Augustus Road

"I am a mortal, and I only seek the happiness of mortals." - Petrarch

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This made Caesar laugh. He smacked his lips for a while, and then judged: "This guy is always very fast. I guess he will automatically go directly to Colliberia to close the encirclement, because he is a divinely inspired person who does not need special instructions."

"I won't lose to him!" Vercingetorix hit his chest with his fist in Gallic etiquette and swore to Caesar, "In this battle, I will wash away the shame of my family and make the Arverni the most glorious tribe in all of Gaul!"

Caesar, who was a head shorter than Vercingetorix, admired his ambition very much. He also stood on tiptoe and knocked on the shoulder of this tall young man with his fist, "When the time comes, your family and children will automatically enter the Senate and wear purple ribbon robes."

Hearing this promise, Vercingetorix just smiled twice.

Between Corduba and the Ebro River, under the gloomy rolling clouds, a large team was marching rapidly. The slaves behind were sweating profusely, shouting and whipping the packhorses pulling the baggage and equipment, so that they could not be left behind too far by the vanguard soldiers. This section of the road was difficult, full of high and low dense forests and barren wilderness. Fortunately, after Corduba surrendered, the most powerful local tribe, the Carr herders, sent guides and auxiliary soldiers to Lepidus. Lepidus knew that these natives should not be offended. He would not make a stupid mistake like Varro, but welcomed all the Carr herders into the tent. Regardless of their status, they were not allowed to do low and heavy work. Instead, they announced the exemption of their tribe's taxes that year, gave money and fine wine, and promised to grant them the title of Roman ally. But Lepidus was obviously not satisfied with this. If Pompey's army really arrived in Tarraco, then all previous plans would be ruined! He needed to stop the enemy's pace, and then annihilate and force everyone to surrender. Only by achieving such merits, he would be worthy of the title of Caesar's right arm, the chief deputy general, and the acting commander-in-chief, and he would also rise to a better level in the future, that is, to become the deputy of the entire republic.

So when the guide led all the generals and officers to a high slope with a cool breeze, Lepidus could have a bird's eye view of the march of the entire army within a dozen Roman miles in front of him. "If we set up a camp here, there will be abundant wood and stream water to be drawn, and we can use cavalry to control the Ebollo River, or we can turn back from the canyon to attack the city of Tarraco." The guide Carmu was obviously very proud of himself for bringing the army to such an ideal area.

At this moment, the chief centurion, the tribune, and Gallius, who had just come to surrender, were all wearing sleeveless light leather armor, shouting that the wind here was cool. It was just like the Palatine Hill in the hot city of Rome, "but there are no various strange villas." Angondinus said jokingly, and then he noticed the acting commander-in-chief. Sitting upright on a small Egyptian-style chair, there was not a drop of sweat on his forehead, his eyes were bright, as if he was in a state of trance. Everyone thought that he was avoiding the risk of a head-on confrontation. Because now the two legions were newly formed not long ago, they have not experienced the test of fierce battles. If they confronted Pompey's five legions head-on, they would not only fail to stop the opponent, but would be in danger of being severely damaged.

But when Karl's guide said the name "Colliberia", the acting commander-in-chief asked about the distance, and then issued an order in a decisive manner, "The whole army will march day and night, and the destination is Colliberia." Afterwards, he had almost no time to persuade his puzzled subordinates, but directly explained his thoughts: "Everyone, we are all people who have sworn to Caesar with our lives. We swear to follow him to the ends of the earth until the traitors are killed and the shame suffered by the tribunes and the republic is washed away. Therefore, Caesar will never abandon us. Since Afranius' five legions are rushing towards Tarraco, Caesar will not sit idly by and watch them leave safely. This is a critical moment that concerns the whole of Spain. He will definitely send out cavalry to hold the enemy back and drag them to death, destroying the enemy's supplies and morale. After a simple calculation, we must make sacrifices to block Colriberia and trap all the enemies to death. This is a truly glorious victory, much better than our victory in Lusitania. It is much better to win by ungodly means. So there are only three choices before us. The first is to camp here as the guide suggested, and watch Pompey's five legions escape from Spain leisurely, let them return to their enemies, pick up swords and kill more of our comrades elsewhere; the second is that we can attack Tarraco directly, but think about the former Masseria, it has long been completely isolated, I used four legions to besiege it with absolute advantage, and it still took so much time, not to mention that my fleet is still staying in Cadiz, and the enemy of Tarraco relies on the strong walls and can get support from the New Carthage and the Sagantan fleet at any time. We can't eat them at all, and we can't stop them; now the best and most direct is the third one, that is, to gallop and occupy Colliberia, and don't let the shadow of the setback in Corfinium hang over our hearts, because this time is different from the past, Pompey's five legions have consumed a lot of energy, and when they run there, they are already at the end of the road, just like an arrow that finally falls to the ground, and there will be no lethality! "

After hearing these words, Generals such as Angondinus, Subokemus, Hanske, and Combano also understood that true honor is not gained through marching and training, but must be tempered by blood and fire to shine. Now the opportunity has come, so they saluted the acting commander-in-chief one by one and prepared to go down to arrange tasks one by one.

"Many of the 27th Legion are indigenous light infantry and cavalry, with an advantage in speed, so let them perform the task of capturing the ferry; and the soldiers of the 6th Legion are physically able to endure hardships, there are many veterans, and they are strong in combat. After capturing the ferry, they will immediately cross over, occupy the high ground between the rivers, build fortifications, and block Pompey's army back!" Lepidar reminded everyone.