Augustus Road

After saying these words, Lepidus turned around and looked silently at the statue of the goddess Patina standing in the municipal hall. She was not like the statue of Athena in Delos or the statue of Venus in Cyprus. Generally in line with the aesthetics of Greece and Rome, it is a stout, ugly, one-eyed woman statue. According to legend, this is the daughter of the Cyclops. Now she is also respected by cities such as Salona. Looking at her huge eyes quietly, Lepidus I thought silently in my heart: "I hope Caesar can establish a foothold on the southern seaside, so as to reduce the pressure here."

At this moment, violent winds were blowing again in the entire city and in the countryside. It seemed that after a short rest, the ocean was about to stir up stormy waves again under the endless energy of Poseidon's trident - that is to say , Antony's follow-up troops in Brindisi, and his own main army in Ravenna will not come for reinforcements in the short term. Everything must rely on the troops currently on hand.

Fortunately, Caesar once again won the gamble. He asked everyone to advance hard against the strong wind, ignored any harassment by Pompey's army, and approached the city of Apollonia. At that time, Byblos, Libo, and Maximus' two deputies , happened to be sailing with his fleet to search for his transport fleet, so Caesar did not use force, but sent a letter to the garrison officer Stabuli and the city presbytery at the same time to "all the tribunes and people of Rome, In the name of the legally elected consul and Dictator, he asked them to "help" him as soon as possible and make this city his stop.

The reaction in the city was very different. Stubley was a member of Pompey's party. He immediately transported water, grain, and bricks to the Acropolis. And began to send guards to hunt down the nobles in the city as hostages, but the Apollonia Council of Elders collectively decided to welcome Caesar. "When civil strife breaks out in the city of Rome, what else can we do? Of course it depends on who occupies the power to issue political orders. Last year, this power was undoubtedly in the hands of Pompey, but now the city of Rome is in the hands of Caesar, then we Just listen to Caesar." In this way, the citizens formed armed forces and surrounded the Acropolis. And refused to fight under Stubley. Seeing that the situation was over, the officer fled quickly with his guards. Then the elders went out of the city and handed the key into Caesar's hand as a sign of submission.

After the surrender of Apollonia, the surrounding towns of Bliss and Amantea also paid their allegiance. Finally, the port of Dickhajan in the north. He also expelled Pompey's garrison officers, expressing his allegiance to Caesar.

The three legions led by Gabinus were preparing to rescue the surrounding cities along the road. Seeing this, they could only retreat to Delphi to prepare for winter camp and compete with Caesar in the coming year. As for Byblos' fleet, they returned to Kocula in despair and replenished themselves again. Find the opportunity to go to sea to intercept, and follow Byblos' words. "The sea is still ours!" After replenishing dry firewood, fresh water and food, Byblos decisively set sail from the city of Kokcula (because this city has the most complete docks and warehouses), and there was another nearby ship in Corfu. A hundred ships joined him. Subsequently, they successfully intercepted Caesar's fleet at a distance of forty miles from the sea - about thirty ships, most of which were just temporarily requisitioned flat-bottomed boats. There were no combat ships to escort them, so Byblos's fleet was like The giant shark broke into a school of sardines, sinking five of them without much effort and capturing all the rest.

"Check whether there are armed soldiers and horses on the deck and cabin!" Byblos on the bridge asked in a hoarse voice, panting heavily because his body had not yet recovered.

After a while, the result came out that all thirty ships were empty. After landing Caesar's army, they were quietly returning to the port of Brindisi.

"This means that Caesar only brought half of the troops and horses, and a considerable number of personnel, waiting for the return of this fleet in Brindisi - or in other words, as long as I slaughter these crew members, Caesar will There is no other way, he can only sit on the shore and wait for death!" Thinking of this, Byblos laughed and screamed like a man possessed, then coughed loudly, almost coughing up blood, his lungs were like a sieve, this It was his health doctor who said, "Kill, kill them all to sacrifice to the God of the Sea."

Then the massacre began. The shipowners and Caesar's officials were specially selected, and they were bloody beheaded on the deck, their hands and feet were cut off, or their intestines were pulled out with iron hooks inserted into the anus, and their bodies were thrown into the sea. Then Byblos, probably fed up with it, ordered the rest of the crew to be locked in the holds of several ships, fire rockets at the ships, throw away torches, and burn everyone and all the ships to ashes.

"I plan a new cruise route to prevent similar mistakes from happening." Byblos lay on the bridge and dictated to the token officer, "One-third of the ships are deployed between Sasong and Kulikum. , to prepare for enemy landings further south; a third, under the leadership of Maximus, Vespiro, and Milochius, made an arc between Corfu and Oricum, even if Caesar captured Several seaport cities, but we still have the strength to block them off. The last third, led by Libo and me, is cruising on the sea and preparing to attack Brindisi. "

In this way, under the attack of Byblos, Caesar lost all his mobile fleet, but now he could not take care of that much. Taking advantage of the opportunity when the main force of Pompey's army retreated to Delphi, he was also determined to get in touch with Lepidus' branch army as soon as possible. The road was opened, and stern letters were sent to Antony, Eurabella, and Trureas who were still in Brindisi, asking them to take their soldiers with them at all costs, as the weather permitted. Crossing the sea, "no matter what means of crossing the sea, even swimming."

Subsequently, in bad weather, Caesar personally selected four thousand soldiers, including five hundred cavalry, and groped towards the city of Oricum.

At this time, Lailias's attack on Sarona had already begun. He did build five siege towers according to Marcius's proposal, but made slight adjustments to their positions - three were used for siege. Latin Hill, the two are facing the city wall of Sarona, and the chief brigade and three infantry brigade troops are placed in the middle to isolate the connection between the two, and continue to use "Samon Toga" and trebuchets , destroying the half-wall, denying Lepidus the chance to repair it.

In addition, about two thousand Liburna barbarians dragged their canoes into seaside caves and hid them, and then came ashore one after another, threatening Mount Latin from behind. In this way, Lepidus' elite tribesmen on the mountain were besieged. . (To be continued...)