Chapter 26 The Truth (Part 2)
Antony drove his horse to an area about one and a half Roman miles away from the siege ramparts of the Ninth Legion, announced that he would camp here, and moved all his staff, clerks, and guards here. Over there, the Eleventh Legion also moved the siege fortifications. It was basically completed, and the complete siege of the city of Mutina was roughly formed. The rumbling sound of ballistae over there was faintly heard after an hour of daylight. Anthony sat down easily and took a few sips of wine and water. It seemed that The mood was quite good. ∑,
As a result, Leo spoke again, "Dear Lord Anthony, I think you should slightly separate the camps of the Tenth Army and the siege ramparts of the Ninth Army, and then mobilize and dispatch them when the general attack is tomorrow."
Anthony rolled directly onto the cot, turned sideways, and ignored him.
"I'd better explain! Because you specifically ordered rewards for three legions today, but not the ninth legion and the eleventh legion. So if the camps are too close, there will be no unventilated walls. Once the ninth legion's military morale changes, If you become resentful, it will harm the entire siege." Before Leo could finish speaking, he heard Anthony's snoring, so he could only shake his head and step aside.
After nightfall, Curio personally came to the outer defense line of the Eighth Army and was responsible for continuing to monitor Octavian's movements. However, at this time, something happened just as Leo said. Several patrol soldiers from the Ninth Army and the Tenth Army were on guard. They met in front of the border trench of the camp, and they had a casual chat about writing letters home. As a result, the man from the 10th Legion boasted that he was about to get a reward and could buy two slaves or many goats for his family. The 9th Legion heard this. He was unhappy, and the news spread in the camp late at night. Many soldiers of the Ninth Legion rushed to the camp of the Tenth Legion and shouted loudly. I told you not to be too complacent. We were all veterans of Lord Caesar before, but now Antony is using force against Young Caesar, do you all know? He actually wanted to be an accomplice, but the Ninth Legion was always besieging the city of Mutina, so he still had a clear conscience no matter how small the reward was.
The soldiers and centurions of the Tenth Legion came to their senses a little, and soon questions and rumors spread crazily. They all found the military tribune and commander Sercydelius, asking if they were with us that day. It was not the legions of the Senate who fought. But less Caesar?
Sexdelius was hesitating. Although he knew it in his heart, he did not dare to admit it. At this time, several centurions who were trusted by Antony came in and asked everyone in a stern voice to go back to their respective places to rest and wait for the next day. In the decisive siege of the city, if anyone dared to make any noise again, he would be executed on the spot with sticks and stones.
The several chief centurions of the legion have always been arrogant and hot-tempered, ever since they moved the camp. They had been dissatisfied with these Anthony's cronies for a long time, so the two groups soon started fighting in front of the "reckless men". Then the sword was used, two of Antony's cronies were killed on the spot, and the rest fled - then the Tenth Legion closed their camp on all sides and defended themselves.
Subsequently, the Ninth Army also occupied the camp and directed all their ballistae towards the outside, not only towards the city of Mutina, but also towards the location of Anthony's camp. Anyway, when Anthony came out with an incredible expression in the early morning, he did see the opposite side. The cavalry of the Ninth Legion were holding torches in unison and lined up two furlongs in front of their camp. Their attitude was very unfriendly.
Anthony was sweating. He didn't expect that the mutiny would happen at this critical moment. It seemed that he was too reckless in doing things. He should have listened to the words of Leo, the kid, and Curio was not around. .
After a while, three hundred ala cavalry from the Tenth Legion also stepped out of their camp. Everyone surrounded Antony's camp, begging for an explanation, and fiercely questioning whether he was taking advantage of the dead Caesar or coercing him. He took the son of Lepidus, deceived the soldiers into working for him, and killed each other with the young Caesar?
In the camp, Anthony crouched, waved to Leo, and then threw him a dagger, "You are good at riding. Now look outside. There are fires and soldiers who want to kill me everywhere. I will fight with you soon." Take cover and rush out to the camp of the fifth army."
"This is not a solution to the problem. It will arouse greater resentment among the soldiers, Lord Anthony." Leo replied in a low voice.
Anthony had an expression of "You are looking for death", but then Leo straightened up and walked out. Several trusted centurions hurriedly followed him. Anthony cursed in his heart that it was bad luck, so he could only bite the bullet and follow out. .
On the high ground in front of the camp, Leo stood up. He was surrounded by dense cavalry and flailing torches. "Soldiers, don't ignore my words just because I am a young man. If you need answers, then Even if my father is indeed a mutually assisting ally with Antony and Young Caesar, you have no doubt about their goal, which is to avenge the dictator. Otherwise, why would my father's four legions be in Italy. What about heading north?”
After hearing Leo's words, everyone calmed down a little, and Anthony was also very happy. It seemed that there were some benefits to taking this kid with him, but then many centurions questioned Anthony's attitude.
"My father Antony and my best friend Caesar were alienated by the Senate. Previously, my father Antony was declared a public enemy by the Senate and said that he would use the legion to attack him, and the Senate actually pardoned the murder of Caesar. The number one murderer Deximus; on the other hand, the Senate used the seizure of Young Caesar's family as a bargaining chip to force him to come and fight with us - therefore, the culprit of everything is the Senate, not Young Caesar. Anything between Caesar and Antony," Leo said to everyone, unusually calmly, and then he turned to Antony, meaning to ask Antony to express his position.
But it was so painful for Anthony that he could only pretend to be confused and said, "Yes, I just found out about this. Otherwise, how could I reward you because you killed Caesar's troops? Isn't that right? Otherwise, my reputation will be ruined and my reputation will be ruined by such behavior... I am just preparing to negotiate with the Young Caesar team over there tomorrow!"
While Antony was still struggling to defend, Octavian over there was preparing to attack fiercely. This time he learned the lesson shrewdly and asked Maecenas, Agrippa and others to conduct repeated reconnaissance, and discovered all the ambush locations of Antony's cavalry. The mark was clear, and then he slowly drew an attack route on the map table, facing the camp in the middle of Antony's outer position. After that, Octavian looked at the other generals cautiously, expressing his hope to consult their opinions before proceeding. Decide. (To be continued...)