Just because Brutus, who had an eye on the city of Rome, also got the news of Turinus's exile and imprisonment, and knew for sure that the whole city of Rome was holding a warm and lasting celebration, the consul election had just been settled, and the new officials were returning the votes of the people in the form of competitions, racing cars, and dinners.

"Lypida's four legions have just arrived in the Lucania area, and have not yet reached Brindisi or Ravenna in the north, and it seems that he is still hesitating before spring comes!" At the military meeting in Athens, Brutus pointed to the map hanging on the wall of the council chamber and said to all the generals, "That is to say, we have three to four months to go before the expiration of our freedom, and I am determined to abandon the winter camp and directly lead the previous four legions, and the two newly recruited legions, from Athens, to defeat the seven legions left by Caesar the young in Epirus because of the loss of their commander!" ”

"Are you sure?" Sitting in his seat, young Horace's eyes were sparkling, and he exchanged confidence with Virgil, and then asked Brutus what he might need not for an answer, but for Brutus' passion to answer the question.

"Of course I am sure, the combat strength of these seven legions is nothing more than two or three second- and third-rate legions under Caesar's camp, and there are three legions of recruits, when Young Caesar was still there, the seven of them together were not our opponents, and now I have no reason to fear them! As long as we annihilate and capture these seven legions, we will have the strength to compete with Li Bida in the coming year, and if we do nothing in this winter camp, then the final opportunity will be lost. Brutus clenched his fists and answered Horace's question with a loud shout.

So all the young generals, with poets as the main representatives. They all stood up and applauded in response. They are full of blood and passion. It seems that in the previous war, it was useless to put any opponent in their eyes, now all they need is to follow the battle banner of Brutus and the Republic, destroy the enemies in front of them, and kill them all.

However, Sibalas and Calatafemius, including the general of the Aetolian cavalry, Synesis, objected.

Sibalas was Caesar's treasurer in the province of Bithynia, and he was the oldest in the camp. With the support of the Italian veterans, who were the backbone of Brutus' army, the others elected Sibalas to speak, and he arose to advise Brutus:

"Your Excellency, if Turinus is likened to a bird, now that it has broken its wings and is unable to fly, it is indeed great tidings for us. But if we want to take advantage of the situation, we must have a prudent judgment of the enemy's situation, which is also the greatest advantage and mystery of Caesar's use of troops in the past, and he will never give up on himself because of failure. Nor will they be bold because of shunlì. As far as I know, now the one who takes the place of Turinus is in charge of the army. It was the Agrippa brothers, Agrippa was adept at the battle formation, and it could be said that Turinus was the commander in chief, dragging down the young man's performance - and his brother Lucius was a close confidant of Lypida, so if Liberda did not carry out the winter camp, and reinforced to join the war group of Epirus, our chances of victory and escape were very slim. ”

Brutus first politely thanked the veteran for his exhortation, and then explained, "Lypita exiled Turinus and dismissed Antony, and now the city of Rome is in confusion and confusion, with little power, and it will take time for the enemy's legions to be put together." But in other words, this opportunity is the only chance we may have left, and if we watch it slip away, the Republic will be doomed. ”

"No, I'm not in favor of a decisive battle." The Athenian Calatafermius then stood up and retorted, "Now our main attack should not be in the west, but in the east, where the defense of the Lipida thieves is relatively weak—the three legions of Lufio in Egypt are still vacillating, and only the vassal states of Liberda in Asia Minor are our enemies, and Cassiio has just made great progress in the war against Rhodes—so now we should leave one legion to hold Athens, and the rest of the main forces will march eastward with all their might, and submit Crete, Cyprus, Respos and other important naval strongholds blocked Li Bida overseas, and then single-mindedly attacked the Ionian and Silesian regions of Asia Minor to gain a firm foothold. ”

"Don't you even want your native Athens? Everyone knows that by the end of winter at the latest, Li Bida will inevitably urge a large army to come and capture Athens! ”

"Strangling Athens, even if it pays a huge sacrifice, as long as we control the transportation and superiority at sea, and take turns to hold my hometown, we can thwart Li Pida's offensive, for the sake of republic and democracy, Athens is not the first sacrifice, and I hope this is not its last." Calatafemius was impassioned, and the whole meeting reached a climax.

"However, Li Bida still has two main armies, namely the 16th Army Corps and the 28th Army Corps, which are still in the hands of Saab at Fort Li Pida, which may threaten our flank and rear routes." At this time, someone added worriedly.

So the meeting soon entered the stage of debate and discussion, and everyone expressed their opinions, which is also a characteristic of the military democracy of the Brutus camp, no, it cannot be said that it is military democracy, but democratic military.

In this situation, Brutus had no choice but to hand it over to all the generals for two days, but a consensus must be reached in the end, otherwise, there would be only a secret vote to determine the battle plan.

At the same time, Li Bida had secretly ordered the Skylark Legion, the Seventh Legion and the Twelfth Legion to secretly jump through Sicily and Malta on a transport fleet and rush towards Cyrene.

Then the high priest received the news that the former chief virgin Richlia was critically ill, and before she died, she wanted to see the high priest to express her heart.

In the apartment of the virgins on the street on the other side of the circular Vesta Temple, the navy blue vines were densely draped on the courtyard wall, and Li Bida passed through the fountain and the fish pond to the room of Li Xilia on the very edge of the first floor, where she was once graceful, but now her skin was shriveled and her eyes were sunken, and she lay quietly on the raised couch, surrounded by other virgins, including Zeno.

Upon learning that the High Priest was standing in front of the bed, Richlia tried to say to Zeno, "Go out, but you must stand in the corridor, and do not close the door of the room, even though I am old, but still avoid gossip, which is the pride of being a virgin, and the great sorrow." ”

When Li Bida entered, Zeno passed him, and then, with tears in his eyes, walked out with the other virgins as instructed.

"Come, it's rude to ask the high priest to sit next to my bed." Li Xilia opened her eyes and said leisurely. (To be continued......)