Augustus Road

After Caesar finished muttering, he pulled his horse back with the reins, then galloped on a vast gentle slope, and finally climbed the ridge. Below, the 8th, 10th and 12th legions were lined up in neat rows, standing in the cold wind like bloodthirsty wolves, and their owner was Caesar wearing a scarlet cloak, but he now had no identity in the Roman Republic.

Three eagle-marked bearers stood at the front of all the queues. Among them, the 12th legion of the auxiliary legion had a unique totem emblem, the Balanya falcon. "Cover the eagle with a cloth. This is not a war for foreign honor." Caesar pointed to the eagle's hand and said to the whole army, "I am not a hypocrite who says one thing and thinks another. Now we have crossed the Rubicon River. The way forward may be a thousand-foot abyss, but fear will lead to eternal damnation. Your Caesar is no longer the chief executive, consul, or high priest. He is just a citizen and a miserable person who may be pushed off the rock and executed at any time. So I am not going to shout any false slogans to save the Republic. Now I am just trying to save myself. If those cowards If you don't want to give me a chance to appeal, then I will appeal with my own sword. That's right, I will start a civil war, either to achieve success and wash away the shame, or to be disgraced and infamous forever. But after this civil war is over, when my reputation is restored, that is when you will restore the same reputation and self--I have no intention of asking anyone whether they are willing to defend justice, I just want to ask everyone--whether they are willing to follow Caesar and defend the reputation of everyone! "

The soldiers of the 12th Legion roared in unison first, "Even if it's the ends of the earth. We are willing to follow His Excellency Caesar!"

Then. The soldiers of the 8th and 10th Legions also collectively rang their shields. "We will use swords to wash away the humiliation suffered by the tribunes!"

On the hillside, Caesar suddenly reined in his horse and raised his sword, and then his mount neighed, turned his feet on the spot, turned a circle, and then rushed down the hillside without looking back. About five minutes later, he briefly stopped in front of the Rubicon River for less than three seconds. "If I don't cross it, I will die without a burial place." After thinking this, he closed his eyes slightly, rode his horse into the shallow river bay, and was the first to cross the border that determined the life and death of the Republic.

The Eighth and Tenth Legions, according to the prior deployment, all turned around and returned to the direction of Milan.

The Twelfth Legion silently followed Caesar's receding back, regardless of the bone-chilling coldness of the river. They quickly crossed the river, and they didn't even want to waste time to build a pontoon bridge.

Now following Caesar, there are only more than 5,000 light and heavy infantry, plus 3,000 cavalry for reinforcement: 1,000 Vipicinus, 1,000 Mattias, and 1,000 Arverni. This time, Caesar specifically recruited this large tribe in southern Gaul, with the purpose of appeasing them, or coercing them to support the upcoming war against the Pyrenees and Masseria.

Lepidus' role was to lead this group of cavalry and escort the baggage behind with Caesar's veteran soldiers, so he was the last group to cross the Rubicon. It was already early in the morning of the next day. In the white mist, the feathers on his helmet were shaking. In front of him was Caesar's veteran captain Milu. The two of them were almost walking side by side. The sound of the water flow became clearer and clearer in the dark night.

As a result, Lepidus stopped by the river. He saw Labinus, who was carrying luggage, still wearing civilian clothes, holding his son's hand, walking slowly beside the army, with only a few slaves behind him.

Almost all the soldiers would still salute when they saw the former chief deputy general, and some would even greet him, "Do you want to follow us all the way back to Rome?" Lepidus asked.

Labinus shook his head and pointed to the place where the river forked. "I will take the Appian Way and take Etruria back, not the Flaminian Way that your army took."

"That's a coincidence. I will take Etruria too."

"Are you going to take over the Thirteenth Legion that has been causing trouble there for a long time?"

Lepidus did not answer, but asked Labinus, "Has Caesar never talked to you?"

The other party denied it very calmly and explained that it was unnecessary now, "Because you finally crossed it, it's good that way. Maybe the Republic has really reached this point."

After saying that, Labinus did not say anything to Lepidus, but took his son's hand and walked to a distance of half a furlong away from the military road, slowly walking on his own.

"Is this a different path?" Lepidus tightened his horse's belly and trotted to the Rubicon River. The horse hesitated when it saw the cold water, but the master whipped it directly. Then the whole river was filled with the sound of whips, and the fish belly in the east was white. When the horse's hooves made a sound on the water, Lepidus saw two serfs carrying firewood and winter wheat ears standing on the opposite bank of the river, watching countless people and horses passing by. When they saw a general with an oriental face driving his horse silently and crossing with them, the astonishment on their faces became more obvious.

"Even Caesar's chief lieutenant has left. You are really adventurous." With a faint mockery, a tall blond knight caught up with Lepidus and said, "And I really didn't expect that I, Vercingetorix, would come to Rome in this capacity, neither a conqueror nor a defeated prisoner, but following a rebel army that attempted to capture Rome."

"Caesar's interests are also linked to your interests." Lepidus answered like this.

"Yes, yes." Vercingetorix did not deny it, but he always felt that his words were not sincere. "In the following battle, my cavalry is willing to act as the vanguard. The battle may be very fierce soon."

But Vercingetorix's last words were just a joke. The initial battle was not impressive. Rimini, a key point south of the Rubicon River, fell into the hands of Caesar's army without any resistance. When Lepidus led the rear guard into this small city, there were flowers everywhere to welcome the people. "You are fighting heroes from Gaul." Such cheers could be heard everywhere.

The long-lost warm sunshine also appeared, but once Caesar did something, he would never delay it. He ordered all ten battalions of the 12th Legion to rest on the ground in the suburbs of the city. After arranging the cavalry to go out to collect wood and fodder, he gathered the generals under the big tree by the road and ordered the next battle plan without hesitation. (To be continued...)