Chapter 19: Crossing the Border (I)

"It's like walking to an elephant and begging for a copper coin." - Augustus mocking a hesitant pleading

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Frankly speaking, Sektus, who received this information, was in a vacillating and hesitant mood - his father-in-law's fleet had been defeated in the Balearic Islands, Lipo himself was besieged on the island of Saxingio, and Indo, the barbarian king of the Spanish Hisparis tribe who was subordinate to Pompey, hastened with two legions to the city of Corduba and Ursau, and his brother Laus to the north had only three legions, and sent back the only regular legion of them.

But even so, he only had three legions in his hands, and about twenty brigades of barbarian auxiliaries, and Li Bida had at least three or four legions in all strategic directions, so it was impossible to count on the desire to hold the fortress of Ursho (even if it was very, very strong).

Now this information unmistakably shows that the legions of the High Priest Lybida are attempting to join up with the seven legions of Peternius, which have broken through to the Balearic Islands, and then break head-on into Ursho in the direction of Sagantan.

Even Machius, the engineering director beside him, breathed a sigh of relief, "In that case, our time and the enemy's time will be free, but now time may be more precious to us." ”

However, Sextus was still groaning, it was not the first time he and Li Bida had fought each other, and he was deeply aware of the treacherous and weirdness of this character. The other person's current behavior. It should be said that it is the most reasonable -- he has absolute military superiority. As long as he can join up with the seven legions from the sea and attack Ursho and Korduba head-on, even if he does not win in three months, then after half a year he will be able to take all the objectives in his pocket - but the more reasonable it is, the more Sektus does not dare to take it lightly, but he feels at a loss, that is, if Li Bida really has a conspiracy, how should he deal with it.

Not to mention. The intelligence network he had laid in the rest of the cities had not yet sent information on the true movements of Li Bida's army, and in war, it was always dangerous to trust one-sided intelligence.

Thinking of this, Sektus slowly walked out of the tent of the council with distress, and he saw the highest peak of the Nevada Mountains in the north, the white glacial snowfields shimmering beautifully, and the snow water flowed down from the mountain streams, giving birth to forests and wildflowers all over the mountains. It also brings with it the fertile plains and cultivated fields beneath the foothills, and the dotted towns that flourish. This is the best part of the whole Spanish province, "where my father fought for the honor of the family. Sektus stared intently at the beautiful picture scroll in front of him, and then saw the pony in front of his tent, and the weapon hanging from the saddle, the Kalia battle axe, and then he shouted and stepped on his nimble and docile mount, and ran around the camp and the river outside the entire city of Ursho, "Don't scruple so much, do your best, maybe a miracle will happen unintentionally, maybe soon Brutus and Cassiyo will have a magical reversal in the Greek theater, anyway, I am going to desperately drag the main force of Li Bida here, The longer the better, preferably three months, four months, or even half a year. ”

"Hey, Machius, immediately you will take four brigades of auxiliaries and set up camp on the mountain road leading to our camp, and build fortresses on both sides and in the center to guard against the enemy's sneak attack." Finally, Sektus set his sights on the mountain trail of Mount Nevada.

At this time, Li Bida's 5,000 surprise attack army, taking advantage of the night, holding a pine torch, meandered along the road, began to march towards the southern foothills, the high priest himself carried the same uniform as the soldiers, and advanced and climbed together in the queue, each soldier was equipped with a military slave, and two soldiers were equipped with a local Spanish mountain mule, and according to the Roman standard, a camp tent team of ten people, eight were combatants, two were military slaves in charge of logistics, ten people were equipped with a mule, and the entire surprise attack army was also equipped with an additional eight hundred pack beasts, to transport the rest of the materials and equipment - now Li Bida, for the sake of the surprise attack, completely invested in logistics supply.

"There can be no hesitation and lingering, it is too easy to be exposed here, climb with all our might, and at sunrise in the early morning, we will climb halfway up the mountain and then rest." The centurion waved his fists and inspired his soldiers, and this plan was made by Colora's protégé and the guide.

The soldiers in front of them, drawing their knives and saws, slashed thorns and bushes with all their might, and opened up the path that the goats usually walked as a way for the procession to move forward, while those in the back held on to anything that could be touched, stones, trees, long grass, etc., and climbed up with their bodies hunched, and led the mules to their deaths, which in this case might be more precious than human life.

The whole team "rose higher and higher", and when the morning sun sprinkled all over the hillside, they were tired and half dead, and finally rested on the spot at a platform halfway up the mountain, but the team was still not allowed to make a fire to cook, so they could only take out some dry wheat cakes from their backpacks and drink them with cold water, "This is not allowed, you will get dysentery." "The guide brought up the topic in time, so the cold water was canceled and the pre-stocked feta cheese was a big hit. Just as they were about to continue their march in the afternoon, the sun suddenly disappeared without a trace, and the clouds were in front of people's eyes, covering the entire hillside, and soon within ten Roman feet around, it was difficult to see the food, the wind was strong, and the grass and trees on the hillside were rolling and undulating in the strong wind, "Dig a pit, dig a pit, you can't set up a tent!" So the soldiers, gritting their teeth, began to dig in the hard hills, and when they had finished digging their own and had to dig up the animals, then they took their weapons and their equipment and fell into the pit with them, and covered them with leather, and the high priest set an example, and he and the two mules were in the same pit for a whole night.

The next day, after the wind slowly subsided, pieces of leather and shields were lifted, and the soldiers looked more relaxed, and each of them crawled out of the shallow pit, gathered in front of the team mark, and continued to march according to the queue and order, "This is just the beginning, and the difficulties are far more than that." ”

The base of the glacier stretches out, the ground is bare, there is almost no vegetation, the team is distressed by the lack of oxygen in the plateau area, the movement is unusually slow, the slaves and soldiers are wrapped from head to toe in cloaks, to resist the cold wind that does not match the season at all, thanks to the timely dispatch of Leo before, basically meet the needs of the soldiers to live, after nightfall camp, the soldiers began to cut the leather with knives, light a fire to keep warm, they can directly see the stars hanging overhead in all directions, It's as if you can touch it with your hand.

As a result of the march, it was found that the number of men had been reduced, some of them died quietly, and some could no longer go forward, and according to the experience of the previous battles in Gaul, Li Bida ordered all the sick to be concentrated in the leeward depression, set up tents, help each other, wait for the rescue of those behind, and leave them with plenty of food in case they were prepared. (To be continued......)