"Brothers, go ahead, keep going, we will soon reach Pergamon, the last lair of the traitor Mark Antony, storm that city, retake Pergamon, and return the glory of Rome to Asia Minor!"

The long procession through the winding and undulating mountains is like a long march through mountains and rivers. The centurion shouted along the way to encourage the soldiers to keep going, not to stop themselves, for victory lay ahead. That means endless wealth awaits everyone.

After the battle in Syria, Appis rested in place for a while, and then ordered his legions to move north as fast as possible to Pergamon in Asia Minor to attack Antony's last resting place. Six legions, mighty and burdened, marched north from Syria to Antony's base camp.

The navy also attacked at the same time, approaching the port of Pergamon.

The forward corps advanced by sea and land, and the rear state property was constantly raised. The populace of Asia Minor felt an endless panic. They were like Afripoa in Africa, where the people wanted to surrender, but the generals who occupied the city did not want to do so. If Anthony was to surrender to a man who was born as a slave, it would be better to kill him.

In late autumn, two armies laid siege to the large Hellenistic city with its solid walls.

"Tell General Mark Antony that for the sake of the people of Pergamon, give up resistance, those who surrender will still have a chance of forgiveness and forgiveness, and if they continue to resist, the legions will raze the city to the ground!"

On the eve of the siege of Pergamun, Apis sent a messenger to stand in front of the city gates, shouting to persuade the defenders of the city to surrender. Of course, the purpose was not to hope that the defenders of the city would actually surrender, but to tell the world that I, Appis, had done my best and had made a request for peace, and that Mark Antony was unwilling to settle the matter peacefully. It's no wonder to me.

Of course, Mark Anthony would not surrender, he sent mercenaries to prepare for street fighting, and let the allies sent by the eastern countries go up to the city walls to defend the city. Even if the number is small, relying on the tall walls of Pergamon is enough to resist for a while.

Then, the siege battle began in such an unsuspenseful situation.

Although it was a large-scale battle, like the previous battles, there were no special tactics. Catapults and crossbows whirred outside the city, throwing hot stones into the city and piercing the walls. Siege towers slowly approached, loaded with deadly ballista launchers. Shoot a heavy javelin from the tower and kill the guards defending the city.

The siege engines equipped with rams slowly approached the city gates, and under the shield walls, the Roman heavy infantry continued to climb the towers through these siege weapons, and fierce battles broke out in the gaps in the city. The rain of arrows continued to be thrown from outside the city to the inside of the city. The air was filled with the smell of blood and flames scorching the house.

In the harbor, Appis's navy had been expanded to become the hegemon of the Mediterranean, and the Pergamon navy, which Antony had built in a year, was bloodily suppressed in the harbor and almost completely wiped out.

Then, 500 Roman ships carrying tens of thousands of legionary infantry landed from the shore and attacked Pergamon with the legions on land.

A sprawling city fell in a single day.

However, to Appis's surprise, in the siege of Pergamon, the one who had been commanding the army in the city to resist desperately was Antony's stand-in, a Roman who looked like Antony. When asked where the real Mark Anthony went, the fake Anthony just shook his head tiredly, saying that he didn't know anything about it......

"Cut his nose."

Faced with this tight-lipped and loyal stand-in, Apis didn't ask a second word. He loudly ordered the soldiers around him to start the execution. The soldier on the side casually drew his knife and held down the poor stand-in Anthony. And he prepared to cut off his nose at the command of Appis. It wasn't until the knife had already landed on the bridge of his nose that the wounded stand-in shuddered and said to stop, he knew where the real Anthony had gone......

"He's gone to Bithynia, and even further east!"

The stand-in knelt on the ground and said tremblingly.

The soldiers didn't know that he wasn't Anthony, so they fought for him. Now seeing the cowardly appearance of the stand-in, those Anthony's men were extremely disappointed.

"Colchis ......"

Although Apis was not very familiar with geography, the last fertile land east of the Black Sea was there. Located in the middle of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains, there is a huge alluvial plain of rivers, through which the Rioni River flows and finally flows into the Black Sea, and the river flows into the ocean, the flow rate decreases, and the sediment is deposited in large quantities, often forming an estuarine delta, which is the most fertile region, as is the case with the Nile River flowing into the Mediterranean, which nurtured the Egyptian civilization.

Appis expected that Anthony would eventually have to flee there. However, that would only be a susceptible to survival, and a small river delta would not be enough to sustain a large population, let alone build a large kingdom.

"Untie him and give him the status of a free citizen, he will definitely not be a citizen. Also, give the 'honest one' another bounty so that he can live here. ”

After listening to the stand-in's rhetoric, Apis coldly threw down a bunch of words. The soldier then used a knife to untie the rope that was tied to the stand-in. Take him to the quartermaster to get paid. Appis knew, of course, that even if this was paid for it, this stand-in of Mark Antony would not live long, and as long as he was in Asia Minor, Antony's supporters would cut him with a thousand knives if they met him, unless he fled to Rome with the money.

After dealing with Pergamon's affairs, Appis left three legions and a cavalry brigade here, and winter was about to begin, and the legions fought from spring to late autumn, and could not advance any further. He took three other regiments of heavy infantry on a "diplomatic visit" to the countries of the East. Of course, the main destination of this trip is Armenia.

…………

"Get ready for a grand welcome! Prepare the best mountain delicacies! Pick the best maiden in the country, come to the palace, and I will greet Appis well...... Also, let the army be heavily defended, and Anthony can't be allowed to enter my country! ”

When the news of Appis' imminent visit to the countries of the East came, the Armenian king Artavazd was very wary and nervous. At the end of the Roman Civil War, Artavazd knew that the purpose of Appis's trip was to make the eastern countries refuse Antony's entry and limit the borders of each country as if it were a fugitive. At the same time, Artavazd worries that Apis's purpose is not only this, that today, Armenia is a Roman vassal state, and tomorrow, will Apis turn Armenia into a Roman province?