Before Calabi had yet to reach the three hundred stadias, Luculas could not wait, and in the midst of his march he summoned Sekdilius and pointed his whip ahead: "Although I have told Appis beforehand to deceive Armenia that I am still in Sinop, we must not be too lazy. As I said before, Sophini in front of Calabi is the vital point in and out of Taurus, and must be obtained—I will give you six hundred Gallic cavalry, plus a thousand light infantry from Sardis, to march twice as fast as Calabi, and then take with you the four brigades that had been left there at the passing of Calabi, and rush together to Sophini, and choke the Armenian army's approach. Then I will lead the main force to come and fight them. ”

"Obey the order, the four brigades of Calaby, it is estimated that they are now fat and idle!" Sekedilius saluted briskly, and then galloped forward.

When the cavalry of Sekerdilius crossed the marching column at a rapid pace, Hebrida, seeing this, shouted to the commander: "Do you want to go and get a good fortune first?" weishenme don't bring us wing? We slaughter the barbarians and the Greeks, but we're good at it! ”

As he rubbed shoulders, Sekdilius slapped his helmet with his hand to show that he could not hear Hybrida's shouts, and then disappeared into the smoke and dust stirred up by the horse's hooves.

A column of cavalry came diagonally, led by the veteran centurion Utarius, who shouted: "With immediate effect, I will regain command of this unit, and now my order is that the whole company shall continue to march in column, and shall not overstep or make noise!" ”

"Brothers, listen to Utarius. So maybe after defeating the Armenians, we will be able to capture a few pairs of pants in their camp? Hebrida whistled, and as he spoke, several of the ten-captains around him burst into laughter—but Calabis noticed that there was a fierce light in Hebrida's eyes, which Calabis was now familiar with, either to beat the slaves to vent his grievances, or to plunder the booty on the battlefield.

But if Uterus is really in command, where does Hybrida's opportunity come from?

Now, it doesn't seem like this kind of dispute is what Calabis should be concerned about.

Sofini, where the Taurus Mountains meet Anatolia, is also located in the southwestern key of Armenia, and if you break through here, you can enter the pocket plain between the mountains, where stands the new capital of Armenia and the center of gravity of the population, culture and economy, Tegreseta.

At this moment, Appis and three or four of his retinue were slowly marching through Sophini to Calabi in a rudimentary solid-wheeled mule cart, when the great noise of the advance of a large number of cavalry and infantry attracted his attention—it was the advance force led by Mizaro, a favorite of Tegrenice, with a total of three thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry, also rushing in the direction of Sophini.

The Misaro under the banner of the army was extraordinarily heroic, but his face was full of melancholy and grief, this was a battle he was most reluctant to fight, and he also thought that his monarch and country should not be involved, but now all this peace was disrupted by a beautiful half-aged and a stupid queen, both of whom were in danger of selfishness, and actually wanted to push the whole of Armenia into a situation from which they could never recover.

When Misaro saw Appis, he stopped his horse's hooves and cried out, "I envy you, because you have a wise commander." ”

Apis sat on the mule cart and saluted back, saying, "If I am not mistaken, your Excellency's army is going to block the pass of Sophini, right?" ”

Mizarro shook his head, "Perhaps this is the case with my king's jihua, but he is unable to grant this wish, and you Romans are afraid that you will soon be here—if you don't mind, please go to that side of the hill and watch how a loyal and aggrieved servant fights to the death." ”

"Do as he says." Appis became interested, and commanded the coachman—and sure enough, smoke and dust were rising on the other side of Sophini's field. "That's the four battalions of Calabi stationed in the cantonment, no, no, there are many cavalry and light infantry, with the emblem and eagle banner of the Seventh Legion." Appis' other tribune judged.

Standing on the hill, Apis bowed his head and said, "I have seen the leading Sekdilius in the ranks of the cavalry, and the running is his specialty, and they are also the advance party of our army. "This hill is located right in the middle of the opposing line between the two men and horses of Misaro and Sektilius, and the battlefield situation is unobstructed from a bird's eye view.

The scout cavalry on both sides had apparently made contact, estimated, and responded in a visual manner. After listening for a while, the field on the side of the Roman army sounded the sound of trumpets and whistles, and the hoplites quickly formed a horizontal formation prepared to meet the enemy in a horizontal column around the axis of the marching column.

Next, the cavalry and light infantry divided into squads of ten to sixteen men, passed through the gaps in the infantry ranks, reached the front and flanks of the infantry array, and roamed to be on guard. Taking advantage of this safe space, the infantry of Sekdilius began to smash their pickaxes to the ground, and when they were erected, they unfastened their locks and helmets from above, and then took off their rectangular shields and javelins, drew their short swords, and checked whether their equipment was in good use. The sound of the rubbing of armor and weapons was orderly, and then a call was given, and the centurion in front of each hundred-man team ordered the standard-bearers to raise the battalion flag (embroidered with the Bacchus emblem) and the team flag (a small pennant with the number of the hundred-man team on it) in turn, indicating that they were ready.

"We are well-trained, and we will win this battle. Don't believe me? Guys, look at the poor Armenians over there! Appis smiled and pointed proudly in the other direction, and his attendants put their hands on the pergola and looked in the other direction.

The Armenian light cavalry had completed the so-called assembly, but the warriors of the brave tribes from the Araks River had no regard for the signals and flags of the Misaro guards, and they could not even communicate the languages of the different tribes, and they went their own way - some were running in a queue, some were at a loss, and some were gathering in front of the commander to listen to the teachings for themselves, and the whole scene was chaotic.

Misaro blushed and shouted something, but the situation was still out of control - more than 10,000 foot soldiers followed, they could not form a formation, or they had not received such tactical training at all, most of these foot soldiers were forcibly recruited, neither the combat skills nor the habit of obeying orders, and the equipment was also in disarray, most of them had no armor or helmets, wrapped in a Persian turban, wearing patterned Persian clothes and trousers, and holding a simple spear made of rough wood, A lot of people just follow the actions of their partner in front of them and decide what they should do.

Apis suddenly saw that Misaro had raised the banner and was very angry and said something to a servant next to him, who never kept nodding his head, and then suddenly clapped his horse and ran towards the back of the crowd.

Then Misaro shouted, wrapped the banner around his body, and led the guards towards the Romans!

"This man is a madman! His reckless behavior will bury the entire army. One of Appis' tribunes assessed.

Apis nodded in agreement, then sighed slightly, "This young courtier is probably determined to use his death to make his king understand something. ”