But the general did not seem to have sent "reinforcements", but to the bottom of his family, and he brought with him 3,000 cavalry, 2,000 light infantry, and a large army of pack horses, in other words, the general swept all the money of the southern city of Theo out of the storehouse and took refuge in Hippo Porto, which made Hitius both contemptuous and amused.

But Ma Ge explained with a grim face, "The city of Theo is located in the south, on the edge of the desert, and many Gaiturian barbarians have come to attack the other day, which is a sign of a large-scale invasion by the desert barbarians—perhaps the entire kingdom of Mauritania has colluded with the enemy. The city of Dio is absolutely undefendable, and the royal capital of Kirta is very dangerous, so we still hold on to Hippo Harbor to watch the enemy's actions and make a decision. ”

"How can such words be uttered? The city of Kirta is the royal capital of the previous country, and Selene, the widow of King Yuba, still lives in the royal palace, and the treasurer of Epidaus, Lord Otakilius, who was originally placed here, has sailed from Egypt to find the Cyris Empire, so we must at least organize the defense of the border and strive for an orderly evacuation of the city of Kirta. Hitius categorically rejected General Margo's intention to flee eastward, which made the other party scratch his ears and cheeks, "The eastern part of this province is all directly under the jurisdiction of the Romans, and the envoy is the Celeste stationed in Varga, so the defense is not up to us." After saying that, General Ma Ge even shook Hittius's hand in a low voice, "It's better to go to Kirta with the cavalry, and leave all the infantry and armed immigrants in Hippo Harbor, which has a huge advantage." That is, if there are too many enemies. We can evacuate without being hinterland. Instead, he took the widow of King Yuba directly to the port of Hippo and took a fast boat to Utica, or directly to Lilibal, where he met with the honorable high priest. ”

This is a good solution, but it can be advanced or retreated, and Hittius changed his mind again, and now the whole of western Numidia. I'm the only one with the long-legged and capricious Phoenician general, and if I don't cooperate in battle, I might bury all my subordinates.

So Hittius asked Marco to take all the cavalry to the palace of the city of Kirta, but the general readily refused, "It was my betrayal that caused the defeat of King Yuba and the death of Queen Selene, and I dare not go to the palace again." ”

In the face of this straightforward and honest shameless man, Hitius had nothing to say. He could only take with him fifteen hundred lightly armed Hipthius cavalry, most of whom he had recruited from the desert. After leaving Hippo Harbor and entrusting its garrison to General Margo, with twelve light ships behind, he himself made his way to the city of Kirta the next day.

Along the way, Hitius saw fleeing caravans, mules and horses, and merchants and people with water bowls on their heads under the dust, and instinctively realized the severity of the situation, "We must speed up, maybe the enemy's cavalry is not far from us." With that, Hitius summoned the captain of the cavalry from Gaul and ordered him to escort him with four hundred cavalry in the direction of the flank, and he took the rest of the cavalry and galloped directly in the direction of the palace.

You must know that Queen Selene and Caesar's party have a grudge against her husband after all, but she cannot fall into the hands of the Pompeo army, "if the other party has any act of rebellion, he will be executed on the spot." ”

When the cavalry rushed to the arch of the palace, Selene sat on his shoulder in a trance, surrounded by a number of Roman cavalry, all of whom had been placed by Libida to guard and monitor King Yuba after her defeat. Koomenus Hiptius, I now inquire to you, in my capacity as a representative of the Republic, where is this team going? ”

Selene, who was not clear in his mind in panic and did not understand the language, kept asking Hitius and the cavalry behind him, "Is there anyone who can speak Greek?" In the midst of the chaos, it was the captain of her cavalry who shouted to Hittius, "We are ready to go to the palace of Tara in the southwest, where there are well-built walls and plenty of drinking water." ”

"It's fifty miles from here, and you're sure to be ambushed by the enemy on the way—now follow me to the northern port of Hippo, and get ready to leave here by ship." As soon as Hitius's words fell, fierce horses' hooves and shouts of killing were heard outside the city, "You must stay where you are, and I will repel the enemy!" Hitius snapped to the cavalry captain beside his shoulder.

The low bushes outside the city (the whole of Numidia was full of this plant) were constantly pouring out like springs of water from the enemy's cavalry, and it was hard to believe how they had sneaked in that kind of place, and Hitius shouted and led his cavalry up to a nearby hill, and then ordered everyone to dismount and fight the enemy's cavalry coming and going.

After a while, the attacking enemy threw down the corpses of several men and horses, and suddenly retreated like a whirlwind.

At this time, the 400 cavalry who were originally in charge of the broken rear rushed to rendezvous, and the captain of the Gallic cavalry who led the way said that he had also been attacked by the enemy's stragglers just now, "Is it the same as this?" Hitius asked, pointing to the corpse lying on the ground.

The corpse of the enemy, with only a short shirt draped over and a crude javelin in his hand, was drawn out by the captain of the cavalry, and when he saw the round hole with a sound cut at the top, he nodded, and said that it was the kind of garment, and that the horse they were riding had no halter or saddle at all.

"These were not Spanish cavalrymen, but the Getulians, who were originally just a barbarian tribe who maintained a bad habit of cannibalism, and then Jugurdah ran to their tribe to fight against the Republic, and lined them up, followed the banner, and other tactics, and this group learned the art of warfare. It seems that the kings of Mauritania and Geturia should have colluded with Pompey's remnants. Thinking of this, Hittius's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked all the cavalry to enter the city, "Organize armed immigrants to hold the city of Kirta, Hippo Harbor cannot go forward, the enemy is preparing to ambush us on the way, don't be fooled - we will escort Queen Selene directly at night, rush to the city of Vaga, and go to meet the envoys." ”

Hittius, worthy of a veteran of the Mediterranean, guessed correctly—after nightfall, the Getulian cavalry, who were adept at moving in the night, passed through the forest, set up ambush on both sides of the road in the northeastern corner of the city of Kirta, and waited murderously for the whole night—but did not wait for the target.

Meanwhile, in the countryside outside the port of Tangis, Rabinus rode alone with two of his servants to a large tree, where the two kings, Pocus and Saputaros, were on horseback and waiting for his arrival. (To be continued......)