Chapter 9 The Arrival of Turinus (Part 2)

After Turinus got off the ship, he started to follow the guardians towards the captain's camp with the golden eagle on the top in the bustling crowd. But Lepidus shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the ditch surrounding the camp, where countless soldiers were Rushing to repair the place that was previously damaged by Scipio's attack, "Your uncle should be there."

Sure enough, an old man wearing a regimental t-shirt, with his head and feet bare, was digging hard in the trench. Digging trenches in the gravel soil of Africa was particularly difficult, and the old man's head was covered with beads of sweat, making it even more shiny. .

"Uncle!" cried Turinus.

Caesar raised his head, wiped his sweat, then smiled happily, climbed up and hugged Turinus, Leo and Lepidus one after another, and then patted the child on the shoulder, but did not say any more personal words, probably because he didn't have the time, but Panting, he said to Li Bida, "You are finally here. The joint meeting has been held. Now the camp issue is a big problem."

Because now with the addition of the third wave of sea crossing teams, Caesar's camp already has the fifth "Skylark" legion, the sixth "Masselia" legion, the tenth "Bacchus" legion, and the twelfth "Barantia" legion. The Mountain Falcon Legion, the Thirteenth Legion, the Fourteenth Legion (reassembled from the three remnants of Curio's destruction), the Fifteenth "Serapis" Legion, the Sixteenth "Cyrenees" Legion, The 28th "Cyclops" legion, the 31st and 32nd legions adapted from Pompey's defeated army, the 33rd "Pontic" legion, and the third legion sent by Deximus across the sea. The Seventeenth Legion was the Fifteenth Legion that Caesar originally recruited in Gaul. The forty legions of Vercingetorius, the forty-one legions of Itasos—a total of fifteen legions, and a large number of slingers and archers recruited from Rhodes and Crete. and six thousand cavalry, composed of Serveve, Vibichinas, Aedui, and Mattias. Because the Fourteenth Legion was a newly defeated division and a frightened bird, it was arranged to defend the seaport city of Thapsus further back, while the Thirty-third Legion was arranged to defend outside Leptis City, so the Hedgehogs were now gathered directly in the camp. , there are as many as eleven legions.

So many people were crowded together that the old campsite was becoming unusable. The hoarding of grain and the accommodation of soldiers were big problems, so Caesar was not in a hurry to discuss the war at the joint meeting. Rather, raise the topic sensitively first.

"This problem must be solved through combat." Then a group of people came to the map table in the camp. Lepidus introduced this point of view very clearly, "Pompei has just arrived at the opposite position, and there is still a distance between our army and the enemy. . The dictator had always been too patient to fight, which happened to make Scipio take it lightly. Therefore, I propose that tomorrow we take the two main armies of the 10th and 12th legions and advance directly to occupy the open plains and beaches. In addition, I personally led the most elite troops to attack from our left flank. There was a hilltop occupied by Rabinus. He believed that he had this commanding height and could defend it, or use it as a passage to detour and threaten from the side. Our camp. Therefore, in the immediate battle, I will use all my strength to capture this hilltop. Under the leadership of Your Excellency the Dictator and myself, all departments must coordinate with the cavalry archers. We are going to force Pompey out. Fight us and crush them!" Caesar nodded and took off his dirty shirt, leaving his buttocks bare. He put on the clean robe sent by his personal slave, and then put on the laurel leaf crown. He said to all the important generals, "Indeed, the following battle mainly depends on the performance of the two elite legions, that is, the cooperation between me and General Lepidus is the key. So the less people know about this plan, the better. This is also The reason why I did not hold a collective joint meeting today is that I am leading the 10th legion, Lepidus is leading the 12th legion, I am in charge of the center and the right wing, and Lepidus is in charge of the left wing. This kind of battle is a very test of the command ability. Even Lepidus and I, It means commanding the most reliable legion. Too many troops will make us disorganized. Only in this way can the combat effectiveness be maximized. At the fifth sentry point, that is, at dawn, we attacked decisively! "...

After hearing the words of the two people, Turinus felt that his pupils were shrinking and his breathing was quickening. It was obvious that the child was extremely excited, but Leo next to him remained unmoved.

The Tenth Legion, a total of 5,000 men, followed Caesar from the camp on time within the specified time, and then formed a long line in preparation for battle, marching forward on the continuous sandy seaside, Caesar willed Rabinus's He learned and applied tactics flexibly. He mixed all the projectile light infantry and about two thousand color Weaver cavalry in the infantry ranks, and marched together under the bright moon in the night sky.

Slight and rapid whistles came one after another. The entire width of twelve Roman miles here was flat gravel land, but the city of Uzta, where Scipio's camp was located, was surrounded by a circle of hills. Caesar quietly ordered, every When they reached the top of a hill, they sent a regiment of troops up the mountain, because there were many towers and fortresses left by the Libyans in the past. Caesar asked them to go up, and began to expand and build fortifications using these existing buildings as the core. Come.

"Caesar is coming to attack us!" The camp in front of Uzi Tower was mainly in charge of Rabinus. This chore boy who had just arranged for the entire army to go out for battle was just about to go to bed and rest when he got the news that the enemy was attacking. , then he got on his horse again and directly led his troops directly under his command to line up to fight.

Now, the troops of Labienus and Laelius were mainly the former Macedonian First Legion, which was now reorganized into the Sixth African Legion, plus the recruits they had around Zeta, namely the Fourth Legion and the Fifth Legion, a total of three legions, located on the right wing of the entire army camp, stationed on the edge of a narrow plain.

In front of Uzta were the troops of Scipio, Tulas and King Juba, including two legions, namely the Third and Seventh Provincial Legions, and King Juba's approximately 30,000 infantry and cavalry, that is, nearly 100 war elephants.

The sea side of this town was Hadrumum, which had just been occupied by Pompey's army, so there was no left wing, because its left wing was a solid city that did not need troops to defend it, and Pompey's two most elite legions, the First and Second Legions, were stationed in the city of Mesdur, five Roman miles behind Uzta, serving as reserve forces and headquarters.

In addition, Pompey ordered Afranius and Sulpicius to form a new legion, which was mixed with a large number of Mauritanians and Numidians, called the Eighth Legion, to cooperate with General Tharp, the royal steward of King Juba, to fight back to Numidia and expel the rebels of Hitis and Bocchus.

Now Pompey was fighting on two fronts, but he obviously still put the main force on Caesar's side.

Labinus immediately led the Fourth Legion and the Sixth Legion out of the camp, "Julius Caesar, your dream of subverting the Republic, let me personally smash it in this wasteland!"