Augustus Road

However, it seems that General Ma Ge did not send "reinforcements" but family wealth. He brought 3,000 cavalry, 2,000 light infantry, and a huge team of pack horses. In other words, this general brought all the money in the southern city of Dio from The warehouse was completely emptied, and they took refuge in the port of Hippo, which really made Hitius both contemptuous and amused. ,

But Marco explained with a heavy face, "The city of Dio is located in the south, on the edge of the desert. In the past few days, many Getulian barbarians came to attack. This is a signal of a large-scale invasion by the desert barbarians - maybe The entire Kingdom of Mauretania has colluded with the enemy. The city of Dio is absolutely undefendable, and the royal capital of Kilta is also in great danger, so we still stick to the port of Hippo to watch the enemy's actions before making a decision. "

"How can you say such words? Kilta City was the previous capital of this country. Selene, the widow of King Yuba, still lives in the palace, and Otto, the financial officer who was originally placed here by Lepidus, Sir Gilius, he has not returned from Egypt to find the Seris Empire, so we must at least organize border defenses and strive for the orderly evacuation of Kilta City." Hitius flatly rejected Marco. The general's intention to flee east made the other party scratch his head with anxiety. "The eastern part of this province is all directly under the jurisdiction of the Romans. The envoy is Celeste who is stationed in the city of Varga, so defense is not what we are talking about. Forget it." After saying that, General Marco even held Hitius's hand in a low voice, "It's better than this. We can go to Kilta with the cavalry and leave all the infantry and armed immigrants in Hippo. This has a huge advantage, that is, if the number of enemies is too large, we can not evacuate from the interior, but directly take the widow of King Yuba to the port of Hippo and take a fast ship to Ooty. Ka, or go directly to Lilibi and meet with the respected high priest.”

This method is not bad. It can advance and retreat. Hitius then thought about it, and now the entire western Numidia. It was just me and this long-legged and erratic Phoenician general. If we didn't cooperate before the battle, we might lose all our troops.

So Hitius asked Mago to take all the cavalry to the palace of Kilta City, but the general refused easily, "It was my betrayal that led to the defeat of King Yuba, and Queen Selene has become a widow, and I don’t dare or have the shame to go to the palace again.”

Facing this frank and shameless man, Hitius had nothing to say. He could only bring with him 1,500 lightly-armed Hittius cavalry, mostly righteous soldiers he recruited from the desert. He left the Port of Hippo, handed over its garrison duty to General Marco, and left twelve light ships behind. He ran all the way towards Kilta City the next day.

Along the way, Hitius saw that under the dusty sky, there were fleeing camel caravans, mules and horses, and merchants and people carrying water bowls on their heads everywhere. He instinctively realized the seriousness of the situation, "We have to speed up, maybe the enemy's cavalry will We are not far away." After that, Hitius called a cavalry captain from Gaul and ordered him to lead four hundred cavalry to guard the flanks. He took the rest of the cavalry and galloped directly towards the palace. .

You must know that Queen Selene and the Caesar Party have a grudge against her husband after all, so she cannot fall into the hands of the Pompeian Party army. "If the other party shows any disobedience and resistance, she will be executed on the spot."

When the cavalry rushed to the arch of the palace, Selene was sitting on the chariot in a daze, surrounded by a wing of Roman cavalry, all of whom Lepidus placed beside her as guards after the defeat of King Euba. and the surveillance mission, "Dear queen, I am Gaius Keomenuscitius, the monarch of the four quarters in the north. I am now asking you as a representative of the republic, where is the whereabouts of this team?"

Selene's mind was unclear due to panic, and she didn't understand the language. She just kept asking Hitius and the cavalry behind him, "Is there anyone who can speak Greek?" In the chaos, it was her guard. The cavalry captain shouted to Hitius, "We are going to the Tara Palace in the southwest. There are complete barriers there and plenty of drinking water."

"It's a full fifty miles away from here. You will definitely encounter an enemy ambush on the way - now follow me to the port of Hippo in the north and prepare to leave here by boat." Hitius finished his words. , violent horse hooves and shouts of killing came from outside the city, "You must stay where you are and don't move, I will repel the enemy!" Hitius said sternly to the cavalry captain beside the carriage.

The bushes outside the city (such plants are everywhere in Numidia) are constantly pouring out enemy cavalry like springs. It is difficult to believe how they sneaked in that kind of place before, Hitiu Si Da shouted and led his cavalry to a nearby hill near the city. Then he ordered everyone to dismount and shoot javelins with the enemy's cavalry coming and going.

After fighting for a while, the attacking enemy dropped several corpses of men and horses, and then suddenly retreated like a whirlwind.

At this time, the four hundred cavalrymen who were originally responsible for breaking up the rear came to join them. The Gallic cavalry captain who took the lead said that he had also been attacked by enemy skirmishers just now. "Is it the same as this?" Hitius pointed to the man lying on the ground. Bodies on the ground, the inquiry said.

The enemy's corpse was only covered with a short shirt and held a crude javelin in his hand. The cavalry captain took it out and saw the round hole drilled at the top to make sound. He nodded and said that this is the kind of attire. The horses they rode had no bridles or saddles at all.

"These are not cavalry from Spain, but the Getulians. They were originally just barbarians who maintained the bad habit of cannibalism. Later, in order to fight against the Republic, Jugurtha went to their tribe, lined them up, followed flags and other tactics, This group of talents has learned the skills of war. It seems that the kings of Mauretania and Gaetulia must have colluded with the remaining Pompeii party." Thinking of this, Hitius's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked for all the cavalry. Entering the city, "Organize armed immigrants to defend Kilta City. Port of Hippo cannot go forward. The enemy is preparing to ambush us halfway. Don't be fooled - we will escort Queen Selene directly at night and head towards Wagga City." Hurry and meet the envoy."

Hitius is indeed an old soldier who has been around the entire Mediterranean. His guess was absolutely correct - after nightfall, the Getulian cavalry, who were good at operating under the cover of night, passed through the forest and set up an ambush in Kiel. On both sides of the road in the northeast corner of Tacheng, people were waiting with murderous intent for a whole night - but they did not reach their target.

At the same time, in the countryside outside Dengis Port, Rabinus and his two followers rode leisurely to the foot of a big tree, where the two kings, Bocchus and Saptaros, were sitting. Riding on horseback, waiting for his arrival. (To be continued...)