A week passed, and Septimus had already recovered new clone soldiers to replace the dead.
The outskirts of the city of Capua presented a diabolical scene.
Thousands of spears or wooden stakes stood like a forest, displaying between 5 and 10 severed human heads.
Thousands of Roman soldiers perished, and the number of men and elderly from all social classes who were killed inside the city of Capua added a considerable number of new severed heads.
Septimus did not have enough spears or wooden stakes to impale the large number of human heads.
The clone army had to improvise and impale multiple heads on a single spear.
The forest of spears and heads stretched beyond the entire battlefield, covering an enormous expanse of land.
Hundreds of crows feasted, pecking at the eyes of the corpses while cawing over the banquet of human eyes.
The scene of the forest of heads was infernal.
Inside the city of Capua, a patrol of legionaries in black armor, with standards of human heads impaled on spears, carried out a thorough inspection through the streets of the city.
Patrols of clone soldiers roamed throughout the city of Capua, searching for possible targets who had escaped the massacre.
Capua had become a city full of women and children, with few men well hidden within the city.
Most of the men and elderly of the city had been indiscriminately massacred.
From the most humble beggar to the most powerful noble, they had all tasted the edge of the swords of the clone legionaries.
Inside an abandoned house in the city of Capua, a 19-year-old young freedman hid in fear.
The young freedman had been hiding inside the latrines when the black-armored legionaries began their systematic massacre.
Fortunately for the young freedman, he managed to escape death.
For nearly a week, the young freedman left the latrines to drink water from the buckets used to clean them.
The water in the wooden bucket had a stagnant smell that grew stronger with each passing day, but the young man endured the stomach discomfort caused by drinking contaminated water for almost a week.
Finally, hunger overcame the will of the young freedman, and during the night he left the latrine to wander in search of food.
The young freedman was very thin and dirty; as a result, he escaped several times from being captured by the clone patrol.
While the young freedman explored in search of food, he noticed a small house with two women and a little girl of about 5 or 6 years old.
The two women were grinding wheat to make bread, while the girl was playing with a straw doll.
The young freedman's eyes turned green with hunger as he stared at the wheat.
The young freedman did not realize that behind him, a clone soldier was watching him coldly.
Before the young freedman could grab the stone beside him to steal the wheat, a sharp short sword pierced his chest from behind.
The young freedman showed an expression of disbelief as he gazed longingly at the wheat. During the past few days, hunger had driven the young freedman to madness.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout the city of Capua.
Many men managed to hide within the city of Capua, effectively avoiding the search of the clone legionaries.
Septimus deployed a large number of clone soldiers to watch over the women and children within the city to prevent misfortune.
The clone soldiers also distributed food to the survivors of the city.
The region of Campania was a territory known for its great grain production; after the death of more than half the population, the looted grain was enough to feed the other half for two full years.
The women and children within the city of Capua spontaneously gathered in small groups.
Many women of the city of Capua lost their husbands, brothers, fathers, and so on.
The city of Capua had the atmosphere of having survived the apocalypse.
Septimus trusted that he could pacify the city over time. The hatred of the women of the city of Capua would diminish with the passage of time.
On the other hand, before the news of the battle of Capua began to spread, good news arrived from Sulla's side.
The acting proconsul of Africa, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, led two legions from Africa and joined Sulla.
Pompey, at the head of three legions in a mutiny, was advancing toward Brindisi, attempting to join Sulla.
In response to Pompey's rebellion, the Roman Senate sent one legion, and the consul Norbanus sent two legions to intercept Pompey, but the Roman legions were defeated. Pompey and Sulla successfully joined forces.
Sulla originally had five Roman legions, 6,000 cavalry, and one Greek legion.
Adding Metellus' two legions and Pompey's three, they formed a formidable force of 11 legions and nearly 9,000 cavalry, which exerted enormous pressure on Norbanus.
However, with Septimus joining the war, Sulla's side had enough strength to challenge Rome and win.
Pompey finally met with Sulla, who now had 11 legions and nearly 10,000 cavalry.
Sulla gathered all his forces to march toward the city of Rome after delivering an inspiring speech.
The sun was just rising, and a reddish glow still hung over the sky. The sound of hooves broke the silence as a dozen light Numidian horsemen chased a rider ahead.
As the most famous cavalry of Africa, they had played an important role in the Punic Wars, causing considerable trouble for the Romans.
The Numidian riders served as excellent scouts while guiding the path of Sulla's army.
At that moment, Sulla reprimanded a distinguished-looking young man: "Crassus, your father, your brothers, your relatives— all have been killed by the enemy. I only sent you to recruit soldiers, and you expect me to protect you? How can you do this to your family?"
Now Sulla's pressure was not comparable to the original history thanks to Septimus' interference.
Sulla faced Rome with a slight advantage in the number of soldiers, also adding the advantage of more experienced legionaries from the Greek campaign.
Although Sulla had the advantage in the war, he was not a man who would relax without having completely won it.
When Sulla learned that Crassus was sending troops to protect himself, he became enraged.
Upon hearing this, the young man's face turned pale and then flushed. Recruiting soldiers would require crossing vast stretches of enemy territory; he only needed a squad of guards for his safety—what was wrong with that?
But he did not dare to object and could only say helplessly, "I understand, I'm leaving."
Sulla could only sigh.
Since Sulla landed in Rome, the difficult war did not occur, and Sulla's side gained a great advantage.
From small victories to the great battle of Capua, which eliminated nearly half of the Roman army.
It was certain that Sulla would win the civil war.