"The youth (of Sparta) marched down the street with his hands in his cloak, never looking to the left or right, but staring humbly at the road......" - Xenophon

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After hearing this, although Sulpisius was still unwilling to admit the change in the situation, it was obvious that his confidence had been greatly shaken. Li Bida naturally had no intention of letting him have to say anything, but politely said goodbye to him that he was about to recruit a new army in Sardinia, and the military was really busy, as for Your Excellency, I would arrange for people to send you out of the island immediately.

"Of course, it's entirely your freedom to return to Rome or to Brindisi to Pompey." These words seem generous, but in fact they fully express Li Bida's contempt for the former consul.

A few days later, in the new city of Laconia, on the altar that was built, after the sacrifice was completed, Li Bida and the generals stood on it, and on the circular school field below, a grand military parade was being held, and thousands of young people of Laconia were full of indignation and high spirits, they were in the gymnasium by the square, and they anointed themselves with oil, and then they wore short shirts, revealing their toned muscles and complexion, bustling, all gathered in the aisle of the school field, watching the adopted grandson of the old General Li Bida, the strong lineup of the army before the expedition.

The first to appear were the scrambling light chariots and Matthias who competed on the circular runway, and many of the Matthias performed various maneuvers on the back of their naked horses, even standing in the saddle and wielding their spears, or jumping from one horse to another. In the thunderous cheers. The driver of the combat vehicle also tensed his nerves to the extreme. Swiftly drove the sickle-wielding vehicle inward round and round, and the horsewhip rhythmically rose higher and higher.

Next up were the two legions, who imitated the Roman priesthood of Shali, choreographing a marching dance with richly decorated swords and shields, striking their swords against their shields to the beat of drums, and then singing in unison and leaping forward with brisk steps. Perform all kinds of assassination actions, but fortunately, many of the fifteenth legions are dark-skinned Nubians, and they have been trained in dance and music, and their progress is extremely miraculous.

Then came the ranks of the Gallic cavalry, who, instead of displaying the solitary skill of the Matthias, crossed the altar in a well-armoured and well-formed formation. Dark-skinned archers then lined up and rained down on the shooting range with whistle-whistling arrows, begging the gods for protection over the city.

At last. Draped in a white robe, Li Bida spoke loudly to all the young people on the island who came to watch: "Young people. Whether you're from an urban arena or a rural wheat field, and now you have to look out and beyond this magnificent new city, surrounded by young and slender girls, what are you waiting for? Waiting for my subordinates to take them all away? Come, like a brave gladiator, sacrifice your sweat and courage to His Royal Highness King Numa for setting the rules of the great tradition that have been passed down throughout the country to this day. Thousands of Laconian youths, most of them the sons of veterans, raised their hands and cheered loudly, taking the parade as if it were a Greek olympiad, and poured into the sand in the middle of the school field, wrestling with each other in two and two, competing to show their bravery and skill, many sweating profusely, vowing that they would not give up until they were exhausted.

The lively atmosphere lasted until midnight, and Li Bida took out a full thirty tarents and invited all the soldiers and young men to hold a sumptuous public banquet in the place in front of the temple. Then he promised, "I will copy the prosperity of the city of Rome into this new city, and from now on for seven whole days, there will be no interruption of great sword fights, horse-drawn carriage races, and free wine, bread, and dried fruit in unlimited quantities, and I will make the city of Laconia a real small capital." ”

This kind of extravagance is very effective, that is, the prestige of the "Li Bida family", resurrected and revitalized on the island of Sardinia, just like the Pompey family in central Italy, in a short period of time, there are more than 3,000 young people in the new city, with 700 experienced veterans, registered in the conscription register, and soon Caesar's number was also sent, this time this is more conscientious, and gave Li Bida a regular legion number, that is, to fill the gap of the "Sixth Legion of Gaul Province", It turned out that this number was actually sent by Pompey to the First Legion of the Spanish Province.

Subsequently, Libida recruited auxiliary troops from the poor freed slaves and people, distributed the weapons sent by Etrunia, and strengthened the strength of the six legions, and then appointed Angandinus as the commander of the legion in terms of personnel, and appointed Bagulus as the centurion of the Xilion, and Paulus, together with Petronius, served as Libida's lieutenant and concurrently served as the financial officer of Sardinia.

Just as they were gearing up to go ashore in Liguria and then cross the Alpine tunnels to attack Massella, Lybida received a letter from Pothia, "I know that if this war had been fought by Pompey to the north, and Caesar had fled into the depths of Gaul, if it had been Poeti and the children living in a city under the iron heel of a hostile army—I'm sorry, I had lost my ability to speak sensibly and politely in my grief, but I was informed that my father had not gone to Sicily, but had gone to the city of Masseria alone, I have inquired in many ways, and you are the commander who will immediately be in charge of the attack on the city, so many words are difficult to say, and it is not difficult to guess with your ingenuity, but I still want to express that I do not want the robe that my father sent back to his residence in Rome to become his relic. My Brutus was also mutined in Syria, and his life and death are still uncertain, what can I do, what can a woman do? I spent my days at my desk, listening to my mother and sisters' weeping, and constantly urging myself to uphold the strong qualities of a Roman woman, that I did not even dare to cry, and my mind was now in turmoil."

Cato Jr. went to Massella?

Although the information was clear, he suddenly received this letter from Portia, and his heart was still full of unpleasant feelings, but Caesar's urging became more and more urgent, relying on Li Pida's judgment of the current situation, Pompey would definitely not hold on to Brindisi for too long, he only had one legion, facing Caesar's five or six legions, and Curio's men and horses were also actively advancing towards Sicily, if Pompey hesitated a little, he would be besieged and killed.

In addition, it is said that Byblos is training his navy in the port of Dickhachan, it seems that Pompey will still launch a counterattack in Greece in the future, or he will go directly to Africa and actively move closer to Spain. (To be continued!)

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