"Any combat system is good only because it conforms to the principles of war." - Jomini

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When the high priest heard Mattia's words, he suddenly laughed, "You still miscalculated, I still need the support of Queen Eubernia's legions and money to have an absolute advantage in this war." Now, if someone says something that he is afraid to say, how do you tell me to go there and ask the queen for support? Will I be poisoned in Nicomedia or Taktun? ”

After saying this, the high priest was worried, and smiled bitterly at Mattia, but the other man was frightened, and hurriedly knelt at the feet of Lybida, begging for his trust like a Jew worshipping the temple, and promising that he would never make a second mistake.

"Okay, it's okay, my child, after your father died in battle, I secretly swore that I would raise you to adulthood, and I was ready to upgrade you directly to the status of a Roman knight, and entrust you to go to a critical administrative region to take charge of tax work, and you will shine in the Executive Yuan in the future." Li Bida sighed and helped Matthias up, "But you have to promise that I will meet Adiana for a long time soon, and nothing will go wrong, let alone affect my conquest." ”

The port of Piraeus in the city of Athens, between the smooth walls and the docks, countless ships are moored and ready to sail. In front of the temple on the Acropolis, Cassiio was saying goodbye to Brutus, "Spring is short-lived, so I must take advantage of the headwind of Lypida's fleet in Cyrene to capture all the cities and ports of Rhodes to gain our advantage on the sea!" Cassiio was full of ambition. Shook his fist with Brutus and said. "In the future, it will shine on the battlefield. It must be me, for I am a natural commander of the navy, and you, Brutus, defend this ancient city against enemy attacks from all sides of the land route. ”

"Of course, let the enemy go from Epirus, from Thesalia, or from Fort Lypida. Or from the Peloponnese, I will definitely call them home, and Lypida's battle line will be torn apart by our sincere cooperation, so that he will not be able to care for each other! "Brutus is also a bold and dry cloud.

Then, Cassiyo nodded, put on his helmet, and walked down the steps, and after a few steps, he turned to look at Brutus, "Don't continue to run Brutus this time. This land and sea is the ideal burial place for all warriors, as long as they leave their paperwork. Passing on our indomitability from one generation to the next. ”

"Yes, Cassillo, regardless of our personalities, and regardless of where our warriors come from, may our spirit be passed on." Brutus, standing by the altar of the temple, replied with a sigh, and then he recited the Greek verse:

"Where is such a thing among the brave people, even if they sit and beg the gods, and the children who are born into such fathers, are cowardly and deserve ridicule? Now I declare that I will die for my brothers and for myself. ”

At this time, the rest of the people, Horace, Virgil, Synesis, and other generals, shouted the following verse, "By not fearing death, I have found the best treasure - a glorious death!" ”

Soon, the slogan "Glorious Sacrifice" resounded throughout the Acropolis, through the port of Piraeus, through the towers and decks of every ship, and all the men, soldiers, slaves, and oarsmen, shouted this slogan, and steered the ships to the blue Aegean Sea, to Rhodes farther away.

On the way, Saab's detachment from Reispos caused minor damage to Cassillo's marching fleet, but it was just an attack, and Cassiyo remained unmoved, and continued to stick to his course without any hesitation.

Three days later, his fleet arrived at Rhodes, and Cassillo re-separated the fleet from the army corps, and marched on land and sea, quickly approaching the last stronghold of the Rhodes, Camillos.

For more than two months, the city of Camillos suffered all kinds of bloody suffering, but it still stubbornly resisted in the broken walls and towers, and all the Rhodians had their remaining ships, chained together, and arranged them horizontally at the entrance to the city's narrow headland, serving as floating pillboxes, famine and death plagued the state, but everyone was convinced that reinforcements from the High Priest would come, and since the beginning of spring, a small fleet from Cyrene was fought by brave sailors, Successively replenished the city of Camillos.

And this group of people gave the greatest encouragement to the people of Rhodes, "The legions of the High Priest have been assembled in Brundim, and will soon be in Rhodes, where you have survived the siege of Mithridates VI, and you will be the proud and unyielding state of the Republic." ”

But when morale was high, the Rhodes waited first not for reinforcements from the High Priest, but for the reinforced Cassiio Naval Army, which the Republicans had finally turned against after months of wasted months in Epirus. "If you want to achieve glory, you have to pay the price and sacrifice first!"

The Rhodes warriors of the city of Camillos were quite tragic—they scuttled all the large ships with decks and ramming horns with chisels, and sank them into the sea at the entrance to the port of the headland, which served as a barrier against the Cassiillo fleet, and then they used all their financial resources and manpower to dig a trench and build a new defensive wall at the besieged position of Cassiillo, and rejected Cassillo's advice, vowing to resist to the end.

"Aim all the ballistas and stone throwers at the enemy's newly built walls." Cassiillo took the flag and came to the position of the two legions, the six of which had been besieging the place for a long time, so Cassiio exchanged camps with the five legions, and planned to wait until the six legions had rested for a few days, and then take Camillos in one go.

Then he rode his horse to the headland, and took a small rowing boat, and carefully surveyed the river harbor of Camillos, and found that there was a gap between the wrecks of the Rhodesians that was large enough for a three-column warship to pass through Guò, but the Rhodians used iron chains to tie between the masts of several wrecked ships, thus sealing the gap.

Determined to launch an unexpected surprise attack on the land, he returned to camp with three infantry battalions, hid in twelve ships, and concealed them in a sheltered bay on the headland, all of which were dragged to the beachhead and covered with branches and weeds.

Then, in order to ensure the timely capture of the city of Camillos, Cassiyo decided not to pretend to be his subordinates, but to personally lead all the surprise attack team, he boarded the beachhead at night, discussed in detail with the eighteen centurions, established the battle plan and signal, in the early morning of the next day, after the sea was surging in the darkness, he boarded the first ship that was easy to command, "This is my flagship, all the other ships follow me, form a column, and march!" (To be continued......)