in the rebel team breathed a sigh of relief, but Spartacus was shocked. He did not expect that the ballistae fired not lead pellets but fire bombs, and the landing point of these fire bombs was not far from the rebel army. The camp is not far away.

The rebel camp was not planned, there were no obvious intervals between the tents, and there were no fire prevention measures. Moreover, it was early summer, the weather was hot, the items were dry, and the fire bombs fell into the camp, immediately igniting the tents...

Maximus saw five or six fires coming out around the farm. He was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that something was wrong. He hurried downstairs and faced Arconis and Pigry in the front yard. Si and others shouted: "Quick! Take people to put out the fire in the camp! Go put out the fire!"

Maximus led the baggage team members in a hurry towards the camp, but forgot to inform Spartacus.