Chapter 22 Procrastination (Part 2)

Outside the camp gate, Lepidus's men were greeted by Caesar's nephew Pedis. He did not let the reinforcements of soldiers go through the main entrance, but insisted that everyone enter through the Dickman Gate at the back. This made the impatient little Huo Tencius felt that he had been greatly insulted, and there was even a quarrel between the two parties. Pedis had to find Lepidus who was riding behind and said that this was Caesar's order and must be carried out. .

"But the Twelve Legions also have the honor of the Twelve Legions. Letting our mountain falcon flag enter under the yoke of the Dickman Gate will seriously damage everyone's morale. In this case, I will negotiate with the governor alone first." After Lebida finished speaking, he After dismounting and Peddis entered through the back door of the camp, behind the door yoke, Lepidus saw a group of Gallic warriors with long braids and trousers, standing in the small square of the camp and looking around, holding small hands. Flag, Lepidus suddenly understood something in his heart, and told Sabokemus who was following him: "Run back and tell Milu and the others that all the people should disperse and rest. The soldiers are not allowed to do anything, even to go to the city of Geneva. Don’t let anyone stop you from having fun.”

When Pedis opened the curtain of the commander's tent, Lepidus went in with his head lowered and looking extremely tired. Sure enough, he saw two or three middle-aged barbarian nobles with gold chains sitting on Caesar's bed. Opposite, must be the messenger of the Helvetii.

Caesar was both surprised and worried when he saw Lepidus. He quickly asked Lepidus how he was going along the Alpine Channel to Lake Leman. As a result, a younger barbarian noble was obviously looking at him with his eyes, as if he was interested in him. He looked very interested in his speech.

"Your Majesty the Governor, we are not very optimistic. Many soldiers and mules and horses fell behind or even died. I only brought out one-third of the troops." Lepidus walked to Caesar with heavy steps and whispered.

"Why did you hand over the compiled roster of soldiers to me first?" Caesar's words seemed to be filled with complaints. He urgently needed this thing in order to understand how much power he still had on hand, because this was the difference between him and the opposite Hercules. Erviti envoy's bargaining capital.

Lepidus said with embarrassment that the soldiers had been extremely difficult on the previous trip. After they arrived at the city of Geneva, the generals could no longer control them because they all went to the city to drink, gamble and have fun.

Caesar's fist hit the table hard. He lowered his head and felt sad for a while, then waved to Lepidus and told Lepidus that he could go out and try his best to restore and maintain the discipline of the military camp in three days.

As a result, when Lepidus went out, the young Helvetic nobleman whispered to his companions. The leader used an interpreter to express to Caesar: "Dear Governor, we reiterate once again that we represent the two common members of the tribe. The great chiefs, Namiyos and Veroclo, have come with a sincerity that is truer than gold, requesting you to release the blockade of the Rhone River. Your previous actions of demolishing the Geneva Bridge on the river have made us all The people of this tribe are in great panic, but now as long as you agree to our request, our tribe will guarantee that they will not carry out any harassment of the legions of the Roman Republic, nor will they take any plundering actions against the other Gallic tribes that accept the protection of the Republic along the way. "

"This is difficult to handle. I am now waiting for the Senate's order to decide what policy to take towards your department." Caesar's answer seemed to be delaying time.

The following words of the leading envoy had an edge, and seemed to be some kind of threat, "Your Excellency the Governor, you must know that before setting off, I already had Gyralach, Dulin, Rabbidoch, and Boy. Many tribes have joined us, and now there are no less than 100,000 heroic warriors under the great chief. However, you only have one legion, plus some auxiliary troops, and the number is only one-tenth of ours. Haha, with all due respect. , The attitude of the Senate is easy to change, but once the swords meet, the fight on the battlefield is difficult to change. "

Caesar immediately stood up with annoyance, but he seemed to be inconvenienced and completely fell out with the envoys. He just paced back and forth at the edge of the table, thought for a while with his hands behind his back, and then said to the envoys in a depressed tone: "This way , Just give me two more market days, and I will definitely give you an answer then."

So, the Helvetic envoys stood up and bowed one by one, and then filed out to say goodbye. When they walked out of the camp, they talked in their native language, "The Romans' war preparations are terrible."

"The legion commander just told the confusing and helpless inside story."

"Even if we give them time, they will not be able to effectively build a defense line around the Rhone River to block us. And these ten days can be used for us to prepare for war and collect ships. There are quite a few places in the Rhone River where we can cross. This Caesar I thought there would be nothing we could do after demolishing the bridge.”

Caesar, who stayed in the camp, silently dipped his hands in the basin, wiped them slowly, and then said to the orderly, "Call me the commander of the Twelve Legions just now."

But before the servicemen left, Lepidus walked in by himself close to the tent door, "We are the vanguard of the canyon road. We have opened up all the routes. We have inserted javelins tied with colorful ribbons at intervals to give instructions. Rabinnu Si’s successor army, five legions, will arrive soon, tomorrow!”

"Oh my God, this is a gamble. Thank you for understanding my situation and thoughts. Otherwise, if I delay it for a few days, everything will be difficult to deal with. The eyes of countless enemies in Rome are staring at me in the dark. What if Helvey If the Titians launch an attack on my isolated tenth legion, I will be completely wiped out. And if I let these warlike barbarians escape from the battle, the secretaries in the Senate will be like snowflakes." Caesar said. Only then did he feel relaxed. "I gave up all rest and drafted my order. All the soldiers took turns and divided the night into four shifts. They took turns digging trenches and building fortresses. They also had to erect eight-foot-high trees behind the trenches." The entire fortification starts from the bend at the intersection of the Rhône River and Lake Leman and ends at the Jura Mountains on the side of the Sequany Gorge. This is my order to be implemented immediately! "

After nightfall, the 10th Army Corps and the First Brigade of Lepidus 12th Army Corps began soil work. The soldiers were contracted in sections, digging soil with shovels on the south bank of the Long River, and erecting fences with iron nails. The fences had to be staggered in a dog-tooth shape. Arrangement, because Caesar specifically confessed: "The entire Helvetic tribe is divided into four small tribes, raising tens of thousands of war horses, and are best at sudden attacks and surprise attacks. They once ambush and defeated the Roman consul fifty years ago. The legions wiped out all the Roman soldiers, which was a huge shame. My father-in-law's grandfather died in this battle. "And this kind of fence layout can exactly weaken the enemy's cavalry power to the greatest extent. (To be continued.)