"I don't know what this young man wants, but I know he's going to do anything." -- Caesar on Brutus

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Agrippa led the cavalry, holding up the heads of the enemy, and returned to the camp with loud cheers, as this would better boost the sluggish morale.

Then, Agrippa entered the camp of the young Caesar's commander, and saw the other party staring thoughtfully at the sand table, and from time to time flipping through the tablets and documents next to him, he found that the young Caesar was now much more mature than in the previous battle of Mutina, at least his fear and frustration would not be obvious. At this time, Mecenas, who was in charge of the camp stay, stepped forward to congratulate Agrippa a few words, and made a look, meaning that it was time for the other party to persuade the commander to withdraw from the army.

"Seven legions, three legions of recruits, four regular Italian legions, were always pressed by Brutus's four legions, and he was constantly eating up stragglers or baggage troops. Something must have gone wrong, it must be! At this time, Young Caesar finally spoke.

Then, when he saw that the two closest aides were by his side, he stretched out his hands, "My dear friend, is there anything wrong with what I said?" If so, you must point it out, I remember, it must have been the lack of cavalry of our army, so that Brutus's Aeturian cavalry succeeded in three or four raids, is it not so, Meecenas, Agrippa, you are all at the front in your own command. ”

"Yes, Young Lord Caesar." Mecenas whispered, "Our Ala cavalry is not as capable of fighting as the other side. Often suffer losses and run away in battles. So my proposal is. Recruit barbarian cavalry in Illyria and Dalmatia to increase power. ”

As for this friend's proposal, he happened to fall into the hands of young Caesar, and he excitedly tapped his fingers on the table to express his approval of Mecenas, "That's right, immediately draw out a considerable part of the military resources and go to recruit more cavalry." ”

"In addition, we lack more adjutant generals and senior officers. A group must be promoted from among the qualified and excellent cavalry captains and centurions, so that the soldiers can learn to obey and revere, and if there is a shortage of manpower, I will ask the Senate to appoint some highly respected figures to assist in command. Young Caesar felt that the gloom of the previous defeat had been blown away, and now that the situation had found an entry point, there was much to be done. At this moment, he noticed Agrippa, who had been standing aside without saying a word and bowing his head, "Speaking of which, Agrippa, your brother used to serve in the army for many years. I immediately wrote a letter inviting him to take command of a legion. ”

But this warm invitation. "Dear friend, I must tell you the truth - the training of the Legion is too poor, the morale is very low, many of the soldiers have not mastered the skills of combat, and we need to camp and rest. ”

"Camping and resting? But isn't the other side Brutus the new legion? ”

"Brutus was a clever recruiter, first agitating the Democratic-Republicans in the city of Athens, giving speeches, and getting many craftsmen and citizens into the ranks, and then he used these connections to expand his army extensively throughout Greece, even in Epirus and the Peloponnese, where the Greeks were brave and warlike, and were particularly hostile to us because of their convictions."

Before Agrippa could finish speaking, Caesar raised his hand to stop him, "My friend, it is well known that the Greeks are cowardly cultures, how can they be Italians, our Romans' opponents - now Brutus's advantage is nothing but a momentary courage of flesh and blood, we only need to stop him in Thesalia, and sooner or later we will be defeated." ”

"Then we must start the winter camp early, let me build a well-fortified camp in the city of Golfi, and use half a year for the centurion to train the soldiers well, so that we will have a good chance of victory in the coming year."

"But I'm running out of time." Young Caesar held the seal in his hand tightly and said very anxiously.

"But we don't have a lot of money, and Brutus has already encroached on half of the towns in Thessalia, so I'm still building yì"

"Enough!" Young Caesar slammed the seal on the table and made a loud noise, he propped his hands on the edge of the table and stood up, "I have already said, time, time!" Time is the most important thing to transcend tactics and money, and the fact that you, Agrippa, are constantly emphasizing all sorts of false difficulties simply disappoints me. Then he rubbed his face with his hand, "Yes, maybe this is not a single battlefield, and I should open up other battlefields as well - if I don't have any money, I will ask Leo in Lilibal City for it." ”

"It's not in order." Agrippa went on to argue that this further provoked the anger of the young Caesar, who complained, "The money required by my seven legions is by the money taken from the previous public enemy declaration, and by the contribution of my adoptive father's inheritance, that is, the free slaves." But what about Liberdaus and his army? I have no way to compare with him by taking the wealth of many provinces into my hands, I can only do this, there is no other way. ”

"Yes, I think I can ask Leo for help, after all, there is a personal friendship in it." Meecenas inserted this sentence very "fairly", and finally strengthened the young Caesar's resolve, "With the help of military funds worth five hundred Talant, do your best!" ”

This is the background to Caesar the Younger's submission of this instrument.

When Agrippa led the cavalry to the outpost camp after nightfall, Mecenas, as a staff member, remained in the camp, set up the sentry posts, and began to plan the next step of recruitment and action planning, "Please be careful Caesar, we can let the recruit regiment stay in Golphi, and then let the four main legions return to the city of Atadias from the left, where there is a river with cheap terrain, which can successfully lure Brutus to the rescue, and then we will carry out a decisive battle to defeat him—but we need a large number of cavalry." So don't blame Agrippa, he just wants things to be more secure. ”

"Yes, more securely." Young Caesar suddenly smiled, "I don't blame any of you, absolutely not. ”

Messenas felt that this person was thinking differently, but remained silent, "What are you doing?" He looked at the young Caesar, who was struggling to write, and asked.

"I've been keeping up with Corinna, and she's worried about me, and she's constantly hinting that I hope I'll take care of the engagement and not leave her on the battlefields of another country to find another marriage." Caesar the young replied, and then he confided to Mecenas, "She's a worrisome girl, isn't she?" How could I turn my back on her. ”

"This is natural, as a brother, I will support you wholeheartedly." Maecenas also quipped. Then, in the confused smell of smoke, both of them stopped talking and went about their own business. (To be continued......)