Augustus Road

Well, now, on July 10th, the four regular legions left again, heading towards Santoni. As expected, the eleventh legion of Apis had already begun to block the road of the Helvetic people. Only the poor The twelfth legion stayed in place to rest and recuperate. Let's do the hard work of chewing the bones, while others will do the meat and soup. .

Lepidus was very angry, but he was sulky. He had to cover up his dissatisfaction cleverly. It was wrong to just be angry about the current plan. He had to think of a good way. He wandered around the smelly slave camp market, taking Sabo and Tagus with him, leaving all the affairs in the military camp to Milu. On the dirt road surrounding the trading market, slave traders and scale officials While they were haggling fiercely, Li Bida randomly grabbed one of them and asked, "How is the market going?"

The dealer said in a complaining tone, "The price has not come down yet, and those who really want to trade in large quantities cannot afford it now, and those who don't want to trade are simply unwilling to risk their lives by crossing the giant mountains to reach Gaul."

"You mean, you think the travel and feeding costs of buying slaves here are too high?"

"Yes, even if the legion shares the cost of food for the slaves, I would be willing to pay a few more sestes, but now the scale officer tells us that there is no food left in the legion, and we can even use food to buy slaves. "The dealer spread his hands and said.

When Lepidus heard this, he thought that Caesar's biggest problem immediately was to raise food. Even though the surrounding Gallic tribes had sent some supplies one after another when he was stationed in the camp, it was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket. When he asked Caesar for supplies before, Caesar once told him. Now the only way to obtain food is through the huge Aedui tribe. The population of this tribe is no less than one hundred thousand. And it has the highest quality and high-yield wheat fields, but it only sent two thousand auxiliary cavalry to assist in the battle. However, Caesar's request for military food supplies was always ignored, causing Caesar to get angry on this matter many times in public or private occasions.

Just before leaving, Caesar also told Lepidus and his chief lieutenant Rabinus to use their troops to ensure the transportation of the Arra River. Waiting for the wheat shipped by the Aedui people, the Gallic province is different from the mainland of Italy. Once the summer passes in June, it begins to get cold. Citizens who are accustomed to living in warm areas are in urgent need of more soldiers. Bread and meat to supplement calories.

"In our camp, the Aedui have two chiefs responsible for law enforcement, one named Diviarch and the other named Lescus. I have promised to grant them Roman citizenship after the war. But this pursuit I did not take these two people with me, my purpose was to keep them as intermediaries to urge the Aedui people to send the food to the Ara River crossing as soon as possible, and then escort them to the front line of Santoni. "This is before Caesar leaves. explanation.

Lepidus was determined to seize this opportunity. After hearing the slave trader's complaints, he immediately came to the main camp and asked to see Labienus.

Now Labienus' title is no longer "chief lieutenant", but "acting commander-in-chief". Caesar specially promoted him, which means that in the entire expeditionary army, except for the governor, he is the most authoritative. , so it was him that Li Bida was looking for.

"The daily transaction volume of slaves in the camp market is very low, so there will be problems with military pay and gifts immediately." Rabinus had no airs and received Lepidus politely in his tent. After greetings, Lepidus raised this issue.

"Yes, I am also worried about this problem, especially since your Twelve Legions lost a lot of strength when crossing the river before and need to be replenished, but now they cannot even provide all the basic rations needed for combat." Rabinus Thinking it was Li Pida's private complaint, he explained with shame.

"No, what I'm worried about is the governor who crossed the Ala River and the war situation in the entire province." Lepidah spoke very grandly. He raised his hand and analyzed, "If the Aedui people delay for another half month, If so, then the four legions will be in a situation of no food, and you, the Acting Commander-in-Chief, also know that the Helvetii were only annihilated as a tribe in Gunilin, and they still have more than 200,000 people in Sangdong. In the Ni region, once the news that the governor's army is short of food is known to them, they will launch a counterattack at all costs, which will destroy our expedition. "

Rabinus fell silent. To be honest, he didn't particularly approve of Caesar's war in his heart, but he also made it very clear that he was a Popular Party in his political stance, which destined him to support Caesar wholeheartedly. Regardless of his personal emotions, after such calculations, he asked Lebid if there was any good way to expedite food supply, and he was willing to fully support it.

"The Aedui people have been sending envoys continuously during this period. Sometimes they say that the grain has been collected, sometimes they say that it is difficult to raise enough ships and mules, and sometimes they say that some wheat has not been harvested. This kind of confusing statement is just that. It means that they are causing trouble, or at least someone is making trouble inside." According to Lepidus' analysis, Rabinus had already suspected it, but he never said it in front of Caesar. He was worried that if he exposed it, it would lead to Aedui. The tribe's rebellion - the person who can withhold food and not deliver it must be a big shot in the tribe.

"I can find the two law enforcement chiefs who stayed in the camp to talk to each other." Seeing Lepidus going straight, Rabinus thought that this problem must be solved.

"No." Lepidus stood up and said to Labienus. He directly called the two chiefs to come over and explain clearly. Being gentle and tolerant would not have any practical help in solving the matter. He also asked the tribunes and centurions who stayed in the camp to explain clearly. All come to the joint meeting.

Rabinus thought for a moment and nodded, so when Diviarch and Lescus stepped into the camp with their heads lowered, they found that all the Roman generals were pressing their sword hilts and looking at them with murderous intent. They both felt guilty, but the two centurions quickly walked around to the entrance of the camp, and Rabinus, who was standing in the center, enthusiastically stepped forward and hugged the two law enforcement chiefs of the Aedui tribe. The two of them had to stand in the center of the crowd.

"What's going on with our military ration supply?" Rabinus's words below made the two chiefs feel like they were carrying a thorn in their backs. They hesitated and said they were sorry, but they would send people to urge them tomorrow. It was probably Military rations are still being collected.

"It's too late! I need it within three days." Rabinus put his arm around someone, and there was no room for negotiation in his polite tone. "Or, who in your department is hindering this matter? No one I hope that in the critical battle in the future, the entire military chain will be destroyed. I am not willing to take responsibility for this, but I wonder if you two are willing?"

In the end, it was Lesgus who hesitantly admitted that there was indeed a very powerful figure in the Aedui tribe, and he was willing to take advantage of this matter. . )