Apis, who was sitting in front of the sacred grove at the corner of the steps outside the temple, said absentmindedly when he heard Scipio's question, "Let's gather our team first and count how much strength we have left!" So, Scipio temporarily gave up the idea of sacking the temple of Diana and ran to the city camp to make a point, but Appis was right, the previous Seventh Legion had defected, and now the original Ninth Legion brought by Cassillo, that is, the original Syrian First Legion, all the officers and soldiers stayed in the camp and refused to accept Scipio's dispatch.

"Our superior commanders, only Cassiyo and Brutus, and the rest of the generals will not accept orders." After saying this, the flag bearer of the Ninth Legion stuck the eagle mark towards the central school field of the camp, and did not even think about going out or coming in.

"Bastard, when I was handing out the rewards before, they handed over all the luggage and backpacks equally." But this was also Scipio's simple anger, and the soldiers of the Ninth Legion were armed with weapons, crowded in front of the wooden fence and the camp gate, and scolded each other with Scipio's Sixth Legion and Eighth Legion, which meant that if we dared to collect our luggage, then we would have to fight to the death in the city of Ephesus.

The whole city of Ephesus suddenly became lively, and the danger of internal strife suddenly increased to infinity, while Caesar's march continued to move on and on.

"Abandon the city of Ephesus." Scipio made this decision after five minutes after "careful consideration", and it is difficult to say how wrong his decision was, for Caesar was now unstoppable with the power of Kocula's victory, and the Rhodians, Cretans, and Cypriots all threw themselves upon him and provided him with ships; Greeks and Macedonians. to provide him with funds and food; He took with him four thousand men. and some punts. He captured Cassillo, who had an entire elite fleet, and then as soon as he came ashore, he made it effortless to change the entire Seventh Legion.

So, now that he can't even command the Ninth Legion, Scipio, who has just returned from the defeat of Greece, what prestige will he use to confront Caesar with military strength?

So this is not only a good plan, but also a wise one. Scipio did what he had said, and was about to give orders to the centurion on duty, when Apis came and hurriedly asked, "Where should I go if I abandon Ephesus?" Scipio realized the problem.

After a short period of deliberation, there were two routes, one to go north to the southern shore of the Black Sea to join his ally Menander, and the other to follow Lydia and Richedania to Silesia and then look at the shape of the shì, and it was heard that Gabinus and Marcellus had also fled there.

Outcome. Scipio advocated the former, while Apis advocated the latter.

"The road to Sinop. Cut off by the fortified city of Taktun, owned by the Kingdom of Eubertnia, and Lypida's Byzantine legions are ready to threaten us at any time. This is Appis's opinion.

But Scipio apparently had a different opinion, "Now that the Seventh Legion has surrendered, and the Ninth Legion is no longer willing to follow me, we will have only two legions left in an instant, and if we cross the Lydian wilderness, supplies and soldiers will be very problematic, and I have heard that the cities of Silesia and Syria are looking for the wind." So, I think it's better to join up with Minander, who has fifteen thousand bronze shields at hand, and a fleet, and our forces combined, and the capital to compete with Caesar. ”

Seeing that what Scipio said also had some truth, the adjutant general Apis also agreed to the plan of advancing northward, and then the two made a division of labor, and Apis commanded the six legions to march forward from the front, striving to bypass Taktun and enter Sinop from the valley of the Amasya River; Scipio commanded the Eighth Legion, the "Twin Legion", to escort the baggage in the rear.

"If the main force of Lypidaus has already arrived in Taktun, then we will bravely break through to the past." This was the worst-case scenario, but Apis had already lost confidence, and he secretly thought to himself that in this situation, when only two legions marched on all sides, whether they were marching east or north, they would be tantamount to a rat in a bag, from this knotted bag to the other, "The difference is only to become Caesar's prey, or Lybidaeus's meal." ”

That night, Scipio's procession lined up the streets of Ephesus and the line of defences with the camp of the Ninth Legion, an attitude of distrust that Scipio feared the rebellion of the Ninth Legion, or the betrayal of the citizens of Ephesus, and then he sent the hired light marksmen to stand guard behind the deer, and he and Apis quietly left the city with two legions.

By this time, Caesar had already encamped eight miles outside Ephesus, and Lypida's 12th legion and 5,000 cavalry had marched under the city of Taktun.

On the arched bridge connected by the twin towers, Adiana was a little excited and a little uneasy to play with her hair, she had been carefully groomed and dressed before, the costume, ornaments, and bun were repeated four or five times before it was finally finalized, and seven handmaidens were punished by her whipping, and finally in the light of the fire on the other side of the covered bridge, she saw the Roman cavalry commander in robes and with twelve rods, he had changed more than the last time they met, if Roman men were still shaved at the age of forty, If he kept his hair short and his face clean, Li Bida began to grow a thick beard, which made his appearance more mature than his actual age of thirty-four, but the pupils were still the pure black color, which was also the color that Adiana was most interested in.

"Where's my son Yuajit!" Unexpectedly, this was the first unashamed question blurted out by the other party.

Adiana was already a little unhappy, but Li Bida glanced around, and estimated that his child would not be in Tuketun, so he demanded even more aggressively, "Quickly provide food and water for my team, and then hand over all your team as a servant army to me to command." ”

"You did come back with the idea of harvesting the wheat fields, you cramped devil, you ruthless bastard. You've become a Roman slave farmer through and through, and you're only concerned with slaves working in the fields, even with more than ten drachmas hanging on the limestone walls! Adiana was completely sad and angry.

Then, she was taken into Li Bida's arms, and the other party's beard gently rubbed her cheeks, "It's okay, we don't have time to do these things now, I promised you to snatch back your mother's little crown, your father's sword 'Altolicus', and the Pontic Empire, which you yearn for day and night, from Pompey and other enemies, so the road is still very difficult and long, and there is no time to fight." After saying that, Li Bida put his face on Adina's face and said with a smile, "Is this ugly lime wall a beautiful embroidered tapestry?" ”

Adiana snorted and laughed. (To be continued......)