Chapter 321 Street Fighting
As night fell, the fighting came to an end, but the armies of both sides were not idle at this time, because the two sides confronted each other in the square in the center of the city.
This is very interesting. The two armies were staring at each other in the square less than a hundred meters apart. Neither side knew who would start the fight first. They held torches in their hands, and those who were close enough could clearly see each other's faces.
Under Luca's command, more than 200 soldiers stayed up all night, staring at the Bagauda rebels on the opposite side, and the rebels did not make any unusual moves at this time. They lined up in a row facing the Roman soldiers, and through the firelight, they were even surprised to find that the equipment on the enemy opposite was so similar to their own.
“Ding ding dong dong…”
From the moment the truce was declared, the noisy sounds on the square where the Bagauda rebels were located never stopped. The night was like a huge curtain, covering up the movements of the rebels, so that the Roman soldiers could only hear the clanging sounds in the darkness, but could not see clearly what they were doing.
"What is the exact number of our losses?" Luka was unable to sleep because of the clanging sound. Although he knew that the enemy must be doing something bad, he was suffering from the exhaustion of the army. Without knowing the enemy's situation, he had no ability to fight with them. He couldn't help but sigh. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. Now the enemy's tactics are unclear, but you should take care of your own casualties.
"Three hundred soldiers died in the attacking army, more than a hundred were seriously injured, and the rest were slightly injured but still capable of fighting." Andrew sighed and said, "But those fighting outside the city died a total of 1,500 and injured a thousand. There were basically no seriously injured soldiers who could be saved. It was only a matter of time before they died. It is estimated that there are about 500 to 600 people."
"That means more than 2,000 people died, plus half of them were killed!" Luca said very directly. Of course, this was also very realistic. With such huge casualties, Luca had to focus on the enemy's background. "Street fighting contains too many uncertainties, which will only increase the casualties." Luca said, and at this time he heard the clanging of bells and bangs on the dark opposite side.
Only once did the silence of the night fall, and Luka was very angry! "Let the engineers gather and throw a few flaming stone eggs over to see what those damn barbarians are doing?" Luka shouted at the accompanying soldier, who naturally did not dare to neglect it and hurriedly nodded and retreated.
But after about ten minutes, a catapult was seen being pushed over from not far behind them. The engineers hurriedly pushed a round stone egg onto the catapult and then set it on fire.
"emission!"
“Crack!”
The burning stone eggs pushed by the catapult were like a meteor in the dark night, falling into the enemy's control area at the other end of the square.
"boom!"
The burning flint pierced through a building, and in the dim light of the fire, one could just barely see figures running back and forth.
"The light is not bright enough. I can't see what's there. Throw a kerosene barrel over there. Make sure it burns. Otherwise, I can't figure out what they are doing." Luka continued to order, and the soldiers did not dare to neglect it. They called and pushed a kerosene barrel over and put it on the trebuchet.
"Luga," Andrew said worriedly, "Isn't this too much? After all, you can't see anything clearly in the dark. If the citizens are hurt, there will be a lot of resentment in the future."
"There's nothing we can do. After all, we have to face the enemy now and we can't be soft-hearted." Luga looked grimly as he watched the soldiers light the fire in preparation.
“Crack!”
The soldier pulled the rope, and the catapult suddenly threw the burning kerosene barrel out, right where the human figure was vaguely visible.
"boom!"
The kerosene barrel exploded, and the surroundings were instantly engulfed in flames, illuminating the entire area. Even from such a long distance, Luka could clearly hear their screams. Many unfortunate people with fire on their bodies were running away on the street in unbearable pain, but they had no clear direction.
"It's lit!" Luga looked at the burning scene in front of him and he really couldn't believe his eyes.
"No wonder, after all, the Romans are their leaders." At this time, Luca couldn't help but verbally praise Tiberius, the leader of the Bagauda rebels, because through the firelight, Luca clearly saw that they actually built fortifications with stones and wood blocks in the dark of night.
"It seems that they don't have the strength to fight us in the streets, at least they think so now." Luga said, rubbing the iron sword on his waist with his right hand, lowering his head and quietly thinking about the corresponding countermeasures.
"But what are they doing this for? Are they trying to delay time? The disaster was clearly imminent, but they did not choose to escape at the first moment but stayed where they were and fought against me. Did they ask for reinforcements?" Luca thought to himself. He did not understand what Tiberius, the Roman who betrayed the empire, was up to.
At dawn the next day, the dim light allowed the Roman soldiers to see clearly what the Bagauda rebels had accomplished that night. They blocked the street and formed a temporary wall with the houses along the road. It was not very tall, only about one and a half meters tall. The fully armed Y rebels stood on it with bows and spears. They looked like they were determined to fight the Romans to the death. It seemed that they had chosen to defend the city, well, half of the city. They looked very old, but they naturally had the shadow of a soldier. They were probably retired soldiers who were re-employed in the army. These guys didn't know how to live without an organization. Luca felt that it would be much easier to deal with them than to deal with the mob.
Luga led his soldiers and rumbled to the other end of the square. Facing the Bagauda rebels who were determined to defend to the death, Luga suddenly realized how tired they were.
"If they don't have absolute strength, then why did they build this temporary wall?" Luca thought to himself, and he couldn't help but pluck up his courage to walk to the front of the army and shouted to the rebel soldiers in front of him: "Negotiation is your only choice now. I can see that you were all soldiers. Of course, I am willing to offer a good price to let you disband on the spot and take the money to work with us. It is better than fighting with your Roman compatriots here to the death!"
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
When it comes to money, these old guys seem to be shaken. They whisper to each other in private, and it is not difficult to see that no one has a problem with money.
"Every man, seven Souleds!"
Seeing their hesitation, Luga immediately quoted a price. It was an extremely high price, so high that every soldier standing on the "city wall" could not question it.
"I hope you can keep your word, respected Roman general!"
Just now they were so serious that they were ready to fight, but in the blink of an eye they were smiling and welcoming each other. These were mercenaries, guys who fought for money. They put down their weapons, and Luca showed his sincerity and asked the soldiers to carry out a box of money. This money was obtained by Luca from all the families in the cities he occupied that had connections with the Bagauda rebels. Seeing the money, they could no longer control themselves and shouted to tear down the "city wall" to welcome the entry of the Roman legion.
"Lujia." Andrew came up behind Lujia and asked, "We've given them so much money, what about our soldiers?"
"Then plunder this city and distribute all the spoils to the soldiers. Give more to the wounded. Andrew, don't forget that there is still half of the city!" Luca said slowly.
(End of this chapter)