Augustus Road

"In Turkey, as long as it is a gift from a Christian, no matter how small it is, it will be suspected." - Old Moltke, who helped the Ottoman Empire train its army in Istanbul in 1835, said frustratedly

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After Malulus escaped privately, the Senate in Rome was shocked three times a day, because they had no way of knowing the specific movements of Lepidus' army: would they sack towns along the way? Will they attack Rome? Could it be... "Strip Malulus of all his official titles and send other envoys there. Yes, they are plenipotentiary envoys who can discuss any matters related to official positions and legions with Lepidus." Cicero was agitating in the Senate, but more and more people opposed it, and their attitudes became increasingly fierce. These people were on the verge of death, and they were still unwilling to compromise. They wanted to cling to those illusory powers until they entered the grave. Until that moment.

Time goes on like this, and every time a star rises or sets, towns in southern, central Italy, and other parts of Sicily continue to surrender to Lepidus. Most of them are willing because they are Latin League cities or colonies. , all support the Aemilius Act proposed by Lepidus before, and are afraid that the Senate will counterattack and deprive them of their rights, but there are also a few who are unwilling to do so, but these are not a big problem for Lepidus - because he only The cities along the road and surrounding areas were required to hand over varying amounts of money and goods according to their respective population sizes and economic prosperity. Lebida used them to store them in the army treasury for rewards and rewards for soldiers. In return, Lepidus strictly prohibited troops from garrisoning in the city. They all camped in the wild. Soldiers who privately harassed the people were mercilessly sentenced to death, so the progress was extremely fast.

When they arrived at the border line of Campania, the envoys of the Senate had already offered the price of "taking office as dictator", but Lepidus scoffed, said some innocuous words, and sent them away because he understood that the senators There must be a group of ignorant people in the courtyard who are openly and covertly opposed to this appointment. Unlike Pompey, he was completely uninterested in these fictitious things.

However, what made everyone in the Temple of Concord breathe a sigh of relief was that Lepidus' four legions stopped in Campania. I don't know the reason. Maybe they were waiting for something, maybe they were afraid of something, maybe something happened.

Cicero's letters, written at the same time as Lepidus's tokens. We arrived at Octavian's camp, about ten Roman miles away from the city of Mutina. It was four or five furlongs from Antony's siege position, divided by many mountains and rivers.

Antony also quickly took out the five, eight, and ten legions from the besieging army. These three most powerful legions, as well as all the elite cavalry (about four to five thousand people), turned back to deal with "Dear little boy Turinus" "But when it came to combat mobilization, Anthony concealed everything. He spoke to all the centurions, ten-capion commanders and cavalry captains, saying, "These are all new recruits appointed by the Senate and recruited in Italy. They have no training and training. They have little combat experience, even equipment, and very few cavalry. These people only exist as reinforcements to support Deximus. They are the products of the futile efforts of the Temple of Concordia and Cicero. We can easily He smashed it to pieces - you are all the meritorious legions who followed Caesar in the past. The amira on the chief centurion's arm is more than the jewelry on the Roman noblewoman's body combined. Coupled with my smart decision, in a short time We can defeat this army within a few days. As long as this army fails, the city of Mutina will not be able to sustain it. As long as we enter the city of Mutina and kill Deximos, I declare that discipline and curfew can be cancelled. day."

"But I heard that the city of Mutina itself has starved to death and its soldiers." The commander of the Tenth Legion, Xekdelius, said with doubts.

"Then plunder the entire province of Shannan Gaul!" Anthony waved his hand and said grandly.

After the meeting, Antony walked out of the tent and inspected the duties. He found Leo sitting with the clerks and still writing letters home for the soldiers in the square of the camp - because since the Senate's ultimatum was issued, everyone was worried about continuing. If you follow Anthony, your family and relatives will not be persecuted.

"It doesn't matter. It is said that Cicero only raised taxes and did not deprive anyone of his life or property." Leo would be so relieved every time he finished writing a letter.

"You shouldn't pamper this little baby too much. I remember when Sulla told everyone, be careful of that dissolute young man named Caesar. He can't even tie his robe properly." Next to him, Curio walked out in a cloak. , "And I want to warn you today Marco, be careful of this guy named Leo."

"Why?"

"Because even when he goes to bed, he wears his belt neatly."

Anthony burst out laughing, but then he didn't take it seriously, "Select a few prostitutes from the back market, send them to his tent, and tell him to loosen his belt. Both Lepidus and his son have this kind of virtue. serious."

Then, Antony and Curio split the Eighth Army and set up seven consecutive camps along the lines of Octavian's four legions using hills, dams and ditches, making Octavian think he was We must defend it for a long time, or take the city of Mutina first and then defeat ourselves with all our strength.

"Make a tentative attack." Octavian ordered.

Then a fierce cavalry battle began in the middle of the confrontation between the two armies. It must be said that Anthony had a unique vision in choosing the position. This happened to be a long and narrow plain area, and the cavalry could gallop across it without much effort. The battle lasted for two full days. On that day, Octavian's small cavalry team was almost destroyed.

Octavian then attempted to take a political offensive. He kept appearing with his followers and flags, and wanted to send messages or messages to the other party's officials. However, Antony was also prepared. The people he sent to lead the battle were all trusted centurions. It is long, and must be changed every battle, giving Octavian no chance to penetrate and attack the heart.

In addition, Octavian always found that whether it was the Twelve Legions and Sixth Legions, or the two legions of Pansa and Hercules, his command adopted a negative attitude. Perhaps everyone simply looked down on his qualifications and prestige. How can a person with a low voice command the arrogant and powerful generals?

The distressed Octavian could only order Agrippa and Maecenas to go out into battle and take scouts to survey the terrain in detail and find a way to crack it. However, the commanders of several legions later had letters with Lepidus' message. , including Pansa and others, advised Octavian not to be impatient and just set up a formation to hold on to the camp. "As long as Lepidus brings four legions to join me, Antony will not be afraid at all. Your Excellency will hand it over when the time comes." Just give me the command, and the honor after victory will still be yours, Caesar."

After hearing this, Octavian didn't say anything openly, but secretly he was very upset, so he stubbornly called Agrippa and other cronies to go, and also sent the captain of the guard Avinus to assist.

Because Caesar had to fight to prove himself, he didn't want to rely on his guardian. (To be continued...)