Augustus Road

"So, what exactly do you want to do?" Caesar, who stepped onto the podium, asked without any extra words, spreading his hands directly to thousands of veterans.

After saying this, even Skava and others fell silent. They all stared at their toes, because just now they saw Caesar's appearance. He had become thinner and darker. The few hairs left were also mixed with The many white hairs seemed to be from sleeping rough in Egypt and suffering a lot from commanding the march. This made the soldiers, especially the soldiers of the Tenth Legion, uneasy. It was natural to think "What was I doing at that time?" Earth came out of our hearts, and finally some brave souls cried out, saying we just want what we deserve.

"What do you want!" After saying this, Caesar's words stopped abruptly.

The soldiers looked at each other, and then Skava squinted his eyes and slowly read out the unchanged requirements in front of Caesar.

Looking at the familiar faces in the wind and sunshine, to be honest, Caesar's mood was mixed. He couldn't help but remember that when he was a child, many people mentioned his uncle, the war hero Marius, at the dinner table at home. At that time, they were all praised. At that time, Caesar also understood that his uncle's achievements were inseparable from the support and love of ordinary soldiers. When soldiers dug trenches, Marius also dug them, and when soldiers repaired wooden fences, Marius also repaired them. Marius also ate the einkorn wheat bread, and Marius also fed the soldiers the mules, so in the end the soldiers became "Marius's mules." Caesar, who has followed his uncle's role model since he was a child, always behaves well to the outside world, or as soon as he walks into the military camp. He became an ascetic, and even though his private life was terrible, he had no selfish intentions in front of the soldiers. All the spoils he gained, except for political affairs, were given to the soldiers, and he ate whatever the soldiers ate in the camp. He asked himself that he owed nothing to the other party, but he also believed that the soldiers would be loyal to him. This was indeed the case. Of course Caesar knew: everyone who came to make trouble. It’s not that they really want to retire, they just want to cash in their bonus. As long as they do it, Skava and his group will fight for themselves through life and death in Africa. Even poisonous snakes, droughts, scorching sun and dust, and no matter how ferocious enemies are, will not be looked down upon by them.

Why. Will we be stuck in this situation now? Caesar wanted to blame this reason, similar to the Battle of Corcula, on the soldiers and let them reflect on themselves, but Caesar could not - most of his direct legionaries rebelled, even if they were not on vacation, but In the Seventh Legion in Gaul, most of their family members stayed on the campus, and their inner attitude was self-evident.

In a moment of silence. Caesar seemed to understand, or from the memory of his uncle's tragedy, the army created by Marius. There were six legions in total. Why did they turn against Sulla and invade Rome to expel him with a little encouragement from Sulla? Because the soldiers only cared about rewards, they believed that if Marius replaced Sulla, he would definitely abandon them and recruit new legions to conquer Mithridates in the east. Then the opportunity to make a fortune in the war is lost. Isn’t it the same now?

Facing thousands of colleagues who had gone through life and death over the years, Caesar felt lonely as never before. He put his hands on the pulpit and lowered his head, revealing a yellow-orange bald area. Facing the soldiers' questioning, he didn't know how to respond, but he couldn't remain silent. At this time, the deputy standing behind him The cavalry commander put his hand on his shoulder, as if to express relief, and then Caesar heard Lepidus' low words:

"We will take the measures we used to deal with the mutiny in Northern Italy. We may not need to tithe this time, but we can demobilize most of the legions and leave only ten legions."

Then Lepidus spoke very gently, "An Xin, even if these legions of yours are retired, my legion will still be driven and will go to Africa without any hesitation. With the ten legions, there will be no problem in defeating Pompey." …

At this time, Caesar seemed to be possessed by a demon, and slowly straightened his back. His mood towards the soldiers had changed from uneasy and sad to a little bit of resentment, and then he said word by word, "I promise the eighth The 9th and 11th legions are now all retired. The 7th legion will complete the discharge procedures in time until it completes the garrison mission in Gaul. The tenth legion will continue to take leave and will be approved to retire after one year. "

When Caesar finished saying this, some of the soldiers closest to the pulpit couldn't bear it anymore and suddenly started crying. They originally just wanted to make a scene, but they didn't expect that neither side would be able to step down, causing Caesar to Dismissed them directly.

The soldiers conveyed Caesar's words one by one, and more and more people cried, but Caesar still tried his best and shouted again with a trembling voice, "Approved to retire!"

After saying that, he walked down the platform with a stern face. In the chaotic crowd around him, Lepidus, who was standing behind Caesar, showed an imperceptible smile. Then the servants brought Caesar a horse, and Caesar got on the horse, but did not say anything. The crowd spoke of any order to march, but directly said, "Citizens."

The word "citizens" broke everyone's psychological defenses, which meant that Caesar no longer regarded these people as soldiers. He had personally removed everyone's identity. They had completely left the legion and returned to their most original natural origins. However, this time Caesar was not just threatening like before. His feelings were genuine. He continued to ride on his horse and said to the soldiers, "For the resettlement of land, only two-thirds can be paid for the time being. As for the allowances and rewards, please have your responsible representatives write it down on the relevant word board and hand it to the cavalry commander. Even if there is no money now, I, Caesar, will definitely take responsibility to the end. But now I am really sorry. I have very urgent military affairs and need to rush to Africa. I have received the oath of allegiance from the rest of the legions..." After saying this, the whole parade ground was filled with crying. Caesar felt very sorry, but he had no choice. He knew that this was definitely not the time to be soft-hearted. Lepidus was right. According to the current financial difficulties, he could only retain ten legions, and the rest relied on auxiliary legions. He was really forced to do so.

Caesar rode his horse and slowly walked to the exit of the parade ground. Then he turned around and waved to all the soldiers present with tears on their faces, saying, "Take care, everyone! Julius Caesar will continue to move forward."

Lepidus also slowly walked to the entrance of the parade ground, where the distraught Skavala handed the tablet with several signatures to the cavalry commander.

"I will handle everything as soon as possible." Lepidus said calmly, and then handed the tablet to the Jewish servant beside him, who carefully put it into the leather box on his back.

"I am the biggest sinner." Skavala seemed not to hear the words of the cavalry commander, but said these inexplicable words and turned away.