Chapter 7 Loyalty and Betrayal (Part 2)

Not only that, Lepidus's "Three Roads" transportation network has been completed at least around Leptis, and the fodder and grain in the granaries can still support the army's operations for a month. Caesar was very satisfied and summoned Antony - who had been guarding the city defense post since Caesar's arrival. He used this behavior to hope to regain Caesar's appreciation. Now his goal has been achieved.

"All four of Curio's legions have been destroyed, and his whereabouts are unknown." These were the first words Caesar said when he saw Antony.

Anthony didn't have any ups and downs on his expression. It seemed that he had taken the close relationship with Curio very lightly. Then he said that the current battle had just reached the most difficult stage, and he was honored to fight side by side with the dictator.

Caesar nodded in approval, and then he said to Anthony, "Marco, you are now the most powerful, brave and combat-savvy adult among the Julius family relatives. I have high hopes for you. Although you have flaws, But who can be without flaws? +No+Error+ .s. The gods will not bestow all the good things on the same person, so I still reward you for your previous loyalty - I confiscated all Pompeii. This luxurious residence was originally built by the noble lady Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi brothers. It was later bought by my uncle Marius for one hundred thousand dinars, and later by Pompey for two hundred. Bought it for 10,000 dinars - now it belongs to you, but don't forget, half of the money was paid by Lepidah for you, you have to be grateful for his friendship. "What, Lepidah actually gave it to me without knowing it. After receiving his generous gift, Anthony felt a warm feeling in his heart. It seems to be the most difficult and critical moment. This is still enough to rely on. I also owe him a huge favor.

"Not only that, Lepidus also reached an agreement with his patron's widow Claudia. Since Curio's whereabouts are unknown, his engagement with Claudius's widow Fulivia will be automatically terminated - Marco, immediately After the war in Africa is over, you can go back and marry Fulivia, but neither Lepidus nor I will sponsor your wedding. You will pay for it yourself from the spoils of the war," Caesar said with a smile. Then he suddenly asked Anthony in a casual tone, "In normal times, you and Lepidus have such a good relationship, has he ever said anything about helping you? Besides money."

At this time, Antony, who was clumsy on the outside, quickly changed his mind inwardly. He was politically incompetent, but Anton's descendants were as alert as animals and instinctively, so Anthony was not stupid, unlike Curio's indifference. Not only did he have an offensive and defensive advance and retreat agreement with Lepidus, he was also a member of the Ambrose Society. And his dream: isn't it that he hopes to become Caesar's heir with the help of Lepidus (Antony still doesn't understand the content of Caesar's will at this time), but if he says this, it will definitely make Caesar unhappy. "You have to know that some rhetorical things, although I studied hard in Greece, did not achieve much, so Lepidus always laughed at my speeches and documents." Antony's words made Caesar laugh with relief. , and then he said that the top priority was still to face the enemy.

About a few days later, Scipio and King Juba began to march with 40,000 cavalry, and at the same time, Caesar's second wave of fleet also began to cross the sea. Lepidus organized all the fleets in Brindisi, but he did not follow them, because there were still many trivial matters in Italy for him to deal with. After all, it was extremely difficult to shoulder the military and political shoulders.

Then disaster happened. The second wave of fleet encountered strong winds. After getting lost, several ships of the Tenth Legion were blown to the coast of Thapsus. They were all captured by Scipio's ships and were preparing to march. When Scipio learned about this incident, he immediately thought that "the Tenth Legion is Caesar's most personal legion, and I must obtain powerful information from those captured personnel."…

Then, Scipio personally led the guards to the coast where several ships were captured. His own ships threw many iron hooks, pulled Caesar's ships over, put them on the shoals, and used crossbows to and stones were thrown at the captured ships from all directions, so that no one could escape.

At this time, on land by the sea, a Roman general who was riding a horse with two monkeys clinging to him began to shout to Caesar's captured soldiers on the deck of the ship, "You know, half a year ago, I would have encountered such a situation." Under the circumstances, I will not hesitate to execute you all to sacrifice to the gods, but it is different now. I have become a general who loves the lives of all people, so you put down your weapons and tell me the information around Caesar's camp, so that I can defeat you. Caesar, the civil war could be stopped, and more killing and destruction could be avoided.”

At this time, a centurion with only one eye left on the deck stood up and shouted to Scipio, "I am Scava, the chief centurion of the Tenth Legion, and I have been accompanying Caesar in his battles for many years."

"Very well, Skava tell me what you know right away. This is nothing to be ashamed of. I guarantee the safety of everyone. I will never treat prisoners of war like the barbarian King of Juba. That king also abused animals. It's so barbaric," Scipio continued to persuade, with great sincerity.

Scava laughed, and then he suddenly drew his sword. The soldiers on the surrounding ships under Scipio raised their clubs and bows. As a result, Scava just said to Scipio, "Only enemy soldiers surrender to Caesar, not Caesar's soldiers surrender to the enemy." After that, he stabbed his neck with a sword very neatly, fell into the sea, and blood gurgled and rippled.

This action finally angered Scipio. He shouted that Caesar's veterans were all emotionless and life-ignoring monsters. Then he fulfilled everyone's wish, "All these old guys who were fed with citizens' blood and money will be executed." Then he ordered his subordinates to take all the people on the captured ships down, assign the new recruits to his own legion, and take more than a dozen veterans, including two centurions who had mutinied in Rome with Scava, to the beach and killed them very cruelly, because none of them were willing to surrender and beg for mercy.

Soon after, the news that Scavane refused to surrender reached Caesar's ears. The former dictator choked up from the bottom of his heart. He began to regret the punishment of the mutiny leader, but he could not change it because the military order was as firm as a mountain, because that would mean his authority would be gone. So Caesar only punished the watchmen and navigators who were responsible for guiding the fleet, and gave the families of the martyred veterans a reward of 200,000 sesterces each, and continued to recognize the achievements and honors of Scavane and others, sending their cloaks and armor back, and giving the citizens' laurel wreaths made of gold and silver to their families for safekeeping.

Then, Caesar was furious like a demon, and he swore in front of everyone that he would take the same vicious means to avenge Scavane and other veterans!

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