Split, a seaside town north of the Adriatic Sea and in the Balkans, was the commander of the Great Qin Empire's southern expedition.

A partial division led by Su He has conquered the important town of Gorizia in northeastern Italy along the northwest direction, and is moving quickly to the hinterland of the interior of Italy due west, this partial division is like a bamboo, so that many elders of the Senate, who are in power at this time in the Western Roman Empire, think that it is the main army of the Great Qin Empire, but in fact it is only a partial division commanded by Su He, with only 30,000 main battle troops and 20,000 servant troops, while the main army of the Great Qin Empire's southern expedition is still resting in Split.

"Your Majesty, the naval fleet has arrived!" Qin Dong was holding a leg of mutton while staring at the map on the table, and Felton walked into the big tent and reported.

When Qin Dong heard this, he immediately turned around and said eagerly: "The naval fleet has arrived, where is it now?" ”

"In the sea area fifty nautical miles southeast of here, General Barhan just ordered someone to send a message from the Flying Eagle, and at this time they are in a tailwind, and it is estimated that they will arrive before dawn!"

"Fifty nautical miles to the southeast?" Qin Dong immediately stretched out his finger to look for it on the chart, and soon determined the approximate location of the naval fleet.

"Here?" Qin Dong looked at the location on the chart and found that the location of the naval fleet was not very far from the seaside town of Termoli in the Western Roman Empire, and the south of Termoli extended in all directions, and there was a small port here, which was just enough for the naval fleet to anchor, and from Termoli to the southwest, you could take the road directly to Rome, although the distance was farther than going to Rome from other seaside towns, but it was better to walk. There are many mountainous areas in central Italy, and the roads are difficult to navigate, so if you land in other places. You have to go around the mountains to get to Rome, but you don't have to take a detour to land in Termoli, and the cavalry can directly follow the main road and attack the city of Rome at great speed.

Thinking of this, Qin Dong immediately said: "Immediately send an order to Balhan, ordering him to immediately go south and lead the fleet to attack the seaside town of Termoli in the Western Roman Empire after dark tomorrow evening, and must take advantage of the unpreparedness of the port defenders to launch an attack." Immediately after unloading all the men of the Marine Cavalry Division, the fleet returned to Split overnight to load the main force of our southern expedition to Termoli. After taking Port Termoli, the Marine Cavalry Division left a battalion to garrison. He personally led most of the troops and horses of the Marine Cavalry Division to fight directly to Rome overnight, and it was best to attack quickly, if he could take the opportunity to capture the city of Rome, if he could not take the opportunity to capture Rome, then the troops would besiege Rome. Don't let anyone go! ”

Felton hesitated and said, "Your Majesty." Now that our army has been out for more than half a year, the officers and men are very tired, especially the two light cavalry divisions under the command of General Su He have been fighting again and again this month without the slightest rest, and the minister is worried that the morale of the army will be low and the combat effectiveness will be affected if this continues, and we have now annihilated the Epid and Ostrogoths, and obtained all the land of Dalmatia and Bosnia, and have exceeded the strategic intention set at the beginning. There is no need to risk attacking Italy again, you say? ”

Listened to Felton's words. Qin Dong stood up and thought about it while walking, and after walking a few back and forth, he stopped and said: "Felton, you have a certain point, the battle has come to this point, the soldiers are indeed exhausted, and it is time for the class to return to the court, but if we go back now, it will be much more difficult to enter Italy in the future, because now the land we occupy is directly bordered by Italy proper, which will put huge pressure on the Western Roman magnates and all the Western Romans, under such huge external pressure, The contradictions within the Western Roman Empire will be reduced to a minimum, all the voices of discord will disappear, and they will form a united front to unite against us, even the Visigothic kingdoms in the west, the Alans, and some other Germanic barbarians who are unwilling to submit to us will form an alliance with the Western Roman Empire against us! And now because our attack is too fast, all aspects of the Western Roman Empire have not yet reacted, as long as we plan well and command properly, we can completely end the rule of the Western Roman Empire in this land with this battle! If the various forces within the Western Roman Empire are allowed to react and recognize the form, it will be even more difficult for us to defeat the Western Roman Empire in one fell swoop! ”

Felton carefully pondered Qin Dong's words, and then nodded: "Since His Majesty has decided, the minister will go to give the order to General Balhan!" ”

Soon, Balhan, who was leading the fleet to sail on the Adriatic Sea, received Felton's order to pass the eagle, and after reading the order, Balhan came to the command cabin to study the map, and after thinking about it carefully, he said loudly: "Come, general, all the ships of the whole fleet turn to the south and go straight to the port of Termori on the Adriatic coast of the Western Roman Empire!" ”

"Yes, General!"

Torches were soon lit on the herald's platform, and although the sea breeze was a little strong, it was not enough to blow the torches, and the light of the torches swayed in different directions at different rhythms, and the heralds used it to convey the orders of the commander-in-chief of the flagships to the ships. All ships received the order and began to turn to the south, and remained in formation at all times.

The sea breeze was southeasterly, and although the fleet did not have to sail directly in the opposite direction, the speed of the fleet was somewhat affected by the sea breeze, and it was not until about 3 p.m. the next day that the fleet reached the open sea of Termori Harbor.

The fleet came to a halt at Balhan's orders, and he ordered the men of the ships to cook now, to feed and drink the men, and to get a good night's sleep, and then to attack the port of Termoli at nightfall.

Five hours later, when it was completely dark, and the fishing boats that had been fishing off the coast had largely returned to the port docks, the Balkans, seeing that the time was almost up, immediately ordered the fleet to approach slowly towards the port of Termoli.

An hour later, the port of Termoli was within easy reach, and the lights in the harbor could be seen with the naked eye, and the lights on the ships and fishing boats in the harbor flickered and swayed.

Balhan observed the situation in the harbor and ordered: "Put the battle boat, the first battalion of the first regiment will take up the main attack mission and start the landing attack, and the second battalion of the second regiment will be ready to support!" ”

Two hundred battle dinghys were lowered from the large ships, one battle boat could be loaded with six soldiers and weapons and equipment, but not horses, after the two hundred battle dingies were lowered to the sea, the six soldiers in each battle dinghy began to row forward with wood pulp, the sound was very small, the oars were neat and consistent, and very powerful, all the result of long-term training.

With the efforts of the soldiers on each combat boat, the dinghy was like an arrow from the string to the dozen or so ships of the Western Roman Navy in the harbor, and when the battle boats approached the ships of the Western Roman Empire, the speed slowed down, and the soldiers in the dinghy threw the iron hook with a rope tied to their shoulders to the side of the opposing ship, and then the soldiers climbed the rope one by one to the deck of the opponent's ship.

At this time, the soldiers on the ships of the Western Roman Empire Navy in the port were all eating dinner, and some were lying down to rest after dinner, and no one would have thought that the Great Qin Navy would come over and attack here.

"Kill-" When someone finally found that the soldiers of the Qin Marine Cavalry Division had climbed onto the deck, a Qin soldier slashed and killed a Western Roman soldier who found them and let out a loud roar, and the shouts of killing began to be heard one after another from the ships, and the battle began at this moment.

The Western Roman Empire naval soldiers in the harbor were completely caught off guard, and this is not a very important port, so there are not many coastal ships stationed, and the ship size is not large, and the number of troops is naturally not many, and in order to prevent the wind from blowing the ships away at night, the Western Roman naval soldiers will connect the ships with ropes and iron cables, and there is a gangplank connection between the ships and the ships, which makes the Qin soldiers who board the enemy ships can always want to attack on the harbor shore, The unsuspecting Western Roman Navy soldiers who passed through were quickly killed, and groups of Qin soldiers rushed to the dock and entered the barracks in the dock, and some soldiers began to set fire to the port dock to cause chaos, so that the Western Roman Empire soldiers panicked and had no way to resist, so they could only flee in panic, and the other part of the Qin soldiers who rushed to the dock slashed and killed the Western Roman Empire soldiers who were scurrying around or chasing the Western Roman Empire soldiers who began to flee.

There are only a few hundred soldiers of the Western Roman Empire stationed in this port, and the total number of soldiers on the naval ships is less than 1,000, and at this time, there are 1,200 soldiers of the Qin army participating in the landing operation, and it is a sudden sneak attack, how can the army of the Western Roman Empire resist? In less than an hour, the Western Roman naval soldiers on a dozen naval ships and the army soldiers on the docks were quickly slaughtered.

By the time Balhan landed at the port docks, the battle was over, and the soldiers had already begun to clean up the battlefield, and the soldiers of the slain Western Roman Empire soldiers were carried from the ships to the docks and piled up, gradually forming a small mountain of corpses, and the corpses on the docks were piled up nearby.

"General, all the enemies have been killed, not even the fleeing Western Roman soldiers have escaped, and now we are cleaning up the battlefield!" The commander of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment reported to Balhan, who had just come ashore.

Balhan turned his head to look at the brightly lit dock, and then instructed: "Order all the officers and men of the Marine Cavalry Division to disembark and land immediately, and after all the personnel have finished disembarking, the ship will immediately return to the Prilitt and march south, loading the main army of the southern expedition south." Also, let the regimental officers come immediately, the general has an important military plan to deploy, the first battalion of the first regiment continues to clean up the battlefield, the corpses of these enemies should be buried as much as possible, and the corpses of their own soldiers should be gathered and sent to take care of them, and after the arrival of the main army of the Southern Expedition, the ashes will be burned and collected! ”

"Yes, General!" (To be continued......)