Augustus Road

The clouds were right in front of him, flowing like an endless white ocean. Lebida was wearing an animal hair cloak, standing on a protruding rock, his eyebrows covered with silvery white frost, watching the eagle soaring among the peaks. Vulture, behind him is the endless marching team. ⊙,

"Great achievements come from hardship." Lepidus murmured this sentence to himself. He couldn't help but think of Leo, Paluma, and Eugit. These were all his children. Although there was a difference between biological and adopted, Leo He is determined to support him as his heir, and Uaget will become the king of the east according to the mysterious but extremely powerful "Sibyl Prophecy", and Paluma will abide by his instructions in the future. Instructions were given to go to Mauritania to serve as a border barrier in the west.

But the key to all this, the key to bringing these countries together, is Lepidus, and the brotherhood between children and brothers. But what about when he died thirty years ago? Or fifty or a hundred years later, when their children have passed down two or three generations, will this friendship still exist? When the conquest and expansion of the outside world has reached its peak, there must be internal strife between relatives. The war may be rekindled in Gaul, Italy, Egypt and Asia Minor a hundred years later - but I may not be worried. When this happened, the proverb of the Seris Empire laughed at this mentality and said, "No one has a hundred years of life, but he has a thousand years of worry." By that time, I had already entered the mysterious cave and turned into a skeleton like Caesar. Rejoice, sing and dance with all the dead before and after us, and watch the world from another level. All the honors and disgrace have nothing to do with us.

Bursts of thunder and lightning fell on the hillside inexplicably. It seemed as if it fell directly on top of everyone's heads. People didn't expect this. They were so close to the angry Heavenly Father Jupiter, "Hold your knees with your hands, squat down, squat down with all your strength!" According to the guide's instructions, thousands of soldiers and military slaves were on the snow line of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. , pulling the restless mountain mules, squatting in a dense crowd on the gravel slope. Not daring to run around randomly, everyone put their cloaks and leathers on their heads, trembling in fear in the flash of light rolling around. After a while, dense hail and snowflakes flew down, and now the soldiers moved one after another to get the jackets. The cloth shield is like a defense against the arrows fired by the enemy.

"Will it rain?" Lepida wiped the frost and asked Corolla, who was shaking next to him. "The guide just said that it won't happen here because the rain clouds have all sunk to the foothills." Corolla As he spoke, he looked into the canyons and deep valleys. It was completely dark there, and it was impossible to recognize anything. Mountain antelopes and other elk were jumping here and there among the cliffs.

The weather in the mountains is so unpredictable, sometimes it's windy, sometimes it's pouring rain, and more and more people are falling behind. However, because of Leo's strong logistics supply and abundant supplies, most of the soldiers have survived. As for For some of the deceased who unfortunately died, Lepidus ordered that the bodies should not be discarded at will. He ordered the military slaves to dig shallow pits on the snow line, collect them, and write their names on the list, whether they were legionnaires or temporary recruits. The Spanish volunteers will receive a pension afterwards, and then the pit will be covered with stones, layer upon layer, the deceased's javelin or sword will be inserted on it, and a cloth belt will be tied as a mark, "Those who come up later will be Let these soldiers be transported and buried properly.”

However, this sentence may really be just a comfort - most of the dead will probably stay in this snowy area and foothills forever. By the next year, their bones will have completely rotted away and no trace will be traced again.

Finally, on an undulating hillside, Korola’s mountain guide and the leading soldiers saw a few goats hiding lazily under the sunny trees, nibbling on buds. “These are not wild goats,” he said. Yes, they are raised by shepherds,” the guide said with certainty.

When the chief centurion passed this message to Lepidus at the rear, the judgment was obvious. "The most difficult part of this mountain has been crossed. What we have to deal with below is not nature but the enemy." The implication is that , they had already approached the forts and settlements at the northern foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Even in this mountain, the so-called "settlements" might only be a few families of mountain residents.

Lepidus ordered the entire army to be silent, dug a simple camp to rest on the back of the mountain, and continued to implement the ban on fireworks. Then he asked Audax to lead the team, consisting of four mountain guides, two centurions, and eight Spanish indigenous soldiers. , formed a special vanguard team, and quickly raided the mountain villages and arrested several "tongues".

"Where is the enemy's nearest fortress controlling mountain passes and roads!" the high priest asked majestically through the translator, with a forest of sticks around him, and axes and daggers gleaming with cold light.

But the captured mountain people knew it but couldn't explain clearly, "Audax, this is your dereliction of duty. These guys who have never seen the world can't accurately describe distances and shapes at all." Lepidus was surprised. He blamed him, and then asked one of them who seemed to be bolder, "According to your statement, the general from Urshao didn't demolish your houses and move them when he built the fortress?"

The guy nodded hastily. Seeing that there was something going on, Lepidah gave him a money bag, a sturdy cloak and a pair of military shoes for soldiers (mountain people like these things the most), and continued to ask kindly, "How about it? Can you do it?" I want to see the appearance of the fortress commander, or his name, if you can roughly understand the text."

The mountain man took a stick of firewood and hummed and drew Marcius's name on the ground. Although the spelling was wrong, and he happened to see the signature to the village notice, he forced it down. But this has done a lot for Li Bida's judgment.

"It turns out that the guard is Engineering Director Machius. It seems that he will fall into my hands for the fourth time. The opponent is a guy who knows nothing about soldiers. In the battle of Corfinium in Italy, he would get lost during the day. He was captured by our army. This time he guarded the road down the mountain, but he didn't even clear out the surrounding settlements - Audax, you go again immediately, this time you have to go deeper, I will give you two days , lurk carefully and survey all the terrain of the fortress opposite. As a reward, I will give this guide fifty silver coins, so go quickly!"

After Audax set off again, Lepidus ordered the entire army to disassemble the equipment from the beasts of burden and quickly assemble several lean and lightweight siege engines for backup. Then "the entire army is waiting for the order to set off and attack."

In the dusk, Audax and a few soldiers "guarded" the mountain man tightly, and cautiously approached the front around the long grass and winding paths. (To be continued...)

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