Augustus Road

When this information quickly reached the ears of Lelias under the city of Issa, the general laughed loudly, touched the cross scar on his eye, and said I knew it, then he turned to the peace representative in the city—— The twelve noble elders, a priest in wolf's skin, and several drummers and flute players who were selected as hostages said, "The situation is very clear now. I will soon annihilate Caesar's arrival in Illyria." Reinforcements will replace the Republic of this area, so you must swear to renounce friendship with Caesar."

The city of Isa surrendered, and Lelias felt very comfortable. His pride was not only that he had conquered and forced the surrender of this huge city, but also that in the current situation, he was the only one to see through Lepidus' trick, so He summoned the scribe and delivered the letter to the cities of Delphi and Cocula, explaining the truth: those who appeared in the city of Olicum were probably only a few of Caesar's partial troops. Yours The energy should still be focused on Caesar, and the newly formed legions in Asia Minor should be transferred as soon as possible. You can rest assured to leave this place to me. Two legions are enough.

Immediately, he immediately pressed forward the rest of the "La Loconia" legion, and asked the chief centurion, who was acting as the commander, to launch a general attack the next morning and drive this ragtag group back to Olikum. "And I, myself, will lead the 'Pan' legion to extirpate the province of Illyria, Caesar's only remaining stronghold city, Sarona."

Near night, all the brigades of the First Army of the Macedonian Province once again braved the gradually rising fog and advanced rapidly along the streets. The troops here were similar to those in Pompeii's Spanish Province. They are all top-notch elites. Even in the fog. No one or horse fell behind and got lost. Even the queue remained undisturbed. Everyone marched meticulously according to the rules of the drill. When the morning light first appeared, they arrived at the unknown hillside as accurately as a water timepiece. Then the officer leading the team brought the general's password to the chief centurion who was still holding his position there, and the other party replied, "Okay. Form an attack formation, but wait until the fog clears before taking direct action, because judging from the experience of the past few days, the fog should not last long.”

The chief centurion was right. Today's fog was even more fragile than the previous two days. However, when the light infantry on both wings began to move towards the opposite hillside, they discovered that Lepidus' army only had the back side of the mountain. There were some cavalrymen there, looking at their dense formation, laughing loudly, and then turned to the back of the mountain very easily and flexibly. Disappeared - this is a piece of cake for the Mattia people who have always lived between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains.

turn out to be. Last night, Lepidus' entire army marched quietly and silently under the cover of fog. Under the cover of reliable guides, they moved from under the eyes of the opponent, along the narrow river valley, towards the city of Sarona.

Now Lepidus can't wait for the reinforcements to come from Olikoum. He must rely on these four thousand people to stabilize the front. If not, Lelias's two legions will not be contained, and he will It can quickly control Illyria, form a line with Thracian King Curtis (who is Pompey's loyal servant), and Macedonia, a large military province, and then form a powerful northern front army to oppress the landed Caesar. , and unlike Pompey's army, which was well-rested and intact, the several legions brought by Caesar were all insufficient, and suffered a lot of injuries. They had been greatly consumed in the previous battles. Once there was a decisive battle, they would not be able to survive at all. He will be the opponent of Gabinus and others.

Fortunately, due to his timely transfer, Lepidus arrived at the city of Sarona, which is also on the sea, one day earlier than Laelias (whose rectification in the city of Isa was delayed a little). This was also the last time for the entire Illyria. This is a colonial city with complete city defenses. Fortunately, the city's presbytery and mayor are extremely pro-Caesar, because during the Gallic War, Caesar sent a large number of nearly free war slaves to this place for financial purposes. The mining of the mines brought huge profits and great prosperity to the city, so they had long ago sworn to become Caesar's "Crion", just like many Spanish and Greek cities swore to Pompey.

When Lepidus' identity and number were revealed, the citizens of Sarona welcomed him and his four thousand subordinates with great enthusiasm and a short time. However, Lepidus had no time to socialize with the citizens. He eagerly found the city magistrate and asked for full authority to take over the city. Defense, "Because just tomorrow, Lelias will bring an entire well-armed army to attack it. He will even mobilize a large number of barbarians, including the King of Thrace, and may also send troops to besiege us. "

The mayor of Salona was so frightened that he immediately agreed. Lepidus quickly led the guards around the city. He found that the natural location of Salona was very advantageous. It was located on a platform cliff near the sea. There are cliffs in the west and north, and there is a winding coast below. Neither the enemy's infantry nor the fleet can approach it. Although there is a road to the southeast, it is firmly controlled by a hill. Only the east front, It is a plain land where attacking troops can deploy.

"That mountain is called Latin Mountain. Because our citizens will climb the mountain during the Latin Festival to hold festivals and parades, so it got this name." The city official told Lepidus.

"The hill called Latin is the key to victory in the defensive war. Lepidus immediately deployed the chief battalion of the 16th Legion and equipped it with three cavalry cannons. They began to build circular fortifications along the village and small square used by the citizens of Salona for the festival. Then he asked all the men and slaves of Salona to build a half wall along the hill and the city wall, and set up guards, wooden towers and stick throwers on it. In this way, the defenders in the city can reinforce Latin Hill at any time under the cover of this half wall.

Finally, Lepidus asked the municipal officials how much food the city had in reserve. The answer was that because the citizens abandoned and burned the surrounding towns and mines, and defended the city with strong defenses, the consumption of food would increase greatly. At most, it could only last for seven to ten days.

"Well, it seems that we can only send envoys to ride fast horses to the city of Olikum and ask them to use small boats to secretly supply food to Salona along the coast. "Lepidus told Sabo.

But at dusk that day, six envoys sent by Sabo went out, and only two returned. They told Lepidus angrily, "When we approached the city, we saw that the atmosphere in Olikum was not right, so we left two people on the street and did not enter. As a result, the other four were all detained. It seems that Olikum regretted his betrayal."

"Should we kill their hostages?" Cretas asked Lepidus at this time, holding the hilt of the sword tightly. (To be continued..)