Augustus Road

He took out 800 talents, of course he had great efforts, but he didn't expect that this group of rebels would be so arrogant!

The angry Lepidus immediately summoned all the generals to formulate a military plan to march into Cyrene. Under the instructions of the Aesioians on the map, Lepidus was determined to cut down the rich and high-quality wood around the Apollo Spring and Astra Mountain, and add It’s already autumn, the weather is dry, and it’s a good time to build ships. “The Hasidi rebels have twin fortresses sandwiched between the river banks in the valley, called Yazda. They will continue to use diplomacy to paralyze those arrogant guys. At the same time, make a large number of simple and durable wooden boats, with ten to twenty short oarsmen, without hanging sails, and go down the Tostone River quickly. Let me do it now, speed is the key to the competition! "

"However, making ships requires cutting down trees, drying and exposing them to the sun, and applying grease, so the other party's scouts should be aware of it." Petnaeus suggested with some worry.

It doesn't matter, we raided Apollo Springs, didn't the Hasidis still have no alert at all? Lepidus was full of confidence. He pointed out that the city of Barka had just fallen. Although the remnants of the city-state had surrendered, after the previous fierce attack and defense, the casualties of the rioting believers should be heavy, and the main force should be concentrated in the city on the northwest promontory. We have enough force to fortify the Torstone Valley. As long as we seize the time, we can completely sweep across the entire valley before they react and establish a more stable springboard for advancement.

Therefore, everything next was done according to the orders of the Commander-in-Chief. The legion selected soldiers who had previously served as oarsmen to be responsible for the production and training of this small wooden boat. The manufacturing process was handed over to the auxiliary brigade and baggage personnel. Go and finish. And two legionnaires were in the cabin. Training day and night at Apollo Springs. Their centurion demanded that they adapt to this new way of fighting as soon as possible.

At the mouth of the river valley, the Jewish envoys pulled the reins. The young man with the prettiest beard among them was thoughtful, and the people around him were very concerned about his attitude. "David Anget, what did you just say?" Are diplomatic words too harsh to the Roman commander-in-chief, and will they lead to crazy offensive retaliation from him?”

"It doesn't matter. I already have a plan to deal with it, which is to withdraw the garrison of the large and small fortresses in the southern Toston Valley as soon as possible and gather them all towards the Yazda Jiahe Fortress. Then we will stabilize the order in Cyrene City and support Yazda to resist. That Lepidus, as long as we can keep the northern agricultural and urban areas of Cyrenaica, we will be completely invincible. I am Basileus, the military chief of the Hasidic sect of Cyrenaica. , the meaning of the holder of the token), this is my defense strategy against the Roman army. When I return, I will convey this order at full speed, and there will be no need to garrison any castle except Yazda, which will only be a useless loss before the Roman offensive. "Precious soldier." It turns out that this person who went deep into the Roman military camp to pretend to be a messenger and was very aggressive was actually the commander-in-chief of the Hasidic army, David Anget, who was only 25 years old and was a scholastic teacher. "That Lepidus" The current situation is that of being arrogant. I just said so many disrespectful words against him and his legion, but he just scoffed and never asked my name from the beginning to the end. This shows that he is defeating the Garamantes. After the kingdom, we have become arrogant. We have to take advantage of this weakness. Move quickly and let the remnants of the city-state army go in the direction of the Roman military camp. They can also effectively hinder the Romans for a few days. action."

On the cliffs on both sides of the rapids in the Tostone Valley, on top of the Yazda Fortress, which faced each other like a horn, many Hasidic soldiers wearing Virginia bonnets were holding on to the battlements comfortably and looking embarrassedly at the bottom. The walking mercenaries of the city-state who had been overthrown by them, and those who were now marching hard under the city, laughed at them.

These unlucky warriors numbered about six to seven hundred people. In the previous defense battle of Barka City, they indeed displayed their due sense of honor and fighting will, and destroyed the siege tunnels dug by Hasidic riot followers. After repelling their strong attack for a month, they finally laid down their weapons and surrendered without any hope of foreign aid. The Hasidic high priest Jacob wanted to kill them all to vent his anger, but "Basileus" Ankit admired them and allowed them to The men left Cyrene safely.

However, weapons, armor, leggings and military shoes, as well as flags and team emblems symbolizing the team's glory were all confiscated. Now they are left with only a pair of bare feet and a tattered blanket wrapped around them. Some foreign officers such as Eumenes , escaped from the Lepidus military camp, and now surrendered to the army of Ankit believers without moral integrity, because these Hasidis also need formal Macedonian or Roman training codes to train themselves. However, most of the officers and soldiers, after seeing the ruthless purges and plundering of the old city-state officials and officials of Cyrene by the other party's high priest Jacob, still did not dare to trust the new regime, nor did they dare to drift to the other country by sea. , so when he heard that Lepidus' army appeared at the end of the valley, he stepped on the rough pebbles and gravel with his bare feet, endured the humiliation and ridicule of the victors, and came to join the Romans.

As a result, the little-known Lepidus took great care of them. He personally led the black and Spanish guards and set out for twenty Roman miles, carrying a large amount of cheese, wine, flags and armor to welcome them. Let this group of defeated soldiers eat and drink well, then put on new clothes and armor, and enter their camp in the best spirit.

After many years of military career, this foreign general understood the mind of soldiers. For them, what they wanted most after fighting hard was the reward of spoils, while what they wanted most after falling from grace was decent comfort and the chance to make a comeback. Lepidus gave both of the latter.

The new organization was the "Cyrenaian Legion", with a temporary organization of 1,000 people, forming a chief battalion of 1,000 people (Lepidus added 400 high-quality slaves of the Liberation Army), and the commander comforted all the defeated soldiers, saying that whether they were officers or ordinary soldiers, they had accumulated valuable experience in the Battle of Barca and demonstrated their courage and perseverance. "We should have the confidence to take back the military flag lost to the Hassidic mob!"

His words aroused the infinite excitement of the officers and soldiers of the Cyrenaic Legion. These people began to practice diligently with Roman broadswords and shields. Their goal was to restore the dignity of the legion and take back what originally belonged to them.

Later, a senior Macedonian mercenary officer named Faobinas, who was now in the new legion, came to see Lepidus and said straight to the point, "Using these small wooden boats, it is impossible to raid the Yazdat Fortress even if the Hasidi Jews are not expecting it!" (To be continued...)