"Distinguished colleagues, after more than a year of war with the rebel army, I believe we are all very clear that the enemy we face is not an ordinary band of rebels. They are cunning and fierce, numerous, and have defeated us many times before, so their morale is high and their combat power is not weak. Indeed, they are a formidable enemy, and only a commander with strong military capability can hope to win!
Moreover, according to the information we now have, the number of the rebel army has exceeded one hundred thousand, one hundred thousand! This is by no means a number that can be dealt with by sending one or two legions. We need more soldiers, more legions!
However, over the past year, we have spent a vast amount of gold and silver from the treasury, and now we may not be able to come up with enough money in a short period of time to form enough legions. Therefore, we need this commanding general to also have excellent fundraising capability, to be able to independently solve part of the military funding, alleviating the tension of the treasury—"
At this point, Little Sula intensified his tone: "After listening to all of this, everyone should be very clear that the most suitable person to take on the new command and set out to annihilate the rebel army can only be—Marcus Licinius Crassus!"
The elders followed Little Sula’s direction, looking at Crassus, who remained indifferent in the crowd, with mixed feelings. They indeed detested and even feared this man a bit, but just as Little Sula said, they could not deny that Crassus was indeed the most suitable candidate for commander among the Senate at this time.
"Crassus, Sulla has recommended you. Are you willing to lead the army to annihilate the rebel army?" Catullus asked solemnly.
Crassus stood up, his face serious, and said: "Honorable Catullus and dear colleagues, the rebel army is ravaging Italy, and Rome is in peril. Any Roman citizen should contribute their strength at this moment! I am willing to take on this heavy responsibility! I am also willing to use my own money to support the army at this time of treasury tension! But I have two conditions, which I hope the Senate will agree to."
"First, because the rebel army is strong, the army I lead must not be less than eight regular legions; second, during the period I lead the army to annihilate the rebel army, the Senate must not transfer me away halfway, nor interfere with any of my military actions."
After Roman Governor Crodianus suffered a disastrous defeat on the Sarabian Way, he fled in disarray with the Governor of Northern Italy Province, Casius, all the way north until they entered the provincial capital—Verona City, where they finally settled their minds, and then received the news: the rebel army continued northward, and the vanguard had already approached Rimini.
Crodianus immediately requested Casius to dispatch troops to intercept the rebel army from crossing the Po River, preventing them from escaping Italy, while also buying time for the Roman reinforcements to arrive in the Northern Italy province.
Although Crodianus suffered consecutive losses, as a governor, he was still trying to fulfill his duties.
But now Casius became somewhat reluctant.
Originally, when Dictator Sulla was alive, he had enacted a decree "provincial armies should not move south across the Rubicon River," but the two governors, upon gaining Senate consent, requested him to march south and participate in the military operations against the rebel army. In Casius’s view, with an army of one hundred thousand to encircle a motley crew, victory should be easily won, and he was more than willing to comply, thinking it was a free battle merit.
Who knew when he led the army to Ascoli, he learned of the back-to-back defeats of the two governors, and then under Crodianus’s request, he had to engage the rebel army on the Sarabian Way, and in the end, he lost everything he had.
At this time, Casius was worried about how to rebuild the two legions, and upon hearing news of the rebel army continuing northward, he felt incapable of resisting and thought: might as well let the rebel army escape from Italy, which could even reduce losses to the Northern Italy province.
However, Crodianus insisted, and Casius, having become the Governor of Northern Italy province after stepping down as Legal Officer, did not dare to oppose. Otherwise, if Crodianus accused him of "indulging the rebel army," his political career in Rome would be over, for Crodianus is indeed a governor.
In fact, the simplest way to stop the rebel army from crossing the river is to destroy the bridges and confiscate the boats. The Po River is the largest river in the Northern Italy province and the entire peninsula, spanning a length of one mile at its widest point. Without bridges and boats, the rebel army could only stand helpless at the river.
However, Casius did not dare to do so because Rome, in order to facilitate the governance of the Northern Italy province, successively built the Bobilia, Cania, and Emilia avenues in northern Italy, where except for the Bobilia Avenue which mainly used floating bridges, the other two were built with stone bridges spanning both banks of the Po River. These were constructed by Rome at the cost of enormous manpower, material resources, and time.
The Romans’ love for infrastructure is deep in their blood. Back then, when King Pyrrhus of Epirus repeatedly defeated the Roman army, he even led his army along the Appian Way across the mountains towards Rome, and the panicking Roman citizens did not destroy the avenue to delay the enemy. If Casius dared to destroy the bridge, he would instantly become a sinner of Rome, condemned by the populace.
Moreover, the Po River traverses northern Italy, stretching nearly a thousand miles. Apart from these three avenues and three bridges, there are multiple floating bridges and dozens of ferry terminals. In the short term, Casius could not completely block the Po River, but of course, he did not express such discouraging thoughts. On the contrary, he had to actively perform to show Crodianus that he was making efforts.