Augustus Road

The cavalry commander, just as Lepidus had predicted in advance, because of his key military exploits in Kocula, he finally had the priestly divination power of Maxima and the legion commanding power to execute the expedition - in extraordinary times, his power was second only to Dick's Tuiduo is equivalent to the consul in external affairs and the legal officer of the capital in internal affairs.

Of course, Caesar would be independent all the way to the conquests, and the war and power over the states of Asia Minor. He is no longer just Caesar's chief lieutenant or commander of partial divisions, but the second-in-command with four to five legions and the power of life and death in a certain independent strategic area. He is Maxima!

In addition, Caesar awarded another cavalry commander to Dehymus Brutus of Syria, and asked him to be responsible for the defense of Parthia and to punish the Jewish Herod who surrendered to Pompey.

"How is Gaius' health?" Lepidus asked Antony at the banquet after the authorization ceremony.

Antony then took advantage of the influence of alcohol and put his hand on Lepidus' shoulder intimately. He replied that Gaius was fine, but he was just frightened, and he didn't trust the people in the army very much. "At least he and Celeste and Eurasia We can no longer maintain a good relationship. Our brothers’ best friend now is you. Come and drink to Lepidus’ appointment as commander of the cavalry!”

"Send Gaius to Gaul. Anyway, Decimus can't come to take the post there for the time being. There is no high-intensity war, and you can safely seek qualifications and abilities." After clinking glasses, Lepidus said that he could arrange Gaius's appointment. Gaius went to serve as deputy general in the legions in Gaul. "Caesar also asked you to recruit new legions in Dalmatia and TransGaul. Gaius will be responsible for this. He can also get a lot of extra income." What a fat guy."

"Of course!" Antony has never been a hypocritical person, and he immediately asked Lepidus to borrow two hundred talents of money to prepare for the marriage proposal to Fulivia, the beautiful widow of Claudius in Rome. But Lepidus smiled, a little unpredictably, "Fullivia, I have already advised you to take action, but when you were serving as tribune and food supervisor in Rome, you focused your energy on horse racing and entertainment. Now you have no assets at all." She has been squandered, and my informant in the city now tells me that Fulivia has agreed to marry someone else."

Anthony clenched his fists and asked who it was. Lepidus patted him on the shoulder and said, "Governor of Sicily, your good friend Curio." Then he sighed and said, "But if you open your mouth, two hundred talents of Money, of course I can help you for free." Finished. Anthony began to drink with a complicated expression until he was completely drunk. Lepidus then walked alone to the mansion where he was staying. There were already many of his confidants waiting there, and the whole scene was also a small but exquisite banquet.

When everyone proposed to toast to the future glory of the new cavalry commander, Lepidus smiled and said that this kind of thing could be put aside for the time being, and then he said to the people in public: "Now Pompey is about to perish. Previously, His Excellency Caesar crossed the Rubicon." When we were at the river, what we needed was a quick war; but now His Excellency Caesar does not need to be anxious, he can wait slowly, because Italy, Sicily, Spain, Gaul, and now Greece and Macedonia are all in his hands, and by about the end of next year, Asia Minor and Egypt will also fall into his hands. As for Pompey, he may gain some tactical victories in Africa with a few elite legions, but in terms of the overall situation, this great general is finished, already finished. ”

After hearing this exciting news, all the commanders and chief centurions cheered. In their minds, as long as they could survive to the end of the civil war and stand on the side of the winner, they would receive generous rewards, or be in the Republic. The highest goal has been achieved by making steady progress in the official career.

Lepidus smiled, put down his wine glass, and then revealed the specific goal at hand: to cross Thessaly and find his enemy Scipio, "Caesar has already divided the battle zones. Scipio and his three legions, Including the first legion brought by Brutus and Cassius from the province of Syria, which is now the ninth legion of the Macedonian province of Pompey, together there are four legions, which are my prey. We have six, twelve, thirteen and three. The Fifteenth Legion, as well as the 'Cyclops' Legion that I had previously recruited in Illyria, including the Germans, Gauls and Agrians, have been given the designation of the Twenty-Eighth Legion and will also accompany us. , In addition, there are a total of 4,500 cavalry from the Mattias and Vipicinas, who have also returned to our army's combat order." After speaking, Lepidus pulled out his dagger and slammed it at the roasted dormouse on the dining table. He stabbed the dish and let the dagger stand on it, "Five legions, with 20,000 army slaves, nearly 5,000 cavalry, and a large number of projectiles, this is the time for a big fight, gentlemen. If you ask me, which city should we stop? I can tell you, it’s not the city of Pella, it’s not the city of Thessaloniki, it’s not the city of Byzantium, it’s not even Ephesus. We want to sweep across the western part of Asia Minor. Then he crossed the Euphoric Sea, attacked Pompey's vassal state of Bosporus, and wiped out all Pompey's remaining troops in the east. Let every soldier have ample luggage before retiring, and every general have rich assets. Full of glory and wealth unrivaled by previous generations, triumphantly conquer the city of Rome!”

"Long live the cavalry commander, for the victory!" At this time, everyone present was gearing up and changed the topic of the toast.

"However, we need a solid bridgehead to support the war against Asia Minor, which was previously neglected by Sulla and my Lord Pius. This city requires to be located between Europe and Asia, and to enjoy the greatest benefits of land and sea transportation. Pope, I plan to divide the five legions into two groups. The 12th legion will cover all the baggage and equipment, and will be a separate rear column; the remaining four legions will be fully armed and advance towards Scipio's position, which will be the vanguard column. In the future, you will serve as an assistant to General Callenus and collect the materials needed for construction along the way, which are exactly what is needed to build a bridgehead." After Lepidus finished all this, he retreated to his bedroom to rest under the pretext of being drunk.

After Matthias, who was serving, hurriedly lit the bronze lamp and unfolded the papyrus, Lepidus sat in front of it, unable to contain his joy, and wrote a secret letter to Queen Adiana of Eubernia, "Calabia, I hope you can hold on to the current situation with the help of your allies. I, the new cavalry commander of the Roman Republic, will soon lead a large and powerful army to help you defeat any enemy. After Calabis and Calabia join forces, they will surely be invincible. I will return the royal tombs in the Amasya Valley and Sinope, the old royal city of the Kingdom of Pontus, to you. Next year, you will become the queen of the entire Black Euxine Sea. In three years, I will take back the small crown that belonged to your mother Monime, which you previously mortgaged to Pompey. That will also belong to you." (To be continued...)