Augustus Road

The chief group of the Cyrene Legion attacked again. They still retained the fighting habits of the Macedonians. When charging, they used the "surge" tactic, that is, the shields were close together and lined up in multiple deep columns. With discipline, bravery and undisturbed formations, , like a violently rampaging porcupine, tearing through the enemy's formation. There has always been only one way to deal with this kind of porcupine charge, and that is to introduce the porcupine into rugged and complex terrain, or too open terrain, and use elite skirmishers to attack from all directions. Use throwing weapons to damage the dense phalanx until the opponent can no longer maintain it - and Lelias's frontline siege team gathered in the only plain east of Salona City, and this plain was divided into front and rear by the Nadia River. Two pieces, lack of room for maneuver, so the barbarian soldiers on the left wing were unable to resist the Porcupine charge, and retreated towards the Nadia River behind them. Then the Mattian cavalry rushed like the wind to the two siege towers one in front and one behind. There, throw out the torch and set it on fire. In this way, the siege tower and the Pompeian soldiers guarding it were caught in the middle. The Mattians surrounded it, and their bows and arrows rained down like rain. , many people were shot to death and wounded, and many more jumped to their deaths from the burning siege platform, screaming in flames.

At this moment, in front of the Nadia River, the barbarian soldiers on Pompey's side were frightened by the roar of the river and the scoldings of Pompey's officers. They picked up their weapons, turned around to resist, and directly fought with the Cyrenaic chief. The front lines of the brigade collided together, and then when the barbarians and Macedonians fought head-on, the difference in techniques and tactics was instantly reflected. In front of the shield wall and reed-like spears, the barbarian soldiers were stabbed down row by row like crops. As for Cleitas asking the soldiers to step on the corpse. We must work hard to maintain the integrity of the formation. It's not even half daylight. Lelias's left wing was completely routed. Many barbarian soldiers were naked, throwing away their weapons and armor, and were squeezed into the Nadia River and drowned. Five siege towers were burned down one after another, and a large number of people were killed.

At dusk, Marcius and Laelias fled back for nearly ten Roman miles before stopping the guard. They began to gather the defeated troops, and finally found that almost all the barbarians were killed, and all the siege equipment was lost.

"Where is my first legion!" Lelias shouted hysterically in the new camp.

If the First Legion can serve as a new force and arrive on the battlefield in time, Lelias is still confident that he can turn defeat into victory and stop Lepidus' desperate attack. "Their city wall has been dug down by their own people, so the first legion can come tomorrow. By then, there will be no need to build siege equipment." Lelias kept saying. But the news that came next disappointed Lelias:

It turned out that the first legion came from afar. Suddenly receiving an order from the land commander Gebinus, he no longer went to the city of Salona, ​​but returned to Delphi to assemble with other legions to prepare for winter camp and compete with Caesar in the coming year. In addition, Gabinus also urgently ordered Laelias to give up the attack on Salona, ​​because the land of Epirus was occupied by Caesar, and you must come back now, because there is no point in attacking further north. Even the reinforcements from the Thracian king came via the sea route from the city of Pella.

Therefore, although roaring and unwilling, Lailias could only organize the defeated troops, then burned the camp and retreated towards Delphi. Salona, ​​no, the entire Illyrian province, fought hard in Lepidus. Turn danger into safety.

Then, Lepidus sent his subordinates to use the "Thunderstorm" catapult captured from Machius, and fired cork rockets in the formation, burning almost half of the canoes of the Liburn people who were besieging the city on the other side. They rowed to escape, but many of the boats capsized in the sea due to overloading (their boats were all long, narrow and light). Those who struggled ashore were either killed or captured and sold to the city of Salona as slaves. The siege of Salona was completely lifted.

Next, it’s time for him to punish the city of Olikum that surrendered and rebelled again!

Lepidus persuaded most of the liberated slaves to join the army with military pay, and according to Phaobinus's suggestion, at the junction of the mountains of Illyria and Thrace, he gave a gift of three hundred talents to the army. The price of a hundred good horses attracted a thousand skirmishers who were the most proficient in mountain warfare: the Peioni people living in the Banonia region, and a tribe called "Agrian" by Alexander the Great. . These tribes, wearing light armor made of linen and leather, holding Greek-style short swords, each carrying a sling and seven small stone pellets, walked on the ground in the mountain canyon, so Lepidus organized them and the liberated slaves in Together, he formed a new legion called the "Cyclops". Together, he assembled 8,000 people and began to attack Olikum southward.

Coincidentally, this is also Caesar's order: attack from the north and south with my legions, retake Olicum, open the passage for the two fronts, and prepare for the decisive battle with Gabinus.

In the south, those who cooperated with Lepidus' siege happened to be the Twelve Legions, now commanded by Caesar's deputy general Carlenus, and Tagus was still the chief centurion. Facing the siege, the people of Olikum were extremely frightened, because the main force of Pompey had already left, and the number of people that their city could mobilize was also limited. They could only attack Gebinus and Byblos at the same time. A distress letter.

After receiving the letter, Gabinus was hesitating when a new face walked in from outside the mansion. "I am Labinus, Caesar's former chief lieutenant. His Excellency Gnaeus Pompey has entrusted me to jointly command the entire Greek land army with you. In addition, because this time we are fighting Caesar, I personally think that you should consider my suggestions more. I am the most familiar with him here."

As a result, Gabinus put the documents on the table, looked at Labinus with a strange and disdainful look, and then did not give the other party the proper courtesy, but whispered to the staff around him, "I really don't know what Pompey is thinking, the alliance Joint command, how could he think of it? "

The whole scene fell silent, and Labinus also smelled the atmosphere of contempt, but he still insisted on stating his strategy: "I think we must select two legions to reinforce the city of Olicum."

But in the entire mansion, no one, even the most humble servants, paid attention to him, and no one responded to his proposal. Gabinus and Marcellus walked around twice, pretending not to see it, and leaned on the couch to continue reading official documents. At this time, Sextus came in from outside in a hurry, grabbed the drinking water and olives on the table and ate and drank. He seemed to be very tired, and he started to yell after a while. (To be continued...)