Augustus Road

"Of all the barbarian nations, they are the most intelligent and thoughtful in their military operations." - Byzantine Emperor Leo said of the Muslims

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"Rat, bug!" The animals in the packhorse team were a little uneasy and were jumping in circles. The captains of the first few companies of the River Guard and the God's Tomb Guard really couldn't figure it out. They were already the last ones in the entire team. , how could there be Hasidis suddenly rushing out from the dense forest at the foot of the mountain to attack them, but these Nubians' arrows were like lightning, flying out in rows, and then dozens of "bugs" rushed towards them. "One by one, they were hit by arrows in the front and fell down. The others carried arrows on their legs and backs and fled away with support and screams. These believers probably did not stand here intentionally to seek bad luck. They were probably defeated by Lebida's front troops and scattered here. They had no choice but to rush out, because this kind of dragnet attack really left them with no place to stay.

When a company captain saw that there were still a dozen injured people escaping back to the foothills, he blew a bone whistle, and the attached Aesio auxiliary brigade stood up from the baggage train with an expressionless face and headed toward the company. They walked to the destination indicated by the captain. They were wearing short leather armor, and most of the weapons in their hands were hammers and daggers. They were short and powerful. Compared with when Lepidus met them before, their equipment had been greatly improved. Lepidus liberated four thousand Esio slaves. They were recruited into private groups and organized into eight auxiliary brigades. They were assigned to each formation, and there was also a tactical meaning in it: the battle between rats in the foothills and caves was perfect for these cave-dwelling tribes, who were used to eating bats and lizard meat. His eyes were shining brightly in the dark environment. The Hasidic believers' idea of ​​relying on caves to save their lives completely collapsed.

As soon as the Aisio people entered the cave at the foot of the mountain. They nimbly walked in groups of three and five, walking separately. Their daggers and hammers were hung in simple sheaths, and they kept making weird bat-like sounds, which were terrifying and frightened the Hasidic believers hiding in the cave. They ran around, and then they suddenly killed each other. Several of them used daggers and hammers to kill an enemy. They were defeated one by one, and many Hasidis could only yell in vain because they could not tell the direction in the darkness, leaning on the cave wall, and were finally stabbed to death silently by the Aisio people who approached like beasts.

Here, in a certain cliff fortress, dozens of Hasidic believers who stayed here as scouts were unable to escape and were surrounded by Roman legions in order to eradicate this place. Lepidus used four infantry regiments to siege, and then asked Arp to lead the Medici Guards. Climb up from behind the cliff and drive all these believers out of the main entrance. However, on the hillside below the main entrance, there are already dozens of scorpion crossbows and 300 auxiliary archers lined up. There is a burst of execution with rapid arrows piercing the air. Finally, all the believers here fell in a pool of blood. Their bodies were piled together and mixed with the fortress, and they were all set on fire by the Roman army.

Under the firelight on the cliffs and beside the river, there are dense reflections of brass round helmets everywhere. Groups of soldiers, like the dense ivory comb teeth used by noble ladies, slowly move forward. Are there any Hasidic believers lurking everywhere? To be killed means to be driven away. On the river, the rows of shields hung on the sides of large armed ships shone golden in the sunset. From a distance, they looked like ten big fish covered with golden scales. The ship at the front has the flag of the "Cyrenaic" legion, a golden Scythian centaur, on the bow deck. (The Cyrenaic legion mostly comes from Greece and Macedonia, and soldiers tend to worship the centaur myth. , in fact, it is the deformation of the Scythian warriors who were skilled in horsemanship in ancient times), and the ribbon tied to it flutters in the wind.

At night, all the centurions were camping, or in other words, every thirty Roman miles, they would carefully build a large, solid fortress, like a small city, as a base for continuous advancement and ensuring supplies. .

Under such a situation, it would be more difficult for the Hasidis to succeed in a surprise attack.

In the fortress, David Anget, who learned about the battle situation on the front line, pondered for a long time and said to Pation, "Select an elite force. We will first ferry to the other side by boat, and then meet General Lepidus again." Fight once and experience the tactical characteristics of the opponent's army. "

Two days later, when David Anget led two thousand well-armored believers on a hill a hundred stadia in front of the Western Mountains, he completely saw the enemy's combat steps. After the fully equipped people marched for a certain distance, they began to set up flags and set up camp. Then the cavalry and half of the infantry brigade were on guard on all sides, and the rest began to build the camp, but this was not over yet. After standing up, they scattered hundreds of troops and continued to build small forts at the main roads and passes, just like a bunch of little spiders running out of the belly of a mother spider.

After reading this, David Anget was silent for a long time, and said to everyone, "Abandon the fleet fortress on the other side as soon as possible, and move all the ships to the other side as soon as possible. The Yazda Fortress also has a dock for berthing, and move the ships on board The rod throwers and ballistas were dismantled and placed on the battlements of Yazda. It was very difficult for the enemy to seize their gaps and they could only rely on the fortress to defeat the opponent. "

Akilo, the garrison officer of the fleet fortress, was extremely dissatisfied with the arrangement of the Messiah Sword. Why did we have such a sophisticated fortress in the middle of the mountain and river bend, and besides, before, we would rather demolish the city wall of Yazda and build a new water wall. , why do we need to temporarily withdraw to Yazda on the other side? This kind of change from day to day is really unbearable.

But the prestige of David Ankit, the "Sword of the Messiah", is still the core of the fighting spirit of the entire believer army. He once successfully defeated the city-state army in a field battle and conquered the city of Barka. He is the military leader of the entire team. No matter what, Akilo still has to obey.

That night, Lepidus quickly summoned Faobinas, Selha and Hebrida, and then said to them with a deep face, "At the third sentry, take your respective thousand-man battalions and quickly march to the fleet fortress in the West Mountain. Launch a decisive attack in the early morning. The enemy should see our army's formation today. The actions of the past few days have given them the impression of advancing step by step, but I can be slow in the first three days and fast at this moment. I will catch them off guard and prepare to set off."

Soon, at the main gate of the camp, two thousand-man teams of the Thirteenth Legion and the Serapis Legion suddenly jumped out and rushed towards the fleet fortress in the West Mountain under the guidance of the stars and torches.

Under the cover of night, David Ankit, who was on a small boat approaching the Yazda Fortress, instinctively smelled the smell of blood and iron brought by the south wind, and hurriedly asked the oarsman to speed up the pace, and secretly thought in his heart that fortunately the two thousand elites he brought in the daytime had returned to the Yazda Fortress before him, "Patian, is my life important?"

"Of course it is important, the Sword of Messiah, our commander-in-chief." Pattian, who was sitting next to him, answered without thinking.

So David Ankit looked back at the brightly lit Xishan Fortress, sighed, and said, "Maybe God will decide the tragedy of Akiluo's life!" (To be continued..)