Chapter 12 Thapsus (Part 1)

"Then don't be the emperor!" a woman whose petition failed was said angrily to Hadrian, but the emperor turned around and dealt with her complaint.

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"At all costs, mobilize Pompey and fight him decisively." Caesar's order was quickly issued to the entire army.

Subsequently, the camps that spread across the entire ridgeline were put into operation. Caesar and Lepidus mobilized the first group from each legion, and then gathered all the cavalry on hand together to form two mobile groups, led by two men respectively. The rest of the brigade was stationed in place to save food.

Afterwards, the armed training began. Two mobile groups roamed and attacked various towns on Pompey's side every other day, as if on duty. If they succeeded, they would be like an autumn wind. If they failed, they would create a siege under the city, hoping to attract Pompey's army. decisive battle.

But the other party seemed unmoved and still held on to Uzita City. +No+Error+ .s.

Until the king of Juba couldn't hold it any longer, because he heard that the Eighth Army of Tharp and Afranius failed to complete the task of expelling Hittius, and were instead driven back to Carthage and Numidia. The city of Zama at the junction was besieged by Hitius' guerrillas, and the residents of Zama City still had a strong desire to rebel. Bad news came one after another. Every day, Getulians and Mauretanians escaped from the king's royal camp. Some took weapons and went to Caesar, while others ran away to unknown places. The King of Juba, furious with thunder, wanted to give Caesar a certain blow to restore his own momentum. "If this doesn't happen again, I will really become a nomadic king! My wife and children have been captured by the enemy. Well, either Pompey will attack with me, or I will lead my troops and fight with Caesar If he loses, I will surrender to him and leave Pompeo to implement his great strategic plan.”

Pompey, who was sitting on another chair, was silent. The staff beside him kept explaining the current situation to King Juba. The one who was anxious was Caesar. Because his food and drinking water are very difficult, many Libyan coastal cities are gradually defecting to us. As long as we persist for a while and continue to give Caesar setbacks in the defensive battle, we will definitely win a turn of fortune. When the time comes, we will force Caesar to It is our side that Caesar will fight decisively.

But the King of Juba refused to listen. He roared and made various accusations against the Romans. He ridiculed the Romans for being a bunch of nonsense. As a result, the senators, especially Sulpicius, Cruz and others, also became angry. . But they did not dare to attack the barbarian king of Juba, and instead surrounded Pompey. Ask him to take the initiative and fight a few good battles.

"Now that we are attacking, we are under the control of others. The most basic key in military affairs is to never do what the enemy wants you to do." Seeing that even the Romans themselves did not trust him, Pompey replied with a breathless breath. . "But didn't you say that Caesar is already short of food? Do we, who have abundant supplies, still be afraid of him?" Sulpicius pressed forward.

"Yes, just because Caesar is lacking, but we are not lacking, why go to the wilds and stand in the same conditions as them to fight against each other?" Pompeo was still explaining patiently.

"Because of this, the arrival of victory can be accelerated. The God of War will not protect indecisive people. If you want to really win the support of the autonomous city and speed up the defeat of Caesar, you must show some performance." Cruz also Help and suppress Pompey's words.

"Show some performance!" In the end, both the King of Juba and the senators began to circle Pompeo, throwing out such views, saying that they must go to war, so that they could not only stabilize their allies, but also win over those around them. The surrender of the town cannot allow Caesar to continue to be so arrogant, otherwise it will be too late when the wind direction changes.

Rabinus wanted to speak, but no one was willing to listen to him. These senators even dared to deny and scold Pompey, so how could they care about a soldier who was a tribune? Scipio was sitting on an armchair that symbolized his status, closing his eyes and meditating. A few monkeys were jumping around, but to be honest, even Scipio's speech had no weight. In the eyes of the elders, he is just an accessory called "father-in-law". People like Zhengjiao don't care about him, let alone an accessory!

Finally, Pompey couldn't stand it anymore and approved King Juba's plan to go to war, and asked Scipio and Labienus to lead the troops to meet up. "Try to set up a camp as far away from Caesar as possible and don't engage in too many battles with him." , just keep an eye on him." This was what Pompeo secretly reminded Rabinus, because he knew that his father-in-law was not normal now, and just now Scipio seemed to be frightened by his own shadow.

On July 16, Caesar still sent troops. This day was supposed to be the day when Rome was defeated by King Brenus of Gaul at the Allia River 340 years ago. It was also called the "Feast of Allia". According to tradition, Roman generals did not He could have led his army out to fight on this day, but Caesar did the opposite in order to show Pompey how anxious he was, and in fact he was indeed very anxious.

Caesar's cavalry and infantry crossed the valley where the two armies were facing each other until they reached Mount Gemal. Under Lepidus' gaze, they turned back towards the city of Zeta. Next to this town there were two castles called Sassu. Instead of forming a triangle, the towns of La and Wagga were now targeted by Caesar. The specific point was to plunder food and fight the autumn wind.

Rabinus and the King of Juba listed ten thousand cavalry, including three thousand with saddles, seven thousand without saddles, and five thousand light infantry, on the road on the other side of Mount Gemal, towards Caesar Of course, when Rabinus's cavalry passed by the high ground, he did not see Lepidus make any move. "His horses suffered heavy losses in the last battle of Zeta, and they should not be able to catch up with me." Speed." Rabinus thought,

But he was still very cautious, leaving a small part to block the road to contain Lepidus, and the rest rushed towards Caesar's direction.

Why didn't Lepidus take action?

Because he was torturing the captured Reginus, who almost died of thirst in the previous battle, but now he was tortured by Tagus's men again. "I have already revealed all the numbers and specific locations of our own legions. , this is the limit of my knowledge, even if you kill me, it will be of no benefit. "

At this moment, Lepidus, who was sitting in the armchair next to him and reading a book, smiled, because there was Turinus in the camp, who volunteered to observe how the former cavalry commander obtained information through torture, "Guardian , I think we should ask a humble slave to torture this knight, so as to make him feel more humiliated and desperate," Turinus suggested.

"No, dear Turinus. From his words, I can tell that he is lying." Lepidus continued to smile, and then looked at the bruised Reginus, who couldn't help but trembled in fright.

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