After the capture of Capua, the citizens of the city welcomed the arrival of Apis and his legions, as well as their affection for Apis himself. The city, which betrayed Rome in the Second Punic War, will never make the same mistake again at this moment. They were steadfast supporters of Apis, of Roman tradition, as if Apis had really saved them from tyrants, and in fact Antony did not do anything out of the ordinary to them, not even to exploit or oppress the local plebeians or nobles.

The first thing Apis did after entering the city was to reward him with two thousand sesterls for each of the Capua defenders, and to engrave their names on the plaques in Mars Square for their contribution to the liberation of the city. For these soldiers, this can be described as "fame and fortune".

Settle legions, supply food, count the spoils, distribute wealth, and so on. These were the things that needed to be done after the war, and now they were done in Capua. Although it took a week to do this, the soldiers did not complain, after all, they had succeeded in driving Antony out of the Campania region. This area was the most important producer of grain and cereals in Rome. Once again, Apis was right.

Then, while everyone was in high spirits and high spirits for the next battle, Appis stopped all his movements and quietly sent people to Tarragona, Spain, to order the local governor to create a new Mediterranean fleet for the war. The previous naval forces were completely wiped out after Antony's lightning attack, and now, without the navy, the whole country is unsafe, Antony can land in Marseille, Spain, Sardinia and other places at any time, and, without the navy, he will be struggling to move himself forward, at most Antony will be driven out of the Italian peninsula, and even Sicily will not be able to land. At that time, Rome and Carthage won the war on the navy, otherwise Hannibal would not have had to make a long detour from Spain and venture across the Alps.

Of course, the order to build a naval fleet is kept absolutely secret. Because Anthony must not be allowed to find out. For this reason, Apis even hid from the people around him.

…………

"You're defeated."

"No, I am not defeated, I and my men, my legions, are still strong under the siege of the enemy on all sides, and my soldiers, even if they shed their last drop of blood, will stick to their posts. But the Egyptian allies you sent, looking at their fighting strength, have no courage or glory to speak of, they will only run for their lives in a frenzy, die under the sword of the enemy, like a swarm of ants trampled on anything, humble. They could drown the Germanic people who pursued them with even one spit, but they didn't, they just fled in despair. ”

The defeat in the battle on the outskirts of Rome caused Antony and Cleopatra to be at odds. This made Antony feel that his previous strategy was wrong, although the east had rich land and huge taxes, but the countries and mercenaries from the east were too weak, even if they had several times the numerical advantage, they still could not shake the Roman defense. Even, if you take a slight blow, your morale will be demoralized.

In this way, no amount of money is useless.

"But I've heard that our allies didn't break up on the battlefield for no reason, but that you exposed your flanks to Appis. Let the barbarian cavalry of Apis charge them from the rear. Such a blow, no matter who it is, will be thwarted. Don't tell me that the Roman legions will not break up in this situation, I have seen too many battles like this, examples like this. ”

Cleopatra sat in the soft chair and did not want to get up, she had just given birth and did not have the strength to argue with Antony and get angry. And these words also reminded Anthony that although the queen is not good at military affairs, she has gone from an expelled "traitor" to the position of queen of Egypt, and has experienced many wars in the middle, including the Egyptian civil war, and when Caesar defeated Ptolemy, he also took her to the battlefield.

It would also be unrealistic to say that Cleopatra did not understand war at all. Of course, these words hit Anthony in one fell swoop. Indeed, this battle, because of his command errors, allowed Appis to lead the Germanic cavalry to attack his flank.

"Hmph, even if you know the so-called battlefield, but I experienced the battle firsthand in that battle. I know that the soldiers of Rome will not be as weak as the soldiers of Egypt. ”

"Alright, Anthony, now is not the time to argue about this, we should think about what to do next. Both Capua and Rome were firmly held by Apis. It's autumn, the last sailing season, and in two months' time there will be storms and waves on the sea, and ships will not be able to reach the port. We must take advantage of this time to bring more soldiers here from Greece and Asia Minor. ”

Cleopatra said, a look of displeasure on her face. She has been with Anthony all these years because of his great power, not because of his personal charm, if he has a little personal charm, I am afraid that only the roughness in bed makes her satisfied. The rest is only naked use. And Anthony is obviously inferior to the previous Caesar in terms of emotional intelligence and IQ, and is not as good as the current Apis. The queen saw this very clearly. The defeat of the battle actually complained about the weakness of the soldiers, instead of finding reasons in themselves and examining themselves. This has made Cleopatra despise it very much.

"Then gather another 20,000 men from Athens and Corinth, the most important port city south of Rome. Hold here, and next spring we will counterattack again. Also, use this time to train these soldiers you have sent. They are not expected to be as combat-ready as my Wolf Legion, but at least they must have discipline and morale. Damn, let the Eastern countries train their troops well before sending out their allies again. The soldiers did not meet my demands, and I will certainly trouble them when I return. ”

Anthony was still furious. His furious mood is like Suwaz, ready to erupt at any moment. Cleopatra could only remain silent, expressing her dissatisfaction and disdain.

However, Anthony ignored the queen's disdainful gaze and dissatisfaction, and after taking off his armor, he rushed to the high-end courtyard to find a few beautiful exotic women to have a good time, after all, the queen had just given birth, and that demand could not meet Anthony's exuberant energy.