Augustus Road

"Answer me, former consul, how many troops do you have on the entire island of Spain?" This time, Lepidus did not give the other party a chance to breathe and refute, and directly entered into this topic. ?. .

Afranius did not know what Lepidus meant by asking about the deployment of military forces, and he also lost the momentum of questioning the whole place just now, but retreated to the "corner" where he hesitated and asked Lepidus softly what this question meant.

"It seems that the former consul also avoided talking about this obvious situation. Then let me do a statistics. Spain has five legions, Lusitania has one legion, and Varro later recruited another legion in the provincial colonies, so there are seven legions in total. In addition, you have recruited no less than fifty battalions of allied auxiliary troops. So here comes the following question - May I ask, Afranius, Spain eliminated the war as early as twenty years ago, and Lusitania also stabilized the order under the pacification of Governor Caesar many years ago. When the main wars of the entire republic are concentrated in the east, in such a peaceful province, Pompey instructed you to maintain such a large and elite army. What is the purpose!" Lepidus' tone became stern. "So, does that mean that your Senate, or Pompey, also approves the war in Gaul? Then declare that the war in Gaul is illegal, and deny the various laws implemented by Julius Caesar when he was the governor of Gaul. Isn't it you who are so indecisive to complete such a change? You were the consul who governed this country before, but you don't know that this is all Pompey's doing. When we were in the plateaus and dense forests of Gaul, camping once every few days and fighting bloody battles. Someone has set a precedent. On the one hand, he violated the laws of the Republic, sat on the edge of the capital city, and controlled the entire Senate; on the other hand, he instructed his confidants to seize official positions in various places, and in a peaceful environment without war, he was sharpening his knives and expanding his private armed forces. This person is Pompey, and the foolish Cato is his accomplice. In order to achieve his shameful goal, Pompey also instigated Trialy to kill the tribune Claudius. Now Trialy has been executed, and in the battle of Masseria, Cato the Younger was the commander-in-chief, and Triari was the commander. Doesn't this prove that you people only care about party interests and have no sense of justice? The "Republic" is just a gorgeous robe that you, who are covered in dirt and blood, wear to climb to the high platform of power. Then it is not surprising that you secretly conspired in the Senate, denied the laws passed by the country in broad daylight, and forced ten tribunes to leave. Then it is not surprising that His Excellency Julius Caesar declared the country to be in a state of emergency. Gather all the armies of the Republic to fight against Pompey's private party armed forces. What's wrong with that? I have clarified all the doubts, so please ask His Excellency Afranius to give a rebuttal! "After Lepidus finished speaking, he walked behind Caesar with a slow and elegant Greek pace, and Caesar laughed in his heart. It seems that his chief deputy general has already comprehended his "concise debate" style very thoroughly. "Please go ahead. My point of view has been made very clear just now. I will not add new tragedies to the civil war of the Republic." Caesar said calmly.

At this time, Sextus laughed and said it was interesting. "I must thank you for your kindness and tolerance. Of course, I personally have no interest in debating like Afranius. I am just very excited. There will be many opportunities to fight with you and your generals. Debate cannot clarify any problems. I only believe that sword and fire will slowly quench everything." After saying that, he looked at Lepidus fiercely, which probably meant that we will see each other later.

"Then I wish you a 'debate' of sword and fire in the future." Caesar raised his glass again and asked everyone to toast to the god of war.

A few days later, Caesar issued a consular decree, announcing the release of Afranius, Libo and Sextus, and ordering them to leave Spain as soon as possible. These people went directly to Africa or the Peloponnese and continued to serve under Pompey. This approach actually made many of Caesar's subordinates feel incomprehensible. As for Peletaus, he had never held any public office in Rome, so Caesar simply forced him to retire. Then Caesar said goodbye to Lepidus. Similar to the situation in Gaul, he was to go to Corduba with his entourage, treasurer, etc. to preside over the "circuit trial assembly" of all Spanish tribes and cities, demarcate territorial boundaries, resolve disputes, set taxes, grant citizenship, etc. As for Lepidus, he was left in the original camp. Caesar entrusted the chief lieutenant with the following tasks:

Disband Pompey's five legions on the spot;

Cut off and reorganize the new legions brought by Caesar from Italy, and merge and replace the nine legions destroyed in Ilerda;

Solve the current logistics problems and plan the next strategy, which is the war against Africa and Greece.

"In addition, if there are any temporary military affairs, as the chief lieutenant who replaced Labinus, you have the power to deal with them before asking me. I will also entrust you with the affairs of Aquinoa and Gaul, but I believe there will be no major changes there?" Before leaving, Caesar handed the document on the gilded scroll to Lepidus.

"Has Curio of Sicily sent troops?" Lepidus asked after taking the scroll.

"This is why I want to return to Italy as soon as possible. Curio is indeed raising ships to land in Utica. Therefore, I have to seize this opportunity, gather other teams, cross the sea to Greece, and cut off the giant Another arm of training.”

It seems that Curio is going to play a role in containing and consuming, Lepidus thought to himself, and then asked Caesar a question, "Why don't you recruit Pompey's five legions? Even if you just select the best and form two legions, Okay.")