Augustus Road

"In war, opportunities wait for no one." - Pericles of Athens

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Soon, the sails and decks of the ship were damaged, and it slowly tilted sideways. Because the anchorage was still in shallow water, it was only half sunk and stuck in the mud.

"This is a natural barrier." Carapis looked at the half-sunken white sailing ship with satisfaction and said.

In the Acropolis, no one paid special attention to the handsome boy beside the legion envoy. The centurions were supervising the soldiers to train running and assembly in the narrow space. The cavalry hung ropes on the roof beams of the temple and practiced getting up and down from the horse's back (these war horses should feel lucky. If it weren't for the food provided by the Achaeans, they would be the targets of the next day). The Roman army did not tire for a moment, because Carapis ordered all troops to enjoy the food of the Achaeans to their heart's content and must eat it within three days. The next step was to die if they failed. In addition, Menander thought that the Romans in the Acropolis should have been starving to death, so he started to build siege equipment and launched a general attack three days later. Therefore, the Pontic soldiers no longer risked using wild donkey catapults to bombard the Acropolis. The sky was very peaceful except for the birds flying by.

After nightfall, after saying good night to the queen and Nico in the next room, Carapis returned to the narrow room, lay on the couch, and handed the sword to the "weapon craftsman" Adiana, "Be sure to polish it with clear oil and sponge." Then he fell asleep. Adiana, wearing a double-eared hat, did not dare to go out. Facing those rude soldiers, she obediently nestled in the corner of the room, listening to Carapis' snoring while carefully wiping his sword.

Two days later, Carapis threw a few coins to Adiana, plus a plate of roasted horse meat. The princess was a little offended by the smell of horse meat, but she still swallowed it with all her might. After eating, Carapis took the princess out of the small temple. The chilly spring breeze blew on her face. The princess couldn't help but tighten her double-eared hat and followed the legion envoy silently.

The square, the war tent, and the corridor were all filled with Roman legion soldiers standing and sitting, holding shields and weapons in their hands. They were in good spirits and satisfied with food, so they were fully capable of fighting and killing the enemy. Carapis stepped on the ladder, grabbed the battlement of an inner wall, and looked down - the Achaeans under the wooden shed pipes were struggling to dig the corners of the wall. The wall was also shaky, but the Romans surprisingly did not react violently, and the whole city was silent.

Outside the slope under the wooden shed pipe, there were densely packed Bronze Shields. Menander stood at the side of the queue with a relaxed look, watching the Achaeans poaching. Next to him was Stratonice, sitting under a parasol, to see the heroic figure of the Bronze Shield commander bravely conquering the Acropolis. On the coastline behind, there were several rowing boats. Once the Acropolis was captured, Menander would take the power of this battle and take the selected Bronze Shields on board to force the palace at Ponticapion. He and Stratonice had also negotiated on the funds. As soon as he boarded the city's dock square, he would take out half of the gold and silver that Mithridates had delivered to her, bribe and reward his subordinates, so that they would have enough strength and confidence to force Mithridates to die: as long as the body was handed over to Pompey and the Roman army was favored, then at least the reward from the Kingdom of Bosporus would be a small problem.

Under the main gate of the Acropolis, there are various siege equipment sites, supervised by Stratonis's brother Perseus, which are full of catapults, crossbows, and ladders, ready to completely suppress the towers of the Acropolis after the battle begins, creating favorable conditions for the Bronze Shield Army to attack.

No problem, after so many days, the Romans in the Acropolis have been starving to death, and they may not even have the strength to raise their swords. Thinking of this, Perseus' handsome face smiled happily.

At this time, he saw the Roman legion envoys with several centurions standing on the terrace at the top of the city. Everyone was full of beards and looked exasperated. "Poor people tortured by hunger." Perseus commented with a smile.

Heleptina and Adiana behind Carabis didn't know what the envoys came to this terrace for.

The answer was soon revealed. Carapis suddenly pulled Adiana out of the crowd, strangled her thin neck with his arm, and pulled off the double-eared hat on her head. Amidst the surprise, the princess's chestnut long hair danced in the wind.

"Isn't this your princess? She was captured by our army on a boat before. If you still have the slightest respect for her, let this hungry Acropolis go. We can guarantee the safety of her life!" Carapis roared with red eyes, and then drew his sword and put it on the princess's shoulder.

The bronze shield army on both sides and all the servants of Pontus saw this scene on the terrace. Even Adiana was frightened. Her little face was strangled red, but she still struggled to say: "Damn, treacherous double-eared pottery jar!"

Thousands of soldiers under the city and on the city heard the words clearly in the wind, and looked at this scene in surprise, not knowing what to do.

"What's going on? We are stuck here and seem to have missed the wonderful drama that happened in Ponticabia?" Stratonice said to Menander under the umbrella with a gloating tone.

Menander also laughed and said, "This will save us more trouble." After that, he raised his hands to the Bronze Shield Army and the Acropolis, "Don't be fooled, this is the last trick of the Romans. As we all know, they only know this trick and often perform it at the Saturnalia. That is a fake princess."

"It's the real Adiana." It was Perseus who shouted out like a lost soul.

"Fake?" Carapis grinned, then pulled Adiana's legion shirt down to her neck. The gold pendant dangling from her butt showed her identity as a princess. Hebrida beside him laughed obscenely, which was very vivid. As expected of an old soldier who had been in the army for many years, the effect came out immediately, but it made Adiana even more ashamed and angry. Tears fell on Carapis' wrist, "Is this the price you have to pay for letting me enter the Acropolis?"

"That's right, otherwise what do you think you are worth!"

But Adiana couldn't figure it out. She saw that the Roman soldiers in the city had enough food, so why did Carapis threaten and humiliate her in public? But Adiana was smart. She knew that this was Carapis's strategy to deceive the enemy: using this illusion of desperate actions to confuse the Bronze Shield Army of Pontus and achieve the purpose of an unexpected surprise attack immediately.

"You should have thought of it, because you are more deceitful than my woman Potti, Your Excellency - but there is one more thing, did you see the Achaeans on the slope below the city? They sent the food, and now I want to give them a bigger gift." (To be continued)