Chapter 690: Theonia v Rome (IV)
Chapter 690: Theonia v Rome (IV)
Having fought against the Celts under Camillus ten years earlier, Cadmus knew the fierce impact of Celtic cavalry, armed with great swords and chariots. But these black-armoured cavalry, armed with spears, are clearly not the Celts.
Suddenly, he heard several screams as the soldiers shouted in panic, “Watch out for the javelins!”
After unconsciously raising his shield to protect himself, Cadmus saw a short javelin hit a nearby soldier on his right, causing him to fall and scream on the ground. Then he noticed the enemy cavalry, only a dozen metres away, each with a spear and javelin in each hand, slowing their horses as they slowly circled around them, looking for the next opportunity to attack.
“Damn it! They can throw javelins!” Cadmus became flustered, for this was the first time he had been in contact with this kind of cavalry.
‘What to do?’ Cadmus pondered anxiously, ‘Should we continue? The camp is only five kilometres away. But our speed would be slower as we would have to guard the wagons against enemy cavalry attacks. Or should we return to the village and wait for help? Although the village isn’t far away, it’s uncertain when reinforcements will arrive…and apart from the cavalry, the enemy may also have infantry here…’
While Cadmus hesitated, the captured Volscians took advantage of the soldiers’ vigilance against the black-armoured cavalry to unhitch the horses pulling the wagons quietly, mount them and break through the protective ring of unprepared Roman soldiers, escaping in the chaos. As a result, several angry Roman soldiers gave chase.
“Idiots! Come back!” Cadmus shouted anxiously.
But it was too late, as Cadmus saw the enemy cavalry give chase.
Although the Roman soldiers realised their situation had worsened, they didn’t panic. Instead, they raised their shields against the enemy cavalry as they retreated with great strides.
But to their surprise, several enemy cavalries rushed up behind them and knocked them down directly, as they could not evade in time.
At the same time, the enemy cavalry in the front also rushed forward. But having just been knocked down, the Roman soldiers had no time to raise their shields and could only watch as the enemy on horseback bent down and quickly plunged their spears into them. Then they would quickly let go of the spears to avoid being thrown from the horse by the strong momentum.
Cadmus felt angry and uneasy at the tragic situation of his men and the skilful cooperation of the enemy cavalry. So, even though it would have been challenging to transport the spoils back without the pack animals and the wagons, Cadmus finally decided to give them up. He then gathered the soldiers into a tight column and moved slowly towards the camp, taking care not to be harassed by the enemy cavalry from time to time.
Such encounters happened to every Roman centuria that went out to plunder provisions, with only some managing to take the same measures as Cadmus, while the others simply returned to the village to wait for rescue…
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Soon after, Camillus and Furius received word of the Theonian cavalry’s attack on their troops outside the camp. As a result, Camillus hesitated no longer and immediately sent all his light infantry and cavalry to meet his soldiers outside and repel the Theonian cavalry.
As soon as the north gate of the Roman camp was wide open, nearly two thousand light infantry and over eight hundred cavalries set out.
Initially, the light infantry of the Roman army were all the fourth and fifth-class Roman plebeians who were poor and couldn’t afford to buy heavy infantry equipment. But after Camillus’ military reform and with the help of the Carthaginians, the Roman plebeians could now serve as heavy infantry as well. After the war, however, they had to return the equipment provided by the Senate. Consequently, Rome’s ally now serves as Rome’s light infantry.
After spending some time since leaving the camp, these light infantry and Roman cavalry split up into dozens or so groups led by mounted scouts and ran to their respective targets.
But then Camillus, who had remained in the tent, received more shocking news: some eight thousand Theonian soldiers were marching towards the Roman camp!
The shocked Furius looked at Camillus and said, “The Theonians had just arrived, yet they want to attack our camp?!”
Camillus pondered for a moment and ordered, “Send scouts to check the movement of Setia and Privernum in the south. Once you see their army coming out, report it back immediately!”
Although Camillus believed that the Theonians would not dare to attack his camp with only eight thousand men, he did not dare to take them lightly. So he sent his men to watch the Volscians closely while at the same time mobilising his soldiers to prepare the camp’s defence.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Meanwhile, in the city of Privernum, its consul Katamentalus received the news from the herald of Theonia’s First Legion, causing him to utter in surprise, “Theonia’s First Legion is asking for our help. They are preparing to attack those wretched Roman soldiers who are plundering our territory to lure the main Roman force out of their camp and engage them in a field battle!”
“These Theonians are really impatient. They wanted to fight the Romans, even though they had just arrived without knowing the situation.” said the general of the Aurunci reinforcements.
“This is proof that the Theonians are genuinely helping us!” Toulus, the consul of Circeii, had embarrassed the generals of Aurunci and Sidixi since they had led their troops to Volsci for nearly half a month and still hadn’t fought the Romans.
“But…but the Roman army is too strong! If our army leaves the wall’s protection and fights the Romans in the field, should they fail… our people will be in danger!” the consul of Terracina said worriedly. He had previously led the reinforcements to save Velitrae, but this led to their defeat at the hands of the Romans, which ultimately led to the fall of Velitrae.
“Now that the most powerful kingdom in Italia dares to propose to battle the Romans, they must be confident enough to defeat them!” Keronus, the former consul of Antium and the most anxious to recapture the occupied towns, exclaimed, “Besides, what kind of a host would just sit back and do nothing while our distinguished guests are desperately trying to help us out?”
And as the supreme commander of the Volscian army, Katamentalus finally made up his mind and called the Theonian’s herald and said, “Please go back and tell commander Amintas that all the Volscian soldiers are standing by, waiting for his order to attack!”
. . . . . . . . . . . .
With the Theonian cavalry mainly to the west and north of the Roman camp, the Roman mounted scouts could observe the Theonian army’s movements to the south in relative safety.
An hour later, Camillus received word that the Theonian army had approached their camp.
When he returned to the watchtower at the south gate of the camp, he could already see the dust rising.
Yet even with that, Camillus remained unperturbed. On the contrary, he just looked at the soldiers who had already taken up defensive positions on the wooden wall and hoped that the light infantry and the Roman soldiers who had gathered food would arrive soon so that he would have nothing to worry about. Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to wait too long as three Roman centuriae managed to return to the camp.
But even after standing on the tower for a while, the rising sand and dust storm didn’t get any closer to him. Instead, it seemed to be moving away.
Just as he was wondering about it, a Roman scout rushed into the camp and reported, “Military tribune, Camillus! The Theonian army is heading west of our camp.”
‘West?’ Camillus was surprised. But after pondering for a while, his expression changed, ‘Have the Theonians circumvented the camp to attack our soldiers outside?!’
. . . . . . . . . . . .
“Legatus Amintas! Legatus Ledes has sent me to tell you that the cavalry is running out of javelins, but the Roman light infantry keeps attacking so fiercely that some cavalrymen are wounded. He could no longer prevent the Romans from returning to their camp.”
After hearing the report, Amintas’ expression darkened. With the addition of Roman light infantry and cavalry, the First Cavalry Legion had found it much harder to slow the Roman retreat. Moreover, the combination of light infantry and cavalry had posed a significant threat to the scattered Theonian cavalry. Thus Amintas could only ask Ledes to abandon the other Roman centuria and concentrate on obstructing the three Roman centuriae closer to them and to the southwest that Phryntor suggested. But unexpectedly, the Roman light infantry had also arrived in those places as well.
‘Could it be that our plan will fail?’ Amintas became upset. Then he said to Ledes’ herald, “Go back and tell legatus Ledes to hold out a little longer; the First Legion will soon arrive! He can’t just give up after working so hard and paying such a high price.!”
Amintas’ words touched the herald of the First Cavalry Legion, who hesitantly said, “…I will relay your words to legatus Ledes, word for word.”
After the herald had galloped off, Amintas’ expression turned sombre as he shouted, “Urge the First Legion to move faster! If they can’t get here soon and allow the Romans to escape, all of them will receive punishment in accordance with the military law!…”
As Amintas continued to curse, Adjutant Aristonus suddenly became excited. He then pointed to the south and shouted, “Legatus, our soldiers have arrived!”
Amintas turned quickly and looked around, only to see rising dust and sand and rumbling footsteps in the distance.
Seeing that, Amintas immediately grinned and said, “It seems these guys needed a good scolding for them to complete their task!”