CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 31: VICTORY AND SORROW

Inside the farm, Grabo, upon witnessing the situation, hurriedly dispatched the few soldiers he had left at his disposal. The pincer attack caught the rebel soldiers in a predicament. Just as the Romans were about to regroup and strengthen the farm’s defenses, Hamilcar arrived in time with hundreds of men. Although they lacked weapons, these rebels, mostly thin and born of slaves, harbored hatred against the Romans. They charged with their bodies, pounded with their fists, and even bit with their teeth, appearing grotesque and frenzied.

The Roman soldiers collapsed completely amidst the screams.

"Fight your way in! Follow me into the farm!..." Hamilcar shouted, brandishing his sword high.

The Roman soldiers inside the farm, wanting to close the doors, were too late. First, the routed soldiers fled inside. The soldiers hesitated, failing to stab these comrades with their short swords in time, and were quickly thrown into disarray, disrupting the thin defensive array.

The rebel soldiers then flooded in, launching a frenzied attack on the chaotic Romans within the courtyard.

If these Roman recruits fought in formation, they might have, with their superior equipment, withstood the enemy. However, surrounded by chaos, the rebel soldiers’ fierce shouts rang in their ears like death omens. Terrified and jittery, they lost all fighting spirit, kneeling down to surrender.

Grabo, standing on the main building’s balcony, quickly diverted his gaze upon seeing this scene. Yet outside the farm, flames raged in the Roman Camp. Those damned slaves, like beasts, madly pursued and slaughtered the escaping Roman soldiers, their screams echoed throughout the camp...

Grabo closed his eyes in agony, then sighed deeply, straightened his uniform, picked up his short sword, and descended the stairs: "I am the Legal Officer of Rome, the Commander of this army, Gaius Claudius Grabo, I am willing to surrender, hoping to—"

Before he finished speaking, someone rushed forward and punched him heavily, knocking him to the ground: "Damn it, you’re a captive now, why so much nonsense!"

Maximus recognized the violent man as Torquato.

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

Spartacus led his team quietly to the Roman Army’s camp. As he had anticipated, there were no defensive facilities on the camp’s perimeter, not even sentries, all of whom were sound asleep. Instead of launching an immediate assault, he first tried to gauge the camp’s situation. He then instructed Cross, Enomai, and Antonix to lead their squads from three directions to launch attacks. They set the tents ablaze, slaughtered the sleeping Roman soldiers, while Spartacus himself led a small team to infiltrate near the camp’s center. Once the killing cries rose and chaos engulfed the camp, they charged directly at the Central Army Tent, killed the guards, and beheaded Vidnius, who was standing in for Grabo to guard the camp, leaving the camp leaderless and incapable of resistance.

The rebel army successfully attacked the Roman camp, completely routing the Roman Army.

But it wasn’t over yet. When Spartacus inquired from the captives, he learned that 200 auxiliary soldiers of the Roman Army were stationed at an olive oil farm three miles away and some supplies were stored there.

Despite exhaustion, he immediately led 300 men and charged there.

The Campania auxiliary soldiers stationed there had long seen the flames and heard the killing sounds from the direction of the wine farm. Uncertain of what had occurred, they were too timid to send someone to investigate due to the night, and feared Roman punishment if they fled without orders. Only when the routed soldiers arrived, informing them of the "enemy’s surprise attack on the camp and the Roman Army’s crushing defeat," did they hurriedly pack up to flee, only to be intercepted by Spartacus and his forces...

When Spartacus led his team, escorting the captives and herding supplie-laden carts back to the wine farm, the Eastern sky had already begun to brighten with dawn.

On the hillside, laughter and chatter filled the air, as the rebel soldiers, having fought all night, continued their tireless work: some were boasting of their exploits the previous night, while others donned armor stripped from Roman soldiers, organized tents from the camp, or tested captured warhorses...

Upon seeing Spartacus return with his forces, they all raised their arms and cheered: "Spartacus! Spartacus!! Spartacus!!!..."

Other rebel leaders, upon hearing the commotion, emerged from the farm to greet them.

"Spartacus, it seems you had quite a haul on this trip," Hamilcar said with a smile, looking at the troops behind Spartacus.

"Indeed, we made quite a haul!" Spartacus beamed: "We captured over a hundred Campania auxiliary soldiers, seized a significant amount of food, and obtained a batch of weapons and equipment, all loaded in the carts. Additionally, we captured a batch of Roman Army’s slaves."

"That’s wonderful! Now we can temporarily not worry about lacking weapons!" Cross exclaimed joyfully.

"How’s the situation here? What are our casualties?" Spartacus asked concernedly.

Hamilcar replied: "We lost eighty-six men in battle, with forty-two wounded, but all with minor injuries, killed or wounded over twelve hundred enemies (over half of them were caused by their confusion and stampeding in the darkness), and captured nearly a thousand, including their Legion Commander Grabo... We haven’t had time to tally the seized weapons and armor. Most Romans were caught asleep during our surprise attack, and they left most of their weapons and armor in camp, so we’re bound to have made a decent haul, though many of our brothers have already donned the Roman armor—"

"Let them wear it; they’re all meant for our use anyway. If we had enough weapons and armor before, we wouldn’t have lost as many brothers," Spartacus remarked wistfully, causing the others to fall silent.

Spartacus quickly changed the topic: "Maximus, is breakfast ready? We’re all hungry."

"Our Supply Team members just returned from the mountain and are busy in the kitchen, but breakfast will take a while," Maximus answered truthfully.

Spartacus jokingly rubbed his stomach: "Oh, we’re all starved—"

"Spartacus! Cross! Enomai! Antonix! Hamilcar!" A rider galloped in, yelling anxiously: "Something terrible has happened!..."

"Okmar, don’t panic. What’s the matter?" Spartacus asked calmly.

"I was just chasing down the routed soldiers fleeing west with some brothers on captured warhorses, when not far from here—" Okmar pointed backward, his expression grief-laden: "We found many, many corpses! The captured Roman told me that, on the Legion Commander’s orders, they executed all the captives... our brothers... there yesterday evening; a total of over 900! Over 900 people!"

Spartacus and the others’ faces changed drastically.

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

A large elliptical pool, surrounded by Roman cement-built stone dikes, used by the large farm for irrigation, now held a heap of corpses piled into a flesh mound: empty eyes, twisted faces, multiple sword wounds on their chests, dried blood covering their bodies, clearly showing they had struggled painfully before death...

Maximus stood silently beside the pit, his attention drawn to a nearby corpse: white-haired, emaciated, with a wrinkled face...

Maximus recognized her; she was a member of the Supply Team named Saraya. When first assigned to the Supply Team, Maximus noted her frail build and, out of sympathy, suggested Hamilcar assign her an easy task in the kitchen. Saraya was always grateful, greeting Maximus warmly every time they met, sometimes offering a cup of sheep milk to quench his thirst. Although sheep milk usually had a strong taste, hers was faintly flavored and somewhat sweet-sour. Maximus hadn’t expected this old woman to have such a skill, and after becoming the Supply Team Captain, he even planned to have Saraya specialize in preparing sheep milk in a few days...