Augustus Road

"Manual laborers are a despicable mob whose business it is to produce what virtuous men need." - Plato

——————————————————————

The auxiliary barbarian cavalry of the Roman legion quickly penetrated the right wing of the Gunilin people who were attacking the position at the foot of the mountain. Then they turned their horses to the right very skillfully (the Gaulish and German cavalry could only turn their mounts to the right, just like the Fu countrymen). (can only drive in right-hand drive), smashed the back of the Gunilin to pieces. Caesar's four legions and Lepidus' men worked together to push forward, and what happened next was just as Sabo had predicted. Early the next morning, the corpses of the ancient Nilin people in the wilderness were like sheaves of wheat that had been cut down. But their remaining few thousand warriors were still surrounding the tribe's golden wheel flag, standing in front of the camp that had not yet been set up in a battle-ready manner. Stone bullets flying from cavalry cannons and trebuchets were From time to time, a stream of smoke was smashed around their queue.

The destruction of the Cunirimians was certain, but they still burned the boat bridge in an attempt to make a last-ditch effort to deter the Roman pursuit.

"Ask them to surrender. Just say that although they killed my father-in-law's grandfather decades ago, I think of the bravery and morality on the other side and can still save the lives of all women and children." In the camp, Caesar stood side by side with Lepidus. , giving this order leisurely.

A barbarian musician played a sad flute and walked at the front of the envoys. The Gunilin people came to meet Caesar's envoys, including their chief. Lepidus still doesn't know his name, and of course there is no need to knew. The chief was supported by two warriors and walked slowly over. His left eye was blinded by stone fragments. While leading the charge, he was also hit in the knee by a javelin. Blood continued to seep out of his trousers and flowed to the ground. His feet were dragging on the sand, but he still tried hard to stand upright in front of the Romans.

At this time, Caesar was covered in military uniforms and ornaments, sitting upright, surrounded by his generals and his staff. In front of Chief Gunilin, there was a temporary step. This gave the other side a feeling of succumbing to the power of the Roman legions, but Chief Gunilin did not kneel down and beg for mercy. Two personal warriors still held him tightly, surrounded by nearly 10,000 fully armed Roman soldiers. , the whole scene was very solemn and majestic, and you could only hear the mournful cry of the chief's dying life as his blood continued to flow out.

"Translate my opinion to him, and then ask him to lie down. This will be better for his injury." Caesar moved his buttocks on the horse, and then put his hands on his knees. He said with his chin propped up. The sun shone with his back turned, giving the Governor a light golden color. The chief was facing the light, and his darkened pupils were not even a trace of movement.

When the translator explained Caesar's plan to the chief in large sections, he remained silent, and then muttered something. Caesar asked what it was, and the translator said awkwardly: "The other party said that his only regret was that he could not With the blessing of the heroic spirits of our ancestors fifty years ago, let the Romans go through the yoke gate again."

The yoke gate was the greatest shame in the history of the Roman legion. The so-called yoke gate was to insert two flagpoles into the ground and hang thorns or iron chains between them. The captured officers and soldiers had to crawl through one by one, half naked. This This kind of humiliating surrender ceremony will be regarded as a great shame by every consul or general of the Republic. In order to cover up the shame, the Senate will also exile the surrendered generals to the corresponding barbarians, indicating that it does not recognize this defeat and surrender, but it will not last for a hundred years. There are countless glorious experiences of coming to the Roman legion to enter the Yoke Gate. Fifty years ago, the garrison in the province of Gaul was ambushed by the Cunilimians, Bisso's grandfather died in battle, and the leading general surrendered to the Yoke Gate.

When Caesar heard this, he didn't show any signs of anger. Letting anger overwhelm reason is what a loser does. He was the winner of this battle, so he just calmly and even coldly announced to the chief, "This is a shameful person." If the respected chief wants me to go through the yoke gate, I will give him the treatment of being crucified. This is also the respect that Rome treats its defeated enemies. In addition, all the captives of the Gunilin tribe must follow the divine will of Venus and be sold to Rome. As a slave." Then he lost interest in continuing the negotiation and was about to get up and go back to the camp. Before leaving, he patted Lepidah on the shoulder and told him, "I will quickly build a bridge on the Ala River and cross the river in pursuit. I will go to other Helvetian tribes and annihilate them all in the Santoni area. I will let the craftsmen and soldiers of the seventh, eighth, and ninth legions complete this process. I will take the barbarian cavalry and the tenth legion. After the bridge is completed, we will pursue it, and your twelfth legion will stay on the river bank to protect the camp. "

What, protect the city? Does this mean that our twelfth legion will miss the important event of annihilating the Helvetii? No, Lepidus said with a worried tone, should we prepare bridges, because this thing is very labor-intensive, we can quickly build a few temporary pontoon bridges, so that we can cross the Ala River in three to five days and launch the pursuit, so Our twelfth legion still has to take the lead.

"No need." Caesar smiled calmly, and then his words seemed to be deliberately said to Chief Gunilin who was standing at the foot of the steps. It seemed that he was also meant to hear the three servant tribes including Aedui. He said that within one day, In just one day, the soldiers and craftsmen of three legions will build a bridge with good facilities and can pass a full army. This is effortless in the Roman world, because we are different from the barbarians who lack civilization. Yes, in the face of this offensive, the Gauls, Germans, Aquitaine and Belgians either chose to become subjects and servants of Rome or chose to perish.

Julius Caesar was not just talking big. In one day, a wooden bridge across the Ara River was miraculously erected. The bridge piers, water diversion angles and earthen embankment approach bridges were all available. This was a skill that the legion craftsmen and soldiers did not deserve to be praised. They proudly said to the officers and soldiers of the Tenth Legion who were crossing the bridge with the eagle flag, "If there was not a big shortage of concrete stones here, we could have given the barbarians a perfect stone bridge in one day."

Chief Gunilin also witnessed this chilling scene, a scene of civilization crushing. It took nearly ten days for 300,000 Helvetii to cross such a gentle river with a pontoon bridge, and the Roman army, as if they were showing off, built a bridge calmly and walked across without any hesitation. This was clearly a demonstration and contempt for backward civilization!

But the chief saw this scene on the cross. Caesar specifically instructed that this conservative chief be nailed to the cross at the entrance of the bridge, both to avenge his father-in-law's family and to provide everyone with a bloody and physical example of what would happen if they continued to resist the Roman army.

Scavenger birds circled around the chief's dead body on the cross in the midsummer sun. In the camp below, the 30,000 troops of the Gunilin, whom he had fought hard to protect, were standing on the newly erected camp with signs hanging on them, waiting to be sold. . )