Chapter 10: The Siege of Paphos (Part II)
That's right, Li Bida did ask the whole army to set up camp tomorrow, but it was disrupted by unexpected circumstances: Hebrida with a few big soldiers discovered the hidden warehouse in the temple of the guardian god of Salamis, "Seven thousand tarents, seven thousand tarents!" Li Bida, who went to the other place, looked excited, and whispered to himself, never expecting that this huge wealth would be swept away by the "Ptolemaic Great Cousin" (this is the new name of Ptolemy Ptolemy in Cyprus to distinguish it), or hidden in other parts of the island such as Paphos, but he never expected that it would be in this city. Good Hebrid, who has not been a robber and a ruffian for so many years, is in place to find a warehouse or something, and must deal with this wealth before Brutus comes, and if he can make more of it, he will be more of it.
A large group of soldiers, cloaked in red cloaks, stood excitedly at the entrance to the basement of the temple to greet the arrival of their commander. But when Li Bida greeted the torch and walked to the door of the bronze basement, he found that the whole atmosphere was not right—the warehouse seemed to be overbuilt and too conspicuous.
When they opened it and looked inside, all the soldiers were disappointed: where did they get any gold and silver treasures, it seemed that this was just an arsenal, and Li Bida, Hebrida and others checked it, and found that the weapons hidden were not only huge in number, but also well-made.
"I should have known that Cyprus was rich in copper, and on the other side of the ocean, in the land of Levant, was rich in steel, and that it was located at the point of Asia Minor, Levant, and Egypt, and that the previous Ptolemaic dynasty must have used it as a fortress for relays, so they had amassed a large number of weapons in the port of Salamis." Li Bida suddenly realized. Raise a sharp Assyrian sword. Said.
"We should sell these shields, chariots, bows and swords in large quantities!" Highbrida shouted. Then Li Bida slammed his helmet with an Assyrian sword, "Fool, these things are much more valuable than mere money. Sabo, all these things must be requisitioned to the legion, since they are not auctioned off for military equipment, then Cato has no right to seize half of them. Then he saw Sabo in a separate warehouse area, using his sword to pull what resembled clothing on a wooden shelf. Then the young man looked back excitedly, held up one of them, and said "Please look!"
Li Bida pinched his nose, because there was already a slight smell of mildew in the warehouse, and walked into the clothes that Sabo had lifted, which was a "Knu white" shirt often worn by Egyptians, which was very suitable for hot desert areas, and then it was decorated with a delicate bronze armor, which was taken by hand, absolutely lightweight. But it can also be stabbed and arrow-proof, Li Bida sighed. "These sons of Ptolemy, what a precious wealth their ancestors left behind, but their eyes are only on the gold that invites trouble, these armor is the basis of our conquest of Egypt, Sabo hastened to finish the count, and handed it over to the management of our baggage team, before coming by Brutus, quickly do this well."
Yes, Sabo hurriedly took the order.
Three thousand Assyrian composite bows, six thousand Assyrian fighting swords, two thousand axes, thirty light crossbows, five thousand detachable Salisha spears, eight hundred balsa shields covered with many layers of cowhide, six thousand pieces of Knu white light armor, a thousand heavy armor imitations of Corinth, and many other valuable weapons and materials, such as halters, spurs, chariots, and long iron nails, were thus abandoned by Ptolemy's great cousin, or perhaps the ruler of Cyprus had forgotten that he still had these things in his hands.
"Our army will be victorious, and the whole army will pursue Ptolemy who has fled to Paphos to-morrow." When I thought of Brutus coming to the city of Salamis, panting with his luggage, and finding that the city was empty, and he had to settle the funny scene with a few confidential slaves left behind for dozens of Talents, riding on an owl and galloping with the attached cavalry, I felt a pleasure in my heart to play tricks on others.
Two days later, the scouts of Dussonvier came to report that the great cousin of Ptolemaic had indeed taken in the defeated army in the area of Paphos, and had spent money and recruited a few men there, and was encamped in the Tisza River, ready to defend against us.
There is no doubt about this location, as Paphos is surrounded by a large mountain range in the middle of Cyprus, and if the two sides are to fight, they will have to choose the narrow corridor of the Tisza River.
"The enemy has imitated us and set up a strong camp in the meandering area." On a high place, Li Bida took Sabo and others to observe the camp of the Cypriot army on the other side of the river, and even praised the other party, "Seven hundred and fifty Roman feet long, six hundred and twenty Roman feet wide, with a ring trench, a very standard and strict camp." Our advantage is that the water depth of the Tisza River is very shallow, and we can wade through it on foot. ”
"Do you attack with cavalry artillery, and then the infantry brigade follows?" Saab Langsheng proposed a plan.
"Hmm- wait a minute, I'll take a look, it seems like there's something interesting." Li Bida frowned, and then Peternius also saw the scene, "Their pack horses and war horses seem to be very uneasy, and many military slaves are leading them around the camp to calm their emotions. ”
"I really envy these animals with their tail hair, they all have the urge to mate and reproduce in winter like this!" Standing a little later Marco. Anthony yawned, and asked if His Excellency the Commander could adopt Sabo's plan, he could continue to take the lead, destroy the enemy camp, and then celebrate our victory in the temple of great love in Paphos.
"No, it can't be, I'm Spanish and I know the psychology of horses." "We have captured more than a thousand horses in Salamis, and the horses on the other side are very familiar with them, so when they are not far away, they can smell each other's breath, but they are frantic because they can't be together, which is probably the reason for this situation. After listening to Tagus's explanation, Li Bida hurriedly looked back at the guard and the baggage camp, and sure enough, it was also a scene of horses jubilating and restless, so he gave birth to a plan in his heart.
At dawn the next day, the trumpets of the Romans sounded violently, and the Cypriots saw through the tall buildings of the camp that they had lined up by the river in the pattern of hundreds, and as the centurion was crossing the meander, the morning sun shone obliquely and reflected their shields with a glitter, "The Romans are coming!" Give them some color to see. "The Cypriots, who had long been aggrieved, put out the stoves, took up arms, mounted their horses, climbed the stairs with bows and arrows, and laid out a staggered defensive formation with the help of the camps and wooden fences, so that if there were strong fortifications, these invading fellows would surely be able to return with a feather! (To be continued......)