The Qin army pressed forward step by step.

The predicament of the Balkan war situation put the Romans in a dilemma. A year and a half earlier, the Roman Senate had hailed the annihilation of Macedonia, an Eastern European power, only to find themselves no better than King Philip IV of Macedon.

Under the republican system, the size of the Roman army was constrained, and the standing army was only maintained at about 100,000 men, which was why the army was somewhat slow to respond when problems arose in Carthage and the Balkans.

"Order to the governors of the provinces that in order to prepare for a decisive battle with the Qin State, 100,000 soldiers need to be recruited, and the time will not exceed July at the latest." Scipio stood at the top of the arena and gave his first order since his reign. The young consul had a grim expression, and he was going to use military expansion to warn the conservative shili of the Senate, telling them not to make small moves behind their backs.

At the same time, Scipio also wanted to show the invaders in the east a little color, but his idea was destined to be a splash. Unlike Rome, which hurriedly recruited troops, Li Yuan's third mobilization order for the western expedition was issued a few months earlier, and the arrival of 100,000 Qin soldiers also made the black banner on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean flutter in the wind.

In June, in the towns of the Apennine Peninsula, in Gaul, Iberia and other provinces that had not been occupied for a long time, Roman recruitment of mercenaries was also posted everywhere, and a large number of landless yeoman farmers and mercenaries joined the Roman army, and the shadow of the imperial era was gradually approaching.

The republican system of Rome had begun to crumble after the struggle between Fabian and Scipio, and the strength of military politics and the rapid expansion of the army further exacerbated the contradictions between slave owners and commoners in Rome.

――。

Troy.

In June, the sea is calm, and a few seagulls pass by low, occasionally grabbing a fish or two from the surface and flapping their wings quickly. Fly towards the nest on the cliff of the coast.

A fleet appeared on the endless sea, the sea battle in April, the smoke of gunpowder had dissipated, Lei who had just recovered from his injuries was leaning on the mast, his face was a little pale, and around him, one by one the soldiers of the Qin army threw a look of awe at him.

The undersea battle with Greer made Lei won the title of the first brave general of the Qin Navy. And next, the Great Qin Navy will meet the Roman fleet, a real maritime powerhouse in the Mediterranean, which can be imagined. The burden on Lei Quilt's shoulders is not light.

On the pier.

Emperor Shenwu Li Yuan looked excited, looking at the sea from time to time and walking back and forth, the red tassel on his head floated slightly backwards under the sea breeze, and when the armor robe moved, it made a slight sound, as a commander who had experienced several major battles, he rarely had such a restless situation.

On land, Daqin's cavalry and infantry were strong enough. There is no opponent in almost this era, but at sea, the Qin Navy is just an inexperienced teenager who needs to prove himself through battles with powerful opponents again and again. Battle of Crete. It is the battle of the Great Qin Navy based in the Mediterranean.

"Bixia, look, our fleet is back, heroes of the Great Qin Navy. Went home. Compared with Li Yuan, the young staff officers of the Great Qin Army around him were obviously more excited, this naval battle. In terms of actual combat, it was completed under the command of Gan Yong, and the deduction and planning of the entire campaign were designed by the staff officers of the army headquarters.

A long whistle broke the calm of the military port. This was the announcement of Gan Yong's flagship to return home in victory, and in response to this sound, it was the thunderous sound of war drums from the welcoming team on the shore, and compared with the ecstatic Qin soldiers, the attached shili representatives from all parts of Great Qin in the crowd had different expressions and different expressions.

The Carthaginian envoy stared at the approaching fleet, his mouth was big, and his expression was the most exaggerated, as an old opponent of the Romans, no one knew better than them the details of Greer's pirate fleet, the Carthaginian navy had repeatedly become the defeat of the Romans, including the credit of Greer, the pirate leader, and now, the skeleton fleet that was rampaging in the Mediterranean Sea was actually defeated by a new recruit who had been in army for less than a year.

The representatives of the Jewish Chamber of Commerce and the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce in Egypt were glad that as the most powerful chamber of commerce that had been exploited by pirates, they now finally had the opportunity to raise their eyebrows. With the protection of the Qin fleet, at least on the east coast of the Mediterranean, Jewish and Egyptian merchant ships no longer need to be terrified.

The representative of the Thracian tribe, the young Spartacus put his hands in the oblique pockets of his waist, twisting his fingers back and forth, the heroic feat of the thunder quilt made him feel envious and excited, if he wanted to get the affirmation of others, he had to take the risk that others would not dare to do, while thinking, a heart in Spartacus's chest was beating strongly.

The whole welcoming ceremony lasted for a whole hour, and the deserted city of Troy in Pingsuri, just like the city of heroes who dared to rebel against Greek civilization thousands of years ago, Hector, Paris, Amazonian warriors and other ancient heroes reappeared, they were neatly dressed, just waiting for an order.

June 11.

After more than 20 days of negotiations, Qin and all parties in the Mediterranean reached a package agreement against Rome, in which Qin, as the leader of the alliance, would take the initiative to assume the heavy responsibility of military confrontation against Rome, which was not only to maintain the existing borders, but also to occupy the entire territory of Rome.

As the rest of the parties, they were obliged to bear the corresponding military expenses incurred in the fight against Rome, with the two large merchant groups of Judea and Egypt bearing 60 percent of the costs, and the remaining 40 percent being shared by the Persian, Thracian, Anxib, Bactria and Usun peoples.

In contrast to these tribes, which lacked the protection of an army, the Carthaginian side made a commitment to attack Rome itself from the west coast of Africa, along the Iberian Peninsula, and the consul Hannibal was clearly haunted by the defeat of the previous time, and he wanted to prove himself in the same way again.

――。

Northern part of the Black Sea.

The quiet Don River flows slowly through the gentle plains, into the Black Sea, and on the steppes, herds of cattle and sheep lazily hide in the shadows under the summer sun, enjoying a rare time of peace. Out of nowhere, one or two saber-toothed tiger howls were heard, causing the herbivores to panic.

It's getting dusk.

Suddenly, a heavy sound of horses' hooves shook the ground, causing the animals to prick up their ears at once, and soon, out of instinctive reaction, the cattle, sheep, wolves, and saber-toothed tigers and steppe bears that roamed alone quickly ran in the same direction, and where the animals trampled on it, the grass fell to the ground.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a group of Great Qin cavalry dressed in uniform black armor, playing the banner with gold edges, like a black mountain slowly moving westward, their speed is not fast, but there are tens of thousands of cavalry neatly pressed over, but it gives people an indestructible sense of tension.

"Han!"

Among the generals of the Qin army, there are many surnamed Han, and there is only one most famous: Han Xin.

Han Xin, who fought independently on the Siberian steppes, finally succeeded in driving the Slavs out of the east of the Ural Mountains this summer after three years of repeated encirclement and suppression, and now, the Great Qin cavalry is continuing to oppress and conquer westward with an unstoppable momentum.

The remnants of the Eastern Slavs and the Huns living in the Don and Volga rivers have begun to be forced to migrate, and their westward migration, just like the great migration of animals in the African steppe, has triggered a chain reaction of primitive tribes such as Saxony, Germanic, and Visigothic living in the eastern and northern parts of Europe.

Of course, this process will not occur all at once, and new battles will break out between the Huns, the Eastern Slavs, and the Germanic, Visigothic and other peoples, and it is not known who the losing side will be.

In the real history, it will take more than 200 years for this great migration that affected the whole of Europe, when the cause was that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the powerful Xiongnu tribes, which triggered a wave of ethnic mergers in which the Xiongnu moved westward and the tribes of the Asian continent merged. (To be continued......)