Rome Must Perish-Chapter 278 - 174 Disembark with Power_2

The normally brave Andres was also horrified at this moment: the distance from here to the enemy’s encampment walls was more than 50 meters, yet the enemy’s short spears could still be thrown this far with such terrifying power!

Andres didn’t have time to think. He turned around to run back while shouting, "Quick! Retreat!—"

Just as the words left his mouth, a shadow flashed before his eyes, followed by a warrior’s wretched scream. This time, two warriors were skewered together by a short spear.

Then another spear came flying...

Fortunius saw that the short spear he shot out did not hit the enemy’s Great Chief, and he slapped his thigh in frustration, turning back a bit ashamedly to say, "Leader, I’ve only been using this crossbow for a few days, and I’m not fully accustomed to it yet—"

Maximus pointed forward, "He’s still there, you have another chance."

Fortunius immediately lay back behind the crossbow to aim, shouting, "Quickly open the bow! Prepare the spears!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the left wooden tower shoot out a spear, followed by the right one. Apparently, the crossbow archers on these towers mimicked Fortunius after his shot, as the cavalry in front of the camp were also within their range.

"These guys dare to steal my credit!" Fortunius roared, then calmed down and squeezed the trigger after aiming again.

Quintus saw that the Pannonian cavalry in front of the camp was somewhat confused under the crossbow’s surprise attack and immediately suggested, "Leader, I think we can send some Centurions out of the camp to pursue them a little, boost our soldiers’ morale."

"Alright." Maximus nodded.

Soon, the camp gate’s drawbridge was lowered over the moat, and four Centurions rushed out one after another, sprinting along the safe road in front of the camp towards the Pannonian cavalry.

At that moment, Andres and Temagis were desperately scrambling backward on all fours, not daring to get back on their warhorses, as they dared not linger at all in the face of the constantly flying short spears.

Finally, they managed to retreat beyond the range, only to suddenly see several teams rushing out from the waiting Pannonian Allied forces at the rear, shouting loudly as they charged towards them.

It turned out that the Pannonian Allied forces, waiting at the rear, did not know that there were traps in front of the enemy camp and crossbow shooting due to the distance. They only saw their cavalry lingering there for a long time and then decided to charge out of the camp. Out of concern for their Great Chief, Segestica and Desitia each dispatched a thousand-man unit to come to the rescue.

Seeing the situation, Andres and Temagis hurriedly mounted their horses, waving and shouting urgently to the approaching warriors, "Stop! Go back! Go back!..."

The advancing Pannonian units had spread out during their charge, completely drowning out the shouts of Andres and Temagis. Apart from a few close to them, most soldiers not only didn’t stop but instead accelerated because they saw the enemy in front finishing off their injured cavalry brethren, which ignited their rage...

Just then, the copper horn for retreat sounded in the camp, and the Nix Tribe Soldiers outside the camp began to withdraw...

The Pannonian warriors saw this and gave chase, but soon some warriors stepped into traps and fell with screams. At first, this didn’t attract much attention until more fell, and everyone realized there were traps.

As they halted their pursuit, short spears shot out from the camp again, causing panic once more...

The Nix Tribe Soldiers, who were originally retreating, turned back and charged again. The Pannonian warriors lost their fighting spirit and retreated...

The Nix Tribe Soldiers took the opportunity to clean the battlefield and retrieved the short spears they had thrown.

Since the Nix Tribe was just established and hadn’t set up a furnace to forge weapons, the short spears fired by crossbows were made by cutting down Segestica warriors’ long spears they had captured before, with a wooden socket fitted to the end to hook onto the bowstring... This was quite wasteful, but there was no other choice, so they treasured them.

When the soldiers returned to the camp carrying five or six dying warhorses, a chorus of cheers erupted inside the camp.

Maximus, overseeing the cheering soldiers walking on the wooden wall, smiled, "I didn’t expect the enemy to give us a victory just upon their arrival, helping us boost morale!"

"However, they’ll learn from this. Next time they attack, they’ll likely be better prepared, and it won’t be so easy to repel them," Quintus reminded.

"I’m actually hoping their entire army presses on us so our camp can truly show its strength!" Maximus said confidently.

They exchanged smiles.

The Nix Tribe celebrated joyfully, while the Pannonian Allied forces were despondent after a small setback.

The previously confident Andres was now frowning. After a brief discussion with Temagis and the leaders of the other two reinforcements, he reluctantly gave the order for the "army to return to the eastern camp."

The army had just arrived and was already returning; it wasn’t even noon yet... Andres made this decision out of sheer helplessness.

Due to the "mercenaries’" tight blockade earlier, he couldn’t learn about the enemy’s camp situation, so he was preparing to attack. But he never anticipated that these "mercenaries" could transform a simple camp into a well-defended fortress in just a month (Andres considered the mercenary camp’s outer wooden wall better built than the Segestica Main Camp, hence it was not merely a camp but a fortress).

In his past battles, he had never attacked a fortress like this. This minor defeat made him realize that he needed ample preparation for future assaults, or else defeat awaited him. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The Pannonian Allied forces returned to the camp, and after a long discussion among Andres, Temagis, and other military leaders, they finally formulated an attack plan and sent a messenger to the Segestica Main Camp.

The next day, Andres led his army across the Kolana River, halting three miles from the "mercenaries’" camp.

Andres first dispatched cavalry to monitor the "mercenaries’" camp movements, then sent a third of his warriors into the western mountains to cut down trees, another third to clear the ground and set up tents...

He planned to construct several temporary camps between the two marshes to the east and the mountains to the west, allowing the allied forces to station there, thus facilitating a nearby advance on the "mercenaries’" camp.

Andres positioned his tribe’s camp facing the "mercenaries’" camp, as it was the closest to the enemy. He felt it inappropriate to let the reinforcements take the highest risk, so he faced the front himself.

The Desitia reinforcements’ camp was near the mountains, which also posed some risk since the enemy might flank the mountains for a surprise attack, so he had his closest ally, Temagis, lead troops to station there.

The camps of Brochi and Mazi reinforcements were arranged eastward, having already passed through the open ground between the marshes and extending to the Kolana River.

Each camp was spaced out, and the tents within were quite sparse, stretching the Pannonian Allied Camp four miles north to south and over five miles east to west...

Andres believed that, even if their camp was simply surrounded by wooden fences and did not serve much defensive purpose if the mercenaries dared to launch a raid, their camp’s width and length would allow enough time for the rear forces to organize a counterattack, possibly encircling the enemy within the camp itself. He actually hoped for such a scenario, as it would be far better than a frontal assault on the enemy camp.

Andres was satisfied with his arrangements. The only slight issue was the abundance of mosquitoes near the marsh. However, the Pannonians originally lived along the Sava and Delaware Rivers, both equally swamp-laden. They had their ways of dealing with it, and having long been bitten by mosquitoes, their bodies were quite adapted.