Augustus Road

Later, Marco Antony arbitrarily monopolized the command of several legions in Brindisi. He thought he had this capital, although Telureas and Eurabella both sent letters angrily in front of Caesar. He was impeached, but "Lucky Anton" was not moved at all. He still prepared for the crossing seriously and energetically - training oarsmen, mobilizing ships, and even built a raft, tied a skin bag to it, and asked Soldier: "We will cross over at once. If there is no room on the deck, you and I will just sit here and cross over!"

In addition, Byblos, who was on his way back, did not yet know about Caesar and Lepidus' siege of Oricum. He only knew that he had suffered great hardships - lack of firewood for fire to keep warm, and lack of leather to make tents on the deck to protect against wind and rain. What was even more painful was the lack of fresh water, but Byblos still persisted. When it rained, he called on the crew to collect rainwater. When it was sunny, he scraped the dew off the leather tents and distributed it equally to all members. Although he was the supreme commander, he also Sharing joys and sorrows and never taking another sip of water, his health deteriorated sharply. He felt that the ghost of the private boat owner he had killed earlier was coming to haunt him. (Le) (Read) Novels .LeReadingx.com

"I'm not afraid to kill you with a sword in front of you, how can I still be afraid of your humble and pitiful ghost! Go away, my blade is prepared for my enemy Caesar, you are not qualified to try it." Sometimes, in During the day's voyage, Byblos stood up, holding the hilt of his sword, his face as thin as a skeleton, and shouted.

He had fallen into a state of delirium.

At this time, the fleet came to the waters near Olikum and prepared to enter the port, but everyone was shocked to find out. Caesar was just as Rabinus expected. A large number of cavalry and infantry were mobilized. Stationed around the city of Olikum and on the shore: Byblos' fleet neither dared to enter the city and wait for death, nor could it reach the shore to obtain supplies. It could only set sail and run towards Corfu. This was almost a disaster. The outcome was that the fleet sailed without any supplies because Dixhajan and Apollonia were in Caesar's hands along the way.

The day before arriving in Corfu, Byblos died on the bridge, with his slaves ripping off his armor. When I was about to apply ointment on him, I found that due to high fever and malaria during his lifetime, his whole body was like a pile of dry firewood, like a pale dead fish in a puddle.

"Byblos persisted in fighting until the last moment. Although he is my old enemy and although I despise his ability, I will still respect him. He will still be a proud Roman noble until his death, and I will send condolences to his family. "Caesar, who was on the front line, said heartily and sadly after learning the news.

After Byblos' fleet arrived at Corfu Island and the city of Kocula. A third of the crew and oarsmen died, including the supreme commander. Almost everyone died from illness due to lack of nutrition.

Fortunately, the ship did not suffer much damage and only needed to be repaired in the dock. Later, Gabinus became the highest commander on land and sea in the entire Greek theater. He divided the fleet into two and handed them over to Libo and Mark respectively. Sims, asked them to resume patrol operations immediately after resting.

When Caesar's urgent message arrived at the siege position, Lepidus was commanding the artillery unit and was familiar with the use of the "Samontoga" because, according to Pope, many soldiers were not proficient enough with this novel weapon. In addition, it The ammunition of the rocket is not as versatile and easy to obtain as the cavalry cannon and the wild ass trebuchet. It needs to be made of special wood. Of course, what is more troublesome is that the preparation of the combustion formula on the cork rocket is also a complicated task.

While watching the cork rockets flying into the city of Oricum and setting off a raging fire, Lepidus told Sabo that he must immediately call in a team of alchemists from Cyrene, mostly from Greece, Judea and Egypt. To recruit such talents, "I will not not improve this weapon just because it comes from Pompeii. My requirements for the new Samontoga are two things. One is to improve the formula so that it can be more powerful at the end of the flight." Burning or even bursting; another thing is that the number of pipes in each samontoga must be increased, otherwise the shocking combat effect of the salvo will not be achieved. "

Then, he received a letter, in which Caesar complained again, saying that the number of troops he could use was only four to five thousand. His bluffing tactics were initially effective against Gabinus, and he once scared the opponent to the point where he had several thousand soldiers. But now that they heard that Labienus was coming, the situation changed. Two Pompeian legions were approaching, and there might be more in the future.

"So I want to take a gamble and draw out the main force of the siege. I can gather 8,000 people and head to the Apsus River to intercept the enemy and prevent them from rushing in. Strategically, I am planning to use peace talks to delay time. I heard that you Machius, the director of engineering who captured Pompey for the third time, can be used as a tool."

So Lepidus secretly took out 3,000 men, including all the Agrians, and galloped all night to a town called Bugalotum to meet Caesar.

"The army is short of food and soldiers. Even in the winter camp, some people will not be able to survive. But in my eyes, these veterans are more precious than gold of equal weight." In Bugalotum, Caesar led several cavalrymen and rode with Lepidus, who looked a little tired and pale, along the bank of the Apsus River, scouting the Pompey camp opposite. "Two full legions, Pompey issued a law to recruit foreigners from Greece and various islands. It's ridiculous to think that Pompey is doing the same thing as me. In addition, they have nearly 4,000 hired archers and slingers, a total of 20,000 people, and our strength is less than half of theirs."

"Hold on, as long as you hold the streets and this market town, Labinus and his men can't get over, and there is no way to rescue Olicum." Lepidus's answer was simple.

"We can only hope for the troops on the other side. When will your successor legion come?" Caesar asked tentatively.

"At the same time as Brindisi, sir, as long as the wind direction changes and the wind slows down, we can cross together, so we must collect food in Epirus in advance. In addition, my suggestion is that once the reinforcements arrive, we must abandon the winter camp and immediately fight Pompey's army." It seems that Lepidus's idea is the same as Labinus's, although they are not in the same camp.

At this time, looking at the barren and bleak Apsus River in winter, Caesar fell silent. He did not understand Lepidus's request, but once the winter camp was cancelled, he would inevitably face the reward requests from the centurions and soldiers, so that they would be willing to fight, but now he is heavily in debt, what should he do? (To be continued...)