The frightened Afrigian Eighth Legion, after returning to the camp, counted, has lost more than half of the wounded, which is equivalent to losing combat effectiveness, and was directly "thrown" to the rear by Pompey, and then Pompey took two elite legions and advanced to Uzta to join Scipio.

Then, Pompey put up a crab-like formation, and he lined up the central army of heavy infantry against the walls of the Uzta city, so that they could get the cover of the city towers and ballistas, and then the left and right wings stretched out in front, like two large claws, and each wing in front of the infantry and projectiles, there were teams of cavalry, and the cavalry was mixed with the war elephants of King Juba, and each elephant had a towering shooting tower on its back.

Taking advantage of the enemy's formation, Caesar perfected the blockade, and he connected the isolated fortifications in a line, starting from Jemal Hill in the south and extending to the city of Ruspina in the north, and then Caesar also ordered five legions in front and six in the rear, with a large number of cavalry and archers in the middle, to guard against the assault of war elephants, and came to the plain to set up a formation and shout.

As a result, the two sides confronted each other from sunrise to sunset, and there was no engagement between them, and Pompey and Caesar each looked at each other from their respective command posts or from the high mons. For Pompey, if he stepped forward into the plains, he would definitely be killed by the long-range fire of Caesar's army, which was in the upper ground; In the same way, Caesar was reluctant to advance, because he would be flanked by the enemy's two wings, and if he bit the two wings, he would be attacked by the elite Chinese army of Uzta Pompey.

After the sun set, the two armies returned to their respective camps, "and the stalemate must be broken." These were the words spoken by Pompey and Caesar at the same time.

Then, the climate suddenly changed, and it was close to summer. But the stars disappeared. Dark clouds and torrential rain swept across the sky and the sea. Both armies were in great trouble in their camps, but Caesar's storehouse had been built in a low-lying area and could not be transported up the ridge, and most of it was completely washed away by the water. Caesar, who was in a hurry, urgently collected money from the surrounding towns, but lacked sufficient funds at hand, so he could only ask the soldiers to pay in advance, and soon Aquila, the treasurer and commander of the fleet, sent a report: "The Libyan coast is still under our control. By the time of the next wheat harvest, the burden had reached a very heavy level, and many towns had less than 100,000 cesdes in gold stocks, and any further levy would inevitably provoke change. ”

At this moment, Caesar, who was at a loss, received a secret letter from the Elders of Hadrumum City, risking his life, saying that Pompey had stored countless food and supplies there, and that most of his warehouses were in the harbor and the city, so even in this weather, it was still well kept. Now Hadrumum is willing to go to Caesar's side again to support the supply of Caesar's army - hoping that Caesar will send a fleet. Carry an infantry team, preferably six or eight brigades, to come to their aid in the city in case Pompey retaliates.

Caesar, who received the secret letter, was undecided, he was afraid that the information about the city of Hadrumum had been leaked, or that the secret letter itself was a conspiracy of Pompey, and that the ships were now very valuable, and if the fleet and soldiers he sent were destroyed by a plot, it would jeopardize the whole situation.

"I'm going to reply if there are any other land routes to Hadrumum City." Caesar was determined to be cautious.

He was also in a very difficult situation, the soldiers were short of tents, many of them had to carry swords in the rain, running around the camp or wandering around the camp to keep warm, and in May and June, the temperature was surprisingly cold, and he really wanted the help of the city of Hadrumum.

After three more days, a second letter from the city of Hadrumum arrived, saying that from the mountain pass of Jemal there was a section of the Hengduan Mountains full of caves, and that Caesar could send a lieutenant with a horse directly through it to a dense olive grove, and beyond this forest, he could go around the back of Pompey's camp and come to their city, and then Caesar would send a fleet to transport grain and timber, which would be more secure.

In the tent, Caesar asked his personal slave to transcribe the contents of the letter on a large wooden board and put it up, so that all the generals could see it clearly under the lamplight, "Ladies and gentlemen, this abnormal weather, the illuminated Seven Sisters have disappeared without a trace, and the sea transportation cannot operate normally, we must fight for war, I have two plans, one is to go to Hadrumum City, and the other is to select a lieutenant general to raid the inland Zeta City, where it is said that there are also grain reserves." ”

Caesar's clerk Izyurus, who was well acquainted with the format of the letter and the information contained therein, immediately pointed out that the letter from Hadrumum was very strange, "because the city would have emphasized all kinds of difficulties if it feared Pompey's revenge, and feared the price of betrayal and failure, and here the road to their city is depicted like an outing, and the tone is full of optimism and frivolity, and I suspect that this qiē is a conspiracy of Pompey behind the scenes." ”

"Indeed, the olive groves and caves, are there lofty mountains and mountains around, will there be ambushes? The letter doesn't say a word, but we can spell it out. "Tell General Sektilius to select five hundred Escyans from my ranks, five hundred Agrarians to accompany him, and four brigades from each legion to march together, and tell the Essioans and Agreans, who are familiar with mountain warfare, to pay attention to the roundabout search from the two corners of the mountain, and the general to follow from the center with the main force." ”

Caesar nodded, and at this time, the centurion of the chief brigade of the Twelfth Legion, Hortensius Jr., took the initiative to ask to be the guide officer, and walked at the front of the queue to open the mountain and split the road, and Caesar rewarded him with two Amira's golden armbands, and encouraged him, asking him to complete the task well.

"In addition, Libidaeus, you take the cavalry and the twelve and fifteenth legions, and advance sixteen romans to the south at the same time, and go to attack Zeta, where only a Numidian servant army left by Rabinus is garrisoned, and the strength is not very strong."

Sure enough, the letter was Pompey's plan, and he personally invited King Juba to set up the king's royal camp at the pass of the olive grove, so that the Numidian and Mauritanian cavalry, which had always been in an unstable state, could fight bravely, "Your Majesty, let your cavalry ascend to the high ground on both sides of this wood, and as long as Caesar's troops rush from the cave, we can easily flank and annihilate them." ”

When he had finished arranging, Pompey summoned Rabinus again, "Caesar is a man of great cunning, and perhaps he will only send unobtrusive divisions to Hadrumum; And our Zeta, which hangs alone in the hinterland south of the Libyan coast, and has some of the grain and salt reserves, Caesar and Libida are likely to use troops against them, so you have to lead a force to make a detour from the farther hinterland, and have the confidence to defeat them? ”

"Yes!" "But I need a special team." (To be continued......)