But Megius was more cautious, he first reminded Paulus that it was at the time of the landing of the Dionians, because of their hasty attack and crushing defeat, that led to the dangerous situation of Rome today, so he suggested: just because this support army is the greatest hope of the Roman people in the city, but the number of 8,000 soldiers is still not enough, and more soldiers need to be gathered to be more sure to thwart the Diorians in one fell swoop, so that not only can save Rome, but also may drive the Dionians out of the interior, Therefore, they should continue their march eastward to join the reinforcements of the city-states of Prinister, Gabi, and Bonet.

Both sides have their own opinions, but they are reluctant to split their teams in two, as this will only weaken the army's attack power and lead to the failure of their respective plans. In order not to waste precious time, they had to make decisions and let the soldiers make their choices.

It didn't matter if there were nearly 3,000 Latin reinforcements, but although more than 5,000 Roman citizen soldiers had moved to the three towns west of the Latium region due to the distribution of land, there were still relatives and friends in the city they cared about, and they knew in their hearts that there were not many citizen soldiers in the city of Rome, and if they delayed the time and let the city of Rome be breached, the land they just owned would eventually be wiped out, so most of the soldiers were eager to thwart the siege of the Dionians, so they supported Paulus's opinion.

Mejus felt sorry, but sincerely blessed Paulus, and then led only one convoy to the east.

Paulus quickly assembled his team, anxious but still awake, he knew that the Dionian camp in front of him was still rudimentary, but to break through it it might take a lot of money, and now time and soldiers were the most precious to him, so he decided: bypass the camp and go straight to the city.

While the army was on the march, the scouts who had ventured to evade the enemy's cavalry and returned wounded brought back bad news: five or six thousand Dionian infantry had appeared in front, and many cavalry.

Paulus was shocked, he did not expect that the Dioonians would keep so many soldiers for defense while attacking the city in a big way.

But he immediately calmed down: the situation has developed to this point, there is no possibility of retreating, he can only lead the troops, attack forward without hesitation, and repel the enemy who stands in the way, so that there is hope for the city of Rome!

He gave the order: the army stopped advancing and immediately began to line up.

Considering that the enemy on the opposite side had a large number of cavalry, and that the failure of the previous battle was due to the defeat of the powerful cavalry of Dionysa attacking the flank, Paulus learned his lesson this time, he carefully shortened the length of the array, increased the thickness, and placed more than a thousand light infantry from the Latin reinforcements in the center of the formation, protected by heavy infantry...... When the formation is completed, the entire military formation resembles an oval.

When the Dionian army came into view of the Roman soldiers, the sound of a high-pitched bugle came from the opposite side.

The Dionians were the first to attack the Roman army.

At the forefront were the cavalry corps on both wings, thousands of horses galloping, hooves like thunder, stirring up dust and fog, a distance of several hundred meters in an instant.

Looking at the behemoths with great strength and rushing towards them, the hearts of the Roman soldiers on both wings filled with fear.

But in fact, this was only an illusion, and the Dionian cavalry did not have the ability to break through the heavy infantry formations head-on, and they threw their short spears as they brushed the two wings of the Roman army.

After all, these Roman soldiers had fought the Dionian cavalry once before, and under the reminder of the squadron leaders, they raised their shields to defend themselves.

At the same time, the light infantry in the formation also fired arrows at the galloping Dionian cavalry.

For a time, Roman soldiers were shot and fell to the ground, and Dionian cavalry were seen falling from their horses with arrows from time to time.

Just as the Dionian cavalry brushed shoulders with the Roman army flank and rushed to the rear, the Dionian infantry formation was already approaching, and the Roman squadron leaders were busy shouting: "Watch out for javelins, raise shields for defense!" ”

Klotocatax followed his comrades and threw the javelin in his hand, and then hurried the second javelin without respite.

At this time, the screams from the opposite side made him feel excited when he first came to the battle, but before he had time to savor the so-called sense of accomplishment, the soldiers in front began to charge the enemy, and he and the palace guards immediately followed.

Even though the rain of javelins caused some confusion in the Roman formation, when the Dionian soldiers began to charge, the Roman soldiers also strode forward with their shields and guns.

One side marches forward with the belief of defending its homeland and driving out the invaders; On the other hand, the safety of the entire army is on the shoulders and must desperately stop the incoming enemy. The two armies slammed into each other, and then each stabbed their spears into the enemy.

At the same time, Dionia's cavalry turned around and rushed to the rear of the Roman army.

"Turn back! Turn back! Under the command of the Roman squadron leaders, the squadrons of heavy infantry at the rear of the Roman army turned one after another, raised their long shields in the face of the cavalry, and assumed a defensive posture. The Roman light infantry in the center of the formation also turned around and bent their bows and arrows, and the javelins and arrows were once again intertwined in the air......

……………………………………

The Roman soldiers fought against the enemy in the city, and the people in the city were not idle, they were organized by the senators, constantly transporting all kinds of consumable defense materials to the various sections of the city wall, and at the same time carrying the wounded into the city in a steady stream.

The people of Rome, though sad in their hearts when they saw their loved ones wounded or even killed, did not have time to weep, and they had to seize all the time and do their best to assist the army in defending their homeland, because the situation became a little dire within an hour of the enemy besieging the city.

"General Magus came to report that the enemy was attacking fiercely, and in order to prevent the enemy from attacking the city, the soldiers paid a lot of casualties, hoping to get reinforcements!"

"General Sevios has come to report that his army is trying its best to defend the enemy's siege, but he can't stop the enemy from continuing to destroy the city wall with siege equipment, and hopes to send more soldiers behind the city to form a defensive formation to prevent the wall from collapsing, and be able to block the enemy's breakthrough!"

"General Pullo has come to report that the enemy has used warships to build many pontoon bridges over the Tiber River, so that their attack can not be limited to the vertebral bridges, and now the soldiers are trying their best to defend the entire embankment, but the enemy is attacking fiercely, and the fighting continues, and the soldiers' physical strength cannot support it, and they hope to get more support!"

……

The Roman Senate originally put Scipio the Great in charge of the defense of the entire city, but after the siege began, Scipio the Great found it difficult for him to control the battle defense of the entire Roman city, because the city of Rome was too large, the walls were too long, and the roads in the various neighborhoods of the city were tortuous and time-consuming, whether it was to convey orders or send reinforcements. So he decisively handed over command to the Senate, concentrating himself on the siege of the Ionians due south.

The Senate quickly completed the transfer of command, and even in order to coordinate and organize the people of the city to defend the city more conveniently, the senators came to the Roman Forum to work, and the military command was mainly handed over to Portitus, Marugineensis and several other senators who had served as consuls many times, not only because of their seniority, but also because as consuls, they often had to lead troops to fight, so they had more combat experience.

But even Portitus, who served as consul five times and promoted Camillus on the battlefield many times, had never experienced and seen such siege warfare: countless powerful ballistas, huge siege towers, wooden carts that could be hidden and strange ways of filling trenches, terrible bows, and pontoon bridges built by warships...... What was even more terrifying was that the Dionian soldiers who besieged the city were not only well-trained, but also brave and strong.

According to Portitus's previous experience in attacking cities: a large city like this, guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers, without more than 100,000 people, it is impossible to take it without attacking it for two or three months to half a year.

But less than two hours after the battle began, the defending army seemed to be a little overwhelmed.

The patriarchs were also panicked, and at this time, they couldn't care about any clan rights and private interests, so they organized the slaves in their respective families, and at the same time notified their clans to take action, and gathered all the men and slaves who could pick up shields and spears to the Roman Forum, about 10,000 people, urgently formed formations, distributed weapons, and then sent them to the battlefield in waves......

The old Roman square, which is usually quite large, is now crowded and noisy: on the one hand, the senators are urgently preparing the newly formed troops, and on the other hand, the people are helping the wounded lying on the ground.

Seeing that the nearly 10,000 troops in the audience that were dense not long ago were soon left with more than 1,000 people, those slave soldiers were not quite used to wearing helmets, shaking their heads from time to time, holding weapons with blank eyes...... Portitus's heart suddenly swelled up with a very uncomfortable feeling, and he tugged on the back of his chair with his hand, and said with difficulty: "Send the last thousand or so to Scipio the Great." Although he did not send for help, the other armies were in difficulty, and it was impossible to defend easily to the south, and I know Scipio the Great, who must be doing his best to avoid embarrassing us......"

"Alas, Rome has not been attacked by the enemy for decades, and the people lack the experience of defending the city! What's more, the enemy is still Dionia! ......" Ambustus sighed regretfully: "It's just that we have only cared about expansion over the years, and have not properly replanned and repaired the city defenses!" ”

These words made the patriarchs next to them hear it, and they all felt the same way: if the crooked Roman city wall was uprooted and built into four levels and eight straights; If the bricks and stones of the city wall are spliced more closely, the stone joints are filled with stone mortar; If a wall is built on the northern embankment of the city of Rome; If there are deer bars on both sides of the trench all the time; If the streets in the city are planned early in the city to facilitate traffic...... I'm afraid it wouldn't be so difficult to defend the city today!