"Answer me, Your Excellency the former Consul, how many troops do you have on the entire Spanish island?" This time, Li Bida did not give the other party a chance to retort, and directly entered the topic.

Afranius didn't know what Li Bida meant by asking about the disposition of military forces, and he lost the momentum of the full question just now, but retreated to the "corner" of the wall, and asked Li Bida softly what the purpose of this question was.

"It seems that the former Archon also avoided this obvious situation. Then let the contemptible people make a count, Spain has five legions near and far, Lusitania has one legion, and Varro later recruited another one in the provincial colony, so the total is seven legions, and in addition to the fact that you have recruited no less than fifty brigades of Confederate auxiliaries, then the following question arises - may I ask you, Aphranius, Spain had eliminated the war twenty years ago, and Lusitania had stabilized order under the pacification of Caesar's governor many years ago, When the main war of the whole republic is concentrated in the east, in such a peaceful province, Pompey instructs you to keep such a large and elite army, what is the purpose! Li Bida's tone became stern.

What was the purpose, wasn't it to spy on Caesar's province of Gaul, but Aphranius refused to tell the truth, and he continued to defend himself, saying that Pompey kept so many troops in the province in order to support Caesar's conquest in Gaul at any time and act as a reserve.

"So, does that mean that your Senate, or Pompey, is also approving of the war in Gaul? That declared Gaul an illegal war. Denial of Julius. The various acts introduced by Caesar when he was the administrator in Gaul. Not you too. What kind of head and rat can accomplish such a transformation, but it is not clear that you were the consul who had ruled the country before, and that it was all Pompey's doing, and when we were in the high mountains and dense forests of Gaul, camping once in a few days, and fighting bloodily, there was a certain person who set a precedent, and that was to destroy the laws of the Republic on the one hand. Sitting on the edge of the capital city, controlling the entire Senate; On the one hand, he instructed his cronies to snatch official positions in various places, and sharpened his knives and expanded his personal armament in a peaceful environment without war, this man was Pompey, and the deaf Cato was his accomplice, and in order to achieve his shameful goal, Pompey also instigated Tri Ali to kill Claudius, and now Tri Ali has been punished, and in the battle of the city of Massella. Cato the Younger is the commander-in-chief, while Triali is the commander. Doesn't this prove that you people have only partisan interests in their eyes, and no justice in their eyes, and that the 'republic' is nothing more than a beautiful robe of shame that you wear in order to ascend to the high platform of power, covered in filthy blood, then it is not surprising that you have conspired privately in the Senate, denied the laws of the state in broad daylight, and forced away ten tribunes. What is wrong with Lord Caesar's declaration of an extraordinary state of state, the gathering of all the armies of the Republic, and the armed forces of Pompey's private partisans—I have cleared up all my doubts, and I ask His Excellency Aphranius to refute them! After Li Bida finished speaking, he walked behind Caesar calmly and leisurely with a gentle and elegant Greek step, and Caesar smiled secretly in his heart, as if his chief lieutenant had understood his "concise debate" style very well.

Over there, Aphranius was like a defeated beast, the corners of his mouth trembled, holding the dining table, obviously feeling a sore stomach, he was speechless, he had to acquiesce in his defeat, but he was still unwilling, but for the sake of the future, he could only whisper, "The winner always has a point, but Caesar, if you don't kill me on the spot today, I will still flee and continue to stand under the banner of the republicans against you." ”

"Please, my point of view has been made very clear just now, and I will not artificially add new tragedies to the civil war in the Republic." Caesar said very blandly.

At this time, Sexetus laughed instead, and even said interestingly, "I must thank you for your kindness and leniency, of course, I personally have no interest in debating like Aphranius, I am just very excited, there will be many opportunities to fight with Your Excellency and your generals, debate will not clarify anything, I only believe that the sword and fire will slowly quench a qiē." After speaking, he glanced at Li Bida fiercely, meaning that there would probably be a period later.

"Then I wish the 'debate' of sword and fire in the coming day." Caesar raised his glass again and asked everyone to toast to the god of war.

A few days later, Caesar issued an edict of the consuls, announcing the release of Aphranius, Lipo, and Séctus, and ordering them to leave Spain as far as they could, and the group went directly to Africa or Peloponnese, and continued under Pompey, which was still incomprehensible to many of Caesar's subordinates. As for Peletaeus, he did not hold any state office in the city of Rome, so Caesar only forced him to retire, and then Caesar said goodbye to Lybida, similar to the situation in the province of Gaul, to take his retainers, treasurers, etc., to the city of Corduba, to preside over the "itinerant assembly" of all the Spanish tribes and cities, to draw the boundaries of the land, to settle disputes, to prescribe taxes, to grant citizenship, etc., as for Lybida was left in the original camp, Caesar entrusted the task to the chief lieutenant general:

dismiss Pompey's five legions on the spot;

the retrenchment of the new legions brought by Caesar from Italy, and the consolidation and replacement of the Ninth Legion that had fallen in the city of Ilerda;

Solve the current logistical problems and plan the next step in the strategy, which is the war against Africa and Greece.

"In addition, if there is any temporary military affairs, you, as the chief lieutenant who replaces Rabinus, have the authority to deal with them on the spot before asking me. I will then entrust the affairs of Aquinoa and Gaul to you as well, but I am sure that nothing major will change there? Before leaving, Caesar handed over the paperwork of the gilded scroll to Li Bida.

"Has Curio of Sicily sent troops?" Li Bida, who took the scroll, asked.

"That's why I'm about to return to Italy as soon as I can, and Curio is indeed preparing ships to land in Utica. Therefore, I had to seize the opportunity to gather the rest of the team and cross the sea to Greece and cut off Pompey's other arm. ”

It seems that Curio is going to play the role of containment and attrition, Li Bida secretly thought, and then asked Caesar a question, "Why didn't Your Excellency take in Pompey's five legions?" Even if it is a simple selection of elites, it is enough to form two legions. (To be continued......)