Augustus Road

While galloping, Paluma crouched low, the sunlight and wind in the desert passed by his ears like magma and flames, he felt that his hair was about to burn, and then he leaned slightly to one side, because Xiao Pigeon was a lame man, he could only be in this position on the saddle, following the sharp friction sound, he pulled out a pair of sharp Spanish swords from the sheaths on both sides of the saddle, holding the hilt with his backhand, his front body tightly pressed against the support point in front of the new saddle, his legs tightly clamped the horse's belly, and then a move, the opposite Spanish cavalry who had not yet reacted, was cut open from the waist to the ribs by Xiao Pigeon's sword blade like the wind, blood and internal organs flew out. ±,

There was another round of cheers, Paluma leaned to the side of the saddle, dodged the javelin thrown by the enemy cavalry, and then with a sword, he removed the arm of the enemy's team standard holder, and the team standard fell to the ground.

"Long live, for the glory of the high priest!" Following closely behind Paluma were the German cavalry who had switched to tall Cyrene horses. Each of them held a short barrel, and the horses' hooves flew across the battlefield. Then, a thunderous sound resounded throughout the battlefield. Red and yellow flames, with smoke, drew tracks and flew towards the startled Spanish cavalry. Many people turned their heads on the spot, lying on the saddles and fleeing frantically, while many light infantry were thrown on the spot. The clever ones had already pulled the tails of their own cavalry and ran away, while the unwise ones died under the long swords and maces of the German cavalry.

Paluma's new cavalry army rushed and scattered the Labinus cavalry that separated the 15th Legion and the rear guard. "Don't stop. Everyone change to the second horse. Tear up the blockade line of the 12th Legion in front!"

Fight until dusk. The two exhausted legions under Labinus also failed to break through the rear guard organized by the 12th Legion, and the cavalry responsible for the ambush was completely dispersed by Paluma. The two legions sent by Lepidus to rescue the city of Vaga retreated to the riverbed intact.

"Reward all soldiers and announce to the outside world that we have successfully ambushed Lepidus and won a brilliant victory." After nightfall. Sitting alone in the tent, Labinus spoke slowly to the token officers standing in a row in front of him under the candlelight.

Then, he covered his cheeks with his hands in pain: For a whole year, they braved the cold and heat in Spain and the Balearic Islands. The infantry, skirmishers, cavalry, and fleets have all undergone extremely rigorous training, not to mention the veterans. Even if they are new recruits, Labinus firmly believes that they can exert the combat effectiveness that is no less than any main legion of the Republic.

But. Today, we suffered a bitter defeat in the battle with Li Bi Da's main army. Although we killed and wounded hundreds of enemies, our four infantry armies each lost no less than 500 people, and the exchange ratio was three to one or even four to one.

Moreover, according to the terrified statement of the wounded, the enemy's cavalry had been "reborn". Many of them could spray out ghostly fireworks and sounds from the cylinders hanging under the saddles. In addition, the drums they beat when charging forced our horses to flee before the battle. The enemy did not chase them, but first brutally slaughtered all the light infantry who lost the cover of the cavalry, and then cooperated with their infantry to advance the front line, leaving our cavalry helpless.

"If I tried my best to train the army into an elite force of the same era as the Republic, then Lepidus' army can be said to have transformed into a monster that transcends the times in the past two or three years. In other words, am I personally unable to defeat the times?" Labinus muttered to himself, and then he sighed and lay on his back on the chair. He was extremely frustrated and stared at the wine jar on the flat-legged dining table next to him. This thing was just a decoration on weekdays, because Labinus never drank a drop of wine, but today was different, he wanted to drink.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, instead of relieving fatigue as the legend said, Labinus' despair and frustration deepened. He rubbed his nose and made a gurgling sound. His eyelids began to feel heavy. He felt very tired and no longer wanted to continue to be awake in these hopeless and endless struggles. Such pain would only become deeper and deeper.

"Then die gloriously, just as Pompey said to the Senate before the Battle of Thapsus, like an eagle, a real eagle, bravely crashing into the cliff in the midst of thunder and lightning, and being smashed to pieces."

The next day, Labinus ordered the bodies of the officers and soldiers of Lepidus who were killed in the battle yesterday to be lined up again under the city of Vaga, and ordered his men to brutally kill all the captured wounded soldiers in front of the soldiers defending the city. Some were nailed to the cross, some were stoned to death, and some were tied up and burned to death.

The screams and curses were all heard by the Hettius party who were still defending the city. Everyone's hands were tightly grasping the city walls. "Don't have any angry or reckless thoughts. Labinus was an executioner who liked to kill prisoners and former companions. He was a bastard. People like him should be imprisoned and hanged in the stinking dungeons of Rome. So we can neither be killed by him nor be caught by him. The best way is to continue to hold this area of ​​the city. This will be the heaviest blow to the enemy, making them angry and helpless." Hettius walked around the temple and the top of the city, constantly encouraging all the soldiers and citizens.

When the battle report was delivered to Libida in the camp, he didn't quite believe it at first. He severely questioned the three generals, Serha, Kalenus, and Paluma, and called the chief centurions, cavalry captains, and Hanske of the three legions. After repeated review and comparison, he finally confirmed his impression and couldn't help laughing, "In three to five days, we can carry out a decisive battle!"

Looking at the generals with surprised faces, Libida patiently explained:

"From the military reconnaissance the day before, it is not difficult for us to see that Labinus's legion combat power and tactics are not my opponent at all. So the time for a decisive battle does not need to be delayed any longer. As long as we defeat Labinus here, we will turn around and completely annihilate the enemy from Laelias, who took a detour, will not have any major battles to fight after I enter Spain, and the loss of my troops and supplies will be reduced to the lowest level - of course, the most important thing is that we still have room to reinforce Caesar the Younger in the battlefield in Greece! "

When it comes to "room", Lepidus can't help but think of the intelligence sent back by his spy next to Octavian:

Caesar the Younger is no match for Brutus in terms of combat, and has been defeated repeatedly. Moreover, Cassius has also landed in the Peloponnese and began to threaten Caesar the Younger's army from the side. At this time, Caesar the Younger has written letters everywhere, asking Antony for help, asking him to send an elite legion as soon as possible to fulfill the mutual assistance agreement.

"Poor Turinus, why don't you lend me a hand?" (To be continued...)

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