Chapter 31 The First One (Part 1)

"Wars are not won in study rooms and on parade grounds." - Suvorov

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It was already noon, and several token officers entered the city of Mutina on horseback, holding orders in hand. Deximos, with a stubble on his face and a tired look on his face, stood in front of the opponent's horse, "This is the Senate and the new appointment." On the order of the administrator, Albinus Decimus, the governor of Cisalpine Gaul, immediately went to war with his legions to pursue the public enemy Antony. "

In front of the square full of fireworks and ruins, Decimus' soldiers were sitting. Most of them were injured and very tired. Decimus turned his head to look at the scene, shrugged his shoulders and said to the token sent by Lepidus. The officer said, "My subordinates have suffered heavy casualties. Now the two consuls and Young Caesar have several strong legions. It is up to them to carry out the pursuit."

"I just conveyed the order, and you, Chief Executive, need to be responsible for this order." The token officer threw the bronze tube containing the order to the ground arrogantly, then turned around and rode away.

So Diximos took a few personal followers and climbed to the top of the city of Mutina. There he looked at the rivers and wilderness outside the city, which were full of neat legion camps, and there were also patrolling cavalry. Coming and going, they were all the armies of Lepidus and Young Caesar, with strong soldiers and horses, sufficient supplies, and well-defended troops. "I never expected that the Senate was eager to rescue me, but Antony would completely become a wanderer, a bereaved dog. , but who would have expected that Lepidus would quickly enter the city of Rome and gain real power. Now I am a piece of meat on the chopping block." Diximos sighed. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "The big mistake was already made when I conspired with Brutus and Cassius."

After thinking for a while, Deximus' heart suddenly surged with pride. He turned around and said to all the commanders, "Now that it's been like this, there's no need to linger any longer. Abinus is the richest man in the entire republic. My family, Brutus, is the most glorious family in the entire republic. I have both, so I must not let him down. Let the son of a knight who was a money changer and the foreign naturalized man who was previously a slave be happy. I, Deximos, will not have any doubts or hesitations in my last appearance on the stage! I order the whole army to form out of the city at the fourth sentry tomorrow and meet up with the two newly recruited legions. Defeat Antony first, and then contend with Lepidus and Caesar."

When this almost crazy and impossible order came out, all the middle and lower-level commanders understood it. This was a tragic suicidal attack.

At the end of the night, the first to leave the city was the legion composed of Diximos' personal sword fighting slaves, followed by the fourteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth legions. At the end were two newly recruited legions, Diximos. Si knew that his military morale had collapsed, so he ordered the little baggage specially sent by Lepidus to be escorted in the middle of all the legion queues, because he was afraid that deserters would plunder these things at will.

After three Roman miles out of the city, the two newest legions were almost on the run. Many recruits killed themselves while grabbing things and luggage, followed by the seventeenth and eighteenth legions - except for their chief corps, there were also In addition to holding on to the honor of the legion, the rest of the group also began to flee.

Only most of the best-trained Fourteenth Legion, as well as about 2,500 sword fighting slaves who are most loyal to Decimos, are still following Decimos's logo and flag, heading towards Walk to Anthony's camp.

At this time, dust and frost were flying, and under the dark blue dawn sky, Lepidus, Young Caesar, and Pansa, with their guards, had actually already stationed their horses on the high ground next to Antony's camp, coming to "observe" this one-sided battle. Antony, who was personally responsible for the frontline command, was also extremely excited. He ordered the three legions he belonged to, plus the twelve legions sent by Lepidus, the nine legions sent by Caesar, and the forty-three legions sent by Pansa, which was enough. A total of six legions formed three fronts and were densely packed in front of the camp. Then Antony also arranged the cavalry of Gaul, Spain, and Dalmatia on the right wing - because the left wing was all high ground and streams. In addition, Caesar also specially adopted Agrippa's suggestion and entrusted him as the director of engineering. He built many spectacle forts arranged in a trapezoid within about two furlongs at the front of Antony's six legions, with the smallest at the front. , then becomes wider and denser later on. Agrippa adopted the construction method of Gallic cities. He inserted simple wooden fences into the soft mud and erected them vertically. Then, he filled each section of wooden fences with sandbags and stones, and lined them up in opposite directions. The enemy's semicircular fortifications, each with two ten-man squadrons and two wheeled scorpion crossbows, were then filled with Antony's legionary infantry at the rear and in the middle.

In fact, there was no need for Octavian to start such a big battle, because the moment Decimus decided to go to war, he would definitely lose. However, he still wanted to use this method to establish his prestige and train his direct team. This wheeled scorpion crossbow is also a copycat of the Lepidus cavalry cannon. But Lepidus just smiled and said nothing to Octavian's behavior. His son Leo was also standing next to him, with a somewhat uneasy expression on his face - because when he just stepped forward to greet his long-lost friend Caesar, the other party was very enthusiastic. He was polite, but there was a subtle sense of alienation.

"On this day, your troops will achieve great military exploits, Lord Caesar." Lepidus rode on horseback and complimented Octavian.

"No, guardian, I just want my own men to kill Decimus, the ugly enemy." Octavian also answered with a smile.

Then, a long military trumpet sounded in the wilderness below, and Decimus ordered all his subordinates to line up in a single line, shouting and killing Antony and Caesar the Younger without asking any tactics.

Over there, the scorpion crossbows in Caesar the Younger's simple barrier also began to pour out firepower, and Decimus's vanguard sword slaves were constantly hit and fell down. In order to show their bravery, these people did not wear the legion soldiers' locks and helmets, but still dressed according to the Colosseum. When their comrades fell, they did not even look at them, and continued to gather together and rushed forward at the risk of their lives.

Then, the soldiers in the front line of Caesar pulled the scorpion crossbow backwards and retreated to the bottom of the trapezoid, that is, the rear barrier. Then the rest of the barrier in the back line again fired densely at Decimus's men and horses. Decimus rode a horse, wearing a white cloak, and his body was stained red with blood, but he was still shouting, encouraging everyone to continue to charge fearlessly. After a while, on the front line barrier, most of Decimus' most loyal and brave sword slaves died. Many of them were shot through by the same spear and fell on top of each other. Many ordinary soldiers had left the battle line and fled backwards. Even the 14th Legion hesitated to move forward. They could only crowd outside the range of the scorpion crossbow barrier that shot the rain of death and lingered. (To be continued...)