Augustus Road

ps: Thanks to classmate Dafeng Baozi for the tip!

When they arrived at the royal court, Chief Heltun was very sincere this time. Not only did he send a large number of dairy goats, but also a considerable amount of animal skins and date wine, and told Lepidus the next itinerary - further inland. If you go deeper, you will encounter the cave-dwelling tribe Aesio, which is a backward and cowardly nation; after crossing an area of ​​about 5,000 stadia, they quickly turn to the north because they want to avoid the warlike third nation. The Garamantes, this nation is extremely good at driving light four-wheeled chariots, and owns a large number of date palm groves and salt mountains. They usually enjoy killing Ethiopian people. This kind of martial nation can be regarded as your Romans. You should also be careful to avoid it. When you go to the north, you can enter the Tostone Valley, which is the dividing line for the whole of Libya. The valley is surrounded by large forests and cultivated land, as well as quite fertile land for vineyards and olive groves. Here, In the Tao River Valley, Libya is a land of gravel. This best land is occupied by the fourth ethnic group in Libya, the Maxians. They claim to be the descendants of the Trojans, believe in Greek Athena, and the sea god Poseidon. Seedon, they insisted, was actually the daughter of Athena and Poseidon and the goddess of the lake Toritonis. Later, after she fell out with her father, she went to Zeus to be her adopted daughter.

In fact, the Maxians are the main body of settled residents in Libya who own fields and houses. Whether it is the former Carthage or the later Greeks, they all rely on these people for their rule and taxation. They are in the true sense "Cyrenaean Citizen".

"It is necessary to record the chief's awakening in detail. This is the main basis for planning the march route." After resting in the royal court for three days, many soldiers of Lepidah's army would take some gadgets with them at night. Such as colored rough glass. Rhino horn. Egyptian papyrus paintings, etc., sneak into the house with the stick standing on it, and take a break from the busy work.

Then, they continued to move along the desert and oasis. Not far from the western border of the Kingdom of Sammones, the entire expeditionary army suddenly saw a place covered with human and animal skeletons in the wild wind and sand. . There were about tens of thousands of them, and it was really frightening to see them from a distance. Sabo, who was on the horse, licked his chapped lips, then took out a few volumes from the saddle bag, searched for them, and then asked the Commander-in-Chief and the The generals explained, "It seems that Chief Heltun has also visited this place. It is called the 'Cemetery of Puroi' because this kingdom originally belonged to the Puroi people, but many years ago. The great desert in the south suddenly blew in The endless wind dried up all the rivers in the country, so the Pului people decided to go south to fight this south wind. As a result, they were hit by a storm here, and the whole family was exterminated here, and then the Samonites. Talent takes over the kingdom.”

Fighting the south wind, this mythical conjecture is of course not true. In fact, due to the deterioration of climate change, the Pului people's water sources were inadvertently lost, so they migrated to the south in search of a way out. But they did not expect that the south is boundless. It is in the desert that this living tragedy of genocide occurs. Looking at the endless white and gray skeletons, Lepidus asked the priests accompanying the army to move out the idols and objects, and all the soldiers from all ethnic groups knelt down before their respective gods. The Romans knelt down to Mars, and the Greeks knelt down to worship Apollo, Zeus or Athena. , the Egyptians worshiped Amun and Serapis, and the Nubians mainly worshiped Amun. Under the light of the heaven and earth, the people under various gods lit up fireworks in front of the sacrifices and filled the sky. Prayers in various languages ​​​​rose one after another. But the meaning is the same, to appease the undead here, hoping to receive God's blessing, successfully cross the sea of ​​death, and safely enter the valley of the Tostone River.

As a result, after walking for ten days in the desert, the scout cavalry in front howled loudly. They thought they could no longer see the end of the yellow gravel, but they finally saw the mountains and the scattered dwarf spherical plants on them. Traces of cultivated land were also found. "The Serapis Legion is on both wings, taking the mountain road to serve as a guard. The Thirteenth Legion and the auxiliary brigade are escorting the baggage in the middle valley. I personally lead the attached cavalry brigade to search and advance in front!" With Lan! Lepidus, with his crown of colored feathers, had his cloak swaying. He rode his horse and the Vibichinas and rushed into the broken mountain range. There were bats and crows flying everywhere, and the sharp-eyed soldiers could see half of them. There are shadowy figures on the mountainside, as if there are many people hiding in the cave.

"It should be the Esio people. Pass through this valley as soon as possible and camp outside at a water source in the wilderness!" As a result, on the way, the black soldiers of the Serapis Legion on the two-wing mountain road fought with the Esio people. These Esio people People suddenly emerged from the cave. These people were indeed an extremely backward nation as Herton said. They had no armor, but they had gray ostrich feathers on their heads. They were half-naked and barefoot. Holding a shield covered with ostrich skin, he used a simple stick thrower to violently throw stones at the Serapis Legion. Several soldiers in the front row suffered head injuries and bloodshed, and were dragged behind. Then Medejie was rude. The man raised the light shield in his hand, with various monster totems painted on it, and they collided with each other, making a loud noise of frightening formation. Then the black soldiers quickly divided into small groups and moved forward, throwing cards at the "ostrich warriors" The spears in the shield slots, or the arrow feathers in their hands were shot out, and many Aisio people screamed and rolled down the mountain stream. The rest were worthy of being cave dwellers, and they mysteriously disappeared into the caves extending in all directions. Some brave ones The Medjeans rushed into the cave and found that it was full of skinless and bloody corpses of rats, snakes and lizards. It seems that these cavemen usually eat these animals alive. They believe that this can enhance their running and ability. The ability to hide.

"Try to avoid pursuit, maintain the marching formation, and resolutely fight back when the enemy appears." Lepidah asked a few scouts to disperse, and warned his soldiers to maintain restraint and calmness. After all, he was an uninvited guest and a coward. It is reasonable for the Ethiopian people to attack themselves. At dusk, the last three auxiliary brigades of the Romans left the valley safely. At this time, the legionnaires in front of them had marked the camp and had reached half of the progress of setting up the camp. To be honest, black people were the most repulsive. The style of the Roman army was so strict that it was so rigid. Not only the black people, but also the style was undisciplined. They could fight happily against the enemy under the scorching sun, but they were extremely averse to being meticulous when there was no great threat. Build a camp.

Therefore, Tagus and others made extremely arduous efforts to reverse this situation.

After the Roman army camp was completed, the four-corner towers, wooden fences (most of the materials were transported by pack horses) and trenches were neat and beautiful, and the tents were like a chessboard. The soldiers began to wash, eat and go on duty in separate shifts. The standardized momentum, The Esio people who came to spy from a distance were shocked. They began to make bat-like sounds (this is their language, summarized by Sabo's description), which was probably a signal for communication between the chiefs. They began to discuss how to Negotiations began regarding the treatment of the Romans. (To be continued...)