Giogris brought four heavy infantry battalions and one light infantry battalion, and he had 4,000 heavy infantry quickly form an arc of defense within the gap in the wall, like a tough fishing net to trap the Roman soldiers who rushed into the gap.

As more and more Roman soldiers rushed into the defensive circle, the space was squeezed, and the number of people became more dense, which was conducive to the attack of the defenders at the head of the city.

In particular, a jar of tar fell down, many Roman soldiers struggled in the flames, and the tragic scene of the breach in the western wall of Rome a day ago was repeated, but this time the roles were reversed.

Coupled with a powerful attack from the Fifth Legionnaires on the front, the disorganized and extremely tired Roman soldiers were finally overwhelmed by fear and their obsession was defeated.

After receiving urgent news from his men, Titus gave the order to retreat despite the great reluctance and pain in his heart, so as to avoid being counterattacked by the enemy along the wall, which would lead to heavier losses.

In fact, the Fifth Legionnaires, having broken through the breach in the wall, continued their pursuit, only to be counterattacked by the Etruscan coalition forces lined up in formation.

Although intercepted, the Etruscan soldiers' attack was not strong, and did not cause any damage to the soldiers of the Fifth Legion, and the cautious Giocles, after receiving the news, immediately ordered the troops to stop the pursuit, because the situation outside the city was unknown in the night, and he was afraid of being ambushed by the Romans again, especially when there was also Prince Klotocatax in the ranks, although this young man of noble status was very knowledgeable, and had always obeyed orders, always fought in the rear of the ranks, and did not cause trouble to Giogris, but he was not afraid of ten thousand, just in case, Eventually, Giogris withdrew his pursuing troops to the city.

…………………………………………

Not long after the battle of Ostia ended, the next morning, the city hall of Rome held a popular rally in the square, as Davers had proposed.

Davers commended the Roman civilian soldiers led by Sextus for their courage in breaking away from the Roman army and defecting to Dionia, especially rewarding them with more land divisions, which aroused the enthusiasm of the people to join Dionia and want to make meritorious contributions to Dionia, and of course deepened the resentment of the noble family against the Roman commoners.

In the course of the rally, Davers received a report from the defenders of the city: there was an unusual movement in the Roman military camp outside the city, and there seemed to be signs of leaving the camp.

Although the movement of the Roman army outside the city was a major concern for Davers, he thought it more important to hasten the return of the civilians inside the city, so he insisted on finishing the meeting before rushing to the south of the city.

By this time it was noon, and most of the camp that the Roman army had painstakingly built yesterday had been demolished, and there was hardly anyone to be seen.

According to the soldiers' reports, there was constant commotion in the forward camp throughout the morning, and even the sound of fighting could be heard.

According to the news from the scouts, the Roman army was breaking into several routes and marching slowly to the west.

Amyntas, Matonis and other legion commanders demanded that they should take advantage of the enemy's retreat and panic to send troops to pursue, and even force the enemy to rush into the guild battle.

After careful consideration, Davos did not accept this proposal, because he did not think that Camillus would be negligent when the army retreated, and he did not want the legions that had just experienced the great war to face the Roman army, which had already been greatly weakened even if it had already divided a lot of troops, after all, the Romans as mourning soldiers were very likely to burst out with great fighting power and cause the Dionian army to suffer huge losses.

However, Davos recruited the new captain of the Roman reserves, Sextus, and asked him to select Roman soldiers with good riding skills, ride horses collected from the city, and follow the cavalry legions out of the city on special missions.

After this order had been given, Davers was to urgently convene a military council to discuss with Tornides, Printors, and the legionnaires the question of "a great reinforcement of Ostia", for the direction of the Roman army was undoubtedly the small city at the mouth of the Tiber.

At the same time, not far west of the city of Rome, two cavalry legions caught up with the advancing Roman army, luring away more than 1,000 Roman cavalry responsible for flank protection, and then Sextus led dozens of civilians eager to make a new feat to the vicinity of the Roman army.

Then, the Roman soldiers were surprised to see these enemies dressed in Roman soldiers' attire, riding horses and approaching within twenty or thirty meters of them, and then began to shout: "Citizens of Rome, I am Sextus (I am ###), I used to be a Roman commoner, but now I have joined the Kingdom of Dionia, why join them?!" Because the Kingdom of Dioonia has allocated me more and better Roman land, more luxurious and spacious dwellings, and more equal rights, which originally belonged to the Roman nobility, and now they all belong to us!

Civilian soldiers, don't hesitate to break away from this hopeless army and join us! Join Dionia! You will get everything you have ever desired! You will also be reunited with your families smoothly! Don't hesitate! Get out of ......."

Sextus: Their shouts stirred up waves among the Roman soldiers......

………………………………………

In the chief's mansion of Abenirum, Gherni sat in the drawing-room, his expression calm, but without the worries of the previous days, and his eyes were staring at the door with a fierce eye.

It didn't take long for several of his trusted men to arrive.

"I have decided to send emissaries to the Hippinee tribes in other regions, as requested by the messenger of Dionia!"

Hearing this, the others understood that Gherni was a messenger, but in fact he was sending men to infiltrate other parts of Hilpine, to spread the accusation that "Lesgouk had broken the covenant in disregard of his faith and had taken it upon himself to wage war against Dionia, causing heavy losses to the tribes, and demanding that he be punished for it", and that "the chief of Gherni in Abenirum could help the tribes to redeem their captive people from Dionia".

After all, according to the decision of the previous meeting of the Hilpinei Tribal Alliance, Abenirum had been excluded from the Tribal Alliance, and any Hirpini tribe was forbidden to associate with them.

"Great, Chief! We've been waiting for you to make this decision for a long time! Tatoni excitedly shouted: "We have had enough grievances during this time, and the tribes of Kautini, Putney, and Caracheni frequently send messengers to warn us not to mess around during the war!" Bah, it's time for these oppressors to taste the wrath of the Abeni Roma! ”

"Chief, we really shouldn't wait quietly for this war to end. Although the Samonian priesthood also sent people on several occasions to say, 'As long as we support Lesguk, we will not be held accountable for past wrongs.' However, everyone understands that as long as they win this war, without the obstruction of the Dionians, Lesguk will definitely use force against us! For the sake of our safety, we must seize the favorable moment now and strike them first! Maioni also expressed support for Gherney's decision.

"Of course I understand the conspiracy of Lesgook and the perilous situation we find ourselves in." Gherney sighed, "The reason why I hesitated before was because I thought that if we did this, not only could there be a war with Lesguk, but also the relationship with other tribes and the priesthood would deteriorate, leading to an even greater war. ”

Tatony shouted again, "Are we now in good shape with the other tribes and priesthoods?!" Chief, remember when you were almost united by them at the tribal sacrifice meeting a few years ago? If there is a war, it will be just right to wipe them all out, and then ...... Then it is up to you to be the leader of us...... The first Grand Leader of the entire Samonay! ”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of everyone in the living room changed.

Gherney glared at him: "Don't talk nonsense! With our strength, it will be difficult to defeat even the Lesguk, let alone the other tribes. All we have to do now is help Dionia in return for the help it has always given us! "To be honest, Gherney is very envious of Tatony's straightforwardness and the style of his youth, but since he became the leader, he has experienced several setbacks, and there are many problems to consider for the better survival of the people, and it is impossible to do whatever he wants.

Gherney's gaze swept over the faces of everyone in the hall, and they all showed a kind of suppressed excitement, he took a deep breath and said aloud: "Since you all agree with me, then we need to reconsider the relationship between Abenirum and Dionia, and you all know that King Davos suggested to me a few years ago that 'make Abenirum a free city like Poittia', and I did not agree at the time.

And now, if we carry out Dionia's plan, it means that we will be at odds with Beneventum and the rest of the Samonai tribes, and it will be an extremely difficult war! We need the full support of Dionya to win, so I've decided to let Abenirum join Dionya and become the free city of this kingdom! ”

As he spoke, the hall fell silent.

This added to Gherney's concern, and he coughed dryly, and hurriedly added, "If you don't agree—"

"Hah! Ha! Ha! ......" Tatony laughed: "Chief, you have finally made this decision, and we are all relieved!" When I was playing in the rugby finals in Dionya last year, the players who played against us asked me strangely, 'You Abenirum and Pothenia are both free cities in Dionia, why do all the players in Portentia speak Greek, but most of you don't?' Now some of the city-states and powers see us as part of Dionia, and they envy us, but this often embarrasses us, because we are not, and now we can finally rest assured! ”

。 Museum of Literature