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Suddenly, an adjutant hurriedly entered the command tent and reported, “Lord Dictator, Labicum sent a messenger and brought news saying that thousands of Volscians have invaded their territory and wish us to send reinforcements to drive them away!”

“How could the Volscians appear there?!” Quintus and Lucius shouted almost simultaneously.

They were perplexed because Labicum is situated not far east of Tusculum. In contrast, the Volscians were far to the southwest of the Latium region, separated by numerous Latin city-states. So, how could they suddenly appear there?!

After decades of fighting in the Latium region, Camillus already memorise the terrain and landscape in his mind. He was deep in thought and then said uncertainly, “Praeneste? Could it be Praeneste?!…”

Upon hearing Camillus’ words, Lucius said with doubt, “Father, this is unlikely!”

“Since even our colonies could betray us, why couldn’t they!” Quintus shouted angrily, “Previously, the people of Praeneste joined forces with the Hernicans and Volscians to start a rebellion. After we executed many of their people who participated in the rebellion, someone even proposed in the Senate to turn Praeneste into our colony after we conquered the Volscians. And now, Praeneste didn’t send reinforcements to join us!”

“That’s because they only have a few people left in Praeneste, and we still need them to have enough to guard against the Hernicans in the Trerus Valley!” Lucius immediately retorted.

Camillus’ expression changed when the two began arguing, “Both of you stop arguing! We now have an emergency! Quintus, you immediately lead the army returning from Signia, rush to Gabii to assist Titus, and block the Volscians charging from Labicum!” He then shouted with all his might, “Ensure that our army can retreat without incident!…cough cough…”

That surprised Quintus before replying, “Yes, Lord Dictator!”

Upon hearing the urgent news, Quintus became lost in thinking about how the Volscians appeared there, forgetting that the reason the Volscians were there was likely to be charging towards Titus and their army, which shows how the Theonians wanted to surround the mixed Roman army that went to rescue Gabii… Thinking of this, Quintus left the tent with an anxious expression.

Lucius noticed that Camillus, who was lying in a wooden chair, had a worsening complexion, and his hands were trembling uncontrollably. He swiftly supported Camillus’ body and tried to comfort him, saying, “Father, Titus is so sharp that he will undoubtedly manage to withdraw the troops smoothly!”

“…this is a scheme that the Theonians had long planned! The Volscians had never retreated to Setia at all…instead, they crossed the Lepini mountain…and hid in the Trerus Valley…waiting for today!… We had only paid attention to the city of Rome and trusted our allies too much…resulting in our negligence to defend the south…it’s all my fault!”

Camillus’ murmurs of self-blame left Lucius feeling anxious, but he was unsure how to console his elderly father. He could only tightly grip his arm to convey his support and encouragement.

“O Lucius… may Jupiter bless us with a smooth return to Satricum!…” Camillus’ aged voice brimmed with hope, yet his eyes betrayed a hint of worry, “…I hope that the senators and the people in the city of Rome can hold Mons Capitolinus as they have in the past!…”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Titus was taken aback by the news of six to seven thousand Volscian and Hernican warriors launching an attack from the south.

Unlike Camillus, Titus didn’t have the time to think why the enemy was there as he had to immediately give an order, “Medus, immediately withdraw the army attacking the enemy camp!”

“Immediately notify our soldiers and allies that more than twenty thousand Theonian troops have come out of Rome and are approaching us from the north! In addition, more than seven thousand Volscian and Hernican warriors are coming at us from the south! So we must retreat to the west immediately, or we will surrounded by them!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Commander, the enemy has begun to retreat!” shouted the adjutant, who was standing on the watchtower observing the situation.

“The army led by His Majesty and the reinforcements of Volsci and Hernici must have begun charging towards the enemy,” Finally, Phryntor said, “Blow the salpinx and have the soldiers pursue the retreating enemy!”

“Roger!” The adjutant then shouted excitedly, “Sound the attack!”

“Wooooo!…”

Once the salpinx sounded, the soldiers, who could no longer hold themselves back, rushed out of the camp under the command of their officers.

Sextus also commanded the Roman reserve soldiers to chase.

Despite Phryntor having already opened more gates to the west of the camp beforehand, it still took some time for the soldiers to rush out. Thus, the mixed Roman army soldiers, who were ready to retreat, had quickly put considerable distance between themselves and the Theonian soldiers, creating a gap of over a hundred meters.

Unfortunately for them, the speed of the Volsci-Hernici troops advancing directly from the southwest was even faster. These warriors, mostly light-armoured soldiers, ran hard and furiously. Although they were still more than two kilometres from the Roman army, they quickly changed direction from the southwest to the west, potentially blocking the Roman army’s retreat path.

“Go and inform Licinius to lead our allies’ army to hold off the Volscians and protect the retreat of the Roman army!” Titus said anxiously. Fortunately, he had positioned the allied army on the right flank during their attack on the enemy camp because his plan was for the entire army to retreat south once the Theonian army in Rome came out (It would be convenient for them to retreat to the south because all the Latin city-states were in the south). But he would now use them to block the enemy. As for whether it would cause heavy casualties to their allies, he didn’t care.

He shouted hoarsely, “Order for the whole army to speed up the retreat!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Licinius led about ten thousand soldiers from their Latin allies to break away from the main force and advance to the southwest.

He then began ordering his men to form up after learning from the mounted scouts that there is still more than half a kilometre away from the enemy.

He placed their allies’ heavy infantry at the forefront of the formation and the light infantry at the rear. Titus hoped he could block the approaching enemy while also hoping that he could quickly defeat the enemy in front and open the way for the whole army to retreat south.

But he didn’t have the time to wait for their allies’ generals to command the soldiers to form a phalanx formation because the Volscians and Hernicans were already less than five hundred metres away by this time, and they were in a loose formation, which allowed them to form up gradually while they move forward.

Licinius’ heralds repeatedly urged their Latin allies to quickly form up when the Volscian-Hernicans, filled with resentment towards the Romans, had already charged to the front and crashed at the formation of the Latin allies.

Licinius hastily ordered the bugle to continuously sound the attack, hoping to boost the morale of their allied soldiers to block the enemy’s charge and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

As the shields and spears of both sides collided, a loud sound of battle rang out, with dust and dirt rising towards the sky.

Under the relentless attacks of the Volscian and Hernicans, the poorly prepared mixed Roman soldiers were slowly pushed back.

Licinius, however, wasn’t in a hurry as he knew that the impact of the enemy’s long-distance charge would only last a short time. So once the front stabilised, the heavy infantry could then unleash their might.

However, amidst the sound of fighting, he heard a panicked shout from the right flank of the formation, “We lost, run away!!!”

“Run for your life; the enemy is about to surround us!!!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“What happened?!” Licinius became nervous and immediately sent his escort to check the right flank.

By this time, the Roman general commanding the right flank had dispatched a herald, who shouted in alarm, “General Licinius, the more than four hundred Bolani soldiers, suddenly got defeated when they encountered the enemy and began shouting deliberately, shaking the army’s morale. The entire right flank is in chaos, and we have lost control!”

“What?! Damn, Bolae!” Licinius was shocked after hearing the terrible news.

After listening carefully to Publius’ detailed introduction of the Latin city-states, Davos secretly formed a rough plan in his mind. He first sent Publius to send an envoy to Praeneste as they both believed they would be the easiest to persuade to surrender, resulting in Praeneste being the first to form a secret alliance with Theonia.

Then, Publius turned his next target of persuasion to Bolae.

This small Latin city-state, located west of Praeneste and less than ** kilometres away from each other, had already been breached by the joint attack of Volsci, Hernici, and Aequi when Praeneste rebelled. Only thanks to Camillus and his army were they saved. Therefore, it stands to reason that they should be grateful and loyal to Rome.

But Publius thought that wouldn’t be the case: When the city had fallen and plundered, the people of Bolae feared the Hernican and Volscian races to its south, so when Rome attacked Volsci, and even when they attacked the Hernicans, the people of Bolae had actively showed its support by supplying large quantities of supplies and men. With Rome’s strength significantly diminished due to the fall of Rome and the Roman retreat to the western Latium region while the Hernicans had made a comeback, Publius believed that the people of Bolae might act differently…

So, with Publius hinting to the Bolani about Praeneste’s surrender and even promising that Theonia would protect their territories completely, the people of Bolae became the second Latin city-state to ally with Theonia.

When Gabii refused Theonia’s persuasion to surrender, the plan that Davos had thought of before had taken shape and began ordering the Volscian to stay between Praeneste and Bolae quietly.

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