Rome Must Perish
Chapter 76 - 72: Raid on Pompey_2

Chapter 76: Chapter 72: Raid on Pompey_2

Although it was said to be assistance, it was mainly undertaken by the youth team. According to Volenus’s requirements, they also needed to organize the warehouse, check the inventory, and even make a rough estimate of the consumption for the next few days. If they discovered any potential shortages, they had to report to him in time.

Compared to the military training in the morning, Valles preferred the labor in the afternoon. It made him feel like he could do things like an adult, giving him a great sense of accomplishment.

After dinner, Quintus came over.

"Valles, how do you feel staying here these days?" Quintus asked.

"It’s okay." Valles answered nonchalantly, which was his habit when talking to his grandfather.

"If that’s the case, in a few days we will go back."

"Why go back? It’s nice here!" Valles became anxious immediately and said loudly, "Here I can have so many friends of my age, we train together, work together, and learn together. It’s much livelier than at home, and I’ve learned a lot! Plus, I can have three meals here, and the food is delicious. Look, I’ve even grown a bit stronger!"

As Valles said this, he clenched his fist and stretched his arm in front of his grandfather.

Looking at his excited grandson, Quintus listened to him speak so much for once and said calmly, "It sounds quite good, so shall we... continue to stay here?"

"Yes, stay here all the time!" Valles nodded vigorously, then impatiently said, "Grandfather, is there anything else? I’m about to go study!"

"Child." Quintus looked at him and solemnly instructed, "If I don’t come back, you must take good care of yourself here!"

"Grandfather, you—" Valles suddenly felt uneasy.

"Of course, the possibility of grandfather not coming back is very small." A faint smile crossed Quintus’s aged face, "The greater possibility is that after I come back, we can live happily together in this unit as grandfather and grandson!"

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Valles, who was guessing in his heart, standing silently for a long time.

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

Late at night, the bright moon was in the sky, and the north wind blew southward.

Camillus led 200 fully armed soldiers, carrying wooden ladders and ramming wood, out of the Guard camp, and under the illumination of the moonlight, they quietly headed west, bypassing the First Battalion camp and the Fifth Battalion camp, finally reaching the seaside, and headed straight for the five single-masted merchant ships lined up on the beach.

The waves crashed on the beach making a "swoosh" sound, and the sea breeze blew incessantly...

Camillus shouted with all his strength so that everyone could hear, "Brothers, Leader Maximus and other brothers are already waiting in front of Pompeii City Gate, it’s all on us now! Is everyone ready?!"

"Captain, stop talking, let’s get on the ship, we can’t wait any longer!"

"Yes! After training hard for these days, we can’t wait to be heroes!"

...

The soldiers shouted, and Camillus laughed and scolded a few times, glancing at Oluus beside him.

Oluus said in a deep voice, "Hurry up and give the order."

Camillus waved his hand and shouted, "Push the ship into the sea!"

The soldiers worked together to push the ships into the waves, then all jumped into the ships. The assigned sailors adjusted the angle of the sails, and as soon as the cloth sails were lowered, they caught the full north wind.

Under the strong pushing power of the wind, the other soldiers didn’t even need to row the oars, and the ships quickly sailed away from the shore...

The soldiers piloted the ships, racing south along the coastline like arrows. Although the night wind was quite strong, from Misenum Cape to Atheneum Cape, including the coastal towns like Napolet and Pompeii, there was a circular bay (Napolet Bay), which weakened the waves from the open sea. Moreover, most of the soldiers were experienced sailors, so even when sailing at night, there were no significant risks along the way.

After more than ten minutes, the soldiers saw a bright light on the coastline ahead, which was the harbor lighthouse. However, the soldiers familiar with the local routes didn’t take any action because it was Helanikum City.

A while later, when they saw the second bright light, Camillus standing on the lead ship immediately ordered to take down the sails, and the soldiers began to row hard, turning the ship swiftly toward the shore...

Camillus stared intently at the shore, and with the light of the lighthouse, he exclaimed, "Not this port, further ahead! ... This is the port, that’s it! Row hard, rush in!"

The soldiers rowed vigorously, the ship broke through one black wave after another, and rushed into Pompeii New Port, which was the reception area for foreign merchant ships. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th ships followed closely, and soon the urgent sound of bells rang out in the port area...

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

Maximus led the main force of the Guard and some of the heads of the Supply Camp away from the camp at dusk, leaving the entire Guard camp completely empty.

To avoid being detected by the First Battalion, the army first moved southward to the hilltop camp abandoned by the rebel army, then turned westward. After reaching the coast, they advanced rapidly southward along the flat coastal road.

Due to the existence of the rebel army, few people wandered outside in the Vesuvius Region during the day, and even more so at night.

The headquarters of the rebel army was about 20 miles away from Pompeii, and with no burden carried by the army, their marching speed was quite fast. After a few hours, they reached the north of Pompeii, at the time of absolute silence, lurking less than 500 meters from Pompeii City. This was the edge of the Vesuvius South Slope, with undulating terrain, densely wooded areas, and overgrown weeds, hard for the city gate sentries to detect.

The soldiers lay on the ground to rest, regaining strength.

Maximus gazed at the distant Pompeii City under the night sky, looking like a giant beast lying asleep, with the faint light of the torch on the Helanicum Gate resembling one of its eyes, always closed.

He turned his eyes to the west, where it was all pitch black, making it hard to distinguish between the sky and the sea, with only the constant sound of the waves echoing in his ears...

"It is still early, and the raiding team should not have set out yet," Quintus said beside him.

"How do you know?" Maximus asked curiously, not questioning. Traveling mostly under the cover of darkness, he didn’t carry a water clock, so he had no way of knowing the time.

Quintus pointed ahead and said, "Look at those sentries. People become naturally tired late at night, and without supervision, sentries will instinctively ignore Military Law and rest against the wall. Only those who have undergone rigorous training and experienced harsh battles will stick to discipline, knowing that temporary ease may lead to disaster. But clearly, the Pompeians aren’t, as those sentries are still able to patrol back and forth, indicating there is still time, so Leader Maximus, you don’t need to worry, you can rest properly first."

Maximus nodded, couldn’t help but ask, "Quintus, aren’t you worried?"

"If you are referring to the sea raid, I have no worries. Enough preparations were made in advance, and if it still fails, it can only be attributed to the arrangement of the Goddess of Destiny," Quintus said calmly. "The only thing I’m a bit worried about is that after the fall of the city, Areyous Vettius might escape."

Maximus looked at the weathered old soldier, then silently turned his eyes back to Pompeii City...

Previously, Maximus dared to make the decision of a night attack on Pompeii City because if it failed, his loss would be only 200 soldiers. Although he would face criticism from Spartacus and other leaders, it wouldn’t shake his position as the head of the Supply Camp, and he could regain lost prestige through effort later.