Augustus Road

"The Germans don't know where the end of this forest is, and no one has ever reached it. Someone once walked for sixty days, but still couldn't reach the end." - A description of the Teutonic Army in "The Gallic War"

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"Master, I didn't expect you to be more and more vicious now. Will you treat the mistress like this in the future? You are a couple."

"You are so long-winded, Habaluka, you are just an accountant and confidential slave. What I value is your loyalty to Julia. Do your job well and don't say too much. When I need your advice and suggestions, I will naturally consult you. You'd better keep your mouth shut at other times." After Lepidus finished speaking, he turned around and went back to his tent.

About two days later, the first battalion of the Roman Tenth Legion, which had completed the surrounding sweep mission, and the main force of the Thirteenth Legion, plus the 1,000-man battalion of the Thyme Legion, arrived at the city of Orcresi and exchanged garrisons with the rest of the legion troops that were originally besieged here. According to legend, the castle of Alcresi was built by the first king of Spain, Agundonias, with the help of ancient Greek immigrants and engineers. Alcresi is the name given to it by the Celts. Unlike other Spanish barbarian settlements located in steep mountains and river valleys, this city, which is steeped in the architectural craftsmanship of the Greek civilization, is located between two huge lakes. The lakes irrigate a lot of fertile fields, and there are rich silver mines over there. I believe this is also the reason why Caesar expelled many rebellious barbarians and concentrated them here. As long as this city is captured, not only can the unstable factors in Lusitania and Far Spain be eliminated, but also the fertile fields and silver mines can be put into the pocket of the Governor's Office in a dignified manner, and then auctioned for a large sum of money.

In the Roman positions that besieged the city, trenches and stakes stretched intricately into the distance, and flags for communication were erected everywhere. Behind a high hill, a huge pit was dug, and soldiers dumped corpses into it every day. They were all killed barbarians, including civilians killed by Roman patrols in villages. Their belongings and clothes were looted and thrown into the pit to be burned. There were black and white bones and limbs that were not burned everywhere, which looked like the terrifying teeth of a hell monster from a distance.

However, although the prospect of capturing the city was very promising, the city's battlements were tall and solid, surrounded by extremely long stone walls, and there were many towers and eyeglass forts. Barbarian soldiers were guarding every place. When Caesar returned to run for consul, he threw the difficult problem of how to capture such a solid city to the commander in charge of the Legion Committee.

To put it bluntly, there are currently only four people who have the final say in the battlefield: the commander of the Tenth Legion, the "rough man" Sextilius, who was originally the commander of the Seventh Legion in the Mithridatic War, but although he and the Seventh Legion had made great contributions, he was disliked and excluded because of his lax military discipline. Later, when Caesar was recruiting talents in Brindisi, he brought this fierce general to Brindisi; the commander of the Thirteenth Legion, Apis, was also the military tribune of the original Seventh Legion and the one who liberated Lepidus. He was a person who was very popular with the soldiers, but he was expelled by Pompey because he was too upright; Papinna, the temporary treasurer appointed by Governor Caesar, was said to have raped the one-eyed Setteulis before, and had a lot of negative information about the current Roman politicians. He was reused by Caesar because he was well versed in the geography and customs of Spain. Tian seemed to be frightened, and he was accompanied by a large number of guards when he went out and in. He was an extremely mysterious person. Another temporary treasurer and deputy general, Lepidus, was said to be a newly liberated slave a few years ago. His master was Luculas, one of the richest men in Rome. Later, he had a close relationship with Crassus and Caesar, and was promoted to a new knight and obtained citizenship. Originally, officers and soldiers said that he rose to power by relying on his unusual relationship with Caesar the Bald. However, he swept across the heart of Spain in half a year with only two auxiliary battalions of primitive troops in the north of Italy. Now, although his Thyme (many people have a strange feeling about this name) auxiliary corps only has one thousand-man battalion and two mixed infantry and cavalry battalions, it is still a powerful figure and makes people look at it with admiration.

As a result, at the military meeting, Psychedelius and Apis first had a fierce debate on the tactical issues of the city of Orcresi.

"Like the lightning of Jupiter, the father of heaven, we will strike the barbarians in the city. They are just a mob from all directions. With three elephants as the vanguard and the vanguard holding the pulley ladder, we will definitely be able to capture the city of Orkresi in the shortest time!" Psychedelius was full of enthusiasm and waved his fist, "This is the proud tactic of Tuna attacking the city of Amisus in the east."

"I also participated in the battle of Amisus, but the defenders before were entangled by the allied legions and lost their vigilance. They actually openly repaired the collapsed city walls, and were ambushed by General Luculas. But Orkresi is different. The barbarians who fled here have only irreconcilable hatred for us and a high degree of vigilance eager to fight because they have lost their people and land. Therefore, we can't be impatient, and we must carefully look for the weaknesses of the enemy's city defense before taking action." This is Apis's suggestion, which is very cautious.

The other two, Papinna and Libida, just stood by during the quarrel. Libida even took time out of his busy schedule to greet Papinna, hoping that he had a good rest in the tent these days and had enough energy to deal with various affairs. This touched Papinna very much, and his face became even more rosy and radiant as he stared at Libida.

If no one can convince the other, then the only option is to implement the old Roman rule: the rotation system of generals. Since the governor is not here, let the two legion commanders take turns to command the army one-on-one for a day. Both Papina and Lepidus agree with this (the subtext is "what does it matter to me").

After drawing lots, the result is that tomorrow will be the responsibility of Securitus, so he confidently said to Apis: "You just eat dried figs in the tent and wait for it. At dusk, I will use surprise tactics to take down this city and enjoy the honor of wearing a golden crown of laurel leaves."

The combat mission was issued, and Lepidus also had a mission, which was to take his subordinates to a high hill called Vera Mountain on the side of the city of Orcresi, responsible for monitoring the surprise troops that might appear from the secret door in the city. As for Papina, the mission he was caught with was to let him stay in the camp with peace of mind, which was in line with his idea, and he accepted it very readily, and wanted to eat figs with Apis to fight.

The next day, at the second quarter of the Roman day (equivalent to eight o'clock in the morning today), Lepidus in the tent poured out the water clock on the table and walked out in military uniform. His subordinates, playing the music of "Thyme", led by their financial officer, passed through the battlefields and fortresses surrounded by smoke, and headed towards Mount Vera in the daunting sunlight in the early morning of summer. (To be continued.)