Three Kingdoms Eschatology

Not long after his words fell, when the soldiers were about to turn the shooting direction of the individual ballista, more than a hundred soldiers in the front row suddenly flew backwards, and then the Gaul soldiers fell backwards row after row. .A Gaul soldier who was knocked down by the soldiers in front struggled to stand up, but something hit him heavily on the arm.With the light of a torch that fell nearby, he saw that the object that hit him turned out to be a bloody human head, and his soul flew out of his mind.

It turned out that after the Sicilian heavy cavalry were scattered to the left and right sides, they pulled up a long iron chain. This iron chain with a strong force brought Gaul soldiers to the ground in pieces, and knocked down more than a dozen high-level soldiers. Lu Bing's head was severed.A few seconds later, the heavy cavalry who cut into the two sides of the Gaul army rushed into the Gaul army crowd.The huge war horses were rampaging through the crowd, and those who were knocked down were trampled by iron hooves.In this situation, the individual ballistas in the hands of the Gaul soldiers were not as useful as their daggers.

At this time, the sky was already white, and the surrounding scenery was clearly discernible.The main force of the Gaul Legion on the other side of the Marne River rushed to the river bank again under the order of the regiment commander.However, more Viking warships of the Roman army gathered in this section of the river.Almost all the dozens of Viking warships sailing into the Marne River got the news and gathered here.Seeing this situation, the commander of the Gaul army found that the soldiers and horses of his army on the other side of the river had been defeated, and it was impossible to cross the river here, so he had to order to retreat.

……

On the north bank of the Marne, on the side of the Roman camp.More than [-] soldiers and horses of the two armies are still standing still.The sun had already risen two poles high, but Postumus, who was confident about this battle, was secretly anxious, and thought to himself—according to the time, the Second Army should appear behind the enemy camp, but why is there still no movement? ?

At this moment, the Roman army was already full of drums and trumpets. The huge army formation of more than 1 people has begun to move forward slowly, pressing directly towards the Gaul army.At the same time, the longbowmen in the Roman army began to shoot again.One after another, heavy arrows were thrown one after another, accurately hitting some vulnerable targets, and screams sounded from time to time in the Gaul army formation.

Knowing that he couldn't wait any longer, Postumus waved his hand and said, "Send the order, the whole army advances! Prepare to fight!" Immediately, the Gaul army also began to move forward slowly, so as to speed up contact with the opponent and avoid He was in a situation where he was only beaten and could not fight back.

A quarter of an hour later, the two armies were less than fifty battles apart, and each entered the firing range of the other.The bows, arrows and crossbow guns of both sides shot at each other like locusts, and the crossbowmen who fired later also began to throw stone bullets and fireballs.A battle to determine the ownership of Gaul officially kicked off...

Chapter 1158 Recovering Gaul

the banks of the Marne.The crossbow spears of the Roman and Gaul armies, with arrows flying all over the sky.Both sides erected shield walls with oars and shields at the front of the formation, and the soldiers at the rear also raised their large shields above their heads.The scene was full of the whistling sound of arrows piercing through the air and the muffled sound of arrow clusters piercing the wood.

Although both sides were protected by large scull shields, the crossbow spears projected from the curve were much less powerful than the crossbow spears fired directly at the head, but after crossing the scull shield wall, many of them could still penetrate the shield.The soldiers under the shields also sent out screams and calls from time to time.

The crossbows of the two armies were not idle either. A stone bomb was fired, and the fireball passed over the army formation and went straight to the enemy formation.Some stone bullets hit the scull shield directly, and the heavy wooden boards were smashed with rattling noises, revealing huge depressions and cracks.Some stone bullets fell directly on the large shields held by the soldiers, and the shields were instantly torn apart, and the soldiers were also broken by their arms and waists, and fell limp to the ground.Of course, from time to time, clusters of five or six-foot-high flames rose from the military formations of both sides, scorching the nearby crowd.

Theodosius and Postumus, who were watching the battle from behind their respective armies, knew in their hearts that the battle had become such a situation, and whoever could win in the end would depend on whose arrows and projectiles could be used to the end.Therefore, the two ordered almost at the same time, so that the soldiers under their command slowed down the intensity and speed of the projectiles, and at the same time strengthened their protection.

Arrows, projectiles, crossbows, etc. flying in the air immediately became sparse.Soldiers, both Roman and Gaul, minimized the time their bodies were exposed to shield protection.At the same time, they squeezed together as much as possible, stacking the large shields on their heads like fish scales.In this way, it is difficult for the thrown crossbow guns and heavy arrows to penetrate the two layers of shields and cause damage to personnel.But in this way, the situation of the war became stalemate, and actually formed a situation of confrontation again.

Just as Postumus was concentrating on the Roman army in front of him, he suddenly heard a lieutenant beside him exclaim loudly: "Enemy army..., enemy army appeared on our flank!"

Postumus was startled when he heard the sound, and hurriedly turned his head to look.But wherever he looked, it was empty.Postumus shouted loudly: "Where did the enemy army come from? During the battle, talking nonsense to disturb the morale of the army requires military law."

Voices came from beside him one after another: "Your Majesty, the enemy army is not on land, but in the river.", "There are enemy ships in the Marne River!"

Just as Postumus was about to turn his head to the side of the Marne River, two or three things like crossbows or heavy arrows landed not far in front of him.After hearing only a few low-volume sounds, but very similar to lightning and thunder, his mount neighed a few times, raised its front hooves high, and almost stood up.Postumus, who was not on guard, rolled off the saddle and fell to the ground.There were also several Gaul soldiers whose legs, feet and faces were injured by the lead shot from the explosion, and they slumped on the ground and screamed in pain.A group of Postumus' personal guards rushed forward to protect Postumus.

On the Marne River, a fleet of fifty or sixty Viking ships has approached the river bank near the flank of the Gaul army.The Roman soldiers on the ship and the sailors of the Sicilian Viking ship jumped into the water one after another and waded onto the river beach.Leading the sailors on the Viking ship was a man with a white beard and a typical oriental face. He was the general Dian Wei under Feng Yu's command.

The longbowmen of the Sicilian army and ordinary soldiers holding individual ballistas followed behind, uninterruptedly throwing rounds of special crossbows or arrows with blasting parts to the Gaul army formation.The deafening crisp explosion sounded continuously in the Gaul army formation.The Gaul soldiers hiding under the shields suddenly became a mess like ants on a hot pot.

Some generals and soldiers reacted. Amidst the shouts, they quickly turned their individual ballistas towards the Roman army rushing from the side.A Gaul soldier was about to pull the trigger of the individual ballista in his hand, but saw a black mass flying towards him.With a muffled pop, a weapon that looked like a small ax but was much thinner smashed into his face.It was Dian Wei's hand halberd.

Most of these Gaul soldiers only had time to shoot the first crossbow gun, and some hadn't even fired a shot before the Roman army and Sicilian soldiers from the Marne River rushed into their formation.After throwing out the last halberd, Dian Wei also pulled out the two halberds at the back of his waist, and waved them into the Gaul crowd.

A Gaul soldier had just loaded a single-armed ballista, and the point of the ballista was aimed at Dian Wei's chest, and he pulled the trigger of the suspended knife when he was less than four feet away from him.The crossbow had already slid half way through the slot, and just as it was about to leave the string, Dian Wei's halberd had already struck horizontally, chopping off the individual ballista in the hands of the Gaul soldier, and the crossbow The gun also deviated from the direction naturally, and shot into the waist of a nearby Gaul centurion who was fighting with Roman soldiers with swords.Dian Wei took advantage of the situation and flipped his wrist, changing the horizontal chop instead of vertical chop.Before the Gaul soldier could draw out the dagger from his waist, he was beheaded by Dian Wei's halberd.

Seeing this situation, Theodosius, who was in front of the Gaul army, was willing to lose his opportunity to fight, and immediately urged his army to press forward.The military formations of the two sides were actually not far apart. In just two or three minutes, the Roman military formations pouring in like a tide rushed into the already chaotic Gaul military formations.

At this time, Postumus had already broken an arm from the fall, and he screamed wildly in pain, how could he command the battle calmly.His personal guards surrounded him and retreated with all their strength.Originally, the Gaul army showed signs of defeat, and without a leader, it quickly collapsed.Soon, the Gallic army fled to the upper reaches of the Marne in a chaotic and disorderly manner.Theodosius' British Legion cavalry and a small number of Sicilian heavy cavalry followed closely behind.They chased and killed them from early morning until sunset.On the side of the Marne River, there are dead bodies of Gaul soldiers who are stumbling around, and there are also many corpses of Gaul soldiers who swim across the Marne River but are drowned or shot to death by random arrows.

Theodosius, who won the great victory in the Battle of the Marne, did not give the Gaul army a chance to breathe. His legion quickly crossed the Marne and pursued the Gaul Second Army that was intercepted by the Sicilian Viking fleet.The Second Gaul Legion had already suffered setbacks when they crossed the river. After receiving the news of their army's disastrous defeat on the Marne River and the disappearance of their king Postumus, their morale was extremely low.How could they have the heart to fight fiercely with the Roman army, and fled west after being defeated at the first touch, and simply chose to surrender after being intercepted by the Roman army for the second time.

When the two main forces of Postumus were defeated, none of the armed forces in those Gaul towns dared to fight against the Roman army, and Theodosius' eagle flags were all spread and lowered wherever they went.In less than a month, most of Gaul was recovered by Theodosius.

Chapter 1159: Joining Teachers

In the summer, a column of people rushed southeast on the central plateau of Gaul.They were the main army of Theodosius.

Suddenly, the scouts in front of the horse shouted loudly: "Attention, there is an unidentified army ahead!" A few Qingqi also flew away like flying dust.Theodosius hastily reined in his horse, and set up an awning to look into the distance.

Sure enough, at the end of the road that disappeared into the sky, several flying banners appeared.Although these flags were clearly not barbarian troops, the styles of the flags of the rebels and even the Roman army were similar, so it was impossible to tell who was the enemy in a short time.

However, those scouts returned excitedly after a while, and they shouted easily: "It's a friendly army! It's the army from the Apennine province!" Theodosius and other generals immediately accelerated the pace of their mounts and greeted them. up.

After the two armies joined forces, the field was filled with joy.A dignified and majestic general rode his horse towards Theodosius.The latter saw the other party's attire and appearance and knew that it was the general of the other party. He hurriedly raised his hand and asked, "We are Theodosius of the British Legion. May I ask that you are the general of your army? Can you tell me?" a name."

Hearing Theodosius' words, the other party was slightly taken aback, then continued to laugh loudly and said, "Your Excellency is General Theodosius. I have heard of your name for a long time, and I have only seen your real body today. I am the Egyptian general." Governor, Aurelian, head of the North African Legion."

Theodosius was more surprised than Aurelian. He didn't expect Aurelian to make such a fast progress. According to this, his North African Army had joined forces with Alexander at the northern foot of the Alps at least two months ago.After a few compliments, Theodosius asked: "General Aurelian, I know about your victory in Byzantium a few months ago, but I still didn't expect your Excellency to progress so quickly. Then he traveled thousands of miles, and in addition to joining forces with His Majesty Alexander’s Guards, he also went here to join us. Could it be that the rebel Augustus has been completely wiped out? Has his head been cut off by you? "

After hearing this, Aurelian laughed and said, "Augules and his gang of rebels occupy a vast area, spanning several provinces. I am not a god, so how could it be possible for only a few tens of thousands of people? Kill them within a month. After the Byzantine campaign, my legion only recovered the province of Thrace. Well... that is not accurate. To be precise, we occupied a dozen or so important cities in Thrace and stronghold fortresses. Barely maintaining a line of communication from Asia Minor to the Germanic provinces.”

Theodosius took a deep breath and asked, "It's a big taboo to use troops. Why did you do this? It's easy to regain Thrace, and the remaining bandits of Augustus cut it off again." Overland communication between Rome and Asia and Africa."

Aurelian replied unhurriedly: "Of course I understand this truth, but His Majesty Alexander has issued me several warrants in succession, and I have to obey." He paused and continued: "But there is no need to be too Overwhelmed, the power of Augustus was severely damaged in the Byzantine battle, and the remaining remnants could not make any big waves. What's more, the troops of Sicilian Governor Feng Yu landed in the province of Epirus in the southwest of the Greek peninsula and are heading north Go forth and wipe out the rest of Augustus."

When Theodosius heard this, he nodded silently. He already understood Aurelian's little plan in his heart.Aurelian drove straight into the Germanic province in the northern foothills of the Alps quickly? It was said that it was because of Alexander's edict, but in fact he was eager to do so.Entering the political core area of ​​Rome's territory earlier can add more points to his prestige in the political arena in the future.

As for the task of clearing out the remaining rebels in the vast area of ​​the Balkan Greek Peninsula, which is both laborious and ineffective, I will leave it to others to do it.Anyway, it is his first contribution to the pacification of this area in the future? What if it is not pacified? The responsibility for the resurgence of the rebel army cannot be counted on his head.

At this moment, something suddenly occurred to Theodosius' mind? A thought flashed across his mind.He immediately asked: "Greek Peninsula... Epirus Province? By the way, there is also the Achaia Province? Aren't these areas the territory of Gaius? What? Did Gaius surrender Feng Yu now or Xiang Yu?" Go north to seek refuge with Augustus?"

Aurelian shrugged his shoulders and said, "Not at all. It is said that Gaius disguised himself as a civilian merchant? He escaped by sea on a merchant ship to the far Spanish province. It is also an enclave under his sphere of influence."

Theodosius turned serious and said, "At present, Postumus has been captured by our army, and his remnants are also fleeing towards Spain. Now that we have joined forces, we can pursue the remnants of the enemy together and recover the Spanish provinces in one fell swoop."

Aurelian shook his head and said: "The precious legion came all the way from Britain? The supply line has been stretched very long. Moreover, the liberated Gaul has not yet been fully consolidated. The remnants of the rebel army may resurface at any time? Comeback. We should first send the main force Retreat into Gaul beyond the mountains, where the Sicilian fleet will provide us with supplies by sea, and then slowly march towards the Spanish provinces to wipe out all rebels."

Theodosius thought for a while and then said: "What the general said makes sense, so let's do what you want. Is there no hesitation? Let's march to Gaul beyond the mountains."

At this time, the two armies had come to a fork in the road. If you headed due south, you could reach the Gaul province beyond the mountain, which is located on the western foot of the Alps, and go southeast to the Germanic province.Aurelian smiled slightly and said to Theodosius: "The main force of our army will go to Gaul beyond the mountains? But you and I will continue to go southeast? His Majesty Alexander is waiting for us at the Xingyuan Camp in the German province .This is an order from His Majesty Alexander."

When Theodosius heard this, an imperceptible doubt flashed in his eyes, but he still didn't escape Aurelian's eyes.The latter said meaningfully: "After our troops arrive in the province outside the mountains, the command will be handed over to Feng Yu's generals. They will complete the task of pacifying the Spanish provinces. What? Could it be that General Theodosius is not responsible for his troops? no confidence?"

Theodosius naturally understood the double meaning of Aurelian's last words, he laughed and said, "Of course I have full confidence in the legion I created with my own hands, they will surely return victorious, the important thing is that they will surely Loyalty to - the Roman Empire."

A quarter of an hour later, the huge army was divided into two groups, one large and one small, before the fork in the road.A large force continued to rush towards Gaul beyond the mountains in the south, while Aurelian and Theodosius rushed towards the Germanic province in the southeast surrounded by a small number of personal guards.

Chapter 1160 Spanish War

In late spring and early summer, the port of Marseille in the Gaul province beyond the mountains.The sky is clear, the bright sunshine covers the blue water and white sandy beach.People playing in the water can be seen from time to time on the water near the shore, and there are groups of people lazily lying on the soft sand basking in the sun along the coast.

They were all Roman soldiers, half of them came from Sicily under the rule of Feng Yu, and the rest were under the command of Aurelian and Theodosius.However, no matter which tribe they came from before, they are now under the command of Feng Yu's family generals Zhao Yun and Dian Wei.

On the beach, a veteran of Asia and the Far East poured a drink made from fruit pulp into his mouth, and asked his companions: "Man, we have been resting here for three or four months, where are we now?" What month is it?"

The other party immediately muttered: "What year and month? It depends on what year name is used. According to the year name of our Central Plains Daliang... oops, I can't remember clearly. If it is calculated according to the new Gregorian calendar, it should be... yes...." Speaking of this , The man slapped his head again and said: "Hey, I'm confused. Anyway, I only remember that I have been out of the Central Plains for five years, and I have been out of Sicily for about a year. I have stayed here for three months and ten days. I just Looking forward to returning to Sicily soon, I haven't seen my mother-in-law and baby for more than a year."

These Han soldiers and generals recruited by Feng Yu to Sicily either came alone or brought their families.When they left the Central Plains, they had already decided to stick their roots in this strange world of the West for generations, and had no plans to return to their homeland.

At this time, a nearby Han general who was dressed as a centurion captain came over. He was obviously an acquaintance with him, and he responded casually: "Old Zhang, Lao Wang. You live in such a muddle that you can forget the years and months." Yes, it is now the end of April in the Gregorian calendar 231. If you want to go back to Sicily, I’m afraid it will take a few months until we have eliminated the rebels in the Spanish provinces far and near..."

Before he finished speaking, a melodious horn sounded from afar.The centurion's face was turned aside, and Lao Zhang and Lao Wang, who were still lying on the beach, kicked lightly on each of them, and said at the same time: "Quick! This is the sound of the horn for emergency assembly!".After that, he turned around and ran towards the barracks.

Lao Zhang and Lao Wang also stood up together.However, as soon as Lao Zhang stood up, he was stunned for a moment, pointing to the distant skyline and said: "Boats! There are a lot of ships." Lao Wang followed his reputation and saw a forest of masts rising on the horizon.He frowned slightly and said: "Don't think about it, this is the main force of our naval fleet. Obviously, we are going to start using troops against Spain. We can't continue to hang around here. But it's okay, we can finish this battle." come home early"

……

On the third day of May in AD 231, the Roman army officially began the battle to recover the two provinces of Spain, far and near.However, they did not take the traditional land route, crossing the Pyrenees from Transgaul and entering the Spanish peninsula, but planned to take the sea route and land on the coastal plain of the peninsula.

A lot of wind and waves are set off on the sea? Even the ocean-going galleons with huge hulls of the Sicilian fleet are swaying like floating duckweed.One of the battleships was on the deck? However, there were still a few generals chatting there with their legs crossed and their swords pressed firmly to the ground.

These people are all grey-haired? One of them is Feng Yu, the lord of Sicily.No one, including Zhao Yun Dianwei, expected that he would personally come to command the Spanish campaign.At this time, Zhao Yun said, "My lord, in fact, this battle is neither very important nor very difficult. It is just to eliminate the tens of thousands of rebels who are already frightened. You don't have to work hard to command this battle yourself."

Feng Yu laughed and said, "Why should I participate in this battle in person? Because after this battle, it is unlikely that I will have the opportunity to go out in person again. This will be the last battle I will personally command in my life."

After that, he looked at the veterans in front of him and sighed: "You are the same. You all have gray beards, and some are even close to sixty years old. After this battle? You can also take care of yourselves. I am willing to take care of you in Sicily." It’s okay to go to Tiannian? It’s also okay to return to the Central Plains and return to the roots…”

Before Feng Yu finished speaking, Dian Wei said anxiously: "What? My lord thinks we are getting old? Then Lian Po is seventy and still able to mount a horse and go to war. I, Dian Wei, can fight on the battlefield for at least ten years."

Feng Yu chuckled before he could answer.Zhao Yun also stroked his long gray beard and said: "My lord, we are naturally happy to spend our days in this western land or Ye Luo returns to the Central Plains. It's just...just if we disarm and return to the fields, will my lord have someone he can use?"

Feng Yu put away his smile and replied together: "Zilong doesn't need to worry about this. Several major military academies in Sicily have trained many generals, and the Sicilian army has also promoted many generals from the lower ranks of non-commissioned officers."

There was still a hint of worry on Zhao Yun's face? He continued: "Their subordinates have never doubted their talents, but... but can they be as loyal to the Lord as we are?"

Feng Yu shook his head and said: "Of course they can't compare with you? You and I are like blood-related relatives. But I don't have to worry about them betraying me. Because they are bound by a whole set of mechanisms and systems, if they want to lead the rebellion alone It is very difficult to make something happen in series. And there is no perfect mechanism in the world. Is it a solid mechanism. It restricts my power to a certain extent? And it is not without loopholes. If an interest group grows to a certain extent in the future... "

When Feng Yu said this, he paused, raised his sleeves and said, "Hey, there is no need to say more, by then, XX will have been behind me for a hundred years."

Although Zhao Yun seemed to understand Feng Yu's words, he still believed in him and said: "Since the Lord said so, Zilong can rest assured. After this battle is over, he can retire and return home." Speaking of this, Zhao Yun changed the subject again: "It's just that I don't know when this battle will be over. If the enemy is willing to confront us face to face, I believe the problem will be resolved within ten days and a half months. I'm afraid they will swim and not fight. , then we will be passive, and we don’t know when and what month it will take to end this battle.”

Feng Yu raised his eyebrows and said, "I've thought about this before. But Gaius, Proseus and others can't do this. The terrain of Spain is complex. Except for some coastal plains that can be cultivated, only some areas in the hinterland plateau can be cultivated." Raise troops. If they wander on the coastal plain, we can take advantage of our navy's maneuverability to intercept their main force. If they retreat to the hinterland of the plateau, they can only stick to a few points, and eventually they will be forced to fight us .In addition, I have sent five brigades with a total of 5000 troops to deploy defenses along the northern foot of the Pyrenees Mountains, blocking the key points of various mountain passes, preventing them from fleeing to Gaul."

As soon as Feng Yu finished speaking, the lookout post on the mast shouted: "Barcelona on the coast of Spain has arrived..."

Chapter 1161 Plateau hinterland

Fort de Barcelona, ​​northeast coast of Spain.On the slightly dilapidated city wall, a Gaul veteran crouched behind the wall, looking up at the sky dully with his head raised, his calf trembling slightly all the time.

The sky was clear, barely a cloud.But from a distance, there was a loud noise like thunder.Accompanied by this sound, the city wall trembled slightly from time to time, and the amplitude of the vibration became larger and larger.That was the bombardment of Fort Barcelona by the Sicilian fleet on the sea.Hundreds of warships, large and small, and thousands of cannons spewed flames in turn, firing buckshot and stone bullets at the city walls of Barcelona.

Even if Barcelona's city walls are thick, they can't withstand such a violent bombardment.Soon, the Proseus veteran of the rebel army heard someone shouting: "No! Run! The city wall can't stand it, the city wall is about to collapse!".

He and the trembling soldiers who were also hiding behind the walls stood up and ran regardless of the arrows flying in the sky.Before taking two steps, he suddenly felt the city wall shake violently, and his whole body sank as if he stepped on the air.This section of the city wall suddenly collapsed, raising dust that covered the sky and the sun.

After the dust faded, the Roman soldiers who had rushed from the battleship to the beach in front of Barcelona rushed towards the gap like a tide...

Two months later, an endless team marched on the plateau in central Spain to the hinterland of Madrid.Everyone in the team seemed listless and sluggish.In the middle of the team, there are two people who look like senior generals riding tall horses.They also frowned, and answered without a word from time to time.

One of them was bloated and fat and said: "Brother Proseus, there are so many cities to go to, why should we go to Madrid. The mountains are high and the roads are far away...".

This person is none other than Gaius, the chief elder of the Senate.Since the rebellion against Rome, his forces have divided several remote provinces on the Spanish peninsula and the Greek peninsula.But in the following years of Rome's big counterattack, he quickly lost his territory in the Greek peninsula and was forced to come to barren Spain.

Although this is his territory, there are not many troops deployed.His troops were basically consumed in the provinces of Epirus and Achaia in the southern part of the Greek peninsula.Therefore, when the Gaul Empire collapsed, Proseus took the remnants of Gaul's defeated generals and retreated to Spain to make peace with him. Instead, he became the actual leader of the coalition forces.

Proseus glanced sideways at Gaius' fat body, and there was an imperceptible mocking smile on the corner of his mouth.But he still replied in a flat tone: "Your Excellency Gaius, except for Madrid and a few small towns around it, most of our cities are located on the seashore or in the plains not far from the seashore. At present, Feng Hu's The Sicilian army completely controls the sea dominance around Spain. Although their force is limited, it is impossible to occupy all these castles and cities. But they can attack on the sea, and capture or destroy our coastal and offshore strongholds one by one. We are hard to defend. Recently, in less than two months, they captured seven cities and castles, destroyed more than twenty of our castles and towns, and countless sentry strongholds. In this way, over time, our army will definitely not The battle collapsed. Therefore, I will simply gather our remaining precious troops and supplies, and retreat to Madrid. There are more than [-] miles away from the nearest coast, and the mountain road is difficult, so I asked the soldiers to move the remaining coastal towns All of them were destroyed, and all the materials were cleared. In this way, if Feng Hu wants to attack me, he needs to rely on his fleet to transport materials and travel hundreds of miles of mountain roads to transport them. We can also set up ambushes along the way, and when they arrive at the city of Madrid, they will already be exhausted. Then it would be easy for us to beat them or even drive them back."

Gaius nodded thoughtfully and said: "I see, after all, General Prosius has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he is still thoughtful. It's just... this Madrid is a mountain city in a basin. It's easy for us to defend, but There is no way out!"

At this time, Proseus had an obvious mocking smile on his face, and said indifferently: "A way out? We didn't have a way out when we started troubles in the early years."

Hearing this, Gaius opened his mouth to speak but stopped, but finally swallowed the words back.In fact, he wanted to say that if it really didn't work, he could make peace with Feng Hu.Perhaps Alexander was unwilling to forgive them, but Feng Hu might be lenient and let them go into exile in a foreign country after handing over the army.

……

On the Mediterranean sea near the southwest coast of the Spanish Peninsula, more than a dozen Sicilian giant ocean-going sailing ships are cruising.Feng Yu was standing proudly on the deck of one of the battleships.Even though there were slight waves on the sea surface and the hull was constantly swaying, he still pressed his sword on the ground, motionless as if rooted on the deck.From time to time, soldiers boarded the deck to report the military situation to him.

At this time, two or three sampans sailed from the coast.At this time, Feng Yu's clay-like face moved inadvertently.After a while, Zhao Yun and others will board the deck in person and report to Feng Yu: "My lord, it is as expected. Valencia was also abandoned by the rebels. The town has been burned and razed to the ground. The harbor has also been thrown a lot of debris and a lot of wrecks have been stranded. It seems that it was not long ago."

Soon, another local Sicilian general boarded the deck and reported to Feng Yu: "Your Excellency, the squadron sent to the Atlantic has just sent a ship to inform us. The rebels on the west coast of the peninsula have also evacuated the coastal towns in recent days, and their whereabouts are unknown. .”

Feng Yu nodded and said: "Don't think about it, they must have fled to the hinterland of the plateau of the Spanish Peninsula. There is only one large town there, which is Fort Madrid. Pass my military order, and our fleet will land and camp here, and notify the rest The squadron came to this coast to meet up. In addition, after landing, immediately sent scouts to Madrid and the hinterland of the peninsula to confirm my guess."

A dozen warships circled the sea for two or three hours, and finally found a bay suitable for shelter from the wind, and then moored and landed.The soldiers who landed immediately set up camp without stopping.

Over the next month or so, they built a temporary pier in the bay, and a huge military camp on the nearby coast.More and more sub-ships came to rendezvous, and a large number of troops and supplies were unloaded to the coast every day.

The scouts who went to the depths of the land to inquire about news also brought back reliable news one after another. The main force of the Gaul rebels had indeed retreated to the Fort Madrid area.After another two weeks, everything was ready, Feng Yu gave an order, and the army marched to the hinterland of the Meseta plateau...

??

Chapter 1162 A Failed Plan

Far Spanish province, central Meseta plateau.A village surrounded by stone and wood walls stands impressively in a wide river valley.This is the only Roman settlement in the central hinterland of the Meseta plateau where a large number of immigrants gathered, Matris, also known as Fort Madrid.

At this time, all the gates of Fort Madrid were closed, and the defenders at the top of the city seemed to be facing a big enemy.Surrounded by a large group of generals, Proseus and Gaius looked out of the city from above the city of Madrid.

Scattered outside the city walls are camps with Sicilian banners.Occasionally, the sound of someone shouting and neighing came from the camp, floating towards the top of the city.Gaius couldn't help frowning and said to Proseus: "Brother, look, they have more troops. When the Sicilian army first appeared outside the city two days ago, it was just a few small camps scattered. Now they are gathering again. Thousands of troops have been deployed. It seems that the battle situation ahead is not as we planned."

It turned out that Proseus planned to take advantage of the rugged and difficult terrain of the Meseta Plateau to deploy a small group of mobile troops along the way to continuously harass Feng Hu's army.At the same time, the main force was deployed at a key point with dangerous terrain, ready to ambush the main force of the Sicilian army and annihilate the opponent in one fell swoop.

This plan can be said to be quite clever, with almost no flaws.Long-term harassment can not only destroy Feng Hujun's logistics supplies and the opponent's morale, but more importantly, it can paralyze the opponent's generals.When they arrived at the preset decisive battle site and were ambushed by the main force of the Spanish Gaul rebels, the generals of Feng Hu's army would definitely think it was another ordinary attack and take it lightly.Then when they realize it, there will be no more.The Sicilian army's big killer is their extremely powerful artillery, but far from the coast, the artillery on their battleships is naturally useless.On the rough and narrow roads, the transportation of artillery and luggage was extremely slow.Moreover, a considerable part of these supplies will be destroyed by the Gaul light infantry who come and go on the plateau like the wind during the ambushes and harassment along the way.

So a few days ago, when sporadic Sicilian troops appeared outside Madrid, Proseus didn't pay much attention.He thought it was just the opponent's vanguard that his ambush troops deliberately let go.

At that time, he was going to dispatch the garrison troops in the city to clean up these scattered enemy troops.However, Gaius, who was still wary of the Sicilian army and Feng Hu, persuaded him to decide to wait for another two days until the military situation ahead was reported back to Madrid.

The progress of the next two days was far beyond Proseus' expectations.Because the Sicilian army, ranging from a few hundred to as many as a thousand, arrived at the city of Madrid one after another, and more and more soldiers and horses gathered.According to his previous plan, this situation is extremely difficult to happen.Moreover, according to the agreement, the general leading the army and setting up an ambush should send him a military report every two days, but the report that was supposed to be sent yesterday has not arrived.

At this moment, Proseus did not reply to Gaius's words, but the muscles on his face twitched and he shouted, "Send someone to Milens immediately to find out what happened." The sergeant came to report the return of Millens' scud messenger.

When Proseus saw the blood-stained Scud, his heart sank, and he quickly asked, "What's going on with you, why did you just send the mansion report today. Did the ambush start as scheduled?"

The Gallic scud briefly told the whole story in a hasty tone.

It turned out that the Sicilian army did not advance the troops as a whole to Madrid as usual, but marched in dozens of troops divided into hundreds or thousands of units, and the interval between each unit was two or three miles long.In this way, not to mention the increase in marching speed, more importantly, it prevents the large group of men and horses winding like long snakes from crowding each other in a panic when they are ambushed, regardless of the head and the tail.As a result, Proseus continued to harass the tired enemy, and finally the ambush to win the abacus came to nothing.

Hearing this puzzlement, Gaius shook his head and said, "That's not right. Although I am a military layman, I also know that this is a common-sense military mistake. Divide up and move forward, and the speed is faster and it is not easy to be confused. , but wouldn’t they be defeated by our ambush soldiers one by one?”

The scud quickly explained: "A couple of days ago, when our army's harassment troops started to harass the guerrillas. They dispatched flexibly and immediately changed formations to fight me. Our small group of harassment guerrillas only consisted of thousands of people, so In terms of numbers, they do not take advantage at all. Moreover, their follow-up troops will soon catch up, taking the rear flanks of our harassing troops. Forcing our retreat as soon as possible. They finally reached the Millens Valley yesterday, and General Pass has captured the enemy's troops. With the intelligence of such a march, the main force of the ambush was assembled into five groups, and they divided and surrounded the scattered enemy forces, preparing for a quick battle and defeating each one. Unexpectedly, the enemy forces huddled together and resisted tenaciously, and our army could not break through their positions at all. After two or three hours of fierce fighting, our army suffered numerous losses, and the enemy's rear troops gathered again and launched a fierce counterattack against our army. Our army collapsed at this point. General Paz's whereabouts are also unknown. I ran back immediately Reported."

Proseus' face changed drastically when he heard this.The corner of his mouth twitched and he gritted his teeth and said: "I gave Paz an army of 6000, and he divided it into five groups, each with 6000 people. Can't [-] people annihilate mere thousand or even hundreds of people in a short period of time? Your current weapons are no worse than theirs. They have chain ballistas. Didn’t I also configure them for you? How many ballistas can they carry, and they can resist you for two or three hours, so that the rear army will gather against you Counterattack?!"

The scud hurriedly explained: "The general didn't know, they used a new type of weapon. It was like a small pocket artillery. Almost everyone had one, and when they fired in unison, it shook the sky and caused thick smoke. Our army Even with a specially made thickened crossbow shield that can block crossbow arrows, when they approached their position, people would fall down in pieces like frost-beaten wheat.”

"A cannon in each hand!" This time it was Gaius who screamed, and his fat body hidden under the big robe also trembled slightly.

In fact, the situation reported by Scud was a bit exaggerated. The Sicilian army's muskets were not deployed much, and their power was not enough to cause the enemy to fall in pieces.But the sound of muskets and the power to pierce the human body through the thickened cowhide shield shocked the Gaul rebels, and everyone dared not go forward.Finally, after the Sicilian army assembled the main force to counterattack, they were defeated.