"Appis, he wants to make peace with me? This must be a trap! Anthony and his legions are enough to crush my town and my unformed army, so why does he want to negotiate peace with me when he has such an advantage? This must be a trap, they want to take me hostage while the negotiations are taking place, and kill me, so that they can conquer all of Spain without losing a single soldier. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 InfoNo, I'm not going to fall for this trap. ”

In the military camp of Séctus Pompey, located in the south of Spain, Pompei Sektus Jr., when he saw the letter from the messenger, jumped to himself, turned away, and spoke haughtily to his personal servant, Hydra.

However, the faithful servant Hydra made the opposite opinion.

"Master, maybe it's not a trap, and Apis may really have a reason to make peace with you, I mean if he asks for a private meeting."

"Yes, he did ask to meet me alone, and the letter said he would take Octavia with him."

Sextus replied, and at the same time he looked into the servant's eyes and ordered him to finish his sentence.

"Master, this may be the reason why Appis has asked to make peace with you. He wanted to curry favor with Octavia, and at the same time, through this peace negotiation, he would gain the merit of the war and take the credit that belonged to Anthony. ”

Hydra replied respectfully.

"How?"

Sextus asked impatiently.

"Master, you think, right now, Caesar's army is mostly in the hands of Mark Antony. The war against your master can be said to be Anthony's war alone, and as long as Anthony launches a campaign, all the credit goes to Anthony. And Appis's exploits were buried. Because his army is actually very small. And the use of peace talks, to ask us to lay down our arms and submit to Caesar, if the peace talks are agreed, then Antony's army will be useless, and then the conquest of Spain will become his own Apis. Also, I suspect that Apis brought Octavia to the peace talks, and he also has his own selfish intentions, maybe he wants to curry favor with Octavia, after all, Octavia is Caesar's niece and granddaughter, out of family affection, Caesar still loves her, if this peace negotiation is successful, Octavia will be grateful to Apis, then when the time comes to return to Rome, Octavia will definitely talk to Caesar about what Apis has done in Spain and praise his achievements, which is another benefit for Apis. So, in such a situation, I suspect that this peaceful meeting may be possible, or maybe it is not a trap. ”

Hydra was a Roman citizen with a professional Hellenistic education, and it can be said that if it were not for his father's gambling debts, this young Roman man would not have to go to the nobles' homes to serve others, and it can be said that the quality of this servant was no worse than that of ordinary Roman nobles.

And his words did cause Sextus to speculate.

"You have a point, but no matter what, I will not accept the terms of surrender, I must take Octavia with me."

Sectus said that he resembled his father, Gnaeus Pompey, in countenance, but in wisdom he was far from it.

"We can go and meet that Appis, and see what his specific conditions are, and, when the time comes, you can prepare more of your men, and I think that if Apis really wants to come to the peace talks, he will definitely not be guarded. And if he doesn't really want peace talks, then there is no need for us to talk to him. ”

Hydra continued. And Sextus also acquiesced to this plan.

……

"The address of the meeting must be proposed by us, it is my legion commander Apis who has given you a chance to choose, a chance to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary sacrifice, you have no right to choose the place of the meeting, this must be decided by us."

Two days later, pretending to be a fleeing refugee, Klein traveled to and from the camp of Appis and Sextus to deliver messages and letters between the two, but when it came to the location of the talks, the two sides disagreed. In order to prevent fraud in the negotiations, Sextus demanded that the location must be chosen by himself, but what Klein conveyed on behalf of Apis meant that Anthony and his current military strength is a hundred times stronger than yours, and being able to negotiate peace with you is to give you a chance, so this location will naturally be chosen by me, Apis. Sextus was disgruntled, but Klein replied in the same way.

"Your master is a cunning serpent, who has more tricks than the stars in the sky. How can I ensure my safety when I arrive at the designated location according to your requirements? ”

Sextus coldly questioned the visiting messenger of the 10th Legion of Appis.

"Your Excellency Sextus, if it were you, which location would you choose for this meeting?"

Klein responded to Sextus as Apis had told him earlier. Then quietly observe the reaction of this Roman nobleman. As a slave who had been trampled under the feet of the nobles and ridiculed and despised, Crane undoubtedly liked to see Sextus in such an embarrassed way at the moment.

"As a rule, we need to choose an area between the two military garrisons for negotiations."

Sextus responded.

"Yes, but when I was leaving, Apis told me not to let Anthony find me, because Anthony actually did not agree to this peace talk, and Apis just wanted to hide it from him and give you a way to live. If, according to you, a meeting and peace talks were held at an equidistant distance between the garrisons of the two armies, then it was an open plain, and you say that Anthony would find out about us? ”

Crane continued to speak calmly. Then, looking at Sextus's strange expression, it seemed to be helpless, and it seemed to be confident and ridiculed.

……

"Well, soldier, go back and tell Appis that I have agreed to his request for a place to meet, but I have my own conditions, and when the meeting is met, both sides must surrender all their weapons and leave them outside the tents. No one can enter the negotiating room with a weapon. Not even a piece of iron. ”

Sextus didn't think long before agreeing to Crane's request. Because, this result, Sextus also expected it a long time ago. Between his own barracks and Appis's barracks, only the woods were easy to hide. And Apis was reluctant to let Antony see it, which was also expected by Sextus. What Sextus didn't know, however, was that all of his performances today were within the full plan of his opponent, Appis. It was as if he were a doll, being played with in the palm of his hand by the younger Appis, and he didn't know it. (To be continued.) )