Augustus Road

"Suppressive fire." In the established position of the cavalry cannon, a fat centurion raised his sword with full energy, then shook it a few times, chopped it down, and then there was a rumbling sound of shooting. This time, the cavalry cannon threw out not stone bullets or heavy javelins, but special fireballs that could burn slowly. One by one, the fireballs, with hissing lights at the tail, crossed the night sky in waves, and then fell into the charging crowd of the Helvetii. First, they burned in the grass on the river bank, and then formed a fire belt. Combined with the "Eye of Juditia", the sky and the ground were illuminated, leaving the Helvetii with nowhere to hide.

Behind the wooden fence, the Roman squad's scorpion crossbows clicked and fired continuously. There were barbarians everywhere, who were hurriedly detouring around, and figures who fell down screaming. The rest of the soldiers shouted and stepped forward one by one, extending the javelins in their hands out of the wooden fence, forming a wall of thorns to prevent the barbarians from attacking.

The 12th Legion kept fighting until the moment the sun rose. Fortunately, the ammunition they had stored in advance was sufficient and could be fired continuously without limit. In addition, the night time in late spring had shortened, so the Helvetics' infiltration attack lasted less than two quarters before retreating.

The sun shone over the Rhone River. In front of the 12th Legion's position, there was scorched grass everywhere, with bluish-white smoke still rising. The bodies of the Helvetics were mixed in, and animal skin shields and long swords were scattered all over the place. Lepidus, accompanied by his followers, rode on horseback to patrol. He saw a beautiful and agile skylark soaring through the sky and flapping its wings to fly into the clouds on the opposite bank.

"The Helvetic camp is completely empty!" A scout with a bugle ran to Lepidus from Asase over there, and reported after saluting.

Lepidus tapped the saddle with his whip, "It seems that these 300,000 people are moving fast enough, and they must be heading for the Sequani Pass, but they are carrying the elderly and children, so the journey will not be so fast. Sabo, Sabo!" Sabo, who was standing with his hands on his waist and watching the static battlefield, heard the commander's call, ran forward, and stretched out his hand to receive the commander's order.

"Go and contact the governor, and tell him that our 12th Corps has withdrawn the fortifications in the Jura Mountains and is taking the lead in the pursuit of the Helvetii in the direction of Torosades. Ask, no, I beg the governor to arrange other corps to keep up with our pace."

If it were on the battlefield in Lusitania, Sabochemus would definitely be strongly opposed to the commander's arrogant and bold plan, but now he has completely gotten used to it, and is used to Lepidus "commanding and mobilizing others" on the battlefield more than once, even the governor, instead of passively and humbly accepting the dispatch of his superiors. So this young man, who was similar to a staff officer, just wrote down the commander's draft order on the papyrus scroll with an expressionless face, then looked at the other party and saluted, then mounted his horse and galloped along the river bank towards the governor's camp in one go.

"I have already analyzed it. As long as the offensive of the Helvetii is blocked by the Jura Mountains and Lake Leman, they can only go to the Sequani Pass to reach their destination. Although I heard that these barbarians carry a lot of food, it is not easy to maintain the grain for 300,000 people and horses! So their next goal must be to bypass the Rhone River and go to the Aedui, Sequani and Allobroges tribes. So we should leave some veterans in the camp as soon as possible, and all the rest of the main forces should be invested in the pursuit of them. If I am not mistaken, the next target of the Helvetii is Torosades, a Latin colonial city in the province of Gaul. It has weak defenses and abundant grain. It is a key area that both the enemy and us have to fight for." In the governor's tent, Caesar was giving such orders to his staff and centurions. As a result, Sabokemus jumped off his horse in front of the tent, holding Lepidus's document and handed it to the governor.

"What, Lepidus has left?"

"Yes, the commander has led the Ala cavalry and rushed to the front. The infantry battalion and artillery unit have also set off and went along the Torosades. The military situation is very urgent." Sabo tried to make his tone concise. He was afraid that Caesar would catch the conversation and drag the commander out of the Dickman Gate.

Unexpectedly, Caesar laughed and complained, "This bastard, am I in charge of him, or is he in charge of me?" He put the documents on the table and began to shout to the service to prepare horses for him-"Everyone, keep the marching column and follow the 12th Legion."

Only then did Sabo breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, respectfully withdrew from the tent, stood by, and watched Caesar put on a gorgeous cloak, and galloped towards the road outside the camp in front of a group of bugles and scepters...

In a field on the north bank of the Rhone River, the light soldiers chasing Lepidus Daus, along with more than a hundred Ala cavalrymen, were counterattacked by the Helvetic rear guard cavalry in an area where shallows and bushes intersected. The poor commander of the 12th Legion was no match for the barbarians in horse fighting. His helmet was cut off, and the mounts of several of his followers were shot dead or sprained. They could only carry their shields on their backs and flee on foot with the commander. The rest of the Ala cavalrymen were either killed or dispersed. In any case, no one gathered around the commander again, and they all fled towards the direction of the large group behind them.

"Take a break." Behind the collapsed low wall, Lepidus jumped off his horse tiredly and patted the owl "Lady" on the buttocks. The owl hooted twice and ran to hide in the forest over there. Lepidus took out bread and a water bottle from the bag hanging under the saddle and fed them to the exhausted followers.

"These Helvetic cavalry are really powerful. Without the fortifications, we are no match for them at all." Sitting behind the low wall, Lepidus looked at his frightened subordinates and said self-deprecatingly, "But don't worry, we are just attacked by the rear guard. The 12th Legion is only seven or eight Roman miles behind. They dare not go too deep to chase us. Eat and drink in peace and wait for our support."

As soon as the voice fell, a large number of horse hooves sounded outside the low wall, which frightened Lepidus so much that his face changed. Is his own crow mouth so sharp?

All the followers quickly crouched down and kept ready to fight with swords and shields. Even if they all died here, they had to protect the commander and rush out of the encirclement of the enemy cavalry.

Obviously, the enemy also discovered their traces, but then came the command of the legion, "Bellode!"

One of our own? But Lepidus still didn't dare to come out rashly, but leaned against the low wall and shouted, "Mars!"

"I am the commander of the Seventh Legion and Caesar's chief lieutenant, Labinus. From your voice, it seems that you are the commander of the Twelfth Legion, His Excellency Lepidus." Over the low wall, the lieutenant Labinus suddenly appeared out of thin air, with a kind of mockery in his tone. (To be continued.)