After successfully entering the territory of Gaul, Caesar sent Rabienus to the northern forest, the territory of the Upi, to recruit some of the Germanic cavalry. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Since many of the tribes of Gaul had already sided with the Vicintoli, the Roman legions lacked the assistance of the Gallic cavalry, and the role of cavalry was very important in the large-scale battles of the legions, so the recruitment of Germanic cavalry became a crucial step in all of Caesar's plans. Fortunately, when Rabienus arrived at the territory of the Upi, these former Roman allies did not show any resistance and obediently handed over the Germanic cavalry.

The Germanic cavalry, with the exception of the Parthian ironclad cavalry, should be regarded as the most powerful cavalry that Rome had come into contact with in this era. But when Apis and Labienus arrived at the territory of the Germanic Upi to recruit these barbarian cavalry, the equipment and configuration of these barbarian cavalry left Apis speechless.

First of all, they rode horses without saddles, plus there were no stirrups in this era, these Germanic people rode on horses almost without any tools, and the Germanic people generally lacked armor, so the scene that Appis saw was like this, a group of topless barbarians, riding on a group of naked horses, like a group of primitive people conducting a large-scale collective hunt......

"They don't use saddles?"

While leading the Germanic group back to Gaul, Appis couldn't help but ask about Rabienus. This Caesar's most powerful general. His experience should be extremely rich.

"Yes, the cavalry of the Upi had typical features of Germanic cavalry. Not only did they not use saddles, but when they fought, they were not on horses, you see that they carried two men on each horse, the one in front was a rider with a spear, who was responsible for charging into the battlefield, and the one in the back was an archer. The two men shared a horse, and when they entered the battlefield, the archers jumped off their horses and covered their teammates with ranged weapons. Generally speaking, the cavalry of Gaul had to eat a rain of arrows from these Germanic archers before charging over. By the time they charge face to face, their combat effectiveness has been reduced by half. If there are too many enemies to defeat and need to be transferred, the cavalry in melee combat will run back, and the archers will jump on horseback and evacuate the battlefield with the riders. ”

Appis's questions were answered by Rabienus. Although Appis had also fought with the Germanic cavalry in previous battles, each time the Germanic cavalry fought on the side, and the infantry phalanx in the center had little chance to meet their allies.

"It's flexible, although it's primitive."

"Yes. Also, I think you should have noticed the difference between their horses and ours. ”

Rabbi Enus continued with a smile that it was like a sharing of knowledge, or the popularization of military knowledge. Rabienus explained it carefully, and of course, Apis was also interested in the phenomenon itself. After all, there are some knowledge that you can't see or understand in the library or on the computer, and you still have to learn a lot if you want to really integrate into this ancient world, Appis thought.

"Their horses seem to be smaller?"

"It is true that the Germans, though taller than us, have shorter horses than we are. Therefore, the endurance and impact of the Germanic cavalry, in fact, were not very strong. The reason why they were able to win all battles on the Gallic battlefield was that in many cases, it was because of the physical fitness of these barbarians, and even I have to admit that the bodies of these barbarians were much stronger than ours. Interestingly, the people of these tribes also follow an ignorant tradition, whether in foreign wars or inter-tribal conquests, they insist on using their own horses, breeding and selecting from their own horse populations. and unwilling to accept foreign horses. Caesar tried several times to exchange the horses of these Germanic cavalry, but their leaders refused. You see, Apils, these Germanic peoples, the traditions they followed, the wisdom they followed, were completely different from ours. ”

Rabienus sat on horseback and continued to explain with great interest. When answering all kinds of questions with Appis, he was like a teacher, a scholar, tirelessly talking about the military knowledge and battlefield experience that he knew very well. And Appis also seized these rare opportunities and studied greedily.

"Perhaps we should respect their traditions, and of course some ignorant and bloody traditions should be abolished, such as human sacrifice."

Appis tried to test Rabienus's view of the Germanic peoples.

"No, Appis, one thing you have to understand, the Germans and the Gauls, they were all barbarians, their culture was primitive and backward, and it could not even be called a culture, and the Roman civilization was brilliant and great. What we have to do is to spread this glorious and great civilization to the foreign races, to these lands. There are many other places in the world that are so cold and dark. We are obligated to fulfill these missions, Appis, although sometimes it is conquest, it is war. ”

Rabbi Enus suddenly became serious. This is also easy to understand by Appis, who was a Roman of his time, and had a natural hatred for Gauls and Germans. And Apis could not tell him that in a few centuries Rome would fall, and that these tribes, which the Romans jokingly called barbarians, would rise......

But one thing that Labienus was right was that these regions, without exception, were influenced by Roman civilization.

"Appis, some of your ideas are indeed exceptionally good, beyond the average person. But sometimes, what you do is really criticized. I have heard that you have taken a local maiden captive from the Germanic Sucumbri and adopted her as a freeman, and you have even given her her freedom. ”

"It's true, but, General, it's just an accident. Emma, she's just a kid......"

Apis tried to explain that he didn't need slaves. Because I have also been a slave, I know the pain of being a slave.

"I don't need to explain anything, I just want to tell you that barbarians will always be barbarians, and your kindness and mercy to them will not be a reason for them to be grateful to you, on the contrary, they are like wild wolves that cannot be tamed, when they are adults, when their bodies are strong enough, they will ruthlessly tear off the flesh and bones of their masters, **** his blood, this is the barbarians."