Augustus Road

"Time flies and never comes back, but we are fascinated by love and linger on the insignificant details.￠," - Virgil

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Sparks mixed with gunpowder smoke, carrying the hard broken leaves of desert shrubs, swept across the tragic land of Shura. Rabinus's cavalry at the front all fell from their horses in the spurting blood mist, and many of them were covered in blood. Lead shot and iron sand, together with the injured and fallen horses, groaned and crawled in a pool of blood. The fireworks in the trench behind them were still rising, like a wall of deathly flames, dividing Rabinus's front and rear troops - —The cavalrymen who came later, for unknown reasons, were still risking their lives to break through the wall of fire and advance towards the hills.

Rabinus, who fell to the ground, had a pungent smell all over his nose. He tremblingly propped up his mutilated body with his left hand. His ears were filled with buzzing echoes of explosions, but the clear and exciting sound of bugles and the dense He could still hear the sound of horse hooves and the whistling of beacon smoke. He touched his cheek with his right hand, and a heartbreaking pain came - his right eyeball was knocked out and hung above the eye socket. There were bullet holes everywhere, and his cloak was completely torn. Rabinus struggled to sit up, and with his only remaining eye, braving pain and soot, he looked at the "Lius Army" on the hill. "The transformation of the formation: the two rows of soldiers in the first row who fired the copper pipes retreated to the back, dragging the scraps of the blasted barrels and the bodies of a few comrades who were killed and wounded by the blast, while the steel pipes were listed behind them. The reserve team of stabbing spears came forward with a huff, and continued to place the long-handled weapons on the forks, forming a temporary defense against the cavalry.

The soldiers behind the earth barriers and wooden fences shouted one after another and raised the compound bows and abdominal bows in their hands. Facing the cavalry who continued to charge over. Just violent ejection. To make up for the gap between the copper pipes being re-launched, "Damn it, we can't attack anymore. Lepidus deliberately set up this seemingly 'weak' trap. Is it really just like a cat playing with a mouse, to test his new tactics?" Binnus heard the screams and falls of the men and horses around him, and could no longer bear it. "This weapon is simply too terrible. It not only killed and wounded our cavalry men, but also killed his own subordinates." Soldier, is this Le Bida, such a cold-blooded and ruthless person, who can finally take control of the country? "

At this time, cavalry kept coming forward around Rabinus, but their mounts had no courage to break through the rows of spear points, which were bright and sharp under the dazzling sunlight of the desert. They could only run back and forth in front of the formation. . The brave cavalry above either raised their swords to fight, or dismounted and rushed into battle.

"Idiots. Let's go..." Rabinus just watched, helpless. When he saw the soldiers retreating to the second row, they began to use sticks with sponge heads to clear the copper pipes. As he was cleaning it, he knew that this strange snake that "spits out death fire rain" would soon show its fangs again.

There was another weird and dull explosion, like rolling thunder, that spread rapidly across the entire river from the top of the hills. Hundreds more cavalry were completely knocked down right in front of them, and their bodies were rolling around. Rabinus looked at all this with one eye, his whole body twitching in pain, "Come here, where are my followers?" he groaned, but there was deathly silence around him, "Are they all dead? Are they all dead? Is it my flag, my honor, one or two of my followers should be alive at this time, and help me stab myself to death. I didn’t expect that I would do this myself in the end. "Rabin." After Nusi finished thinking, he gritted his teeth and raised the sword in his hand.

As a result, he found that the blade of the sword had been broken, leaving only the hilt still in his hand.

"Oh Immortal God, you abandoned me in the end, but I don't want to see the day when the Republic is completely destroyed." Rabinus actually smiled bitterly, threw the dagger to the ground with a "clang", and then He moved back with difficulty, leaned on the dying mount, and sat quietly, waiting for death to come.

At this moment, on a high ground protruding from the hills, a separate shooting brigade of the Leo Legion ran neatly onto it, then quickly set up the copper pipes and began to stand condescendingly, facing the Tumul River. The Rabinus cavalry in front of the horse raft said, "Turn around, shoot!", and there was also a thunderous volley. Soon, the bodies of the men and horses killed by the dense shotguns fell into the river and were covered by the turbulence. The current carried it, and the floating congestion reached the "horse raft" downstream.

Rabinus's successors, who still had about two to three thousand cavalry, finally realized what was happening in front of them. Instead of breaking through the enemy's camp, their commanders and elite vanguards all fell to death in the ditch and the fire wall. Between the infantry lines, there was still a small number of cavalry at this time. Whether it was out of bravery or the inability to turn back, they could only bypass the wall of fire and attack from both wings. As a result, they were stabbed by the new legionnaires who stood up with spears. Stabbed to death one by one.

"The improvement in firing technology this time is still very complete, but the material of the barrel is still not good. The copper pipe must appropriately reduce the proportion of gunpowder, and the iron pipe must be used next time to withstand it." Looking at the gunpowder smoke and corpses on the ground, Li Bida was already He retreated to the camp with ease and began to think about the gains and losses.

Previously, many alchemists and craftsmen wrote in letters about how to ignite the gunpowder. Lepidus approved three points: it is unsafe and inconvenient to use ropes, and directly explore reeds and flints; in addition, accumulate enough saltpeter from corpses and toilets to explore better and safer gunpowder production; finally, use shotguns to launch the gunpowder. method, striving to maximize surface damage.

In the end, Li Bi Da spent almost one-third of his financial resources to equip about a thousand muskets for the marching shooting brigade of the New Lius Legion, so the rest of the brigade still had to rely mainly on bows and arrows and slingshots.

After about three rounds of fierce shooting, several followers came to him respectfully, held his reins, and said, "You should order all the legions to move forward, because the enemy in front of you has been completely defeated. Go and accept the great victory, Your Excellency the High Priest!"

Amid the sound of bugles and trumpets, Lepidus once again walked out of the camp amid the cheers of his followers and guards. All the new legions stood up, took off their helmets and raised them to salute the high priest. The shout of "Imperato" resounded through the sky. "Go to the left wing and tell Paluma, Angondinus, Callenus and Selha that I have defeated the enemy in front. I hope they will move faster. If they don't line up to welcome me into Labinus' fallen camp at dusk, then I will lead the new legions and attack myself, and don't bother them." Lepidus held the gilded baton and said calmly to the herald in front of him.

Then, the new legion of Lius shouted three times, stood up, carried the lances, forks and copper pipes on their shoulders, hung bags and flints all over their bodies, and walked in rows under the guidance of drums and flutes, stepping over the bodies of the enemy's numerous soldiers and horses and began to march to the other side of the river. (To be continued...)