Rome Must Perish
Chapter 70 - 69: Quintus’s Siege Plan

Chapter 70: Chapter 69: Quintus’s Siege Plan

The middle-aged man named Calpurnius Scapula said eagerly: "I served for many years as an engineer in the Roman Army. I can help you make siege engines. Quintus—"

He pointed to the elderly man beside him: "He served for many years as the Chief Centurion, with rich experience in sieging. He can teach you how to attack Pompeii—"

He then pointed to the rugged man who spoke first: "Oluus was once a famous warrior in the Roman Army, awarded the Warrior Crown. He can gather over 40 experienced warriors, though slightly older, to fight alongside you!"

"You make me tempted, but it’s a shame..." Maximus sighed twice.

After entering the military tent, Quintus, who had been silently observing, spoke: "Since you have made your decision, why not directly let the leader who originally received us tell us at that camp? Leader Maximus, just speak your mind."

Feeling exposed, Maximus, a bit embarrassed, let out a dry laugh, looked at Quintus, and said in a deep voice: "Although the other leaders oppose, I still want to try. However, my soldiers are only 800 in number, and a frontal assault on Pompeii is definitely impossible. If you have no other way, let’s pretend I never mentioned this, and you can leave."

"800 men, and you want to capture Pompeii?! It’s simply—" As Oluus began to speak, Quintus bluntly interrupted: "Oluus, shut up!"

He immediately fell silent.

Quintus looked at Maximus: "Do you have paper and pen?"

"Yes." Maximus quickly brought them to him.

Unceremoniously, Quintus walked straight to the wooden table and leaned over to draw.

Maximus came closer to watch, noticing the elderly man quickly sketching an oval with lines and dots on the papyrus.

He looked up at Maximus: "This is the Pompeii City Map."

Maximus nodded to indicate understanding.

"The Pompeii City Wall is about two miles long, with the land-facing wall about 700 meters in length, the height of land-facing walls is five to six meters, and the sea-facing walls are two to three meters. There are 6 gates—" Quintus used his finger to point at the map he had just drawn: "Herculaneum Gate, Vesuvius Gate, Capua Gate, Nola Gate, Sano Gate, and Sea Gate. Pompeii has a population of over 6000 people, with a City Guard of 300. In case of emergency, at least 800 people can participate in combat. The forces defending the entire City Wall are actually insufficient for your entire troop but more than enough to deal with just your 800 soldiers."

Maximus stated calmly: "I must remind you, half of my 800 soldiers have armor and weapons, while the others have only farm tools and sticks."

"You’re—" Oluus began to speak again but was quickly silenced by Spukala beside him.

Quintus remained composed and slowly said: "A few hundred men trying to capture Pompeii, a frontal assault won’t work, only a surprise attack will. But since you have been at Vesuvius for half a year, if in April or May Pompeii was still careless, keeping the city gates wide open until dusk, allowing free access for travelers, but as your threats to nearby towns grew, all land gates of Pompeii began to remain closed, rarely opened—"

"You’re saying all land gates?" Maximus keenly picked up on a hint in Quintus’s words.

"Yes, land gates, because the Sea Gate is open." Quintus said as he picked up the pen, drawing a wavy line on the bottom of the Pompeii City Map, then pointed at it: "This is the shoreline, and this is the Sea Gate. Fearing you, the Pompeians closed all land gates, relying solely on sea transport for contact with the outside world. Pompeii’s supplies are brought into the port by merchant ships, through the Sea Gate, and into the city, so the Sea Gate remains open."

"You mean—if we want a surprise attack, the only way is by sea, using a ship to land troops in the port and break into the city through the Sea Gate?" Maximus pondered aloud.

Quintus tapped the coastline on the simple map, shook his head, and said: "The Pompeians built the city here because there is at least a five-meter height difference between the coast and the city, with only a sloped path from the Sea Gate leading to the port. Since all the land gates are closed, even if the Sea Gate is open, inspections must be stricter than usual. Trying to sneak in may be very difficult, and if you want to storm the Sea Gate, it may also be challenging."

Quintus pointed to a place on the coastline: "The port area on the bay side is at least a hundred meters from the Sea Gate. By the time your soldiers land at the port, the sentries on the city wall can easily spot you. Once the Sea Gate is closed, the Pompeians, shooting from above, you won’t even have a place to escape to."

"It seems with just my men, we cannot possibly take Pompeii." Maximus sighed deeply and waved them off: "If that’s the case, I won’t keep you—"

"Leader Maximus, don’t be hasty!" Quintus, seeing that he was about to be dismissed, spoke urgently without further ado: "Seizing the Sea Gate isn’t possible, but a surprise attack from the port into the city can be done!"

"Oh, why?" Maximus responded indifferently, showing little interest.

"Look here." Quintus’s finger slightly moved upward and then pointed hard.

Maximus then noticed an unconnected part on the left side of the Sea Gate, above the port on the hand-drawn map of Pompeii: "What is this?"

"Here, about 200 meters, there’s no city wall," Quintus said in a deep voice. "Reportedly, it wasn’t built during the city’s construction, possibly because the height difference between the city and the bay below was more than eight meters and the slope was steep, making it impossible for enemies to climb up, so it seemed very safe. However, after hundreds of years, the bay below the city has turned into a flourishing port area. The lower part of this un-walled city area is now full of buildings, and there are even people openly defying the Pompeii City Government’s ban, building three-story high buildings here to rent more houses to the poor of the port area—"

Quintus paused, his indifferent face suddenly twisted with some derision, he sneered: "The only family that dares to do this and leaves the city government helpless is Pompeii’s first family, known as the ’Pompeii Protector’—the Vidius family—"

Hearing this, Maximus’s heart was stirred: Isn’t the Vidius family the target this elder seeks revenge against!

Quintus ignored Maximus’s expression and continued speaking: "The Vidius family built several three-story Roman-style ’Hui’ buildings in the port area below the un-walled city area, their rooftops almost level with the city. We only need to get to the rooftops, place wooden ladders or planks four to five meters long, and we can easily enter the city from the port area.

The Pompeians, like other Campagnians, are timid and have never experienced war. With city walls as their reliance, they barely have the courage to fight you. But once you break into the city, even if you have only one or two hundred soldiers, if they don’t gather more than two or three times your numbers, they won’t dare confront you."

Quintus scoffed disdainfully and swiped his finger across the map: "Once your soldiers enter the city from here, you can run no more than 200 meters west along this road to reach the Herculaneum Gate, kill the guards, open the gate, and your ambushed soldiers outside can rush in. With 800 men and us combined, we can completely conquer Pompeii!"

As Quintus spoke to the end, his emotions grew somewhat excited, but Maximus merely blinked: "According to you, entering the city from the side bay seems easy, but how do we get a transport ship into the port? Given Pompeii’s land defenses, they must be equally vigilant at the port!"