Chapter 71: Preparations Before the Surprise Attack
“At sea, the people of Pompeii are far less vigilant than they are on land, because you, the rebels, don’t have a fleet or control any ports. The Pompeians do not consider you capable of threatening their safety from the sea. In fact, these coastal towns in Campania haven’t faced an attack from the sea for over a hundred years. Their harbor defenses are extremely weak.
“Take Pompeii, for example. Its port area has five harbors. The two built earlier were equipped with water gates, but later, as maritime trade flourished, the original harbors became insufficient, so two more were constructed. However, these were built for convenience in access and lacked water gates or chains for blocking entry. There isn’t even a patrol ship outside the port area, and the only early warning system is the lighthouse keeper. But if a ship is disguised beforehand, they might not immediately detect anything unusual.”
“What about the other port?” Maximus asked attentively.
“That one belongs to the Vettii family. It’s a private port, only allowing their family’s merchant ships and those they have trade agreements with to enter and exit,” Quintus replied coldly. “This private port has a long breakwater and water gates, with watchtowers on the breakwater. The defenses are quite complete, but unfortunately, protecting just this one port is of little use…”
The old man radiated resentment as soon as he mentioned the Vettii family of Pompeii, prompting Maximus to quickly change the subject: “We’ve solved the problem of entering the port, but there’s still one issue—we don’t have any ships.”
Quintus looked at him with a strange expression, as if saying, “Young man, are you joking?”
The middle-aged man, Aulus, interjected, “I heard earlier that a large number of sailors and dock workers joined your ranks, leaving the ports outside Naples almost deserted. Some sailors even stole ships from the ports as they fled, rowing them to beaches near your camp, where they became stranded. Later, you set up another camp near the coast, and the people of Naples didn’t dare to retrieve those stranded ships…”
As he spoke, Maximus suddenly recalled that the camp closer to the coast was that of the Fifth Battalion under Artemus. Artemus had even mentioned to him the idea of sending soldiers to sea to fish, to help increase the food reserves for the rebel army… but the suggestion was never followed through, and Maximus hadn’t asked why. But at least this indicated one thing—there were ships in Artemus’ camp.
Maximus stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then smiled, “You are truly impressive! After learning that I have few troops, you’ve managed to devise such a thorough surprise attack plan so quickly. I must say, I am deeply impressed!”