Chapter 221: Surprise Attack

Two weeks passed, and the soldiers in this closed camp worked day and night to build the siege equipment needed by the legion commander. They could not make too much noise for fear of disturbing the Vandal scouts who had not yet been discovered.

In order to ensure that the army was well concealed, Luca even asked each 100-man team to cook with one stove. Although this was difficult and the soldiers kept complaining, this was Luca's order, and it lasted for three whole months. Soldiers often expressed their dissatisfaction in front of Luca's tent because they had to queue up for dinner late, but Luca's answer was basically one sentence: "If you want immortal glory, then withstand the small setbacks at the moment."

Soldiers and even junior officers in this closed military camp did not know any changes in the outside world, but although Luca was in the military camp, he was well aware of the intelligence of the outside world through scouts. Of course, he also knew that Gaiseric was frightened by the swaggering entry ceremony of Malenius. He decisively confirmed Luca as soon as he got the news. The young man who accidentally became his defeated general in the past did not seem to take the failure to heart, but wandered around Sicily to show off his strength, but this strength did not seem to be much! Gaiseric could not be happier with such an arrogant and incompetent opponent.

He stationed his troops in the small plain area below Mount Etna. He was a little hesitant at first, but seeing that "Luga" was so arrogant, he did not give in. He immediately wanted to capture the city to let the arrogant "savior" see how much arrogance he had left.

When Gaiseric's army set out, Luca's army also set out at the same time, but they were three days later than Gaiseric's army. The huge army transported a large number of siege equipment and rushed towards Trapani in a mighty manner. Two days later, almost at the same time period, the Roman legion besieged Trapani, and the Vandals attacked Palermo from two sides with the cooperation of the navy.

However, compared to Gaiseric, Luca was more prepared. Gaiseric's army claimed to have 10,000 people, but in fact there were only 6,000 to 7,000 people. However, the huge navy had 4,000 people. They stormed the port of Palermo, but Palermo was a large capital city after all, and the garrison would naturally not let Gaiseric make it so easy. Because they came in a hurry and had no siege equipment, they had to use nearby materials and cast siege equipment outside the city of Palermo.

However, compared to Gaiseric, Luca's progress was very rapid. On the first day, he led his army to the city of Trapani. Because it was early in the morning, many warships had not left the port, which was a perfect opportunity.

Luga deployed quickly, and soon, siege towers and siege cones appeared one after another in Luga's army formation under the assembly of the soldiers.

"God and the gods of Olympus, they will witness our justice this time!" On the eve of the attack, Luca once again appeared in front of the army to give a speech to boost morale. "The Vandals, a group of illiterate barbarians from the Far North, came to the south of the empire under the curse of the evil gods they believed in and the mercy of Rome, but they will eventually become beasts, repaying kindness with hatred, occupying Roman land, slaughtering Roman people, and finally, they have attracted divine punishment! That is me, a messenger sent by God, working with you to eradicate these barbarians and let Greater Sicily exist forever under the glory of Christ!"

"roar!"

The soldiers beat their shields and roared, and their shouts reached the sky, causing the entire low city wall of Trapani to shake.

"Look, the old, weak and sick left behind by Gaiseric. They are like a group of hens in the face of our roar. They are panicked and can only run away aimlessly!" Luca drew out his iron sword and pointed it directly at Trapani. He was right. Trapani was already in chaos at this time. People were swarming on the simple city walls. They were looking for their battle posts aimlessly. To them, Luca's legion was like a legion that fell from the sky.

"attack!!!"

“Wuwuwu——”

With deafening trumpets, the Cross siege tower and a huge, heavily guarded siege cone slowly approached the walls of Trapani.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

The archers on the city began to fight back. The arrows they shot hit the thick wooden boards on the siege tower, which did not cause any damage to it at all. Of course, it could not stop the siege tower from advancing slowly like a city wall.

"Crossfire! Crossfire!"

The Vandals suddenly became smart. They immediately shifted the focus of their attack from the siege tower to the soldiers pushing it. They fired cross-fire, and arrows rained down from all directions. People were constantly shot and fell. However, these guys who had just entered the battlefield for the first time were able to show satisfactory willpower, even though someone would fall down or struggle and wail with every step forward, or become a corpse! "Soldiers in the back, follow up!"

“Woo, woo…”

At the command of the horn, the soldiers of the first array advanced quickly. They followed closely behind the siege tower. More than a thousand people, consisting of 700 shield infantrymen in front and 300 archers in the back, formed a huge tortoise shell formation and advanced towards the walls of Trapani.

Faced with such a large group of infantry that suddenly appeared, the Vandal archers on the city wall naturally had to take special care of them. However, they formed a huge tortoise shell formation with their shields, and it was naturally difficult for the arrows to penetrate the heavy shields. The three hundred archers behind the tortoise shell formation also fought back when the Vandals were loading their bows and arrows.

"Bang! Bang..."

Siege towers were connected to the walls of Trapani, and soldiers began to climb up along the ladders behind the siege towers.

Likewise, no matter how much the Vandals resisted, no matter how much they poured out their arrows and flying stones, it was useless to the siege spikes. The Roman soldiers below pulled the siege spikes, and the "clang clang clang" sound shook the gates of Trapani.

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There was no wall in the city, so it was easy for Gaiseric to take it down. But he was not a fool. He knew that if he could take it down so easily, the Romans could also take it back easily. So he kept imitating the Romans to build a wall around Trapani. However, the wall that took nearly a year to build was broken by the Romans in just one hour.

The moment the city gates opened, all the Vandals who tried to resist, whether on or under the city walls, were overwhelmed by the tide of the Romans.

(End of this chapter)