Chapter 11: Chinodosha Chinodosha (Part 1)
"There was a great king in the past, his name was Antigonus!" - After the victory in Syria, the Roman legions laughed at the hypocrisy of the Seleucid army.
Zhukoma, the key point across the Euphrates River in northern Syria, Crassus's vanguard, a total of four legions of troops have occupied this place, and quickly built a strong pontoon bridge on the river. As for the governor of Syria, he is still handling it in Qalasha. His own "matters" and all actions were entrusted to the chief lieutenant Otaguves and the financial officer Cassio, and Lepidus also led the Medje Guards through the Tegraseta plain in Armenia, between Zhukoma and They meet up.
After the Holy Mountain Ceremony, some of Armenia's great nobles were summoned to the palace, and then disappeared inexplicably. Most of them were related to the concubines of Queen Tegranis in the past, which caused panic for a while, and quietly, the border The garrison was slowly replaced by the Royal Guards, and soon Queen Otepili spoke out - the King of Kings suddenly suffered a stroke after the festival. Perhaps he was summoned by God. Now he is recuperating deep in the secret palace. In addition to praying for blessings, Except for the priests, no other people are allowed to enter the palace. As for the royal affairs, she will temporarily take charge of them.
At the same time, Armenia, Galaxia and Eubotia, regardless of their size or strength, all countries began to mobilize their troops. Letters were flying through the canyons and dense forests, and all kinds of dramas were intensive at all times. Staged, the war clouds were heavy.
When Lepidus rode up, Cassius was lying on a sunny hillside by the river, with smoke coming from his tent behind him. It was dinner time, "We are in large groups, sweeping the city-states on both sides of the river, hoping to Get a solid rear before the decisive battle with Parthia."
"What is the attitude of the Macedonian and Greek tyrants here?" Lepidus jumped off his horse. I asked sitting next to Casio.
"Half the attitude is absolutely supportive. The other half is absolutely confrontational." Casio returned with a joking tone, "Friends may switch to enemies at any time. Quite a few Arab sheiks and Greek tyrants came to join us, saying they would provide auxiliary army, but they obviously have ulterior motives and are not as sincere as the vassal states of Xiaoya." Then he stood up, stirred the bean soup in the hanging pot with the stick in his hand, and said to himself, "I have been persuading you until now. Chief lieutenant, don't bring their soldiers, that would be unreliable or even harmful. Just ask them to provide grain and ships, and then our team will move along the Euphrates River, which will greatly reduce the danger."
"What if the governor asks to move on, towards the wastelands between the rivers of Mesopotamia."
Facing Lepidus's question, Cassius seemed very excited. He said that Crassus did continue to issue orders, because when Byblos was governor, he did split up a garrison in order to resist Parthian harassment. They were stationed scattered among the strongholds in Mesopotamia as outposts, and Crassus asked the four legions to move closer to these people. Lest they be defeated one by one by the Parthian army after the war.
Lepidus smiled and said that maybe he was right. The best plan now is for your seven main armies to advance to the city of Babylon, while my partial army goes south to drive directly to Seleucia. In this way, Parthia will definitely be at a loss. Fall into passivity.
"I don't believe your nonsense, go and deceive those simple-minded guys!" It was obvious that Casillo was dissatisfied with Lepidus' crazy plan, and then the commander of the partial division made a ruthless request: Give me the rest of the Fourth Army. include.
Crassus's seven legions were actually all raised by him with his private wealth. The Senate had not yet had time to give them a proper formal designation, because he hurried to the East before his term as consul had expired, so he only unified it as "Syria" to the outside world. name, but the combat effectiveness of these legions is also uneven. The strongest ones are the First and Second Legions, which are Pompeian veterans who have returned to serve as the backbone; and then there are all the state-owned legions in Syria by Byblos, which have repeatedly fought with the Jews. The rebels and Parthian raiding troops were quite brave, namely the Sixth and Seventh Legions; the most untrustworthy were the Third, Fourth and Fifth Legions, most of which were stragglers bought from all sides with money. During the shipping process, half of the Fourth Army fell to the bottom of the sea and fed the fish.
"The situation of the Fourth Army is indeed very bad. Their commander Paul Paulus is still on a stretcher recovering from illness. Most of the soldiers have lost half of their souls. The equipment and baggage have also been greatly damaged." Casillo obviously does not want this problem either. In order to become a burden on the battlefield in the future, he had to leave some thoughts to Lepidus, but he said that he still needed to go through the process with the chief deputy general, "After all, he has the final say in everything."
As a result, Otaguvius was very happy, "Since you think two auxiliary legions are not enough to contain the enemy, then I will give you another half, and Paulus will also be placed under your organization."
That night, Lepidus arrived at the Fourth Army camp with enough money for several mule carts. Then he stood on a makeshift podium and shouted to everyone: "The conditions here are very difficult. I also understand the commander. His Excellency Paulus is in a bleak mood after losing more than half of the enemy before he sees it, but this is not the reason for the Fourth Army to hesitate and sigh. Our backing is the Syrian province and even the entire Republic, and the supplies will be delivered soon. "
As a result, many soldiers and recruits started yelling, complaining that Lepidus was fooling them, because for such a long time the Fourth Army did not even have military shoes, and many people marched on gravel, not to mention medicine, Equipped with these high-end things, the provincial governor treated us very coldly because our legion was recruited temporarily.
"These are all temporary, comrades. I solemnly promise that in less than two market days, there will be dozens of large ships bringing wood, military shoes, stone bullets and arrows from Cyprus, and many more The mule carts will transport grain, flour and wine from the city of Tarsus. In addition, the Galaxias have promised to replenish our legion with 800 pack horses to transport the camp supplies. The good days are coming, because now the fourth legion has returned. I'm in charge, and - Sabo!" Lepidus clicked his fingers, and Sabo Kaimus immediately opened several large boxes, which were full of high-quality silver coins minted by Athens and Miletus. "What's the point of the army if they have supplies? It is to be used for fighting, so that we can have more and more trophies at our disposal. We will have a big target soon, but we have to keep it secret for now. We will distribute fifty drachmas to each person first, and wait until the army goes out. Until the time of victory, each soldier will receive an additional allowance of one drachma per day. After victory, all the spoils will belong to my fourth legion!”
With the approval of the legion commander Paulus, several centurions were hesitant at first and came up to collect the ready-made allowances. Then the soldiers were encouraged and came to the stage one after another, "I must thank you, General Lepidus, but I am now What is most lacking is a centurion, especially a chief centurion.”
"I have a subordinate named Titus Polo who is completely qualified, but you have to help him get rid of his alcohol addiction." Lepidus suggested with a smile. (To be continued...)