Augustus Road

After a large amount of fodder was returned to the camp, the rest of the letters sent by Lepidah had already flowed across the entire Libyan coast.

Long before Sabo and the others unpacked their luggage and confirmed Pompey's plunder of the province, the cavalry commander had made a secret estimate. He judged that there were garrisons of Pompey's party everywhere on the entire coast, and Zeta had troops under the command of Labienus. A regular legion, and it is said that there are also two auxiliary legions, with nearly 10,000 Mauritanian cavalry sent by the King of Juba. It is difficult for the barren terrain around Zeta to support the vast pastures and wheat fields to supply so many people. The soldiers and horses were eaten, not to mention the heavy military pay for his own soldiers and allies. Now Pompey only had the land of Africa and western Libya left in his hands, and he could only scrape the ground to support his army.

Therefore, Lepidus, who grasped this point, began to use ruthless psychological tactics. The letter previously sent to Leptis was nothing more than a cover-up. His trump card was sent to the entire Libyan coast almost at the same time, to nine towns. letters.

It was said that "\u003cno-error\u003e.s. at the same time", but for the sake of perfect tactics, the cavalry commander carefully referred to the map and asked the token officer to send out the tokens one by one according to the time difference according to the distance of each town: if it was far away, then Set off early; conversely, if you are closer, set off later. There is only one purpose, and it is for all letters to truly appear in front of the presbyteries of all towns "at the same time."

In the letter, Lepidus listed and condemned the numerous crimes committed by Pompeii's party members and tax knights against the other towns, and said that Pompey's party members were now at the end of their rope, and he came this time with ten legions. Ten thousand elite cavalry are coming. It is to liberate all of Africa and Libya. Although strictly speaking, these towns are suspected of "supporting rebellion", as the commander of the cavalry, I have asked the Roman dictator Caesar to forgive everyone's past mistakes and relieve you of the shackles and burdens, as long as You can immediately stand on the side that truly represents the republic.

Next, Lepidus made detailed requirements that all municipalities must comply with:

Each town immediately surrendered thirty noble hostages to the camp of the cavalry commander;

The towns were exempted from the requirement to provide military salaries, provided that they surrendered the fodder that Pompey had previously required them to store;

On horseback all the troops of the cavalry commander landed on the shore. All towns have the responsibility to provide accommodation and rescue stranded ships in distress. Violators will suffer the fate of their towns; starting today, all towns are no longer allowed to provide any material or personnel assistance to Pompeii's party members. It also has the responsibility of organizing self-defense teams to protect itself. If any Pompeian party members stay in the city, they must be executed or expelled;

The towns had the obligation to provide any war intelligence and enemy movements to the cavalry commander's army, and the cavalry commander also had the obligation to protect the town from Pompey's army.

After receiving the letter, the Presbyterian Council of Ruspina City immediately held an intense secret meeting. In the end, he still couldn't decide, so he sent an envoy to rush to the next town. However, the information available to all towns is no different from Ruspina - no one knows how many people the cavalry commander Lepidus brought, nor does it know how the current battlefield situation compares.

In a panic, news from the city of Hadrumum came quickly: two thousand Mauritanian cavalry were completely defeated and expelled by Lepidus' army. The people's wealth and anointing they looted were returned to the hands of the citizens, and Hadrumum had sworn to Caesar. Allegiance and effectiveness. This effect finally had the final say. Nine towns, including Thapsus, the largest free city on the coast, all decided to collectively leave Pompey's side and switch to Caesar's side at the same time.

Subsequently, Lepidus' lost fleet docked at various places and received warm welcomes and hospitality. The soldiers began to assemble towards the cavalry commander's camp without any harassment. They also received supplies from various towns in terms of food, packhorses and weapons. Gradually, the three legions in the hands of Lepidus began to become complete again. They were preparing to form an offensive and defensive front in the coastal towns where garrison rights were opened.

On the other side, after learning that the enemy had landed, Rabinus was holding a mobilization meeting in Zeta City to go to war! He declared to all the legionnaires and foreign cavalry: "This time we must have all the determination and perseverance. Some people ask me why we spend so much money and hire so many light cavalry. I can answer This question is that these Mauritanians and Numidians have long been the most reliable cavalry of the Republic. They are particularly suitable for galloping and fighting in terrains like Africa and Libya. Even if they are not well-prepared, they can also harass the enemy. The effect of making them tired. All in all, I want to summon tens of thousands of countless allies to line up at the forefront of the elite legion, so that Lepidah will be exhausted just by killing these people, and then my elite main force. Then pounce on him and turn victory into defeat!"

As a result, just when the morale of the whole army was soaring, several messenger cavalry came and told Labienus that all the cities along the coast, except for Leptis, where Condisius was guarding, had all rebelled!

Labienus' vision went dark and he almost fell off the platform. Then in a hoarse voice, he asked the scout Lepidus where the camp was and how many troops there were now.

After the scout replied about the location, he said that Lepidus' current army was still on its way to disperse. He only had about 5,000 infantry on hand, plus less than 1,000 cavalry. The emblem of the legion was a silver eagle flag.

"That's the sixth legion he recently recruited. Lepidus is probably always with this legion, so we must attack. I will lead the team myself, General Laelius will follow me as my deputy, Ignatius will lead the cavalry - General Urcus will be the garrison of Zeta. We must take advantage of the opportunity before the rest of Lepidus's legion arrives to drive him into the sea and chop off his head!" Labinus made a prompt decision.

Labinus did what he said. He divided all the troops into two teams, the front and the back. He and Laelius personally led the front team, about 3,000 foreign cavalry, with the chief brigade of the first legion, and 2,000 javelin throwers and archers as the vanguard of the attack; while Ignatius commanded 1,800 selected Juba King cavalry, with four war elephants, that is, the rest of the brigade of the first legion, as the rear guard reserve. Labinus asked him to join the battle after receiving the signal.

At this time, Li Bi Da personally led the guards to the high ground beside the camp, and together with all the cavalry, he monitored the situation around him, because although most of the towns had surrendered to him, the number of enemies in this area still had a great advantage, and there were dangers everywhere, so he must not take it lightly.

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