The stars had just risen, and the sunset had faded to the last of its brilliance and beauty, and at this moment in the Pompey barracks, there was already a bonfire in the sky, and the laughter continued. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The fat cattle and sheep were slaughtered, the delicious wine was turned out of the baggage convoy and placed on the table of each soldier, on the white tablecloth was a variety of sumptuous food, bread coated with honey, fresh and delicious fish sauce, olives, sausages, boiled eggs, grapes, fish and pheasants were all brought to the table, and Marcellus and several senators of the main war faction sat in the most prominent places and drank heartily. Little Cato, on the other hand, avoided the crowd and stood alone in the corner, biting on the kernel of a fig, looking at the picture full of joy and jubilation.

"What are you guys doing?! Who told you to squander all the remaining three months' food reserves? ”

Until Pompey returned from his tour of several large barracks, no one knew that the dinner party was not ordered by Pompey, but by the Senate Marcellus and Cato the Younger himself......

Pompey's angry face showed that he was unhappy with the dinner. The soldiers all put down their food, except for Marcellus and Domitius, who were still eating the chicken thighs in their hands as if nothing had happened, and then, unhurriedly, he picked up the tablecloth and wiped the grease stains on his hands. replied to Pompey—

"It's me, Pompey. I asked them to turn it all over and put it on the table to eat, this is the best Roman cuisine, we are already about to win this war, why not enjoy such a delicious dinner before the last dawn? Caesar is about to be defeated at your feet, and we should celebrate this victory, shouldn't we? Pompey. ”

Marcellus's words made Pompey dizzy, he regretted that he had listened to Cicero's persuasion two days ago, and now, if he did not send troops, he would send troops, and the soldiers' emotions were stirred up by the bunch of rice bags in the Senate, and the atmosphere at the dinner was like an oath before going to war. Even if Marcellus didn't say it, Pompey knew what the disgusting guys were saying to the soldiers. And if at this time, he still does not send troops to fight Caesar, it will really make the soldiers suspicious, thinking that they are really cowardly, and they are afraid of a decisive battle with Caesar, so they have not sent troops.

Pompey clenched his fists, and for a moment, he even had the urge to punch Marcellus in the head, but he held back, probably because of his age, which allowed him to endure it again and again.

"Victory? A victory for whom? Marcellus, you must warn you that tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, our decisive battle with Caesar, won or lost, is not worth celebrating, because tomorrow, whoever wins this battle, many Romans will die in this battle. None of them were pirates or bandits, they were free Romans who were inspired by the war and forced to join it. ”

Pompey angrily accused.

"Good, good. Then ask our great consul, His Excellency Gnaeus Pompey, to show his brilliant command and combat skills in the battle of tomorrow, to send Caesar's beast to hell, to sprinkle glory again in every corner of the Roman legions, and, I am sure, you will not let the blood of your soldiers be shed in vain, and you will surely suffer as few casualties as possible, will you? ”

Marcellus was first forced to be a little embarrassed by Pompey's questioning, and then he quickly picked up the shelf, changed his words, and once again persecuted Pompey and forced this decisive battle to come as a patriarch of the Republic.

……

"Appis, Apis!"

After more than a week of rest, Appis was able to put on his military uniform again and walk in this neat and large barracks. The soldiers looked at their former commander with concern and joy as they recovered from the gloom of their wounds, and the infantry of the 10th Legion chanted the name of Apis in the late autumn sun, as if Flanius had been taken as air, and Apis Gnaius was their true commander.

"Ah, Oscar, you drunkard, have you been in gambling debt again in my absence? I tell you, I don't have so many dinars to spare in the future, to pay you those annoying gambling debts. ”

Appis walked through the barracks under the concerned gaze of the soldiers, who stopped what they were doing, waved to Appis, and embraced like brothers. Appis walked up to the familiar soldiers and asked the junior centurion Oscar in a half-joking tone. This low-ranking centurion, who had served in the army since the Gallic Wars, was a standard gambler and drunkard, and he never had more than a hundred dinars in his pocket. It's as if there is never anyone in the family who needs to feed them.

"No, no, no. Appis, I don't gamble anymore, my money is now kept by my wife, yes, I have a wife, Popria, I found her in the basement of the port of Skopje, and then I took possession of her. Haha, it's still a first-hand product, a Roman woman from Capua. When the war is over, I will invite you to my house. ”

Oscar replied with the brightest smile. His face was no longer dusty, but clean, and his eyes were full of hope and yearning for the future.

"Ah, you can, you can be strong with a Roman woman, and it's still under Caesar's nose."

Appis leaned in close to Oscar and whispered. A wicked smile appeared on his face, and the legionnaires next to him smiled and knew that the two men were discussing women again.

"Oh, Pioris, it makes me happy to see you again, and lo and behold, you have grown into a standard big boy, and your arms are even stronger than mine, and your father must be very proud and happy to see you like this."

Little Peoris stood in the crowd and looked at Apis shyly, but Apis quickly found him. As a young man raised and promoted by Pis, although Pioris is still only a ten-captain, he is already grateful for what Apyris has done to his family, and after the death of Pioris Sr., it was Apis who took care of his family and encouraged him to join the army, so that he has the wealth he has today, enough to support his mother and sister on his own salary.

Appis, after recovering from his wounds, walked through the trenches of the barracks under construction in military uniform, and was so welcomed that Flani watched from a distance, and even if his heart was filled with jealousy, he had to carry out Caesar's orders.

Flani, followed by several guards, walked up to Appis, who was building a trench with everyone, and said to Apis in a commanding tone.

"Appis, tomorrow, you will return to the team and take up the position of centurion of the third brigade of the Tenth Legion. This is Caesar's order. ”

Flanius's iron-blue face, Apis knew what was going on at a glance, he was like a puppet, being dominated by someone to serve as the commander of this senseless legion. As he himself said, Caesar punished Apis, just to clarify military discipline and let everyone understand the fate of disobeying the commander's orders, but in Caesar's heart, it was also very clear that the Tenth Legion already belonged to Appis, and Apis would sooner or later become the commander of the legion, but it would take time to transition and a suitable reason.

Temporarily holding a key position in an army, Apis instinctively realized that a decisive battle might be coming...... (To be continued.) )