Augustus Road

Mithridates was sitting in the sedan chair, with the corners of his mouth hanging down. His huge body had shrunk a lot, and he was very slumped. Stratonis, who was sitting next to him, gently pressed the Emperor's shoulders and pressed her ears against his. He comforted, "Your Majesty, there is no more tragic and terrible news than this... But what you need now is the anger and belief to fight the enemy, not empty sadness."

"Yes, yes, we have to capture the fortress here, kill all the Roman dogs, and use their heads and internal organs to sacrifice my sister, Zeus and the god Mithras!" Mithridates took it The sword of Autolicus roared in a low voice, and then he suddenly saw the eyes of Adiana, Taxile and others flickering, so he pondered for a moment, pointed at Calabis and said: "Who is he? Adiana, you never had a slave like this before.”

"This is a loyal slave who followed me when I was in trouble. His name is Calabis. I got him when your palace fell."

"Oh, not only is he loyal, he also has an exotic face that can seduce boys and girls. Adiana, my good girl, maybe you should pay attention to it and control your chastity and pursuit of joy before marrying into the Kingdom of Godini. It's not too late to do it after marriage." Mithridates looked at Calabis and said in a questioning tone, obviously directed at Calabis, and then the man gasped and moved his fat body. , so that his posture would be more comfortable, he snapped his fingers and said, "I remember, good girl, I can take a thorough look at this little matter - Timothy!"

At this time, Obicius, the captain of the bodyguard who was guarding Mithridates, covered his mouth and smiled cheaply at Adiana. Adiana responded with disgust at this flattering guy who was an old musician. The look in her eyes showed that she hated him and his daughter as much as her aunt.

Although Timotheus has a Greek name, he is actually a Scythian from the Bosporus steppe. He is a doctor. Yes, he is an extremely weird doctor. He wears thick and dirty animal skins, and he is also a doctor. His dirty hair was combed into ball-shaped cactus-like braids, and his face was covered with scars carved with knives. This was done by the elders of the tribe when he was just born. I hope this man will not be afraid of blades in the future (he is indeed not afraid of blades). The blade is gone. Like a warrior, he relies on the blade and wound medicine for food.) In his hand is a pottery urn. Anyone familiar with the matter knows that it is full of poisonous snakes. There are fire sickles, cloth strips, and knives hanging on his waist. The two assistants behind him are holding fixed Frames, skeletons and miscellaneous things.

"What's the matter?" Timothy touched his mouth and said in a rough voice.

"My dear Timothy, perform a castration operation on this man named Calabis immediately." Mithridates turned his finger easily and pointed at the astonished Calabis.

"Castration! Do you mean to make me a eunuch or a father-in-law like Baloud in the palace?" Calabis and his friends were stunned.

"No, today is the day when the White Deer God leaps into the sky. I can't use the blade." Timothee simply refused.

"Then in three days."

"Not even after three days. Those are the days of the fish god, the protector of our priests' horses."

"You! Okay, Timotheus, you have to remember this." Mithridates lost interest in continuing to delve into such a trivial matter. "Instruct all the armies to cut trees all night and build siege equipment. They will be laid down for me tomorrow. That fortress.”

On this night, Karabis made up his mind to slip away. He was not willing to have his little friend be "dismembered" under the knife of that ugly Teemo after a while, even if Adiana opened it to him again. The salary of three thousand drachmas per year could not change his mind. Instead of being a well-dressed eunuch with the Pontic people, it was better to be a physically and mentally sound camp slave with the Romans - as long as he could bring Poti with him. escape!

Calabis, who was sitting next to the wheel hub of Adiana's carriage, bit his nails and thought silently.

Although Calabis would not be "castrated" for the time being, the Pontic army's attack on the Apis camp started on time the next day. Many howling infantrymen holding round shields, carrying firewood and pottery urns on their backs, tried to build a few simple pontoon bridges in front of the Roman camp, but Apis organized a group of lightly wounded soldiers on the tower. Using ballistae and hurling stones, they violently shot at the Ponto soldiers who were crossing the river. Many of them had their heads broken open or their backs were broken, or they were skewered by the heavy javelins fired by the ballistae. The blood that flowed out dyed the entire water of the river red.

However, relying on the large number of people, the officers of Pontus continued to yell at their subordinates and sent them out in groups. Finally, beside the corpses piled into the hill, two or three pontoon bridges were built leading to the Roman camp. Then the monster-like battering ram "Kawuzi" was pushed up with a rumble.

"Kawzi" is 16 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 7 feet high. The frame is made of lighter wood, and then covered with two layers of branches on both sides to prevent the enemy's spears and daggers from stabbing the object inside. Soldiers; covered with goatskin to prevent the enemy from throwing down flames and burning; inside can be placed a bronze sheep's head hammer, or a scythe with a barb - because Apis's stronghold is made of rough wood The fence was up, so I used the latter this time.

Three or four cauzzi came with great force, but when they arrived in front of the Roman camp, everyone was dumbfounded - Apis was not idle last night either. He asked the soldiers to quickly build two semicircular layers of earth in front of the fence. The wall is filled with mud and compacted in the middle. This sandwich-like thing cannot be drilled through by "Kawuqi" even if it has three extra heads!

The Pontic soldiers were also strong. Seeing that they could not get through, they carried the ladders, placed them on the earth wall, and climbed up on the ladders. Like rows of ants, the soldiers under Apis surrounded the tower and wooden ladders, operating the "scorpion crossbow" (a small hand crossbow), fiercely shooting small and thin arrows, causing the Pontic soldiers to fall headfirst. Then several Roman soldiers raised sharp axes and cut off the pulleys of the ladders on the wall one by one...

The Pontic people clinging to the tower and the wall were swept away. The first wave of attack by the Mithridates army was declared a failure. But it was not yet noon, and the Romans in the camp were still eating. Mithridates' archers, most of whom came from Scythia, Mithraic and other places, boarded the "elephant carts" in small groups. A large number of soldiers pushed these tall wheeled carriages into the range of the Roman camp, and of course the camp was also within the range of these archers.

When the command sounded, many of the Pontic archers wore oriental pointed round helmets and half-length chain curtains. Under the cover of the leather-wrapped baffles of the elephant carts, they drew the bows from behind, and then stood up and shot. Waves of arrows rose rapidly in the air, and then stayed at a point for half a second, then turned down, swooping down with the sound of death. The Roman camp became the center of the circle falling in all directions, "swooshing" down, piercing the heads, back necks, and chests of many soldiers, nailing them to the ground, and letting the blood flow out in the howling.

But soon, the Roman soldiers erected many high poles, hanging cloth, sheepskin, and leather on them. These colorful poles were dangling these things, like soft shields, swaying in the wind, and arrows hit them, or fell, or changed their trajectory and fell down powerlessly - the Roman soldiers huddled under the big wooden shields and shields, swallowed wheat bread in big mouthfuls with the sound of arrows falling like firecrackers above their heads.

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