Chapter 23 Meeting with Kalenus (Part 1)

"The priest doesn't like to praise the tithe, but he must be ruthless when collecting it." - 14th century English poet Chancel

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Soon, Flaccus, with the chief battalion of the Lius Legion, rushed over and joined the battle. For a while, Dasius's subordinates could not resist, so he asked a few slaves to run over and tell the slaves who stayed in the camp without fighting, "Pile up all the baggage along the north corner of the camp, guard it with weapons, and prevent the enemy from looting."

After receiving this order, the slaves in Dasius' camp immediately did it, and then they extinguished the campfire, all holding axes, short swords and daggers, and stood around the baggage, anxiously waiting for the situation on the front line to advance in their favor.

At this time, the south and west of the camp were filled with the sound of killing. Lepidus's men were brave and good at fighting, launching fierce attacks in waves, while Dasius's men were numerous and powerful, and gradually calmed down their emotions and began to fight back desperately. Both sides were fighting, and javelins flew back and forth between the wooden fences and towers in the camp, and neither could do anything to the other. Often, a member of Lepidus's camp team climbed up a corner tower, killed all the guards on it, and threw down their bodies. Just as they were about to rush in to support their own side, they were counterattacked by the enemy with several times the number of troops. All of their own side was killed, and their bodies were also thrown down one after another. The situation was extremely cruel.

Seeing the flames of war everywhere, Audax, who had been lurking on the hill before, asked others to form a battle formation along the hilltop, and he led 20 personal soldiers down. It happened to be around the place without a campfire in the north corner. They slowly groped their way forward. They waded through a trench without horse stakes and thorns (usually a path left for their soldiers to retreat), and then built a ladder and climbed in one by one.

Then they used Latin and blew trumpets in the camp, shouting and yelling, "The general in front has failed, but we still have a way to retreat. Go to the hill by the river in the northwest corner and hold it!" The first to panic were the military slaves. After hearing this, they hurriedly opened the back door that had been closed, and then carried their baggage and luggage, and fled in the direction of Audax's "indication", the hill three furlongs away.

Then, some soldiers on towers and sentries where no battle took place also mistakenly believed it and began to run towards the hill. Soon the situation had an avalanche effect, and Dasius, who found that the reserve forces were nowhere to be found. He was furious at the front line of the fierce battle, and temporarily entrusted the command to his chief centurion. Then he led his guards to the north corner of the camp where the incident happened.

In the dark night, Dasius encountered a group of cavalrymen who were coming towards him with torches along the alley between the trenches. They were all wearing Sagem jackets and holding swords and shields in their hands. This time he finally cleared his mind and shouted twice, "Give me your password."

"Invincible Lius, for the glory of the high priest!" After the Spanish cavalry shouted these words, they immediately distinguished between the enemy and us, rushed up and fought with Dasius and his guards, and disrupted the command center of the Spanish Sixth Army at once - Dasius completely lost the command of the front-line team. He could only hold the sword himself and escape in the fierce slashing and stabbing of the enemy. The trench he dug himself to prevent horses hurt him. Dasius's horse sprained its ankle on it, and the commander himself fell into the trench, pierced by thorns and bleeding all over. He could only shout "Come and save me!" Everyone was forced to abandon their horses, dismount and continue to fight with swords. In the dark, it was impossible to tell who was who. So the commander's call for help eventually caused panic among everyone - even his guards began to flee.

At this time, Lepidus's troops quickly gained the upper hand. They destroyed the wooden fence, seized the tower, and rushed in from several breakthroughs, hacking and killing. Dasius's defeated soldiers were crowded in the interlaced trenches. A few people fought to the death, and most people could only kneel down and be killed.

On the other side, when the slaves all over the mountains and plains pulled the pack horses and baggage and fled from the camp towards the hill, they saw hundreds of cavalrymen lined up in a long horizontal line along the ridge. The eyes under the helmets of all the people glowed like hungry wolves in the night, and the Spanish machetes in their hands reflected the soul-stealing edge, as if they were waiting for them.

The slaves had no power to fight back against the cavalry's charge, especially the fierce and scattered Spanish light cavalry. After a few minutes, they fled again in the opposite direction, no, in all directions, all over the mountains and plains, and all the baggage and pack animals were abandoned.

As for the end of the battle in the early morning, the Spanish Sixth Legion suffered nearly half of its casualties, and the remaining soldiers and most of the slaves had no choice but to surrender. The dead bodies filled the trenches in the camp, and the bodies and armor of the dead and wounded soldiers were hung on the towers and stakes. Lepidus's troops also paid a heavy price of 400 deaths. The only difference was that he was the winner, and for such a victory, such a price was worth it.

The body of the enemy commander Dasius was found in the trenches. It is impossible to say who should be credited with the credit for killing him, or to put it more directly, he committed suicide - his body was torn by the thorns he had laid, bleeding too much, and no one came to rescue him in the dark night - so in fear and anxiety, he raised the sword in his hand and cut his neck.

From this point of view, Dashius was luckier than Labienus and Laelias. The latter two could not even commit suicide and could only die after suffering painful suffering.

"One of the legions that the Little Thunder God relied on the most was wiped out cleanly by me, and the city of Uriah, the choke point, also fell into my hands. Now I will personally sit here and fight with Kalenu who came from the other side of the Baibatis River for reinforcements. I will get in touch with the three legions of Sri Lanka. My next step is to capture the city of Corduba and completely encircle Rous Pompey. As for Sextus Pompey, let him be in the Ursau Fortress or the Xingilis River. It’s better to become a self-defeating thief and eventually perish.”

About two days later, General Carlenus, who had attacked the city of Corduba thirty miles away, received a letter from the high priest. He immediately collected some boats and quickly set up a pontoon bridge on the Baibatis River. And sent forward soldiers to build a bridgehead on the other side, and then asked Selha to entrust the task of siege to the city, but Selha said that we are both deputy generals of the high priest, each commanding a legion, and if we want to take action, we can act together - helpless Kalernus could only transfer this task to the Thirteenth Legion, because it did not have a direct commander for the time being, and the command was given to its chief centurion Quintus Polo.

Polo naturally had no way to argue with the two lieutenants, so the 12th and 15th legions headed south across the pontoon bridge. After a day and night of journey, they arrived at Uriah and came under the command of the high priest.

At this moment, the local elders of Corduba City had begun to send envoys to the military camp to discuss surrender with the high priest. (To be continued...)