Chapter 850: Attack on Gabii

The terrifying strength of the Theonian army finally made them realise that once they beat Rome, they could entirely free up their hands and concentrate on dealing with Carthage! Yet the Carthaginian Senate is still embroiled in arguments, wasting precious time in vain!

So the Carthaginians gathered together and strongly called for the Senate to immediately send a massive army while Theonia's main force was still in Latium to land in Sicily and defeat the Theonian army there and fully occupy Sicily so that they could gain the advantage in the war.

With the agitated crowd, Hanno no longer dared to make any further obstruction, allowing the Senate to finally order the recruitment of no less than sixty thousand soldiers in Carthage and surrounding city-states as soon as possible and place them under the leadership of Mago, the supreme commander of Carthage.

And Mago, far away in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, also realised the urgency of the war situation and began to speed up the convening and formation of new troops.

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In fact, Tapirus didn't need to urge the Volscians and Hernicans as they had already taken action after the Roman army left the Trerus Valley.

The Hernicans, who had taken refuge in the mountains, regrouped and launched attacks on the Roman soldiers in the territories the Romans had occupied, focusing their attack on Ferentinum. This former capital of the Hernicans was situated in the midst of a rugged mountain range, which brought massive difficulties to the Romans. So, to end the war with the Hernicans, Camillus had conscripted many young citizens from Rome and its allies, effectively leaving the city of Rome and its surrounding regions vulnerable and undefended. During this opportune moment, Davos seized the initiative, ultimately reversing the entire situation in the Latium region.

Because of that, Camillus had led the army to retreat in a hurry. But considering the hardship they suffered in capturing Ferentinum and its strategic position, he had left two thousand Roman soldiers to defend it.

However, the continuous and fierce besiegement of the Roman army had left many sections of the city wall in tatters. Unfortunately, the Roman soldiers who were left behind did not have time to carry out repairs before the Hernicans began their attacks.

And the Hernicans would mostly use the cover of the mountains and trees at night to approach the city walls in the early morning, sneaking into the city quickly and launching a sudden attack. When the Romans gathered their troops to confront them directly, they immediately fled the city, prompting the Roman army, which wasn't adept at mountain warfare, to pursue them and fall into the Hernicans' ambush.

After several losses, the Romans could only defend the city while the Hernicans' attack didn't decrease. Despite not inflicting significant casualties on the Romans each time, the psychological pressure they placed on them was so great that it prevented them from getting sufficient rest.

Faced with the stubborn defence of the Roman forces, the Hernicans changed their tactics and began targeting the supply caravan responsible for supplying Ferentinum. With the Roman main force having already withdrawn from the region, they didn't have sufficient troops to provide escorts for the supply caravans. Because of that, the Hernicans launched repeated attacks on these caravans, preventing them from reaching Ferentinum.

With the dwindling of food and lack of weapon replacement, the Roman defenders began losing their confidence in repelling the constant attack by the Hernicans. So, on the day the Roman army disbanded, the defenders also chose to evacuate the city of Ferentinum.

After starting to retreat, the Roman soldiers realised that the Hernicans not only attacked the city of Ferentinum but other Hernican towns they had occupied had also been attacked to varying degrees, especially those small military camps built along the river, which became the main target of the Hernicans due to their low strength and weak defence.

During their retreat, the Roman army had seen several burnt camps along their way, while those surviving defenders from other camps and nearby towns had joined the retreat.

The army continued retreating northward and eventually reached the city of Signia near Tolerium. This move, however, led to them abandoning most of the Hernican lands for which they had sacrificed so much to obtain.

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On the other hand, the Volscians had begun gathering their warriors after the Theonian army attacked the city of Rome. So when the Roman army stationed in the southwest went to rescue them, the Volscians wanted to recapture the territories the Romans occupied. Unfortunately, unlike in Hernici, Rome had already colonised the three towns that originally belonged to the Volscians, Antium, Satricum, and Velitrae, and their surrounding territories. Thus, it is only natural for the Romans, who have just become new residents, to resist with all their might.

After many battles, the strength of the Volscians weakened seriously, and they could only gather more than six thousand warriors. In addition, they lacked siege weapons, so several of their attacks on Antium got repulses, making them unable to recapture their towns. Then, after learning the Roman army had once again returned to Satricum, the Volscians could only retreat with resentment.

Hence, when the Volscian officials met Tapirus, they all demanded aid from their ally, Theonia.

Tapirus then promised them that as long as Volsci cooperated fully according to His Majesty's plan, Theonia would definitely help Volsci regain all her territories.

Thus, the Volscians followed Tapirus' advice and changed their strategy. Instead of attacking Antium and Satricum directly, they withdrew their main force from Astura, which was very close to Antium, to Setia and waited for an opportunity.

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Gabii, the most important Latin city-state in the eastern region of Latium, is located about fifteen kilometres southeast of Rome, not far west of the Anio River, a tributary of the Tiber. Decades ago, they became an ally of Rome and never betrayed them, but their loyalty to Rome was now being tested this time.

Publius, as the messenger of Theonia, arrived at Gabii hoping to have them break away from the Latin alliance of Rome and then ally with the kingdom of Theonia.

The officials of Gabii debated this matter for a day. In the end, the nobilities of Gabii were worried about how the Theonians had handled the Roman nobles, so they refused Theonia's request and drove Publius out of the city. At the same time, they sent people to the west to seek help from Camillus.

And sure enough, the Theonian army appeared below the city wall of Gabii on the second day. The one to command them was still Phryntor, and under his command were still the Second Legion, the Sixth Legion, the four brigades of the Lucanian Reserve Legion, the Roman Reserve Brigade, the First Cavalry Legion, and a team of five hundred engineers, totalling more than thirty thousand men.

The people of Gabii closed their four gates tightly, and all the abled citizens in the city, dressed in armour and armed with spears, climbed the city wall and prepared to resist the Theonians' siege.

However, Phryntor didn't immediately order the attack. Instead, he ordered the soldiers to start building a camp.

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In the early morning of the following day, Camillus led twelve thousand Roman soldiers to rush to Tusculum after receiving the news.

Tusculum, situated on the north of Lake Alba Longa, at the outskirts of the Tuscolo hill, lies approximately twenty kilometres south of Rome. Following Rome's destruction of Alba Longa, Tusculum emerged as the most important city-state in the central Latium region.

Camillus called upon the Latin city-states and tribes in Latium's eastern, central, and western regions, with most of them responding and sending troops to gather in Tusculum, resulting in Camillus' strength increasing to twenty-one thousand.

In the Roman camp outside Tusculum, the Roman generals gathered inside the command tent to discuss the current war situation and future military plans.

At this time, the Roman dictator Camillus appeared different from his vigorous self when they first breached Ferentinum. His face was sallow, and his skin sagged as he slumped in his chair, with servants standing on either side, ready to assist him at any moment.

He closed his eyes and listened to the report about the enemy situation, "The Theonian army was only constructing their camps these past few days and hadn't stormed Gabii, but they kept on bombarding its city wall with their ballistae...and the people of Gabii had once again sent envoys to seek our help..."

"Lord Dictator," Maegius muttered, "the Theonians are clearly on guard, with how they had been building a camp west of Gabii instead of attacking Gabii for several consecutive days."

"In the first place, the noise we made when leading our army into Tusculum was too big to hide from the Theonians, so it is only natural for them to be on the defensive. From the report of our scouts, the Theonian army outside Gabii had tens of thousands of people. However, we must remember that there are still Theonian soldiers inside Rome-"

Before Licinius could finish his words, Quintus exclaimed angrily, "Is it because there are many Theonians and they aren't attacking Gabii that we wouldn't attack them and instead retreat?! Hm! Licinius, could it be that you are afraid?! If so, you shouldn't stay here and instead surrender to the Theonians like those Roman plebeians-"

"Enough, Quintus, watch your mouth! The dictator has repeatedly reminded us that we are in a grave situation and must unite closely to defeat the Theonians and regain Rome!" Aurus exclaimed.

Quintus snorted and just fixed his gaze on Licinius without saying anything.

Licinius, on the other hand, just turned around and stared outside the tent.

Suddenly, Camillus opened his eyes. Despite his eyes remaining spirited, his voice was weak, "Previously, we had sent someone to notify the remaining troops in Signia to come here and meet us. How did it go?"

"...they are already on their way here," said Lucius, trembling.

The withdrawal of the Roman soldiers who had stayed behind in Signia meant that all the victories they had won in their conquest of the Hernici had now been officially lost. This news made the generals present become gloomy upon hearing it.