Chapter 784: The Siege of Rome (II)

Upon seeing his men shooting, Magnus shouted, "Wait for the orders and don't attack indiscriminately!"

"Stop shooting!! Stop shooting..." The herald ran along the pathway, conveying Magnus' command.

Magnus believed they should refrain from wasting their arrows and soldiers' strength on attacking the Theonian heavy infantry, as their arrows posed little threat to them.

Once the Theonian soldiers reached the trench just over twenty metres away from the city wall, they removed the planks on top of their heads and placed them on the ground in front of the trench.

At this moment, Magnus finally issued the command to attack and the first to throw a javelin, promptly followed by the Roman soldiers already prepared to shoot their javelins and arrows at the enemy.

But beyond their expectation, the Theonian soldiers immediately retreated as soon as they put down the planks, resulting in the vast majority of their attacks missing.

As the heavy infantry retreated, a strange formation appeared in the distance and approached the wall.

"Testudo formation?!" A commotion arose among the Roman soldiers at the top of the city wall. After all, Rome's most practical tactics for attacking a city in the decade or so since the reform of the Roman army had appeared in the enemy's formation. So despite hearing from the citizens who had fought with the Theonians earlier about the Theonian tactics being very similar to Rome, Magnus and the Roman soldiers still trembled seeing it.

Once the Theonian heavy infantry reached the long planks, they swiftly dispersed the testudo formation and formed a row of slanted shield walls. Their movements were so rapid that it appeared as if they had undergone numerous training sessions, effortlessly transitioning between formations before the Roman soldiers could react.

Then, under the protection of the shield wall, some unarmoured Theonian soldiers crouched on the ground, simultaneously chanted and pushed the planks hard enough to push it across the five-metre wide trench. As a result, the planks formed simple bridges once the other end of the planks reached the other side of the trench.

How could the Romans let them succeed so easily? So they began to rain arrows and javelins on the enemy, hitting the shield formation without stopping. Occasionally a javelin would pierce a shield and then to the soldier's arm, or an arrow would go through the gaps in the shields and wound a soldier's unprotected thigh, but they endured the pain and kept the shield formation intact.

After erecting over twenty bridges on the trench, the Theonian soldiers supported their injured comrades and began to retreat. During their retreat, they swiftly changed from shield wall formation to testudo.

The enemy's skilled formation change, their ability to maintain a soldier shield formation at all times in the face of powerful long-range attacks, their swift retreat and their ability to care for the wounded...shows how they are an extremely well-trained and experienced army. Magnus knew he had encountered a formidable enemy but had no time to panic, "Shoot flaming arrows! Burn down those bridges!!!" He pointed to the planks on the trench below the city wall and hurriedly ordered.

The supporting citizens immediately wrapped the arrows with cloth strips dipped in tar and handed them to the archers.

But as the Theonian soldiers retreated, more soldiers began forming a larger testudo formation and advanced towards the city wall. And behind the testudo formation were nearly a thousand soldiers without armour, some carrying bows over their shoulders and in an even looser formation as they entered the range to attack the enemy.

"They are Theonia's light infantry!" The Roman centurions on the top of the city wall quickly judged and decided to give them a massive blow to stop them from reaching below the city and posing a threat to the defenders.

But the Theonian light infantry stopped one hundred fifty metres away when the Roman soldiers aimed.

Suddenly, Magnus became confused seeing some Theonian light infantry constantly swinging their arms. Soon, he saw countless black dots wheeze towards them, with the vast majority hitting the city wall just below the Roman soldiers.

Then a soldier not far from Magnus suddenly screamed and fell to the ground, with blood streaming down from his eyebrows.

A soldier picked up the object in question and handed it to Magnus.

It's a black lead ball, smaller than an egg. Magnus weighed it in his hand and found it a bit heavy.

'Slingers! They are the soldiers who attack with stones that Camillus reported!' Magnus suddenly recalled Camillus' battle report in the Senate.

That is indeed the characteristic weapon of the First Legion's Rhodian slingers and the only remaining one in the entire Theonian army. They immediately corrected their aim after the first attack, so when they waved the sling again and shot the lead balls out, the throw was obviously more accurate this time, with most lead balls falling on the top of the city wall.

The Roman soldiers scrambled to raise their long shields above their heads, while the archers, without protective measures, could only take cover beside the heavy infantry, causing panic on the part of the wall where Magnus commanded.

Meanwhile, Theonia's testudo formation quickly spread out once they reached the wooden bridge, revealing two ladders hidden in the formation. The two ladders were twenty metres long, with six soldiers carrying them each, quickly charging over the wooden bridge and towards the city wall. They were followed closely behind by the heavy infantries holding their shield and swords and crossed the trench.

The Roman soldiers were forced to disregard the incoming lead balls and began throwing javelins and shooting arrows one after another.

Amidst the fierce attack, Theonia's heavy infantry began to suffer casualties and could no longer protect their comrades. However, whenever a soldier carrying a ladder fell, the closest soldier would immediately drop their sword and shield and step forward to carry the ladder. In this way, the soldiers managed to arrive below the city wall, lifted the ladder and slammed it down with great force. The pointed foot of the ladder plunged deep into the ground while the curved iron hooks at the top hooked onto the battlements. They firmly erected the ladder, with soldiers supporting the ladders.

The Theonian heavy infantry began climbing the ladder with their left hand holding a long shield to cover their head.

Finally, the young Roman soldiers began to act, some throwing stones and wood downward, some pouring oil and torches, some carrying boiling water to pour down, and some using swords to slash the place connecting the ladder and the hook...

Theonia's light infantry also rushed towards the city wall and began shooting arrows and javelins, with their primary targets being the Roman soldiers who ended up exposing their bodies when attacking the climbing soldiers...

"Brothers, you've done an excellent job of closing in the city without much loss!" Amintas approached the slingers in the rear, less than two hundred metres from the wall, so he could easily observe and command the battle. He was satisfied with the siege's progress so far, so he said to Phryntor beside him, "All of this is thanks to you!"

Davos was concerned that Amintas might take too many risks and inflict heavy casualties on the First Legion if he led the attack alone. So he sent Phryntor to help, as they had already worked well together.

Phryntor modestly said, "It's mainly due to the First Legion you command being well-trained!"

"Yes, that's right! The First Legion is the strongest of all the legions. Moreover, the newly added reserve soldiers have proven their worth as citizens of Thurii and are no inferior to the veterans. It's a pity His Majesty has not allowed us to use siege towers, siege wagons and ballistae...with such powerful siege weapons, we could have inflicted even more damage on the enemy!" Amintas complained.

Phryntor did not comment, as Davos had already reminded him: The First Legion would act as support after suffering heavy losses in the previous battle. Therefore, they must not give their all in this siege so they could be of much use in the battles to come.

As the staff officer, Phryntor actually understood Davos' underlying consideration: He couldn't allow the First Legion to always serve as the main force and perform meritorious deeds in battle since he had to give the other legions a chance to win honours in battle, which was not only a kind of balance but also helped the other legions to improve the overall strength of the Theonian army.

"But even without those siege equipment, our First Legion can still break through the city of Rome first!" The prideful Amintas confidently said, "Phryntor, I will send up all three of my remaining brigades in another half hour to put even more pressure on the Romans!"

Phryntor was startled hearing that, prompting him to persuade, "Legatus, should we not observe the enemy's defences before deciding since the siege has only just begun? Moreover, we still don't know whether Rome's allies would come to rescue them! So we must keep these three brigades as a reserve and not move them for now while paying attention to the scouts' report!"

Amintas glared at him and was about to snap, but he quickly held himself back. After being in the Theonian army for so many years, his mind became much more perceptive than his apparent brashness, 'Why had His Majesty Davos sent Phryntor to the First Legion before the war? Does it mean that Phryntor's suggestion was His Majesty's order?'

Suddenly, Amintas just shut his mouth and didn't look at Phryntor. Instead, he just folded his arms and watched the battle before him.

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

The older Scipio stood in the middle section of the southern wall, which was the closest to the centre of Rome, and would become the focus of the Theonians' attack. On the other hand, immediately behind the left and right sections of the southern wall are Collis Quirinalis and Collis Caelius. So even if the Theonians had broken through these two sections of the wall, they wouldn't be able to advance quickly into the city because of the hills obstructing them.

Upon hearing the bugle sound from the enemy camp and witnessing many enemy soldiers pouring out, the older Scipio believed he had assessed the situation correctly. However, the Theonian soldiers didn't approach the wall. Instead, he saw a long line of rectangular wooden wagons that moved towards the city wall without any pack animals pulling them.