"They don't know fatigue and sleepiness, and they don't see anyone loosening their belts or shoelaces." —The biblical description of the Assyrian army

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The commander-in-chief was so vigorous in rectifying the military discipline that it was exactly the same as in the city of Massella, and the six legions and the fleet were suddenly purged inexplicably, and the soldiers and sailors were very consciously stationed outside the city, and they were not contaminated with bazaars and brothels and liquor shops, as if they were in the city of Rome, while the citizens and elders of the city of Cadiz were inexplicably happy, and many of them had similar thoughts in their hearts, "Sure enough, our province belongs to His Excellency Caesar." ”

The next day, the presbyterians of the Italian cities and the island of Hesparis, with many of the surrounding market towns, sent messengers to show their good faith, in which the Italian promised to send 10,000 bushels of wheat in a few days, and Hisparis handed over all the six ships that Varro had ordered them to build for the use of Lypida's army. Even the priests of the Great Temple of Mercury arrived in the city, saying that they would not only bless the expedition on behalf of the gods, but also give one-fifth of the temple property to fund the logistics of the army.

In less than two days, the southern part of Lusitania had changed its banners, but in the face of the increasing number of barbarian chieftains and city representatives who had asked to meet with him, Libida left Matthias and Paulus to preside over the heavy work of the meeting, and instructed them to treat everyone fairly and pleasantly, in contrast to the previous high-handed policy of the governor of Varro in the province.

Then, Li Bida threatened to prepare large equipment in the camp and go north to capture the provincial capital of Orcrecy. But he secretly appointed Angandinus as the vanguard. Cavalry captain Hansk was the auxiliary. Saab was the overseer and guide, and he gathered two thousand cavalry, including the Mattians, and went into battle lightly, carrying three days' rations, bypassing the fortresses in the northern part of the province, and directly from the middle of the hinterland, and hastening to pursue the two legions of Varro to Corduba, "Remember. Just attack their baggage guards, bite them to the death, and show our existence in Spain - I will lead the main force, and the distance will not exceed thirty Rome, and as for the twenty-seventh army of Combano, let him be arrogant in the north of the province! ”

After learning that Li Bida had captured Cadiz, Cambano was indeed very powerful, and in the past, he had been using guerrilla raid tactics, but now he openly pulled out all the infantry and wantonly attacked those small market towns that were still loyal to Pompey. The timid will pay tribute to themselves, and the bold will defend themselves in the banquet city. Combano gathered men and horses to besiege it, and after the city was broken, there were no chickens and dogs, and the tribes loyal to Caesar from all over the country continued to surrender, and the ranks quickly swelled to nearly 5,000 men, including 2,000 cavalry, so that Varro's remaining troops in the city of Occrecy shrank and did not dare to attack.

At the same time, the governor of Lusitania was still struggling to march towards the city of Corduba, which was located in Far Spain, and had sent an envoy to "greet" the governor earlier, but in fact he was secretly monitoring and observing the changes in the situation: because in Elierda, Caesar, who had received the vitality of two elite legions, regained the initiative on the battlefield, and it is said that Afranius also felt that he could not support it, and was ready to surrender, or was ready to withdraw his camp and lose, all the cities in the Spanish province, whether they were barbarians, or Roman colonies, all beginning to plan for their own future.

Now the focus is on the actions of the two legions of Varro, one is the "Little Pony" legion recruited by Varro from the Roman colonial cities of the province, and the other is the "Minotaur" legion recruited from the Spanish vassal cities, in addition, before the expedition, Varro also forcibly conscripted thirty infantry teams of Spanish Celts into the army, as an auxiliary ally, so he has nearly 30,000 people at hand, which still looks very bluffing at first glance.

But the larger the size of the army, the greater the logistical pressure, and the supply roads to the west of Oclay have been battered by Cambano, and the materials that had been hoarded in advance, due to Varro's "divine judgment", were all thrown into Cardis and fell into the pockets of Li Pida. So when this army was halfway through, a large number of "Confederates" began to flee, armed with weapons, either up the hill or on Caesar's side. The remaining two legions also began to become violently unstable, and "the soldiers seemed to be brewing a rebellion." "This was the warning of the former tribune and military commander Galius to Governor Varro.

Varro was sitting beside his mount, his head covered in weak sweat, and some young slaves were wiping his back and armpits with olive oil. ”

"There's about four to five days to go." Galius tried to be as precise as possible in his language and speculation.

"When you get there, there will naturally be a large number of supplies, and encourage the lowly and filthy soldiers, who are mercenary, Galius, and it is always good to give them some fantasy."

"With all due respect," and before Galius could tell the truth, the messenger of Corduba, who was beside him, volunteered to say that if His Excellency the Governor sent his cavalry to escort him and hurried to his city first, he would be willing to sue the Council of Elders and entertain the whole party with the savings of the city.

"This is not good, Your Excellency, we need a hostage to blackmail Korduba, if this guy escapes, our army will be passive." Galius whispered to Varro again, but His Excellency the Doge ignored his advice, and immediately set aside a hundred cavalry, with two Confederate infantry troops, to accompany the envoy into Cordurba, on the grounds that "Cordurba is a city in Far Spain, and Pompey has been in business for many years, so who would dare to rebel?" ”

Less than half a day after the envoy left, several scouts of the rearguard brought bad news: "The rear guard of our army has been attacked by enemy cavalry of unknown origin, many alliance auxiliaries have fled, and the only remaining baggage has been burned and plundered!" ”

Damn, these barbarians simply don't understand the importance of duty and responsibility! Varro scolded in a panic, and quickly comforted himself again, "It's okay, don't panic, this is just the horse bandit team under Combano." Galius, you take all the Ala cavalry and rush to the rearguard to hold your foot. ”

Galius, who was ordered, galloped for a while with six hundred cavalry, and rushed to the battlefield, and as far as he could see, the entire rearguard had completely collapsed, the position of the military slaves and auxiliaries could no longer be contained, and the cavalry that the enemy was chasing and slashing everywhere was not at all some lightly armed green forest horse bandits, as Varro said, but strong regular cavalry wearing fine chain mail, carrying bows and arrows and long swords.

Immediately, the cavalry under Galius began to be afraid, and they asked the commander one after another if they wanted to ask for reinforcements from the main force in the rear.

"Send a herald, but all of you will follow me up to engage in the battle first, and try to weaken the enemy's momentum." Gallius shouted, then raised his sword and ordered the cavalry to form a diamond-shaped formation that made it easy to observe the enemy on all sides, and rushed towards Li Pida's cavalry. (To be continued......)