However, a few days passed, and when the second Roman legion was sent to the beach intact, Caesar had to believe what the two defectors said. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Because if Rabienus knew where he landed, he would inevitably send a large army to encircle and suppress and hinder the landing of Caesar's follow-up troops, but the reality was not like this. This means that what these two cavalrymen said is basically true. Moreover, Caesar has also sent his men to reconnoiter the nearby terrain in the past few days, and the terrain depicted is almost exactly the same as that depicted by the two cavalrymen.

Under this scrutiny, Caesar basically believed what they said. The immediate need is to train the soldiers to shoot and kill war elephants. Because, whether it was the Gallic War or the outbreak of the civil war, these Roman soldiers who followed Caesar had never seen such a tall and terrifying animal, Caesar knew that it was impossible to persuade Rabienus and Cato the Younger, and the Roman nobles who had been sent out before all came back in despair, so once the next war started, the soldiers must be psychologically prepared for this animal in advance.

And from the training of "recruits", Apis once again saw Caesar's extravagance, and he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to buy ten majestic African elephants from the locals. Then, under the bewildered eyes of the locals, the ten elephants were led into the barracks for the soldiers to practice shooting...... The local inhabitants of Tunisia were not interested in the Roman Civil War, they were simply forced to get involved in this war, for these African peoples, whoever gave more money listened to whomever they wanted, they did things for whom, they did not have a clear position, one second, they were Cato the Younger and the Senate, the next second, Caesar, Antony's people. There is no bottom line, no ethics of mercenary.

Of course, the ten elephants purchased with a lot of money were not slaughtered, Caesar wanted all the soldiers to know about the elephant as an animal, and to understand its habits and characteristics. Including its great power, but also the things it feared, like all wild beasts, this animal was afraid of fire, which was the first impression Caesar's soldiers had of it.

In addition, Caesar also asked the cavalry to lead the war horse around the elephant every day, in order to make the war horse familiar with the taste of the elephant and their existence, so that when the cavalry went to the battlefield in the future, there would be no panic about the sudden appearance of the elephant.

Caesar then had the soldiers live with the elephants for ten days to ensure that they would not be afraid of their bodies, and in the end, Caesar taught them how to hunt them. Elephants, like lions, have their own weaknesses, despite their size.

This kind of training that is almost perfect in detail is the first time Apis has seen it, and after that, he also felt the necessity of it. The veterans of the Gaul conquest dared to face ten vicious Celts alone, but they did not dare to face an elephant alone. Yes, as they picked up their javelins and prepared to throw, the war elephants screamed wildly, causing panic among all the Roman soldiers. They threw down their javelins, turned around and ran. It's like a mountain man who has never seen a wave, and in the face of the overwhelming waves, he lost his soul.

They were then severely rebuked by Caesar.

In the end, all ten African elephants that had been bought with a lot of money were brutally hunted in the camp of the Roman legions, for which Caesar lost nearly 600 Tallents, but also trained a professional elephant hunter. The Tenth Legion has since mastered the method of hunting elephant herds.

It wasn't until twenty days later, when Labienus's cavalry discovered Caesar's Roman legion base on the coast, that they realized where the missing scout cavalry had gone......

For the next few days, Numidia harassed Caesar's camp along the coastline, but the guardrails kept them at bay. The Numidian cavalry whizzed past on horseback and threw their spears at the Roman legionnaires in the camp, while the legionnaires in the camp hung their shields above the parapet to defend themselves against the shots of the spears, and then the light infantry counterattacked, and despite the constant movement of the Numidian javelin cavalry, the large number of Roman light javelins was overwhelming.

In the rain of spears, many of the Numidian cavalry sent to raid Caesar's camp were killed. Their corpses were stuck with dense hunting spears, javelins. It was then burned on the spot by the legionnaires. Because the summer season was about to begin, Caesar didn't want any source of infection to enter the barracks.

"We should seal off their barracks so they can't collect food supplies."

The last stronghold of Utica's Pompey coalition army, little Cato said solemnly in a white toga robe. However, his words made Rabienus feel ridiculous, and politicians who have not been stained with blood can never understand the cruelty and facts of the battlefield. They will judge the current situation only by the meagre hearsay of their past.

"It's useless, Cato. First of all, our forces are not enough to surround Caesar's camp, the large army of Numidia is still on the east coast of Tunisia, and it took their cavalry five days to reach Utica from there, and now, it will take at least half a month to wait until the signal corps has passed to pass the information, and then let the infantry there arrive, and in this half a month, Caesar may launch a general attack, or collect food on the spot, and with our little strength, at most it is enough to confront Caesar head-on, not enough to encircle him. Also, even if you surrounded the camp with all your men, his sea route would still be clear, which is why Caesar chose to camp on the coast, where Sicilian grain would be transported in a steady stream, and it would only take four days to sail downwind. Therefore, Caesar's supply at this time was also very sufficient, and the underground water source was enough for the entire legion. We want to surround him, and we can't, unless we crush his navy first. ”

Rabienus was in the same position as Pompey had been in Greece, and together with Crintus was in charge of the operations of the entire legion. However, his prestige and execution were not as effective as those of Pompey, as Pompey's son Cventus was almost one of the commanders of the legions. As long as he disagrees with the tactics, Rabienus does not want to act. And Cato Jr. and Marcellus and others are simply ignorant of military affairs. They will only command indiscriminately, but they will not give up military power completely, because this legion actually has their contributions, which is the last asset of the Senate.

"Then we will cut off his supplies by sea and trap him in Afrian land."

Cato Jr. continued to command angrily.

"This method can be tried, but there is little hope, the civil war has been going on to this day, our strength, whether on land or on the sea, is no longer as good as Caesar, the power of action at sea is our last transfer force, if you have to try to fight Caesar at sea, then, I must inform you in advance, if the naval battle is lost, we will become Caesar's prisoners, and there is no chance to flee again."

Rabienus calmly analyzed, and at the same time, he saw the painful expression on the face of little Cato, obviously, all the people present, if there are still staunch opponents of Caesar today, I am afraid that only little Cato is alone, and Pompey's eldest son who is alive, Cventus.