Chapter 22 New Laconian Barrier (Part 2)
Galius didn't know how to face this statement. Then Lepidus took out a letter from Paulus, the governor of Gaul and his "relative", and publicly said to Galius, "In addition, To be honest, since Paulus was always there and had a close relationship with both Marcus and Maximus, I could do the work of these two before the war."
“But shouldn’t these two be supporters of Pompeo’s party?”
"There is no absolute friendship and faith in this world. Everyone must learn to assess the situation. Pompey is dead, and those two have little contact with Pompey's sons. In addition, they were serving as envoys in the province of Sicily and leading the fleet. , and was oppressed by the envoy Aquila many times. Now that Aquila was involved in the assassination of Caesar, it is only natural for me to contact them and let them choose the opportunity to betray me. If there is any loophole, I have to take advantage of it." He said with a smile that it seemed that he was very confident in using the two legions with attached troops to defeat the enemies from Spain and Sicily.
Because he had the new city of Laconia as a basis.
This is a fortress entrusted by Lepidus to supervise Julia, with Philo borrowed by Pope and Adiana as the overall designer. Construction was carried out before Caesar was assassinated. It can be said that he spent all his money on investment. The entire city has two It is surrounded by stone walls, and support camps have been built on the surrounding hills. Between the walls, except for the passage connecting the city gates, the rest of the area is strictly prohibited from building shops and houses, and some are just trenches. , traps and pickets. The first wall is eight Roman feet high. It is mainly used to block the surprise attacks of enemy infantry and cavalry. It is equipped with twenty-four towers and a corresponding number of rod throwers and light ballistae. The wall is not straight to the end. Instead, it becomes a jagged and convex jagged shape. This can make greater use of the cross-shooting effect of the towers; and the second city wall, built along the hillside, is twelve Roman feet high, looks much higher than the first city wall, and has thirty-three towers. It is supported by heavy-duty trebuchets and ballistae, which can destroy the enemy's siege equipment from a high position. There are also bellows cannon shooting points excavated inside. Together with the secret door used for garrisoning troops, when the enemy is attacking in large numbers, the two city walls and towers can use firepower to suppress the enemy at the same time due to their well-proportioned relationship. In addition, they are connected by land and four flying bridges, which can flexibly mobilize a small number of teams to deal with key attacks.
On the sea, the city of New Laconia also has a complete shipyard. Although it is not as large as those in Liguria and Cyrenaica, it can not only manufacture a small number of decked warships, but also repair a large number of warships damaged during the war. Boats are very cheap. In the deep-water bay recessed at the front of the city, Lepidus' guard ship was moored. As well as a lighthouse, a naval command room and a small square for cranes that can load and unload supplies and equipment. The bay gradually narrows to the outside, and finally enters the sea at two promontories. An independent fortress is built at each promontory, with various garrison stations inside. There are police sentries, ballistas, speedboats, grain warehouses, and mechanisms with telescopic iron chains.
On the outskirts of the city, there is a relatively protruding and towering mountain, which the locals call "Bird Mountain". Because it is very large and high, Pope and Philo did not pass through it when they designed the city wall. This would not only consume materials and man-hours, but would also be ineffective in defense. However, because Toriyama overlooks the entire fertile Oristano Plain, it is the largest grain-producing area in Sardinia and is full of wheat fields and vineyards. , so Philo still built a camp on the mountain for control.
Crossing the plains of Oristano, you can reach Calaris, the capital of Sardinia. So then Lepidus divided all the gathered ships into three, and stationed a fleet, commanded by Gabriel, to control the sea channel between Lilipe in Sicily and confront Maximus' fleet at a distance. Then he commissioned Aidanguis to lead the second squadron and station it on the island of Bodles in the northwest corner of Sardinia, about twenty miles away from Laconia, to guard Corsica and Sardinia. Sea access to Dinya Island. Then, Lepidus parked the last squadron in the harbor of New Laconia to cooperate with the defense on the road.
"The city was completely impregnable, and Trureas and the young Pompey brothers were forced to fight with me outside the city walls, because both the sea routes of Masseria and Numidia were in my hands, They could only take the middle line along the Balearic Islands, and when they arrived in Sardinia, they encountered the middle gate. So they only had three options left, one was to go through Corsica, and the other was to go through Sicily. The two routes are very long and risky, so they can only choose to board Sardinia, seize supplies, and fight me decisively." Lepidus was very confident.
This seems to be the case. When the Senate's pardon arrived in the Balearic Islands, Labienus, Laelias, Libo and Pompey brothers immediately held an emergency meeting, and Rabinus's interest was at the meeting. Obviously not high, Caesar died, he didn't know whether to be happy or sad, but fortunately Lepidus was not dead yet, he still had the chance to prove everything.
In the end, everyone came to the same conclusion. "Since the intelligence shows that Lepidus has taken the legions of the Nebo Province and went to Sardinia to garrison, we should not wade into this muddy water." In this regard, the elder brother, Laus Pompey, explained, "Although Spain was previously conquered by Caesar, my father's followers are still everywhere here. As long as I raise my arm, it will be no problem to gather ten legions in a short time. So the plan for now is to temporarily not return to Rome in the name of recruiting soldiers, but stay in Spain to strengthen our army, let Tellurias go and fight with Lepidus, and wait until our side After he is fully grown, he will cooperate with the Senate to wipe out Caesar's followers one by one and avenge his father. "
As a result, the mission of returning to Rome fell on Tellurias. The newly appointed Spanish governor was indignant at the decision of the Pompey brothers, but then the secret letter from the Senate was delivered, giving him the numbers of the four regular legions and all fleets in Spain, and promising to provide his fleet with mid-way supplies in the Balearic Islands, and also promised that he could enjoy the qualification of being a candidate for consul next year, and the Senate was "full of confidence" in his successful inauguration.
In this way, Tellurias soon had no grudges, not to mention that he and Cassius had already plundered the province to the point of being miserable in order to form a legion and cavalry team. If he continued to stay, he might be accused after his term expired. Therefore, after being satisfied with the conditions, Tellurias also set sail from Tarraco with four legions and two auxiliary legions half a month before Lepidus set sail from the port of Arles.
At the same time, the Pompey brothers led their troops ashore in the Sagentan area. The two sides that were originally attacking and being attacked happened to switch sides tacitly, and the entire situation began to change dramatically again. (To be continued...)