Chapter 8 Fire in the Backyard (Part 2)

Here, Scipio was still in high spirits. He shouted, "I have been looking forward to this day for a long time. I will fight side by side with the animal army and defeat the enemy. I have made sufficient preparations before and carefully looked at this Colosseum boss. A detailed manual written by the author, which discussed that the elephant is the most invincible beast on land, but also the most delicate. It is afraid of fire and the smallest things, so the enemy uses trumpets and throws stones to deal with it. It is really damnable and unforgivable. . So now, gentlemen, what we have to do is to prevent these enemies from causing any harm to my elephant herd."

Then, Scipio suddenly shed tears, and he gave instructions to the messenger, so thirty war elephants lined up in two rows. The elephant master used sticks, sat cross-legged on their backs, and drove them towards the soldiers on one side. Running forward, there was a whistle, and the group of soldiers picked up many grape-sized stones, put them on the sling, and smashed them at the elephants like rain, causing the elephants to scream in fear.

But when Scipio heard the cry of the elephant, he cried even more bitterly. Finally, he made up his mind and gave the next instruction.

On the other side of the elephant herd, another group of soldiers appeared. Their stones were as big as plums, and they also hit the retreating elephant herd. The pained elephant herd had no choice but to turn its head again and face the elephant herd. Continue to rush in the original direction. As a result, the soldiers on the front began to hit him with fist-sized stones again, which made Scipio burst into tears, his shoulders twitched, and he could hardly control himself. In another camp, Caesar really heard about the war elephants of King Juba, especially after the remnant soldiers of the 22nd Legion vividly described in front of him the tragic situation of the array being trampled by the war elephants. He also asked the soldiers to train tactics of "fighting war elephants" in a serious manner.

Caesar had already prepared for this. He gathered all the legionaries, generals, officers, and veterans with combat experience, including Lusitanians, Gauls, Germans, and Nubians. . There were people from the Black Sea, and then he personally led out a few elephants. It was borrowed from the Colosseum and the circus in Rome. Then Caesar asked everyone to touch the elephant and feel its body and habits for themselves. And there was a heated discussion about which part of it is the hardest, which part is the softest, and where its fatal flaw lies.

"Use your spears and stab them to death. Stab them all to death." Suddenly, Caesar gave this order expressionlessly.

Many people were frightened when they looked at the giant roaring creature.

As a result, Caesar personally walked up to the Nubia centurion of the Fifteenth Legion, because he was still holding an extremely long sharp spear in his hand. Serving as the spear-wielding guard rider of General Selha, Caesar struggled to take the spear from the opponent's hand, and then held it straight. With a loud shout, he used the correct thrusting posture to pierce the tip of the spear under the ear of an elephant. The elephant's breath was like thunder, scaring many people and continuing to retreat, but it was still in pain. The ground fell. As the huge body collapsed like a mountain, Caesar stood motionless with a spear in his hand. Very calm. Then, the Gauls and Germans were the first to muster up the courage. Many of them raised their spears and swords and took the lead in killing other elephants. For a while, a huge howl sounded throughout the camp.

Three days later, Scipio and Labienus went to battle. Thirty war elephants, carrying towers and wearing armor, formed an extremely long wall of flesh and blood. The Numidian cavalry and Pompey's infantry stretched out into a huge wall. The extremely long horizontal line seemed to stretch for more than ten Roman miles, making Caesar's eyes full of enemy troops. The clashing of swords against shields, the chants of battle chants, and the roars of war elephants made the water in the Libyan ocean almost boil.

But Caesar, uncharacteristically, ordered his soldiers to hide in the camp, with high ditches and deep fortresses, and dense deer stockades lined with wooden palisades to block Scipio's attack. Because Caesar believed that although the soldiers were no longer so afraid of the enemy's elephants, he still did not have enough strength on hand for a decisive battle. It was better to wait for Lepidus to personally bring the third wave of troops from Brindisi, including those with strength. The strong twelfth, sixteenth and thirty-first legions will not be too late to fight Scipio again.

"Then let's attack by force." Seeing Caesar's exemption card, Scipio bravely sat on one of the elephant towers and commanded the entire army to press intensively towards Caesar's camp. The cavalry from both sides shuttled between the camps and fought fiercely. During the conflict on the ground, Scipio personally waved his spear and threw javelins on the elephant tower, braving the stones and arrows fired from Caesar's camp to boost his own fighting spirit. Several Mauritanian monkeys screamed and jumped on the elephant tower. Jumping around, demonstrating for the master.

As a result, the Rhode Island slingers in Caesar's camp stood up behind the wooden fence, and a burst of stones flew. One of the monkeys was immediately beaten to the point where his brains were flying. He screamed and fell into Scipio's arms. The furry paws pulled him twice, and the big yellow-orange eyes stared at Scipio for a second, and then died.

"Archimedes, Archimedes! Oh my god, damn it, wow wow wow!" Scipio cried angrily, then he threw down his helmet, raised his spear with his bare head, and ordered the whole army Regardless of sacrifice, Caesar's camp must be broken, killing all the chickens and dogs, and avenging Archimedes' tragic death.

Secretly, Rabinus sent the cavalry captain Ignatius, with six squadrons of infantry and a thousand cavalry, bypassing the place of fierce fighting and taking a detour towards the city of Leptis.

This was Labienus's strategy. He estimated that Caesar would concentrate all his essence on the front line, and the city defense at the rear would be empty. So as long as Leptis was captured, Caesar's retreat would be lost, and his entire army would be defeated. morale will inevitably collapse.

Indeed, only 600 cavalrymen led by Antony were stationed in Leptis, and many military slaves and volunteer citizens climbed up the battlements to dismantle the crossbows and prepare to transport them to Caesar's camp to strengthen the army. Antony personally commanded there. When the last crossbow was dismantled, several soldiers pointed to the huge smoke and dust raised below the city and said that there was an army approaching us rapidly.

"Don't dismantle this gate. In addition, tell all the cavalry to withdraw to the city gate, ask for the opponent's password, and prepare for battle at the same time." Antony ordered.

When Ignatius's soldiers came to the city gate together, they were all covered with Caesar's army cloaks and shouted that we were returning from the front camp because we heard that Pompey's fleet on Kerchi Island would raid Leptis.