Chapter 5 Lucky Anthony (Part 1)

"Wherever I go, whether I meet a man or a woman, a noble or a slave, my only goal is to seek happiness for the sick." - Hippocrates' medical oath

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"Crete and Rhodes have pulled out a legion, and Cilicia and Bithynia have also pulled out a legion, which is actually a combination of Cicero's remnants and another legion. The rebellion of the knight named Hitius on Cyprus was almost quelled by Marcellus. Now King Herod and Ptolemy were forced to pledge allegiance to us again. Only a few barbarian kingdoms in eastern Asia Minor are still resisting. After dealing with Greece, they must be suppressed!" Then he saw that no one answered, and realized that the atmosphere was wrong, so he saw Labinus, who was standing in the middle of the room, threw his sword and lanyard onto the small table, then stretched out his hand and said to Labinus, "Who are you? If I'm not mistaken, you are the one my father sent?"

"Yes, in fact, I originally hoped that your father could come to guard the situation in person, but he still hesitated. In his eyes, he overestimated Curio in Sicily and ignored Caesar's truly fierce assistant, Lepidus. So your father just sent his father-in-law Scipio to Asia Minor to recruit more troops and collect more tribute and taxes, but did not make due and agile adjustments to the enemy's personnel arrangements." Labinus said, "And I am here, responsible for facing the faces of several senior commanders."

"Face" uses a pun, which refers to both face-to-face conversation and looking at someone's face. But Sextus, the "little thunder god", is not very interested in these things. He didn't hear it. But the name "Lepidus" attracted his attention. Then he said to Labinus, "You were Caesar's chief lieutenant before, so tell me what you think about the current war situation."

"It's a pity that no one wants to listen to what I said just now." Labinus said coldly, in fact, he also had a lot of resentment and grievance in his heart. In terms of the working environment, he always thought that he was the most effective under Caesar, because this commander was the head of the army. It has always been to make clear plans by yourself, and you just need to make up for it and implement it, but on Pompey's side, the original serious and direct military plans are often mixed up beyond recognition by various interpersonal relationships.

Sextus probably understood what was going on, so he assured him very proudly that he would tell him the plan and I would adjust the rest.

So Labinus continued to explain: My core meaning is only one, that is, we must reinforce Olicum.

"Caesar's cavalry has blocked the Aglatia Road, and our northern legion has taken a detour back. I hope this lord can understand this. My soldiers don't have wings." Gabinus over there finally responded.

But Labienus ignored his questioning. Instead, he continued to explain the reasons for the reinforcements. He pointed to the sand table map and said, "Olikum is the only remaining port of our army on the northern coast, and Cocyra is in the south. The two cities can just form the cruising end of the Byblos fleet. As long as there is the support of the docks and supplies of these two cities, Byblos can blockade the Adriatic Sea indefinitely, because Caesar's fleet is too weak, which just happens to play our greatest advantage. If we lose Olikum, we will lose all the coastal ports of Illyria and Epirus. Caesar doesn't even need a fleet, just his land army. The occupied ports were well guarded. After the Byblos fleet left Cocula, they could not find a place to replenish their supplies and could only travel back and forth in a single line. This would shorten the effective cruising distance by half. If the cruising distance was forcibly increased, would they have to run around on the sea without any food or a place to dock? Gentlemen, I am not Lord Byblos, but I am sure he would never want this situation to happen. "Then he continued to conclude, "Once our fleet is ineffective, Caesar and Lepidus can use the far northern ports that are out of reach, such as Issa and Salona, ​​to transport their troops across the sea, or even We can even transport the army by land from Dalmatia. In this way, our disadvantage in the Greek region will become more and more obvious. Therefore, time is limited and we must not miss this opportunity. Please give up the idea of ​​delaying time by setting up winter camps, and do not pin your hopes on the troops recruited from foreign countries. Everyone should know that the ones who decide the outcome of the war are the veterans trained in the Gallic Wars on Caesar's side, and the same is true for us! Only the numbers of the foreign legions led by Lepidus need to be paid special attention to. He is an extremely eccentric and tricky general, and the combat effectiveness of his subordinates cannot be measured by normal thinking. "

"But, Libo "Caesar and Byblos have already raided the port of Brindisi. I estimate that Caesar's remaining fleet will also be destroyed. Why should we take the risk of sacrifice and take the initiative to attack him? Why not wait until his sea route is cut off and then destroy himself?" Gabinus could no longer bear it. Someone came to question his previous layout, so he stood up and shouted and accused, "Even if Caesar includes the special forces on the northern line, there are only 20,000 people. Even if he takes the city of Olicum, what will happen? It will be the midwinter season soon, and it will be difficult to sail. As soon as the winter camp is over, the number, quality and logistics of our army will be enough to crush Caesar's poor soldiers!"

"If you still believe that I have followed that man for more than ten years, then you should believe me - don't show any flaws or hesitation in front of him, even for a moment, otherwise!" Labinus suddenly grabbed the sword that the little Thor had thrown on the small table and stabbed it into the sand table. The sound shocked everyone present, and then he let go of his hand, and the hilt was still shaking slightly, "Otherwise, you would have died."

Everyone was speechless, and then Labinus's expression returned to calmness, saying, "If I am not wrong, Byblos's raid on the port of Brindisi will inevitably end in failure, and the only one who can save the situation is us - marching to assist Olikum and retaining the spark of our advantage at sea."

In the end, it was the little Thor Sextus who spoke.

While Labinus was explaining his plan, Byblos's huge fleet had appeared on the sea in front of Brindisi. They personally captured a merchant ship that had just set sail and was trying to transport supplies to Caesar on the other side. This ship was not a military ship, but Byblos still killed the entire family of the ship owner in front of all the people and troops along the coast, even the infant was not spared. Before dying, the ship owner loudly drew an angry curse on Byblos on the leather, so his hands were cut off and his body was thrown into the sea.

"Libo, Maximus, what are you waiting for! Occupy the small island in front, our fleet will rest there for a while tonight, let them experience the extremely desperate night, and then sail into the port the next day to completely destroy this city and all the people!" After Byblos shouted the order, he twitched his shoulders and back and coughed violently. (To be continued...)