Chapter 23 Blood Feast (Part 1)

"Why are you always on the run? If you have enough strength, you should fight with me; if you don't have enough strength, don't run around, make a master-slave peace with me, and then dedicate soil and water to me. ”——Darius’s letter of surrender to King Scia

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Sabo took several token officers to the camp of the Hormashi Legion between the Greek area and Ipos Island. There were about a thousand soldiers stationed inside. Sabo read out the Pharaoh's new edict in front of the main gate. "The Pharaoh will immediately conquer the Kingdom of Maiero (a country established in Nubia) in the south and regain control of the Punt Channel. The Hormashi Legion must be prepared for war and will not participate in the Orbit Festival from now on. To prevent being corrupted by songs and prostitutes, the entire army camp is temporarily moved to Idawui Fortress."

In front of the barracks, the Hormachian soldiers, who were painted, dressed in civilian clothes and wearing flower crowns, ready to go to the city's theaters and brothels to have fun, looked at Sabo with some surprise, but when they saw a whole group of Roman soldiers standing behind Sabo, They kept silent. They knew that the other side of the Grand Theater and the Royal City had a thousand-man brigade, so this skinny officer had the confidence to ask them to leave this bustling city.

When the Hormachian legions swayed out of the city gate tower, they saw groups of Roman soldiers rushing toward the city solemnly. The two armies quickly came together face to face, stepping on the streets, eyes Look into each other's eyes. Not giving in to each other. The slogans were shouted in Greek and Latin respectively. Standing in stalemate.

"Get out of here, brother!" A Latin centurion with a scarred face, wearing a double-layered gold chain and the Pharaoh's bravery gold, yelled viciously at the Hormashi Legion.

Finally, several Hormach officers stepped forward, nodded and bowed to Hebrida, and then ordered all the soldiers to step aside by the road with their luggage and baggage. Hebrida waved her hand, and the Roman troops filed past.

The Hormashi Legion left at night, and the transfer was very sudden. The general in charge did not receive any orders from the Pharaoh. Then the dignitaries in the entire city of Alexandria felt that the air quickly became chilly - the Coliseum became a Roman On the fortress, many soldiers wearing red coarse cloth cloaks and holding javelins stood on the dome of the theater, walking back and forth, monitoring the huge city like looking down at ants; in the Moon City of the Royal City, the sounds of fighting were heard every day. The formidable ballistae and torches were placed on top of it, scaring away all those who wanted to see the Pharaoh.

Shops in the Jewish Quarter. They also closed their doors one after another. These businessmen had the most sensitive noses. They could feel something was wrong in the air and began to count their money in the secret room of their homes, but it was in vain. Now the Egyptians' own army is said to be far away in Idaoui. The outskirts of the city and the harbor were all occupied by centuries of the Roman legions, and there were Roman ships cruising on the sea, making it impossible for anyone to get out.

Alexandria has become a dead city isolated from the world.

The Obit Festival was coming soon. In the house of a certain Egyptian dignitary, the secretary moved papyrus to the yard and wrote on it with a melancholy expression, "The heaven and earth rotate like a pottery wheel, losing the wise eyes of the gods." With the guidance of the emperor, the world has become dangerous and unclear. Even with the festival ahead, the master is still worried. Will the conqueror's sword be suddenly imposed on him? The master is still inviting the wizard to do his best in divination. "After finishing writing, the secretary will I put away the stationery in a hurry, read a pile of letters that I couldn't send, and listened to the Latin commands of Roman soldiers patrolling outside the courtyard. I sighed, hugged the papyrus, and walked towards the backyard boredly. .

Until the early morning of the Orbit Day, the Roman soldiers in the Coliseum, the Royal City and the Hormashi military camp, in units of tents, controlled the Greek area with torches, and violently knocked on the doors of every noble house. , when the panic-stricken slave opened the door, the Roman soldier with a stern face stood there, without saying a word, just raising the letter in his hand with his hand, wearing a short white linen skirt behind him (this was the work of an Egyptian scribe) Iconic dress) said to the owner of the house in very subtle language: "Today is the day when Pharaoh is hosting a banquet, and I am also among the invited ones, my lord."

Cries reaching the sky, mostly from wives, daughters, and servants, rang out from every house. Everyone knew that this was a separation between life and death, but there was nothing they could do. The whole city trembled and succumbed to the lustful power of the sword. Heibrida came to the dark gray luxurious villa wall. This was the residence of the "Nomad Defense Chief" Dere. However, no matter how hard he kicked the door, no one inside responded. This chief The Centurion was furious. This General Derge was the one whom Queen Marie had specially given him 10,000 drachmas to "take special care of", so he impatiently asked the two soldiers behind him to take out their sledgehammers. The next five divided two smashed the door, broke in, and then saw three or four trembling slaves by the cistern in the front hall, but holding daggers, crying and shouting something to the Romans, probably Warning these rude military men not to invade his master's house.

"Ah!" When a tall and thin slave saw Hebrida approaching, he raised his dagger and stabbed Hebrida in the neck. Hebrida held his weapon with his left hand, and then directly held it with his right hand. With a fighting sword, he pressed it into the slave's lower abdomen, and all the blood and intestines came out. In the firelight, the slaves were all killed by the soldiers. One corpse was rolled into the reservoir, and the blood rippled along the way. Spread out layer by layer.

"What did he just say?" Hebrida asked the soldiers behind her as she walked away.

"Sir, I really don't know, but we were attacked and have to defend ourselves." Several soldiers responded one by one.

In the hall, they saw the bodies of Dere and several family members. All of them committed suicide. Dere knew that the Pharaoh would not forgive him, because it was through him that Beneniki bribed the chief of Cyrenaica to extradite him. The pharaoh's prince, Hebrida, rushed into the general's study. Several secretaries had been killed inside, and there were scattered papyrus ashes everywhere. Hebrida unfortunately did not know how to read, at least she did not know how to read. Then he stuffed all the remaining manuscripts and documents into the leather box and walked away, "Let's go to the house of the head of the project!"

At about 2:00 in the afternoon, in the hall of the Pharaoh's royal city, musicians, dancers, and eunuchs came and went with smiles on their faces. The Pharaoh's flute player sat quietly on the throne. The faces of the hundreds of invited dignitaries below were as death-like. Sitting on their respective seats, the colonnades, gardens and towers were all guarded by Lepidus' soldiers. In the huge pool in the center of the hall, there was an iron fence, where several low-level slaves were holding baskets of frogs. , dumped inside, the crocodile's bloody mouth was everywhere, with white and red water splashing.

Many people saw this scene and looked at each other with sad faces, "We all gave that alien general a lot of money, but who would think that today's life would still be controlled by him." (To be continued. . )